(i did not want to write this because its boring but i had to for something planned later)
(mentions blood)

Yavin's class was probably one of the most boring classes even though we actually do magic.

We listened to him, bored out of our minds. When he finished, he closed his book and held it loosely.

"What you're going to be practicing today is stopping moving projectiles. Yes, I know you did it a few years ago, but it seems like you all lack the ability to do simple magic." Yavin said. "You learned how to levitate objects in Year One. You learned how to freely move objects around in Year Two. The only difference between then and now relearning it, is that it's moving. Watch." He pulled a piece of stone out of his back pocket. Without saying anything, he threw it as hard as he could at the wall. Just before it hit the wall, it came to a halt a few centimeters from impact with a faint purple glow surrounding it. It dropped to the floor with a quiet clunk.

"Now, what you will do is-"

Quinn pushed the doors open, causing everyone to look back. A teacher never interrupted another class. Yavin sneered, turning to face him. He glared at Quinn with his dark blue eyes.

"What, Quinn." Yavin snapped. Quinn smirked, brushing the blond hair out of his face. He tilted his head and leaned against the doorframe.

"You have a magic class right now, and I have no class. I thought it would be a good idea to come, since this is one of the last days."

"What are you going to do, duel a student?" Spat Yavin, setting the book he was using down on his desk. Chuckling, Quinn nodded. The whole class shared a look. A professor dueling a student? It was unheard of.

"And who might be the unlucky victim?" Without saying a word, Quinn's emerald eyes landed on me. My heart dropped. You've got to be joking.

"Ah, Xelqua. Good luck, you're going to need it." Yavin drawled, gaze turning to me, as well as everyone else's.

"Xelqua, I, Instructor Aquinnternal, challenge you to a formal duel." Quinn said. I gulped, hands shaking slightly.

"I... I accept. Weapon of choice." I say, wondering if I'll regret this decision. Zachariah looked at me like I was crazy. I don't blame him.

"Ten minutes to prepare." Yavin said. I got up and sprinted out the door, clutching the books for the class to my chest.

I ran through the empty halls, pushing down the panic that crept into my mind. I'm about to duel an instructor. Someone who has been doing magic for much longer than I have.

I quickly threw on some extra full body armor and slipped my robes over them. It wasn't bulky, as I customized them to fit me. I tied the rope for my robe around my belt tighter than I usually do, knowing I can't adjust it during the duel. I pushed the doors open, walking down the eerily silent halls again.

I arrived at the courtyard, standing in the shadows of a pillar. Everyone was there. Every student and every instructor. Quinn stood in the middle with Yavin and Gabrides, waiting for me to approach. He had different robes on. The sleeves were short, they only went to his shoulders (they usually go to his wrists). The neckline of the robe was a closed v-shape that was held together with a belt at his waist. The lower part below his belt was thinner and less material. It was most likely for better movement. The sweatpants he wore were tucked into the combat boots he wore every day.

I took a deep breath and walked out of the shadows with my head high and face blank, not showing any emotion. As I walked closer, it got quieter. Eventually, the click against the stone of the boots I wore was the only thing that was heard. The silence was deafening as everyone watched my every step.

"No killing, and you're dueling to unconsciousness or surrender." Gabrides said, her amber eyes looking Quinn and I dead in the eyes. We nodded. She stepped back. Instead of a countdown and a yell of begin, a horn rang in the silence.

Almost instantly, our magic connected in the middle. Both were purple, but Quinn's was obviously stronger. I dove out of the way as another blast came my way. I got to my feet, flinging two daggers at him. He stepped out of the way and snatched them out of the air. He dropped the weapons with a smirk set on his face.

Quinn flipped in the air, avoiding another shot of magic that I sent. He landed in front of me. I tried to step away to avoid physical confrontation, but he kneed me in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me. I gasped for air, trying to avoid being stunned and frozen. I hooked my foot around his ankle and pulled, sending us both to the floor. I rolled away, sending a slice of magic. A gash in the side of his leg appeared, dripping only a little blood.

Quinn turned and returned my attack with one of his own. The slash cut diagonally down the center of my face and made its way onto my neck. Blood leaked from the slash, obscuring the vision of my left eye. My right eye was fine since it was over the slash.

Quinn threw a punch. I raised my forearm, letting him punch the hard metal arm guard. He yelped and stumbled back, clutching his hand. It was probably broken, or badly injured. I grasped the hilt of my sword and pulled it out of its sheath. I blindly swung it, and a sudden scream of pain caused me to know I hit my mark. I stumbled backwards, not wanting to engage in more physical combat.

Blood dripped down Quinn's sleeveless arm, the gash the blood was coming from larger than I expected. I had also caught a part of his chin, which made him frown. Wiping the blood off his face, he started sending magic towards me. They weren't straight lines, though.

They came spiraling in a certain what that I couldn't guess. It was all random. For the first couple streaks of magic, I had to use the arm guards because they came so fast. If they kept coming at this pace, the guards would break.

I conjured a stronger shield than normal. It would stay on my left forearm, like an actual shield if you crafted one. My right arm guard would just have to suffer.

I managed to block most of them, but the ones that did hit me lowered my overall health. I sent a few back when I could, but it was hard to keep up as I was tiring quickly.

A stronger blast got through the strong shield I had been steadily holding up. I was thrown across the courtyard, sliding a few blocks when I landed. I groaned in pain, grasping my leg. It was most definitely broken. It's not like I haven't had a broken leg, though. Accidents while learning new magic have happened before.

I dropped my sword to the side, quietly gasping from the pain.

"Do you surrender?" Quinn yelled from the other side of the courtyard. I propped myself up on my elbows, sneering.

"No." I snarled. I painfully moved myself into a kneeling position, making sure I can move without hurting myself more.

"Very well, then." Quinn said. He turned to me and chucked his sword. The weapon hurled at me quickly from the force of Quinn's throw. I closed my eyes and looked away, throwing my hands up in front of my face.

I waited for the pain of a sword through my body, but it didn't come. I looked forward, seeing the tip just a few inches away from my chest. The weapon clattered to the end stone floor. Without waiting, Quinn sent a blast at me, knocking me to the floor again. I staggered to my feet, glaring daggers into the instructor. I limped around, clutching my sword I retrieved until my knuckles turned white.

Time seemed to slow down as I reflected back to a few weeks ago. It was when I found that room. I remembered all the anger that filled my body when I found out they were just using us like pawns in a chess game. I was so tempted to use that anger I pushed down and bottled, but last time I let it out, the other person got injured.

Breathing got harder as that rage filled me faster than I could keep up. My chest felt like someone dropped a full stone brick block on it. Golden sparks of magic started flashing around me. For a split second, Quinn seemed scared when he saw the color. He instantly knew something inside of me changed. He hastily gathered his magic, the purple matter flashing dangerously.

Putting my weight on the unbroken leg, I pointed my sword at Quinn. I learned in a book from the library that you can control the magic easier if you channel it through something. I grasped the sword's grip with both hands, feeling the magic build-up. Most of the magic Watchers have is fueled by will-power, but emotion often plays a role.

The magic was so much I almost passed out. That would not have been good in this situation.

We both shot beams of magic at each other. Quinn's was a strong purple, mine a translucent golden color. It looked like a scene from an anime fight scene. The magics met in the middle, fighting for dominance. Sweat poured down my face as I strengthened the magic that was coming out of my hands.

My magic swallowed Quinn's like it was nothing. I stopped my magic as it hit him in the chest, knocking him to the floor a few blocks away from where he stood previously. He laid on his side and was still, chest slowly rising and falling unevenly. I couldn't tell if he was unconscious or not. At least he was breathing and alive.

I waited at least ten seconds, using that time to wipe the blood off my face (though I'm pretty sure I just smeared it). He hasn't moved, but I noticed his breathing evened out.

"Aquinnternal?" I hesitantly called out. No response. I looked towards the duel moderators. Gabrides held a hand up, stopping me from doing anything. She slowly approached Quinn speaking in rapid Galactic with hushed tones. Quinn wasn't responding. Gabrides rolled him onto his back. From my spot on the other side of the courtyard, I vaguely saw that the front part of Quinn's robes were burned, revealing the clothes he wore underneath. Even that material was slightly burned.

Gabrides raised her hand and gestured at me with a flick of her wrist.

I had knocked Quinn unconscious.

The instructors looked at me with flabbergasted expressions. Cheers from the students rang in my head. I was becoming slightly dizzy...

I stumbled forward, slumping into the wall. Zach rushed over to me. He slung my arm over his shoulders, keeping me upright. He was taller, so it was easier for him to help me. I collapsed on him like I was drunk (not that I have had experience), but he somehow stayed standing. Zach walked with me closer to the instructors. Some of the healing staff were there. They took me and started to go to the infirmary, just like the time after I dueled Lynnthuic.

Even though I was in a dazed state, there was one thought going through my head over and over again, ringing loud and clear.

I won.