Burnt Orange

From my very first step inside the hall, it was clear this class was going to be a lot more interesting. We got seats close to the front this time, where Professor Gregory leaned against the blackboard—book in hand.

“This is my kind of class…” I could tell just by looking at him; this was someone who knew their way around magic.

The fact he was absolutely jacked didn’t hurt my impression either. I’d seen a lot of soldiers living in the palace, both the boring, humorless veterans and the rookies that would stutter whenever I stepped in the room.

The air that Professor Gregory gave off told me he was stronger than both. Much stronger.

“Let’s get started.” As the bell rang, Professor Gregory snapped his book shut.

“Here we go…”

“Val… What does that mean?” She just smiled as Gregory eyed the room. “You’ll see.”

Professor Gregory stood and slammed his hands on the front desk, with the cockiest grin I had seen in my life. “Welcome back to magical theory and application. Good job on arriving early and rested. You’ll need the energy for later on.”

We’ll need the energy? I thought, while Val just continued to grin. What is this class?

“I’ve heard that we have some newbies in the class, Princess.” Professor Gregory winked towards me. “So, I figured today we would do things a bit differently.”

I had to do a double take as he looked back towards the class. Did he have to call me out? I was used to the attention and all, but it typically wasn’t so… direct. “I have so many—”

“Let’s start simple, Princess. How many colors of magic are there?”

Wait, me? Thank the gods this is about magic. Any other class and I would have zoned out an hour ago. “Eight? What else would it be?”

“Correct!” A small fire burst from his finger. “Four masculine, four feminine. Each color represents an element, but I'm sure everyone here is very aware of this. What you may not have seen is all eight colors used at once.”

Professor Gregory’s eyes stared right at me with that line.

“What does he mean by that?” I muttered. Calm down, Ruby. I took a deep breath. If I kept imitating Mary and stuttering it'd just make me look suspicious. If I had to blast my way out of here, so be it.

I didn’t expect to be on edge this early, but my magic was itching to be used, and I wasn’t the type to go down quickly.

“I heard that another Varie has recently joined us. Princess, how interested would you be in a small little sparring session?”

“I’m in!” I answered before he could finish. First day and I’m already getting into fights. Dad, look at how far I’ve come. Gregory really didn’t even need to ask. A chance to use magic and see another Varie? It was like this fight was made for me.

The only thing I didn’t know was who the second Varie was, but that didn’t matter much. I’d beat their socks off no matter what.

“Perfect. Class! We have an exhibition to watch!” Professor Gregory started to march up the stairs. “Something tells me this will be a fight you won't want to miss.”

                                                                             ☀ ☀ ☀

Professor Gregory marched us along to the training field at record speed.

No, field was way too casual of a term. This place was practically a coliseum, with giant circular stone benches that surrounded the training grounds, and a well-maintained field of dirt larger than Everbit’s city square.

“Fancy, right?”

“Wha—” I nearly leaped into the air as Professor Gregory seemed to appear right beside me. “Where the hell…”

“I figured that I’d give you a bit of a show to start out. Pretty girls deserve to stand in the limelight.”

“I—” I was very pretty, true, but having someone be so… forward about it had me reeling. I took a deep breath. Save freaking out for another time. “You said there's a fight, right? Who's my opponent?”

“You’ll see soon. I’m a teacher. What kind of teacher gives out the answer for free?”

I shrugged. Whoever it was didn’t matter much—some spoiled noble for sure. I already swore to beat them, and that meant a win was already all but guaranteed.

Val took a seat near the front row, then leaned forward and called out. “Have you ever fought anyone?”

“Have birds ever flown before? Is grass green?” I smacked my fists together. “Let’s get this started.”
“And that we shall.” Professor Gregory walked to the center of the stage. “Magic! It is the key that lets us break boundaries and push well beyond humanity’s ceiling. But no two colors are the same. On the battlefield, it isn’t uncommon to see all eight colors at once; and that, class, is what I plan to demonstrate today.”

The opposing door opened, leaving a cloud of dust behind.

“No way…” I could feel myself getting pumped up as my opponent stepped out of that door. Whoever I was facing didn’t matter, not really, but that didn’t mean that there weren’t certain people that I was very excited to spar with.

And my opponent, Isaac Vertana, second prince of Vertana, was currently number one on that list.

“So you’re a Varie?” I asked. “I would have asked to spar way earlier if I knew that.”

“It’s nice to see you too, Ruby. There was no reason to worry about you, I see that much now.”

“How noble… Try speaking like that after I pummel you into the ground.” It almost felt like a waste to destroy that perfect face of his. That wouldn’t stop me.

“Isaac! Ruby! All I ask is that you use every one of your colors.”

I scoffed. You wish I could use all eight of mine. “You barely need to ask, Professor.”

“Then, let’s begin.”

“I—” Isaac barely got a sound out.

My body glowed a brilliant white, right as my fist barreled toward his jaw. But Isaac wasn’t the type to just take it. He barely dodged, sinking into his own shadow with a bit of quick black magic.

“First rule of combat!” I dusted off my palm. “Don’t give your opponent time to breathe.”

“I see the rumors don’t do you justice, Princess.” Isaac emerged from a small bit of shade cast by the bleachers.

Black magic is going to be the bane of my existence if I let him keep it up… An idea clicked in my head. Not yet.

“What you have just witnessed, class, are the two monochrome colors! White—” I tuned out the professor as he explained the obvious. Yeah, white made you control white, and black let you sink into black. It wasn’t exactly complicated.

Isaac disappeared back into the shadows. Gods, I would have given anything to join him there, a shadow could punch a shadow—this would be over in seconds.

But that didn’t mean this fight would make me break a sweat. “Okay, if you want to take the coward's way out, I’ll play along.”

Vines the size of tree trunks sprouted from the ground. I let one sweep me off my feet, bringing me fifteen feet in the air. He wasn’t getting away with that game. If he wanted to play hide and seek, so be it. I’d just crush all the hiding spots.

“Not bad, Princess.” Isaac looked up toward the sky. “I guess I’ll have to take this seriously.” He lit a raging fire on his palm. “Here at Vertana, our education system is our pride and joy. One of the first lessons we teach? That plants burn.”

“Isaac!” I held on for dear life as his flames cut right through my plants. “What kind of fire magic cuts?”

Fire was fire! It could burn and heat things up. It couldn’t cut anything! “Looks like there are a few tricks I need to learn!”
I let water pour from my body, creating a jet stream that barreled me toward the ground with a splash.

But Isaac jumped into one of the burning vines’ shadows again to escape.

“Come on! The whole point of a fight is to face each other head-on!” Black magic was for going ‘BANG’ out of the shadows or sneaking around, not hiding in the middle of a fight!

“What an excellent combination of magic!” I wanted to send a shard of ice toward Professor Gregory’s face. Anything to stop saying the most obvious trivia of all time. They have eyes, Professor! Let them use them! “That right there, class, is an example of how certain colors can counteract others. Orange beats green, so Princess Ruby took note and used a surge of blue.”

“Huh?” I’d used blue to get down safely, not for any fancy counters or whatever. “Whoa!”
Isaac’s palms cracked with electricity. I saw his yellow a half second before it came, but that was all the time I needed. I blurred right. Lightning tore across the stone benches inches from where I’d been standing, leaving smoking scorch marks the size of my head. “Allow me to be confused for a second, sheesh!”

“No can do,” Isaac snapped his fingers. Several bolts of lightning danced around his arms. “I’m not here to lose.”

“What a coincidence, I’m not either.”

He’s cornering you, Ruby…

Bolt after bolt of yellow chased me across the sparring grounds. Every dodge pushed me back a step toward the stands.

It was a smart play, I’d used the same strategy more than a few times. But he wanted me to back up. I never backed up. Time to make this interesting.

I let water pour from my limbs, soaking the dirt and creating pools around my discarded vines, turning the field into a swamp. Isaac paused as lightning continued to dance across his fingers.

Keep doing the math, you got this. Isaac wouldn’t take the risk of shocking himself. Anyone using yellow got taught to respect water from their very first lesson. That was part of the reason I love blue so much.

“What are you waiting for?” I smirked. “You’ll fry yourself right along with me. Try it.”

Isaac didn’t bother to try, just dipping into the nearest shadow instead. That’s my move, coward.

But with the noon sun shining overhead, Isaac stuck out like a sore thumb in the mud. Black magic didn’t make you invisible, it turned you into a shadow, and a shadow in the middle of the day was pretty obvious.

“There you are!”

The water underneath Isaac erupted. A geyser the size of a house blasted him fifteen feet into the air, spiraling.

“Fun match.” I laughed. So much for—

“Good fight, Princess! But as they say, to the victors go the spoils!”

Red exploded out from the geyser like a bonfire. Isaac’s body flared with red as he twisted midair and landed on a vine.

What an amateurish red. I scoffed. The whole point of red was to boost yourself without blaring your magic like a lighthouse. Isaac’s red was flashy, the kind of red used by someone who’d never had to hide their presence.

Magic existed to be shown off, sure, but it had to also be subtle. Isaac didn’t have a drop of that in him.

“And that’s the seventh color of magic!” Professor Gregory shouted. “Red strengthens your muscles, reshapes the—”

We get it, Professor!

I dodged right. Isaac’s red fist pounded the ground where I’d been, leaving a crater that sprayed the stands in mud. I’d be flattened six feet under if that red-boosted punch landed. “Is that the best you got, red? Let me show you what real magic looks like!”

Now, what the hell am I supposed to do?

I dodged again, stumbling as my back hit the stands.

After all that confidence, he’d still found a way to corner me. My geyser plan had completely flatlined, and a beam of light wasn’t about to stop that kind of punch.

“Screw it!” I was winning this fight! I didn’t lose, I didn’t back down, and the professor did tell me to use all my magic…

I looked Isaac dead in the eyes as his crimson fist came down like a lightning bolt, and let a faint shimmer of red bloom under my skin.

Dust erupted as our red-soaked fists met head-on, sending shock waves that blasted the class off their benches, with rocks and sand flying dozens of feet into the air.

I turned my hips, grabbed Isaac’s arm with my free hand, and slammed him into the ground.

The tension in the air was palpable. My eyes couldn’t see more than a foot in front of me, but there was no need.

Because, as the dust settled, it was Isaac who lay face first on the ground.

“And that’s my victory!”

I waved as Val cheered and the class sat stunned.

Were they expecting a different outcome or… I promised to not lose. Clearly the meaning of that hadn’t reached Vertana.

“Good match…” Isaac gingerly called out from the ground. “I see the rumors underestimated you.”

“Well, it wouldn’t be fun if they told the whole story.” I reached a hand out, pulling Isaac up.

“That they wouldn’t.”

And it looks like I got away scot-free…

“Congrats to you both!”

I didn’t have much time to think about red magic as Gregory walked down to greet us.

“Class! Treasure what you just saw. Unless you have the misfortune to face a Varie in battle, you won’t see a fight of this caliber again. Especially with such masterful use of red.”

Isaac’s red was strong, just not refined yet. I guess even Gregory was the type to exaggerate Isaac's magic.

Unfortunately, Professor Gregory’s next line was a lot more horrific. “There’s a five-page essay explaining the magical application of the fight you just saw due next week. Don’t be late, and class dismissed!”

With that, every bit of positivity I felt toward Professor Gregory disappeared.

“Lunchtime,” Val said, walking over. “You ready?”

“After that fight? I could eat an entire cow single-handedly. Let’s go!”