What Am I Doing?

Dark strolled into a mellow field of flowers and bright light, the grasses beaming with life and peace as the wind swayed them left and right.

Dark, feeling uneasy, brought out his phone and texted his caller; "I'm here, where are you?..."

"Damn it, I hope no one sees us together, I made it so clear to Tiger before that I wasn't after his sister," Dark shuddered from the skimming cold.

A humming sound surfaced, like a rotating rod, getting closer to Dark with every whirl. The rotating object seemed too fast to map out its original shape, moving with great speed.

Dark, on the other hand, didn't even turn his direction towards it, perfectly staying still, watching his phone.

The threatening object finally reached Dark, cutting just inches above him before circling back the way it came, the spinning object came to a sudden halt after being grabbed.

Dark finally turned towards the disturbance, with plain green eyes expressing his lack of interest perfectly.

Right there, he was faced with a fellow student. Her purple hair moved with the wind, and her eyes were fixed on Dark as she gripped a thin, considerably long sword.

Yeah— it was Star in all her glory.

"Seems you're the dramatic type, right?"

Dark glared at her with annoyance clearly written on his face, "I knew it, she's not my type at all,"

She stayed silent, drawing closer to him.

"What is it?" Dark turned away, filling his sights with the flowers instead.

"You haven't made an impression like the rest of the elites, haven't found the right time yet?" he snarled.

"I don't care about you or anything you have to say," her voice was as soft as a caring mother, yet they harboured such nasty words.

Dark grew silent, not sure of how to respond.

"You just seemed clueless so I decided to enlighten you. Everything I do is for my conscience," She let go of the blade, rubbing her palms together to generate some heat, but the sword remained airborne, floating as though it was on water.

"I chose to meet here because it's my favourite spot in the academy," Star smiled lightly.

"No matter the surrounding weather, it remains constantly cold, sometimes even icy."

"So? What do you want?" Dark chipped in, squatting as he brushed the leaves of a flower.

"I would like to believe that you didn't dodge my weapon on purpose, that you already suspected it wouldn't hit you,"
Dark looked up at her, he saw worry deep, deep within, but a lot of pity on top.

"Because if you didn't, then you shouldn't even be in the same space as my brother. You'll get his hopes up, then when you disappoint—" Her eyes twitched in agony, as if she was reliving a nightmare.

"—You and everything you hold dear will be obliterated."

Dark scoffed, getting back on his feet.

"Your brother may be crazy, but he's alright," he smirked.

Star's lips pressed together, her gaze now felt less intense and hollow, as if all her motivations had been shredded.

"You don't get it, I've done my part." Star backed Dark as her sword dematerialized. 

"Dark Silver," she called out,

"If you are as smart as you portray, you'll leave him and run. But if you're as strong as you always imply — you make sure you beat the hell out of him." These piercing words served as her last thoughts as she made her way out of the field, leaving Dark to his thoughts.

"Well this sucks," he cursed as he watched her leave.

'What am I doing, I could get killed any second. I'm not nearly strong enough, I've made a wrong set of steps, heck...' his thoughts were growing louder and louder.

"What am I aiming for?"

He took in deep breaths, trying to figure out his next steps. He looked up to the skies, eyebrows drooping downwards.

"I wish you were here, Silvia." Dark's expression was clasped by various emotions.

I'm still within the limitations of a regular human being. The truth stung hard.

THE NEXT WEEK {MONDAY}

Far away from the first year's class building, the freshmen gathered in their numbers, all standing on the short grass of the legendary battlefield, which held more intense battles than they could count.

Beside them was the second year's building, their disdain and annoyance already reaching the new students, the second years made sure their presence was felt.

"It seems all four classes are present, what's going on?" Shade stretched his neck, trying to register information from all angles.

"Why did they bring us here, they're not offering us up as punching bags to the second years, are they?!" A male student freaked, scratching his head violently.

"Speak for yourself, loser. I'm sure I can hold my own against a second year. I wouldn't expect anything from the Spades class," Another male student flustered, pointing down at the Spades student who made an earlier complaint.

"I- I'm sorry," the Spades class member jolted, burying his eyes in the dirt.

"You're really pathetic, man. Don't let this piece of trash threaten you, we're members of the same class aren't we?" Another male student surfaced, forcefully hanging his hand around the Spades member's neck, scaring him even more.

"Say, maybe we can hook up after this gathering, huh? The gym sounds like a nice place to— trade pleasantries, right?" The student smiled devilishly, leaning in on the Spades student.

Shade spotted the absurd aggravation, more like harassment of his fellow classmate, which left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Other classes have already started scouting out our classmates, insufferable idiots," he scoffed.

Dark stood beside him, silent as he could be, his eyes just roaming about the grass.

Suddenly, the clouds got darker, instantly deeming the environment around them. It grew more furious as lightning strikes and tough winds surfaced.

"What's happening?!" 
The murmurs grew, from exclaims to curses, to complaints, and finally, blaming the unknown teacher who sent them notifications of the gathering.

"These guys might end up leaving before the teacher gets here, ha ha!" Shade tried his best to make his voice heard over the howling wind, but Dark still wasn't responding.

Almost immediately, a huge surge of lightning visibility soared through the thickened clouds with a repeating pattern, till it struck the earth before the first years, causing some to fall on their butts.

"Shit, we're gonna die!!" a student exclaimed, his veins popping out.

The weather abruptly started calming down; the wind got less intense and the clouds got lighter.

"Ha ha ha!!!" 

Crackling surfaced from the mess of smoke and raised dirt which was caused by the lightning strike.

"The fear you all show never gets old no matter the set, it always cracks me up"

The smoke cleared, revealing a man of average height and build, probably in his late 30s.

His smirk greatly annoyed the first years; his black spiky hair made sure to stand out, but not quite as much as his silver robe, which wrapped him, leaving only his feet unconcealed.

"Who's this old fart, was he the one controlling the weather?"

"Hello new students of this institution, I am Professor Hungman. One of the high-ranking second-year lecturers. I was the one who sent the notifications," His smile slowly faded.

"I'm sure you must have been told about your headline task, I suggest you forget everything about it." He relayed.

The spades class members were overrun with happiness, while the other classes cursed.

"For some reason, the school board has decided to pass it over to the second years." He walked closer to them, his smile was now totally gone.

"Great, I already got my hopes up."

"Thank goodness!" 

"Seems I won't be needing you anymore, don't try to speak to me in the future okay?" The student from earlier said with a beaming smile, removing his hand from the Spades class member.

"Don't worry, the basics still remain the same, just the different mechanism. The board just thinks that you kids may be — too immature to handle something as unorganized as that. So they have instilled a set of rules,"

The professor stretched out his hand and made an arc above his head with it. Three aged stone tablets appeared above him for everyone to see.

"Each fight would be randomly chosen by my spell, including the number of participants for each duel. There are other rules, of course, but just to be clear, the opening match would be fought here and now." The professor snapped his fingers and the tablets above his head slowly grew engravings, as though someone was currently working on them.

"This school really is nuts, I didn't make a bad decision coming here!" The same harassing student exclaimed, turning his gaze to the Spades student.

"Hey, maybe we'll duel after all!" He playfully smacked the student's back, hard.

"Even though my spell picks students randomly, it still picks up little desires and thoughts of those involved which influences its decisions," Professor Hungman relayed with yet another shallow smile.

"Alright, the first selection should be over now," he added as the stone tablets spaced out.

"I almost believe him, but I'm sure I know better than believing in fate," Shade snarled at the idea, turning to Dark for any kind of feedback, but sadly still didn't get any.

Dark just stood there, shallow-minded and empty. Shade frowned.

"I don't think this is the best time to start a chat," Tiger walked up to them, smile and all.

"Hmm?"
Shade turned towards the professor, and the tablet just above his head bore his name; Shade was clearly carved into the stone tablet.

"Yeah, random." Shade rolled his eyes.

The other two stone tablets were also finished, bearing the names of 'Claw' on the right tablet and 'Deckra' on the left one.

"Seems the school is monitoring us after all, they aren't even hiding it. Going after our vices all at once. I guess this will serve as the first competition within us," Ds strolled over to Dark too, the three of them now within arm's length.
"What's wrong with him?" Ds asked and Shade just raised his shoulders.

Dark sighed deeply, facing the earth

What —

What am I doing?