Indeed, as Zavier lay in bed that night, reflecting on the many events of the day, he discovered that that fight had truly reminded him of one of the craziest life lessons out there- things are never what they seemed to be. The case with Sabrina was a text book example. Everyone, every single person (including himself) had already ruled out the possibility that the smiling girl with the cute face would be any problem.
That proved to be a serious miscalculation. Not only had she been a problem, she turned out to be the biggest fucking problem. Zavier recalled the look of bewilderment on the faces of the crowd when the girl had declared she wanted to fight her opponents at once. That right there had been a baller move. At the time, it was a very bold statement that should have told everyone that this was no normal girl.
But of course, no one saw it. Instead, they had all seen what they had chosen to see; a helpless girl that was trying to resort to the tricks of crowd psychology, a weak girl that was trying to bait her attackers into having pity on her. Boy were they wrong. They had all discovered the hard way that Sabrina might look every bit like an angel, but she was the most horrific types of angels- she was the angel of destruction.
Self reflection was a deep part of Zavier's personality. So, at evening dragged into midnight, and as the souls on campus drifted into oblivion, Zavier was stuck with his own careful thoughts. His mind went over every detail of the events of the previous day, until it brought him to his conversation with Harry. That was the highlight of his day.
Eventually, Zavier did manage to catch some sleep. That night, he dreamt he was doing some really heavy workouts. He was exercising so hard that he felt like a demigod. But when he looked up, he was that he was in the arena of the battleground. He lifted up his eyes all around him and saw that there were thousands of people in the venue who were just watching him. It was creepy, there wasn't a single sound. They all sat still like zombies at gazed at him with soulless eyes.
Zavier woke up to the sound of a cock row in the distance and sighed. He felt like he had only closed his eyes for about five minutes, and five whole hours had passed.
Without any hesitation, he got up and headed towards a public park in the area, and began to warm up.
All alone in the park, with the early morning breeze gently whistling through the trees, Zavier allowed himself a moment to admit that his nightmare had been a manifestation of the state of mind that he was currently in. It was like his brain had hijacked his plams for the next morning, and somehow made it dark.
While he allowed his mind to feed off of this theory, his body was busy getting into the best shape of his life. Slowly, the darkness began to fade away, and the first streaks of dawn graced the eastern skies with golden rays of the rising sun. The park began to be filled with early morning runners and leisure walkers. At first they came in singles who occasionally whizzed by with making any waves.
But eventually, groups of cliques of friends began to grace the paths of the park, and Zavier could no longer ignore their chit chat. It seemed like no one could talk about anything other than the competition and who the possible winners might be.
While doing some cardiovascular exercises, Zavier eavesdropped on one particular conversation between a group of people walking past. Without even trying to mask the enthusiasm in their voices, unashamedly, they chatted their hearts away. The topic of conversation was none other than who would be the winner of this year's freshmen tryouts…
"I really don't know what more you could ask for, Sabrina took down a whole fucking dragon! All without even breaking a sweat!! Can you imagine what would happen if she decided to go all out? Can you even think about it for a second?! Sabrina is definitely winning this!"
A relatively less assertive voice came next.
"I wouldn't get too excited if I were you. I've heard some pretty morbid tales about the Yamata family you know…death and destruction revolves around that clan…"
Someone countered that statement deftly;
"Maybe you're right. But I also heard Shiranui is currently hospitalised. Apparently, she unlocked some strange power yesterday and its taken a toll on her."
"Damn! that doesn't sound good at all. Everyone knows the finalists need to be in top shape."
"Indeed…"
"I don't know about you guys, but my money's on that Sabrina girl anytime!"
"I agree. With Shiranui out of the way, I can honestly say that the remaining candidates are no match for her."
"Come on, no need to be so dismissive of the rest…"
The dominant voice argued vehemently; "But it's the truth. The odds of Sabrina losing in the first round was at an abysmal 1:100. But in this fourth round, its looking like she's five times more likely to win."
Someone joked madly; "You know, you can be good at calculating odds when you want to. How come you don't you apply that same energy in class?"
The group bursted into soft laughter.
Zavier was intrigued. Not at the humourless joke, (it had been a dry one by all standards) but at the odds the student had stipulated. It seemed like bets were being placed already. This was one moment Zavier wished he was actually a social creature. So, bets were being placed after all. He really should have known something like this would go on.
Still amused, Zavier put on his most polite expression and approached one of the passing students who looked like he gambled.
"I beg you pardon, could you please point me in the direction of the gambling den please?"
The student gave him quick directions, and Zavier swiftly located the space.
It wasn't exactly difficult to spot. There were a lot of people clamouring around the booking store. It was a small store that was roughly a couple of miles off the bypass that led to the main campus. The day's match was the hot sauce of the moment. Zavier didn't need to snoop around or make inquiries, it was evident that Sabrina was everyone's choice. After all, who else was there to contend with.
Zavier got in line trying his best to suppress the grin that was trying to force its way onto his face. When it got to his turn, he brought out his money, placed it on the counter and said calmly;
"Put me down for a gold coin."
Without even bothering to look up, the manager took the money and automatically assumed that Sabrina was his choice. Just as he was about to give him his slip, Zavier declared his stance;
"No, I am betting against Sabrina. One gold coin says she will lose in the first round."
Utterly surprised by Zavier's peculiar bet, all around him, the chatter died down immediately. Then almost instantaneously, a tide of laughter swept through the entire store. Thinking maybe he was an amateur, someone came to his rescue;
"Son, I don't think you understand how this works. 1:100 odds means that if you place your bet with a gold coin, then you will surely lose it. Now correct yourself and place the right bet…"
Zavier laughed softly. "Anything can happen sir, nothing is truly impossible."
There was a general wave of high expectation in the air. It was as palpable as it was contagious. For everyone on campus, all roads led to the direction of the stadium. There wasn't a single soul who wasn't invested in this match; whether emotionally or financially, or simply for the sake of entertainment, they were all bunkers for this final showdown. It was the height of the entire event. This was what everyone had been waiting for. And so far, no one had been disappointed.
On this note, a thick throng of spectators made their way towards the action. Way before the finals started, the entire stadium was filled to the brim. This time, the crowd wasn't just made up of students and teachers from the university, but also of the freshmen and lead teachers who had flunked out of the competition during the elimination stages. Apparently, their ego wasn't bigger than their curiosity. Like everyone else, they wanted to see how Sabrina would hold up her own.
Amongst the chief organisers and invigilators of the event, from her lofty position, Rachel sat proudly in the middle as she overlooked the host before her. Rachel knew that she was supposed to remain unbiased and stay objectively open minded about all the candidates. But much like everyone else, she couldn't help but have her own reservations.
While the majority of the crowd had their thoughts and expectations centred on the new star called Sabrina, Rachel's preference veered to the left.
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