Chapter Fifty-Five: Selection

Raven walked through her tunnel, hearing the cheers of the crowd.

She was in the academy arena, which was packed with tons of family, friends, and other students, along with random spectators.

Raven walked to the center of the arena, which had a floor specifically made for fighting.

She saw her opponent, Nora Hagen who was standing on the fighting platform; she was shorter than Raven and had a brown bob cut as her hairstyle, along with brown eyes.

A referee walked between the two girls; he was well built, and Raven could tell he was talented in combat just from her senses.

"Now I want a fair duel; there will be no killing or maiming. This fight will end after one of you surrenders or is deemed unfit to continue. Do you understand?" the ref said.

Both girls nodded and bowed to each other, then walked back to their respective sides.

The announcer's voice came on.

"The match between Nora Hagen and Raven Blackwood begins....Now!"

Nora started off running after Raven with her royal sword in her hands.

Raven quickly dodged her first strike and attacked with her spear, which Nora managed to barely dodge.

The two started to circle each other, Nora on guard while Raven appeared more relaxed, but she was watching every movement Nora made.

Raven then struck first with a quick jab at Nora's stomach, which barely connected, cutting open Nora's side. Raven, while taking advantage of the momentum, started manifesting her magic into her palm and sent a lightning attack directly at Nora, who took the hit.

Nora was now dazed after the attack and saw Raven generating lightning around her, blanketing herself in a curtain of lightning. Raven then used her lightning curtain to start taking shots at Nora, who had to continuously dodge them; some she managed and others she didn't. She was now battered and bruised, so Raven brought even more lightning to her palm and unleashed a devastating attack, covering every inch of the arena floor. Nora was caught in the lightning and passed out from the pain.

"STOP!" the ref yelled.

Soon the lightning retracted, leaving Nora collapsed on the ground and Raven standing tall.

"After a fight of three minutes and twenty-six seconds, the winner is...Raven Blackwood by knockout!" the announcer yelled.

The crowd cheered after watching a good match where Raven was mostly in control.

"Now, second-year students, raise your hands on who will mentor this bright young mind." The announcer addressed the crowd of second-year students.

Many raised their hands, but one was very noticeable.

"And by way of the student ranks, the claim to be Raven Blackwood's mentor is...the number two-ranked second-year student, Kiara!" the announcer said.

The girl who chose to mentor Raven was a girl with dark skin and long black hair, paired with blood-red eyes. She was sitting in the second-ranked seat with a smile on her face; she seemed friendly as she was waving to Raven.

"Now, are there any second-year students willing to take Nora Hagen under their wing?" the announcer asked.

Not a single hand was raised.

"I'm sorry, Miss Hagen, but we do wish you luck on finding your academics elsewhere." the announcer said.

Nora left the arena in tears as the professors led Raven to the winners tunnel, where she was greeted by Anna and her family.

"I told you, Raven, you could do it." Anna said.

"Congratulations, My Lady." Kaede said.

Everyone congratulated her until a professor interrupted.

"Hello, dear Raven Blackwood; my name is Professor O'Connell. Now here is your room number for your dorms; you can move in at any point in the next week, just as long as it's before the semester begins. Any Questions?"

"No, thank you, Professor." Raven responded.

"Understood, congratulations on your win and your admittance into our wonderful academy." Professor O'Connell said.

Raven went home with her family for a few days; she trained along with Anna and Kaede, and then at the end of the week, on Friday, she went to her academy dorms to officially move in.

She had three bags with her and found the dorm she was placed in. It was beautifully built, just like a noble mansion. She looked down at a slip she was given by the professor from the previous week. Room 206.

She walked inside and found the directory, Room 206, on the second of the four floors. She walked up the steps and found her room; it had two beds inside, both made for nobility with fancy cotton sheets and pillowcases.

"Oh, so I guess we have roommates." she thought to herself.

Raven took the bed to the right and started to place her clothes in the pre-prepared dressers, along with her books on a shelf as well. She had "borrowed" some of Alex's books, which she also found interesting. As she was organizing her stuff, she heard her door open.

"Oh, hey, Raven."

It was Freya, the girl from the tournament Raven had talked to.

"So you're my roommates, I'm guessing." Raven said.

"Yup, Room 206. So you already claimed the right side of the room; that's fine; I'll take the left." Freya said.

Freya walked by Raven and saw a certain book on her bookshelf.

"Oh, is that Cursed Bloodline? I love that book; are you a fan?" Freya said.

"I haven't read it yet; it belonged to my brother." Raven responded.

"I see. Well, I hope you enjoy it. I need to meet this brother of yours because not many people are fans of that story." Freya said.

Raven and Freya both enjoyed some small talk as they organized their things and prepared for classes the next week.

As the weekend passed, Raven became a little bit more friendly with Freya since they have some similarities.

The two even had some classes together and helped each other study for their tests. With each other's help, they both passed the second exam given, which cut down the number of freshman students even more. Only about two hundred and fifty students passed the entrance exam, and after the first written and practical exams, the number of freshman was down to one hundred and seventy-three students.

And as time went on, Raven won every exhibition match she was in and was also an ace student. Freya was also undefeated and a top student. The two made a deal never to battle each other. Which earned them a lot of fame with the other students as a duo.

*Elsewhere*

"Have you had enough yet, Alex?"

Alex was on the ground with cuts all over his body and burns on his arms and chest while spitting out blood.

"No, let's keep going." Alex said.

"Well, you definitely have the energy for this, but no, this is it for the day. Go see Adelia for some healing herbs; she'll be in the garden helping that girlfriend of yours train." Percival said.

"She's not..." However, Percival interrupted Alex.

"So if she's not, why is she sneaking into your room nearly every night?" Percival said.

All Alex could do was sigh. Even though he had no say in the matter, sometimes he just wakes up with company, and sometimes she wears, let's just say, revealing clothes, sometimes barely any. She had been trying to get closer and closer with Alex, and he was starting to feel a different way about Claire too, so he just let her do her thing. It's not like any teenage male wouldn't like waking up to a barely clothed beauty....right?

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