fire flower; leopold vermillion x oc [Black Clover]

Chapter 23: The Maze

Seradina looks even snootier than yesterday, which is saying something since I basically kicked her ass. Her smug smile screams that she's got this challenge in the bag, and I subtly glare at her because it might just be true. Open water may have theoretically given her some weird advantage, but this maze round is definitely in her favor. I made sure to prepare as much as I could last night, yet it won't change the fact that spatial magic is probably one of the easiest ways to get through a maze.

I crack my knuckles as I stare at the course sprawling out before me. Yellowed, aging stone covered with carpets of moss, hiding traps and all sorts of malicious things. The referee let someone make this maze, so it would be a fair game where neither me nor Seradina had ties to the terrain.

She manages to give me a mean smile before we get into our starting positions. Both of our paths will lead to the exit, but we won't cross each other. This is purely about speed and evasiveness, and I'm sure there are plenty of traps along the way.

The referee raises his arm, and my heart starts pounding in my chest. All the hairs on my neck raise and tingle with anxiety, and I gulp. I'm at a hopeless disadvantage, and now the task of completing this maze is hitting me with daunting, intimidating reality. Calm down. Even if she wins, you still have one more shot. And the third competition is to your advantage.

Breathing in and out slowly, I clear my mind. Right after the referee blows whistle and puts down his arm, signaling for the race to begin, I take off sprinting.

"Dark Magic: Galaxy Orbit!"

My magic becomes a spinning sphere that shields me and surrounds me. The moment I cast the spell, the terrain of the maze starts to change, shifting from cracked rock to shiny steel. I find myself running through a futuristic metal room, with gridded sides and floors and ceilings. Some sort of reconstruction magic that's been placed in the maze, huh. I grit my teeth and push through nonetheless. The maze will still inherently be the same, so I have nothing to lose my simply moving forward.

It's only been a few seconds before the steel environment changes into a steaming jungle, humid air soaking my clothing. I stop right in my tracks as a gleaming metal monster roars, seemingly coming out of no where. It seems the terrains are overlapping; the monster is definitely from the steel zones. It looks like a gigantic metal flower with hideous, jagged teeth on the edges of its petals. Its stem is split into numerous parts, each thrashing and waving like a tentacle. It screeches at me and shoots a tendril.

"Dark Magic: Black Lightning!"

My magic coils tightly around my body before I rocket into the air. I kick straight through the metal and continue running, sounds of explosions and debris falling to the ground echoing behind me. At first the slushy mud bogs me down, but then the terrain shifts once again, this time into a freezing tundra.

I recast my orbit spell, trying to warm the air around me. My breath comes out in cloud-like puffs as I trudge through the glittering snow. How much time has passed? How has Seradina been faring? I push those thoughts away and continue moving. I can't afford to let my own mentality crumble and fail.

I encounter another monster, a furred beast with sharp teeth and sharper claws, as well as three more terrain changes. The maze starts to feel like a never-ending nightmare, my body battered and tired as I stagger through a desert environment. Then, realization dawns on me, along with cold horror. This could all be a simulation.

Trembling, I outstretch my hands and yell, "Dark Magic: Obsidian Shards!"

The jagged points seem to tear into reality itself, and the desert falls apart to reveal the actual maze I saw at the beginning. The same yellowing stone, the same moss-covered cracks. I'm only halfway through, and I sprint, shooting out my shards as Illusion Magic attempts to enter my mind. The wind makes my lungs ache, and I'm almost crying when I reach the finish line. Stupid, stupid, stupid! I bend over, catching my breath, and I grit my teeth as I see Seradina. I lost I lost I lost.

She stands proud and tall, triumphantly looming over me. "You got tricked by a little mirage? I saw it coming from a mile away," she mockingly jeers. "It was fun though, to watch you slowly make your way to the halfway line, trapped in a world that didn't exist. Looks like I win this round, peasant." She sneers, like I'm a worthless animal sniveling at her feet.

"How will your pathetic Spatial Magic help you in the next one, stuck-up noble?" I shoot back, rising to my full height.

Her face darkens, and her features twist into something sour. She glares at me as she says, "Your own magic is weak as hell. Don't get a big head."

"Your head's big enough for both of us." I glare back as I stalk away, resisting the urge to spit at her feet.

But underneath it all, a palpable sadness tingles and aches. My chest feels like a stone is weighing it down, and my mouth wants to curve downwards into a sob. I lost I lost I lost. And she was right; I did fall for something stupid. It won't happen again. I have the advantage for the next round. I can win.