1. Rematch with Finn
The next day started fast.
I was immediately paired against Finn.
He smiled—a wide, confident smile.
“Today, I’m definitely getting my revenge.”
He went first—
dashes, bursts of fire, short flashes of flame,
forcing me to keep moving, never letting me stand still.
I followed a familiar pattern:
a layer of water over my body,
wind acceleration forward.
But at the moment I moved through the steam from his fire—
ice formed beneath my feet,
and narrow ice spears rose from it.
At the same time, a hail of icicles rained down from above.
I got it. He’d prepared.
I formed a water dome,
which absorbed the rain of icicles and protected me from the spears.
Finn vanished from sight—
and reappeared right in front of the dome,
froze part of it,
shattered the ice formed by his own magic,
slipped his hand inside,
and struck with fire.
In an instant, I raised an ice wall,
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jumped aside—
but Finn was already there.
Another wall.
He was above me.
A tongue of flame was forming, ready to strike.
I created another water dome…
…and suddenly, the fire from above stopped.
I looked up.
Above the dome, a massive icicle was slowly falling—
foreign. Not mine.
The dome wouldn’t hold.
I jumped away—just in time.
Finn shoved a layer of wind at me—
to break my balance.
And immediately after—a spear of compressed air,
calculated on the assumption that I’d raise an ice wall.
He was reading me.
I dodged, but he was already close.
Dash.
Flame.
A strike to the solar plexus.
I quickly formed a layer of ice around the impact point—
so the pain was dulled.
But it still knocked me off my feet.
The instructor immediately raised his hand.
“Winner — Finn.”
Finn was panting, exhausted—but glowing.
He was so happy that I even felt a bit of warmth.
I also pretended to be worn out.
2. Tara — Cunning Instead of Strength
Twenty minutes later, I was paired again.
Tara bowed.
“I won’t go easy on you. Even if you had a tough fight.”
She opened with a wave of wind,
forcing me to raise an ice wall.
At the same time, she threw a wind spear
and a stream of water in such a way that I had to retreat.
One moment—
and she was already behind me.
I formed a layer of water,
preparing for a sword strike.
But the strike never came.
She sent wind beneath my feet,
breaking my footing.
I hit the ground.
Tara raised her sword in a sign of victory.
I smirked.
“So you’re reading me already?”
She smiled too—for the first time.
I wanted to get up, but—
Siren called out:
“Hey, Helvard! You look tired today. Get some rest.”
And I agreed.
I needed to pretend I was just like them—
just a tired student.
3. Evening — A Breached Secret
When I returned to my room—
I immediately felt чужая мана.
And of course, she was there.
Princess Elinia.
Sitting on my bed, reading my notes—
acting like everything was normal.
When she saw me, she closed the book and looked up.
“Zen.
I need to ask you something.”
Her voice was unusually calm.
Too calm.
“Do you know anything about the elves?”
I answered immediately.
“Nothing. I’ve never seen them.”
She smiled slyly, like a cat that had caught a mouse.
“Really?
But your message yesterday…
came from the Forest Kingdom.”
I froze for a second.
I’d set a password…
“How—” I began. “How did you read that?”
Elinia stood up and stepped closer than usual.
Her voice dropped.
“Even though you set a password…
that only protects access to the orb.
If you intercept the signal before it arrives—
you can read it.”
I mentally called myself an idiot.
How could I have made such a mistake…
She looked straight into my eyes.
No anger.
No threats.
Only cold, precise curiosity.
And she repeated:
“So why…
are the elves writing to you?”