Against The Enemies

Tumingin ako sa itaas at agad na sinannga ang paparating na malaking shield. My feet once again sank to the ground dahil sa impact at sumasakit nadin ang braso ko. May naramdaman akong isa pang paparating sa likuran ko. Isa itong malaking espada. Tutusukin na sana ako sa likuran but I used the oppurtunity to dodge it but in exchange, hindi ko nakayanan ang shield and it fell right on top of me.

My back hit the ground, and I was being crushed by a giant shield. Sinusubukan ko parin itong itulak paibabaw but it was as if something's pushing it down.

Ilamg segundo ang nakalipas, gumaan ang shoeld and I was able to get out of a tight spot. Pero pinapalibutan ako ng tatlong kalaban. Ginny Samuel was holding that giant shield, may dugo siya sa balikat niya. A gunshot. Lumiit ang malaking shield niya as they all stared at me.

Magagaling sila. Their teamwork is better than ours. They like to work together habang kami ay mas magaling sa seperate jobs. But they managed to lure me in, ibig sbaihin sila ang nagpasabog ng sasakyang ito. They knew I placed a tracker at one of their members.

"Magagaling kayo. I don't think I'll win in three versus one just by looking at those weapons." Wika ko. Malalaki ang mga weapons nila.

Ginny Samuel was with a shield and she can levitate and she could even shrink her sheild or make it into a giant one. Tara Micheals have the ability to feel anyone's movements sa range niyang 20 meters and her weapon is a giant hammer. Then there's Evel Xanders. May ability siyang e-zoom ang visions niya to 30 meters and have a giant sword.

Ang tanging kahinaan nila ay wala silang stamina at lakas para e weild ng mas maayos ang mga weapons nila. They're small after all.

"Wala sa kaniya ang flag nila." Evel Xanders said. Right, hindi sa akin ang flag.

"Sabihin mo ma ngayon kung sino ang humahawak ng flag niyo." Samuel asked.

"Sa tingun niyo ba talaga sasabihin ko?" Like seriously? This is unheard of.

Ramdam ko ang malaking espada na papunta sa akin sa likuran ko, I easily managed to shift my body to the left at may malaking espada nang nakabaon sa lupa sa tabi ko. All their attacks are too obvious. Mabilis akong tumakbo papunta sa direksyon ni Xanders at simipa siya palayo. Not only that they don't have any stamina, they rely too much on their abilities and weapons.

Kinuha ko ang espada and lifted it up. Mabigat nga ang espada itong, this things could probably destroy a building, pero hindi ganoon kalakas ang weilder nito.

"Anong ginagawa mo? Your life force will be drained!" Sigaw ni Tara.

"You're all inexperience, aren't you?" Tanong ko at bigla silang tatlo natahimik. I knew it. Unang beses nila tong makipaglaban. They're too obvious!

I swung the sword around and it created a small wind surrounding me. Pati sila ay natatangay ng hangin nato.

"First of all, don't be worried about your opponents' condition." I dropped the sword kung saan silang tatlo pero biglang lumaki ang shield ni Samuel and hey managed to block it.

Ramdam ko na pabigat na pabigat ang espada sa dalawa kong kamay, and I used my strenght to smash the sword on top of their sheild. Biglang nawasak ang shield at unti-unti itong nawawala. I threw the sword away dahil ramdam ko ang kain nito sa enerhiya ko.

"Secondly, huwag kayong umasa sa weapons at abilities niyo." Tumakbo ako papunta kay Micheals and kicked her through the stomach, natilapon siya kay Samuel at sabay silang natumba.

"Hindi namin kailangan ng mga paalala mo!" Samuel shouted back at me.

Mabilis siyang pumunta sa akin, and a second later sa likuran ko na siya, she was about to kick me nang napaatras ulit siya. Another gunshot at her leg. Napaluhod siya sa lupa dahil sa sakit. Iyana, she's meddling. Well originally back-up ko naman talaga siya.

"Third, be creative with your attacks."

"Ginny! Okay ka lang ba?" Sigaw ng dalawa habang tumakbo sila papunta sa kaibigan nila.

"H-hindi ko makita ang bumabaril." Narinig kong wika ni Xanders.

"May isa pang gumagalaw papunta sa base. Ginny let's retreat—"

"Hindi Tara. Bumalik kayong dalawa sa base,  protect our flag. I will keep this one busy." She said.

"Anong iniisip mo! You can't possibly win againt a third year—"

"Tara! Maniwala ka sa akin." I sighed. This is turning into a cliche drama and damn it's annoying. Yung feeling na parang nanonood ka lang ng movie but actually sa unahan mo lang ang mga nangyayari.

"Tara, halika na. Wala na tayong oras." Wika ni Evel Xanders at tumakbo na sila papalayo. Iyana will manage them.

Isa-isa na ang naririnig kong pagsabog. The cars Andrea tweaked, sumabog na silang lahat. The smoke was spreading through the entire area. It was supposed to be a way so that we could have a advantage in a battle, but the way our enemies are, mukhang hindi na kailangan. Still, we have less than an hour for this whole thing to finish.

"Your friend can't shoot like this then." Sabi niya sabay tumayo. She's still bleeding.

"Don't underestimate her. She's an expert shooter."

"Huwag mo ding e-underestimate ang mga kaibigan ko. Mas magaling ang teamwork nila kunpara kung kasama kaming tatlo."

Lumipad siya at dahil sa usok ay hindi ko siya makita. But it's useless dahil kung lalapit din siya ay mararamdaman ko parin siya. Plus her shield's broken. It'll be awhile para mabuo ulit ito and therefore she can't summon it.

"Hindi man kita matatalo pagdating sa laban, pero magagawan ko parin ng paraan kung paano matalo ang grupo niyo." I can't see her but I can hear her. Mas kumakapal pa ang usok. If this continues, kami pa ang nasa disadvantage nito.

"May the best team win." Dagdag niya then I suddenly felt the air moved around me.

Biglang sumakit ang paa ko, and looking at it, it was bleeding. Is she attacking? Agad akong tumalon palikod when I sensed something coming. Pero natamaan na naman ako sa likuran. What the hell is this? I could sense it, pero hindi ko ito mailagan.

"My ability isn't to levitate." Dinig kong salita niya. "It's to control the density of the air." I see. So she can make it sharper or thinner. If I had known it beforehand, si Andrea na sana ang pinalaban ko sa kaniya. But I have to settle this soon.

"Making the air thinner around me lets me levitate. Sabi mo dapat naming maging creative sa mga atake namin diba?" Very smart move. But unfortunately, I can sense anything with energy under a certain range of five meters. It might not be that impressive and my ability is useless at certain times, pero ito ang isa sa mga bagay kung saan hindi useless ang ability ko. I could at least avoid getting huge injuries with it.

I dodged another batch of attacks at salamat sa usok ay nagiging mahina ang mga atake niya kung sakaling tumama man ito sa katawan ko. The only problem is kung paano ko siya matatalo. Our abilities have a big difference and obviously in that term hindi ako mananalo. 

Umubo ako nang nalanghap ko ang usok. This smoke is just gettive heavier and heavier. She's making it that way. My heart can't take it. I can't breathe. Ramdam ko ang isa pang atake mula sa likuran ko, I rolled sidewards at tsaka ako napaluhod. May isa pang naghihintay sa akin dito and I used my arms to block it. Kaya may mga cuts sa braso ko and dumudugo ito ng kaonti. Humahapdi din ito dahil sa hangin.

Tatayo na sana ako pero napaluhod na naman ulit ako. My whole body is full of cuts and it's getting difficult to move around easily. Then she landed in front of me. She was about to grab me nang napaatras siya. Her hand is bleeding. Another gunshot. She lifted her other hand upang gawing mas makapal ang hangin. That way, Iyana can't shoot her bullets directly.

Pero pati ako ay nagulat nang dumugo ang tiyan niya, my eyes widened when she fell to the ground. Mabilis akong lumapit sa kaniya, she cried in pain. Sino ba naman ang hindi masasaktan kung tumama na sa katawan ang bala? Iyana's an expert, a real expert, no one can stop her when she pull the trigger.

Hinawakan ko ang pulso niya, she's breathing. Hindi tumama ang bala sa vital parts niya, Iyana made sure it didn't. Pati ang gunshot sa paa niya at balikat kanina ay hindi din ganoon kalala, dumaan lang ang bala dito, the only thing the bullet hit directly was her stomach. Kaya ito masakit.

"I...I thought you aren't s-suppose to worry about your opponents's—ahhh!" Napasigaw siya nang hawakan ko ang parte kung saan siya natama.

"I'm not worried. I just made sure na hindi ka makakagalaw at the meantime." Sagot ko habang tumayo na. My body still hurts but this girl got it worse.

"S-sabi ko na ngaba....we can't..win againt a h-higher grade..." rinig kong bulong niya and it made me clenched my fists.

"I'm tired of hearing your damn excuses! You're dragging your team down kung iyan ang mga pinagsasabi mo." I sighed. What am I even saying? Giving an advice to an enemy? Seriously? "I can't win againt you in a fair battle." She chuckled pero mas sumakit lang ang pakiramdam niya dahil sa kaniyang sugat.

"I'm just...a middle-schooler..." nagulat ako sa sinabi niya. Middle schooler? "I'm not s-supposed to go on.....pretending t-to be a first year..." napaupo na anamn ulit siya. Ang drama niya. Nakakainis.

"So you're saying you lost because you're just a middle-schooler?" Damn that reason. She's making me feel disappointed in myself. Tumalikod na ako at nagsimulang maglakad. "Well I'm not suppose to go on pretending to be a third year when I'm just a first year. At natalo ako sa isang middle-schooler. You should be a little confident about yourself." Huli kong sabi sa kaniya. Wala na akong oras magdrama kasama siya.

Matapos kong maglakad ng ilang minuto, may narinig akong mga tunog. Then I saw Andrea's figure behind the smoke. Unti-unti nang humihina at nawawala ang makapal na usok. I saw her easily avoiding the attacks of Xanders and Micheals. If those two gave me trouble, sa kaniya wala lang sila. I sighed. I really am weak compared to her.

Lumabas ako sa usok and was able to block Tara's hammer na papunta na sana kay Andrea. Mabilis akong tumakbo sa likuran niya at sinipa ito ng malakas. It made her coughed a bit at natilapon siya sa lupa. She was unconscious. Ramdam ko naman ang pagdaan ng bala sa likuran ko, hitting Xanders sa may likod nito. Nangyari ang lahat ng iyon sa loob ng ilang segundo lamang.

"Both of you stole my hit." Inis na sabi ni Andrea.

"You once stole mine too." I replied. That time back in that Lethum mountain, she stole my hit too.

Unti-unti na namang umiba ang paligid namin. I heard the roars of cheers ng mga tao, and before I knew it, we're back at the arena. May mga medics nang kumuha sa mga kalaban namin na ngayon ay walang mga malay. Finally, after two hours natapos nadin ang labanan na yun. I'm thirsty.

But getting beaten by a middle schooler huh? Ganoon ma ba talaga ako kahina? I'm relying too much sa ability ng dalawa kong kasama. I sighed again. I'm really disappointed.

"Iyana, if you had shot our flag right through their base nung nakita mo na ang base nila, like our plan indicated, natapos na siguro ang laban na yun kanina pa." Andrea said complaining nang bumalik na kami sa kwarto. And so, their fight started once again.

"Huh? It would have been boring if I had done that!" Kakarating lang ng dalawa nag-aaway na naman sila.

Kumuha ako ng malamig na tubig sa fridge at ininom ito. The medics already healed the cuts in my body kanina habang ine-interview kami ng host pero nakakapagod parin. The fact that those middle-schoolers got me bothered that hell outta me.

Middle schoolers aren't allowed to participate in the main event if my memory serves right. There's a possibility na pinalitan din nila ang pangalan nila pati ang appearance, so who knows baka magkita pa kami sa susunod ng mga yun.

Andrea and Iyana could have ended the fight in no time, pero dahil sa mga limitations ay napipilitan silang gamitin ang half ng lakas nila. Or I won't even say 'half' of it.

Ngayon ay nakatuon na naman kami sa screen. Another battle is about to unfold. It's between the third team and the fourth team. Each were professional wizards. Walang balak mag defend ang bawat grupo. Looking at the screen, each team contronted each other at nagumpisa sila ng laban. Head-on ang laban nila, whoever loses in each battle wins. Pero halos patas lang ang lakas ng dalawang grupo kaya mahirap malaman kung sino ang mananalo.

My right wrist suddenly vibrated. May nag form dito na puting bilog and after a second, bumalik sa wrist ko ang bracelet na binigay sa akin ni Headmistress. I immediately stood up and headed to the bathroom. I'm in a big trouble. I don't want that woman to know where am I. She's not gonna send me to another mission, right?

"Headmistress, busy ako ngayon." Sabi ko nalang.

"Right. Busy pretending to be a third year." I frowned. Nagulat ako dun. I expected her to know about it pero hindi ko inaasahan na malalaman niya na without me telling her.

"Blame your daughter for it."

"I know you're not capable of doing such feats. I'm not sending you back here so don't worry."  Eh ano ang kailangan niya? And that already makes me worry. "I've got something to tell you but at the meantime may ipapagawa ako sayo."

"You know I can't leave this place."

"Nilalagay mo sa panganib ang sarili mo but well, it's also a way to gain more experience. Plus you're the perfect one for this job. Find Roy Harlington and tell him na kailangan ko siya dito sa Academy."

"May nangyari ba? And how am I suppose to find that man?"

"Isa siya sa mga teams. He's a wizard who specialise in minds." No wonder she said I'm the perfect one for this job.

"Why don't you just ask him yourself."

"Something happened which made me busy. And it's for your own good." And with that, she cut the link. For my own good? Anong ibig niyang sabihin dun? Alam kong may nangyayari pero ayaw niya sa aking sabihin. At least not now. Or she wouldn't drag me into this kung wala akong koneksyon dito.

Roy Harlington. Whoever that guy is, seems like I have no choice but to find him. But if he's one of the participants and a wizard, may posibilidad kayang isa siya sa mga wizards na lumalaban ngayon?

But anyway, I'm quite surprised hindi nagalit Si Headmistress. Siguro ay napakaseryoso ng ginagawa niya that she doesn't have time to deal with us. Honestly though, I'm relief. Sino ba naman ang gustong pagalitan? Especially bu that woman. I may act na parang wala kong respeto sa kaniya, but somehow I do owe and respect that woman.

Bumalik ako sa kitchen kung saan nakaupo ang dalawa habang nanonood ng lumalabas sa screen. Nagulat ako na tapos na ang laban ng dalawang grupo. It didn't even take an hour. Bumalik na sa arena ang dalawang grupo, the other team was assisted by the medics dahil sa mga malalalang sugat na natamo nila. While the winning team, hindi ko makita ang mga mukha nila dahil may suot silang mga maskara na tinatagao talaga ang buong mukha nila.

Instead of celebrating their win, hindi na nila pinansin ang host na may balak pa sanang tanungin ng ang mga nanalo. They immediately went off the arena and disappeared from the view. They look serious and strong. If middle schoolers gave ma hard time, ano pa kaya sila?

"Next is between the fifth and the sixth team. Mga assassins ang dalawang grupo kaya mahirap ding malaman kung sino ang mananalo." Andrea said which I agreed.

The fifth team slid through those narrow passages para makatakas sa mga humahabol sa kanila. Mabilis ang mga galaw nila, pero mas mabilis ang sixth team. I could see th fact that the fifth team is a team composed of students. I could tell dahil sa mga badges sa right part ng chest nila. While the sixth team, it's obvious they're professionals. Takbo lang ng takbo ang gawa ng fifth team, they provoke their opponemts pero hindi naman sila lumalaban, they're just running away.

"That's a mess. With how things are going, mukhnag manano ang mga pro nito." Wika ni Andrea while Iyana just let out a sigh of boredom.

Yup, the whole fight is boring. Walang nangyayari. It's all just chasing. Kung titigil naman sa kakahabol ang sixth team, who seemed to be confused, aatake naman ang mga fifth team. And when the battle seems to be starting, they'd start to run away again. Nakakainis. Those group of students look like they're just fooling around.

Pero hindi naman sila gagawa ng kung ano-ano kung wala silang balak manalo. If they were planning to win, they could have had just surrendered at the last phase. Or there's also that possibility na nawawalan lang talaga sila mg pag-asa dahil mga pro ang kalaban nila. I don't know and I don't understand dahil hindi ko alam kung akong nararamdaman nila. I usually know a person's thoughts kung malalaman ko ang saloobin nila. I frowned. This match is rather interesting.

"Keila's thinking again." Iyana said at huli na nang mapansin kong nakatingin ang dalawa sa akin.

"Masama bang mag-isip?" Inis kong tanong.

"You look crazy when you do that. Especially when your hair is down. Nagmumukha ka talagang nakakatakot." She said with that straight face. Nabo-bored siya kaya ako ang iniinis niya.

"Ah shut up."

"Pero bakit hindi mo putulan ang buhok mo? Isn't it unfair you know something about us at wala manlang kaming alam tungkol sayo?"

Kasalanan ko bang nalalaman ko ang mga bagay na hindi ko dapat malaman? At isa pa, I don't feel it's unfair at all. Every person hides a mystery not even their most trusted person could know. I sighed. Now that I think about it, kung hindi ako kasama sa grupo ng dalawang 'to, matagal na siguro akong binubully or made fun of. Obviously dahil sa itsura ko. It's because of their reputations na pinapabayaan ako ng mga tao.

"It's my style." Sabi ko nalang at tumayo na. Heading to the counter and poured my cup another set of jasmine tea. Ah I love this tea.

Iyana sensed my mood, well it should have been obvious sa tono mg pananalita ko kanina, kaya hindi na siya nagtanong pa. While Andrea, ugh she's as dense and insensitive as ever. She's been looking oddly at me as if she's not satisfied with my answer.

"What is this huge turn of events?!" Gulat na sigaw ng host kaya tumingin kaming tatlo sa screen.

Even I was surprised, kahit ang dalawa. To pull such things are hardly possible! Pero nagawa parin nila. The fifth team managed to beat their professional enemies. It's a total victory. Hindi ko parin mapagtanto kung paano, but it seemed they seperated the sixth team from each other sa nagawang habulan kanina. Each if them fought different enemies, at sabay sabay silang natapos dito. It's really as if na nagkakatuwaan lang sila.

The moment they won, bumalik agad sila sa Arena. The pros are all unconscious. Kung ganoon sila kalakas, then why bother making all those runs?

The host approached them, pero inagaw ng lalaki sa gitna ang microphone and laughed. That laughter bothered me. Hindi mo din makikita ang mga mukha nila sahil natatakpan din ng mask ang ilong nila pababa. Assassins shluld always be mischievious and mysterious. Iayan just didn't bother to do such things.

"Parang hindi nga sila mga professionals!" Sigaw ng lalaki. "To be beaten by group of students that easily, no wonder palaging ninjas ang pinakamahina." True. Assassins don't have abilities, just specific skills, and I also heard na 'ninjas' ang general na tawag sa kanila. "We will show you assassins can win against—" may sasabihin pa siya sana nang biglang agawin ng babae sa likuran niya ang mic at binalik sa host.

Soon after, the fifth team left the arena. They are rather odd. Seeing Andrea's smirk, she's interested. She's too predictable. Pero malalakas ang magiging kalaban namin ngayon. To think hundreds went and participated this event, at ngayon tatlong grupo nalang ang natitira. The next category will decide everything.

Hindi ko alam kung ano talaga ang balak ni Andrea at bakit sumali siya. She and Iyana have improved a lot, I don't think she joined to just showcase her strength, I don't know if she's after the price, whatever that is. I sighed. I just don't like her dragging me around with all she's doing.

"May naisip ako." And there she goes again. "Why don't we spy other teams?" I sighed at bumalik na sa inuupuan kong silya, crossing my arms.

"Hell no Andrea."