Date: Fourth Day of the Combat Festival
Location: Arena Grounds – Southern Sandpit Field
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Today, we fought beasts.
Not monsters. Not demons.
But students who trained like predators — and fought like a pack without leashes.
They were second-years too.
But different.
Not spellcasters.
Not swordsmen.
Beastkin.
Half-wolf. Half-tiger. Half-everything.
Every one of them fast, brutal, and trained to follow instinct, not orders.
And for once…
My plans didn't work like clockwork.
---
They broke our formation early.
I told Elric to cover Lily — but they split them before he reached her.
I ordered Gideon to intercept their pouncer — he was caught by two.
Alice tried to flank but got sniffed out mid-shadowstep.
> "They're not following formations," I muttered.
"They're hunting."
And you can't out-logic a creature who doesn't think like a soldier.
They moved like wind and blood.
One howled — another leapt.
Every blow we blocked, two more came from the blind side.
I was cornered.
For the first time in this entire tournament…
I couldn't predict.
---
But they made one mistake.
They hunted alone.
We bled together.
---
Leander was the first to change tempo.
He clashed blades with one of their alphas — then danced aside with a wink.
> "Catch me if you can, Fido."
That made two break formation to chase him.
Anna stepped into the gap and blew it wide open with a radiant illusion — a blinding forest fire.
Gideon barreled through two more — his shield crackled with stored kinetic force, knocking them flat.
Alice, bleeding from her lip, drew a blood seal mid-dodge and froze one beastkin midair.
> "Move!" she shouted.
And we moved.
---
Lily and Riya combined flame and frost — a spiral of exploding steam that tore their rear guard apart.
Elric wasn't healing this time — he was shielding. Casting sacred chains that locked one beastkin in place for just a second—
A second was enough.
> "Collapse pattern — echo five!"
We flipped our defense into offense.
Flank to spearhead.
Fangs to fortress.
Their instinct told them to scatter.
But by then, it was too late.
---
They relied on instinct.
We relied on trust.
---
We didn't win fast.
We didn't win pretty.
But we won.
And when the match ended…
The beastkin dropped to one knee.
Their leader — a lion-headed senior with burn marks across his fur — offered a tired grin.
> "You fight like prey," he said.
"But your bite's deeper than most predators I've met."
I bowed.
Then I limped off the field.
---
> Note: Never assume instinct is weaker than discipline. It just follows a different logic. Counter rhythm, not command.
---
Back in the tent, Leander collapsed flat on the floor, his coat halfway off.
> "I've never had to dodge claws and fangs before," he groaned. "That was cheating."
Anna leaned against the post near the wall, breathless, wiping dirt off her face with her scarf.
> "They weren't even using spells. Just instinct. I'm sore in places I didn't know existed."
Gideon sat beside his shield, not a blade — fingers tense, eyes locked forward, still breathing through adrenaline.
He didn't speak. But the dents in his gear told the story.
Alice… looked pale. Too pale.
She hadn't fed since the night before the match.
Her eyes flickered crimson once before she turned away, fangs clenched tight.
> "Alice?" I asked quietly.
She waved me off, but her hands trembled.
I offered my wrist, but she shook her head.
> "Later," she muttered. "Not in front of them."
---
Elric handed out water bottles, forcing one into each of our hands like a mother hen.
> "Everyone drink. No excuses. You'll feel it tomorrow."
Even Riya, who never stopped smiling, was curled up on a chair with her arms around her knees.
> "They moved like wind," she whispered. "But they didn't know how to fly."
---
We returned to the dorms after nightfall.
Too tired to joke. Too sore to celebrate.
One by one, we split off into our rooms.
I passed Lily in the hallway.
She stopped for a second, looked up at my face.
> "You didn't look scared," she said.
"But I was."
I didn't know how to reply.
She smiled faintly and walked on.
---
Later, in my journal, I wrote:
> They fought like predators.
But we fought like people.
That's what saved us.
> Even if we bleed — we bleed together.