The Witch's Revenge

Chapter 10

"We were told to draw on our emotions for this," she starts, not touching her food. "Anger is what most went with, as that's the way people usually feel when they wish to start a fight. Rather than that, I thought of something worth fighting for, and the attack came naturally"

"You used a spell?" Mac asks, speaking a bit too loudly for my comfort. "What kind?!" Looking at his eyes, then Diana's, you'd never guess they were the same color. Hers are cold and aloof, while his are full of life, unable to stop sparkling. Even she finds his enthusiasm charming, if her smile is anything to go by.

"It was a basic attack spell just a concentration of magic power. Mine was golden, and destroyed the target entirely."

So she's officially dangerous now, In a fight, she beats everyone else here. No wonder they had the A-ranks start off with that. Probably expected them to pass on what they learned so us lesser ranks can do it without blowing our heads off.

"It was like a light," the girl continues. "It left my palm, then I controlled it the way I did that crystal orb Maya starts sulking immediately, resting her head on the table. Don't blame her, as that probably means she's gonna suck at it. "It didn't explode when it hit the dummy, it simply crashed into it physically, somewhat like a car might."

So it was just a basic hit with magic energy. Must be what we'll all be starting with. Nothing flashy like fire or lightning. I sure hope that bit comes back later.

"Well, this was informative, Diana says, standing up. "The next class starts in ten minutes. You lot best hurry along as well.

The moment she's gone, Maya snorts. "Don't like her."

"Why not?" Mac turns toward her, then lets his eyes wonder back to Diana's retreating form. "She's cool"

"She's looking down on us."

"What? She was perfectly polite"

"She was comfortable because she doesn't think enough of us to be bothered by anything we do or say.

When did she get that? I mean, I have a feeling she's right, but what on earth clued her in? Maya must be the intuitive type, then. Well, I definitely didn't take her for a bookworm, anyway.

"Jealousy?" lan whispers to me.

"Don't think so. She's probably just reminded of the girls back home." With Maya's weight, it's a safe assumption she wasn't popular. That's one of the unspoken rules of highschool. All fatties are losers, with the odd exception of some football players.

As lan and I split from the rest of them, I notice the mean redhead from the library stalking toward us, two dark-haired girls on either side of her. I avoid eye contact and simply keep walking, but she goes out of her way to bump into me.

"Oops, sorry."

"No problem."

"Hey, you're the kid who can teleport, right?" Smiling up at me, she reaches forward and grabs my arm. "That is so cool.

"Uh, thanks." What do you want and why are you holding me?

"My name's Maria. What's yours?"

"None of your business," lan interjects, taking her by the wrist and prying her fingers off of me. "Whatever scheme you're cooking, we want no part of. Let's go, Hotaru." Well, that's certainly not what you should say if you want my name to be a secret.

Maria's eyes sparkle with mischief immediately. "Hotaru, huh? Is that from Edo?" Surprised she got that right away.

Did not peg her for the bookish sort

"Yes.”

"You mean you travelled all the way here from Edo?"

"Western States."

"Oh, wow. That's even further." Is it? I thought it was about the same. "Awesome. We should totally hang out sometime."

I'm about to turn to lan for help, but he's already on it, quickly grabbing me, turning me around, then pushing me forward "He's not interested.”

Once a few seconds pass, I look at him. "She warits me to take her somewhere, doesn't she?"

"Maria never does anything nice without a plan hidden in there somewhere. Yeah, she wants something from you."

"Can I expect her to try again?"

His jaw clenches, a flash of worry crossing his eyes. "Bet. She doesn't take no for an answer and you didn't give it, either. Next time, don't be like a sad puppy, or she'll walk all over you."

In Duelling, the teacher is the young man Mac and I met before. He's already inside, sitting on the edge of his desk, gazing out the window. Once the room is full of all the same people as our Levitation class, he turns to look at us.

No desks for this. Must be a purely physical class.

"I trust you all made use of the advantage we provided?"

Well, he's definitely not the subtle type, then. We were definitely expected to talk to the As. Must mean there will be Cs flocking to us after this. Did they base it all around Duelling? If this is the class that got the As first, it must be the most important one.

Hopping off his desk, the teacher spreads his arms. "Since we're out of dummies, you'll be attacking me"

The usual mumbling starts, each students wondering if they heard him right. I'm a bit surprised, too. Sure, he's way better than all of us, but the odd strong attack should still hurt, right?

"Won't you be hurt?" asks a blonde girl with pigtails "What if someone hits you really hard? Roger told me some students destroyed the dummies whole."

"I'm tougher than a dummy." He looks around for a bit, then his eyes land on me. Oh, crap. Not this again. "You there. Come and hit me." That's all he says. No instruction, no anything. If it hadn't been for Diana, I wouldn't even know where to begin. He was really banking on us getting that info from the others. Must be the sink or swim type. "Right forgot. My name's Nen Lockwood. Just call me Nen"

Yet he insisted on a sir' earlier. Was he just screwing with me? The soft grin he's got on now says yes.

Something worth fighting for. I don't know what it was for Diana, but I can picture mine perfectly. A person's charred remains turning to ash beneath my feet.

The spell comes exactly as Diana described it a very small orb of light. Rather than green, however, mine happens to be pure white. I do to it what I did to the crystal ball, sending it toward the teacher. The light smacks him on the side of the head, where it disappears, nothing visibly happening to him.

"Perfect control," Nen says in response, frowning, "but absolutely no power to speak of. Somebody else go now"

Why? Why do I have no power? Was I just bom weaker than the other witches here? Power is the one thing I can't afford to be without. I'll need it to do what I must.

I give it another try, the attack also landing right on Nen's face. Just as with the first one, he takes no damage. Damn It! is it the damn ring!? I knew it would be a limiter, but I never imagined it would be this disruptive.

Of all the others, no one truly stands out. Most of them manage to hit him, but no one does any damage. Despite this, Nen regularly compliments their power. Is he just taking the hits on to test them? No interference of any kind? So even if I was stronger, against someone like him, it wouldn't mean much.

I have to get stronger.

Target practice is all we do for the rest of the class. No fancy magic gets thrown around no elements, or spirits of the damned, or anything of the sart.

Next class to come is Spirituality. The teacher is that girl Nen was talking to earlier, a grin on her face as we shuffle inside. This classroom has no windows, and instead of desks, we're all expected to sit down on the ground, a crystal ball in front of each of us.

"Take your seats, kids. You're gonna love this one." Once we're all seated, the teacher holds up her arm, showing that she's wearing the same pendant as the rest of us. Hers has a cat's profile on it. "Name's Quinn, and I'll probably be the nicest of the teachers you'll meet here. You guys had Nen just before this, right? Don't let him get to ya. He's never happy Oh, they're friends, alright. "Now, who here has wondered what these bracelets are?"

Every single person raises their hand, making the teacher chuckle.

"Right on. They were picked out by us, after performing a thorough examination of each and every one of you. Yes, we stalked you for a bit, but that couldn't be helped." That's... something we should have been warned of ahead of time. "How many of you know what a spirit animal is?"

I do, more or less, but it's not like I can give the clear definition, lan seems utterly disinterested, barely keeping his eyes open.