Duelcrest Academy

«Weren't you sure I'd win?» I grunted in a pained voice.

«Shut up!» Sophia muttered while pinning me down on the bed in my room.

«Idiot...» I sighed as I stroked her hair.

The night had been nothing short of horrible. To avoid any chance of Sam's group or Jonathan pulling one on us, we had all slept in Celeste's room, and everyone but me had taken turns standing guard outside the door. Not being able to cuddle with Sophia was a tragedy in itself, but to make matters worse, the atmosphere in our group had turned as cold as an icy wasteland.

When I had returned from my conversation with Sam, I had found Wilhelm grilling Sophia about why she had lied about her card. Celeste had quickly forced him to drop the subject, but this imposed silence was perhaps even worse. Staying in that room, feeling the eyes of my worried friends on me, almost like a condemned prisoner, had been unbearable.

It had been with relief that I had let Sophia drag me away this morning when light had begun to seep through the window of the Academy building. Relief that had quickly turned to pain as she had pinned me to the bed and hugged me tightly.

«I know you'll win, but how could I not be worried about you fighting someone with dark magic? Even if you are grazed by it, you could be seriously injured. Suppose you lose a hand again, they won't be able to reattach it!» Sophia complained in a muffled voice as she pressed her face into my chest.

«Wow, thanks for the encouraging words,» I replied with a chuckle, «but you're right... if I lose my hands I won't be able to do this anymore!»

I poked her sides, causing her to squirm.

«Stop it!» she complained, trying her best to suppress her laughter, then looked up from my chest, «are you really not scared at all?»

«Of course I am. But I'm done letting fear consume me. I'm going to use it to fight harder and get back to you... and if I can, it's all thanks to you. You told me to be happy, remember? So no more crybaby Elizabeth!»

Sophia finally seemed to calm down at my words. She smiled softly and said:

«Let's have another date when this game is over,» she said, caressing my cheek.

«Alright, now there is absolutely no way I will lose.»

«Idiot... but Elizabeth, are you sure you can go all out against Sam? He's different from the enemies we've thought of so far.»

«I know... but during our talk yesterday I understood how determined he is and I want to meet his determination with mine. It's the best I can do for him.»

«I see...»

Sophia stayed on top of me, her ear on my chest, almost as if she wanted to listen to my heartbeat. In that moment of silence, I decided to bring up what had happened yesterday:

«Sophia... your card.»

«I'm sorry. Between the duel with Celeste and the aftermath, it had slipped my mind to tell you about it. I remembered when we were close to the meeting, but I didn't want to freak you out.»

«It's okay, I don't blame you. I'm just worried that Wilhelm and the others might start doubting you again.»

«It doesn't matter, as long as you believe in me.»

«Sophia... they are our allies and friends...»

«I don't know Elizabeth. Apart from you and Celeste... I really can't bring myself to open up to anyone else. And the traitor... he could really screw us in this game.»

«Well, I guess we should thank Sam then. Thanks to his idea, the traitor won't be able to fuck with us anymore.»

Sophia seemed to hesitate for a second before nodding:

«I guess you're right.»

"Mmmh, she doesn't look convinced. In any case, her suspicions aside, I guess she just doesn't want to make other friends, I don't think that's a problem... she's made so much progress already, I don't think she should push her introverted self to do more. But... I still wish she would get along with them."

«Oh well,» I said, pushing her up to give her a hug, «you don't have to force yourself to make more friends if you don't want to. It's even better for me! I get to have you all to myself!» I exclaimed, cupping her head in my hands.

«I could have a thousand friends and you'd still be the only person I belong to,» she muttered, looking away.

«Awww, maybe Celeste is right, I have tamed you!» I giggled.

Sophia immediately turned her eyes to me, stunned:

«What did she say?!»

«Nothing!» I said, getting up from the bed.

But soon my wrist was caught in an iron grip and I was forced to turn around.

«I'll show you how 'tamed' I am after this game,» Sopiha declared, flicking her finger across my lower lip before overtaking me to get out of the room.

"Now... I definitely can't die!" I thought as I hurriedly followed her, giggling at how much she was blushing.

Twenty minutes later, after a solitary breakfast, we arrived at the magic training room to find the rest of our group waiting for us.

«I can't believe you were leisurely eating at a time like this,» Celeste sighed as we entered the room.

«Better to fight on a full stomach!» I exclaimed.

«I swear... you two are going to drive me crazy,» Celeste said, breaking into a smile as she looked at me and Sophia.

«What do you mean driving you?» Sophia replied cheekily.

«Oh, fuck it, I can't keep giving you the cold shoulder,» Celeste exclaimed, «Guys, I know what happened yesterday has got us all a bit on edge, but at this time we should all be cheering for Liz, okay?» she said then, turning to the rest of our companions.

Penny was the first to come over to me. She took my hands in hers and said:

«You're not trying to sacrifice yourself for me because of what we talked about back then, are you?» Penny asked, looking me straight in the eye.

«I'm not. I'm going to protect you and the others because I want to, not because I need to relieve my guilt. And I'm not going to sacrifice myself, I'm going to win,» I declared decisively.

«I see...»

Penny threw her arms around my neck:

«Then win, you idiot hero!»

«I will!»

Then it was Wilhelm's turn to come forward. But he didn't address me at first:

«Sophia... you'll have to explain yourself.»

«I will.»

«But for now, I'll trust you and cheer for Elizabeth with you,» he said with a nod.

Philemon was next.

«You got us into this mess, so you better win now... is that what you want me to tell you?»

I couldn't help but chuckle:

«Yeah, that's a pretty good line.»

«Be careful, Belvoir. Fighting dark magic is not something mere humans are meant to do. Unlike normal magic, it almost has a mind of its own, don't let it consume you. Try to finish the duel quickly, like you did against me,» Philemon added, turning to walk back close to Celeste.

«Thanks for the advice.»

Maybe we would never get along, but at least we respected each other, it seemed.

The last person to approach me was Nicole. The redhead said to me in a small voice:

«You better win...»

She didn't even look me in the eye.

"Is she really that mad at me? Is it because Penny won't get the 1000 points even if I win?"

But before I could ask what her problem was, the classroom door opened. I saw my companions tense up as Sam and his group, along with Jonathan Von Basque, entered the training room. The moment of truth had arrived.

«Good morning everyone,» Sam greeted us.

Only me and Sophia replied, the others just stared at him.

«I think it's better if we get this over with quickly, so everyone stops being so nervous,» Sam commented, taking off his blazer and pulling out his wand, «Shall we, Elizabeth?»

I nodded, taking out my wand as well.

«Before we start though... Celeste, could you do something for me?» Sam asked.

«What is it?» Celeste asked coldly.

«Could you give Jen the curse?»

"Uh?!"

«What are you trying to accomplish?» Celeste asked slowly, «This was not part of our deal.»

«Don't worry, the terms of the duel will force me to keep my end of the bargain and take the curse for myself. But if I win against Elizabeth, I can't really force you to do anything, can I? So I'd feel more comfortable with the keys to this game in our possession. Isn't it fair?»

«You should have told me yesterday!» Celeste complained.

«I would have, but I didn't think of it... Jonathan is the one who came up with the idea.»

We all turned towards Jonathan who was trying to hide behind the chubby and imposing guy called Ian.

"So I guess he joined their group after all. Anyway... let's just get this over with."

«Just do what he said, Celeste. I doubt he wants to trick us. We would just end up fighting.»

Celeste scoffed before walking up to Jen Corbain and holding out her hand. The little girl took it, visibly shaking. After a brief look of surprise, she turned to Sam.

«I see some kind of purple haze. I think she gave me the curse.»

«Anything else?» Celeste asked Sam Rover, clearly annoyed, «Shall I get you some coffee?»

«That won't be necessary!»Sam exclaimed, «let's go Elizabeth.»

But before he could enter the circular arena, Andrea stopped him. At the same time someone tugged on my sleeve.

«Crush him,» Sophia whispered into my ear before closing my mouth with a kiss.

I didn't care that we were doing it in front of everyone. All I could think about at that moment was that I was not going to let this kiss be our last. I held my head high as I entered the arena at the same time as Sam.

«Sam, I challenge you to a duel. If I win, you'll take the curse from Jen Corbain and keep it with you until the end of the game.»

«I accept! As for my condition... I have none!»

Was it because he wanted to kill me? Or... The request he had made the day before came back to me.

"Sam... do you...?"

But my thoughts were cut short as the translucent shield formed around us, just as the magical voice began its countdown. I took a deep breath, concentrating on the magical power flowing through me. It was so strong and seamless... I really could have done anything with it.

...3

2

1

«Meteor!»

I immediately used the most powerful spell I knew. Philemon was right, the less this duel lasted the better, as I was not familiar with dark magic. The arena was lit by the huge flaming boulder that had appeared in the air. But only for a split second.

«Dark Void.»

A mass of pure darkness erupted from Sam's raised hand at the same time as his wand threw a fireball at me.

I defended myself with a quick water shield as my meteor vanished as if it had never existed.

"So the fire component of the meteor is not enough to repel the darkness..."

The mass of darkness that had been floating in the air suddenly condensed into a sphere and shot towards me.

«Firestorm!» I shouted, hurling a stream of flames to intercept its course.

The jet-black matter stopped mid-hair, writhing almost like a beast before a predator. But I had no time to stare at it.

«Dark Crush.»

Another dark mass appeared above me, this time in the shape of a giant hammer.

"So dark magic can be doublecasted... this is problematic."

I quickly summoned a fire shield over my head, preventing the black hammer from crushing me. But of course, this double attack had pinned me down. Sam rushed towards me, his sword in his hands, out of its holster.

"Looks like, unlike me, he doesn't have to channel his spells... it's just like Philemon said, dark magic is almost alive once it leaves his hands. But in this case, all I have to do is..."

Just like in my previous duel, I couldn't stay on the defensive. Of course, my fire spells were strong enough to temporarily repel the darkness, but I couldn't dispel it. But I couldn't just give up defence altogether, or I would have been eaten.

"So I just have to combine defence and attack."

I quickly concentrated my mana and just before Sam could reach me, I shot it out in all directions, turning it into roaring flames. It wasn't even a real spell. Just a complete scorched earth attack of pure brute force and no finesse.

«Dark Shield!»

Sam was forced to recall one of the dark masses to protect himself from the huge eruption of flames. Looking up, I saw the maul of darkness being pushed back and back towards the top of the duel barrier by the force of my magic. And... it disappeared.

«Ahhh... you really are amazing!» Sam said, panting behind his dark shield. The tips of his hair were burnt and his uniform blackened, but he seemed unarmed.

"Wait... why did my fire just dispel his darkness? Even if it was a powerful attack... that shouldn't be possible!"

«Don't daydream Elizabeth!»

A dark tentacle sprouted from his right hand and swept across the arena. I quickly created a shield of fire to block it. But at the same time the shield of darkness mutated and another tentacle tried to attack me from the left. I cast another shield to defend myself.

«Ah, I wish I had such a mastery of fire magic!» Sam complimented me, «you are even faster than I am with my dark one.»

"Fast or not, we're at a standstill if I can't pierce the dark shield he summoned."

I was thinking that when one of the tentacles started to flail around and a second later it split in two.

«Crap!»

I quickly re-gathered my magical strength and began to send out roaring flames around me, as I had done before, to defend myself from the now triple attack.

"The fact that darkness can mutate like that makes this the only counter I have..."

But this was not good. Beads of sweat ran down my forehead. Even after summoning a small layer of water around me to keep my own spell from burning me alive, the temperature was still almost unbearable. Meanwhile, Sam had recalled one of the tentacles to defend himself, while the other, now split in four different appendages, flailed against my fire wave.

"I can defend myself and put him on the defensive as well... but I have no way to pierce that shield of darkness." I thought, as Sam stood still and withstood my attack. "But... wait! I managed to dispel his previous hammer-like attack..."

But the tentacles still looked very active.

"Why did it work before? What's different...?"

It took me a moment to realise.

"...! It touched the barrier!"

I increased my fire to the extreme, so much so that I began to gasp for air. The dark apparitions retreated and retreated until they were pushed against the left side of the barrier and... disappeared!"

"The barrier can destroy darkness?! Why?!"

This wasn't the time to ask questions. I had a way out now.

"If I can push Sam against the barrier... I can win!"

Taking advantage of the break in his attacks, I concentrated my fire aura into a single point and turned it into a raging bolt of flame.

«You don't learn, do you, Elizabeth?» Sam shouted, condensing his dark shield into a thick mass in front of him. My fire cannon was stopped in its tracks as it collided with it. At the same time he summoned another tentacle to attack me as before, which I easily stopped.

We were stuck again. My spell wasn't strong enough to push him back, it seemed.

"If only... I could..."

But as I thought that, Sam yelled:

«Dark Rain!»

"What?!"

I had just time to surround myself in flames again before a downpour of darkness began to drop down on the arena. The droplets were stopped in mid-air by my fire, but continued to pile up against it.

"He was casting two spells already! The shield and the tentacle!"

«I don't blame you for thinking the normal rules of magic apply to darkness, Elizabeth,» Sam stated in response to my stunned expression.

"So he was trying to trick me into thinking he was restricted to double casting dark spells."

Now that I knew that, I was pretty much forced to stay on the defensive.

"But this... is weird."

«Stone Spike!»

"Huh?!"

I heard the ground shake beneath me.

«Typhoon!»

I leapt into the air just in time to avoid the stone pillar that was about to pierce me.

"He can cast normal spells while summoning that much darkness?!"

Luckily, my newfound casting abilities meant that my fire dome was strong enough to keep the darkness at bay even while doublecasting. But I couldn't keep this up forever.

«Stone Spike!»

I bounced around the arena, dodging Sam's attacks.

"At this rate..." I thought, panting, "I'll run out of breath before I run out of mana."

What was I going to do? The darkness was piling up on my fiery barrier like flies on a bottle of syrup, ready to devour me as soon as my defences broke. I needed a breakthrough.

"Remember Elizabeth... the barrier..."

I dodged another spike before landing.

«Stone Spike!»

"Here goes nothing!"

«Speed!»

I darted forward, dodging Sam's attack and feeding the fire around me with as much mana as I could. I could feel it erupting with such force that I was afraid it would tear my body apart. The dark rain was pushed back with such force that it instantly crashed against the barrier and disappeared. I focused all my fire on the sword I had just unsheathed.

«SAM!» I yelled as I ran towards him. He was also at the edge of the barrier, a shield of darkness in front of him.

My sword went through it as the boy's eyes widened, just before a dark aura in the shape of a jaw grew around him, ready to swallow me whole.

«In your dreams!» I raised my hand and conjured a shield of fire around me. My flaming sword had pierced his dark shield and entered his shoulder.

But it wasn't over yet. Time seemed to slow down as I saw part of the darkness that made up his shield converge on his sword swinging at my exposed side.

"Shit!"

I was out of options. If I stopped one of my two spells, I would either be hit by the jaws or my arm would be eaten by his shield that was surrounding my weapon.

"If only... if only... if only I could cast another spell."

In that split second, I poured all my mana into my flank.

«GET OUT!»

Flames erupted from my side, almost like a flaming wing. A flash of surprise lit up Sam's face as I pushed him against the barrier with all my might, putting my entire body weight on my sword. All his spells instantly vanished.

«You are insane...» Sams blurted out.

I grabbed my sword with both hands and pulled it up, slicing open his shoulder. Sam slid down with his back against the barrier without even screaming in pain.

"Have I... won?"

I pointed the sword at his neck when suddenly, almost as if my ears had been unplugged from something obstructing them, I heard screams of despair.

«SAM! NO!»

I moved my eyes to the right to see his companions punching and banging against the barrier.

"...is this how a hero should feel when he kills the demon?" I thought, biting my lip.

But I couldn't waver.

«Are you awake? Since the duel is not over, you must be. Surrender and let's finish this game.»

«...»

Sam let out a pained grunt.

«I'm sorry.»

The whole word went dark.

«What is...?»

But before I could move my sword to attack him, I realised it was no longer in my hand. Me and Sam Rover, collapsed in front of me, were now in a deep black abyss.

«I'm sorry, Elizabeth,» Sam repeated, struggling to his feet as I took a step back.

As his eyes met mine, I saw that they were now a bright purple.

«Fireball!» I shouted quickly, but nothing came out of my wand.

«It's useless. This is true darkness. Only light magic can penetrate it, fire doesn't cut it anymore.»

Six small horns had sprouted from his head. His cheek was now marked by what looked like a jet black tattoo.

«You... had this power all along and you didn't use it?» I asked slowly.

«I didn't want to. As you can see, it brings out the part of me that I hate.»

«Are you telling me... that despite your words, you underestimated me...»

But no, I refused to accept it. This wasn't like the Sam I thought I knew. No, everything pointed in a different direction. His request to me yesterday. The fact that he hadn't put any conditions on this duel. The fact that he hadn't used this power yet.

«No... you never intended to win this duel in the first place,» I muttered.

«Ah... you really can read me like an open book,» Sam smiled weakly.

«You wanted to sacrifice yourself the whole time?» I asked dumbfounded.

«That's right... but I knew my friends would never accept it. That's why I provoked Celeste and your group into agreeing to this duel. I thought that if I was defeated in a fair fight, when I looked like I was doing my best, they'd understand that it was meant to be. That way we would have avoided both having to fight each other and having to point the finger at a victim.»

«But...»

«But I can't do it,» Sam blurted out, «I'm weak, Elizabeth. Hearing their voices so desperate... I can't die here. Even if it means looking at the ugliest part of me and throwing away my humanity, I'll win so I can go back to them. So I'm sorry, Elizabeth, but I really have to kill you.»

«I see...»

This really did look like my end. The darkness I had tried so hard to ward off was now touching my skin. If I was alive, it was only because Sam wanted to apologise to me. He was bleeding badly, but I had no hope of prolonging this fight.

I took another deep breath. The darkness didn't smell of anything, but it was still all around me.

"Only light can penetrate the darkness..."

«So Elizabeth... let's finish this. Don't worry, it should be painless.»

"But the barrier around us... why can it dispel it then?"

Sam raised his hand to me.

"I've never seen a barrier like this one before I came to the Academy..."

Everything clicked into place. Light... I had seen something radiating pure, bright light. Something that this Academy had gone far beyond morality to test.

Mana.

"Aldric defeated the Demon King alone."

Light magic... didn't it ever exist? Maybe... maybe it was just mana.

"And that means... I can pierce this abyss."

As I felt the darkness twisting around me, ready to swallow me whole, the flame I had found inside me during the dungeon trial rekindled. But this time I knew what it was. So...

«What?!» Sam looked at me petrified.

In that dark abyss where there was no light, I was now creating my own. The jet black mass that was about to eat me alive retreated as the colours of the worlds surrounded me like a armour as my very being began to radiate a bright glow.

«ELIZABETH!»

Even though the arena was still shrouded in darkness, except for the small clearing I had cleared, I could now hear my friend's voice calling my name.

I smiled.

«Sorry Sam, but I also have someone calling for me.»

A globe of light appeared in my hand, like a miniature sun.

"So this is my mana, eh?"

Since it was, I could shape it however I wanted. I concentrated as I looked at Sam. saw his lips curl into a smile as the blade of pure light I had created cut the arena in two, slicing the darkness and his arm clean off his shoulder.

The abyss had been dispelled. All the colours of the world returned as the boy collapsed to the ground. I quickly rushed to his side to tend to him.

«...you really are a damn hero, huh?» he groaned before losing consciousness.

A cacophony of screams erupted in the room as I felt a pair of hands grab me from behind.

I turned to see Sophia's face streaked with tears.

«ELIZABETH!»

«I'm all right, all right!» I yelled as I hugged her, «but we need to get Sam to the infirmary pronto!»

But I didn't need to say it. His group was already at his side. Ian laid him on his back and headed for the door, the others following with horrified expressions.

"A hero... why do I feel like a villain right now?"

But I had no time to think as I was surrounded by the rest of my friends.

«Elizabeth! Are you okay?! Everything just went dark and we couldn't see anything!» Penny exclaimed, looking just as shaken as Sophia.

«That was high level demonic magic!» exclaimed Wilhelm, «how did you get out of there unharmed?!»

«Calm down,» Philemon said as he tried to get them to give me room to breathe, «even if she looks fine, we should still get her to the infirmary.»

Only two people did not come to me. Celeste, who was a little further back, looking at me while biting her thumbnail, and Nicole, who was still sitting with her head in her hands, tears streaming down her face. I didn't have time to say anything before I was dragged away.

«You all stay here!» Sophia snapped as she grabbed my hand, «Give us some space!»

She shouted in a high pitched voice that did not suit her. I gave the others an apologetic smile as we left the room.

«Sophia, I don't need the infirmary! And you're hurting my hand!» I complained.

«Yes you need it,» she replied, turning to me with a devastated look on her face, «you used that power, didn't you?»

«I... I did. But I really had no choice. I would've...»

«I know, I'm not blaming you! But we need to check how your mana is!» she shouted, continuing to drag me along.

"So that's why she left the others behind"

«But... can we wait a bit? I want to give Sam and his friends some space.»

Finally, Sophia stopped pulling me away.

«Fine...» she said and then...

«UGH!... I didn't say crush my ribs instead!» I groaned, but I quickly relaxed and let her support me. Now that the duel was over, I began to feel very tired.

«Ahhh... I was so scared Elizabeth... when I saw you disappear into that sphere of darkness... I...»

«Not so sure I would win, eh?»

«I'm sorry.»

«It's okay. But I'm fine now.»

«But your mana...»

I concentrated, using Sophia's breath to calm the residual adrenaline from the fight. I couldn't feel anything different inside me, but of course that didn't mean much.

"According to Skylark, I won't be able to feel it... unless!"

«Come with me Sophia!»

I let go of the hug and ran in the opposite direction of the infirmary, towards our classroom. Outside I found what I was looking for.

«This is...» Sophia muttered.

«The mana measuring device,» I finished for her, looking at the glass sphere with a sense of ominous foreboding.

"Well, there's no point in wavering now... what's done is done."

My hand opened the cabinet and touched the sphere. Like the last time, I felt as if my entire being had been sucked into it.

«...Elizabeth...»

«Sophia...»

Tears were streaming down her face. I quickly hugged her again:

«It's still very bright! Brighter than most people!» I shouted, trying to reassure her. But my heart was racing.

«But compared to before...»

«Yes,... but it's not like I'm going around shooting mana everywhere. I told you, I'll only use it when I'm in danger, ok?»

«I... no, it's not okay,» she murmured.

«Don't be unreasonable Sophia... besides, aren't you happy? Your girlfriend is a real hero now!» I said, trying to sound cheerful despite the shock of seeing how much my mana had been drained.

«What do you mean?»

«Mana! Sophia! I pierced the darkness with my mana! I survived a demonic spell like the heroes of legends!»

«I see...»

Sophia was silent for a second.

«Elizabeth... then... what if this academy was made to create artificial heroes?»

«Artificial heroes?»

«Yes. If the original goal was to defeat the Demon King, they probably wanted to find a way to use light magic. That's when they found out that mana could be used in the same way. So they tried to force it out of people by inflicting pain.»

«...you might be right... but then how did Aldric end up like that? I mean, I can use light magic now, if you want to call it that... but I don't look like a giant troll like him.»

«Well...» Sophia wiped away her tears before looking at me with a serious expression, «you're going to die if you keep using it, so... what if they found a way to avoid that, or at least postpone it?»

«A way... you mean Aldric is like that because...»

«Because he has more mana than his body can handle.»

I looked at Sophia with my mouth half open.

«You said that losing all your mana makes people vanish into thin air, so... wouldn't the opposite happen as well?»

That was such a spot-on assumption that my head almost began to spin. Those excessive muscles, those scars that looked like something had burst out of them.

"Chloe had a similar wound on her body."

It all made so much sense. Aldric was like a bottle that had been filled with too much water and was now overflowing.

"And it explains why he's able to shoot those beams of light willy-nilly."

But how did they manage to give him so much mana without imploding?

«Sophia-»

I had to stop as we both heard screams coming from down the corridor. Nodding, we quickly ran in that direction. Turning the corner, we found ourselves in front of a devastating scene. An armless Sam was coming out of the infirmary as the blonde girl called Andrea tried desperately to stop him. My heart sank as I heard her scream in agony. The voices of his other friends soon joined in.

«You don't have to watch,» Sophia whispered into my ear, taking my hand and trying to lead me back to the training room.

«I have to. I'm the one who sentenced him to death.»

So I stood there, leaning on Sophia's shoulder, listening to the cries and lamentations of a group of friends like mine who were about to lose someone dear to them. It took a while for Sam to leave them, kissing Andrea goodbye and leaving her on the floor in despair.

Sam gave me a smile when he saw me.

«You could've at least let them reattach your arm,» I commented as he came closer.

«They couldn't...» he said, lowering his voice, «all my nerve endings are gone.»

I looked at him in disbelief.

«I'm sorry!»

«Sorry for what?» he laughed, «I was about to kill you. Besides, I won't be needing arms any time soon anyway. But... that power... was it really light magic like I think?»

«Kind of...»

«I see you want to keep it a secret, as I suspected. Don't worry... but are you all right? You looked pretty shocked... could it be that it has some drawbacks?»

«Wasn't I the one who was good at reading people?»

«Ahahah I guess I'm learning a bit from you. But... don't sacrifice yourself Elizabeth, there are people who will miss you very much,» he said then, looking at Sophia.

«Look who's talking...»

"This guy... he's not a demon, he's a saint."

«Very well... shall we go in? It's only half an hour before the game ends. I can feel the binding spell of the duel pushing me to keep the deal.»

So, like two executioners, Sophia and I pushed the door open for him. The others were waiting for us, talking, but quickly fell silent when they saw Sam.

«Are you all right?» Celeste asked as he approached.

«What does it look like?» Sam asked with a chuckle.

«You look awfully cheerful for someone about to die. Are you going to pull something?»

Sam put his only hand in his pocket and pulled out a card.

«You can see for yourself,» he said.

Celeste took the card from him before handing him hers. As she did so, their hands touched.

«So you really have the curse with you... and you gave me the Demon.»

«That's right, could you give me the curse back now? That was our deal.»

For a moment I thought Celeste was going to say no, but it was only a moment. My friend patted Sam on the shoulder.

«Demon or not... you were a pretty cool guy, Sammy.»

«Oh, is this the part where people start being nice to me because I'm dying?»

«I guess... well guys, game over. Let's get out of here and let Sam die with dignity.»

One by one, my friends began to leave the room. Meanwhile, Sam came close to me.

«Don't worry, I'm not trying to curse you,» he said, «I just wanted to thank you for coming with me... and apologise for trying to kill you. I really didn't mean to, it was just a moment of weakness. I'm glad you managed to defeat me.»

«I know... I know your type by now.»

«My type?» he asked.

I didn't realise it, but my tears had started to flow. Sam seemed to panic at the sight.

«A fucking hero...» I muttered.

I turned away and headed for the exit, not before Sam could say:

«...thank you Elizabeth, I'm glad I got to meet you.»

I couldn't answer. I couldn't tell a man with such determination that I wished I'd never met him.

I was about to close the door behind me when something blocked it.

«Uh?»

I turned to see Nicole leaving the room.

«Sorry I didn't see you were still inside...»I said.

«It's okay" she said, "you're crying...»

I looked at her, there were tears in her eyes too.

"..."

I grabbed Nicole's wrist.

"...nothing."

«What is it, Elizabeth?» she asked.

«Sorry... I just want to talk. You've been acting strange with me... are you angry about Penny?»

Something quivered in Nicole's expression. In a second, I was crushed into a hug for the umpteenth time.

"What do people have against my ribs today?"

«Liz, I'm so sorry! Yes, I was angry, but then the duel happened... the thought that you might die and I didn't even say goodbye or cheer for you! I felt so bad!»

"Just like I feel bad for suspecting you now..."

I sighed.

«It's okay, Nicole. We'll find a way to escape before the end of next week. I'll do everything I can to save Penny and you, of course.»

«Thank you... and good job, you were amazing... but now I'm sorry... I'm not usually like this so... I'm going to rest.»

Nicole released me from the hug before walking away. Celeste, who had been talking to Sopiha a few steps away, approached me:

«What was her deal?»

«Nothing, don't worry,» I said, wiping away my tears, «she didn't take Sam's curse, if that's what you're worried about,» I added, lowering my voice.

«I see...»

Then Celeste came closer to me.

«And what about what happened during the duel? Do you really think I wouldn't notice?» she asked.

In a panic, I raised my head to look into Sophia's eyes, but Celeste put an arm around my shoulder and pushed me down to speak into my ear:

«Triplecasting... how the hell did you manage that?»

«Oh... that's what you meant!»

«Of course that's what I meant! You blocked the sword with one spell while you were already casting two. That's three spells, Liz Liz. Don't try and lie about it.»

Celeste's tone was almost threatening. Of course she would want to know.

«I... I guess it was just adrenaline? Like I thought 'oh fuck I'm going to die' and it happened!»

That was actually pretty close to the truth. Of course, I had left out the part about my mana control being off the charts.

Of course Celeste didn't believe me:

«Oh of course....that's a lie! Come on Elizabeth, many mages have had near-death experiences and never managed to cast three spells!»

«Celeste, leave her alone, can't you see she's tired?» Sophia intervened to save me.

Celeste sighed:

«You're right, I'm sorry... I got too excited. But you two girls... we are going to have a nice talk when this is over.»

And with that she went back to lean against the wall. But I was kind of happy about her sudden attack. It had distracted me a bit from what was about to happen. As the minutes passed, the tears started to flow again. Sophia held me tight as I thought of Sam's last day and his sacrifice for all of us.

«5 minutes left in the game.»

The magical voice was a grim reminder of what was to come. I had half expected his group to attempt a last-minute rescue, but none came.

"They are either afraid or, like me, they are respecting his wishes."

«The game is over.»

As this terrible announcement echoed through the school, Sophia, Celeste and I nodded to each other. We hesitantly walked to the door and opened it.

Sam Rover was lying motionless on the floor.

«Don't look,» Sophia said, but I ignored her.

I kneeled down and touched Sam's body to turn him towards me. My heart dropped. There was no trace of his kind smile on his face, but a look of pure agony and despair.

«What is this?»

Sophia said in disbelief. His neck was torn and burned, as if it had been struck by a spell.

"Is this how the curse killed him?"

But just then we heard a scream.

«What's going on?!»

We all darted out as more screams erupted. They were coming from the courtyard. It only took us thirty seconds to get there. We opened the door and...

Surrounded by her friends, Jen Corbain lay on the floor, her body ravaged by purple curse marks. Sam's sacrifice had been for nothing.