In a world where supernatural beings exist, Zodia Academy is where you'll find twelve unique teens. Locked behind the soaring four walls of Zodia, a place they train, live and call home, only to visit reality in times of jeopardy. They are Earth's H...
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- CHAPTER TEN -
OH, SWEET REVENGE
⌿⍀
Round One: Levi vs Violet
The sound hasn't settled from the opening bell before Violet strikes. No hesitation. No theatrics. Just a calculated lift of her hand and the ground obeys her fury. A dozen jagged rock shards rip upward, shotgunning toward Levi in an uneven wave. Each stone is sharp enough to draw blood. She aims not to maim, not yet, but to corner, confuse and control.
Levi's limps still, no flinch. He exhales. The Dome, already charged with anticipation, is wiped of sound in a single pulse, all from his fingers. It's not silence, not really. It's the absence of atmosphere, like being submerged. Even the crowd's scream cuts off halfway through.
"Oh, that's haunting," Cate mutters from the stands. Her nails dig into the seat edge, knuckles white. The Zodiacs stand by the sidelines, their designated area for the tournament. A thick glass wall in front of them, coated with magic that leaves them unaffected by powers. This way, no one cheats.
"It's like someone muted reality," Ace replies, chewing on a piece of gum with open disdain. "Bet he tuned out Violet's heartbeat just to mess with her focus."
"No," Caden murmurs, too quiet for most but Paige hears him. He stares, not blinking. "He'd boost it. Make her panic in her own skin."
In the arena, Violet's boots skid across sand and gravel. The moment she enters the dead zone of sound, her body betrays her. Heartbeat—too fast. Breathing—ragged. Her own pulse becomes a war drum, deafening in her head. She falters, stumbles, catches herself with a sharp breath and gritted teeth.
Levi circles her calmly, each step buffered by invisible pads of vibrating sound. He isn't showy. He is surgical. One palm hovers near his hip, the other adjusting the pitch of his surroundings like he's conducting an orchestra only he can hear.
Violet growls, slamming her foot down. The ground responds with a quake. A jagged slab of stone rockets upward beneath Levi's feet, aiming to crush his ribcage. He flips backward mid-air, narrowly dodging. A shard slices across his left shoulder clean, red, and sudden.
He doesn't scream. Just hums, low and steady. Blood runs down his bicep. Violet licks her bottom lip, breath shallow. "You gonna hum me to death, Libra?"
Levi lands lightly on a ring of sand, adjusting the sound field beneath his boots to cushion impact. His eyes narrow. He doesn't respond.
The fight becomes a pendulum. Violet charges, stone flying in whips and spears. Levi counters, bending frequencies to collapse her attacks mid-air, or warp the trajectories just enough to graze instead of impale.
