Chapter 109

  this is a fictional story by realTensai

  MAYA’S POV

  “They are here.”

  Around fifty fourth-year students led by Jasmine made their way to our fortress aiming to take our lives. I gritted my teeth, trying to stop my body from trembling. I couldn’t show weakness.

  “Everything will be alright,” Lia said, noticing, no, feeling the uneasiness that spread within our ranks. She addressed everyone with a calm smile, her confidence like a cure to the disease called despair. “We will survive.”

  “YEAHHHH!” Kris shouted, seizing the opportunity to boost the morale, and everyone immediately followed up, creating a powerful statement

  Yes, we will survive.

  Unfazed by our battle cry, Jasmine kept leading the way. But then she stopped.

  The students behind her had already realized the difficulty of reaching us upon laying eyes on the massive plants and roots fortifying the building. Confusion spread through their ranks as they wondered about how to go about it.

  “Everyone with a fire affinity step forward,” Jasmine commanded, her low voice somehow even reaching us here on top of the building. The fourth-years complied and sixteen people now stood next to Jasmine. With a face I couldn’t read, she just pointed at us and said, “Burn them down.”

  A shiver ran down my spine as Jasmine’s words reached my ears. The fire mages grinned as each of them conjured a massive fireball. The temperature skyrocketed as they fused and made their way to our forest-like fortress. Their attacks connected in a loud boom, setting our hard work ablaze.

  “As if we didn’t know that fire is our obvious weakness,” I said, seeing how they did just what we had expected them to do. “Water team, your time has come!”

  Several students stepped forward, combating the fire with water spells. However, even more students participated and poured water we had gathered in tanks to put out the fire. We had enough time to fill tanks with tap water, and in the unlikely case we might run out, we already had a team whose sole purpose was refilling them. Within seconds, the fire was extinguished, only leaving behind a steam cloud.

  The fourth years were taken aback, their mighty attacks leading to nothing. We can keep going if you want. Let’s see if you ran out of mana first or we out of water.

  Realizing that they were at a disadvantage, they hesitated. However, the real surprise still awaited them.

  Go wrack havoc, Lia.

  Suddenly, the earth started shaking as if giants were having a feast. The massive roots moved, erupting like a sentient being. The tendrils and trunks gained a will of their own and attacked the ones opposing it. The fourth-years wanted to run away, but it was too late.

  Tendrils chained them to the ground, immobilizing them like a snake its prey. Their sheer mass overwhelmed them and even when cut down, they still moved to fulfill their obligation.

  This is our trump card.

  Lia created the roots protecting us, which meant they were still under her control. What they thought was only a defensive measure was, in reality, an offensive might.

  “Archer team, are you ready?” Kris asked, raising his hand. “Fire!”

  Arrows made out of twigs with buds as a tip rained down at the fourth-years and as soon as they connected, even more tendrils formed born from the buds they had as a tip. This only immobilized them more and in a matter of seconds, the majority of our enemies couldn’t move.

  Defeating them without killing them.

  This was the ideal Lia wanted to accomplish, thus giving birth to this ultimate strategy. Still, even though everything seemed to go in our favor, my heart wouldn’t stop racing. The source of the uneasiness being one person.

  Jasmine.

  Somehow, no plants or arrows reached her. Yet the most unsettling feature about her was that all of this didn’t change her expression at all. Her indifferent look made no sense.

  “Is this everything you’ve prepared?”

  As I heard these words, every cell of mine shouted at me to run away.

  The sky ignited in white-hot radiance, searing my vision with its brilliance. A deafening roar followed, shaking the very ground beneath us. The next second, the world had changed.

  W-What happened?

  Everything that stood between Jasmine and our fortress was simply… gone. Not burned. Not shattered. Just erased, as if it had never existed. The only thing that remained was a straight path for her to enter the building.

  “Come on, let’s go.”

  No one, not even her comrades, could comprehend what had happened. Still, they adapted faster than us and followed their leader’s lead. They cut free from the roots using fire spells, even if they burned themselves just so they could stand at Jasmine’s side.

  “I won’t let that happen!” Lia shouted, her reaction to the changed circumstances just as fast as the fourth-years’.

  Her roots erupted once more, closing the path Jasmine had just created. Or so she thought.

  Jasmine raised her hand, bringing forth flames created by light. They burned down Lia’s roots within seconds, but we had already prepared for this scenario.

  “Water team!”

  I didn’t even have to call them as they already poured liters of water on the flames. Yet they wouldn’t vanish.

  “W-What’s going on?”

  Jasmine’s flames spread like wildfire, unable to be stopped even by water. However, we didn’t even have time to worry about them, as Jasmine had already entered our building.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Shit!

  “We will switch to Plan B!” Kris shouted, taking the lead. “There is no use in staying up here when the enemy has already infiltrated our base. We will go down and phase them head-on.”

  I just clicked my tongue, my brain switching gears. Even though it happened earlier than expected, we had still prepared for a scenario like this. But some of them hesitated. It were the new students we had just accepted into our team.

  “Come on, we have to fight!”

  But they still didn’t react.

  “Just let them stay here in security,” Lia said, urgency in her eyes. “Unexperienced fighters would just be in the way of our battle.”

  I knew Lia just wanted them to be safe, but I didn’t argue with her as she had made a good point.

  “Then let us go,” I said to the rest of my team members, Erema, Rina, Mei, and Kumi.

  They weren’t fighters like Lia, Dane, or Alvis, yet they could hold their ground in battle just like me. Together with Lia, Kris, and his team, we ran down the stairs, soon reaching our opponents.

  Still at the very front, Jasmine led the way for her comrades, but upon our arrival, her eyes met with Lia’s.

  “Just go kill everyone you see. They are still hiding people on top, so target them too,” Jasmine said, her voice cold. “I will take care of their leader.”

  She wants to fight Lia!

  “Don’t let them have their way,” Lia responded. “I will stop Jasmine. Kris, do you mind lending me your help?”

  “Of course.”

  Even Lia knew that fighting against Jasmine on her own would be a gamble. But together with Kris, she had a chance. Which meant that our job was to hold off the rest of the fourth-years.

  There was a second of silence as everyone realized their role in this battle. However, as soon as Jasmine took a step forward, her followers charged right at us, starting the fight.

  “Shoot!” I shouted, and Kris’ team members let go of the twig arrows.

  However, before they reached anyone, a fourth-year student stepped forward, creating a firewall that turned every arrow into ash.

  “I’m sorry, but this won’t work anymore.”

  I clicked my tongue, but in the same second a dwarven girl jumped on me, wanting to tackle me to the ground. Without losing my calm, I pivoted to the side and then used her own momentum against her and slammed her to the ground.

  The self-defense courses I took as a child are finally paying off!

  Karl followed up by shooting two arrows at her, making it impossible for her to move. I didn’t even have time to thank him as two more fourth years attacked me.

  “Wind hands,” I muttered, manifesting wind around my hands, remembering the image of my combat instructor.

  The two fourth-years came at me from opposite sides, yet I spun around my axis like a ballet dancer, creating a gust of wind that pushed away my opponents. They crashed into the walls, the impact making them lose their consciousness. I exhaled, sweat dripping down my face.

  I’ve to keep going.

  My head surveyed the battlefield, my brain trying to make quick decisions. Most of our teammates seemed to be barely holding on, the fourth-years’ onslaught demanding everything from them. Yet as I looked into the distance, I saw a group of five ignoring everyone as they tried to ascend the building.

  They want to kill the weak ones hiding on top!

  However, before I could even move to stop them, roots grabbed their ankles, stopping them from going any further.

  Lia!

  My eyes went to her only to see that the moment she stopped focussing on Jasmine had cost her an enormous price. She had lost her left arm.

  However, it immediately regrew her vampire genes taking over. Still, it probably had cost her an awful amount of mana. Considering how she had already used up a vast amount to fortify this building with her roots, she was in a dire situation.

  If she gets distracted one more time, she will die.

  It was this line of thought that made me realize my job.

  I have to guard the floors leading to the rest.

  Lia had all her hands full with Jasmine, and that was why I had to protect those out of her reach. The moment I reached the staircase, a group of seven fourth-years surged forward, trying to break through. My hands, still cloaked in wind, clenched into fists.

  I took them on.

  Lia can’t hurt others. Even if her life is on the line, she would hesitate.

  I don’t have that luxury.

  An elf with a sword lunged at me, his blade slicing through the air, aiming to cut me in half. I dodged, barely. But as soon as I did, I crashed into something solid.

  A beast-man.

  His fist slammed into my stomach, knocking the breath from my lungs. My vision blurred, nausea rising in my throat. I suppressed the urge to vomit blood and pushed him away with a gust of wind. But there was no time to breathe.

  Two humans rushed me, daggers glinting in the dim light.

  I always believed that when your life is on the line, you should be the one to kill before you are killed. But for Lia, that belief never applied. She would rather risk herself than take another life. Yet even though this ideal fit perfectly into her character, I always knew there was more behind it. And when I found out that her parents had died whilst she was still a kid, it made even more sense.

  The two humans lunged, their knives aimed straight at my throat. I reacted on instinct, twisting my body and grabbing their wrists mid-air. With every ounce of strength I had, I slammed them to the ground.

  Pain flared in my right hand.

  One of them had managed to cut my palm open, but there was no time to care. The rest were still coming.

  Still… even at this moment, my mind wandered to Lia.

  It was only because I had always been at her side that I noticed that she carried something deep inside her. Something she never shared with anyone. A burden she believed only she had to bear. Even when she smiled, I could see it in her eyes. That shadow of pain.

  At the beginning of this school year, it had affected her so much that she wanted to quit being the student council president and even our classmates noticed that something was wrong. But no matter how many times I asked, she would only smile and brush me off.

  This didn’t change until he appeared.

  The last four fourth-years attacked at once, overwhelming me with sheer numbers. I couldn’t hold them all back. They tackled me to the ground, pinning my arms, their fists slamming into my skull, my ribs, my stomach.

  It hurt. It hurt so much.

  My vision darkened, the pain-numbing into something distant. For a split second, my consciousness faded away, but as I opened my eyes again, they landed on Lia.

  “Rahhhh!” I screamed, forcing my body to move.

  Every ounce of my remaining mana surged into my hands. A mini tornado erupted around me, hurling my attackers against the wall. I staggered to my feet, blood dripping into my eyes, my legs shaking beneath me.

  But I stood.

  Because I had to guard this place.

  Because I had to protect those who Lia wanted to protect.

  Because I wanted to make her ideals come true.

  Yet, because of my blurred vision, I never saw the shadow creeping up behind me.

  Alvis had suddenly joined the student council. Even though he was our classmate, I barely knew him. He was introverted and barely talked to anyone but his friend Dane. For someone like him to join the student council didn’t make sense. Especially because his sole reason was getting to know Lia. But maybe it was this straightforwardness that made her feel at ease.

  Alvis was able to break Lia’s shell. He did something I couldn’t do. After she met him, it felt as if she had found someone who helped her carry her burden. Since then, she could smile from the depths of her heart again. Alvis probably doesn’t even know how grateful I am for what he did.

  Still, there is a part of me that feels guilty for not being the one who could free Lia from her curse. And that’s why I have to try even more to be here for her now when she needs support the most.

  A sharp, searing pain drowned out every other injury.

  My breath hitched. My body stiffened. My mind went blank.

  Slowly… I looked down.

  A dagger.

  It was buried deep in my chest.

  For a moment, everything else faded away. The battle, the shouting, the fighting, none of it mattered. The only thing I could hear was the sound of my own heartbeat. Slowing.

  I coughed, the metallic taste of blood filling my mouth. My strength drained away, my knees buckling beneath me.

  I fell.

  “Maya!”

  I heard someone shout my name.

  Was it Lia?

  Somehow, everything was so quiet. The one who stabbed me was gone. Slammed against the wall by thick roots.

  How odd.

  “Maya, hang in there!”

  Warmth.

  Lia’s warmth.

  She was holding me, her hands shaking as she pressed them against my wound, desperate, frantic. I could see the tears in her eyes, falling like raindrops onto my face.

  She was trying to heal me.

  I smiled weakly.

  “Don’t waste your mana,” I whispered, barely managing to form the words. “It’s… already too late.”

  There was still so much I wanted to say. But time wouldn’t allow it.

  I had failed her. I had failed to carry her burden.

  “I’m… sorry,” I breathed. “I’m sorry that I… couldn’t help you.”

  I saw her lips moving as if she was saying something, but I couldn’t hear her anymore. My eyelids were so heavy all I wanted to do was sleep. But then I saw someone entering the building.

  It was Alvis.

  My lips moved on their own, with only one desire in my heart.

  “Take care of Lia for me.”

  Finally, I could close my eyes and sleep.