Volume 5: Chapter 15 – Ma Ke’s Crisis
I anxiously said, “But…What will we do about your wounds?”
Ma Ke bitterly smiled and replied in short gasps, “It… doesn’t matter anymore… Boss, didn’t you say… that we should accept our fate…? If I… am really not meant to die… then I won’t die. You must… become the champions… and let the other academies know… that we… are the strongest…” After he said that, he fainted and a stream of blood continued to pour out from the corner of his lips.
I exclaimed, “Ma Ke, Ma Ke!!!”
Hai Yue stayed beside Ma Ke’s body and wailed painfully till her voice gave out. I sighed and straightened my body, silently vowing to obtain the championship. I looked at Hai Yue and thought, ‘If I knew this would happen, I would not have arranged for her to come along.’
I said, “Hai Yue, I will have to trouble you to treat Ma Ke. As he has a fire natured physique,the effect of your water recovery magic should not be bad. I will treat him again for now and stabilize his condition. After two more days of the competition, we will immediately head back to our academy to treat Ma Ke.”
Hai Yue nodded.
I started to chant my strongest recovery spell. “Great light elements, please use your unceasing holy light to treat the injuries before you and use your merciful heart to save the life in front of you, Heart of the Holy Light!”
The surrounding light elements gathered around me and gradually enveloped me within them. The white light ray slowly became golden. It didn’t have any offensive intent, but was compassionate instead.
I made the light elements form a heart shape. A sparkling heart made of the Holy Light slowly appeared in front of me. I extended my right hand and the golden heart floated toward the pale looking Ma Ke and instantly entered his chest. Ma Ke’s entire body became similar to when I gathered the light elements and emitted a dazzling gold light. His pale face became faintly red.
After a long time, the golden light halo disappeared. I checked Ma Ke’s pulse and realized his erratic pulse was slightly better. Furthermore, both his Qi and blood flow were smoother than before. I let out a long breath. My body wavered a little as after using the advanced recovery spell, I had used a big portion of my energy.
Mu Zi hastily supported me. I told Hai Yue, “I will leave the rest to you. You will have to treat him every two hours. That should be able to stabilize his condition for now. I’m gonna go rest.”
Mu Zi helped me back to my room and used a wet cloth to wipe the perspiration from my forehead. She asked worriedly, “Zhang Gong, how are you faring?”
I replied, “I’m fine, I merely used too much of my magic power. I am most worried about Ma Ke’s condition. I used an advanced recovery spell, but was still unable to treat his wound. I am afraid that even Teacher Zhen will be unable to treat him after we return to school.”
Mu Zi sighed. “We will have to see our luck then. I also hope that nothing will happen to Ma Ke.”
I smiled. “This is Ma Ke’s predestined fate. If he manages to overcome this hurdle, he will definitely be able to win Hai Yue’s heart. Ma Ke, my brother, you must survive this ordeal.”
Mu Zi, Si Wa, and I meditated to recover our magic power as fast as we could for the fourth match tomorrow.
We had checked on the more or less stabilized Ma Ke the next day. We didn’t tell Hai Yue before sneaking out of the room and running to the battle arena.
After reaching the Forest Dragon’s arena, the Vice Principal came over to us. He asked in astonishment, “Why are there only three of you?”
I shot him a bitter smile. “Our teammate is in extremely bad condition from yesterday’s injuries and another of my teammates stayed back to look after him, so naturally, only the three of us have come.” After the Vice Principal heard what I said, I saw signs of joy radiate from his eyes. Did he really think that this would be enough to beat us with ease? I thought with hatred, ‘I will definitely let him see some of my might today!’I didn’t hold back any more in the competition, seriously injuring my opponent with an irresistible force and easily won the first battle.
Mu Zi’s opponent was extremely powerful. It was obvious they saw we had only three members and had arranged to place the strongest competitors of the team to the starting battles. Mu Zi had won the battle with a strenuous effort. She collapsed in my arms right after walking out of the battle arena. I realized that Mu Zi had used up an exceptionally large amount of magic power, and would definitely not be able to recover in time for tomorrow’s matches Tomorrow, we would be facing our strongest opponent in this competition, Forest Dragon Magic Academy. ‘What am I going to do? Ma Ke is already seriously injured. I can’t bear to let Mu Zi be hurt.’
Si Wa’s opponent was the strongest competitor we have faced so far in this competition. It was a fire element magic scholar. He seemed to be his academy’s head teacher in fire magic, who was approximately 50 years in age and had exceptionally strong power.
This was the first time that I got to see Si Wa’s strong defence as his opponent was really powerful. He didn’t counter his opponent and instead stubbornly guarded against his opponent to wear down his opponent’s magic power. Their magical beasts battled, but neither side could get an edge against the other. The entire battle lasted for three hours. Finally, his opponent used up the entirety of his magic power and was thrown out of the battle stage after Si Wa forcefully used an earth spear to strike at his opponent.
Although we managed to win all four matches, my heart sank to the bottom of the valley. Tomorrow would be our last battle and I was the only one in full battle condition. Moreover, we would be facing opponents that would be stronger than any competitors we fought up to this point.
I looked after Mu Zi and Si Wa, who were drained of energy, after returning to the hotel. When I went to Ma Ke’s room, I found Hai Yue sleeping beside Ma Ke’s body. She appeared to be terribly tired.
After checking on Ma Ke and finding out that his condition hadn’t worsened, I relaxed my worrying heart a little.
I sat on the couch at the lounge and ruminated, ‘How are we going to fight tomorrow? Mu Zi and Si Wa’s conditions aren’t good. I’m afraid that they won’t even be able to use half of their magic power. They will only lose their battles.’ I clenched my teeth and made a decision.
I called Mu Zi and Si Wa to the lounge in the morning. From their exhausted expressions, I knew that they weren’t able to recover a lot of their magic power.
Si Wa said, “Zhang Gong, we should head out already. If not, we won’t be able to make it to the arena on time.”
I nodded. “I will be the only one going. The two of you won’t need to go.”
Mu Zi was startled. “How can we let you compete by yourself?”
I bitterly smiled. “Can you even fight in your conditions? It would be useless even if you went up the stage. Don’t forget that I’m a Magister. I will negotiate with Forest Dragon to fight all three battles myself and will definitely be the last one standing.”