Chapter 3 : Chapter 3 : The Ceiling of Pride

My senses rendered at the discovery of an underlying shadow that cast my kingdom. I was nothing more than a prince according to the being I refused to recognize in front of me.

I didn't want to burst nor did I wanted to be emotional. Yet I was moving through pure instinct. A smarter move would have been to be diplomatic. To know what he…. this scarecrow was hiding.

Yet I raised my arm.

I summoned splints and embers once more.

"You do have a cute bias towards this spell, don't you, pupil?"

I didn't bother responding… I didn't want to.

Snap.

And the embers flew at a speed rivaling the blink of an eye. Just as they came close to the professor, I felt assured of my victory. The embers enlarged into a wide arc once more.

The impact resulted in a huge gush of wind and the flames that engulfed the entire hallway. The boy behind me reacted. He covered his ears while instinctively closing his eyes, even more reason to see that he was just like me.

And the professor…

Wait… I never actually knew his name. And I just became aware of this… just now.

The dust took a minute to settle.

Once the scene came into sight, the space was empty. No one stood there.

"Honestly, I was expecting something else this time."

A whisper came yet I couldn't see him at all.

And before I could turn my face to see where he went, I felt something cold against my skin…

And my body trembled.

"Is that sweat I am sensing."

He was right behind me. And the back of my neck… was in his grip.

"Time for a quiz, Igna."

I gulped but I had no intention of wavering.

"What happens to an insect when it challenges you to a duel?"

I had an inkling what he was getting at.

"Answer, boy!"

I still refused to answer.

"Revano phoexia"

A flame engulfed my entire body. My hands… a burning torch, my hair a blaze, my clothes still intact.

"You are making this harder than it has to be boy…"

I snapped my fingers and several fireballs shot towards him. Just as they were about to hit him, his body became a liquid I could not recognize. As he became one with the ground beneath. I motioned my flames, controlling them before they hit the empty space again. Motioning my hands around me.

The flames circled around while my eyes looked for a single moment, a single flicker, a single motion, a spark to see this fiend.

"I really hate when my students refuse to cooperate."

I could only hear the sound but was unable to see the person making it. It was as though the walls were talking to me.

I clenched my fists.

"I couldn't care less about the morals of a person who views children as mere tools!"

"Oh, dear, but the quiz was highly relevant."

"Just show yourself, coward!"

"What happens when fire is pitted against the solid ground?"

"Are you suggesting that whatever I do, I am going to lose?"

"I am saying…"

The ground beneath me was turning into liquid. I knew what this meant…

"Wingalium Nox."

My cape turned into wings but this time the flames from my body followed suit. I flapped before I could sink. The flames all around my body made it look as though a phoenix itself had ascended.

At least that's the impression I wanted to give. As royals, as people in power, it was essential you portrayed that power, that authority.

"Ah, aren't you a cute lad."

This person undermined it.

"But your flashiness will be your downfall."

I wanted to prove it… I wanted to show him that I wasn't a weak existence incapable of ruling.

I wasn't a puppet he claimed me to be.

Some may call it ego. I called it my pride. Pride as the future sovereign of my land!

"I suppose I shouldn't prolong this farce…"

The room around me was melting.

I wasn't sure on what to do so I still waited to look for an opening. But I suppose I was too caught up in my head that time.

The ground moulded into a hand. All liquid. And it rose…

The hand was the size of a giant. I dodged by flying sideways in an arc.

"Useless."

I heard another whisper.

The walls also molded into small hands and directly came up from the front. So I motioned the flames from before. They were following me, and now it was time for them to be put into use.

I motioned them directly at the hands in front and the giant one at the back… and these were no mere embers now.

Upon contact a huge fire erupted, the embers, each of them became their own thing as I had imbued them with life.

I dodged the hand from behind while the embers followed suit. At the front, at least 20 hands arched upwards as I glided above but my fire was also nothing to parry about. The small sparks now hit them one by one.

I flew as my embers destroyed those hands one by one. The dust, the smoke from the blasts were the only things that were visible in that dark-lit room.

The giant hand however was still unfazed.

Clearing the dust, I directly leeched forward!

This time I didn't want to avoid it. So I arched towards it directly. I was assured, if I took down this mold, I would be victorious. I compressed my hand to summon a small ball of ignition.

I suppressed and suppressed while I flew directly towards it. And just as it was about to hit me, I leaned slightly back.

"This is my gift to you!"

I motioned my palms directly towards the arching hand.

The ball became a beam. This time there was no trick nor the theatrics. It was simply a bright beam encompassing the properties of fire and it shot forward with only one purpose.

To utterly destroy whatever was in front.

It touched the palm and a bright light, so bright that even I had to physically close my eyes, followed suit. It slowly disintegrated the palm. Destroying it, even its source, the ground beneath caught fire. The beam didn't stop there. It flew, directly and penetrated the wall behind, motioning towards the sky, going out gracefully...

My body was now out of flame… It was normal. I was barely able to remain afloat. So I slowly came to the ground, calming my flames.

I was out of breath, waiting for the dust to settle. The aftereffects of my spells were also in front of me. Everything was burning around me.

At that moment I was glad. I thought I had gotten him.

I was sat, still panting. Trying to catch my breath.

While admiring the scene I had painted.

Clap Clap.

I felt chills….

"IMPRESSIVE!!! TRULY MARVELOUS OH MY DEAR STUDENT I AM SO VERY IMPRESSED!!"

He was clapping hysterically.

I motioned my hands once again, to snap.

"Don't bother."

In a fraction of a second, he seized my hands… As though he teleported.

He gripped it. The weight was nothing ordinary. It wasn't of an adult human. It was as though he was crushing it.

He gripped it tighter and tighter.

I was panting still and the pain was also becoming an unbearable little thing.

"You see now my dear pupil? This is the difference between us."

I couldn't pull my hand out nor could I cast a spell.

A tremor seized me.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

I screamed. I didn't know what it was but I was in agony. The kind of physical pain I had never felt before.

"Ah now now, don't overreact now, I am merely just disciplining you."

My nose bled.

"This is my specialty and we haven't even begun yet."

I was about to pass out.

"But I suppose I shouldn't let my sadistic instincts take control."

He let go of my hands but I was still in agonizing pain. My joints felt as though they were cracking. My head was flooded with the pain so sharp, I thought it was going to explode any moment.

"Good night."

He slapped, it was nothing ordinary.

The sensations I felt before amplified while my body twisted.

And I fell…

My pride was defeated. My honor was ridiculed.

I laid there. In the middle of the flames. Like a disgrace. Utterly and completely defeated. Utterly humiliated.

I just laid there, about to lose consciousness.

"Don't worry I have no intention of killing you. It would be a huge hassle in the end… I mean we will be losing an asset and heavens no… I don't want that truly."

I closed my eyes.

"But my oh so dear pupil."

He leaned towards my ear. As he wanted to do nothing but whisper.

"I will make arrangements for your early graduation."

His eyes behind the spectacles still didn't look menacing or wild. Despite him being someone without remorse…

That terrified me.

The me who was famous for being fearless.

He leaned back. Stood up while I was still trying to somehow summon any kind of strength. Strength to subdue him.

But it was all for naught.

He smiled towards me.

"Sweet dreams, Igna. I will be sure to take care of you."

Like a flame subdued, I too went now. And all I could see now was dark while my senses succumbed to the lack of energy I had.

And I passed out… just like that.