Fear
. . .
"August! Your grip is too loose!" Agnes shouted as she attacked me with her twin swords. I can feel the exhaustion taking over my body and sweats all over my body, including my hand, that's why my hand is slipping off my quarterstaff.
Instead of blocking her attacks, I let my weapon disappear as I ran backwards. Agnes must've thought I was running away, but I made my way to Alyssa who was at the side, holding her katana.
When she saw me running towards her without any weapon, she advanced fast to meet my attack. I can see her eyes shifting to my right, then to the left. I smirked. I looked back and Agnes was just watching me, waiting for my body to change its path.
Not yet.
When I think they're close enough, I turned my body to the right and Alyssa struck her katana at the same direction. Gotcha! She fell for the trick! As I turned my body to the right, I immediately turned it to the left where Agnes struck her swords at that direction. I smirked. She also fell for it. Instead of advancing to the right, I crouched downward in my own place and summoned my quarterstaff to hit them down.
I am successful in tripping Alyssa but Agnes used one of her swords to deflect me.
I wasn't planning to make them fight each other. The reason why I had to run to Alyssa was to get her attention to me. She knew I didn't have any weapon and tried to take advantage using it. I only ran to buy time as I wiped my hands in my shirt to remove the sweat and handle my weapon again.
The three of us are fighting again to train. Our battles with each other started that night I initiated a fight to Agnes. And now, our training isn't complete when we're not fighting each other. The last one standing would be the winner. But even after a week of doing that, Agnes was always victorious. Alyssa and I never even won any match.
When she fell down, I quickly stood up and turned my body to the right and blocked Agnes' twin swords.
It's a rule that when you fall down, you're already out of the game. But Alyssa bellowed and quickly picked up her katana to attack us. Agnes was the one who received her attack and countered it.
"This is annoying! Why can't I use my father's magic?!" She's getting angry. Agnes and I exchanged looks of amusement as we returned our looks to Alyssa who is clearly angry right now. Most of the time, she's the one who would always fall first, maybe her frustration is going to explode now.
With a glow from her hands, roots underground and branches of some trees started moving on their own. Agnes and I took a step back until our backs touched each other.
"She's really angry." I chuckled.
"Miss Alyssa must have been frustrated." She said and watched the movement of the branches.
I never knew Alyssa would have this impulsive side. I always saw her as the girl who always smile. We've know each other for almost a months now, but I never saw her angry or irritated every time she loses a battle. She would just laugh it off and continue training. This is the first time she lashed out. And worse? She's using her magic power to fight us.
As time passes by, I'm starting to see why the headmasters are inviting and encouraging us to study at their schools. It's been three weeks since they visited and I never heard anything from them since then. And I'm starting to feel how strong this magic is. Just like what's happening now. Almost all branches of trees and many roots responded to her outburst. If she's can't control it yet and this is happening, then how strong would she be when she can control it?
