Chapter 70. Messed

"Let the match begin," Jackson called for the match to start. They went on opposite sides of the platform and immediately charged at each other. Irene was a fire and lightning elementalist. She was of the Hydra Faction and currently the captain.

When her surbordinates and members saw her charge, they felt their blood heat up. They all knew how dangerous she was. They cheered for her and started calling her name out loud. Irene's smile faded as her face turned serious.

Jackson was a lightning and space elementalist. He was of no faction despite all the request he received to join either Space or Lightning Faction. They also had tried to give him the captains seat but he rejected them all. But that did not diminish his growth. He was currently the most powerful student in the academy.

Even if he could beat Irene, he would only win narrowly though. There were those cheering for him but they got swallowed by those of Irene. That only did well in raising his morale to shut them down.

He let Irene have the first attack. She stopped and raised her hands up to her chest. She then closed her eyes as if she was about to do a summoning magic spell. Her blue hair glowed like it was under heat. A fountain of water shot from her back and shot at Jackson.

Everyone saw that it was a casual attack and so did Jackson.

"So you thought it was better to have me have a bath. Then let me just take it openly," Jackson said as he opened his hands and let the water land on him. He also missed the smile that appeared on Irene's lips.

Everyone wondered why throw such a casual attack but they were about to find out. Ever head a man scream? A scream that shook the hearts of many filled the stadium. Who would have thought that Jackson would be screaming with her fast attack.

One could have thought that someone was grinding his bones from the inside. His face appeared red and his hair was all soft and there was vapour rising visible to everyone. His fingers were apart for he could not take the pain of them touching.

His whole body was all red. As if thrown by a spring, he jumped as he shook his hands. One could have thought that the ground had suddenly been fitted with nails. Whenever he stepped down he would jump again.

He quickly swallowed a pill and stood still shivering. Not due to cold but the pain he was feeling. Also, he realized that it helped cool his burning skin.

Irene had superheated the water at a temperature of 150⁰ and using the fire element, she had concealed the heat inside so that it had the normal temperature. She smiled when she saw his reaction and did not waste time as she prepared her next attack.

Jackson who had just stopped shivering jumped to his left when he felt an incoming attack. He ignored the pain with his teeth gritted. The ground he had been standing became frozen. And the ground he was landing on turned to be a fiery furnace.

He had no choice but fall on the fire as he rolled. The fire seemed to be going to the same direction he was. He was now screaming again. He had even forgotten he had the space element. His body which had already been in pain due to the water, now felt like his skin was being peeled of.

He snapped and teleported away few meters from the attack. He was sweating and his clothes were on fire. He slapped the fire away and his face appeared charred. His white hair was now black he was lucky it had not been burnt.

He did not wait and attacked immediately. Giving her time was only going to make her torment him more. His first attack was to switch her from attacking to defending. He opened his hand and lightning shot from his hand and disappeared.

Seeing that the tables had turned, Irene created an ice wall around her. The lightning appeared behind her and struck the barrier crushing it. Since both had not used their full power, the lightning and ice dissipated. Having regained his bearing, he took as stance and raised his hand.

Irene could not beleive that she had instantly fallen from attack to defense with only one strike. She was not going to allow him to land that hit on her. She also had taken array classes. She started moving in strange patterns. Only someone who studied array could realize what she was doing.

Jackson shot a lightning arrow at her but she jumped and dodged. She run to the other side of the platfom which was behind him. He went to the other side and started throwing lightning arrows at her. She dodged most and defended those she could not.

All this time, she was charging at him. Jackson stopped moving and stood still and waited for her to come at him. Irene reached the centre of the platform and stamped her foot on the ground.

Jackson cursed for having been caught off guard again. A blue array lit up in the platform and he could no longer sense the space tunnels. He was now crippled. This was one of the reasons why array fighters were feared and were termed as a menace.

He had not studied array but he knew that one could use brute force to destroy one. But that was if he had time. There was no way she was going to give him time to destroy it. Having built her upperhand, Irene charged again.

Her speed seemed to have improved and so had her agility. Her first attack was an ice spear that shot at a speed only lightning could. Jackson knew he could not defend thus he created a lightning dome and dodged to the other side.

The spear destroyed the dome and left the platform. Had he waited for it, then he would have paid for it. Irene already knew that he would dodge and had already created two other ice spears which she sent in the left and right direction chancing whichever direction he would choose.

But one thing, she had underestimated the speed of a lightning elementalist and in a blink, Jackson was already behind her and had already shot lightning at her back. She felt her body shiver as a cold sweat dripped down her armpits.

She could not dodge that one and she was not confident in her speed to create an ice shield around her. She also could not be able to turn. She did not panick and manipulated the array at the point he was standing.

Jackson shook amd the lightning strike wavered. Irene had taken her chances as the lightning grazed thorugh her cheeks slightly injuring her. She then jumped in the opposite direction and while airborne sent a fire ball at Jackson who dodged.

She landed swiftly but Jackson was already next to her and his fist was few inches from her ribs. She realized that she had forced him to go hard on her. She concentrated all ice on the point she expected impact.

His fist landed on her and she was sent flying and rolling on the ground. Those watching could only take in cold breaths. He was that brutal to his girlfriend. Some even said that he was going easy on her and had been paying back at her for burning him.

That was the mindset of a fighter. In the ring, for battle, the other person was an enemy. Irene stopped and looked at him. Even after impairing him, he still got her. Just how great was his improvements? Six months ago he had been struggling but today, she was standing no chance when he attacked.

"Do you wish to continue?" He asked as he saw her struggling to sit up.

"I have had enough," she said and just like that, the match ended.

Seeing the match was over, people started getting up from their seats and headed for the exit. Few waited for the rest to leave. It was almost five hours before the party and they had to go have some preparations done.

Once she gave up, he hurried to her and picked her in his hands. One could have thought that he was not the one who had done all that to her. She laughed when she saw his face up close. Only the white of his eyes could be seen and his teeth when he spoke.

"You look like you've been crawling inside a chimney," she said and giggled.

"All your handiwork," Jackson put on an angry face and helped her stand up.

"Don't move," she said to him and raised her hand. A fountain of water splashed on him. People had paused seeng her thinking that she was planning to burn him again.

The water washed him up and she dried him by taking all the water back and passing some fire through him. She then instantly repaired his clothes using arrays.

***

While everyone was leaving, Rey was about to stand up and leave with his girlfriend but he felt her hands on him stopping him from leaving. He sat back and looked at her. All this time they had not spoken and now that the crowd was gone, she was not holding back.

Her name was Claire. A 5'3 beautiful girl with black hair and brown eyes. She was always smiling and they had been together for the past two months. She was slightly possessive and oftenly got jealous when she saw him with Aurora.

She had once asked him to stop hanging out with her but he had said that she was one of his best friends. She had accepted him but on that day when he stood and ran after her and took her hand in public and led her out, she had instantly built a rift between them.

When he came back carrying her, she had made up her mind and was breaking up with him. She should have known from the rumours. He had had over fifty girlfriends in the academy. Some were even first years!

"So Aurora is just a friend..." She spoke with a plain expression. Rey was caught off guard by that question.

"Yeah," he replied with anticipation.

"Do you take me for a fool? So you go carrying your friends everywhere you go, right? You also leave your girlfriend and go holding your friend's hand in public right? I am breaking up with you now! I should have done it long ago..." She whimpered as she rubbed her eyes and wiping the tears that had been forming.

" Wait, what!?" Rey had a confused expression. He actually had messed up there. But could she have chosen a better day to do so? Why break up when they were few hours away from the party. He saw her stand but he hugged her while seated.

His hands on her waist and his head on her belly.

"You can't break up with me. Not today. I will explain everything to you if you give me a chance," Rey begged.

"Sorry but your chances ended today. Forget about us," she said and pulled his hands from her. She then pushed him away and started walking away.

"You can't leave me," Rey stood and stretched his hand to stop her but she pushed his hand away. He watched as she took the stairs and headed down. His hand still reached out as he fell on his knees. He suddenly appeared like he had gone crazy.

"No girl has ever broken up with me... I am the one who leaves them... Why have the tables overturned?" He said whispering. "Come back... Can't you give a lift to friend?"