Shadow Author

The moment I heard "fight" I sprung into action to play my part.

"Willow is a bitch!"

Screaming as loud as I could I was sure that anyone in the hallway would be able to hear me even through the soundproofing and metal door.

Those who were in the classroom including the teacher, assistants, peers, and Willow herself found themselves hearing my cuss at full blast.

As the shock spread, the battle that really hadn't begun came to a halt. My two other teammates looked back at me in a mix of pity and awe. They knew I signed my death sentence. While the opposing team stopped to turn to the recipient of my proclamation.

Willow, who originally had set footwork that was prepared to go on the attack, was frozen. With all eyes on her, it was impossible to imagine what she was thinking due to her hair covering her face.

Yet amid this stunned battlefield where nothing was occurring, the boy who was responsible suddenly ducked.

The action was completely random and unwarranted but half a second later it all became clear.

Lodged deep in the wall behind the boy right at his eye level was a needle of sorts. But this needle was not an ordinary needle, it was a hairpin. A hairpin that belonged to Willow.

As everyone stared at the cracked wall where the pin was lodged a deep foreboding feeling overcame them.

They all knew it and I knew it too, Willow was pissed!

As my teammates came out of their stupor they focused their attention on Willow only to see her disappear. The next thing they heard was the clashing of swords.

Having my blade already raised and in position when Willow vanished from my eyesight I knew I had to grip the sword and hold on tightly.

Before I knew it an insane weight was pushing down on my blade threatening to snap it in half.

Without thinking I rolled on the ground to my left only for it to be followed by an explosion.

The ground beneath where I once stood was transformed into a crater where a small sword was embedded.

Yet I didn't have any time to experience what I witnessed because I knew I had to perform my next action which was to vertically slash.

While my poor excuse of a battle was beginning with Willow my teammates finally went into action and charged at the other two enemies.

With rugged breath, I huffed and puffed as I tried to get the tiniest amount of oxygen into my lungs.

Currently, my body felt as if it had been hit by a truck. I knew the bruises would swell and stay for many days to follow.

'Fuck me!'

Raising my sword to parry I barely got it up in time to save myself.

'Curse teenage romance drama!'

As my opponent's sword clashed with mine the force of their attack far outweighed mine and I was thrown backward.

Rolling on the ground my lungs felt as if they were on fire and my body was begging for me to give up. Even then I rose to my feet and held my sword in front of me ready for the next attack.

'Shitty future-seeing ability, I am not a masochist!'

Hardly having any time to prepare Willow's rapier swiftly came striking down at my body.

[Present day]

Knowing that there was no feasible way of escape I tripped myself to allow gravity to deal with the attack — after all, it's the reason I'm in this mess.

Falling flat on my ass with my legs spread apart, the tip of Willow's blade landed right in between them.

Fearing for my special thing I scurried backward to create some space.

Unfortunately, Willow was just too fast and before I could toss myself into safety I was hit.

A sharp pain filled my mind as I saw a red splash.

Knowing that I was still in danger I took advantage of the time in between attacks to roll and rise to my feet.

Yet before I could even inspect my injury the glint of metal shined in the corner of my eyes.

Throwing up my sword to clash with the rapier another small explosion was released.

Sliding back as the bottoms of my shoes burnt from friction on the floor I attempted to catch my breath.

'This is not good.'

Even though I knew of each attack coming it was still nearly impossible to survive it.

Willow's strength, speed, and adaptability were insane when compared to mine.

With each clash of our weapons, it felt like I was hitting a metal wall where the force of my attack would strike back at me and vibrate through my own body.

Thankfully my master-level comprehension of the sword could make it so that I take the least bit of damage from each exchange.

Ordinarily I would have every advantage to defeat Willow. I knew every move she would make before she even knew what she was doing. Plus my understanding of the sword was most likely greater.

The problem though was that my knowledge was not achieved through experience but rather the CP I spent.

The worst part of all was that if I had practiced yesterday as I planned instead of taking care of Charlotte I would be much better off.

This meant I was completely and utterly fucked!

Breaking out of my thoughts I dropped to my knees in a pitiful attempt to not get hit.

Thankfully it worked as I still had my head attached to my body.

Yet while on the ground hundreds of strains of black hairs fluttered down next to me.

It seemed that Willow gave me a free-of-charge haircut.

Although I knew it was coming it pained me to know that I now had a bald spot.

But I threw this thought out as fast as it came because it was now time for my counterattack.

Still, on the ground, I raised my sword vertically in an attempt to impale Willow.

When she saw that my blade was coming right for her Willow's mind went into overdrive.

Due to the awkward position she was in she wouldn't be able to retract her sword in time to block which left her with the only option of dodging.

Throwing her head back the length of my sword followed up her body mere centimeters from cutting her.

The act managed to save her as only the tip of her chin was scratched.

After the exchange Willow leaped back four times creating a great deal of distance.

Slowly she put up her fingers to her chin to touch the spot where she was hit. When she felt some pain radiate through her body she quickly pulled back her hand.

When she looked down at the finger that touched the wound she saw a droplet of red.

At that moment the battle came to a halt.

My two teammates who had just finished taking care of Willow's teammates and were preparing to back me up stopped in their tracks.

While I was breathing heavily and using the hilt of my sword to keep myself standing upright, I felt a wave of rage come from Willow.

Yet there was much I could do as my side was sliced open and blood was trailing down my leg to create a puddle on the ground.

My vision was wavering due to blood loss and my body ached all over. But even in my rough condition, I knew I still had one last move to pull off.

Sucking in a deep breath I slowly and carefully pulled the sword up out of the ground. This caused me to wobble a bit due to losing my support yet I held strong. Once again I raised my sword and angled it out in front of me to point right at Willow.

Seeing my provocation stance yet another wave of fury was released by Willow into the surroundings.

The Mana shook and quaked all around us as it went into a frenzy.

However, just as quickly as it became erotic it stopped.

Then a split second later it was forcefully swept away and vacuumed right into Willow's rapier.

Once the mana finished gathering a blue hue enveloped Willow's sword.

Then an explosion of force roared out as an unnatural phenomenon occurred.

The power behind it was nothing to mess with and a feeling of dread sunk into my heart.

It was Aura. Willow was using Aura!