Miko

I walked with Elliot into that gym, thinking about how to fight him.

"Should we use weapons?" he asked as we stood in the middle of the field.

"Better not. That could go very wrong."

"You are right." He said, sounding a bit disappointed.

"Why exactly are we fighting? Is there someone you want to impress?"

"Yes, indeed."

"Oh wow, it's a girl?"

"It is you."

"Me? Love on first sight?"

"You could say so…" he swallowed loudly, "I was there three years ago. I was one of the people you saved. Despite being a praised fighter, I froze the moment we were attacked by these terrorists."

"I see."

"You can't imagine how much I thought about that day, about you since then."

"Sorry, but I am not interested."

"Please don't misunderstand. I don't crave your love in that way. Rather, I want you to acknowledge me, to show me if I could have helped at that time."

What a strange guy... I understood that he was longing for redemption. I know exactly how it feels when trauma eats you up from the inside. But I was unsure if I was the right person to help him.

"Ok, let's get ready." He said as the first students entered the tribune, which was placed around three meters above the floor.

"Wow, spectators. Do you have some fans?"

"Not as many as Hannah, but I'm sure some girls are rooting for me."

I simply smiled and started stretching. My fighting style is pretty destructive for anyone involved, so getting my engine started was important.

"Don't complain if I embarrass you."

"Try it."

I was glancing over at Elliot. He seemed very tense. Despite these black rings on my body sealing away much of my power, I was pretty relaxed.

I expected him to be superior in decision-making since I got some information about his background from his own teacher. And apparently, Elliot was a mage with a high standing in his old guild, but after the incident three years ago, he quit and enrolled in this magic school.

"I am ready," he said.

"Me too." He gave a sign to someone who stood in the hallway. Moments later, the young girl from the council walked to us and placed a magic item in the middle of the gym.

"Don't worry. The device itself will also be protected by its own veil."

Funny, I start to feel a bit nervous now, just a moment before we start. I was weirdly confident, but when was the last time I actually fought anyone or anything?

The girl walked away, and Hannah announced the rules we had agreed on yesterday.

"They are waiting. Should we start?" Elliot asked, his eyes starting to shine red.

 "You want a countdown?" I asked, activating my mana flow too.

 "Three"

 "Two"

 "One"

He instantly launched in my direction, shooting small fireballs at me. I felt the heat in my face as I dodged without pushing my body with magic so far.

As expected, he simply wanted to distract me and started throwing punches after he closed the distance.

Until now, everything worked out as I planned. I wanted to stay passive and observe his fighting style.

He surprisingly seemed to be out of breath pretty quickly. His panting was undeniable.

"Everything's fine?" I was worried about his condition. I recently witnessed what happens to someone who ignores their limits.

He did not answer. Instead, his attacks became more violent, it was not my intention to provoke him, but it was hard to explain that while fighting.

The crowd was pretty quiet so far. I quickly peeked at them, searching for Kayla.

That was a big mistake on my part. Elliot just waited for me to get distracted.

Again, he threw his fist at me, and I knew I couldn't dodge his attack this time.

So, I channeled mana into my leg, spun to gain momentum, and kicked a wind spell in his torso, sending him flying until he crashed into the gym wall.

My heart rate increased; I forgot how exciting fighting was.

I missed that.

Luckily, he stood up again. I wanted to continue.

I distributed the mana to my whole body, readying myself to attack.

He reacted insanely fast as I ran towards him, creating several stone walls as a buffer between us.

Instead of running around, I went right through them with a dropkick.

The impact sent a sharp pain through my whole body, and some of the shattered parts of the wall hit me in the face.

I don't remember much about my childhood, but I know I hated getting hurt for as long as I can remember.

Pain can trigger two inevitable reactions: I become sad or angry.

So, I started punching him again and again.

I dodged his weak attempts without thinking anymore.

Every time my fists landed on his body, my grin became bigger.

In my head, I played out several scenarios, several spells I could use to end this now, while I continued to beat him up.

But again, something distracted me.

Hannah walked through the veil and came closer to us. 

"Please stop that," she said.

I averted my eyes from Elliot momentarily, and he took advantage of that to punch me right in the nose with everything he had left.

The first loud crack I heard was clearly my nose. The second was his legs which I kicked with all my power.

As he fell to the ground, I jumped at him, beating his face once before he managed to say, "Surrender… I surrender."

I sighed and crawled down from him while he groaned in agony.

Slowly I managed to calm down and carefully touched my nose. It was bleeding very badly.

I need Kayla now.

So, she walked down the gym floor toward me as if she could read my mind.

"How was it?" I asked genuinely.

"Terrifying." She answered, looking pale as a sheet.

"Good."

She should have more of these experiences before facing a real threat, if possible.

But I hope she wasn't too put off by the slight temper I showed today.

Honestly, I was pretty glad she came to me instead of running to the more seriously injured Elliot.

And in the end, when she put her hand on my cheek, I had the feeling that she wasn't that mad at all.

◆◆◆

Kayla

In the end, it was all good somehow. Hannah could not heal Elliot completely, so the school doctor said he would have to be on crutches for the next few days.

Since he was irrelevant, I did not even think about healing him. Much more important was Miko, who luckily looked as if she had never been hurt.

"How exactly did you kick him through half the room?" I asked, sitting on our double bed.

"You didn't see it? That was wind magic that I used through my leg. The kick at the end, where I accidentally broke his legs, was just my body strengthened by magic. Think of it as a magic suit that boosts your stats."

"So, I can learn to do the same?"

"In theory, yes... But first, you have to train your body because even though you use magic, these movements strain your muscles. Without training, all my attacks would have destroyed me."

"So, I can become as strong as you?" I grinned.

"Nope, not at all. But you don't have to. As a healer, you are the most important person, and if you risk fighting directly, you could decide the end of your whole team."

"Can we stop talking about depressing stuff…"

"You started it?"

"No, I didn't."

"Stop it, or I'll have to punish you." She stood up from the chair and slowly walked towards me.

"How?" I asked, hiding half my face behind my hands.

"I don't know, everything I can think of seems more like a reward for you..."

"Sounds like a you problem."

The whole time I was smiling widely, I loved the atmosphere between us, and honestly, I didn't even care if she got a little scary or broke other mages' bones from time to time.