Restricted Magic - Arc 2: The Competition

Chapter 9

The world was nothing but light and heat. Erin's ears were ringing, she could see nothing but white. She reached out, grabbing Gerald's arm next to her.

"We're under attack!" He yelled in her ear.

"I can't see anything!" All around her flames had sprung up, the wooden stages easily catching fire. Thinking quickly she reached to the other side of Gerald, grabbing the slim arm of the boy standing there.

"Matthias!"

"Erin?"

She leaned over. "We need you to freeze it?"

"Freeze what?"

"Everything!"

With a quick nod that she could barely see through the smoke quickly filling the room, he spread his hands wide, his eyes flashing with a frosty white glow.

Erin shivered, the air around her cooling rapidly, her breath hanging in the air. The flames, the heat, all of it... gone in a moment. Erin grinned, focusing herself on summoning a wind in the grand room. It swept along the walls, circling quickly to the center, gathering all the smoke and debris in the air. Soon the room was clear, leaving the whole destructive scene in clear view.

Masked men wearing all black had invaded the opening ceremony. Carrying blades, they charged forward, engaging the royal guards left at the entrances and moving forward into the room. Pushing away the shock of the moment, Erin turned to her team.

"Gerald, Matthias, stick with me, we'll engage the main group in the center. Olivia, stick to the walls, there's a lot of people that were injured in that blast. Do just enough to keep people alive, and focus on the one's whose lives are in danger. Frederick..." she grinned. "I want you to make a trap. We're going to need at least one of these terrorists alive."

Frederick rolled his eyes. "And how exactly am I supposed to..."

"Figure it out." With that, she gestured forward and the three of them leapt to the center of the room, leaving Olivia and Frederick behind them. One of the masked men in the front, seeing them approach, let out a violent yell and charged towards them. He glanced over them, and seemed to target Erin, possibly thinking her to be the weakest in the group.

Big mistake.

Erin dropped to the ground, sliding forward at an impossible speed thanks to a quick wind spell. She slipped under his blade thrust with inches to spare, reaching up and tapping the blade with her forefinger as she passed. The simple touch conveyed a fire spell, placing the heat of a bonfire within the metal blade. Within seconds the entire weapon had turned a bright cherry red, burning the man's hands with a sizzling crackle. The man screamed, trying to throw away a weapon that his hands had clenched onto by instinct. Erin stood up behind him, kicking him in the head and knocking him down. Stunned, he could only lay there as the earth rose up to trap him, leaving only his face exposed.

Gerald and Matthias were also successfully facing their opponents. Erin also noticed that the other three teams were fighting the invaders as well. The military academy students in particular were brutally slaughtering the invaders with only using hand to hand combat.

Frederick wasn't joking when he said they were good at physical battles. Erin shook her head, and threw herself back into the fight.

Finally, after the last few screams died down, there did not appear to be anyone left to fight. The room was covered in soot, blood and rubble. Letting out a long sigh, Erin looked around. Besides the first one she had trapped within the ground, who still appeared to be screaming, all the others had fought ruthlessly, forcing her to kill them to survive. She stared down at their corpses, avoiding the wide, sightless eyes, wondering if she would start seeing them in her dreams as well.