Annabelle’s Bastion

“The rules are simple, and if you break them, I will personally see to it that you spend the next 3 months in the Abyssal Hole. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Yes.”

The Abyssal Hole sounded menacing, but the real punishment came in missing three months of classes in the fast-paced academy. When each class seemed to take a month or less, that was nearly three classes and a whole bunch of knowledge! That kind of fallback would pretty much ruin chances at competing in anything. Worse, it would show on their permanent record.

Both men across from Anna seemed to understand that as well. Although, Jared’s widened eyes and pecking nods meant his understanding was only courtesy of Ashton in his ear. Did he even check his record?

Anna’s answer came in the fire in Jared’s gaze once Ashton finished whispering to him. Did he really just find out that his loss to her was in his official record? Ashton must have been saving it for their fight to make him more aggressive.

Ashton’s evident animosity toward her still didn’t make any sense. It could be related to Aria, but the more likely case was that he knew of her from Earth and resented her family, which translated to her. Not uncommon, unfortunately—though, it was a little too coincidental.

Anna sighed and shook her head.

“Spectators leave the arena.” 

Ashton smiled and nodded toward Anna, then jumped into the stands. 

Arrogant bastard.

She fully expected everything Jared would do in the fight was Ashton’s plan. Did Jared really believe that kind of win meant anything?

Simple-minded orc.

To be fair, he had lost some weight, courtesy of the intense combat-oriented classes.

“Bring out—” The announcer stopped and cleared his throat. “Conjure your rings.”

The announcer was a monotone-sounding man with a half-face mask, an unnaturally pale complexion, and crimson red eyes. At least his grey hair was in an ordinary style—slicked back but sloppily done. If he had a fancy suit, it would complete the image! But he just wore black slacks and a loose white shirt.

Jared’s orange rings extended from his ankles and wrists in the same way they did during their first spar.

Surely, he didn’t intend to try a melee again!

Anna’s black rings hummed as they extended around her wrists, the mana within her body entering a very slight, active state. It felt like a stream from a barely opened faucet.

She paid extra attention to the mana drainage, and it did seem like her consumption increased slightly because of her Sigil. Were her abilities stored within it? Was it some kind of thing that could be… detached? She couldn’t tell—it might just be something of a doorway into her soul.

And with that information, even more questions formed that had to be shelved, lest she became too distracted.

She couldn’t accurately identify how much mana her ring used. It felt like a small amount, almost negligible, but she tried to mentally note it down for further study. Mana Control was coming up, and Anna had Nora as her teacher—she needed to grasp her drainage.

“A reminder for the mentally impaired.” The announcer glared at Anna and Jared as if to threaten, except he looked like he really did want to murder them. “Rule number 1; combat ends when the barrier is shattered. Accidents do happen, but if you make a futile effort to harm your opponent after?” He darkly chuckled, rubbing his pale hands together. “Thanks in advance for the justification. I will tear your limbs and feast on your innards before sending you to the Hole to rot. Rule 2; outside interference, be it from callouts or intervention—even in the form of a mere rock from outside this arena—is prohibited. If anyone enters my arena during a fight, I will break them.” He aimed his glare more at the gathered crowd for that. “Lastly, what you’re doing in this arena officially ends your dispute. Afterward, any issues your fragile human egos cause will result in harsh punishment—should it be reported.”

That last rule was a bit vague and seemed like an easy one to take advantage of.

Still, Anna nodded her affirmation.

The announcer then looked to Jared, collecting his understanding nod, too.

“Fantastic. Cade—” He stopped himself and then cleared his throat. Again. Anna wished she could talk to him; he’d probably leak a lot. “Students, state your names for the record.”

“Annabelle Frost.”

“Jared Castello.”

“Quaint.” He jumped into the stands and leaned against the rail, looking entirely uncaring. But he was likely watching very, very closely. “Just so you know, this will be the first-ever student dispute handled in the arena—a wonderful occasion.” He chuckled and shook his head, checking the crowds that had been forming. “Just an interesting note. You may begin.”

Anna immediately braced herself, but to her surprise, Jared wasn’t charging at her like the rampaging bull he was last time.

Instead, he stood on the opposite end of the arena with a haughty smirk, with his arms crossed and fists clenched.

“Maybe I should win,” Anna mumbled, lightly shaking her head.

She had been considering putting on a good show, then purposefully losing to satisfy the simpleton’s ego. Then she wouldn’t have to worry about the after. That was partly why she insisted they fight in front of a teacher; if she did lose, she needed to ensure they didn’t try anything. Surprisingly, Jared agreed with little thought to her request and seemed to have genuine confidence in his victory.

His agreement was more than a little suspicious! 

Anna moved further back, her eyes never leaving Jared’s hands.

Jared either severely underestimated Anna’s intelligence or was just that dumb; he had a Sigil, and that’s why he was so gung-ho.

It was painfully obvious he wanted her to charge so he could surprise her with whatever it was.

The problem, then, was that the Sigil could be anything. All Anna heard was that the combatants got to choose from a large number of Sigils, ranging from utility to elemental.

Perhaps Anna should have done a little more research—but not knowing had its own charm.

“Scared?” Jared shouted. 

“Terrified,” Anna replied noncommittally.

Actually, she just wasn’t sure what to do.

Jared wouldn’t be caught off guard anymore, and she couldn’t throw fists without knowing what his Sigil was. Not to mention she hadn’t used her Sigil on herself.

Saving that for Aria was just a silly little vow she made.

“Fine,” Jared snorted and uncrossed his arms before taking a charging posture, “I’ll come to you!” He was clearly playing it up, boosting his voice as loud as he could.

It clicked.

Anna checked the stands, and people were still gathering. Greg was up there with Ashton, and people from their posse entered and exited with small amounts of people.

Ashton seemed peeved at Jared’s proclamation, a confirmation of a premade plan. He seemed to be unable to hide brief flashes of true emotions—a big issue for a wannabe mastermind.

But it wasn’t only students; teachers had clearly gotten wind of the fight. It likely related to what the announcer mentioned—Anna and Jared’s fight would be the first officially sanctioned duel in the academy. 

Well, Anna wouldn’t be surprised if Alisha spread the word just for the giggles. 

The audience aside, Jared’s intentions were clear, and he was too impatient to do whatever Ashton wanted. She could use that.

“Here I come!” Jared kicked off the dirt.

“No need to announce it,” Anna elected to dismiss the rings around her wrists, then extend another one from her torso. 

The same drainage as her wrist.

Enhancing seemed unnecessarily complex, but she instantly felt a rush of power in her upper body that trickled to the rest.

Two more extended from her ankles.

Jared arrived swinging, a sharp jab toward Anna delivered with noticeably lower power than their first battle. 

Sloppy footwork, untrained blows… it would be easy to dodge until Jared passed out from exhaustion.

If she had the mana for it.

Her theory was that she had less mana than average, a tradeoff for her purity.

She deftly dodged with her newfound speed, feeling the rushed wind by her ear, only to meet another blow aimed at her left side.

Again, she tilted back, narrowly dodging the large fist.

Bravado aside, feeling the sharp wind from those enhanced punches was a little horrifying. One wouldn’t shatter her barrier, which meant he could use the second or third to inflict as much damage on her as possible. That was probably somewhat part of his plan—some kind of revenge.

His punches continued coming, and Anna continued dodging.

Thus began a game of cat and mouse, where Jared swung his fists clumsily from any direction he could, and Anna dodged each with measured backward steps and twists of her neck and torso. Jared seemed to actively avoid hitting with his left hand, only doing so when he believed he saw an opening before quickly bringing it back like he feared Anna would grab his non-dominant hand.

That sort of thing was what Aria did, but Anna was nowhere near that crazy!

However, Jared wasn’t rushing his mana flow—he had to know, or at least believe, that Anna had lower capacity. But such a thing was literally just a theory in her head!

The annoying detail eliminated her plan of playing the mouse. 

Another jab and another easy dodge. Thankfully, he seemed adverse to using his legs.

Time for a change of plans.

His predictable, sequential blow came, and Anna sidestepped and reextended rings from her wrists. Although, she realized dismissing them in the first place was quite silly. Actually, could she leave her rings out without casting a spell? Would that drain mana? She quickly shoved those thoughts away.

Seeing her rings extending, Jared scowled. “No, you fucking don’t!” He amped up his efforts, and his blows increased in speed and power.

The crowd wasn’t enjoying this show, but that didn’t stop more from joining the stands. She heard the occasional shouts calling for violence, fire, or whatever other Sigils there were.

Anna smirked. “Too impatient, Jared; this isn’t what Ashton ordered his dog to do.”

“Fucking bitch!” he growled.

Despite throwing his punches in rapid succession, sometimes Jared would take a quick glance at the stands as if checking for something—not toward Ashton, but toward the crowds.

Anna twisted her body and sidestepped Jared before she ended up against the arena wall, beginning the path toward the opposite end like a game of ping-pong.

Jared reacted quickly and whipped around, continuing his onslaught. “Coward! Let’s see how long you can keep fleeing!”

There was the confirmation; he knew about her potentially having lower capacity and seemed more confident about it than she was! How? 

For now, all Anna had to do was increase her own flow to match his. 

She once again dodged incoming punches, stepping backward each time. The crowds weren’t enjoying the show, but what was she to do? She was just a small supporter!

Jared’s speed and power increased slightly once more, and Anna quickly followed.

A right jab, one Anna just as easily dodged.

In the ease of doing so, a revelation hit her. Wasn’t she practicing Mana Control just by doing that? Increasing or decreasing the flow and keeping her enhancements where she wanted.

Another hook came, and Anna pushed backward to the left.

That flow from her enhancements may offer the key to better controlling her mana.

She silently thanked the brute.

Jared attempted an uppercut, which Anna met with a dodge and a hook that Jared blocked. Her fist impacted squarely on his large forearm, causing a shimmering sound. It felt like she hit iron, just not as painful.

That got some cheer from the crowd!

Anna smirked and tilted her head. “Oopsie?”

He looked momentarily horrified as his orange barrier rippled across his forearm. But that expression deformed into fiery rage as quickly as it came.

“N-nimble bitch, just die already!”

“That’s not how this works, remember?” Anna easily dodged his untrained, rampant series of jabs and hooks, her smirk never fading. “You should use your Sigil now; you’re too weak for this.” She looked at him with pity and yawned.

“Y-you... you really think these rules can protect you?!” He disengaged an increased burst to his legs, allowing him to kick backward. “Fine, bitch.”

Anna didn’t follow, and he successfully disengaged.

He looked toward the crowd once more, but that time focusing on the private room with tinted windows, then to Ashton.

Anna snickered.

Whoever pulled his strings had to be fed up with his blatancy.

The crowd had gotten large enough to fill the stands, cheering for violence and throwing words toward both of them. 

Anna was happy to see she wasn’t hated.

“See how you smirk after this.” 

“Come on, then,” Anna said, mimicking the same bring-it-on gesture she made during their first bout.

Finally!

If Jared got any angrier, he’d probably start steaming!

“Fight!”

A chant started in the crowd, begging for one of them to send the other to the ground. They seemed to have completely forgotten that the end wouldn't be so spectacular... probably. 

It had become clear a while ago that Jared would not be capable of hitting her. She was… too short, too nimble—innately a difficult target.

“Maybe I do like this feeling... just a little bit,” Anna mumbled, her hand on her beating chest. She felt exhilarated by the now enthusiastic crowd.

Jared charged with heightened ferocity, his movement chaotic as his enhancements likely peaked.

“Again?” Anna muttered cautiously.

She lowered her other rings to a minimum, maximizing her speed, readying herself for whatever Jared had planned.

Jared smirked as he closed in, his fist flashing forward in a jab, mimicking their earlier melee.

“Dumb bitch,” he sneered, his fist opening and swinging toward her.

Anna’s heart dropped. “You—”

Too late. She had focused so intently on his hands that she couldn’t avoid the cloud of some kind of darker dirt and rock inches from her face.

The impact forced her to shut her eyes and launch backward. Instinctively, she went to rub her eyes but breathed a sigh of relief—the force had activated her barrier, sparing her from the worst.

An instinctual, if slightly embarrassing, reaction.

Not even a second later, the sound of cackling flames whooshing through the air made her snap her eyes open.

Again, it was too late.

Her eyes widened in horror as her arms went up to shield herself, her enhancements once again brought to maximum capacity out of reflex.

A firebolt the size of a fist roared toward her.

It nearly slammed into her chest as a minuscule explosion rocked her ears and sent a heat wave across her arms and body.