Chapter 29 Pain is a distraction

Chapter 29 Pain is a distraction
∆§∆ LUNARA'S POV ∆§∆

A smug smile spread across Agnes's face.

"I agree."

She answered without the slightest hesitation, her eyes fixed on me like she had already won the fight.

"I hope you're ready to lose your position, Smith," she taunted.

A few students laughed, but I didn't bother replying. There was no point wasting my breath before a fight, especially when I was still fucking injured.

Mr. Kaf waited until the murmurs died down before speaking.

"Since both parties have agreed, this challenge will proceed."

He stepped away from the center of the training hall and looked at both of us.

"The rules remain the same. Three minutes. No weapons."

He paused, making sure everyone was paying attention.

"Elemental magic is permitted."

The words had barely left his mouth before whispers broke out around the hall.

"Did he just say elemental magic?"

"I thought only the royal families and Cardinals could use magic."

"My father said Purebloods could use it too."

"I always thought that was just a myth."

"So... the rumors are true?"

Mr. Kaf allowed the whispers to continue for a few seconds before raising his hand.

Silence fell over the room once again.

"This is a spar," he said. "You are here to prove your strength, not to kill each other. If I believe either of you has crossed the line, I will stop the fight immediately. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Mr. Kaf," Agnes and I answered together.

Phoenix gave an excited whistle from inside the jade whistle tucked beneath my collar.

PHOENIX: "Oh, this is going to be fun."

I ignored him.

The students quickly stepped away from the center of the hall, leaving a wide space between Agnes and me.

More whispers followed.

"Agnes is actually going to use magic?"

"I've only seen Blaze use it before."

"And Roman."

"What about Tyson and Zeke?"

"They're Cardinals, so it's normal."

"So if Agnes is truly a Pureblood and not a bastard like the tier 1 elites whispers, she will have one too right?"

"Shh... don't say that out loud."

I looked toward the two people who had said it. They were both tier 3 elite students, and from the way they glanced around after speaking, they knew they had said too much.

It was truly a shame that one's fellow academy mate could discuss another person's life as if it were some interesting piece of gossip.

Pitiful.

Just as I was stretching my body and testing how much it could handle, another round of gossip reached my ears.

"I heard she failed first year and is repeating."

"Yeah, but it's not because she was weak."

An excited voice immediately asked, "Then do you know why?"

"They said she refused to work with anyone below her. She kept fighting every challenge by herself, so the academy made her repeat the year to learn her lesson."

Ah. I glanced at Agnes from the corner of my eye. Her face had turned red, and her eyes were filled with rage.

It wasn't like she could stop the gossip, though. Someone let out a low whistle.

"So she's basically stronger than every first-year here?"

"No wonder she looks so confident."

Riley folded her arms and smirked from where she stood beside her twin, Wendy, and Bea.

"Lunara's finished."

Bea shot her an annoyed look but didn't say anything.

Her attention went back to me.

Roman stood beside Blaze with his hands tucked into his pockets, his expression blank as usual.

Blaze folded his arms across his chest.

"I've been looking forward to a good fight."

Roman glanced at him, looking a little irritated.

"Why?"

Blaze smiled without taking his eyes off the training floor.

"I want to know if Smith really is as good as she looked during the preliminary assessment. Because if she is, then I can challenge her."

I sighed. Of course, Blaze was already thinking about his next fight, no wonder he has been watching me.

Mr. Kaf stepped back until he stood outside the sparring area.

His gaze settled on Agnes first.

Then on me.

"Begin."

For a brief moment, neither of us moved.

Then a soft breeze drifted across the training hall.

It wasn't strong enough for anyone to notice at first, but it brushed past my face before circling Agnes's feet.

The breeze grew stronger with every passing second.

Loose strands of her blonde hair lifted into the air. Dust rolled across the training floor before gathering around her boots.

I heard someone behind me gasp.

"The wind..."

"It isn't coming from outside."

Another student swallowed hard.

"She's doing that."

"No..."

"It can't be."

The wind continued circling Agnes until it wrapped around her legs like a living thing.

The entire hall fell silent, every pair of eyes was fixed on her.

Someone finally found their voice.

"So this..."

"This is the power of a Pureblood."

Another student shook his head slowly.

"I never believed the stories."

"I did."

"My grandfather always said Purebloods are born with gifts ordinary werewolves can only dream of."

"So the rumors were true all along."

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous."

A third student looked at me with pity.

"Lunara is in trouble."

"I don't think she can beat someone like that."

Agnes smiled when she heard them, then looked at me.

Sincerely, I wasn't scared or anything. I was only worried about my damn injury reopening.

"I'll give you one last chance to surrender."

I met her gaze and frowned at her arrogance.

"I'm not interested," I replied coldly.

Her smile disappeared.

"Your choice."

The wind beneath her feet burst outward, and she shot toward me so quickly that several students stumbled backward in surprise.

She closed the distance between us in the blink of an eye, her fist already aimed at my face.

Agnes's fist came at me faster than I expected.

I tilted my head just enough for it to miss my face. Even then, the gust that followed her punch brushed against my cheek, sharp enough to sting.

She didn't give me a chance to recover.

Her foot barely touched the ground before she pushed off again.

The wind gathered around her legs, carrying her across the floor with frightening speed.

She threw a gust of wind toward me in the form of a punch. I blocked it with my forearm.

The impact sent a dull ache through my arm and forced me back a step.

She spun with the movement, her elbow coming straight for my ribs.

I had already calculated her next move, so I twisted out of the way.

Her strike missed me by inches, and the foolish students erupted into cheers for her.

"Did you see that?"

"She's so fast!"

"I can't even keep up with her movements."

"I told you Purebloods were different."

Agnes smiled as she continued pressing forward.

"You've got good reflexes," she praised, smiling at me.

She threw another punch.

"But reflexes alone won't save you from me."

I remained silent, talking would only distract me.

She attacked again, refusing to give me a moment to breathe. She kept closing the little distance between us, making every attack more difficult to avoid.

Every strike flowed into the next as though she'd practiced this routine a thousand times.

Her movements were smooth, controlled, and on point. Uncle Kael would have been proud of a student like her.

Well, too bad for her.

I would have to break that ego of hers today because I, Lunara Throneborne, wasn't going to lose to her.

Each burst of wind beneath her feet and around her body made her faster than before.

If it were just any ordinary werewolf, she probably would have won the fight.

But I wasn't just any ordinary werewolf. I intended to wear her out before I beat the crap out of her.

She lunged at me again, this time shaping the wind around her arm into a sharp blade.

I dodged.

The attack missed me and continued past my shoulder, forcing Agnes to stumble when she failed to control her momentum properly.

What a shame.

Such a powerful girl, yet she still hadn't mastered her abilities properly.

And she had the nerve to treat people like trash.

"How long are you going to keep jumping around like a chicken…"

BOOM!

Another gust shot toward me.

I dodged again.

Unfortunately, the movement pulled at my side.

Pain flashed through my ribs.

My injury was opening.

"Lunara is losing!" Riley yelled loud enough for everyone to hear.

I refused to pay attention to her.

I stayed on the defensive. Whenever Agnes aimed for my head, I ducked beneath the strike.

If she came for my chest, I redirected her arm and stepped aside.

When there wasn't enough room to dodge, I blocked and took the impact.

Phoenix clicked his tongue inside my head.

PHOENIX: "You know, watching you refuse to fight back is a sore sight."

I ignored him.

He fucking went in again.

PHOENIX: "You've already figured out how to beat her, so do it and end this."

Again, I ignored him.

Although I had already figured out how to end the fight, I couldn't help thinking about what would happen if I followed through.

Agnes wasn't my enemy. She was my teammate. If I used the plan in my head, I might have to break a few bones.

I didn't want that. Agnes suddenly stepped back for the first time since the fight began.

A slow smile spread across her face.

"I was wondering why you kept jumping around like a gutter rat."

Her eyes drifted toward my left side.

"And I finally realized it."

My heart sank.

All thirty-two of her adult teeth went on full display, showing exactly how pleased she was to have found my weakness.

My injury. So she'd been testing me this entire time. Now she knew exactly what she was looking for.

Before I could adjust my stance, she rushed at me again. This time, every attack came for my left side.

Suddenly, a sharp, knife-like blade of wind shot toward my side. I could have dodged it.

But if I did, the foolish people behind me who had been cheering for her might not make it out alive.

So I did what I knew how to do.

I used Uncle Kael's fourth technique, drawing my internal warmth through my body to strengthen my bones before impact, and blocked it for them.

Regardless of the technique unhurt physically, the force still shook me.

A punch from her followed immediately after. I redirected it upward causing a hole in the ceiling.

I was badly injured now, especially internally, but I made sure not to show it.

Not even when my mouth filled with blood. I swallowed it. Phoenix continued hissing inside my head and cursing me out.

I ignored him.

Agnes spun, using the momentum to launch another kick toward the same spot.

The wind around her leg whistled through the air before crashing into my guard.

The force pushed me backward.

She didn't stop.

She kept attacking, using the internal wind force she'd gathered around her body and directing it into every strike.

Again.

And again.

Every attack went after the same target.

The students quickly noticed the change.

"Why does she keep attacking there?"

"I think Smith's protecting that side."

"Wait..."

"Is she injured?"

Bea's worried voice reached my ears.

"My poor Lunara..."

Roman's gaze narrowed.

For the first time, from the corner of my eye, I saw Blaze stop smiling.

"So that's what she's doing."

Agnes heard them too.

Her smile widened.

"I knew it."

She gathered more wind around her hand before charging at me again.

This time, she feinted toward my shoulder before changing direction at the last second.

I moved to block.

Too late and I couldn't help but blame myself for foolishly blocking that attack.

If I hadn't, I might have had enough strength left to finish this without revealing how badly injured I was.

Her knee slammed into my left side.

Pain exploded through my ribs.

I stumbled backward as the fresh bandages beneath my uniform finally ripped open.

A warm trickle spread across my skin.

The sharp ache combined with the internal pain almost brought me to one knee.

Almost but Uncle Kael's voice echoed inside my head as clearly as if he were standing beside me.

Pain is a distraction, not a life-ending sentence. What's life-ending is when you give in to the pain.

I drew a slow breath to calm my nerves. The pain was there but I was still standing.

I lifted my eyes and saw Agnes smiling smugly.

I had never bowed before anyone, and I wasn't going to start today.

I straightened before Agnes could take advantage of the moment.

She laughed.

"So that's why you've been skidding around."

She took another step toward me.

"And here I was thinking you were scared."

I didn't answer her, every breath mattered now. I needed to preserve my strength.

She tilted her head.

"So you were protecting an old wound."

The blood soaking through my uniform had already answered for me.

Around us, the students had fallen unusually quiet.

No one cheered for her anymore.

No one laughed.

They simply watched.

Even those who had been convinced Agnes would win were beginning to realize something wasn't right.

Blaze frowned.

"She's been fighting while injured?"

Roman didn't answer, I could feel his eyes remaining fixed on me.

Then I heard Bea's strangled gasp.

"She's bleeding..."

Agnes cracked her knuckles before settling back into her stance.

"I was planning to end this quickly."

She smiled widely. Her fine, pearly teeth suddenly looked ugly to me.

"But now..."

Her eyes gleamed with satisfaction.

"I think I'll take my time to roast you alive like the rat you are.”