Chapter 17: The Rank II

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Year 2 Section 1, Round 3:

Name, Weapon, Time

1. Xiao Lan Devinsky, Water bottle, 25 seconds, 31 seconds

2. Luis Utchdof, Sword, 46 seconds

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12. Abigail Carmen, Book, 55 seconds

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Xiao held her flask of water in hand, refilled and heavy. Once the bell rung, she stepped inside the dome.

This time, she recognized her opponent; the strawberry blonde girl standing inside the dome is Abigail, a frequent library visitor like the young witch herself. They talked once last season, and they kept to themselves even though a few of their classes align.

"You too?" Abigail pointed at her thick book, a notebook definitely, and then she pointed at Xiao's weapon.

The young witch nodded. "I was drinking water."

"I was noting down the professor's name, so he took my pen."

Ooof, she had it worse.

"Now what?" Abigail asked. "All I did was defend myself."

Xiao shrugged. "I can't afford to lose. Do you mind yielding?"

The blonde seemed to be in deep thoughts for a few seconds, and then her freckled face moved back to the young witch.

"I'm already in the top twelve of the section, so I don't mind yielding." Abigail smiled at her. Then, the strawberry blonde raised her book in the air. "I yield."

The young witch genuinely smiled back at the girl. "Thank you."

This took an unexpected turn. To be honest, Xiao expected the other witch to attack her or pull a spell or something, but nope, Abigail is really yielding.

"Oh, come on!" The blonde professor opened the dome to allow Abigail to walk out. "That could've been an interesting fight!"

It could've been.

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Year 2 Section 1, Round 4:

Name, Weapon, Time

1. Xiao Lan Devinsky, Water bottle, 39 seconds

2. Luis Utchdof, Sword, 40 seconds

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12. Abigail Carmen, Book, 39 seconds

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Just as Xiao was about to sip her drink, the blonde professor came inside the dome. Her hands rested her hips, and her eyes glazed at the young witch.

"Professor H. Ivanovna." Slim fingers with perfect unpolished nails reached out to her, and the young witch returned the handshake.

"I need to ask you a few questions?" The professor continued, and Xiao looked up at her, blinking. Hazel eyes looked back, and the woman sighed. "I take that as a yes. First of all, how can you convince someone to yield in under thirty seconds?"

Abigail knew Xiao was in the top ten overall rank, and Abigail definitely knew that she can't win against Xiao without a proper weapon. A book counts as a weapon, but the other witch values what she's written over the competition, and Xiao respects that.

"Why don't you ask Abigail? She agreed." Xiao responded to the question.

"You Devinskies have a reputation, I heard." Professor Ivanovna chuckled. "I never met the others, but you sure fit the description."

"What description?" Xiao tilted her head in curiosity.

The bell rung, signaling that the fourth round ended, so it's time to start preparing for the fifth round. Only six people will fight in this round, so three pairs.

"Aloof, cold, passive aggressive, ..." Hazel eyes squinted as the professor grinned. "Cute, resourceful."

Xiao only blinked up at the female professor. Even professors aren't immune to rumors.

Soon, Professor Ivanovna walked out of the dome, and a boy walked inside. The bell rung, and he immediately began chanting an elemental spell.

Xiao didn't waste anytime launching her flask at him, but he skillfully dodge. Then, he activated his spell. A barrier came between him and the young witch, and to her surprise, it's moving closer to her.

He's trapping her inside the barrier, and she saw him clenching on his wand.

"Yield, and I won't crush you." He pointed his wand at her. "Or would you like to be burned instead?"

The young witch laughed, and the boy whoes name she didn't bother to learn looked shocked for a second before he schooled his expression back into a frown.

The barrier is only six feet between her and the wall of the dome, and Xiao smiled at the boy, her beady black eyes unblinking.

"You freak..." He hissed.

As an experienced fighter once said: "I don't need to touch your wand to divert its direction. With enough focus, physical contact isn't necessary to channel magic. You'll learn that in year four or five, but I'm giving you a headstart."

Five feet, four feet... Xiao took a step back until her back hit the barrier, she just needs to aim. She can always teleport out, but she wanted to save her mana for the next round.

"Yield or I'll burn you!" The boy threatened again.

"My weapon is on your side." She stated.

"Your mistake for attacking first." He grinned, thinking that he's victorious.

"Your mistake for being careless." Xiao gave him a smile, and then she pulled.

Her flask flew across the dome, hitting her opponent at the back of his head. His concentration broke, so did his barrier.

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Year 2 Section 1, Round 4:

Name, Weapon, Time

1. Xiao Lan Devinsky, Water bottle, 1 minute 6 seconds

2. Luis Utchdof, Sword, 59 seconds

3. Orion Draconovsky, Wand, 1 minute 10 seconds

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5. Raven Draconovsky, Wand, 1 minute 6 seconds

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The dome around her was removed, and Xiao looked up at the sky. Just one more round and she can finally rest.

"Let's go." Professor Ivanovna patted her shoulder, and Xiao nodded before she followed the blonde woman into a bigger dome which was constructed a few seconds ago.

The dome is held up by several professors instead of one, and the young witch is faced with two other people. She recognized Luis from her spell crafting class, the dark haired boy already pulled out his sword even though the bell hasn't ring yet.

One look at the display board, and Xiao realized that she's facing off another Draconovsky. There's like four of them in second year the last time she checked.

"Take down the bitch first." Orion said to Luis, who responded with a snarl, but he nodded.

Colluding is allowed. The professors think it's more interesting this way, and it's funny to watch friendship being built up in minutes and crumbled in seconds.

The bell rung, and Xiao didn't make a move.

The boys gave each other a look, and Luis threw his sword at her, using the same method she did with her flask. Instead of dodging to the side, she fell to the ground. The young witch missed the sword completely, but she narrowly missed the flames that came on the sides.

Is this their technique? Luis luring her out and Orion setting the trap?

Beady black eyes looked up at them, and Xiao clicked her tongue.

"What the hell?" Luis cursed the moment his sword was lifted off the ground, and it pointed itself at him.

Orion saw his companion's sword, and he pointed his wand at it, trying to regain control of the sword. Luis moved towards the sword, but he didn't make any move to take it back just yet.

While they're distracted, Xiao took a few steps away from the flames, her flask stayed in her hands. Her mind, however, wandered into Orion's arm. If she focus enough, she can do it...

A bone broke, and Orion screamed in pain. Luis turned around to look at the other boy, his eyes widened in alarm. The Draconovsky's wand dropped to the ground as he clenched his right wrist.

Bone can channel mana after all, and Xiao broke it like an inexperienced first year holding their first wand.

As soon as Luis held his sword, Xiao let go of it, but her eyes are on him now. He's chanting something under his breath, but before he could finish, the young witch pulled his ribs to the ground. Channeling magic is faster than crafting a spell, and Xiao found her new favorite attack.

Luis raised his head off the dirt, but the young witch pulled him again. This time, she went a little too far, and Luis crashed into Orion, who was trying to get himself back together.

Xiao took her time walking towards the boys, and once she's there, she stepped on Orion's hand to prevent him from reaching for his wand.

"Yield." She commanded.

"Neve—" A shout from Luis was cut short when Xiao got a hold of his ribs again, and she slammed him into the dirt once more.

Orion whimpered, but he didn't yield. Knocking him out seems tempting...

"I yield." The Draconovsky snarled, and Xiao smiled.

"Thank you."

As soon as the word left her lips, four professors rushed into the dome to tend to the boys. Professor Ivanovna's hazel eyes stared at Xiao, so she stared back.

"You're merciless." The blonde woman mumbled. "Just like your father."

Just like her father. Xiao pouted, and she turned away. Her fingers uncapped her flask and refreshing water was poured down her throat.

Just like her father, huh?

She did pulled a page from his book, after all. Don't just physically break your opponents, make sure that they're mentally scarred by you so they wouldn't dare go against you.

The display board was updated:

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Year 2 Section 1, Round 5:

Name, Weapon, Time

1. Xiao Lan Devinsky, Water bottle, 1 minute 53 seconds

2. Orion Draconovsky, Wand, 1 minute 53 seconds

3. Luis Utchdof, Sword, 1 minute 39 seconds

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