Duelcrest Academy

11. Trauma

I was ready.
The countdown was almost over.
With the wand in front of me, I prepared to cast the spell.

1...

Before I could utter a word, I was lifted in the air and thrown backward.
It was kinda strange: even with the impact being so strong, I felt no pain.

Finally, I touched the ground.
The momentum was so strong that I rolled on the floor a couple of times before stopping.

Something heavy fell in front of me.
It was... a body?

A figure approached me, but I couldn't see their face from my position. My legs didn't seem to want to respond to my commands.
I felt their hand grab my hair and lift me up.

I couldn't resist.
The figure pulled me up, and I found myself facing a mirror.

A vacant gaze met mine.

Eyes as empty as Carl Stuart's.

My mouth opened wide in a voiceless scream as I stared at my severed head.

Finally, I regained the use of my voice.

«AAAAAAAH!»

I struggled out to free myself the blankets' grip.
With my heart pounding wildly, I sat up in bed. I was drenched in sweat. I had never had such a realistic nightmare.
Trembling, I glanced at the clock on the bedside table. It was still the middle of the night.

It had taken me a long time to fall asleep, tossing and turning in bed, trying to push away thoughts that were far from conducive to sleep. But apparently, they had followed me into the dream world.

I lay back down, taking deep breaths, trying to calm myself.
I needed to rest at least a little. I had to be in shape for tomorrow. I had points to recover.

Unfortunately, this purpose proved itself futile.
I spent the rest of the night alternating between being awake and restless sleep.
In the morning, I got up, even more tired than when I had gone to bed the night before.

I couldn't help but notice the concern in Amy's eyes when we said hi to each other before going to breakfast.
I must have looked terrible.
I decided to act as if nothing was wrong and tried to start a conversation about what I wanted to eat today. I was grateful when Amy caught on and began chatting normally.

I hoped that if I ignored those intrusive thoughts swirling in my head, they would leave me alone sooner or later.

But the end of the first lesson of the day reminded me of the situation I was in. And pretending not to see the problems wouldn't make them disappear suddenly.
Igor Valentine, with the usual malicious smirk on his face, stopped me again as we left the classroom. Like yesterday, he challenged me to a duel. And like yesterday, all I could do was to refuse.
With a sinister "See you tomorrow!" Valentine left me there, powerless.

It was obvious by now: he would continue to use me as a point bank from which he could withdraw every day.

I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs from the burning humiliation I felt. But I couldn't let go. It was time to mount a counterattack. I was at -2 points in the standings; it was time to recover and secure my survival.

So, after lunch, I parted ways with Amy and went in search of students to challenge.

I had decided to avoid public duels as much as possible. This time I wanted to pull out all the stops: I would try to use all the power I had at my disposal to win quickly.
With the tiredness I had in my body, I couldn't afford to prolong fights more than necessary, otherwise, my energy would run out long before my mana.
For my first duel, I went in search of a classmate whose skill I knew somewhat. I didn't want any surprises. That's why I had used the previous day's practical lesson to identify some prey.