"Yvette's from the Moonstone family," Daphne said, her voice steady. "They're a big deal in Aestharra, even more so in Varethiel. Super powerful, super influential. Her anomaly's called Soul Reflection. Basically, she messes with your head. She makes you see what's buried deep inside—your fears, your desires, your guilt, even your worst memories. It's all in your mind. She doesn't hurt you physically—she just makes you destroy yourself."
I blinked. Honestly, I was a little impressed.
"She once made a noble think he'd eaten his own son," Daphne added like it was just another Tuesday. "He screamed for days."
So, she targets your mind. Brutal.
"You're not messing with me, right?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. If this was some kind of game... they better hope they win.
Daphne laughed. "Of course not. We'd never dare mess with you, Rose."
She looked serious. No lies. At least not this time.
"So if I win, I get a favor, right?"
The favor being... hearing that voice again. I'm sure it wasn't normal—and it definitely wasn't Daphne. So maybe, just maybe, someone—or something—inside her.
"Of course," she said.
I smiled, satisfied with her answer. Then her phone buzzed, and she gave a quick bow. "Farewell then, Miss Rose. I hope you succeed."
And just like that, her body faded into the air. One second she was there, the next she was gone.
I turned toward the towering buildings behind me. This would be my new home for a while, huh? A school in the skies.
I started walking, taking everything in. Fancy buildings, manicured gardens, and... wait.
All the students were girls.
No one told me this was an all-girls academy. Did Ellian and the CHO pick this place on purpose? Whatever. I didn't care enough to question it. I walked through the main door like I belonged there.
Ellian had told me to head to admissions and hand over my form. So I did just that. The woman behind the desk took my form and asked me to wait while she looked something up. After a moment, she handed me a small rectangular card—had to be the ID Ellian mentioned.
I thanked her and headed off toward the hall for the Opening Ceremony. On the way, I glanced at the ID.
All my info looked right. Name, age, background... everything. Except the name. Rose Valerie.
Guess the school requires a last name. CHO just made one up. I didn't really care—it sounded clean enough.
I let out a sigh. So far, so good. Nothing weird-
Until I scrolled down.
Departments:
• Anomaly Control and Magical Enhancement
• Weapon Forging and Combat Engineering
• Strategic Warfare and Combat Arts
I stopped. Blinked. Looked again.
"WHAT?!"
"Three departments?!" I hissed. "Do they think I'm some kind of supernatural machine? Are they actually insane?!"
Some students turned to look. I didn't care. CHO had explaining to do. But first... I had a duel to win.
---
Finally... I made it.
I dropped into my seat, breathless. Took me over two hours just to get here—this place is huge. What are they hiding in here, an entire city?
I calmed myself with a bottle of water I found waiting at my seat. The hall was fancy—black curtains, chandeliers, soft cushions... my kind of vibe. The stage looked like it belonged in a theater, but I didn't mind.
Soon, the doors closed on their own, and the lights dimmed. A burst of colorful light lit up the stage.
"Hello everyone~!" a cheerful voice rang out. A girl stepped into the spotlight.
She was gorgeous. Pink wavy hair, green eyes, porcelain skin. Like a goddess from some fairytale.
She looked familiar—probably someone from the CHO's files about key figures here. I forgot her name though... oops.
She wore the same uniform as us, but with a gold pin and two silver ones below it. Her skirt was shorter, and she carried herself like she ran the place. Probably a student council officer.
Her voice was... enchanting. Calm. Warm. The kind of voice you could listen to for hours.
She gave a formal speech to kick off the ceremony.
We sang Caelvaris's anthem, followed by a principal's speech. Although—let's just say—the "principal" wasn't human. No one else seemed to notice. Maybe I was the only one who could see it.
Then came her.
Red hair. Commanding walk. Eyes like winter. Even without an introduction, you'd know she was the student council president.
Her outfit was next-level. Long sleeves, a cravat with a sapphire brooch, a vest, gloves—elegant but intimidating. You could tell she didn't take crap from anyone.
She was pretty too. Not quite like the pink-haired girl, but in a sharper, colder way. Dangerous kind of pretty.
Students whispered all around me:
"President Azure looks so cool..."
"She could step on me and I'd thank her."
"She's gorgeous..."
All praises, but all said under their breath. Guess rich kids know how to fangirl quietly.
When Azure took the mic, the room went silent. Everyone listened. Hung on to every word. Clapped at the right moments like they were in a trance.
She had presence. No doubt about it. And I had a feeling... this school year was going to be anything but ordinary.
Her speech made my heart race. The kind of excitement you get right before something life-changing.
Then, as she finished, the pink-haired girl's voice rang out again—but this time, she wasn't on stage. She was nowhere to be seen.
"Now! For what our dear students have been waiting for~! I know you guys are total war freaks, so thanks for waiting!"
She giggled as she casually insulted us. I tried to spot her, but then the entire room began to shift. Ancient letters on the wall lit up, the stage rose high into the air like a tower, and our seats shifted into new positions.
At first, it was subtle. A low hum, like distant thunder, vibrated through the ground beneath my feet. Then the walls began to shimmer—like heat haze, distorting everything behind them. The ornate curtains trembled, the chandeliers swayed, and a strange pressure built in the air, like the moment just before a storm hits.
Then it happened all at once.
The floor beneath us trembled, then shifted with a smooth, unnatural grace—like the room itself was alive and breathing. My seat lifted into the air, not with jerky motion, but like I was floating on a bubble. Ancient symbols etched along the walls pulsed with light, casting spectral patterns across everyone's faces.
The stage rose like a tower, stretching high above, while the walls peeled away—no, melted—revealing a vast, open sky. Sunlight poured in, washing the space in golden warmth as the entire hall transformed into a giant glass dome hovering above a circular arena.
Wind brushed my skin. The scent of fresh air mixed with something metallic—magic, maybe.
My heart pounded. It felt like reality itself had folded, bent, and opened into something out of a dream.
When I opened my eyes, sunlight hit my face.
We were no longer inside. We'd been moved into a massive open-air glass dome with a magical shield. Our seats floated like an audience platform high above a circular arena.
I glanced at the now-elevated stage. The student council officers were seated like royalty. Azure sat front and center. To her right was Daphne, who waved at me with a smile. And to her left—
'Wait, who's that..?' I squinted. She looked just like Sierra... which meant she had my features too. Is that the vice president Yvette?
The others looked normal enough. One girl wasn't even seated—just leaned against the wall with a sword in hand, munching on something.
"Now, let's start the duels! Since you're all desperate to flex your powers!"
That voice again—from above. The pink-haired girl now stood on a floating cobblestone platform kept aloft with spellwork, holding a mic and making exaggerated gestures like an overexcited host.
"Who'll be our first competitor~!?"
She pressed a glowing square button, and a huge holographic display appeared. It showed the names of students who signed up to duel—and who they challenged.
I blinked, confused. I thought we had to raise our hands or something. Guess they had a system.
As I scanned the list, her voice rang out again.
"Ooh~! Look what we have here! Miss Calista Vireyne wishes to fight..."
She pointed dramatically at Azure.
"...Miss Azure Eleanor!! Bold move! Challenging our president is basically signing your death certificate. But hey, maybe she's got something up her sleeve?"
She said it like it was entertainment. The crowd went wild at Azure's name.
Of course they did.
"Contestants! Please step into the ring!"
Calista slowly stood and made her way down from the seats. Azure? She didn't bother. She vanished into snow and reappeared in the center.
"Now~! Miss Calista's anomaly: Phantom Arms! She can summon magical arms from her back to wield weapons! She's got a solid win streak, too! But let's see how she holds up against our president..."
She said cheerfully as the audience clapped with her. The audience became wild as soon as she said Azure. Of course she's powerful and popular afterall. And I'm pretty curious about her as well.
The arena was silent. The tension between the two girls was electric.
On one side stood Calista Vireyne, her phantom limbs shimmering behind her like spectral wings, each gripping a different weapon. On the other, Azure Eleanor, draped in silver and white, her expression unreadable. In her hands, she held two beautifully crafted fans—translucent, razor-sharp, and carved from enchanted ice.
"You sure you don't want to draw those fans properly?" Calista smirked, phantom weapons whirling behind her like a deadly halo.
Azure opened them with a sharp snap, and the temperature dropped ten degrees. A mist of frost trailed from the fans like smoke.
The bell rang.
Calista lunged, her limbs whipping out five weapons at once. Blades came at Azure from every angle.
The first blade struck—and stopped an inch away, encased suddenly in a thick block of ice.
Calista's eyes widened. The second limb swung, only for frost to shoot up from the floor and form a barrier of jagged icicles, deflecting the strike.
"You're really dodging all this?" Calista's voice cracked with disbelief.
Azure didn't respond—only flipped one fan closed and pointed it's sharp edge at hwr. A burst of icy wind shot outward, forcing Calista to leap back. Her phantom limbs shielded her from the cold, but the edges of her clothes frosted over.
It twisted violently, forming spears of ice midair and firing them toward Calista. She deflected some with her phantom limbs, shattered others—but the barrage kept coming.
Azure didn't reply. Her steps were slow, elegant, almost casual. The snow thickened around her as if in protection, swirling like a cloak. Her breath steamed in the frigid air.
One phantom limb swung down with a broadsword.
Azure caught it—between her fans.
Ice spread from the weapon to the phantom limb, creeping fast like a virus. Calista's eyes widened in disbelief.
"You're not just dodging," she whispered.
Azure gave a slight tilt of her head. "No. I'm ending this."
With a powerful flap of her fans, a blizzard exploded outward. It wasn't just cold—it was cutting. The snowflakes themselves were tiny blades, laced with magic, cutting into the air and shredding everything they touched.
Calista screamed as the storm ripped through her defenses. Her limbs fractured one by one under the pressure, ice crawling up the phantom constructs until they shattered like glass, pieces scattering in every direction.
Still, Calista charged forward with her real body, grabbing a short blade from her waist.
Azure sidestepped effortlessly, her movements fluid. She spun, her fans slicing through the air in a seamless motion.
SLASH.
With one clean arc of her fan, she sliced Calista's weapon in half. The other fan snapped shut, stopping just inches from Calista's neck. Cold mist trailed from the edge, the faint sound of ice cracking beneath her feet.
Silence.
Then the announcement boomed:
"And our winner is.. Azure Eleanor!!"
Calista fell to her knees, panting heavily, her breath misting in the frigid air. "...You're terrifying."
Azure folded her fans with a soft click. "And you're persistent. But style matters too."
She said, unfolding her fan and placing it Infront of her face. Then as I looked at her, her gaze slowly turned to me, and she smirked. Was I hallucinating or something?
She turned, snow flurrying around her steps as she walked off the battlefield—still pristine, untouched.
The frost faded slowly, leaving the stage glistening with thin, cracking sheets of ice. Azure tucked her fans into the folds of her uniform and turned away, not sparing another glance at her opponent.
She returned to her seat in the center of the student council's row, her expression unreadable. The other members clapped half-heartedly, more out of routine than admiration. Daphne leaned in with a sly smile. "Showing off already, huh?"
Azure didn't reply. She simply crossed one leg over the other and watched as the infirmary staff rushed in, lifting Calista—now trembling and dazed—onto a stretcher. Her phantom limbs had vanished completely, leaving only the pale bruises and frostbitten edges of a reckless challenge.
"Poor girl," Daphne murmured. "She had guts, at least."
The pink girl's voice rang out again, bubbly and unfazed. "Well~ That was intense, wasn't it? Thank you for your courage, Miss Calista! Now, on to our next duel!"
The battles continued, one after another.
A girl who's power is slightly related to breathing our fire squared off against a girl who manipulated sand—he won, but barely, and left the stage with burns running up his arm. A quiet swordsman fought without powers at all, relying purely on technique and speed. He lost in a flash, overwhelmed by a girl whose shadow fought alongside her like a living creature.
Time passed like the turning of pages.
The pink girl's voice echoed through the air again and again, her commentary sharp, mocking, but always thrilling. Students cheered, laughed, and gasped. The air vibrated with energy, a strange mix of magic, tension, and spectacle.
The clash of energy from the previous match had barely faded when silence settled over the arena once more. Charred stone and shimmering remnants of elemental power still clung to the stage—echoes of magic that refused to die quietly.
High above the dueling grounds, Pink girl stepped forward, heels landing with a delicate click against the floating circular cobblestone platform that drifted gracefully above the audience once again. Her eyes looked like a stormcloud ready to strike, the sun catching on the subtle shimmer of her earrings. With a hand on her hip and a the other on the mic, she raised her voice with effortless control.
"Now~ for our last duel of the day! We have a special treat. On one side—Miss Yuxuan Sí, our very own Student Council Treasurer, wielder of the mysterious and elegant anomaly known as Catalytic Transmutation. She can change the state of any matter she touches—melt metal, harden air, even destabilize your bones if she really feels like it. Fancy, right?"
Yuxuan gave a slight tilt of her head, acknowledging the words without pride.
"And on the other side," The pink haired girl's voice sparkled with mock surprise, "we have our soft-spoken little sunflower~ Miss Clementine Dementra. A freshman, hand-picked by our terrifying president Azure herself. Not much of a reputation… yet. But she's a plant manipulator—and a gifted archer. We've seen what she can do during entrance exams. Will she bloom? Or wither?"
The crowd murmured in curiosity. A freshman specially invited by the president?
I just stared at her in silence, I can't seem to get why but I didn't like her. It's not a "I don't like her because of how she looks" or something it's more of a "I can't tell why I hate her but I do" kind of thing.
As Yuxuan stepped onto the battlefield, the atmosphere shifted. Her heels clicked softly against the glassy floor of the arena, and the crystalline veins etched into her pale uniform caught the light. Her expression was composed—elegant, unreadable.
Then the air fluttered gently.
Clementine appeared across from her, barefoot and smiling, as if she had just wandered into a garden rather than an arena. Her golden hair fell in waves, and her eyes shimmered with the carefree glow of someone who never had anything to prove.
The crowd quieted. Even the wind seemed to pause.
High above, standing atop a floating ring of moss-covered cobblestone, pink girl twirled her mic with a grin.
Pink haired girl raised her hand and was about to begin the duel but Clementine quickly raised her hand first, as she stared at Amora then to the student council officers.
"I'd like to propose a condition please!" She said cheerfully, I could hear their gasps and jaw dropping. This must be a rare sight if they're this shocked.
The pink-girl looked at her, stepping on her platform twice before it started moving infront of Clementine.
"Oh? And what condition will it be?" She sounded amused as she looked at Clementine with a entertained gaze.
"If I win.. Can I take Miss Yuxuan's position?" I could hear another round of gasps and whisperings once again. So I'm guessing we have the same motive huh? Then perhaps I should just do that as well?
This statement seemed to shocked Yuxuan though as she quickly refused this offer.
"What nonsense! Why would I!?"
"Oh? Then are you afraid?" Clementine said in a bold tone. Clearly trying to taunt the other person. This technique worked pretty well though because Yuxuan now looked like she's fuming with rage.
"What..? Me? Fine then! Let's gamble, if I lose you'll have my position. But if you lose.. you'll do whatever I want, how about that?"
She pointed her finger at Clementine and smiled.
"Or course!" Well, now I know how to ask that Yvette girl for a duel.
Seeing that they've already had mutual agreement, the pink girl once again went back to her usual place.
"Well it seems they've already agreed on their terms. So now, let us begin!"
Yuxuan moved first—snapping her fingers as the ground beneath Clementine's feet warped, transforming into slick obsidian. Clementine, however, simply smiled and took a step back. Vines erupted from the earth behind her, lifting her into the air like a throne of green.
Yuxuan didn't wait. She darted forward, tapping the nearby air with two fingers—instantly crystallizing the oxygen into jagged shards of invisible glass that shimmered as they launched forward.
Clementine moved gracefully. The vines around her curled protectively, intercepting the glass, and she leapt down from her perch. As she landed, her hand brushed the ground—and a bow grew from the earth, blooming like a living thing, vines weaving into its curve, petals forming the string.
With another smile, she drew it.
"First arrow," she whispered.
She didn't chant. She didn't yell. The arrow formed mid-air—a shaft of bark, a leaf-shaped tip—and she loosed it silently.
Yuxuan raised a hand to transmute the arrow, but the second it made contact, it split into five smaller roots, curling around her wrist, forcing her back.
The next arrow came faster—piercing the floor near her feet, erupting in a tangle of wildflowers that burst into spore clouds. Yuxuan coughed, staggering back, trying to crystallize the particles—but they clung to her fingers, slowing her movement.
"Your attacks are beautiful," Clementine said softly, "but they're not connected to the earth."
With a spin, she loosed another shot—this one thicker, glowing faintly green. The arrow didn't aim at Yuxuan directly. It struck behind her, and from that point, thick roots burst upward, grabbing her legs, pinning her in place.
Yuxuan gritted her teeth, reaching down to alter the roots—until she noticed the last arrow coming straight for her.
It wasn't fast.
But it was precise.
It curved in the air like a whisper on the wind—threading the needle between her defenses, grazing her collar and pinning the edge of her uniform to the wall behind her.
A breathless silence followed.
Then pink haired girl's voice rang out, amused and impressed.
"Our winner is...Clementine Dementra! And because of that, our new winner will be the new auditor! Yippee!"
Cheers followed—but Clementine only gave a small bow, her smile never fading. The vines slowly retracted, setting Yuxuan gently back on the ground. Yuxuan dusted herself off, eyes narrowed hatred.
"You're stronger than you look," she muttered.
Clementine's smile brightened. "I get that a lot."
"That wasn't a compliment," she said coldly, her hands trembling ever so slightly as the weight of the bet settled on her shoulders. She never expected to actually lose… and to a freshman, no less. Her eyes burned with fury as they locked onto Clementine, who was basking in her victory and newfound position.
Her gaze shifted to Yvette. So she was under her after all. They used Clementine to replace Yuxuan… and me to replace Yvette.
Strangely, the realization didn't enrage her as much as it should have.
"And with that final round that had us all on the edge of our seats—thrilled, breathless, and amazed—we conclude our duel—"
A crimson dagger sliced through the air from the audience, aimed directly at Vice-President Yvette. It grazed her cheek before embedding itself deep into the wall. The throw was so fast, most didn't even see it until it was already over.
'No need for subtlety. She'll get the message. One way or another—if she wants to stay in that seat.'
I calmly rose from my chair, ignoring the stunned murmurs of the upperclassmen and the student council. My eyes met those of the pink-haired host as I dusted off my skirt, then pointed boldly at Yvette.
"I, Rose, formally challenge Miss Yvette Moonstone. If she loses… her throne is mine."