Chapter 26 This team was going to be a problem
Chapter 26 This team was going to be a problem
∆§∆ LUNARA'S POV ∆§∆
Professor Reyes took the stage the moment Chancellor Voss disappeared through the side door, and the auditorium which had dissolved into complete chaos after his exit slowly pulled itself back together the way it always did when she was the one standing at the front, because unlike the Chancellor, Professor Reyes didn't need to threaten anyone to get their attention.
She just waited, and eventually the room remembered itself which made an idea start forming in my head, maybe the school does need a woman Chancellor.
"The preliminary fighting competition will take place tomorrow morning at the main arena," she announced, her voice carrying through the auditorium with calm and ease that made you listen whether you wanted to or not.
"All students below Elite tier three will participate. Royals, Cardinals, and Elite tier one and two are exempt."
The reaction was immediate and messy, people turning to each other, voices overlapping, and I sat there quietly doing the math in my head because the math wasn't complicated at all.
Exempt meant safe. Exempt meant they already believed you were strong enough without having to prove it.
Not exempt meant you had to fight your way into relevance, which was exactly what this academy had always wanted from people like me.
Aurora sat in the front row looking unbothered, her hands folded in her lap, the perfect picture of someone who had never once had to worry about proving herself because her position had always done that for her.
I looked away from her before I did something that would get me into more trouble than I was already in.
Bea leaned close to me from her seat. "You're going to have to fight," she whispered, her voice tight with worry.
"I know."
"Lunara, you're injured."
"I know that too."
"Then…"
"Bea." I looked at her, and she stopped talking. "I will be fine."
I wish I could say it in a more nicer way but I don't know how to. She pressed her lips together and sat back.
I could feel her eyes on me, I knew she was worried but I sincerely do not have a choice in this either. It's fight or get expelled and all my chances at the throne goes into thin air and I will not allow that even if it means I die trying.
Professor Reyes continued explaining the structure, how the fights would be paired, how wins would be counted, how the results would determine team groupings, and I listened carefully because information was the only advantage I had going into tomorrow and I wasn't going to waste it by not paying attention.
The Cardinals sat in their section throughout the entire announcement, and I made a point of not looking at any of them.
Especially Roman with his expressions that always felt like he was reading something I hadn't written yet.
Then talk about the fire guy, Blaze who I could feel right now looking at me with an intensity I feel might put a fireball inside my head soon.
Then there is the one with mood swings Zeke whose hand had been at my back twenty minutes ago when he hated my guts so much.
In all this, I feel so bad for Tyson, he was the only one that has been kind and gentle with me but of course, people had to spoil that.
I wonder what everyone's reaction will be when they realize I was a princess someday, not just any princess but the heir apparent to Notredame, I sincerely would like to see that.
When the assembly ended and students began packing out, the arena was already buzzing with nervous energy that came before something people knew was going to hurt.
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The next morning came too fast.
The main arena was set up differently than I had ever seen it, with multiple fighting circles marked across the floor, each one ringed with students who are pressed against each other to see, and the noise of it all hit me the moment I passed through the entrance doors.
My wounds had continued their strange self-repair overnight, although I wasn't completely healed, not even close, but enough that I could move without feeling like something was tearing apart inside me.
With this recovery, I had a chance to fight and dodge and not get too hurt if I am careful enough.
Well, if I could fight against a serpent head wolf then I can certainly win against my fellows who had never encountered that creature.
I found my place among the students waiting to be called and stood quietly while the fights around me began.
The pattern became clear quickly, the academy hadn't even tried to be subtle about what this competition was designed to do, because every fight that was called put the students with the weakest classifications against each other first.
Humans against humans, low tier wolves against low tier wolves, and the fights were fast and brutal and the crowd reacted to each one with enthusiasm which makes me wonder why they are happy at someone else's suffering.
When my name was called the first time, the crowd went silent, eventually they broke out into loud murmurings.
So it seems my fight was of particular concern to them. I walked into the circle without looking at any of the faces pressing in from the edges.
My opponent was a boy from the Pure-blood lower ranks, bigger than me, with the confidence that came from never having lost a fight to someone the world had already decided was beneath him.
He looked at me the way they all looked at me and I let him, because underestimation was the most useful gift anyone had ever given me my entire life.
Uncle Kael's voice was in my head before he even moved, everything he had taught me about fighting against someone with a bigger body mass than mine.
When the boy lunged at me, I was already at a distance from him so I can weaken out and then knock him out with one blow but first, I will continue dodging.
That was what I did for the next two minutes and he started breathing heavily, I could see the crowd holding their breath.
I checked the clock, we still had one minute more, I guess it was time to end this.
When he lunged again, losing his cool which my uncle advised against, I used the momentum of emotions and deflated him with the third technique, using his own power force to bring him down before he understood what had happened.
Goddess, did he hit the floor hard.
The circle went quiet for exactly one second before the cheer came back louder than ever.
I won the second fight faster than the first, and the third faster than the second, and by the time I walked out of the fourth circle the crowd had stopped reacting with surprise and started reacting with fear.
During the brief pause between rounds I felt eyes on me that I recognized by now, and I looked up to find Roman watching from the elevated Cardinal section with an expression that gave nothing away, which somehow gave away everything.
Blaze had his arms crossed and was grinning in a way that made him look like someone who had just found something genuinely entertaining and had no intention of pretending otherwise.
He smiled at me and I felt goosebumps which made me shiver. He gives me the creep. I quickly looked away from both of them.
My fifth and final fight was against a girl from the mid-tier wolves who fought clean and fast.
She actually made me work for it, and by the end we were both breathing hard and she looked at me across the circle with an expression I wasn't expecting, respect, instead of fear or disgust, and I nodded at her because she had earned that much from me as well.
The results were posted on the holographic board above the arena floor, and when my name appeared at the top of the list with five wins and no losses, the crowd reacted as if they had not watched me fight for the wins and I had stolen them.
With that began the stupid loud murmurs and lies.
"She cheated."
"That's not possible."
"A human doesn't fight like that."
"Someone helped her."
“ She's probably using magic.”
I rolled my eyes, I was using magic indeed. Which wolves have they seen that don't have a wolf wields magic.
They will just say nonsense to discredit me. Anyways, that's their concern.
Professor Reyes came to the platform and announced the next phase of the process.
"Cardinals will now each select their teams from the preliminary results," she said. "Nine students per Cardinal pair, forming teams of ten."
The selection process began and I watched it without particular interest until Roman stood up from the Cardinal section and the room went quiet.
When he looked in my direction, I knew I was doomed.
"Lunara Smith," he announced, his voice carried across the entire arena, every single person in the building turned to look at me.
I looked back at him and said nothing.
Blaze stood immediately after. "I'll take that team," he said, like the decision had already been made before either of them opened their mouths.
We turned to look at Professor Reyez after all, she just said, one Cardinal per team but Blaze just decided on his own, he wanted to be on our team.
Professor Reyez doesn't say anything, she nods and the selection continues just like that.
If a human had made this decision, the whole world would be protesting by now. Roman went on calling names one by one, and by the end the team stood as follows.
Me. Roman. Blaze. Derek. Sophia. Bea. Agnes. Nathan. Wendy. Riley.
Agnes looked like she had swallowed something that disagreed with her the moment her name was called to our team.
Nathan stood beside her with a rigid posture as he tried very hard not to show exactly how he felt about this arrangement.
Riley said nothing. She just looked at me with an expression I could never fully understand and smiled slightly at the corner of her mouth.
Wendy looked relieved to be near familiar faces. Bea grabbed my arm excitedly and squeezed, and I let her because I understood what she meant by it.
Roman walked down from the Cardinal section and came to stand near our newly formed group, and when his eyes found mine there was amusement in them.
"Welcome to the team," he said, though it was directed at the group and somehow only at me at the same time.
Agnes made a snorting sound under her breath. Shit, this team was going to be a problem just like the last time.