Elira sighed.

  She never wanted this. Countless images of Rovan dying painfully, brutally flashed through her mind. Limbs torn, blood boiling, silence. None of them were outcomes she wanted.

  Regardless, she raised her hand.

  Rovan was right in front of her. His hand was raised, fist clenched, ready to cave her face in. Just like always.

  Inhale.

  Exhale.

  A bolt of magic hit his face.

  It was weak. A shove from a toddler. It didn’t even slow him down for a second.

  But then another bolt hit him. And another. And another.

  Don't stop. Don't let him breathe.

  A river of blue light shot from Elira’s palm. She didn’t even break a sweat.

  The sheer volume of impact pushed Rovan back to where he started. He stumbled, confused.

  “What? What the fuck is that?”

  Elira remained silent, though her mind was screaming.

  She could feel it inside her. That dark, cursed thing growing, yearning, morphing. It felt threatened. It wanted to come out. It wanted to rip Rovan apart, to turn the students watching into red mist.

  No.

  Elira bit her lip until she tasted iron. Stay down.

  Rovan struck again. He launched a water ball toward her as a distraction.

  Elira didn’t flinch. A single shot of her degraded Mana Bolt was enough to splash the water harmlessly over the ground.

  By the time Elira moved her right hand to intercept the spell, Rovan had already rushed her blind spot, grinning, ready to end it.

  But Elira was having none of it. She aimed her left hand at Rovan’s legs at the exact moment she moved her right.

  Thud-thud-thud.

  The stream of magic bolts hammered his shins. Rovan lost his balance and fell face-first onto the dirt.

  “You! You bitch! I’m gonna beat the shit out of you!”

  Burning with shame and embarrassment, Rovan tried to scramble up. But every time he twitched, a bolt hit him. Shoulder. Knee. Chest.

  “Bitch!”

  Thud.

  “How dare you!”

  Thud.

  From behind Rovan, his lackeys finally snapped out of their shock. They rushed in to attack.

  But they were amateurs. Children playing at war.

  They fell just like Rovan. No fight. No glory. Elira simply shifted her aim to their feet, and they collapsed like dominoes.

  “…Stop trying,” Elira said, her voice hollow. “You already lost, Rovan. Or do you want others to continue watching you flail on the ground like a dying fish?”

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  “Tch.”

  Rovan pounded the ground.

  “Fine. You win, bitch.”

  It finally over.

  Sighing, Elira turned and walked away. She could feel her heart thumping against her ribs, a frantic bird in a cage. Rovan and his lackeys didn’t know how close they were to death.

  But alas, she won.

  Without using her cursed magic. Without bloodshed. She won with the magic she had learned.

  Far behind her, Rovan slowly stood up. His eyes, boiling with cold anger, followed Elira until she disappeared around the corner.

  “That was not a good idea, Elira.”

  “…Sorry. But I couldn't stand watching you get beaten like that.”

  “They will treat us much worse after this.”

  “…We should start fighting back.”

  “You can. But me? I don’t think I can, Elira.”

  Arlen turned his head away. His wounds had already been healed by the standby nurse, but the bruise on his ego remained. He lowered his head to hide his expression, but Elira caught a glimpse.

  “…I wish my talent were as great as yours.”

  “…”

  Elira sat next to Arlen on the bench. She didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know how to comfort someone who wasn't broken like her. So, she could only sit there in silence.

  I wish I was as smart as you, too.

  “…”

  “…”

  Slowly, Arlen’s body leaned toward hers. His head rested on her shoulder, his eyes looking at something far away that only he could see.

  “Sigh… you’re such an idiot,” he muttered, no heat in his voice.

  “Yeah. No brain, all muscle,” Elira replied, leaning her head against his. “So don’t worry. I’ll kick their asses if they dare to hurt you.”

  “Pfft… Hahaha.”

  Arlen chuckled, the sound vibrating against her shoulder.

  “Hey! I thought that line was cool.”

  Life changed.

  Ever since the fight with Rovan, the normal students didn't dare mess with Elira. The daily kicks in the hallway stopped. The whispers quieted down.

  She and Arlen were finally able to enjoy school life.

  But peace in this academy was a lie.

  They were enjoying a book together in the library, mostly Arlen explaining the complex theories while Elira nodded along, when an annoyed, high-pitched voice shattered the silence.

  “Well, well, well. Isn’t it lovely that these losers finally bonded?”

  Every head in the library turned.

  It was Marcelline. And her entire entourage.

  Before they could even close the book, the lackeys had surrounded them. The librarian was conveniently absent.

  “…It’s none of your business,” Elira said, standing up.

  “Oh, I don’t think so,” Marcelline sneered, stepping forward. “Your stupidity is truly one of a kind. I never thought you’d actually fight back.”

  Her eyes narrowed.

  “…But the thing that annoys me is that you dared to beat my… MY dog in public. I will make you pay for this.”

  Rovan, standing behind the princess, grimaced at being called a dog. But he still stepped forward, hatred overriding his dignity.

  “That’s right! I’ll make you pay back a hundred times the shame I felt that day!”

  Arlen sighed loudly. He pushed his glasses up his nose.

  “Princess, you really should leash your dog better. It looks uneducated barking like that.” Arlen smirked, though his hands were trembling slightly. “But what can I say? Like dog, like owner, I guess.”

  Marcelline’s face went red.

  “HOW DARE YOU!”

  Rovan leaped in. The lackeys followed.

  Elira, facing over twenty students rushing in, didn't flinch. She raised her hands.

  A stream of mana bolts slammed into Rovan’s face mid-jump. He fell hard on his ass.

  Before Rovan could recover, Arlen stepped in and threw a clumsy, desperate hook.

  Smack.

  “That’s the payback for what you did to me!” Arlen shouted.

  The library erupted into chaos.

  The two outcasts were having the time of their lives. Elira suppressed the crowd, pushing students back with a barrage of weak but relentless magic bolts. Whenever someone slipped through or fell, Arlen was there to deliver a kick or a punch.

  The grim library filled with the sound of thuds, curses, and laughter.

  “This way!” Arlen yelled.

  They created an opening in the encirclement. They scrambled over a fallen desk and sprinted toward the exit.

  Just before leaving the library, Elira stopped. She turned back to the fuming Princess Marcelline.

  She flashed the brightest, most genuine smile she had worn in years.

  “See you later, Bitch!”

  And then, they ran.

  Laughter echoed down the corridor, but this time, it was theirs.