The Best Friend's Inescapable Fate

Chapter 3. Watch out, fireball!

"Help me out here! How am I gonna do this?" Ruth desperately called the Storyteller while continuing to dodge. The screen popped back up again. "You're gonna have to actually catch the ball and focus all your magic onto it. If you feel something flowing through your arm, that means you're channelling successfully."

"Catch the ball, catch the ball-" Another ball hurled towards Ruth. She managed to react on time and caught it in her right hand. That was an unbelievable feat on its own, and even Ruth was surprised. She could feel magic surging within her as the ball instantly absorbed it like a dry sponge. The ball was now charged with magic and glowed faintly of gold. Ruth threw the ball as hard as she could towards Vivien, who was wide open. It shot across the field, leaving behind a trail of golden butterflies.

Then it landed pathetically against Vivien's shield and fell to the grass. He stood there dumbfounded as his shield broke instantly. "Aw." Vivien sighed in disappointment and walked away, embracing defeat. Fireworks went off in Ruth's head. but it wasn't time to celebrate yet. Lillia was still in the game.

Now it was three against one. Only one person can remain, only one can win. Lillia had her game face on and the other eliminated students watched eagerly, anticipating the next move. She moved faster than light that her arm couldn't even be seen throwing it, but the ball had already been thrusted into the air and ready to strike.

Cherany was caught off guard and was struck, the impact of the blow launching her a meter backwards. But she instantly bounced back up instead of falling down completely. Her smug face twisted into anger, and it was specifically directed at Lillia. She muttered curses under her breath. Rene drew the ball back into his hands and threw it at Lillia. After catching it, Lillia launched the ball towards Ruth, who dodged once again.

This back and forth went on for a bit. Lillia took another shot and this time, Ruth had been so worn from ducking and dodging that she wasn't able to evade this one. The ball dealt a hard blow directly at her face. Ruth just felt her soul ascend a second time as her nose was crushed from the impact. Ruth looked down at the grass. There were droplets of blood that stained the leaves.

Ah, nosebleed.

AHHH NOSEBLEED!!!!

Ruth shrieked and ran off the field frantically. Her blood was streaming from her nose like a faucet on full blast. Everyone in the class winced at the sight of the girl bleeding excessively. Cherany looked on with amusement. Rene and Lillia were tempted to get off the field and assist Ruth, but before they could, Miss Marie yelled, "Go on! Continue!"

How the hell am I this accident prone?! Why am I so unlucky?! Ruth cried out internally.

Ruth was almost crying, her eyes felt like they were burning. Miss Marie gripped the girl's shoulders tightly and took out a handkerchief from her pocket. She clamped it over Ruth's broken and bleeding nose. "Calm down, you'll be fine. Here, use this to stop the bleeding."

It was just Rene and Lillia left. The only two left on the field had a brief stare-down. This scene looked an awful lot like the ones in Western movies where the two opponents would glare at each other intensely before they could determine who was the fastest shot in the west. The crowd of eliminated students watched eagerly, with mixed cheers for both Rene and Lillia.

It happened very quickly. Rene threw first and with one swift move to the side, Lillia dodged the blow. Then Lillia finally struck him down. Rene fell to the ground. The class burst out in celebratory cheering and huddled around Lillia to sing their praises. Her face was flushed and she averted her eyes. Typical humble cool kid behavior.

"What's your name?" When Miss Marie approached Lillia, the students who had huddled around her had parted away almost immediately. Miss Marie gazed at the girl inquisitively.