You can't find me

Chapter 22

"Scutum!" I yell out of breath. 

A white force field appears above me shielding me from my opponent. 

I eye his movements and see that he's looking towards my left leg. Before he can launch himself I pivot and drop my shield to throw my energy on the foot he's in the middle of bringing in front of him. 

Pushing him to the ground I hold chokehold and count down the time. A strong knee to my back catches me off guard and I'm launched towards him. I attempt to roll on the ground next to him but he conjures a small blade and stabs the right side of my stomach. 

I internally start screaming as I throw up my wavering defense spells and get off of him as soon as I can. 

I add a limp to my stance and act disgruntled to give him a chance to come at me again. The second he runs towards me I duck and grab his ankles to flip him off my back. To say this guy was built like a rock would have hurt a poor rock's feelings. 

I levitate him as high as I can from the ground before dropping him in full force. Once he hits the ground I use a combination of spells all known for offense in combat in the hopes of keeping him there. 

I don't even realize that the spectators (the instructors, announcers, students next in line and graduates) have all become silent in viewing the match. 

After seeing that he has stopped moving I go up to him to see if he will break the chain on his neck (an action of surrender and gives an amount of peace to the user). Instead he smiles at me with happiness in his eyes. 

My opponent had decided to go anonymous with a mask over his head and though he was almost wiped out I bring out a knife from my boots since he didn't give up yet. 

I reach out towards him and hear him muttering spells before he stabs himself with the knife he used on me right next to his heart. 

I stumble backwards as his body starts turning into dark grey smoke. 

What the hell did he just do to himself?

Instructors rise up their shields before entering the field and running towards him. Or whatever is left of him.. 

Maven walks up to me and gives me a pat on the back. 

"You performed very well, Mage Valentino. The awards ceremony will be later on this week. Congrats on your victory." he tells me proudly with a smile on his face.

I wipe the blood that had spilled from my mouth before responding. "Thank you sir! Um what am I supposed to do now?"

"You are exempted from watching your fellow classmates finish their duels. Or if you prefer you can wait around for a couple of more hours to watch them all go. Though whatever you choose to do please go to a healer to take a look at you or go to the infirmary. Those were some dangerous moves you pulled. I must see what happened with your opponent. Take care." 

And with that my instructor is off to the small crowd forming around where the guy had combusted. 

At least for now there was no way I could watch any more duels. I could barely stand up straight. Not to mention the stab wound was starting to hurt like hell.

Peering over where the healers are situated I find where Lav is and limp towards her. 

"You did amazing, Ari! I watched almost all of your match. Then a few people came over for treatment so I had to look away." 

I laugh at how excited she gets when talking about her friends achievements and then stop after more blood starts coming out of my mouth. 

"Omg sit over here! I don't know how much I'll be able to help you as I literally just fixed a third degree burn and a few bone fractures. It will take me a while to regain that energy but I can try doing a few touchups here and there." 

"Any help right now is appreciated." I say with a grimace. 

"Shhh. Just don't talk for a while Ari. It will be better for you." 

She touches my lips with her fingertips before closing her eyes and concentrating on 

where my injuries are coming from. 

I try not to slouch since it would ruin her concentration, but it's really hard to not just want to pass out on the floor. 

My match specifically had gone for 2 hours as both of us knew had to store our strength and were good in just general combat. 

 I would have said that whoever my opponent was, he and I could have been training partners with how many common skills we shared . 

That was until he pulled whatever move that was on the field. 

I snap out of my thoughts as Lav opens her eyes and starts puking on the ground next to me. 

"Lav!??" 

I touch her shoulder to support her but she distances herself away from me. 

"You-  have- to get-- out of-- here. Like right now!" she says in tightened gasps. 

She takes out her gloves but before slipping them on I can see that her fingers have turned an odd blue color. 

"Did I do this to you?! Should I get another healer? What's going on here Lav?" I say while panicking. 

What did I do to her? 

"I think your opponent poisoned you Ari.-- Put-- on the gloves that I had put in your robe and don't stop to talk to anyone just head straight to the infirmary. Evie is in charge at this time there and she's way more experienced as a healer." 

"Oh okay..." I say unsure of how to react to that. 

"What if someone asks for me though? Will you tell them?"

She looks around to make sure no one's listening. 

"I'll tell them your resting, which isn't wrong. I don't want anyone to find out as it would disrupt all the events happening right now. Or maybe I diagnosed you wrong, which I hope is true.. And that I just had an allergic reaction or something. Now go! Call me once you find out."

I nod to her and slowly walk towards the infirmary with the little energy I have left. 

Was just wishing I would be back in time to see Ry's combat that would be in an hour or so...