"Student Duel?" Theo repeated, his voice laced with genuine confusion. He couldn't wrap his head around why Faith wanted to fight him over something so trivial. As he weighed whether to accept or walk away, Faith's voice cut through the air, sharp and mocking.
"What's the matter? Are you afraid?"
Theo's confusion vanished, replaced by a sharp, eager grin. "Now that sounds interesting. Fine challenge accepted."
Aren hurried to Theo's side, his face pale with worry. "Theo, I don't think this is a good idea. There's something... off about that girl."
Theo placed a firm hand on Aren's shoulder and laughed. "Don't worry, buddy. I'm tougher than I look. If you want, you can even bet on me to win."
Aren fell silent, though the knot in his stomach remained. Was a public brawl really the best way to start their first day at Apex High?
The crowd gathered in the center of the grounds, forming a wide circle around the two combatants. The air was thick with excitement. Some students cheered for Faith while others were curious to see what the carefree boy from the test could actually do.
Aren stood at the edge of the circle, his eyes darting to Duke, who was sitting nearby, still focused on his drone as if the world wasn't about to explode around him. Aren sighed and turned his focus back to the center of the clearing.
Faith and Theo stood twenty feet apart. Faith was a pillar of cold fury, her eyes locked on her target. Opposite her, Theo looked almost bored, his hands in his pockets and that signature lopsided smirk on his face.
"Begin!" someone shouted.
In a heartbeat, Faith conjured a shimmering ice spear and lunged. Her speed was terrifying; she moved like a winter gale, closing the distance before most students could even blink.
She raised the spear, aiming a strike that looked destined to end the fight in seconds. The crowd gasped, certain Theo was done for.
But at the last possible millisecond, Theo dropped low. With a display of incredible footwork, he spun beneath the arc of the spear and vanished from Faith's line of sight, reappearing directly behind her.
Faith froze, her eyes widening in shock. She hadn't even felt him move. The spectators and Aren were just as stunned.
Refusing to let the shock paralyze her, Faith pivoted. She encased her fist in a thick layer of jagged ice and swung a brutal backhand punch.
It connected squarely with Theo's chest, sending him skidding back ten yards across the pavement.
The impact was heavy. Faith stood tall, a smug, arrogant look on her face. "I hope that didn't hurt too much," she taunted.
But as the dust settled, her smile died. Theo was standing there, perfectly unharmed, still wearing that same irritating smirk.
Impact Vault, Aren thought. He's absorbing every bit of the force she throws at him.
"My turn," Theo said.
He ignited the stored kinetic energy in his legs. He moved like a launched rocket, appearing in front of Faith in a blur.
He reared back a fist glowing with raw, vibrating energy. Faith reacted instantly, summoning a massive, thick wall of ice to shield herself.
BOOM!
The sound of the collision echoed through the campus like a thunderclap. The ice wall shattered into a million pieces. The shockwave forced Faith back several steps, her heels grinding into the stone.
The crowd erupted into cheers. Aren watched with wide eyes; he had known Theo was strong, but this was a different level of power altogether.
"Had enough? Or do you want to keep going?" Theo asked playfully.
Faith's face turned a deep, humiliated red. She didn't answer. Instead, she conjured another spear and charged again. Theo braced himself for a frontal assault, but at the last second, Faith did something no one expected.
She didn't throw the spear at Theo. She hurled it with lethal precision at Aren.
"Aren, look out!" Theo screamed, his voice cracking with panic. He turned to sprint toward his friend, but Faith was ready.
She slammed her hands onto the ground, and a wave of ice raced forward, freezing Theo's feet and arms to the pavement in a split second. She flashed him a dark, devilish smile as he struggled against the frost.
The spear whistled through the air, inches away from Aren's chest.
I have to move! Why can't I move?! Aren mind raced. He wasn't ready for a sneak attack.
Aren closed his eyes tight, a primal instinct taking over. For a fleeting second, his pupils glowed a deep, murderous crimson. But before the power could manifest, the spear stopped dead in the air, just one centimeter from his heart.
The students gasped. Aren's eyes returned to normal as he looked up. A high-tech drone had swooped in, its mechanical claws gripping the shaft of the ice spear with rock-solid stability.
Aren looked over at Duke. The green-haired boy gave a simple, lazy thumbs-up.
"Thanks, Duke," Aren whispered, his voice shaking.
Theo roared, shattering the ice binding him, and rushed to Aren's side. "Are you okay? Did it hit you?"
Aren nodded slowly, still in shock. Theo turned toward Faith, his expression darker and more serious than Aren had ever seen it. "What is wrong with you? This was between us. Why would you target my friend?"
Faith looked at them with eyes full of pure, unadulterated spite. "Consider it a lesson for next time," she spat. Without another word, she turned and disappeared into the crowd.
Back in their dorm room, the silence was heavy.
"I'm sorry, guys," Theo said, looking at the floor. "My big mouth turned a quiet day into a disaster."
"It's okay, Theo," Aren said, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You didn't know she was that... unstable."
Duke looked up from his drone, his voice as drowsy as ever. "Don't worry about it. It was a good field test for my drone's interception sensors."
Theo let out a loud, boisterous laugh, finally breaking the tension. But Aren couldn't laugh. "I don't understand one thing," Aren said. "Why didn't any teachers stop it?"
"Student duels are considered 'friendly practice' by the faculty," Theo explained. "Unless someone is about to actually die, they usually let us settle our own scores."
Aren felt a chill that had nothing to do with Faith's ice. Later that night, while Theo and Duke slept, Aren lay awake, staring at his hands in the moonlight.
I have to learn to control this, he thought. Today, Duke saved me. But what happens tomorrow? Or the day after? If I can't even protect myself, how am I supposed to fulfill my deal with Varkas?
He sat up quietly and slipped out of bed. "If I can't use this power," he whispered to the shadows, "I'm just a walking target."
Without a sound, he slipped out of the room and headed into the night.