a sun that never sets

CHAPTER TWELVE | VIGILANTE SHIT

WITH A FLICKER of my fingers a blast of dark purple sped towards Theo's torso, and he deflected it with a well-timed bolt of his own. As both magic structures disintegrated, I tried to find a new course of action.

Duelling Club had become quite low on our list of priorities. But we still had our competition quite soon, so despite our unwillingness and JCMs coming closer and closer, training had begun picking up again.

Today, my sparring partner was Theodore Yu. I'd definitely improved in the past while, and I was far more confident with close-quarters combat then I'd been when I'd first started. And I was very grateful for it, even if the way here hadn't exactly been smooth and easy.

Theo was not giving me any time to think, though, as he rushed towards me, a sword in hand. I quickly formed a whip and lashed out in his direction to slow him down, before transforming my weapon into a long dagger, ducking as he slashed his sword at my head and jabbing quickly at his stomach. He leaped back to avoid the blow, and I used the chance to put some distance in between us.

Just because I was more comfortable with it did not mean that I was suddenly a god with it. I still greatly preferred long-distance fighting. It was just far, far easier for me than having to pit my physical ability against people stronger and faster than I was.

It just wouldn't work very well.

But I'd been sparring against Theo for a year now, and he knew very well my habits. So he pushed forward, making sure I could never have that comfortable space between us, and pushing me further and further towards the edge of the circle.

My brows creased. I needed to do something quickly, or I was going to lose just like that. And while I was perfectly fine with losing, it didn't mean I was going to just let it happen. Being the weakest in a team was never fun. Even if it wouldn't work, I had to at least try to climb upwards.

And just like how he knew I worked, I knew exactly how he worked too.

Theodore was used to the fight being on his advantage. He was the one being active, the one pushing, trying to keep his opponent on their toes or in an uncomfortable spot. But break that rhythm, break that carefully maintained pattern, and he started panicking.

So I let him push me and push me and push me, falling into the rhythm he loved so much, and as I neared the edge of the arena, I formed a large barrier and threw it against him.

He was far too close to me to dodge, and it sent him flying backwards, rolling to the other end of the arena. I sent a blast that hit his chest, earning a groan from him as it interrupted his attempt to get back up. Another orb went to his arm, and he collapsed on the ground again.

"Jesus Christ," he croaked out. "That hurt like a bitch."

He was very lucky Coach was too far away to hear him. I snorted, though, having heard him very well, and I was the cause of his pain.

"Surrender?"

"Hell to the nah."

His shield was up to meet my following barrage of attacks before he leapt to the side, sending a ring of dark green to my calf. I tried to dodge out of the way, but it still managed to cut through my skin, though the wound wasn't very deep and it only felt slightly stingy.

He got up.

I grunted. "You're such a piece of shit."

"Ditto," and then he was at me again, moving into close-quarters distance. I didn't bother with my whip, instead using my daggers to slice and dodge out of the way of his attacks as his sword came cutting. He was fast, but he also tended to use the same few sequences of attacks again and again, so I could mostly block them before they even came.