Chapter 26: Winner

*TREVOR*

I see a stone arrow heading towards Rachel. Anatia saw it and made an earth wall in Rachel's direction. When the earth wall was knocked down, Rachel quickly moved from where she was hiding and, thanks to her swift movements with her water magic, she headed towards the support, reaching Nadia. Anatia and I continued with Gil and Maya, moving in sync.

As I struck, Anatia did the same. While she put stones on her axe to increase damage, she struck Maya, sending her flying backward. Gil dodged, but because he lost focus and couldn't block my attack, I landed the final blow, knocking him out, just like Maya.

I saw Celia's body flying towards me, and I caught her. "Are you okay?" I ask her as I hold her in my arms, but she doesn't respond. Then Reimond appeared. "I thought she could beat me, but it wasn't so. I'm glad because I have the chance to fight against you," he says as he approaches. "Alright, I'll take your word, and we'll fight," I reply. "I like that," he says with a smile. "Go and help the others," I tell Anatia, and she simply nods.

I take my stance and infuse more mana into my body, and Reimond does the same. After a few seconds, I see rocks and dust, water and fire coming from the ground and above, and I see Nadia falling and fainting. The support was Neid, a skilled conjurer and fighter with a heavy greatsword from our class.

I could see they were struggling against him, although Anatia faced him as their weapons clashed. For every blow Neid delivered, Rachel's magic made Anatia dodge to the side, avoiding the incoming strikes. Meanwhile, Rachel moved a bit away to launch a charged attack at Neid.

When the attack was ready, Anatia moved away while Rachel fired the attack. Neid protected himself with a stone wall. Due to the clash of water against stone, he simultaneously hurled a rock at Rachel's stomach, knocking her out with the blow. There was a drizzle from the water attack that served as a curtain for Anatia to hit him from the side, knocking him down. Here, only he and I remained, while Anatia and I were up against Reimond.

I look at Anatia and say, "Leave him to me," as I fight Reimond one on one. Left, right, up, or down, all the attacks from both of us came, causing our swords to clash with each blow. Kicks to his legs, blows to his sides, and none of us hit, not even his.

It seems my senses started to improve as I could dodge his blows faster and respond until the point where Reimond couldn't dodge my attacks, and some even grazed his clothes or face.

We were like this for more than 10 minutes, and there was no time limit for the fight. It was until the entire team lost. It had been over 30 minutes since the fight between both teams began. Then, gradually, we started to get tired, neither he nor I could continue, we were both at the edge of our endurance. "Alright, I'm getting tired, why don't we end it now?" Reimond asks. "It's better to end it now, I can't go on," I reply. So, with the little strength we had left, we charged at each other once more.

We both fell to the ground as both our attacks hit, even if he and I passed out, Anatia would remain standing, and we would win. But with my little strength, I got up, but Reimond didn't. "Excellent, team 1 wins, very good job, guys. Now rest; later, we'll review the mistakes each team member may have made," the teacher said, and we obeyed. I collapsed, and Anatia held me, sitting me down with the others on the benches.

When I opened my eyes, I was in the academy's infirmary. "Hey Trevor, I'm glad you woke up; you were the last one to do so," Celia's voice sounds, and Anatia and the others were with her. "Hahaha, we won," I say with a tired smile. "Hey, are you really okay? You've been asleep for 2 days," Celia says.

"What?" I exclaim, "2 days? Was I that exhausted?" I ask them. "Yes, you were that tired. Reimond woke up a few hours ago; you both exerted yourselves a lot," Nadia says, embarrassed. "And I apologize for losing," she says. "Don't worry; we won anyway," I tell her as I laugh. After discussing the fight, the doctor came to examine me, and that same day, he discharged me, and I headed to the dining hall with the others since it was mealtime.

"Your sister came to see you after they took us to the infirmary," Rachel says. "We told her you were okay, that it was just exhaustion. She came to see you again at night while I was still under observation. Look, there she is," Rachel tells me.

"Yeah, I saw her. I'll go see her; go ahead and save me a spot at the table," I tell them as I quietly head towards Layra while she's distracted. "Boo!" I startle her, earning a punch in the face.

"Ouch, that hurt, dummy," I say to Layra as she looks at me apologetically. "How are you, Trevor? I went to see you last night, but you were still sleeping," Layra says as she eats. "I feel fine; it was just exhaustion from the fight. Thanks for coming to visit me," I reply. "No problem," she says as she laughs, "well, anyway, I'm fine, so I'll see you later.

They're waiting for me to eat. Goodbye, Layra," I tell her, and she just nods since she had food in her mouth. I head to the table where the girls were and start eating. After a calm conversation about how we could perform better in the fight, we head to the academy's garden to move around a bit and train with them. Night falls, and everyone goes to their dormitory.

It's been almost 2 weeks since the fight, and almost at the same time, my family returned to Shira. It was the weekend, and we had no classes or homework, so Celia and I usually train in the school's garden and occasionally with the girls who formed my group. After a few hours of training and some light fights, "Trevor, a letter from Teacher Atheria arrived," Layra comes running out of breath.

"Layra, calm down. Why were you running?" I asked, waiting for her to breathe normally before speaking. "They handed me the letter, saying it was urgent because something happened with our family during their return home, and this other one is from Dad," she says while still catching her breath. "And what does the letter say?" I asked her.

"I read Atheria's letter first, and she informed me that a few days ago there was a landslide on the mountain where we fought the beasts on our way to the capital," she says urgently. My vision trembled when I heard about the landslide.

"And what else does the letter say?" I asked almost shouting, and I was left frozen with what she told me.