The Exchange Teacher - Welcome to Dyntril Academy

Basque watched in horror as Avae stepped into position. Her opponent, a girl from Class C named Emmah with butterscotch hair, twirled her staff in an impressive display of skill, kicking up dust and dirt from the arena floor. Avae stared at the other girl. Her body and face were loose, like she was bored watching the display.

"Avae! Dodge! DODGE!!!" Basque screamed, but she didn't even look over at him.

"Begin!" the announcer called.

Basque could only watch in horror as Emmah sprang into action. Still staring at her opponent with a look of abject boredom, Avae didn't even flinch as Emmah swung the staff like a bat at her arm. The sickening thud throbbed in Basque's ears. Her arm below the point of contact twisted grotesquely; her bone pulverized.

Her scream of agony was sharp and piercing, cutting through the cotton fog of the thud. Ripping free of Aevari's grip, Basque ran down to the edge of the upper-deck's walkway. "Avae!" he screamed.

Clutching her destroyed arm, Avae collapsed to the ground. Her opponent wasted no time sending a follow-up shot at Avae's head.

The metal pipe of the railing crumpled under Basque's grip. He forced his eyes to stay open.

The staff finished its arc, swishing through the air where Avae's head used to be. Basque's legs gave out from under him, and he fell to his knees; the barrier wall obstructed his view. He pulled himself up with the bent railing and watched.

When Basque could see again, Avae was already back on her feet. Tears streamed from her eyes as she held her broken arm tight to her body.

"The way you use your body… You sprained your ankle and couldn't dodge a single one of Miss Cormick's attacks." His words came back to him.

Emmah drove her staff at Avae's chest. Basque's body was numb. Avae leaned back, and the staff shot over her. Avae twisted out of the way of the following downward strike.

Crisp, precise attacks rained down on Avae. There was no beauty in her movements. There was no grace, no power—only desperation. The crowd cheered every near miss. Strike! "Hey!" Strike! "Hey!" Strike! "Hey!"

The spectators cheered, "Hey." Basque counted down. "Three. Two. One. Zero."

Basque looked at the silent scoreboard. "Hey!!! Shielded round!!! Announce it!!!"

Only the roar of the crowd answered Basque.

The scoreboard showed the health bars and remaining time of the shielded round, but still no one came on to tell Avae that she didn't have to dodge anymore, that she could get beaten down and end the round.

Long since dried, her eyes only held a look of terror. In her mind, she had to believe that any further strike would be like the first, that the shield wouldn't come. So, she dodged. Clutching her fractured arm to her, she dodged.

"Oooooh-ha! Ooooh-ha! Ooooh-ha!" the crowd chanted. Attacks came on the "Ooooh" and Avae's dodge was the "ha".

Basque gnawed on his knuckle as he watched the timer on the overhead display count down. It couldn't go down fast enough. Reaching into his robe, Basque pulled out his communication device to call Tyze.

"Oooooh-ha! Ooooh-ha! Ooooh-ha!"

"Basque?" The nurse answered.

"Avae has a broken arm!" Basque shouted over the crowd.

"Oooooh-ha! Ooooh-ha! Ooooh-ha!"

"Her match will end in fifteen seconds."

"Ooooh-ha!"

"I want you out there and attending to her the second it ends."

"Oooooh-ha! Ooooh-ha!"

Tyze's voice was barely audible. "Understood."

Basque cut the line. When the timer hit ten, for the second time that day, he counted down.

"Time!" the announcer called.

Avae collapsed to the ground, no longer even holding her fractured arm. Emmah stepped back, panting heavily, and after staring at her fallen opponent for a second, bowed and left. Tyze shoved his way past several people obstructing him and rushed over to the unconscious girl. He picked her up and cradled her in his arms, then rushed back out of the arena.

Basque desperately wanted to go to the nurses' tent and check on Avae, but the announcer was already calling the next match: Reianna's match.

"What a round! That just goes to show the high level of education we provide here at Dyntril Academy! Even with a broken arm! But! Let's get on with our next match!"

Basque wasn't too out of it to realize that the announcer was claiming Avae's performance for the school despite having previously introduced her as representing Hianbru.

"Ladies and gentlemen! We give you the Grand Kingdom of Kruami's representative, the daughter of Earless Wendina, Miss Sanya of Class B!"

The crowd went wild as a girl with ruddy brown hair exited the waiting rooms.

"Oh! Earless Wendina's daughter! I remember the mom when she was a student here," said an older man sitting near Basque. "She was a beast in these tournaments. I bet she's trained her daughter well."

A familiar silver-haired girl walked into the arena.

"And representing Hianbru, Reianna Santi."

Reianna didn't look anywhere but at her opponent. A chill ran down Basque's spine. She stared daggers of hatred into her ruddy-brown-haired opponent. He'd never seen Reianna look at someone like that.

Unfazed, Sanya laughed, stuck out her tongue, and put her hands up like she was a panting dog.

Cold and unwavering, Reianna's stare continued.

"Reianna!" Basque yelled. "Dodge it all! DODGE!"

Sanya pulled out two short daggers.

"Just like her mother!" the old man said. "This'll be good! Probably won't even make it to the shielded portion now."

Basque clasped his hands together. Dodge, Reianna. Please! I beg of you! Dodge!

"Begin!" The announcer cried.

Sanya rushed at Reianna. Strong, smooth, with celerity, Sanya moved like a seasoned hunter. Basque's stomach churned. This girl was only Class B?!

Blades glinting in the sun, she swung at Reianna's head. The crowd roared. If Reianna doesn't dodge… Reianna made no motion to dodge the strike. Basque covered his eyes. He couldn't watch his student die.

The crowd went silent, and Basque looked up. Sanya lay in a heap with a blade stuck in her back.

"Wha…what the Yani?"

Reianna looked at the bleeding girl in confusion, like she wasn't expecting that to have happened. She looked up at their section and stopped searching when she found Basque. Reianna shrugged, then made a "sorry" gesture.

"Wi-winner, Reianna Santi."

A crew of four nurses rushed out as Reianna walked off without looking at the other girl. Sanya was bleeding, but Basque could see that she was still alive. The blade had missed anything vital as it was stuck in her right shoulder.

"Did any of you see what happened?" someone asked. There were only murmurs of "no" in response.

"Replay! Replay! Replay!" a chant began, and soon the entire colosseum was chanting it.

"We hear you!" the announcer said. "Please turn your attention to the board."

Basque and every other person turned their attention to the hovering scoreboard in the center of the arena.

The scene started with Sanya coming in at Reianna, then going past her and falling on the ground with her own blade stuck in her back. Reianna was looking at her hand in surprise.

"I still couldn't see what happened? Could you?"

Basque saw.

Sanya's blade neared Reianna's temple. Spinning, Reianna grabbed Sanya's wrist. She slid her hand up. It caught on the dagger's hilt. Reianna plucked the dagger from Sanya's hand. Momentum carried Sanya past Reianna, who continued to spin. Her arm extended. The blade rammed into the ruddy-haired girl's back.

As the blade sank into the other girl, Reianna's mouth fell open, and her eyes went wide. When the dagger stayed in the other girl and didn't follow with her spin, she looked at her empty hand. Had there been a shield, the weapon would have stayed with her. That was her expectation, and would have been Basque's had he been in her situation.

The scoreboard was showing the replay again, this time at slow speed so that others could see what happened.

"How can someone move so fast?"

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Basque didn't need to see it again. Letting go of the destroyed railing, he flew down the stairs, from landing to landing, jumping the middle steps. Reianna almost died. She was still alive. She disobeyed his orders. She was alive because she disobeyed. She was going to die. His order killed her. She disobeyed.

That "sorry" gesture she had given him—from the beginning, she planned on disobeying. He was too confused to feel. Reianna was an issue for later. He had another girl who needed him. He ran through the corridors while the spectators cheered for the next contestants.

Leeroye, the supplemental music teacher, stood guard in front of the medical tent. He put his hands on his hips when he saw Basque. "You're not allowed in—"

Basque shoved him. The bespectacled man with dark azure hair went flying, landing in a heap. Stepping into the tent, Basque surveyed the scene.

Nurses bustled around Sanya, who was screaming.

"Someone get her sedatives!"

"Keep pressure! We need type O over here!"

In contrast to how Tyze had to fight his way to get to Avae, every person was now dedicated to working on Sanya. Not a single person glanced in his direction. Tyze had Avae over in a corner.

Basque dashed over to them. "How is she?"

Avae was asleep with her arm already in a cast.

"We need to get her out of here so that I can use the tools your friend gave you; otherwise, there will be permanent damage."

"Okay, now should be good—"

"Basque!"

Basque's eyes narrowed. Standing up, he turned around. "Deputy Headmaster Krill."

"What the Yani are you doing in here?! No, what are you going to do about this?" Krill pointed at the now quiet Sanya. She was hooked up to IVs and blood bags, but most of the procedures appeared to be over.

"It looks like she'll be fine." Basque waved his hand behind him, gesturing for Tyze to leave with Avae.

"Fine?! Your beast dared to stab her!"

Basque rushed over to Krill, but pulled up short, clenching his fists so that he didn't strangle the other man. "You! You Yani were the ones who changed the rules and didn't tell the students! Reianna was expecting Sanya to be shielded! Sanya was going in for a fatal blow! Are you telling me you'd be this upset if Reianna was here in a body bag?!" Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tyze leave with Avae.

"Who cares about your gray rat?! This is the daughter of a powerful earless!"

"They're both equally students of this school! They're both children that you use for sport in death games for betting enjoyment!"

"Your rodent would have been better off if she were already in a body bag! Earless Wendina will wipe out that thing's hometown."

"What?!"

"The Earless loves her daughter more than anything. It'll be the best we can do to keep her from rampaging through the school the rest of the weekend! How are you going to handle that?"

"I'm not," Basque said, taking a step back. "The people who changed the rules get to deal with that. But as you said, I'm not allowed in here, so I'll be seeing you."

Basque left the tent with Krill still calling after him, but Basque ignored him. Avae needed him. Leeroye was still splayed out in front of the tent, but Avae and Tyze were nowhere to be found. Trotting away from the tent, he pulled out his communicator and called Tyze.

"My office," the nurse said and disconnected.

Basque's trot turned into a sprint, and he bolted out of the colosseum and back to the academy's main building. When he got there, Tyze was just placing Avae down on a bed. Basque opened his inventory and pulled out Rakelle's medical instruments. He handed them to Tyze.

"Do what you need to do. I need to get back to the other students."

Tyze took the tools. "I'll make sure she's good as new. I'll give these back to you the next time I see you."

Basque didn't reply. He was already back out the door and running towards the colosseum. Reianna had advanced. He needed to get to Natt and tell Natt to get the girl to throw the next match.

One win was enough. Any more than one, and Reianna would create too many enemies for her to survive. Basque wouldn't be able to protect her long enough for her to grow and protect herself.

Despite how fast Basque ran to and from the colosseum, by the time he got back, the announcer was already calling out Class A's Jaezmina and Emmah, the girl who'd broken Avae's arm. Only one first-year match remained after that: Reianna versus Lavrence.

When he got to the waiting room, Ulivia and Alestra, the dance teacher, blocked his access to the door. "Master Basque. You must return to your seat. You are not allowed in here," Ulivia told him. Alestra just stood in his way.

"Natt! Natt!" Basque screamed.

The door pulled open. He could just see the top of Natt's head over the two women in the way. "Basque!" she said. She wavered from side to side, trying to see past the door guards.

"Excuse me, Viscountess Ulivia, Baronetess Alestra, I would like to speak with Master Basque."

"He must not enter the room," Ulivia said. Alestra crossed her arms.

"I'll make sure he doesn't. If it makes you feel better, you can stand next to the door. I just want to see his—"

"Never mind that!" Basque said. "Where's Reianna?"

The other teachers stared at him. Natt waved him off. "She's in the on-deck room. More importantly, is Avae okay?"

"She's with Tyze. She'll be fine, but you need to tell Reianna to stop! Tell her she needs to follow the plan."

Natt crossed her arms. "I'm sorry, Basque. She has her own plan. She has always had her own plan."

"What are you talking about?" That feeling he had in his gut about missing something regarding Reianna came back hard.

Natt shook her head. "It's not my place to tell you. I know you will think it is. I know you'll be mad at me and maybe never forgive me, but if that's the way things turn out, then that's how they'll turn out."

"Natt?" His stomach churned.

She shook her head. "Go watch your students." Natt went back into the waiting room. Ulivia and Alestra smirked at him. With the uneasy feeling in his stomach, their smugness made him want to punch both of them.

Instead, he just stood there and watched them close the door. Natt had known, or at least had an idea that Reianna wasn't going to follow Basque's instructions. He turned and ran back to the rest of the class. Too much was happening, and even Basque's body was failing to cope with it. His mind wasn't even close to processing everything.

He could get angry later. Anger wouldn't help the situation. He had more important things to do than act like a petulant child. Reianna was making her choices on her own. The only thing for him to do was to help her deal with the repercussions and shield the others around her from the splashback.

By the time he got back to his seat, the battle between Jaezmina and Emmah was all but over. Like the older grade levels involving a Class A student, it wasn't a contest. Jaezmina's mace had broken Emmah's staff. Pieces of it littered the ground. Doing her best not to get crushed, Emmah kept her distance from the other girl by going to the left. The left was a glaring hole in Jaezmina's attacks, and Basque was impressed that Emmah had figured that out.

As soon as the match was over, Jaezmina walked off without acknowledging the cheering crowd or her opponent. Emmah waved at someone in the audience before she left as well with a slight limp.

"What an outstanding match! We'll be expecting more from Marchioness Joandy's third daughter!"

The spectators cheered again.

"And now, we present to you, the last first-year's match of the day! Representing Hianbru, Reianna Santi."

Reianna came out. The majority of the stadium hissed and booed at her, but in the commoner section around them, a few people half-heartedly clapped for her. The silver-haired mage wore her expressionless mask, showing no reaction.

"And representing the Grand Kingdom of Kruami, Marquess Dunizo's eleventh son, Mister Lavrence!"

An all too familiar, large boy with fiery-orange hair, well known by Basque's class, strutted out onto the stage. He preened and flexed his muscles, then pointed at someone in the stands. Whereas Xav's show was easy-to-see goofy sarcasm, Lavrence's had none of that self-awareness.

The crowd roared at his antics while Basque's class stood and booed.

"Destroy him, Rei!" Maecy screamed.

"Tear that Yani a new one!" her twin brother Malcalm joined in.

Lose, Reianna. Please lose.

Lavrence gave Reianna that smirk that drove Basque insane. It was that smirk that said, "You can't do anything to me." He wanted someone someday to punch it off his face, but he didn't want it to be Reianna. And he didn't want it to be today.

Compared to Lavrence, Reianna was tiny. She was already one of the smallest, if not the smallest, student in Basque's class, and Lavrence was by far bigger than the biggest kid in Class E. Looking at size alone, Reianna didn't stand a chance.

Lavrence kept his grin on as he pulled out a battle axe made for his size. He said something to Reianna, and Basque assumed he was taunting her, saying something like, "You won't steal this from me," referencing how Reianna stabbed Sanya.

Reianna didn't respond. She didn't even react.

"Begin!" the announcer called.

This time, Reianna didn't stand around and wait; she sprang forward first.

No! That's not what you're supposed to do!

Lavrence wasn't caught off guard by her speed. He timed her dash and swung his axe down so that it would connect perfectly with her neck.

A thought hit Basque, and his stomach dropped. He didn't know if the rules had been reverted or not.

The axe, perfectly timed to hit, perfectly aimed to hit, perfectly swung to sever Reianna's head, swished through the air. The spectators oohed, and Lavrence's eyes went wide. Reianna stopped in an instant; her momentum crushed.

So sure of his calculations, so sure that there would be no way she could dodge, Lavrence overswung and left himself vulnerable.

Reianna pounded into him. The scoreboard flashed the damage numbers Reianna was putting out and showed Lavrence's remaining health. The round had reverted.

While her strikes were fast, they weren't powerful. She landed ten consecutive blows on him, but they each only took off 1% of his shield. A sense of déjà vu hit Basque. He'd seen those moves somewhere before.

Lavrence recovered. Instead of bringing the axe around again, he thrust the end of the shaft, like it was a staff, to where Reianna's stomach should have been, but she was already gone.

Her fists flashed, and she pounded the shield around his head again for another 10% of his shield. It hit Basque. She was using Harnel's moves. Basque rubbed his temples. Had Harnel given her secret lessons as well?

The match continued like that. Lavrence made short, powerful attacks. Reianna's reactions made them slow and lumbering. Her counters were lightning-quick but weak, only chipping away at Lavrence.

The crowd was into it, but against Reianna. They reverted to the chants they'd used when Avae fled in desperation. Swung! "Hey!" Swing! "Hey!" Swing! "Hey!" "Oooooh-ha! Ooooh-ha! Ooooh-ha!"

In the time it took the spectators to say, "Hey," or "Ha," Reianna fired rapid punches into Lavrence. With thirteen seconds left in the round, Lavrence's shield burst and he went down to a knee.

The colosseum's speakers came to life. "Unexpected. Round two in three seconds." The speaker's silence also took away the sound in the arena.

"Three!"

Sweat poured down Lavrence's face, and his uniform was plastered to his body.

"Two!"

He used his massive axe as a support and panted.

"One!"

Reianna, on the other hand, was completely dry as she bounced on the balls of her feet.

"Start!" the announcer called.

Reianna's face twisted into a snarl. Like the beginning of the first round, she launched herself at him. Once again, he swung at her, but he no longer had the stamina to keep pace with her. He couldn't aim for her neck, his only option was to aim for her torso.

Smiling like she anticipated it, Reianna flipped forward. Her foot planted down on the large flat of the axe. The additional weight pulled Lavrence forward, breaking his balance. He jerked forward as Reianna leaped off the axe.

Her knee met his face, and his head jerked back. The axe, with its forward momentum, went sailing across the arena. Lavrence landed on his back, and like a Cat, Reianna landed in an attack crouch facing the larger boy.

Again, she pounced. Grabbing his hair, she slammed his skull into the ground with a strength Basque didn't know she had.

The boy's skull cracked; blood pooled out from under him. Reianna stood and walked away from the bleeding boy. She didn't look back at him. Her cheeks were flushed, and this time, she didn't look for Basque in the stands. Keeping her head down and gaze focused on the ground in front of her, she walked back to the waiting room.

"Sis, I found the woman I want to marry," Malcalm said.

"Me, too," his sister sighed.

She'd taken revenge. She'd hurt the bully in the exact same way he'd hurt Malcalm. Sanya was an accident. This was on purpose. Her entire battle had been a feint. She'd lured him into getting used to one fighting pattern, a weaker pattern, and when she had the opportunity to do true damage, she'd sprung with strength, catching him off guard.

Reianna was brilliant. She was the most incredible student Basque had ever had, and he didn't know how to stop her. She was going down a road he was horrified she wouldn't be able to come back from.