Headmaster Jackson's POV
She respectfully bows to Barden before taking her stance again. She looks slightly worn out, yet is still bearing with it. The water master is forms a ball of water out of nothing, pushing it towards Rose. She doesn't move away, instead she flicks her wrist to the side. The ball of water loses it form and drops to the ground, now out of her way.
"So water is easier for her to manipulate." I think to myself. She shakily begins raising a good amount of water of of the tub as she brings it to her side, the water begins moving gracefully her way. Barden is just watching her get the hang of holding the water in the air when he's powerfully blasted with the water. He loses his balance from her advance, but quickly gets it back. Barden begins advancing Rose with short bursts of balls of water. She creates the shield like she did against her battle with Ivanov, this one more visible obviously.
My friend easily forms a large ball of water and shoots it towards the girl. Rose confirms the water shields grip right before she is forced backwards from the attack, remaining on her two feet. Nothing happens for a couple seconds, then I feel the air becoming dry. Instead of the regular humid air I am used to, this one feels drier, like you may in Russia.
I see Rose gathering the humidity from the air. She forms 8 medium sized balls of water from the humidity in our area. Without giving Barden time to think, Rose pushes the balls quickly towards him in all directions, much like the moving targets in her weaponry test. Barden dispels 6 of her attacks, all within his sight. The other two water balls make him stumble, approaching him in his blind spot, just out of his peripheral vision.
Then, the ever so graceful Barden does something I never imagined he could do. My colleague grows frustrated at the advance, forming his own attack. The water master forms a small boulder sized ball of snow and rushes it towards Rose at incredible speed. I would imagine him training with fully grown adults this way, maybe an impressive year 4, not a first year on her second day.
Snow can only be called upon by water masters, making it hard for any other non-master water wielder to dispel of the attack. Also, only some highly advanced year 4's would be able to react to an advance of that speed. But no, he launches his assault on Rose, a 15 year old who is just using her water element for the first time.
Rose sees the snow attack and looks at a loss for what to do next. The snow forcefully hits her side, sending her flying into the air. I watch uselessly as she hits the ground on her left side and tumbles on the dirt. I can see the blood gushing from her lips as her face makes contact with the dirt ground, tiny cuts and scratches cover anywhere bare skin shows.
I see Rose struggling to breath, unmoving from her sprawled position. She swiftly with grace hangs her head, not submitting to Barden, but to her pain. People in the crowd gasp, a large group of boys from year 1 begin shouting to get help, probably from her home village. Many year 3's and year 4's openly glare at their instructor, knowing that his attack was unfair and difficult to react to, causing her to be injured. The medical team is rushing to get supplies, not predicting her to be this hurt.
Me? Oh I am fuming. Of all people, Barden should know that he mustn't let his emotions rule his actions. I know he would never intentionally hurt a student, but this time, he has gone too far. He walks out of the arena, his head down in shame. Rose just lays there on the ground beginning to move her muscles. She holds her left side with her right arm, her left arm pushing her up. She shakily raises from the ground, wincing in the process. She looks around at her peers, then her gaze moves to me. I raise my eyebrow, but she doesn't care, she is waiting for me to ask her the next question.
"You have completed your Water placement test. What element should you choose now?" I ask.
"Nature." She responds, wincing as she makes her way to the tub of dirt. Barden approaches his seat in silence, the other teachers beside me glare his way.
"What is your honest opinion of her?" I grit out to Barden, still upset about his poor reaction. He sighs.
"She is truly exceptional. I saw her features after she felt the water, she was relaxed, confident even. She will be greater than me in the future, with the right instruction of course. It was amazing to see how intensely she concentrated on the details. In order to extract water out of a plant, let alone the air, you must feel it's every component. She must be advanced because she formed her attack using the humidity in only a couple seconds. She belongs in Level 1." He downcasts his gaze.
"I feel awful for what I have done. I will apologize to her in private because I would like to ask her about her thought process when concentrating. The attack made me feel like I was going against a more experienced opponent, she is wise and a quick thinker. No other year 1 would have thought to get a couple of their advances just out of my sight range, while distracting me with their other attacks. I doubt even those in Level 2 Water Manipulation classes would have thought about that." Barden says deep in thought and regret. I see Casey heading into the arena.
"I want to personally train her. " He concludes. I think before coming up with an idea.
"If she accepts your apology, and gives you permission to train her, you can. Ivanov has already asked me the same question, so we came up with a schedule. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, she will attend her regular advanced elemental classes. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, she can be trained by the top instructors who wish to help her grow her magic, within the hour allotted." I tell him. Barden looks at me gratefully and thanks me.
I focus my attention on Rose, who looks calm while touching the dirt in the large crate-like tub. She winces with every step she takes towards the center of the arena, facing the prodigy who has mastered both of his elements, nature being the dominant one. She bows, taking a sharp inhale of breath in pain, still respecting her tradition. Casey looks at her with sympathy shining in his eyes. No matter the amount of pain she is in, she is combating it, showing us all where her true strength and leadership lies. The preparation time runs out, her test begins.
Casey grows catci, bushes, and other plants from the ground around Rose's feet in attempt to get her off balance. Her posture remains balanced as there is a brief pause before she jumps in the opposite direction of the plants, away from her position. I can see that Casey has turned the ground where she was standing into quicksand. I just now realize that Rose can sense any shifting in, underneath, or on the ground better barefoot than she would be able to using her boots. Rose gets dirt to rise from the tub, forming it into a ball. Before she can attack, Casey dispels the dirt immediately with a flick of the wrist.
I understand that Casey is trying to get her to think outside of the box during their battle, an excellent instructor he has become. She pauses for a brief moment before willing more dirt towards her. Instead of getting her advances ready, Rose makes an igloo-shaped dome out of the dirt. It is just big enough that it can protect her and cover her somewhat from one of Casey's attacks. Casey smirks as he strides over to the dome. Just as he is about to hit the dome, the dirt explodes all over him.
Rose pops up from her low position on the ground, and places her hand on Casey now that he is in an arms reach. Casey is still shocked and confused at what Rose is thinking; then, the girl just randomly smirks. Casey's eyes widen as if realizing something. He attempts to get out of her reach when thorny looking vines begin sprouting from the dirt all over the nature master. Before he can rid of the dirt and vines, they encase him in a strong looking hold, his hands bound at his sides.
It looks somewhat painful, the thorns sticking into his sides. If Casey is to move even slightly, the sharp thorns on the vine will prick him and draw blood. I look at Rose in shock, she never takes her eyes off of Casey.
When the nature master realizes his predicament, he hangs his head, admitting his defeat to Rose. She makes a sharp movement with her hand and all of the vines holding Casey fall off of him.
"You are the first student to beat me since I have become a master, you should be extremely proud. That was incredibly smart of you." I hear Casey compliment Rose.
"Thank you sir. I look forward to learning from you and the other instructors as I grow." She replies both politely and humbly. Casey nods and walks out of the arena. As if Rose was now letting her facade drop, she crumbles to the ground in pain. Rose lays down holding her left side, her face contorting into one full of hurt. She groans as she slowly sits up, awaiting to finish her elementals placement test.
"You have completed your Nature placement test. You have one minute to will the element of fire." I tell the exhausted girl. I watch as Rose moves towards her sword, instead of looking up at the now lighted torches. She grabs something from a pocket on her sword casing, a vial. She downs the vial of mysterious liquid, waiting a few moments before walking up to the closest torch. Rose closes her eyes, letting her hand get as close to the fire as she dares. I see Casey walking to his seat.
"What is your assessment?" I ask him.
"I.. I have never seen such skill in a year 1. She will be placed in Level 1 classes, as well as train with me like she will with Ivanov. That move was incredibly smart, I didn't realize that what I thought was her defense was a planned surprise attack. I was too late to react when I felt her putting her energy into the dirt to grow the smilax vines. The plants are a seasonal plant in some villages that are used to help make rope and are very sturdy. She must have seen someone from her village do it many times in order for her to understand the concept. Rose has a unique mindset, one that will be very useful while in battle." Casey tells me. Jacobs walks up to the center of the arena, awaiting for Rose to get out of her trance to begin her test.
Rose, still in pain yet looking refreshed, opens her eyes and walks toward the fire master. She bows to him, wincing once more when she stands again. Rose removes her shirt and tosses it to the side. What I see makes me look at the girl with respect. She has a large, purple bruise forming on the side of her body, covering her ribs. I see Barden with unshed tears in his eyes, looking directly at her bruise in utter shame.
"You did not mean it my friend." I tell him.
"I am the reason for her pain, I lost control."He glares at his hands.
"You did, but now that you are thinking rationally again, you feel regret. Also, Rose gave you a humbling awakening, showing that you still need to develop as magii user as well." I respond to Barden, both of us returning to the awaiting fight in front us. Rose and Jacobs get into their defensive stances, Rose looks a little confused by this, but soon understands.
She closes her eyes in concentration, focusing on trying to will fire. I see a small ball of fire head towards Jacobs, not very strong. The fire master easily dispels the fire with a flick of his wrist. He takes a moment to form a good sized fire ball, sending it towards Rose. She scrunches up her face, searching for something I can't determine yet. I see her put out her hands in front of her, moving her fingers slightly in a pulling motion. I see the ball of fire growing smaller in size and decrease its speed. Rose continues shrinking Jacobs' fire, until it stops in front of her and becomes a small flame.
Barden looks inquisitively at the girl. Rose just makes a motion towards the torches with her hands, taking small balls of flames from each one, throwing them at Jacobs. She continues this, much like she did with Braden.
"I saw in our fight that Rose was able to wield water quite fast and with some strength. If she is able to easier manipulate water, then fire, water's natural opposite, would be harder for her." Barden says, never taking his eyes off of Rose's movements. I nod in response to his words.
While Jacobs is occupied with the multiple mini advances, Rose sends a sweep of blazing fire towards Jacobs's feet. He yelps when it reaches him, before dispelling all of the fire from Rose's attacks. He looks at her in a new light almost, adding a fire to his eyes. Jacobs forms many fire balls and begins throwing them at Rose. She dodges all of the blazing fires, her graceful steps in favor of staying away from the inferno. The fire master makes one last fire ball, hurling it towards Rose with a tad bit more speed.
She moves her body fast enough so that it doesn't reach her side, but not fast enough to where she won't be affected. Rose screams out in pain as the fireball grazes her arm, already forming a burn. With Rose distracted in her state of pain, Jacobs makes a ring of fire around the girl, effectively trapping her. Rose has no way to get out, for she does not have enough control over fire for her to partially dispel it. She hangs her head in defeat. Jacobs erases all fire from the arena, as if the battle never occurred.
Rose's chest is heaving up and down, she looks like she will pass out from exhaustion. She falls to the ground in her good side, doing her best to keep her eyes open. I see the medical team on standby just incase.
"You have completed your Fire placement test, and elemental ranking tests. You have one minute to think of a plan of how to tame the dragon you will be tasked with." I inform her. Only now I notice her crying. Her face holds one of pain, her once porcelain skin now covered in sweat, cuts, scrapes, and blood. She groans quite loudly as she moves to a position that will ease her into standing.
Jacobs is now back in his seat and I turn to him.
"So?" I inquired.
"Level 1. Although I noticed that she struggled with the element at first, she got the hang of it as our battle continued. Plus, her footwork was impeccable. When she was dodging my advances, she moved in a dance like way. She never once stumbled on her feet, remaining balanced through not only my fight, but for all of her tests. Rose has some muscle, but not enough to where she can continue in a fire battle for long. I too will train her, part of the reason is because fire is harder for her, whereas wielding water comes naturally to her." Jacobs gives me his opinion.
I am pulled away from Jacobs' words when I hear a shout of pain. It breaks my heart when I see Rose wiping away her tears, walking towards the center of the arena slowly. I know she is exhausted both mentally and physically, which is why I feel guilt approaching my soul when I recall the dragon I assigned her.
I am the only one who knows her task. Usually I have somebody coordinate it, but we had this dragon imported from another Academy last night, who found it when it was escaping poachers. The dragon species I assigned her to tame is one of the rarest breeds, slowly going extinct. They despise humans for their past treatment of hunters, not one dragon has ever been recorded to have a companion.
They are extremely dangerous, yet wise with their actions. The dragon species can depict a pure soul from an evil one, making their judgement of certain people very valid. This specific dragon is stubborn, I carefully had him brought to our Academy just for Rose. I don't know how, but if she tamed him, I assume the dragon will want to go back to his home up north.
I hear a thunderous roar as the gates are opening, everyone is anxiously awaiting to see the dragon she's been assigned whom bears this fearsome roar. The moonlight white dragon steps out of the tunnel he was kept in overnight, his bright red eyes intently looking at Rose. Damn it!
The dragon is feral, making it more weary and dangerous than the species already is. The majestic dragon must have given into his animalistic instincts yesterday. The dragon intimidatingly walks straight towards Rose. I hear the shouts of my students, goddess do not let this girl pay for my mistakes. I am extremely surprised that Rose is not running away in fright, she is completely still. When the dragon gets in her face, she says something in Latin, but I cannot decipher the words, for it was only a whisper.
The dragon bears his frighteningly sharp teeth to the girl, and are silent for a moment. It is broken when Rose releases a pain filled scream while clutching her head, falling to the ground. She is crying, whimpering on the dirt floor. The dragon quickly goes to the other side of the arena, growling while looking at Rose. When she is done yelling, she inhales, slowly getting up. The dragon snaps his head to her and she looks at him in confusion. The dragon continues his pacing from a distance, it is a miracle how she has not been attacked by the feral beast.
The dragon continues prowling only a few meters away from Rose when he growls once again. I don't understand what is happening, it is completely silent. The silence continues until the dragon snarls at the girl in some unspoken way. Rose begins to slowly make her way towards her sword, grabbing another vial from a pocket.
She takes this powder looking substance and applies it to the burn on her arm, biting her busted lips in attempt to hold in her whimpers. When she caps the vial, I am utterly shocked to see that her burn is healing. I look over to Celeste, the powder's teacher, and see her looking at the girl's arm in awe. When I see it for myself, I shut my eyes and open them again. Rose's arm has been completely healed, not a single trace of fire on her bicep. She looks to the dragon and begins walking towards the beast. They remain in utter silence, the arena stands are not following suit.
"What is she doing?!?" Marcus yells aloud.
"IS SHE CRAZY??" Andrea shouts.
"Rose ... no," I hear Oliver whisper with my slightly enhanced hearing. All dragon riders have sharper senses, much like werewolves.
She continues her walk to the dragon and crouches down in front of his leg. I see blood tainting the dragon's white scales.
"I didn't know he was injured." I whisper shamefully, I would have had him helped by now. The healer roars his terrifying voice when Rose puts the powder to his leg. I realize that she is trying to heal him, and surprisingly, he doesn't attack. The pair wait in silence until Rose winces as she stands up, I see now that the leg is healed completely.
The white dragon slithers his tail to her side and pokes it roughly, obviously seeing the bruising. She yells in pain as she clutches her side. He wraps his tail around her waist and brings his snout to Rose. We wait in silence for a couple more seconds before he sets her down. From what I can see, the dragon has used his powers on her, healing her internal and external wounds completely.
"Trent, Marcus," I say their names, both of them giving their attention to me. "Level 1." I conclude. Trent gasps.
"She tamed him. Look at the dragon's eyes." He says. I do, and see that the bright red has been replaced by a shining grey, very similar to Rose's herself.
"Amazing..." Marcus mumbles. I stand up, motioning for the other lead instructors to do so as well. I make my way towards the arena with them following behind me when I hear the dragon growling again, this time at me.
"You have completed you Dragon Riding placement test. Please step away from the dragon so we can announce your levels to the student body." I widely smile at the girl. She turns to look at the dragon, then at me.
"With all due respect, no." She defiantly says. I look at her in slight annoyance.
"What do you mean no?" I emphasize to her, making sure I heard her correctly.
"I mean that Belvedere will stay with me." She looks me in the eye.
"How do you know his name?" I question. Maybe ... no... but... no. She probably just gained enough trust to approach him after seeing her put the powder on her burn. Maybe the dragon told Rose his name through blinking, like morse code.
"He told me, and although I do not know much about his species, I do know that Belvedere is extremely hesitant to trust. So, because only I can communicate with him, my dragon will be remaining by my side as a companion." She sternly states.
"I won't question how you are able to communicate with him, but it is not possible for a dragon rider to have more than 1 companion. And, when classes start, you will be drawn to your true dragon companion when you visit the egg hatchery." I inform her. She pauses a moment before correcting me on my knowledge of companionships. Then, she begs me to let her keep him because he will be in danger everywhere he goes. I think for a moment before telling Rose that she can keep her dragon, but shouldn't disobey me again.
"Now, onto your placement tests." I conclude, done with the previous topic.
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