NOVEL NEXT Chapter 37: Some Fun To Look Forward To.
“Do magjistars fight each other?” Zoey suddenly asked.
She was sitting inside the student council room with Alexander and Lindsay. It was the weekend, there was no track practice on weekends, and Zoey felt like fighting today. The YFTL doesn’t start until Monday, and Zoey doubted anyone would send a challenge her way today from the tournament. A 5-0 streak, with all of them being technical knockouts or knockouts.
“Yes?” Lindsay was unsure of what she was asking.
“Like friendly battles with each other. Not what you two went through at the library.” Zoey clarified.
“I’m glad you brought this up, Zoey! You see, we were recently invited to the Annual Meeting of Young Magjistars from our old school, and we weren’t sure about going. But if we went with you there, then we’d easily be able to win!” Alexander said.
“Win? Zoey’s strong, but I don’t know if she’s that strong...” Lindsay was hesitant.
“What are you two talking about?” She wanted to know more about this meeting.
“The Annual Meeting of Young Magjistars is where magjistars from our old school and our sister school go up against each other in two events. The first is a group event with all the students participating, while the second is individual battles.” He explained.
“I want to participate.” Zoey immediately spoke up.
“Great! Let’s go register then.” Alexander swiftly got up from his seat.
“Calm down. Sit down, and let’s just think for a little bit.” Lindsay sighed. “We are not strong enough to contribute any meaningful contribution to our school, and you know that. All we would be doing is embarrassing ourselves and helping our school lose if we signed up.”
“You guys are weak?” Zoey asked.
“In terms of ranking, yes, but the ranking for magjistars is kind of dumb as it's done by fighting experience and the number of cases successfully solved, not by strength,” Alexander complained.
“But what about that S grade and D grade stuff?” Zoey looked at Lindsay.
“That’s an unofficial but also kind of official ranking. Most people think it should be changed to match the magjistar’s strength, but for some reason, the higher-ups from the Organization of Magjistars think otherwise and refuse to change it.” She explained.
“So, are you weak, or are you strong?” Zoey didn’t like how complicated Lindsay was making this.
Alexander smiled before responding for them, “We’re not weak, but we lack experience. Both of us were praised as the most talented first years in our class, and a lot of people expect great things from us.”
“Then let’s go sign up,” Zoey said. This would be the perfect way to gain experience, after all, for all three of them.
“Agreed!” Alexander was in favor of joining the meeting with Zoey by their side.
That girl’s fists were like cannonballs. If the average magjistar was hit by her cursed boxing gloves without any magji protecting them, then it was pretty much a done deal. He could distract them with his lightning while Zoey got in close to attack from the side or behind. Or she could run in to distract, and he would knock them out with his lightning. Adding Lindsay to their team would only improve their chances of defeating nearly anyone at the meeting.
“I still don’t think we’re ready for something like this. I agree that joining to gain more experience would be good for us, but we can’t register with only that mindset. Because everyone else will be joining to represent the school, win, gain attention from higher-ranked magjistars and apprentice under them, and gain recognition within the magjistar community. All of those are much more serious and valid reasons than ours.”
“So what?” Zoey wanted to be real for a little bit.
“What do you mean, so what?” Lindsay asked.
“Who cares about them? We’re joining to improve ourselves. What do other people’s opinions matter?” Zoey questioned.
“How are we going to become better magjistar if we avoid great chances like this out of embarrassment and fear?” Alexander supported. “Didn’t we promise to become one of the greatest magjistars of this generation? We can’t skip out on something like this to do that.”
“Maybe you’re right... but I still don’t feel good about this whole thing. We’re going to be looked down on by basically everybody. No one is going to trust us with anything. Everyone is going to think we’re weak and stupid and foolish.” Lindsay went on and on.
‘I didn’t realize just how much Lindsay cared about what others thought. I thought she was a cool beauty that worked as a good partner for Alexander because of how serious and focused she was compared to his naïve and goodie-good personality.’ Zoey thought.
“It’ll be fine,” Alexander reassured her. “Trust me. It’s going to turn out better than you think it will.” He had absolute faith in those dangerous weapons of Zoey’s.
When he saw how she completely overwhelmed that poison daemon, he knew she was far above them in combat strength. Zoey was an anomaly as a Bringer. There hasn’t ever been a point in history where the Bringer was naturally stronger than the Magjistar they partnered with. Alexander knew that one of the magjistar teachers, judges and etc., would see the potential she has after seeing her in action and realizing that she was an ordinary human.
“I don’t know what makes you so confident, but fine. I’ll trust you.” Lindsay still had her objections but knew when she was outnumbered.
The fear in the back of her mind of Zoey resurfaced after seeing that determined look in her eyes after she found out about the meeting. Unlike Alexander’s innocent blue eyes that only held excitement for the future in the same way you would expect out of a child who you promised to buy ice cream if he acted well in school, Zoey’s determination felt more selfish in nature. Lindsay felt greed, anticipation, and a hint of violence? Maybe. That was the first time she and Zoey ever had a disagreement like that. She was too headstrong about going up against magjistars. Did she have something against magjistars? There was that time when she thought Alexander and herself would kill her after discovering their secret. Zoey’s first thought was to attack them first and maybe even kill them herself.
Thankfully they managed to explain the situation to her, and she reigned back her fighting urge and became docile. It was only when she was fighting that Lindsay saw that other side of Zoey, but with this, it was the first time she’s seen that other side when not in a fight. The other side of Zoey that lusted for blood, death, and fighting. Anyone with half a brain could tell that when Zoey was fighting against daemons, she held nothing back and enjoyed every second of it. Alexander didn’t, but that’s because he hasn’t yet seen the world's true nature. Lindsay also noticed when Alexander wanted them to take on a daemon without Zoey, she was upset about it. She might’ve not noticed herself, but Lindsay noticed from her body language that she wanted nothing more than to fight the daemon herself.
Seeing a regular human want to fight the supernatural so badly was bizarre. Just what did she gain from fighting against them? Was it satisfying just fighting in general? What is it that drives Zoey? Lindsay didn’t understand why she risks her life being their Bringer and fights daemons with such eagerness. She couldn’t believe it was just for the money and them doing her homework from time to time.
When she wasn’t fighting, she seemed like a doll or a figurine of a human. Quiet, unresponsive unless directly spoken to, always in her own thoughts. Maybe there was something about Zoey that wasn’t completely trustworthy. Or maybe she’s just overreacting about the single disagreement they had. That would make a lot more sense than Zoey secretly hiding her true self away from them and being some crazy fighting freak of a human that lusted for battle.
“Great! Let’s go sign up then and then get ready to train together! We have to make sure we are in our best condition for the meeting next week.”
“Train together?” Zoey questioned.
“We have to teach you about magji and other stuff before the meeting, or you will be at a disadvantage,” Lindsay explained.
“Oh. I guess I don’t know anything about magic, huh.” She’s been with these two for months now and hasn’t even asked them about magic!
Zoey might’ve had a 0.3 in magic, but that didn’t mean it was impossible for her to perform magic! That stat will definitely go up the more she fought against demons and maybe even magjistars! And once it gets up to a respectable number, magic will be at her fingertips! Knowing how to correctly perform and train that magic like a normal mage would only benefit her! Even now, Zoey still didn’t know the most optimal way to train her Mental stat.
“We’ll also have to ask you for help on combat training as the way you fight is very different from how normal magjistars fight,” Alexander added.
“Sure?” Zoey didn’t know if she had much to share about that. Most of her combat experience came from beating up thugs on the street, but she did have some knowledge on the subject from looking up stuff related to fighting online.
“Don’t forget that this is just training. No need to take it too far.” Lindsay said, looking at Zoey.
‘Oi! What the fuck is that look supposed to mean?’ Zoey thought, irritated.
“There’s no such thing as easy training,” Zoey responded.
“Ah! Lindsay just meant don’t go as hard as you did on that poison daemon on us! Hahaha.” Alexander clarified.
“Of course not.” Zoey didn’t want to kill them. Killing a daemon was different from a human. Don’t ask her how, though.