by Nicol Terra
“Munching on that Molly, commander?” Rose said. Tina rolled her eyes as everyone around her giggled.
“And that is a thousand laps today Rose, I will see you at four.” Commander Jay spat back, as Erudite shook her head. Tina wanted to call him out on it, but Molly doesn’t exactly give you a merry high, at least she thought to herself.
Another Faerie, with black wings and the name tag ‘Mabel.’ Came to the field with a small bird. The bird was blue, emanating a cloud of distinct blue dust that covered the area. It looked like an ordinary parrot, just enhanced with magic. The bird opened its eyes, revealing a hologram of names. Moments later, Mabel and Jay bowed at eachother as she disappeared into a black whirlwind of wind. Erudite winced with Tina shooting her a glare.
“Squawk, squawk! First one up is Eve and Rose! Squawk!” The bird said, flying around as he repeated the phrase three times.
Rose and Eve flew to the center as everyone backed up to avoid the two. The clouds gave a sharp clap of thunder, crackling with sound and lightning as the two got into their fighting stances. Rose, being the cockier of the two held her hands down to her chest. Eve, on the other hand, smiled softly as her right foot stood in the air forward, left foot back, her arms covering her face to guard herself. The parrot tweaked its head to the side, Commander Jay raised his hand, the parrot now following suit with his left wing.
“That parrot is adorable,” Erudite said, Tina looked at her in disbelief, in complete confusion. She never expected Erudite to say that.
Jay lowered his hand and same with the parrot. “Begin, squawk!” The bird said. The two-edged closer and closer to one another until Eve snapped a punch to Rose in just under a tenth of a second. Rose stepped back, in pain, her head rocking forth until Rose released a volley of punches, over a thousand it seems in five seconds. Tina could barely keep up as Rose pummeled her with just punches. Rose released a current of wind, blasting Eve away from her. Instead, Eve rode the current, jumped behind her in a second, and exploded a cone of fire through her. Rose fell the ground, her wings still burning as she laid unconscious.
“Can someone get water for Ensign Rose before she burns to death?” Jay growled.
Robin waved her hand in the air as a torrent of cold water splashed on Rose, waking her up and smothering the flames.
“Wait, I am not done.” She said, tilting from side to side, as she assumed another fighting stance.
“Yeah, and I am a billionaire. Get on the bench Rose. You are running a thousand AND staying for lessons after.” Jay said.
“Ha-ha,” Robin said dryly, Rose moved to punch him as he flinched in sarcasm. “Oh no, please don’t punch me! I bruise easy!”
Instead, Erudite punched him in the face when Jay wasn’t looking. “Don’t worry Rose, and I got your back.” He said, which Rose nodded with a smile as she sat on a nearby bench.
The parrot again showed the hologram of names, looks like it was two not from her class. “Squawk! Squawk! Next up is Jerry and Bunny.”
Bunny was feminine in appearance, yet he was male. He had a soft face and small, tender fingers. He had pink wings and a small body, not much taller than perhaps four feet. He was the shortest of us, which is saying something considering Faeries top out at five feet at most. Jerry, on the other hand, was hulking even by our standards, standing a full five feet ten; however, he weighed over three hundred pounds, all muscle. He didn’t use magic. Apparently, he was gifted with a crystal as he slipped on a white stone around his neck. His arms were as large as a cinderblock. Even as he flew up, he got his leg stuck on the ground and instead just ‘picked up’ the ground with him.
“Poor guy, going up against that monster,” Erudite said.
“Yeah tell me about it. Poor Bunny.” Tina said.
“That was not who I was talking about,” Erudite said, Tina looked in disbelief. She rolled her eyes back around to stare at the smaller Bunny.
Jerry raised his arms to his face as Bunny clapped his hands together.
“Squawk!” The bird said, Jay raised his hand again and lowered it, the bird following the motion with his right wing as usual.
Jerry didn’t even hold back. He backed away and threw volleys of fireballs at Bunny. His flames were so hot that Tina couldn’t help stand back, as the Jerry released balls of fire one after another, so much power was in each one, the ground shook, splitting apart beneath their feet like a pseudo earthquake. If Tina had to guess, it was similar in power to a magnitude 5.25 earthquake, as it shook the entire Sector 1400. She felt the ripples of the earth shake the entire military camp as Tina shivered.
“Again, poor Bunny,” Tina said.
“Trust me, just watch,” Erudite said, her voice was strangely confident. Jerry stopped for a moment, as the smoke cleared away, taking a full ten seconds to blow away.
A small cocoon of earth emerged from the smoke, as Bunny popped out the stones, turning the stones to spores, as the spores filled the air. The spores spread quickly as even Jay backed away. Tina felt a spore through her ear but thought nothing of it.
Jerry rushed to punch Bunny before he stopped short of his face. Bunny gave a devilish smile.
“Now repeat after me. You are my master.” Bunny said. His tone was poisonous to Tina’s ears.
“You are my master,” Jerry said, his voice drained and his intense gaze glossed over with blackness as his command became a mumble.
“You will turn around and go back into the line, thus resulting in a ring out and my win.” Bunny said.
Jerry did just that, his body shaking and stumbling over as he went back into line. Tina turned to Erudite. Other then the fact is Bunny spoke like a robot, that was a flawless victory.
“How did he do that?” Tina asked.
“Well, it was disgusting, but that is Fungus? It is an Earth Bent Ability.” Erudite whispered.
“No,” Tina said. Then she remembered the spores and looked around the battlefield and the former cocoon of earth, sure enough. Mushrooms and spores of fungus popped out of the earth itself, covering the battlefield.
“Bunny found an ancient tone in our libraries and pieced this together. Supposedly, those spores can do many things; Mind Control is one.” Erudite said. “We are Warpers, we have complete control over one and only one ability. Fungus on the other hand…”
“Is a bent ability.” Tina said. Erudite nodded.
“Yeah, and thus it has multiple, weaker Warp abilities. But in exchange, Bent range is nothing to laugh at.”
“Scary.” Tina thought to herself. Then she heard a voice in her head. “You’re next.” It said. He turned to Bunny as he walked past Tina. She couldn’t help but gulp.
"Bunny is the third strongest in the entire camp by a mile." Robin squeaked behind her.
“Well, who are the top two? Aren’t you two, Erudite? Who is number one?” Tina asked, swinging around. Now she was curious.
"Dense as a rock," Robin whispered behind Tina's back.
Erudite snarled, she hated being number two in most things. Tina didn’t think much of it however as she turned to the parrot again. Jay shook his head.
“Someone get Ensign Jerry… well, a doctor and a bucket.” Another Faerie from the class helped Jerry fly off the field as he headed to the nurse’s office south.
“Squawk! Final round! Robin vs. Eve!” Jay said. Tina blinked.
“Wait, Eve goes twice? What about Evelyn?” Tina asked.
“Oh uh, she isn’t here with us today. She is doing duels later today.” Erudite said. “Looks like she was sick and she went to Jay and asked if she could do it later.”
Robin nodded, raised his thumb to Tina. Tina obliged and returned the gesture. Both Eve and Robin flew to the center, ready for battle as they assumed their fighting stances. Unlike Rose, Robin has a proper position. However, he stood on the ground instead of flying like most Faeries. His right hand in an open palm with a flame and his left-hand further back holding current of wind in the shape of a ball. Tina knew both and ha
d no answer on who would win.
“Thoughts?” She asked Erudite. “Robin has more power and is more durable, but Eve is faster and is a master of Wind Magic.”
“Yeah, sounds about right,” Erudite said, biting her lip.
“Well, thanks for your analysis,” Tina said.
Tina looked back at the two, ready for combat.
They lunged forward as soon as Jay lowered his hand. Robin tanking a blow or two, countering with a few of his own. His right hand releasing plumes of fire that lit the ground ablaze and surrounded the two. Eve darted from side to side, dodging flames of fire as she released a burst of wind, which Robin ‘punched’ forward current of wind to counter. Robin then turned his body weight to the side, as earth came out of the ground and grabbed Eve by the foot, throwing her into the barrier in just under a second. Eve coughed blood and barely dodged the next fist of Earth. She split apart the pillar of earth grabbing her foot and flew down to Robin. He then extinguished the flames as he pushed with both of his hands, a massive torrent of fire aimed at her, only that she dodged again as she sliced him with hundreds of blades of wind, striking through his arms and legs as she continued to fly around. Robin tried to grab her again, only for her to dodge from side to side, as he continued to become more and more frenzied. He then grabbed for a brief second and threw her to the ground. She then punched him in the face with a blast of wind as he staggered in pain. Tina's heart stopped for a second; only ten seconds passed, and their concentration from the two was unparalleled. Not unlike a warrior and something she felt a sense of respect for.
The two lunged forward as they both punched eachother, only for both to collapse to the ground. Even Commander Jay had to rub his eyes to check to see what happened actually happened.
“I-It's a draw?” He asked even us to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. Rose was the most shocked as she turned away in disbelief. Tina and Erudite turned to each other and shrugged. It was close though. They got up a second later.
“Well, a draw is a draw,” Erudite said to Tina to her left ear, to which she can only nod.
“Aww man, I wanted Lunch!” Robin said. Eve smiled.
“I will buy you lunch for free.” Eve said.
Robin looked like he had just died and gone to heaven as his wings started to flutter uncontrollably.
“Can we go on a date as well?” He asked, grabbing her hands. Eve, taken aback blushed. Erudite pulled him away from Eve. Tina patted Eve on the back.
“I never expected your wind magic to be so potent. You almost had him.” Tina said.
“Yeah, well, almost only counts in pegasus shoes.” She sighed. Jay shook his head.
“Well, We normally do three, but we have time for one more…” He said to himself, and he looked from side to side. “All of you are fucked up. Dueling is important to warriors, yet you guys-”
“Squawk! How about Tina and Erudite?” The bird interrupted.. Everyone else murmured to themselves and others, even Bunny saying something quiet as if he was speaking to a ghost. Rose just got out of the bench, whispering something to Robin.
Jay smiled. “Well, that sounds like an interesting matchup. Not here though.” He said as he snapped his fingers as everyone was teleported to another dueling ground. This one was far more elaborate. There were dozens of rock pillars and dusty brown soil around her bent into Manifolds, Towers or other odd geometric shapes. Before Tina could object, she realized it was only her and Erudite in the dueling ground together.
Erudite looked around the training ground. It was very elaborate, and this was for elite soldiers to practice their magical abilities or duel. It was over twenty square kilometers in area; it must be the size of Two Sectors.
There was a large hill that overlooked them, which Jay and the others stood above them. She saw small hills of rock that greeted her and the lake in the far back. Tina was next to her and confused.
“I will show you who is number one.” She said to herself.
“Begin!” was all she needed to hear as she lunged forward. Tina only barely dodging in time. Tina jumped a few feet backward as Erudite teleported in front of her.
“H-Hey, what is the deal?!” She said, Erudite snarled and smiled to her, releasing a volley of quick punches.
“Come on, get in your fighting stance. It would be fun.” She said Tina didn’t have much time to think as she assumed her fighting stance. A small smile cracked in the two’s faces. Tina fluttered her wings and lunged herself in the sky, Erudite soon following.
“I believe the total before was two and two.” Erudite said. Tina nodded.
“Tie breaker then? I am in.” She said.
The two darted flying higher and higher. Erudite created a ball of Darkness in her right palm, reaching forward. Tina followed suit with her own Ball of Light. As the two met, they were both blasted away in a second a few thousand meters back. Then, Erudite formed the same ball of Darkness as the two met once again. As she fluttered her wings, the two were bolted, thrown or lunged backward, forward, downward or anywhere but the direction opposite from them.
The two clashed, Erudite felt Tina giving it her all, pushing her further and further back. Erudite sighed, as Time Stopped around her. Everyone stood frozen in time, as she created a bunch of beams of light to shower Tina, only for the time to stop around her, with Tina cracking a smile, following with beams of darkness frozen, ready to strike Erudite at any moment.
“You stopped time, but I stopped time three seconds before you,” Tina said. It froze Erudite, but she can still hear her.? What did that mean to her? What, was she supposed to live in this frozen world. Then, she clenched her fist.
“No more nice time.” She created a sword of darkness in her right hand and sliced through space, a tear, in reality, visible just behind Tina.
Tina gulped as Erudite continued to slice at her, cutting through space and creating rifts. Dozens of cuts in space, forming a kind of web that shot through, split, cut and folded space among itself. In this web of spliced space, Tina flew, and Erudite slashed. Tina jumped, and Erudite grabbed. She then ‘threw’ her sword as a ball of darkness as gravity pulled Tina to the ball. She tried to get out, but Erudite held her in place with her right hand. Tina then countered with her spell, gravity shifting and pulling Erudite to the left. The two coughed and struggled to get out of each other's spells, only for both to let go.
Erudite panted, as thoughts rushed through her head. She was neck and neck with her. Her parents spent millions on private tutoring, even her teachers calling her a prodigy. She had nothing but time to spend on her abilities; she was a genius. Tina was poor, and she was even more talented than her? “At this point, what can money buy?” Erudite thought to herself.
She flooded the entire field with light as time slowed and stopped in a few seconds. Tina looked but was frozen in time as she laid helplessly. Erudite created a ball of gravity again, throwing it to the ground as Tina was pulled to the ground instantly, the entire room was leveled and pulverized in a mere moment as gravity pressed Tina, cracked every bone in her body. She howled in pain, but she looked defiantly on as Erudite flew back down to the ground.
She gave a small smile “Game, set, match.” She said, her right hand creating a blade of darkness as she sliced through her, space splitting in half as Tina was cut entirely in half as space was untethered around her.
Then, she flew back up, then Tina, then the two were back to pulling each other with gravity on different points, the entire room was rebuilt around her. Time rewound five seconds. Erudite blinked a few times as she felt bolted back to where she was.
“What?” Erudite could have sworn she cut Tina in half.
Then, a beam of light shot through her as she fell to the ground, it clipped one of her wings. Erudite formed a darkness blade, as Tina pointed her blade back at her, pointing down at her neck ready to strike.
Commander Jay teleported inside between the two, pushing them away with a gust of wind. In this instance, Erudite was thrown a fe
w feet back. Before she could process it, she created a ball of Darkness, only for Jay to appear in front of her and grab her hand, knocking it aside.
“I have seen enough. It's a draw.” He said. In this quick instance, the two reappeared back on the field, back at the camp as Erudite pant became more apparent. Jay must have the ability to teleport large groups of people, Erudite sighed, she felt the ability, but Tina who started to become sick rolled from side to side.
Erudite tweaked her head. “A draw?” She asked. It didn’t feel like a draw, she… won, didn’t she? Lost? From her current position, her butt firmly planted on the floor showed a loss, but she did also cut Tina in half. Speaking of that, how did she do it? She shook her head “Questions for later.”
“You both defeated each other, but Tina rewound time from inside the bubble as you cut her. It is a powerful ability, the ability to rewind time even after you are defeated. She then took advantage of your confusion and pierced your wing when you weren’t looking.” Jay gave a small smirk. “To be honest, it was a great view from the outside, but I will chalk it up as a tie.”
He snapped his fingers, back to the main dueling ground away. “All right, everyone can go back to their dorms. Exercise over.”
Everyone got back up. Rose was talking to Jay in the corner, as he reprimanded her for her horrible performance today. Robin and Eve were talking. Bunny walked away to somewhere.
The only two left were Erudite and Tina. She gulped and clenched her fist. She lost. She sighed and extended her hand out.
“Good match. I lost fair and square.” Erudite said, Tina looked at her with a blank expression, her eyes hollow and her face flushed of fluid. Tina fainted as Erudite caught her mid-fall. She flapped her wings, dust falling from them. “Hello? You awake?”
“Even though she won the second time, rewinding time even a few seconds on a large scale, especially after defeat is a hard feat,” Jay said, his red wings and red face matched perfectly with each other as he shook his head. “I could discharge you both for using forbidden magic, but we are at war. Who cares about rules when it is a matter of survival?” Jay said. Erudite nodded, Bending or Warping Reality was still an extremely rare skill, especially for ordinary 'cadets' like herself.