Killer Magic Academy

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

I now knew why Maxie was offered a spot in the training group. I thought she would be screwed when Barry flooded the arena. She would be weakened from having to swim all the time and the ripples would show where she was even though she was invisible.

That was far from the case. No matter where Barry attacked, whether he thought he had her or not, she wasn't there. Everyone in the crowd thought it would be over when Barry had a spinning whirlpool focused on a single spot. I thought that was where Maxie was, and I think he did too. At least, until she appeared behind him and snapped his neck.

The water disappeared seconds later, and I looked over at Nile, who was staring at Erin with wide eyes. Erin shook her head, "Not here."

I wondered what they were talking about, and once Griffin, Ace, Octavian, Tessa, Tenya, Emma, Nile and Erin were back in the gym with me, Nile said to Erin, "She looked exactly like Hayden did."

"Maxie wasn't at the school when Hayden won the Showdowns. There's no way she could be the legacy," Griffin replied.

"What about the mask? She could've found the mask," Tenya added.

"The mask has been gone ever since it malfunctioned and got destroyed in the final round. No one has been able to recreate it since," Erin stated.

"I heard that only an energy can control the mask," Ace said.

Erin shook her head. "I'm not doing anything with a mask."

I looked at Emma, and she looked equally lost. "Hi, um, 8's here. What are you talking about?"

"There was this girl who was the youngest person ever to become a 1. Her name was Hayden. She was super nice to everyone and used her energy power to help the younger students who weren't used to overloading. At the same time, there was a masked person who was the most feared Searcher. No one knew who he or she was until the last round of the Showdowns, when the mask malfunctioned and she ripped it off. It was Hayden. She released an energy blast that killed her opponent and destroyed her mask. She left that night and was never seen again," Griffin said.

"Rumor has it that she met with someone before she left to pass down her legacy. This happened when we were 8s, so if the person is still here, he or she is a 1," Octavian added.

"Why did the mask stop working?" Emma asked.

Nile shrugged. "No one knows."

"Do you think Maxie's a Searcher?" I asked.

Tessa nodded. "She's the first person to have killed someone in the Showdowns since Hayden, but she hasn't done anything outside of that, so maybe not."

"Nothing that we know of," Ace added. "She can turn invisible, after all. For all we know she's been doing stuff for years and pinning it on other people."

"Why are we concerned about this?" Emma asked. "Alyssa is facing off against Jeremy tomorrow and honestly you guys aren't helping." Everyone stared at her. She shrugged. "What? I'm right and you all know it. I get it. Maxie's going to kill someone, but news flash, she already has. Now, if we don't want Alyssa to be the next one dead in the arena, she can either get some rest or we can talk some strategy."

_____

The horn sounded and I began floating. I wasn't doing anything and I quickly threw my four powders up into the air. I felt my arms being controlled and I began to burn the ground.

That quickly stopped Jeremy and I was able to fall to the ground and get out of his control. He was trying to force the flames down while still keeping his eye on me. I created a shell of earth around him, trapping him inside with the fire.

A few seconds later, the earth shell was cracked open and the fire was gone. Burning the ground wasn't working, and I didn't want to waste my energy trying to keep the flames up, so I just let them burn naturally.

Jeremy wasn't doing anything but standing still, and luckily I knew something was up and I turned around. There was a huge bolder flying towards me and it took so much effort to move it through the air towards Jeremy. We were stuck in a stalemate trying to keep the rock away from ourselves and towards the other person. I knew this would end up with the stronger person winning, and that wasn't me.

I had to mix it up. I took a hard step and the ground caved into a chasm. I then filled it with water.

Unfortunately, Jeremy could levitate himself which meant anything I did below him would be useless.

But what if I tried something above him? I closed my eyes and filled the entire stadium up with water. Jeremy tried to make a bubble of air around himself, but since there was no air on our side of the enchanted net, there was nothing he could do.

I, on the other hand, just sat back, relaxed and enjoyed the show, while still keeping the show going, of course.

____

"All of my rounds have been pretty easy, actually," I said. "Looking back, I don't see how I thought this would be a problem."

Octavian laughed. "It's just like when you do a workout, and during it you're absolutely dying but looking back you think that you could've gone harder."

I shrugged. "I guess."

Tessa laughed too. "You do know that Maxie physically killed someone in there? These matches are more serious than you think."

"She gets it," Emma said. "Her health levels are low, but stable."

"I don't feel like they're low."

"That's because you're stable. Once you start eating or sleeping, it'll catch up to you."

"If this whole magic thing doesn't work out for you, Emma, go to medical school and become a doctor," Griffin suggested.

"I'll consider that."

"But it really feels like the same thing every time," I said. "There's nothing new in the fights."

Nile nodded. "It's more of a test of who's stronger, and who can strategize better if they are weaker. Raw power is the main factor in who wins."

"So do you think I'll be good in the next round?"

"It depends. Maxie and Anthony are both extremely strong, but their powers are limited compared to yours."

"I ordered some food to be brought up," Ace interrupted. "Figured we would be up here talking for a while, and I know I'm hungry so I bet Alyssa is too."

"I honestly keep forgetting you're an 8," Tenya said. "Pretty much everyone doesn't sign up because they don't want the stress. They're just trying to make it through their years here. One thing you should be worried about is after your next round. People who lose are really bitter sometimes and they try to kill the person who beat them."

"Really?" I asked.

Tessa nodded. "Right now you're protected by a rule that says that competitors can't be attacked outside of their rounds, but once those are done it's going to get bad."

"Bad as in people coming after me, or the big problem you all say is coming?"

"Both," Nile said.

"Great," Emma said sarcastically.