Ravenfire
Rivalry

At the end of the day, I made my way to the courtyard and looked for the doorway with two lion statues. It wasn’t that hard to spot with all the students coming in and out to watch the fights taking place inside. I entered the room and saw two students battling it out on a platform with spears until one of them surrendered.

“Remina Ravenfire.” A familiar voice that evoked feelings of annoyance within me called my name. There was even a familiar hiss that followed.

“Salamander.” I didn’t even have to look at him to know who the voice belonged to.

“You’re here to join the martial club too?” he asked in a mocking tone.

“Is that a problem?” I folded my arms.

He looked directly at me. “I’d rather not have to see your face after school.”

A happy Lysander suddenly stepped in, completely oblivious about the mood. “I’m glad you both made it. We’d like to see a demonstration of your skills before we take you in as members. Would you two like to go next?”

Salamander removed his uniform jacket and placed it neatly over a chair. When he saw me just standing in place, he taunted, “What’s wrong, Remina? Are you afraid?”

“You of all people should know I don’t back down from a fight,” I replied as I also removed my jacket and tossed it towards a nearby table.

Our exchange of words caught the attention of the students around us. They’re quick to smell drama. Soon, we had an audience eager to see our fight.

We took our places at the platform, with obvious hatred in our eyes and our hands eager to rip each other apart. The crowd became hyped and cheered for us.

“Ready? Start!” Lysander gave the signal.

Neither of us waited to charge in and attack each other head on like hotblooded revolutionaries with a personal vendetta. The swords they gave us may have been blunted, but we made sure that every strike with it would hurt. Because we really meant to hurt.

I didn’t expect Salamander to be adept with a sword. It really made me wonder about his mysterious background. Where did he learn to fight? On top of that, it surprised me that he didn’t use any ice spells. Perhaps he thought he didn’t need them to win.

After dodging a strike, I managed to land a kick against Salamander’s face that made him on the floor.

“Ohhh!” The audience reacted.

Salamander’s snake reacted quickly and bit my leg, making me lose balance and fall on the floor as I tried to get it off. He quickly took the chance to get up, grab his sword, and attempt to strike my head every time I tried to reach for my sword. I rolled each time he repeated the same attempt. Once I saw an opening, I literally swept him off his feet, making him fall prone again. His sword slipped off his hand. When he tried to grab it, I jumped on him and wrestled it away from him.

The audience went wild. They rarely saw intense fights like ours, so they cheered excitedly as we spent the next few minutes trying to fight over the sword. It would have remained a stalemate had his snake not intervened and wrapped itself around my head to blind me. That gave him the chance to grab the sword and raise it to my neck, giving him the win.

“It looks like you need more practice,” he said with a victorious smirk that only made me want to punch his face so badly.

Salamander was about to walk away, but I raised my voice saying, “Rematch. No holding back.” I wanted to know what the outcome would be like if we used spells.

He turned towards me, smiling deplorably like he was enjoying the violence. “You’re really asking for it, aren’t you?” Ice was already forming on his free hand.

I tied a handkerchief around the snake bite on my leg before picking up the sword again. “Wipe that grin off your face. You haven’t won this round yet.”

Seconds later, we were aggressively throwing spells at each other while clashing with our swords. The crowd initially cheered, but eventually dispersed when they sensed that standing around was dangerous with all the stray spells flying around.

“Lysander, shouldn’t we stop them? It looks like they really mean to kill each other,” one of the club members said out of concern.

Lysander did not look worried at all. “Nonsense. It’s just a friendly match. They’re just really into it. And that’s the kind of passion we want in our new members!”

“Look out!”

They both quickly dodged a stray spell that heavily damaged a column. They watched in horror as the column crumbled into pieces.

“That did not look friendly to me,” remarked the club member.

Lysander immediately ran to stop the match before any more damage could be done.

“I’m not satisfied with a draw,” said Salamander.

Salamander and I sat across each other at the clinic, still glaring daggers at each other and folding our arms. We were covered in bruises and minor injuries that were recently treated by the school nurse. Neither of us moved an inch since we ended up in that position.

“I feel the same. We’ll continue the match when we find a venue where we’ll be undisturbed,” I replied.

“I’m afraid there will be no more matches for both of you. For the entire school year. That includes supervised school competitions involving fights with other students. Otherwise, there will be dire consequences.” The furious voice belonged to our headmaster.

You know you’re really in deep trouble when it’s the headmaster himself paying you a visit.

“Headmaster Scheep!” We exclaimed in shock.

“You two caused a stir at the martial club today that the rest of the tryouts had to be postponed tomorrow. It was a friendly match to test your skills, not a fight to the death!” he scolded us.

“Sorry, Headmaster,” we said in unison.

“You are hereby banned from joining the Martial Club this year for your reckless actions. Think of it as a warning. I won’t hesitate to expel you if I deem you too dangerous to your peers.” The headmaster then left the clinic after giving us the warning.

“What a way to start the year,” remarked Salamander unhappily.

Suddenly, Elliot awkwardly stepped between us. We hadn’t noticed him enter the room at all. He looked like he wanted to say something, but was too afraid to open his mouth.

“Elliot, what are you doing here?” I asked.

“Prof. Ariston sent me here to make sure you don’t fight and cause another scene,” he replied softly. He probably wished he could leave the room already.

“Tell the professor not to worry. We’re done for today,” Salamander said before he stood up and left the clinic.

When I arrived in my room, Emma was already there sitting on her bed, writing in her diary. She was so shocked to see me with injuries that she nearly dropped her pen.

“What happened?” she sounded genuinely concerned.

“Martial Club tryouts,” I replied.

“Are they that dangerous?”

“Not really. I just got caught up in the battle.” I remembered Salamander’s despicable face and visualised his demise.

Emma looked uncomfortable with the expression on my face. “Did you get to join the club, Remina?”

I shook my head. “No. Unfortunately, they deemed me too dangerous for the martial club.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” Emma was genuinely sad for me. Immediately after, her face lit up from an idea. “How about joining the gardening club with me instead?”

I wasn’t too keen on her idea. “Emma, I’m not exactly gardening club material. I don’t grow things. I destroy them.”

“Just come to the gardening club after school and give it a try. Maybe you’ll like it,” she insisted.

I gave it some thought. “Alright.”

My answer made her grin excitedly. “Great! I’ll see you there after class tomorrow.”

Gardening sounds peaceful enough not to get me expelled. What’s the worst that could happen?

Elliot froze in place when I stepped inside the academy’s greenhouse. He looked like he was about to pass out. His extreme reactions to my presence were always amusing. I didn’t expect him to join the gardening club too, but I suppose he’s good with plants if he managed to get killer purple vines to invade a whole castle.

“Elliot, have you seen Emma around?” I asked.

Without a word, he raised his trembling hand and pointed to his right. I turned my head and saw Emma showing a group of boys how to arrange some flowers. It was clear to me that the boys had no interest in gardening and were just there for Emma. Her face lit up when she saw me and hurried to me.

“Remina! You came,” she sounded excited. More excited than me, in fact. “Sorry. I’m in the middle of teaching some new members. I’ll get back to you when I finish.” She ran off and left me with Elliot who was probably screaming inside.

I walked around, observing the impressive collection of flora they had at the greenhouse. A certain plant caught my eye. It was a pot with a single flower that only had one petal left. I observed it closely.

“D… Don’t pluck all its petals or you’ll die.” I heard a quiet voice behind me. I turned my head and saw Elliot trying to avoid eye contact.

I was genuinely surprised by his words. “Wow, Elliot. I didn’t think you were capable of making verbal threats. You really love plants, huh?”

He looked a bit embarrassed. “I… It’s not a threat. You will literally die.”

I gave him a confused look.

He awkwardly explained to my clueless self, “It’s a death flower. Anyone who plucks all its petals will fall into a coma and eventually die.”

“Oh.” I nodded. “And we’re allowed to raise these dangerous plants here?”

“Yes we are.”

That gave me an idea. “Do you happen to have any plants that could be used to produce potent poisons?”

Elliot looked a bit worried. “You’re not planning to use them on anyone, right?”

I smiled. “Just curious.”

“If Salamander drops dead, I had nothing to do with this.”

I began to check out the poisonous plants available at the greenhouse and make a wishlist of the ones that caught my eye. Emma eventually returned and asked Elliot about what I was up to. He whispered an explanation to her.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to invite her here?” Elliot whispered to Emma in a concerned voice.

Emma tried to keep a positive smile. “Don’t worry. We’ll… We’ll keep an eye on her. I hope.”

I returned to them, satisfied with my list. “I’ve decided. I would like to join the gardening club.”

“Wonderful!” Emma was pleased.

Elliot forced a smile, fearing what I had planned as a new member of the club.

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