"Mind if we join you?" Landon Harris asked, but the statement was more assertive than it was interrogative.

I bundled up my nerves and said, "I-I'm going anyways. I've already trained for today."

"So soon? We didn't even get to have fun today!" Hudson whined. I wanted to tell him to act his age, he looked as he was in his early or mid twenties. 

"Maybe tomorrow, okay? I have to go." I gathered my things, and walked towards the door. 

Landon blocked the entrance. I needed to escape. Today I didn't have enough magic left to take care of both of them. 

"Look here, principe, we don't know what game you're playing, but we plan to kill you. Today, tomorrow, I don't care, but before you set foot outside this center, you'll be dead." Hudson said in a low voice. His black eyes gleamed with murderous intent.

Oh no. No. No. No. No! I was worrying about Ivy a couple of minutes ago, but I didn't even know if I'd survive today. 

Okay. Calm. Think. What can you do, Luke? (Luke was a nickname I called myself in the head. Lucian seemed too formal to call myself.) I can bask myself in healing light magic, so none of their attacks would hit me. 

But with such low power, maintaining the healing magic would be hard for more than fifteen minutes. Healing magic took a lot of power.

Attacking magic. If Hudson uses his stealth magic, then with my amount of power right now, I can't get him like I did last time. And if Landon fights too, I'd dead meat. 

But if I kill them before the fight starts, that's a gamble I'd be willing to take. My best bet on surviving. 

I just had to keep them talking. I needed twelve seconds to muster enough power to kill them both in one swift blow. 

"Why, though? I didn't do anything to you! You asked for the fight!" I protested, while silently using the power. Eight seconds. 

Landon's nostrils flared, "Didn't do anything? You hurt our ego, and you hurt Hudson! For that, you're going to pay!" Touchy topic. This really fired him up. Four seconds.

"Alright! You seriously want to fight? Two to one? A little unfair, but fine!" I said. and counted down to zero. I flicked my finger, and two huge light spears came cascading down at them. One struck Hudson, but Landon escaped right in time before it hit him. 

Shit. I had exhausted most of my power, and if I used more, I was sure I'd lose consciousness. 

"You little shit!" Landon screamed. 

He drew a cut on his arm with a knife, and I was horrified that it appeared on my arm too. What the hell is this?!

It stung like crazy, like the wound was infected or something. Landon came at me with the knife, and I ran away to the other end of the training room. 

I used a little of my remaining light magic to heal my wound on the arm, though I had no idea how it had happened. Landon suddenly appeared behind me, and I ducked right before he stuck the knife to my head. 

I ran for the door, but Hudson blocked it. Wait. What? I was sure I had killed Hudson. How was he standing in front of me, fully healed?

Someone opened the door, "I think I left my phone here."

Ivy? Ivy? IVY!

"What are you doing?" She asked Hudson so casually. He's killing me, are you fucking dumb?

Hudson said just as casually, "Killing your partner." I'm a prince, stop treating it so normally!

She nodded and said, "Go ahead. I just need my phone."

"We can't let you leave! It would be best to finish you here too!" Landon yelled. 

I wish he'd just stop yelling. 

"So I also have to fight you?" She asked, somewhat skeptically. 

"Yep." Hudson replied. 

Before I knew it, I saw Hudon and Landon being eaten away by her darkness void. 

"I think my work is done. Do you need any help?" She asked, dusting off her hands. 

Just then, Landon slashed through the void. "Oh c'mon!" She said, annoyed.

"Do you have any idea what kind of magic they use?" I asked her.

She nodded, analysing, "They use some kind of magic based on hatred. To fight them, we'd need love magic." Arabella's magic. 

"Can you replicate it?" I asked her. 

She shot me a weird look, "I can't. I have to feel that emotion first. I've never felt it."

"I'm using your magic, though. It's more effective than mine." She said. 

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and when she opened her eyes, they were golden. Yeah, I can never get used to that. 

Landon had been helping Hudson out of the void, and when they finally turned towards us, Landon was taken aback. 

"Y-You used darkness magic- your eyes were silver just now..." He trailed off. 

A rain of golden spears fell of them, and it was so fast, I blinked, and they were heavily wounded. Wow. She's so powerful. 

Landon and Hudson began healing at once. Before their wounds closed, she drew another rain of spears, making sure they hit the open wounds. Hudson screamed, and Ivy rolled her eyes, and another rain of light spears fell on them. 

Landon looked weird, though, as if he was frozen. I realised what was happening too late. He had substituted himself! He suddenly stabbed me in the stomach, and I felt so faint. 

I was, at once, put in healing light by Ivy, and my head felt dizzy. I didn't like being the weakest in the room. 

Ivy was fighting with Landon, but it was clear that she did not have any experience in close combat. She kept blinding him with light magic, but that only deterred him for a split second. 

She was backing away, but I wasn't sure why she didn't run away. "Ivy! Run!" I yelled. 

"I can't!" She winced, as Landon finally landed a hit on her. Her side was bleeding, and Hudson appeared out of nowhere. 

"Prince Lucian, I need you to get out of here. I'll blast this room, and hopefully kill these two." Her eyes were red now. Fire magic. 

"No! You'll d-die." I choked out. 

She tried to act brave and waved me off, "I'm dying anyways. You don't need to worry about me."

No freaking way was I leaving her alone to handle the Rank 1s. Though I knew at the moment I was nothing but an obstacle. "Seriously! I'm telling you! Get out!" She screamed at me. 

Just as she was about use the fire magic to blast the room, I put a healing dome around us, with power I didn't know was left. The room was totally gone, and I could see Hudson and Landon lying on the ground. 

My healing dome had minimized the impact of the fire on us, and we both came out nearly unscathed. Ivy doubled over, coughing, and blood came out of her mouth and nose.

"Are you okay?" I asked her. 

She nodded and weakly replied, "Just used too much power." 

Her aura still radiated power, so I knew she was lying. But she had just saved me, so I kept my mouth shut. 

Sh coughed and more blood dripped on the ground and her breathing was shallow and rough. I'm dying anyways. She had said. 

She looked pale, and her breathing was irregular. She tried to move, but she clutched her chest, and sat down slowly on the ground. 

"Ivy? What is happening?" I asked her. 

She shook her head, but she was clearly unable to speak. She looked down and squeezed her eyes shut but I could see tears at the corner of her eyes. 

I got up to fetch someone to help her, but she caught my sleeve. "Don't call anyone." She wheezed out. 

"Then tell me what this is!" I demanded. 

She took a deep breath, or tried to, "Give me five minutes."

I complied, and I studied her. Symptoms: Cough with blood, irregular breathing, chest pain, pale skin. 

Did she have a heart attack? Or cancer? In five minutes, she managed to breathe properly, and deeply, and her chest pains had also receded. Her skin was still pale, but she was still okay now.

"I'm fine now." She informed me, and stood up. 

"What happened?" I interrogated. 

"I used too much of my power." She said casually. 

I stomped, "Seriously Ivy?! What was that?"

"Nothing! I just saved you, do you want to be killed too?" She yelled. 

I fell silent. I didn't get her. I walked away, leaving her alone. I pulled out my phone from my pocket and typed in her symptoms. 

Pulmonary edema. That was exactly like her symptoms! Her lungs were filled up with fluid making it hard for her to breathe. It wasn't lethal, right?