Sahri High

Eight

                            L E T I S H A     M A N A R I

"You're here for your first lesson about magic." Miss Laurine handed me a book; I don't know what it is; it's been two days after our argument inside the training room. 

"I thought today is my agility training with Chad?" the moment I arrived at the room. Chad told me that Miss Laurine was looking for me. 

"That was the original plan, but Avery suggested that you should undergo a special class since you grew up downtown, and I realized that you have no proper training about magic, so I thought it would be a good idea to train you first handed." 

My forehead creased, "But I needed that training too; that's my weakness," I explained; I already told her that, even before our training starts. 

"Yes, but I have to make sure that you can control your power, Letisha, I know, and I respect if you can't tell me what your real power is, but I know that it's not something that I should let go of. I mean, I'm doing this for your sake; after the meet and you are still able to come back alive, you can use the lessons that I will be teaching you outside the academy." 

I just sighed and nod; I can't argue with that, "Okay, for how long?" I'm talking about this training. 

"I'll be teaching you for two weeks. So please bear with it in the meantime. We have to know your limit, your magic, and how you can use it properly and safely." 

"What's with this book, anyway?" I said and raised the book she handed me earlier. 

"Oh, yes, that would be your practice item." She said and got another book, "Like this," suddenly endless purple-colored string comes out from her hand and cover the whole book, and in an instant, the book was cut into pieces, "I want to know how fast you will be able to cut that book using your magic." 

"What magic shall I use?" she was taken aback by my boldness. I know she's been dying to know my magic; she already saw some of it, "What do you want to test?" 

She cleared her throat, "For now, I want you to use your sealing magic, since you used it to c***k the crystal the last time you used that," I nod and copy what she did on the book, in just a second, the book I was holding was cut into pieces, "Okay, that's for our warm-up, let's get into business." 

                               -----

"Letisha! I told you! Use it for three consecutive times!" 

"Stop doing that!" 

"What kind of spell is that!"

"I'm your opponent! Hit me! Not the wall!" 

"You're playing safe again! Test your limit!" 

For the past six days, Miss Laurine never went easy on me; she takes every training seriously. I admit that I like it, but hell! I'm tired! I want to rest too!

"Come on, let me rest, it's been straight four days, and I only have three hours of sleep since we started!" 

"No, I want you to use your full power; this room is protected by a great amount of power, don't overthink and give me all you can." She said and start to create another string; I noticed that it's thicker than the last four days, "I'll give the best that I can, now, show me what you got." 

                    ------

"How's the training?" Luke asked when I sat with them during dinner; after one week, this will be the first time I'll be sitting again with them. "Pretty cool?" he asked again and chew his stake again. 

"Don't even start," I mumbled and start to cut my meat. "My body is f*****g aching. Miss Laurine is one of the hella trainers. I didn't imagine she could do all of that; silly me, she will not be a professor and a trainer for nothing." I heard him chuckled. 

Jackson was staring at me, nothing moving an inch, Fin, like the usual, eating her dinner, minding her own business, which is great. I met Chad earlier before entering the hall and said he had to run some errands; Vera was not here, which was odd. 

"Where's Vera?" I asked Luke again, ignoring Jackson's cold stares; what the f**k is his problem? We haven't seen in more than a week, and he's looking at me like that? Jeez, this old freak. 

"She has to be somewhere, the game is approaching, and her role is vital. She's now practicing for more ways of maximizing her magic." I just nodded; well, that makes sense, every role that we have in this group is vital, and every decision always has a consequence. 

While having my training inside the academy. I learned that you need to think fast but carefully; even the slightest wrong decision may lead to a dangerous situation. And I don't have the heart to leave any of them. Even if I have to use up all my magic and physical strength to get their ass out of the game, I will. 

"I have to go," Fin stood up, grabbed her plate and walk straight to the disposal area, and exited the place. I'm used to her; for the past weeks, I got used to their attitudes, how they respond, how they act, how they treat one another. 

"Well, I'll leave you two for now." Luke stood up too, "I have to meet with Sir Rui for tomorrow's schedule; see you when I see you." I just nod and shrug, but when I realized that I was left alone with Jackson, I felt a lump in my throat.

After that time, when I spoke to him, I tried my best to avoid him; I know I overdid it, but I said what I said; if he got a problem with that, then I'm out of that. We were different from each other, and I'm not planning to compromise what I believe just because of him; after all, he should be ahead of me, he should think more mature than me; it's a must for a team leader. Our lives are in his hands inside the game, but he will get us all killed based on what I see right now. 

I sighed; this is no use, I stood up and prepared myself to excuse myself, but he grabbed my hand and forced me to sit down. My forehead creased; he's looking at me, again with that eye; I never knew what he was thinking; I was always wondering what's running inside his head, or if he was just like that. 

"I'm sorry." I blinked, thinking if I just imagine things, or he did say that; I tilt my head for a bit, looking at him, but he was not moving; his jaw tightened. "Look, I know you got the point the last time." I rolled my eyes, I know. 

"You don't want to learn that from a tough way, aren't you?" I rested my chin on my resting arm on the table, "I mean, you can't learn that when you're in front of your dying teammates and opponent, don't you?" 

I heard him sighed, "Come on," he said and suddenly dragged my arm, but unlike the first time, it was gentler.

Students looking at us didn't escape from my eyes; they looked at us like we were caught up doing something nasty; what the hell is that look, bitches? 

"Let them look." I just shrug and let Jackson dragged me in. I don't know where the f**k is. 

He brought me to the lake a bit far from the academy. It's actually behind the academy. I helped myself and sat down since it has grass near the lake, the sun is down, and the moon is our only source of light, and it's enough for me to see my reflection of the water. 

After almost two months of staying here, I got to see myself. I look tired, my eyes look weary, I caress my fresh wound on my left cheek; I got this earlier this morning when I was doing my daily training with Miss Laurine. She's one of a hella woman. I did not see it coming; she's too powerful for her looks. 

I now believed that we are inside the room where magics won't ruin it, but I doubt if it can withstand my magic, I'm not boasting or anything; I just don't want to use that again. I don't want to hurt Miss Laurine badly. 

"My father always told me that winning should be your only goal," Jackson spoke beside me; he sat and dip his water in the water, his shoes are beside him. "My family has a high expectation from us, especially from me. My grandfather used to be a team captain; he was a rigorous leader, which led him to win the first time, then it's my father, and two years ago, Lemuel, my cousin. They all won and withstand it." 

I got the chance to look at him, that's when I realized, that like me, his eyes look weary, tired, mad, anxious, the Jackson I used to see was long gone, he used his emotionless face as a façade. He used to hide all these emotions that have been rumbling around his head. 

"I am my father's only son, and winning on this competition is equal for his acknowledgment, which I wanted the most." He grabbed a handful of grass and played with it; I pick up a pebble and throw it on the water while listening to him. 

"Where's your mom?" I asked out of nowhere; he never mentioned his mom.

"She died inside the game." I don't know if I should say sorry for asking or just let him tell his story, in the end, I chose the latter, "She's with my dad, they won, but mom didn't make it, I was just a year old, they had me when they were both twenty, and my mom died. After that day, dad promised himself that my mom's death will not be put in vain; he will make sure that Raviya will always be victorious." 

That explains the expectations, not just from his dad, but from his relatives; well, I still envy him; he had someone he can call a family, while I don't. 

"Lemuel, we used to be close; we're a partner in crimes, but expectations and reality set us apart, and I just accepted it," he breathed heavily, "I don't want to be a team captain just because I was told to, I want to be a team captain to prove myself that I can make it, but you, you just slap me with the reality, how selfish I am, how cruel and birdbrain I am," 

I chuckled, that's a good hit, "Well, it's hard, it's tough to be a team captain, I can see that on your face, though I've never felt that, but it takes nothing to be kind, and take a lifetime to be selfless, I'm a selfish one, I took something I should have not." 

"Well, don't fool me; I know you did not." He said and creased his brow as if he's sure of what he was saying. 

I just shrug and let him think what he wants; "What I mean is, we are called a group for a reason, Jackson. We should be united, as a group; we should be looking after each other." I feel awkward while saying this; well, this isn't me; I don't usually say this. "You are our team captain, and we will do as you say; you are our head, we protect you while you're protecting us, it's a win-win situation." 

I heard him chuckled; I felt my face heated out of embarrassment; well, what the f**k? Why is he laughing at me? Jeez, this is a wrong move. 

"I'm not expecting this from you." 

I rolled my eyes, "Whatever." 

"When I first saw you, I thought I was looking at a blank paper, you don't have any emotions, I can't even feel if you're afraid, worried, happy, you're just this blank paper, blank wall like you're living but dead inside." 

"Well, I am," I answered honestly; there's no point of lying when he can see it. 

"Well, I envied you; you have no expectations to meet; you can be by yourself, doing errands, and just simply don't give a fuck." 

I laughed with that one, "Well, you're right." I can see on my peripheral vision that he was looking at me, so I shot back, "What?" he didn't answer, grabbed my arm, and just crush my lips on his. 

I did not see that coming; I can feel my heart beating fast, synchronizing to his own heart. But immediately replaced with warmth, comfort, and peace inside my rumbling head and heart. He didn't move; it was just a five-second kiss before he decided to end it. 

He removed the distance between our foreheads, "I admire your spirit, I admire how strong you are. While me, a week, selfish leader." 

My lips curled up, forming a smile, "Being strong doesn't mean you have to be physically trained; you have to train your mind, your attitude, and remove fears and what if's inside this," I said and pointed out his chest, "You can be strong with or without a magic, Jack. Remember that there's true power when you freed yourself from your fears." 

                                    ----

"This is going to be our last day, Letisha." I nodded. Two weeks had passed, and I can say that it wasn't a waste of time, I learned a lot, and Miss Laurine saw how dangerous my magic can be; in return, she showed me how advantage I had in my hands when I can control it. 

"Yes," I answered and positioned myself, we will be having our last training for magic usage, and I'm thrilled how am I going to apply all of the new learnings I've got to learn from her. 

"For safety measures, I made the admin, put another three sets of thicker shields and barrier, I can't let this room ruined, it cost a fortune, you know." I chuckled and just nodded, "Okay. Let's end this, Letisha. Think that all of your group members are in great danger, and you're the only person who can save them." 

When I noticed that she had already started creating threads, I jumped away from her position, so we would have enough space; I wouldn't want to be caught again by those threads.

One of the things I learned about Miss Laurine's magic, the closer you are to her, the thicker, painful, and tighter the threads that cling to you, and when that happens, getting out of it was an impossible task to do; you won't be able to get away immediately.

The first time she caught me with her threads, she defeated me in a blink of an eye. I endured the bruises on my body for three days before I was completely healed. I thought, she will let me rest; I can't stand up straight; it's like my bones are broken.

Miss Laurine didn't let me rest; I had a hard time, but one thing is for sure, I felt that I’m much more in control of my magic, I know when to release, and when not to release, I can say that I improved. 

“Threads of light!” in just a snap, threads from her hands started to attack me, she once used it, and beats me, it’s painful like you were struck by a real thunder, its magic name made sense. “Try not to be caught with my threads, it will hurt big time, I’m not holding back, Letisha, it might kill you!” she shouted from a distance. 

“Yeah, sure,” I shouted back while dodging her threads, I manage to dodge her threads while creating barriers to protect myself, I used a minimum amount of magic, I’m now practicing regenerating my magic at the same time controlling how much I’m releasing. I jumped and begin to create a bigger and thicker barrier for my next attack. 

“Don’t just dodge, Letisha. You’ve been doing that for quite some time.” She said,  maybe in the past days and weeks, yes, I’m doing that. But not now, I'm not dodging, I'm preparing, I want to do what Miss Laurine has been reminding me for weeks, know when I should not hold back.

"Sealing magic: Key of reverie," I mumbled before releasing my magic.

This is my newly discovered spell. It can nullify the effect of the magic itself and the owner of the magic. It can also seal any magic from a five-meter radius; since this is my second time using it. I already know the distance I need to make the magic release completely effective.

This one is handy. It can buy me time to either defend or attack; as for now, I will use it to attack her, I must use this not more than a minute to take her down, it will be pointless to use it for a long period, if I want to master the reduction of consuming magic, I must learn to think and act fast. 

“I can read your moves, Letisha.” Miss Laurine shouted and move her threads, “Thread magic: Par derrière.” And now, the thread is already behind me, it was too close for me to dodge, I don’t have a choice but to barred using my bare arm. 

“Fuck.” I winced in pain, biting my lips to prevent from shouting, I shake my arm and immediately change into my defensive pose. “Sealing magic: midnight key,” I mumbled and release another magic again, I made sure it’s not deadly, and I know Miss Laurine can handle it. 

She dodges it and gave me another blow of threads. We were like that for I don’t know how long, but I can feel my tiredness, I’m breathing heavily and my heart is pounding, but that’s when I started to feel the thrill, I always wanted to be. 

Come on, show me what I needed, show me your opening. 

Miss Laurine kept on attacking me, she knows what to do, she knows my move, I’m also thinking she might even know my breathing cycle. It’s not just a hunch, she knew, and I have to break that before my magic and energy drained the hell out of me. 

Miss Laurine halted, she looks very serious and annoyed, disappointment is visible in her eyes, “I’m just wasting my time here. I’ll end it now.” 

In just a split second, she disappeared in front of me, I can’t feel her aura all over the room. She used it before too, and there’s only one way to trace her. Breathe, when she breathes, I can sense aura, it’s just for a split second, but I can manage to catch her with that. 

Where are you? 

A felt a sudden pang of pain in my shoulder, I’m bleeding, how the f**k am I bleeding? 

“Letisha, you have to bear in your mind that there will be a set of different opponents inside the game, some may be good in weapons, some may be good in deceiving, some may be good in tactics, but there is one classification that you should be careful with, the assassin type.” 

She stood up and clasp the dagger in front of her. I blink, and I already have a cut on my left cheek. What the f**k happen? I blink again, and I found myself holding onto my bleeding arm, I blink again, and Miss Laurine was in front of me again. 

“That kind of opponents should be either avoided or might as well not to cross path with, Letisha. They are the most dangerous participants of the game, always remember that.”

I smirk, I always wanted to see how am I able to defeat that kind of opponent, someone that wants not just to hurt me, but to kill me. I’m dying to try this one. 

My blood started rushing inside my body, I can see nothing but red, something wants to come out from my body. I’m aching to know how this works. 

I breathe heavily, trying not to explode in so much excitement, I’m having this craving, cravings to kill, this isn’t me, but, but I can’t control my body. 

I want to kill. I want to kill. 

“Letisha.” 

I saw a lady, in front of me, she looks oddly familiar. Like I’ve seen her many times. But I don’t know who she is, she’s just familiar. 

“Letisha, calm down, lady.”

I raised my hand, forming something hot on my hand, I want to kill. I want to kill. 

“Letisha! Look at me!” 

The lady is in front of me now, she is holding both of my shoulders, that hand warms my heart, but it was too late, “Run, Miss.” My head is shouting it for the nth time, and I don’t know why. 

My hand aims not on her body, but to something harder, like a barred wall. 

“Slow down.” A baritone voice from a man, “Hush now, calm down.” And caressed my back, my pounding heart slowed down, my gushing blood suddenly came back to normal. “You ruined something very expensive,” 

Jackson. 

“Yes, I am he.” He said like he was confirmation for me. “Stop whining.” 

That’s when I came back from my deep reverie, and I realized, Jackson is so damn right. He does. 

I ruined something very expensive. 

From my spot, I saw the blur picture of the mountain and its peak, birds flying, and the clouded sky, shouting that it’s about to cry hard. I ruined the wall. 

“Goddamn it, I didn’t know you can surpass that five thick barriers. I shouldn’t underestimate you, Letisha.” 

It was Miss Laurine who spoke, she got some bruises and cuts, her glowing white dress is now covered with a mixture of blood and dirt, and I don’t know she got that, maybe from me? 

“I-I’m sorry, Miss Laurine,” I said with my almost weak voice. Guilt is eating my heart, this is why I don’t want to use it, but my craving got into me, f**k. “I-I’m sorry.” 

She held my hand, she’s smiling, but there’s something in her eyes, sadness? Longing? “You have it, right?” 

I just bowed my head, out of embarrassment, she must have been very disappointed in me. “Yes, I’m sorry. I tried to hide it,” 

“Have you named it?” I nodded, she chuckled, “Look at her, Jackson. If weren’t for you, Letisha might have been killed me.” 

“Tsk.” Jackson almost rolled his eyes. 

“You should be careful, Letisha. Your magic can destroy an entire world, if not used wisely. Colere interdite is one of the rarest kind of forbidden magic, that people thought that it was a myth, and no one could ever afford to have that in their hands.” Miss Laurine said, while gathering all her stuff, dropped on the floor. 

“Some people called it, forbidden wrath, it was believed to caused the first war, nine hundred seventy-eight years ago, Hades, the god of the underworld, discovered that Persephone was cheating with Poseidon, and war had broken to the whole Olympus.” I don’t know that Jackson also knew about it.

“Hades was defeated with the help of other gods, but before taking his last breath, he promised and cursed all of them his magic was said to have its own life, living and searching for the right owner.” 

Miss Laurine held my hands and gave me a warm smile, “And now that I’m looking at you, I guess, it was not a myth, after all, it was indeed true. Its power is a real deal while you’re using it. I can fill your desire to kill, to destroy. I can feel Hade’s wrath. But don’t be like him, Letisha. Don’t choose to cause a war. Please come back with us, you can turn that wrath into something greater. After all, you are Letisha Manari, who can beat all the odds, life will throw you.” 

Right, after all, I am Letisha Manari, who can beat all the odds, life will throw at me. I will make sure to use this as a weapon to cause peace, and not to shed blood. Fvck all of them.