Duelcrest Academy

23. A ruthless killer

I closed my eyes as I started going through the solid stone wall.
This kind of spell required the utmost concentration.
I had to make sure that a constant flow of mana went through every inch of my body. If I made a single mistake and any part of me became solid again...
I didn't even want to think about what would've happened...

Luckily, after just a couple of seconds, I felt my noseI emerging out of the wall, in a new room.
I leaped forward, trying to bring my whole body through it as quick as possible, for I could allready feel myself losing control of the spell.
But when I thought I had succeeded, something pulled me back, causing me to fall forward.

"Fuck!"

I cushioned the fall with my hands.
I had hoped to catch the killer off guard, but now I had certainly alerted them.

I finally opened my eyes.
For a moment, I thought I was outdoors.
But, of course, that wasn't possible. Even if I had actually exited into the courtyard, it was nighttime after all.
No, the light that just blinded me wasn't coming from the sun but from two glass spheres, resting on a table. Inside them swirled a bright formless mass.

"Mana."

And the one who had stolen that mana from its victims was there, just a few steps away from me.
But that blinding light prevented me from distinguishing their features.
The figure raised an arm in my direction. Three shadows rose into the air, zooming towards me. Even with my vision impared, I immediately understood what they were.

I tried to quickly get up, but I felt something still keeping me hooked up to the wall.
I leveraged with one arm to lift myself a bit off the ground and aimed the other, armed with my wand, towards my assailants.

At my command, a river of flames roared in front of me, forming a barrier that instantly incinerated the three bugs.

Without delay I looked behind me, to see what was keeping me from moving.

In another situation, I would have burst out laughing.
The backside of my skirt was still stuck inside the wall. My spell must've stopped working before it completely crossed it.
I pulled it forcefully until it tore off.

"So much for an heroic entrance..."

Well all things considered could've been worse. That could've been my leg.

"Anyway, at the moment I have bigger problems then a ripped skirt."

Finally, my eyes were adjusting to the innatural brightness of the room.
Beyond the thick veil of smoke caused by my spell, I could finally catch a glimpse of my opponent.

They were shorter than me and seemed to have very long hair. Fromt heir body shape and uniform, I quickly realized she was a girl.

When the cloud of smoke completely dissipated, my mouth dropped open in an expression somewhere between astonishment and horror.
It didn't make sense.
After all, her tear-streaked face and desperate screams, as she lamented the loss of her friend, were distinctly etched in my mind.
A friend who, now I knew, she had herself killed.

"Have I got the wrong person?"

No. Even though I didn't know her personally, her conspicuous brown curls were unmistakable. I clearly remembered Amy stroking them as she tried to console her, unaware that she held a murderer in her arms.
That girl was Chloe, the best friend of Mary Stillwater, the first victim.

«You... but... why?»

The girl just looked at me coldly.

"She doesn't seem inclined to talk..."

I had no other choice. The fact that I had just seen her summon those insects in front of me left no room for misunderstandings.
She was the culprit me and Sophia were looking for.
I pointed the wand at her and shouted: