Magia: Eli's Awakening (BxB)

Chapter 14- Exhaustion

They stood about three meters away from each other, and a barrier came down, separating them from the class.

"Only rules are no killing or maiming each other and the first three hits to land declares the winner."

She gave the signal and instantly a bolt of electricity flied towards Eli hitting him square in the chest sending him straight into the barrier, it cracking a bit on impact.

It didn't hurt as much as it should however, as the uniforms were magically infused to protect the bodies of the students, acting as a magic bulletproof vest.

Eli groaned and rose to his feet, and glanced at the boy, who looked perfectly calm, his amber eyes appeared to even glow, not one sign of anxiety on him, he looked perfectly content with everything that was happening.

Eli withdrew his wand from inside his blazer and the snickers and chuckles of his classmates reached his ears. He kept his eyes on the foe ahead, who has eyes locked on him, just waiting for another opening.

He released a breath, clearing his mind, and sent two blasts of fire towards the boy. Jones simply deflected the blasts, not fearing a spell of that calibur. He raised his palm and the electricity crackled, he sent three bolts right for Eli's chest again.

Eli threw out his hand creating a circular shield, that successfully blocked two of the bolts however the third pierces his shield and hit his chest, the second hit of the match.

Put away the wand it's making you weak. A voice said in Eli's head. For some reason, he listened and disarmed himself. Jones, not about to waste an opportunity like this, send three more bolts his way, but Eli raised his hands, his eyes flashing blue for a minute, and he created a shield much stronger and bigger than the last and pushed it forward, bashing the boy straight into the barrier.

A collective grasp left the class, Elana smirking, Jones got back up, tears forming in his eyes, his anxious form reappearing a little before he seemed to have fought with himself, Eli was honestly confused with what was happening with the boy and in an instant when he blinked, he felt a chill down his spine, but it was too late, a bolt hit him, sending him breaking straight through the barrier. He didn't even see it coming.

"That's it. Match." Ms. Ileana said, dispelling the barrier, eyeing Eli wearily as he gets up and brushed himself off, feeling a bit impressed with his display to go up against one of the strongest Evokers in their year.

"Ms. Morgen and Mr. Daniels, you're up next."

The class ended and the students were thoroughly exhausted, save for Elana, thankful that this was the last class for the day. Elana winning her match flawlessly, with minimal effort, has enough energy to jump around Eli asking him about that abjuration spell he used, her hair dancing along with her movements.

He saw Ethan approaching them and felt a bit uncomfortable, the guy just unnerved Eli for no reason, perhaps it was his stoic mannerisms. Ethan saw his sister jumping and a small smile played on his lips as patted her head when she embraced him.

"You should've seen him Ethan, Eli's amazing, he managed to land a hit on Brenden Jones." Ethan turned to look at Eli his head tilting a little, wondering how he managed to pull that one off, because despite his anxiety and shyness, Jones was a strong Evoker.

Eli turned away breaking eye contact with those lifeless grey eyes and they resumed walking towards the dorms.

"You all seem happy." A voice said from behind them. Eli already knew who it belonged to and smiled to himself.

Javier walked up to them, flashing a toothy grin.

"How was your first day?"

"Shit."

"It'll get better, plus, everyone's talking about how you landed a hit on Jones, I'm impressed." Javier said while throwing his arm around Eli, smirking down at him.

"That's high praise coming from someone like you Javier." Ethan said watching closely at how the two interacted, he could already tell Javier liked his roommate a bit more than he'd let on.

That would be a first, Javier had never shown interest in anyone, boy, girl or anyone in between, until now that is.

"Which dorm are you guys in?"

"902"

"Hey! That's one room over but wait- You both share a dorm? Isn't that against rules or something?"

"I go where my sister goes." Ethan said his face devoid of any emotion.

They all arrived to their dorms and made plans to meet up in a couple hours, sadly Eli couldn't as he had training with Mr. Donia in about an hour.

***

Eli's chest heaved as he rests his hands on his knees, tired, these sessions were way harder than those in the summer. Trying to teleport once again to the designated area, he thought about the spot, feeling his magicules pool from his body and situate themselves right there, willing his body to be where he wanted it.

But no such luck as he ended up hanging upside down from a tree.

"Again."

Eli didn't even try to get down from the tree, he just went again, and ended up falling above Mr. Donia, who simply sidestepped and let him hit the ground.

"You could've caught me y'know."

"Where's the fun in that? I think we can end here for the day, schools been out since 3 and it's 8."

"Thank sweet baby Jesus, I dont know how much more I could take."

Mr. Donia smiled, slipping on his glasses, and taking up his tie.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodbye sir."

Eli stood, feeling drained, not even knowing how he's going to walk all the way back over to the opposite side of campus. He imagined his warm bed and soft sheets. Going to take a step, he stumbled and suddenly, he was in his room and almost fell on the bed.

He grinned, but unfortunately, he was sweaty and hungry so the bed would have to wait. He went into the shower scrubbing the days work off his body, feeling the stress and tension leave his body, slumping down in the steaming hot water, he sighs.

He stepped out the shower, toweling off, and forgoed his underwear just slipping on a sweatpants and went to the kitchen area to see Javier sitting at the island eating.

"I didn't see you come in."

"Teleported."

Javier looked up at Eli, his eyes reflecting the pride he felt.

"You're dinners in the microwave, come eat with me."

And so he did, they ate together, watched a couple shows, before calling it a night. Eli slumped down into his bed feeling his body melt in the soft covers. Quickly his eyes closed, but this sleep isn't dreamless. He saw fire.