CHAPTER 10: The Alchemical Nightmare
"You are heartless," Edna said, her voice dropping into a low, frustrated growl. Her small hands were balled into tight, trembling fists at her sides. The bright, cheerful girl who had entered the courtyard was gone; in her place stood a spark of pure, unadulterated defiance.
"Oh yeah?" Storm turned around, tossing her blonde ponytail over her shoulder with a casual, dismissive flick, as if she were finished with the conversation. She took a few steps away, then stopped. She looked back over her shoulder, a devious, devilish glint dancing in her golden eyes. She sensed the mana—or rather, the strange, flickering heat—radiating from Edna, and it made her hungry for another easy kill.
"And what are you going to do about it?" Storm challenged, her lip curling. "You want to fight me? You want to be the hero? Well, you're already in the ring."
"Yes," Edna said, a cute but fierce frown deepening on her face. She stood her ground, her boots planted firmly in the enchanted sand.
"Interesting. I'm intrigued," Storm said, fully turning her body to face the duo. She ignored the battered Elisa and focused entirely on Edna, looking at her like a new toy she couldn't wait to break.
Edna turned her head slightly toward Elisa, her voice softening but remaining firm. "Go," she said.
"You... you don't have to do this," Elisa whispered, her blue eyes wide with fear for her protector. She could still feel the stinging heat of the energy spheres on her skin. "She's dangerous, Edna."
"Don't worry. Just go," Edna insisted, giving her a reassuring nod.
Elisa hesitated for a heartbeat, then nodded, limping toward the edge of the arena to join the crowd. The spectators, mostly noble-born students, began to huddle closer, sensing that this impromptu duel was going to be far more entertaining than the last.
A tall boy with a prefect's badge stepped into the center of the ring to act as a temporary referee. He looked between the two girls with a mixture of boredom and anticipation.
"Ready on the left?" he yelled, pointing toward Edna. Edna didn't look at him; she kept her crimson eyes locked on Storm, nodding once.
"Ready on the right?" he yelled, pointing at Storm. Storm didn't just nod; she broke into a wide, predatory grin, her fingers twitching with violet energy.
"Fiiiiigggghhht!" the boy yelled, leaping backward to clear the blast zone.
The air in the arena seemed to solidify. Edna took a low combat stance, but before she could move, Storm raised a finger.
"And one more thing," Storm said, her voice cutting through the rising murmurs of the crowd. "We play by my rules."
From a hidden sheath behind her back, Storm produced a short, wooden-shaped sword—a training bokken reinforced with ironwood. She tossed it high into the air, watching it spin against the midday sun. As it descended, she didn't catch it. Instead, she struck the flat of the blade with her open palm, which erupted in a light purple glow.
The impact didn't knock the sword away. Instead, it infused the wood with kinetic mana, causing it to spin with the ferocity of a saw blade. It whistled through the air, behaving like a lethal, spinning disk as it curved toward Edna's neck.
Edna was unsurprised. She had watched enough of these "Royals" to know they loved their toys. Her hands suddenly glowed a vibrant, searing red, and she thrust both palms forward.
"**Ignis Wall!**"
A shimmering, light-red shield of heat materialized in the air. The spinning wooden sword collided with the barrier, sparks of mana and wood-dust flying in every direction. The shield held, grinding the sword's momentum to a halt.
Seeing her opening, Storm charged. She didn't move like a normal girl; her strides were unnaturally long and silent. Purple glowing energy balls—her signature spheres—pulsed in both hands. Her smile was devious, almost manic.
"**Storm Shot!**"
A straight, concentrated purple beam of pure force shot from her right hand. It hissed through the air with the speed of a lightning bolt. Edna reacted with terrifying agility, slanting her body to the right at a sharp angle. The beam passed her neck by mere inches, the heat of the mana singing a few stray strands of her hair.
Storm's eyes widened in genuine shock. No commoner should have reflexes that sharp. But she didn't lose focus. She closed the distance until she was barely five feet away.
"**Storm Shot!**" she yelled again.
This time, she fired from her left hand, aiming for Edna's midsection. Shockingly, Edna didn't just dodge; she blurred. With a quick, explosive movement to her left, she stepped outside the beam's trajectory and their faces were just inches away from each other.
Storm couldn't believe her eyes. To regain her advantage, she channelled a burst of mana into her soles and jumped backward, creating distance before the commoner could counter.
"My turn!" Edna yelled, her cute voice carrying a sudden, booming authority.
"**Flame Slash!**"
Edna lunged forward, her feet kicking up a cloud of sand. She pushed both hands forward in a cross-cutting motion. Two crescents of roaring orange flame launched from her palms, tearing through the air. Storm, caught mid-leap, had no choice but to raise her arms in a desperate guard.
The slashes struck her forearms with the force of a battering ram. The impact launched Storm backward, her boots skidding across the dirt until she lost her footing and struck the ground hard.
"Ouch," Storm hissed, slowly pushing herself up. She looked down at her arms. The flame had caused a slight, smoking cut on her right hand.
"Lucky shot," Storm said, the wide, devilish smile returning to her face.
But as the crowd watched, something impossible happened. The cut on Storm's hand didn't bleed. Instead, it began to emit a strange, rhythmic purple light. The wound didn't just heal; it seemed to *reconfigure*. The skin knit back together with a metallic, clicking sound that was lost to everyone but Edna's sharp ears. The energy rushed through her limb and then disappeared as the skin became perfectly smooth once more.
"No way..." Edna exclaimed, her eyes widening.
The murmurs from the crowd reached a fever pitch.
"What's going on?"
"Did her hand just... glow?"
"I don't understand, that should have left a scar."
Edna stood in utter confusion, her mind racing to process what she had just witnessed. She watched the way Storm moved—the lack of heavy breathing, the strange, calculated stiffness in her joints. Then, it clicked.
"You..." Edna paused, her voice trembling with shock. "It can't be. That's forbidden."
Storm looked at Edna wickedly. She saw the realization dawning in the other girl's eyes and relished it. She stood up straight, brushing the dust off her sleeves with a terrifying calmness.
"Judging from the look in your eyes, you understand, don't you?" Storm said. The arena went deathly quiet. Even the wind seemed to stop as the students leaned in to hear her secret.
"You like my secret technique? I didn't just train my body. I replaced it. I switched my original, weak flesh with a magically modified version. My internal pathways are alchemically etched for the easy flow of energy. I am no longer just a mere mage, I have ascended, I am the spell."
The crowd of noble students gasped, then erupted into a roar of terrifying approval.
"**STORM! STORM! STORM!**"
They cheered for the monstrosity she had become, seeing it as the ultimate commitment to power. Only Elisa, standing at the edge of the ring, looked horrified. She gripped her own arms, tears welling in her eyes. "Oh no... what have I done?" she whispered.
"I put Edna in danger."
Storm raised her hand toward the sky. A bright, blinding glow of emerald light emerged, forming a moderate-sized green cube that hovered above her palm. With a flick of her wrist, the cube fractured, splitting into dozens of smaller, pulsing cubes that swirled around her like a hive of angry hornets.
"You know what this means?" Storm yelled, her voice bordering on insane. Edna didn't reply; her face had gone pale, her expression full of a grim, newfound understanding of the stakes.
"Unlike you, I don't have to 'charge' my attacks! I don't have to wait for my blood to pump or my lungs to expand! The flow of energy through this body is exactly like breathing! I can fire forever, Edna! Can you dodge forever?"
Storm leaned forward, her golden eyes glowing with a mechanical, violet light.
"Let's see how much hit a commoner can take before she breaks"