Page 73 of Two Who Live On

“Hell of a showing.”“Might need him at our guild.”

“Told you to relax, Dorian.”

With Caleb’s mind completely blank in a field of no magic, I watched him race toward Jamie.

“Thatbranchlessbastardis actuallytryingtokill me.” Jamie scrambled backward, genuine terror on his face, but it was misguided fear.

Banishment casting destroyed demonic energy. Sure, a perfected banishment nullified Jamie’s magics, but he was in no real danger. Still…

His thoughts turned feral, the sour notes piercing through the air and shredding all other inner voices. Beneath the rage lie a hollow calm attempting to claw its way forth. “I’m not even sure going all out can counter a perfected banishment.”

Caleb punched Jamie in the face, knocking him to the ground. The heavy right hook lacked telekinesis because Caleb had expunged all his energy with the tiny burst earlier and now fixated all his root magic into one perfected strike of banishment circling the air.

“What the hell is this kid?” Jamie lay motionless, thoughts stirring in a hundred fuzzy scenarios where he feared enchanter involvement—perhaps hesitating because of the last time he’d taken combat too far and had almost been disqualified. Whatever his reason, Jamie drifted into the depths of his mind, surrendering to an unconscious state.

Caleb Huxley had done something I’d never witnessed firsthand. Not from a student. Not from an enchanter. Not from a single person in my lifetime.

He’d unleashed a perfected root magic. They were rare, difficult to attain or maintain. Like all root magics, branches too, I supposed, they held different levels of skill set. Basic banishment removed wisps and traces of demonic energy, enhanced understanding allowed the removal of fiends, and advanced proficiency eliminated demons. But a perfected state could banish or nullify all magical energy in the atmosphere. A perfected state of core power few focused on because training our branches was fundamentally ingrained in our heads for licensing or maintaining control of the flow of unique magic circulating inside us.

Jamie lay on the arena floor unconscious while Caleb wheezed heavily, his channeled magic waning and body trembling. His knees shook, barely holding him upright. Kenzo—having regained control over his magics—flew directly toward Caleb, his disruption at theready and unwilling to take second place as they remained the only active competitors on the field.

“Don’t think for a second I’m going to hold back on you, Branchless Blunder.” Kenzo closed their distance, Caleb’s mind a foggy mess. I wasn’t sure how much longer he’d last, honestly. “And if you think you can keep up with me with your knockoff root version of my branch, you’re wrong.”

Kenzo snatched Caleb by the collar, reeling back a fist until Caleb collapsed into Kenzo’s chest. Kenzo froze, holding Caleb upright as his legs gave way.

Scanning Caleb’s thoughts, the fog had shifted into a soft, dreamy lull. How he’d managed to stay upright despite losing consciousness was a sheer will of force meant to prove his worth here.

And he had.

Caleb had gone from the branchless kid ranked at 160 to taking second place in the first-year student’s Spring Showcase. Even if he hadn’t placed, Caleb continued demonstrating his value at Gemini time and time again, and I wished he understood how triumphant he’d become.

“In a completely anticlimactic showdown, Kenzo Ito is our first-place winner,” Chanelle shouted, followed by an explosion of fireworks and a roaring crowd.

I descended to the arena, walking around broken stone tiles to reach my students.

“Wake up.” Kenzo shook Caleb. “Wake up, you bastard.”

“Kenzo,” I said, “you won.”

“No. Wake up, Branchless.” He continued shaking Caleb, holding him upright and casting gray static along his temples to block his thoughts. “You don’t get to do this. You don’t get to knock yourself out of this competition after perfecting a goddamn root magic. Wake up and fight me! Prove you belong here! Prove me wrong, you fucking loser.”

I grabbed Caleb, pulling him away from Kenzo, blocking most of his rage and the audience’s perplexed internal opinions. “It’s over.”

It took everything to hold Caleb without falling into the sadness pouring from Kenzo. His naturally furious nature dimmed; melancholy and rage and love and hatred and so many other complicated feelings between the two I still didn’t understand boomed in instantaneous flashes.

“Dammit, Caleb.” Kenzo stormed off the arena, ignoring the cheers, the comments, and everything other than how Caleb had failed and bested him all at once.

I carried Caleb off the stage and to the infirmary while proctors tended to the other students.

The halftime show kept the audience of industry witches entertained long enough for our top three in the Spring Showcase to recover and join in the closing ceremony. Jamie took the stage in the third-place podium with rejuvenation sigils marked along his face and disgust he’d lost to not one but two witches beneath him. Caleb anxiously stood on the second-place podium, in awe of the audience more than his placement. All he wanted was a closer view of the many enchanters he methodically studied from a distance. Meanwhile, Kenzo stood at the first-place podium, pensive and calm, his mind mostly silent despite his earlier outburst. The praise and fawning did nothing to lift his spirits, and he hardly found the enchanters in attendance moderately impressive.

“I know everyone, like myself, is eager to hear from this year’s champion.” Chanelle handed Kenzo her microphone.

He held it, quietly observing the audience. His eyes flitted toward Jamie and Caleb, anger spiking, but for completely different reasons, then he settled, releasing a heavy breath, testing the acoustics.

“I’d say this is an honor, but I hate liars. It was an uneventful and unchallenging showcase, given the pathetic competition I faced. Truthfully, the only thing worse than everyone attending this academy is the enchanters who took the time from their ‘oh so busy’ schedules to watch this performance. I’d say you have jobs to perform, but not a single one of you can do your fucking job, which is to protect this city and its citizens.” Kenzo gripped the microphone, shooing a nervous Chanelle away. “You’re all weak and pathetic. I can’t wait until I graduate from this second-rate program and finally show you how it’s done.”

Kenzo dropped the microphone and left.

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