Slayer Academy (Book 1)

Chapter 21: Surviving a Blizzard

Aurora nervously got into the arena, Blizzard smiling from the other side of the arena. The crowd was completely silent except for a few whispers among nervous civilians who were wondering just how long Aurora could last. From Team 1's platform, Kiro was tapping his foot anxiously. forcing himself to not step in and stop the match. Aurora looked at Blizzard for a short moment before looking away. He chuckled and walked over to her. "You drew the short end of the stick," he said as his smile widened, though it wasn't in a friendly way. Aurora responded with a small nod. Blizzard raised one hand and said, "I'll have lots of fun playing with you." Before anyone could see what had happened, Blizzard had already landed three hard punches to Aurora's face, sending her crashing back into the wall. She coughed blood when she collided with the wall, then gagged as Blizzard had suddenly appeared in front of her, fist planted into her stomach.

Aurora fell onto her face, coughing and wrapping her arms around her stomach in pain. Blizzard lifted her up with his foot, then threw her into the air. He pointed two fingers up in Aurora's direction, a magic rune forming behind her. As soon as she got close to the rune, the rune exploded and sent her crashing back down to the earth. Blizzard jumped up and met her in the air, then grabbed her arms and legs with both hands. When he landed back on the ground, he kneeled down and brought Aurora's back down onto his knee. She screamed in pain as Blizzard threw her back into the air. As Aurora was falling back down, Blizzard spun and kicked her in the back. Aurora flew towards the wall yet again, this time hitting it stomach and face first, her arms outstretched. The wall cracked from the impact, and blood was streaming down her face. A crunching sound was heard as she fell onto her back and tears welled in her eyes from the pain. She managed to get up shakily, bruises, cuts, and blood covering her body. Her clothes were tattered and lost their original color due to the blood it had soaked up.

Blizzard crossed his arms and said, "I'm surprised you can still stand. Let me fix that." He laughed and darted towards her. Aurora mustered up some magic energy and formed a bow in her hand. She notched an arrow and shot at him, but he dodged easily and kept advancing towards her. When he reached Aurora, he grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up. "Was that all?" He asked with a smirk. Aurora shook her head weakly as the arrow she shot circled back around and lodged itself into the back of Blizzard's left shoulder. He winced slightly and looked back at the arrow that hit him and said, "Hm . . . now I really want to--" Blizzard was interrupted by Aurora, who had smacked her bow against his head as hard as she could. Blizzard let go of her and put a hand to his head. Aurora scrambled away until she was a safe enough distance away, taking the time to catch her breath. Blizzard glared at her. "You fucking bitch," he snarled through gritted teeth. "You're going to die for that." He lunged towards her, the ground cracking as he leaped off the ground. Before he got too close, Aurora put one hand on the ground and uttered a few words. A rock pillar around fifty feet in height rose out of the ground under her, lifting her into the air and away from Blizzard. Blizzard looked up at her and was greeted by a multitude of arrows that Aurora had shot down at him from above. He dodged most of the arrows, a few of them grazing his arms and cheeks. He yelled in rage and punched the pillar, causing it to explode into pieces. Aurora stumbled as the pillar broke apart, then quickly hopped between the falling chunks of rock, firing arrows from all directions at Blizzard. He would try and cause an explosion where she was, but she would simply leap to another rock and shoot an arrow.

When she landed back on the ground, Blizzard was already dashing towards her, a few arrows jutting out of his shoulders. He did a running punch to her face, but Aurora slid between his legs, then shot one arrow at the wall and another arrow at Blizzard's back. Instead of stabbing into him, the arrow that was shot at Blizzard was like a grappling hook and latched onto him. He tried to yank the arrow off of him, but was too late. A black rope shot out of the end of the shaft of the arrow in the wall, the rope attaching itself to the shaft of the arrow latching onto Blizzard. Aurora rolled out of the way as e was flung backwards towards the wall, the rope and arrow pulling him backwards. Aurora was continuing to recover from her wounds and regain some stamina, though her back was still in critical condition. She winced and dropped onto one knee as pain shot through her body. "Th-This really sucks," she complained as she looked up to see an enraged Blizzard already making his way towards her. She notched an arrow quickly and shot it at the ground. The arrow glowed and smoke began to fill the arena until it was completely clouded. Blizzard coughed and waved his arms around in an attempt to clear the smoke away. When the smoke dissipated, both he and Aurora were standing on a floor of ice above the coliseum. Aurora laughed weakly and said jokingly, "Pretty suiting for you name, eh Blizzard?"