Dysnomia Academy [ONC 2021]

Chapter Nine

Zach made the same sword from last time and cracked his knuckles, smirking at the punk that just slid into our fort, uninvited.

"No mercy, huh? I like the sound of that."

Both Zach and I charged at the punk, who threw a katana at Fritz. Fritz ran to the side and narrowly avoided the blade. I fell back to let Zach do the fighting. It was my gift to him for not lashing out in the assembly hall when the punk interrupted our peaceful lunch. 

I went to check on Fritz. He was trembling in the corner. Of course this happens when we need to fight... That's when an idea hit me.

"I'm sure your mom would be disappointed to see you shaking like a leaf right now. There's nothing worse than a failure son. I thought passing the entrance exam would mean you could handle stuff like this."

Fritz stopped shaking as much and mumbled under his breath.

"Stop it."

"What's that? I can't hear failures. You are nothing compared to your older siblings. I'm sure they don't expect anything from you because they know that you'll just end up disappointing them again and again."

He clenched his fists into tight balls.

"Stop-"

"I'm only speaking the truth. While you're hiding in a corner, Zach and I are actually working towards our goals. Cowards are nothing more than-"

Fritz jumped up and socked me in the jaw. An explosion of pain and warmth filled my mouth. I spit blood onto the floor and smiled. 

"There's the villain I was looking for."

He cooled off and shortly realized what he did. Fritz was about to take off his shirt and offer it to me, but I stopped him. He raised his voice.

"You need to get that taken care of! I can't just let you bleed like that!"

"I did this to myself and knew something like this would happen. The stuff I said was to make you angry. I didn't mean it at all. I'm sure you're going to be a great villain that can make the Elrod family proud."

Fritz rubbed his shoulder.

"Thank you, Kenzo."

"Are you ready to fight?"

Before he could answer, Zach threw the unconscious punk on the floor in front of me.

"He wasn't very good with his katanas...what happened to you, chief?"

"Just a bit of confidence boosting."

"Uh...okay."

I sat down on the dirt. The lunch from earlier helped restore a bit of my energy, but I need sleep. Why does today feel so long? The punk on the floor stirred. Zach made a rope to restrain him. When he opened his eyes, he screamed someone's name.

"Nisha!"

Fritz and Zach watched the only opening of our little fort, and I quickly covered the punk's mouth with some of the rope. 

"Do you guys know someone named Nisha?"

Both of them shook their heads. Then, a scarf shot into the room and stole the hostage from my grasp. The rope burned my skin as it zipped out of my palms. Another line of fabric slammed into the walls, causing the fort to collapse on top of us. 

I squeezed my eyes shut and prepared for impact, but nothing touched me. I opened one eye to see one of the undead holding up the fallen roof. To my left, Zach stared blankly at the thing protecting us. To my right, Fritz's eyes changed into a deep purple. He was focused on the nonverbal communication between him and the undead.

"Zach. Kenzo. Crawl out of here when the roof lifts."

The plan wasn't the best, but there was no point in arguing. The undead was only capable of so much and was probably exhausting Fritz's energy like a water balloon with a hole in it.

"Okay."

As soon as the roof lifted, the three of us crawled out as fast as we could. Once we were safe, the undead let go of the cement roof and crushed itself. I shielded my eyes as dust and debris flew up. Someone tapped me on the shoulder, and I turned to see Zach's face completely paralyzed by fear. Before I could see it for myself, Zach was snatched by a familiar scarf. I grabbed onto his arm, leaving Fritz behind. 

In the middle of the arena, unconscious students were woven into a massive ball of fabric. Scarf girl stood on top with the katana punk, smiling as we were flying through the air over to her. I let go of Zach's arm and landed on the dirt floor. I looked up at the girl, laughing at her you-never-stood-a-chance attitude. 

"I have to admit. You got some nice little tricks, but do you really know how to fight?"

Her smile faded, and she slid down to the ground.

"Do you know how to fight? I've only seen you playing defense all day. You must be feeling the effects of using your protective magic."

I see. It's just like I expected.

"It doesn't mean I can't fight. I just don't want to waste my time on pathetic girls like you."

"Then why go through the trouble of exhausting your energy all day?"