And right in the middle of the field, sprawled out in uneven formations were the unconscious bodies of the three haughty Melbourne High School students. It was a resounding victory and it was truly deserving of an encore.
Right on cue, every single person seated in the audience took to their feet and brought their palms together in a thundering applause. The whole venue shook with the clapping and the cheering. Only Wallice stood pinned to the spot with a look of shock on her face. It all seemed like a dream to her. This wasn't how she had pictured the end to be. Despite all her hard work and tight plans, somehow, she had been done in by a single girl!
Truly Sabrina had managed to fool everyone present.
With the bodies of her adversaries lying on the ground before her, the referee wasted no time in doing the needful. He immediately blew hard on his whistle, and made the hand gestures announcing Sabrina as the winner. But no body was even paying attention to him. In everybody's minds, they had already announced her the winner way before he decided to step in.
Sabrina wasn't one for elongated public approvals. Still retaining her sheepish smile and modest conduct, she humbly bowed and excused herself from the field. Since no one had escorted her to this tournament, there was no welcome party waiting for her at the exit. She simply melted away unseen and blended into the background.
Long after the resounding applause had died down, the shockwaves of the fight was still hanging in the air. There wasn't anyone in the crowd who wasn't surprised at just how efficient the fight between the two sides was. It was indeed a very juicy tale, and the spectators were electrified. Never had they expected such an outcome.
In everyone's minds, even amongst the judges and invigilators who were supposed to be unbiased, the general expectation had been that; at the end, the final battle would be a major showdown between Melbourne High School and Merion High School. As far as every spectator was concerned, it had been written in the stars already. At the time, it genuinely seemed like there was simply no way around this.
But alas, life had happened. Within an instant, much to everyone's surprise, the hunter had become the hunted. It had been a thrilling and entertaining match. Nothing about it had been predictable at all. Naturally, when Ibneiah literally unleashed the dragon in him, everyone had thought it was all over…especially Wallice. But unfortunately, nothing went as planned. The whole stadium was virtually aflame with the live excited chattering of thousands of people.
Different narratives flew up and down about the mysterious girl; some argued that this girl might actually be stronger than Shiranui who had just unlocked a new level of savagery. Others vehemently resisted this outrageous assertion, and claimed that the Yamata bloodline was unparalleled when it came to sheer skill and brute strength. People began to take sides, but at the end, they all agreed that the final battle between those two would be a real sight.
Sabrina was virtually the hottest topic right now. Suddenly, it seemed like all the loopholes and unanswered questions in the tournament up until this moment was as a result of her lowkey creeping around unnoticed.
Amongst the groups of students incessantly running their mouths, a more intense school of thought rose up; it suggested that Sabrina was amongst the top mysterious trio that had terrorised the first round. Those who knew about the Blood Blade user claimed she was the mysterious mage who had unlocked that chilling ability. This sizzling bit of gossip had the atmosphere thick with excitement, the kind that was birthed from mass hysteria in a public place.
By the time the chief officiator stood up to declare the end of the day's tournament, the crowd had already begun to disperse in small groups. The day was over for them anyway, and they were greatly satisfied by what they had all witnessed. There was a lot to think, and talk about.
But, way before the crowd had officially dispersed, while the crowd had been in a frenzied state, Zavier very stealthily extracted himself from the venue and found his way out without bumping into anyone or making unnecessary waves. Very quietly, he tiptoed his way through the crowd until he put the whole rowdiness behind him.
Asides from the fact that he was currently a socially radioactive entity, Zavier actually didn't care for idle talk and pointless conversations. He had seen way more than anyone of them had actually seen, his time-space eye had given him a very excellent view of what had actually happened. Even though he didn't completely understand much of what he had seen concerning the Sabrina girl, he knew way more than anyone else here, so he didn't think it necessary to stick around.
On his way out, he had heard all the chattering going on all around him and was amazed. Everyone had been so engorged in their own thoughts that they completely forgot about the one person that always gave them joy to pick on- HIM. It wasn't just that, Zavier heard all the preposterous propositions being put forward by eager to please jibber-jabbers, and he almost doubled over in laughter. Of course, only he knew the truth about the Blood Blade user.
But that wasn't his problem right now. Soon enough, Zavier left the chaos behind him, and as he trotted down the semi-peaceful grounds of Caesar University, he allowed the fresh blast of air to wash over him. It felt like he had been in an oven for the past few hours. And even though he wasn't exactly an introvert, he was beginning to detest the outdoor these days. He quickly shook off the thoughts of the past few hours and concentrated on his destination ahead.
By design, the infirmary was only a few minutes away from the venue. Of course, this was to minimise the time lapse involved in ferrying injured contestants away from the field to get the required medical attention at the infirmary. At that point, the short distance particularly served a different purpose for Zavier. The truth was he always welcomed walks- whether they were short or long. They always gave him the opportunity he needed to gain clarity of mind.
The fog of the previous battle soon passed over Zavier, and he allowed his mind to focus on what truly mattered at this hour- Shiranui.
Zavier had been subconsciously trying to distract himself from worrying, but he couldn't avoid it anymore. He was truly worried about her. It wasn't that he thought she wasn't going to be alright, he knew she was a tough cookie to crack and that she most definitely would bounce back even stronger. But still, he was worried.
The tall elegant palm trees that flanked both sides of the path he was on, finally gave way to reveal the entrance to the brilliant white building. Right in the middle of the upper part of the building hung the universal accepted symbol of medicine; the Rod of Asclepius. Zavier recalled reading about the history of this Ancient Greek symbol associated with with medicine. the familiar sight of the serpent wrapped around a rod brought back strong memories for him. He pushed them away as he entered the building.
At the waiting room, he found a plum bright eyed nurse huddled over a pile of documents. He quickly scanned the waiting area and observed that there wasn't anyone else present. Naturally, this was a student infirmary and not the E.R section of a major hospital, so the traffic here was low, almost non existent. With a calm and assured voice, he greeted the nurse and stated his business in one breath;
"Good day ma'am. I am here to see a patient by the name of Shiranui Yamata."
Zavier hadn't had any pleasurable encounter with any nurse before. So, to his surprise, she replied him cheerily;
"Oh hello dear, are you family?"
"No ma'am. She's my classmate. I am here with my teacher and team mates for this year's freshman tryouts."
That seemed to be enough for the nurse.
"Okay dear, kindly hold on while I check the records."
She smartly whipped through a sheet of paper and her eyes lit up when she finally found the name. Within a short period, after receiving explicit directions from the nurse, and having signed a visitor's form, he began his steady ascent up a flight of stairs towards Shiranui. On getting to her ward Zavier found the door open.
Zavier recognised Calista's small frame from behind, she was conversing with someone whom Zavier assumed to be a paramedic. There were two beds lying adjacent to each other. On the left was Nadia whose back was turned against the door. She seemed to be talking to herself as she faced the wall. On her shoulder was a sling with a heavily padded bandage. It seemed she might have dislocated her shoulder or worse.
This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦