Chapter 5:

Regulated Battles

The Obscure Witch Hunt - Volume One


- Six Years Ago


          It is a dark stormy night. A sudden flash illuminates the hallway of a mansion. Thunder viciously roars through the dark sky. Small feet slowly step down the hallway. A little girl is walking in the dark, watching her step not to fall over. She approaches a doorway that leads to a bedroom. She hears a voice coming from the room, a woman's voice she does not recognize. The little girl holds her hand out and creates a dim light on the palm of her hand, though it doesn't illuminate much.

          "M-mom?" she calls out with a frightened face. "Are you there?"

          "So that's her?" she hears from the room. The mysterious woman laughs hysterically, "Oh, she'll be perfect!"

          The girl hears her mother shout, "You keep your hand off my daughter!"

          "Mom, what's going on?" the girl asks worriedly about her mother.

          "Alia! Get out of here now! Go find your brother and run!" her mother shouts at her.

          The young Alia is now more scared than ever, "b-but what about you, mom? Why don't you come with me?"

          "Don't worry about me! Just go!"

          The mysterious woman speaks, "relax. My plans for her won't be until much later. I need her to grow strong. You on the other hand. Well, I can't have you interfering."

          Alia hears her mother struggle. She runs in with her light in hand. "Mother, what's going on?" Once Alia crosses the doorway, she shines her light around to spot her mother. She finds her mother struggling to breathe while sitting on the edge of the massive bed. She doesn't see anyone else, so Alia runs to her mother's side, dropping the light orb next to her.

          "Mom! Mom… What do I do? Please don't leave us," Alia's heavy tears flow out.

          She hears the other woman's voice from the dark corner of the room, "I'll come back for you. Be sure to grow nice and strong."

          Alia turns around and spots the pale woman sinking into a dark void on the ground. All she see's from the woman are her eyes and up. Alia memorizes the black sclera eyes with golden irises and horns on the women. Once the woman is gone, Alia's mother stops breathing. Alia turns to face her mother again. "Nooo! Mom, please come back," she devastatingly sobs onto her mother's chest. Once she realizes there is no heartbeat, she collapses onto the ground.

          "Y… you won't get away with this," she softly says. "You'll pay…" she cries.

          The power to the house returns, and the lights turn on. Moments later, Alia's older brother, Uriah, runs in. "What's going on? Sis, what happened to mother?"

         Alia continues to cry.

- Several Days later

          After the funeral of Alia's mother, Alia talks to her father.

          "I will hear no more of this!" her father sternly shouts.

          "But it's the truth! Why won't you believe me?"

          Her father resumes, "We had multiple guards stationed around the house. None of them recall seeing anyone enter or leave the premise. The doctors confirmed that your mother passed from a cardiac arrest. While you're off in your imaginative world, your brother and I are mourning your mother. Now, why don't-"

          Alia takes a few steps back with a look of disbelief. She runs to her room and shuts the door loudly. She jumps onto her bed, sits, buries her face onto her knees, and wraps her arms around her legs. "No one believes me…. Mom, why did it have to be you…" she cries. "Only I know the truth. Only I can avenge you. It's a burden only I can carry. I'm sorry, mom, but you'll have to wait a while before I can get revenge," Alia continues sobbing.

- Present


          Alia sits by her desk. She has some sort of book or journal on the desk. Alia is holding a sheet of paper with a drawing on it. It seems to be a dark background with golden eyes peering out at whoever views the picture. "I've grown stronger since then, but it's still not enough. Once I've proven myself in this school, I'm coming for you," she says, putting the picture into the journal and closing it. She opens a drawer and puts it away. Alia steps away from her desk, grabs her bag, and steps out of her room. She leaves the dorm and heads to school an hour before anyone else, as is her daily routine.

          Hours later, on their fourth day of school, the bell rings to signify the end of second period. Alia grabs her back and steps out of class. Rather than following everyone to the cafeteria, she heads in the opposite direction. When traversing the hallways, a 2nd-year male student intentionally bumps her shoulder.

          "Why don't you watch where you're walking," says the ill-mannered student.

          Alia turns back to glance at him and sees it as a waste of her time. She keeps walking. The male student gets ticked off and grabs her shoulder to stop her. "You're just like your brother. You treat everyone like they're all beneath you. It rubs me the wrong way."

          Alia's eyes become more intimating, "let go of me."

          "Or what? Going to attack me out in the open and break the rules?" he snickers. "I'll tell you what, how about we wager 150 points and do a regulated battle?"

          Alia smacks his arm away, "make it 200, and today after lunch."

         The students around them gasp from hearing her accept the match with a 2nd-year student.

          "Ahaha. Sure, why not? I can't wait to see the face on Uriah when he sees his sister beaten to a pulp."

          In the cafeteria, Adrion sits with his friends and the three girls from his dorm. They're finishing their food as lunchtime is nearing its end. Ivika scrolls on her phone, then suddenly, her eyes widen, and she drops her phone onto the table.

          "Oh my god! Have you guys seen this?"

          "What?" everyone replies.

          "Alia is participating in a regulated battle with an upperclassman. She's wagering all the points she has!"

          "What's the big deal? Isn't she royalty?" Kazuo comments.

          "Yeah, but this is an upperclassman that she's fighting. He has to be strong if he passed the advancement exam," Harper mentions.

          "Oh no. W-what if she loses and is expelled for having 0 points? How will I ever make it if someone like her gets expelled?" Sylvie chimes in.

          Ivika tries to calm her nerves, "you need to relax. This would be because of wagered points, not because the school deemed her lacking- Where are you going Adrion?"

          "I want to see what these regulated battles are like. By the way, where are these battles held?"

          "Hold up. I'm coming with," Ivika says as she leaps up from her seat and catches up with Adrion. Everyone else stares at each other briefly, then follows.

          The group runs into the arena and finds an open spot. The arena is packed full of students from all grades. Ichiro sneaks up behind Adrion. "Well, this certainly is more packed than your usual everyday battle," everyone but Adrion gets scared by Ichiro.

          "Don't sneak up on us like that," Harpers shouts at him.

          "Who's this?" Kazuo and Ringo ask.

          "You must be Adrion's friends. My name is Ichiro Sekiryu. It's a pleasure to meet you."

          "Hello, I'm Ringo. Nice to meet you."

          "Likewise. I'm Kazuo by the way."

          An announcer taps on the microphone to test it. Everyone turns their attention to her. "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Red Base Arena. The arena for your everyday regulated battles. I am your host, Kanna Amaki, here to provide commentary on this afternoon's regulated battle! The participants for this match are Taras Kalasnik and Alia Leah! It is a match between a 1st-year and a 2nd-year student. It hardly happens this early in the school year, so I know many of you are excited about it! This match's wagered points are 200, a ridiculously high amount. On top of that, for those who don't know, that is all the points Alia has! That means, if she loses, Alia will be expelled from the academy!"

          A surprising amount of cheering comes from a small portion of the crowd. "Why do they seem to be happy about Alia's expulsion?" Ivika asks

          "Because they dislike Uriah," Ichiro responds.

          "What does that have to do with Alia though?" Adrion asks him.

          "Because Uriah is her older brother. Some students dislike Uriah because of his personality. He's a man that stands at the top, and everyone else is below him. Uriah often forgets about those he considers weak. Since they can't lay their hands on Uriah, they're targeting the next best thing. His younger sister."

          "Sounds like a pathetic reason," Adrion says.

          Ichiro laughs, "haha, you're right. However, it's only a small portion of the crowd. Everyone else is interested in gauging out Alia's strength."

          The announcer continues, "supervising the match, we have referee Magnus Degen. He'll make sure that there is no foul play going on. Now then, let us introduce the two fighters! Firstly, the one who issued the challenge, let's welcome the attacker Taras Kalasnik!"

          The crowd cheers as Taras walks onto the arena.

          "And now the defender, Alia Leah!"

          The crowd cheers, with Ivika and Harper being the loudest. Alia walks onto the arena. She is clearly in a foul mood as she enters the fighting field. The two stand ten meters apart and can't build up magic for an attack until the fight starts.

          "The loser is the first to be knocked out of bounds or be rendered unable to fight. Now get ready!"

          Monitors are attached to the ceiling and count down from three seconds. Kanna counts down along with the screens.

          When it reaches zero, a horn sounds. Taras stomps on the ground and moves his hands upwards as if manipulating something upwards. A heap of sand appears in front of him. Most of the sand forms a massive shield in front of him, and the rest takes the shape of a blunt weapon. Alia raises her arm with her palm facing Taras and creates a massive amount of light orbs around her. There has to be at least fifty floating around her, waiting for her command. In mere seconds, all the light orbs turn into rays of piercing light, hammering away at the sand shield. The bright light causes everyone to look away or close their eyes.

          "The light barrage seems to be too much for Taras' sturdy sand shield! He lost control of his blunt weapon, and now the sand is pouring onto the ground," says the announcer.

          Adrion looks back at the fighting field. First, he spots the referee and the announcer wearing sunglasses. He scans the field only to find an unconscious Taras who is out of bounds. Alia remains standing in the same spot. The horn sounds again now that the match is over. An instant replay is shown on the monitors, slowed down to show all the details. The screens show the light rays piercing the sand shield in the first couple of seconds which blind Taras. With his eyes closed, all the light rays smack his entire body, causing his body to ragdoll out of bounds and going unconscious. The arena goes quiet, as everyone is astounded by how quickly it ended. A chill of excitement runs down Adrion's back.

          "The referee has made his judgment. Alia wins! She will now be rewarded 200 points from Taras, bringing her up to 400 points!"

          Three medics rush in with a stretcher to carry Taras off to the infirmary. Alia walks away as the majority of the crowd cheers for her. Adrion and the rest of them stand above the hall that Alia has to go through. Adrion leans over the railing, "good job."

          "As if I need your praise," Alia continues walking.

          "I had no idea she's that strong!" Harper says.

          "That's royalty for you," Ivika points out.

          "Adrion, you lucky dog. I wish I'd receive that cold gaze," Kazuo says quietly.

          "Just shut up Kazuo," Ringo shakes his head.

          "Many upperclassmen have been betting that Alia is the strongest in your generation. I thought so too at first but ended up on another pick," Ichiro says.

          "And who is that?" Ivika asks.

          "Hmmm. Who's to say," Ichiro walks away, waving back at the group.

          "These regulated battles actually seem like fun. Although, I don't like the massive crowd that gathers. Might screw up my focus or something," Kazuo mentions.

          "You don't have to worry about that. I'm sure no one but Ringo and I will attend," Adrion says as he strolls away.

          "I hate you so much man," Kazuo follows with his hands behind his head.

          "Hahaha. You know he's telling the truth. The same probably applies to me," Ringo laughs.

          "Yeah, but he didn't have to say it out loud," Kazuo pouts.

          They all go back to their classes.

Osoroshi Ki
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