Duelcrest Academy

28. A problematic present

The next two months were the most carefree I had experienced so far at the Academy.
Now, besides Amy, I had two other girls I could call friends.

The first was Sophia.
After her initial reluctance, it had become a habit for us to attend classes together. From there we had moved on to eating together at the same table and chatting often in the common room.
This had led to some unexpected changes.
First of all, the aura of terror that surrounded her seemed to have weakened. Sure, no one still dared to speak to her, but at least she was no longer avoided like the plague in the hallways and other students no longer seemed to regard the seats near her as gallows.

Sophia herself had changed a bit. She smiled much more often and in general seemed to have softened a bit.
Not that she and I had stopped arguing at every opportunity, but maybe that was just the way our relationship worked.
Unfortunately, I had not yet been able to find out more about her. I had tried to steer the conversation in that direction, but she had always been evasive to my questions. But perhaps in time she would begin to open up a little more.

Also added to this new routine were training sessions with my second new friend: Celeste.
I had made an excellent choice in asking for her help.
As I had noticed from observing her duels, she was an extremely capable mage, so much so that if we seriously challenged each other, I wasn't sure who would win.
From the standpoint of pure magical power I had the advantage, but Celeste seemed much more accustomed to duels and had even better mana control than I did.
Thanks to her, I had already learned many new spells to add to my arsenal.
When I asked her if she really didn't mind helping a possible future opponement, she replied:

«Then it will be more fun to defeat you!»

Typical Celeste.

Sometimes her fiancé, Philemon, would also join us.
He seemed like a serious, taciturn guy but, despite what Celeste had told me, the two of them seemed quite close.
Perhaps sometimes it was true that opposites attract.
He had helped us train by summoning numerous elemental shields, on which we could test our most powerful spells.

Some evenings Amy would also come to visit us. In those cases, Celeste and I would make an effort to teach her some tricks.
Presently she was safely back in the middle of the rankings.
Both Sophia and I would challenge her every day and then yield, ensuring her a steady amount of points.
Now that both me and her were close to Amy, no one dared to challenge her.
But we knew that this method would not work forever. When the number of students decreased, she would inevitably be in danger.
So it was important that she improved her dueling skills as much as possible.

Speaking of Sophia, unlike Amy, she had never come to train with us.
I was sure that, despite what I had told her, she still suspected Celeste.

In any case, those happy days only made my blood boil. My life would have been perfect at that time if not for the deadly game we were trapped in. Reminding us every day was the leaderboard, which now read:

82 students remaining

Nearly twenty students had already died, and the number would increase week by week. My days of peace were numbered. I had to find a way out before it was too late.

December 18th was supposed to be just another day.
As usual in the morning I met with Amy and Sophia and we had breakfast together. Then we went to class, sitting in the last rows chatting while waiting for the usual teacher.
But he did not show up.
In his place entered Professor Skylark.

It had been since he had received me in his office with Sophia that I had not seen the old headmaster. He was probably always holed up in his office on the second floor.
After all, he didn't teach and the professors didn't eat with us students.