112 Chapter 111: Combat practice

"Tomorrow," Agatha said, sighing in irritation. Giving Elize a stern glare, she asked, "Can you concentrate on the class now?"

Elize pouted in protest at her friend's attitude. It was true that it was the fifth or sixth time that she had asked her the same question in the past hour but she couldn't help it. She missed Zack a lot. The urge to be next to her mate was intensified tenfold after her transition. She had somehow held herself together the whole day yesterday, owing to the fact that the girls had kept her busy. 

Nina had helped her with some basic training and now she was easily able to shift back and forth without any trouble. She even learned how to block out the excess noise that kept bothering her. And at night, she had slept off soundly, exhausted from all the activity. Irina had given her a pendant to carry with her during her witchcraft classes to conceal her identity from the rest of the witches. She had carried it in her pocket all day long. 

But none of them taught her how to deal with the intense longing for her mate that kept tugging at her heart every now and then when she was not distracted enough. And hence, she had kept irritating Agatha all throughout the day. And finally, the witch had lost her patience with her. Elize turned towards Legolas with a sigh. 

"Was she always like this?" She asked, pointing towards Agatha with a disappointed look.

"Yup," Legolas said with a chuckle. 

Agatha shook her head, ignoring both of them. She slid her chair slightly away from Legolas and tucked her hair behind her ears, leaning forward to listen to mister Runebreaker go on and on about magical objects. Elize narrowed her eyes at her friend who kept ignoring her. She looked around bored and noticed that some of her classmates were looking at her strangely. When they saw her looking at them, they quickly averted their gaze, whispering something amongst them.

"Tell me something Legolas," Elize said, poking his hand. 

"Yeah?" The elf asked, raising his brows. 

"Why is everyone staring at me like this? Do I have something on my face?" She asked, making a funny face.

Legolas shrugged. "Maybe it's because you're suddenly all too gorgeous and they're jealous." He replied with a wink.

Elize nodded at him appreciatively. "You know for a guy, you have a pretty sweet mouth." She said, patting his back. 

"I know." Legolas replied, "Survival skills are taught to all of us by the royal scholar."

Elize huffed. "Show off." She taunted. 

Suddenly, a ball of paper landed on her desk. Elize looked around in confusion. But she couldn't spot anyone suspicious. Who would throw a paper ball at her? She thought, picking it up. She slowly opened up the ball, careful not to tear it. 

"What's that?" Legolas asked, leaning in.

"Who threw this?!" She shouted, standing up in anger. 

For some reason, her dream kept flashing back in her mind again and again. She knew that there was something that her friends had not told her about the night of her transformation. The thought of what it could have been scared her. She was not ready to accept any wild theories yet. And she definitely was not going to sit back and let people walk over her as they pleased. No one was allowed to do that. She was not a scared human anymore. Her hands trembled in anger as her gaze spanned the expanse of the room. Heads turned towards her. People looked at her as if she had suddenly gone mad.

"Miss Gurg. What is it this time?" Radur Runebreaker asked, getting down from the podium. 

"I-" Elize was suddenly hesitant. 

What was she supposed to say? That someone called her a murderer? 

"What is that in your hand?" He asked, walking towards her seat.

Elize falteringly extended the crumpled paper towards the dwarf. 

"Someone threw this at me." She said, gritting her teeth.

"Let me see." He said, taking it from her.

His face quickly construed into an angry expression. 

"Who drew this?!" He shouted, waving the paper in the air. 

The class fell silent, everyone looking away in fear of the dwarf's wrath. A few glared at Elize, knowing what was to come. 

Runebreaker grunted. "No one wants to admit their mistake? Fine. Then you all can take a trip to the dungeons right now, except for Miss Gurg and her friends." He said angrily.

Aerin was quick to protest, "But sir-"

"You have something to say, Miss Nightwing?" Runebreaker asked, raising his brows. 

"I don't see why we all have to get punished for something we didn't do." It was Firyr who spoke up this time. 

The she-elf had changed her seat from the middle row to the front, sitting next to Aerin. It was evident from the time of the party that Firyr had become one of Aerin's devoted followers. Elize couldn't figure out why, but she guessed that it had something to do with Legolas and Agatha. She hadn't had the time to ask Agatha about it yesterday. 

"Anyone else shares the same opinion as Miss Encan here?" Runebreaker asked, gazing coldly over the class.

Although no one directly answered him. murmurs started rising in the class until Runebreaker couldn't stand it anymore. 

"Silence!" He shouted, "I will not tolerate such childish behavior in my class. Apologize to Miss Gurg right now!"

"Sorry Miss Gurg." The entire class echoed in unison. 

Elize looked at the dwarf with her mouth open. Instead of solving the problem, Runebreaker had unintentionally made her more enemies in the class. It was quite evident from the glares that she was now receiving from all corners of the room.

"That will be all for today's class. If I see any such incidents again, I will personally see to it that you all are sent to the dungeon with a nightmare demon. Do you hear me?" He warned, shaking his fingers at the class.

"Yes sir." The class replied in murmurs.

"Miss Gurg, please don't be disheartened by them. They don't know what they're talking about." RUnebreaker said with a sympathetic smile. 

"Thank you, sir," Elize said awkwardly. 

Runebreaker quickly conjured a fire rune and burned the paper with it. Without looking back, he walked out of the class briskly. As soon as the man left the glass, all eyes were once again on Elize. Most of them were hostile while some were even sympathetic. They quickly filed out of the class, ignoring the group of three.

"You okay?" Agatha asked, squeezing Elize's hand.

Elize nodded with a tight smile. Although the sketch did bother her, she didn't dare to show it. She didn't want to deal with it now. She was sure that she wouldn't be able to.

"Let's have lunch together in the garden," Legolas said with a huge smile, getting up from his seat. "I have prepared something special for today."

"You know how to cook?" Agatha asked, surprised.

Legolas smiled smugly. "Mother says that it is important for a man to know how to cook. Of course, I was born with the talent as well." He said running his hands through his hair.

Elize chuckled, watching the exchange between her friends. 

"Hey, Legolas?" Firyr asked, suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

"What do you want Firyr?" Agatha asked, irritated.

"I was talking to him," The she-elf retorted rudely.

"What is it?" Legolas asked, stepping in.

"Aerin told me that you cooked something special for me today." Firyr replied shyly.

"It is true that I cooked something special. But it's definitely not for you. Run along to your boss and tell her that I'm not falling for it." Legolas said with a smirk.

"But-" Firyr said, evidently shocked.

"Move away, will you? We have someplace to get to." Agatha said, dismissively, pushing the elf out of the way.

Elize didn't feel any pity for the girl as she caught her watching their retreating figures. Agatha always had a good reason for being rude to someone, she told herself.

----

"Gather around everyone. We'll be doing combat practice today. Pick a stick from the cup and divide yourself according to the colors you draw." Lang Jin said, waving at the students.

Slowly everyone came to stand around the group of seniors. Elize stood at the back, waiting for her turn to pick a stick. The cup was passed around the group until everyone picked one. Elize too got hers.

"There will be four groups consisting of eight members each," Eun said, taking the empty cup back from one of the students. "Winners will fight against other winners till each group has a single champion. The champions of each group will fight against one another. The final winner will be declared based on agility, combat moves, the strength of your wolf, and the number of blows received."

Elize sighed hearing the announcement. Although she had mastered shifting back and forth her forms, she was not confident enough to battle it out yet. It had only been less than two days since she had transitioned. Hence she didn't think that it was apt for her to take the stage yet. 

Hoping to give an excuse to sit out, she stepped forward, when Nina quickly announced, "No one is allowed to sit out. No excuses. We're going to conduct timed matches. So five minutes is all you'll get in each match."

"Great." Elize murmured, rolling her eyes.

As her classmates formed into groups, Elize complied and joined her own. A senior was appointed to monitor each group. Numbers were given to each one of them and their slots decided. As Elize waited for her own turn, she bit her lips nervously.

"Hey there," Nina said, coming up from behind.

Elize nodded with a tight smile.

"Are you sure that this is a good idea?" She asked anxiously.

Nina chuckled. "I thought you hated being human. It's time to embrace your wolf Elize." She said, patting her back.

"But-" Elize protested, unsure of the decision.

"No buts. You remember how to shift and shift back right?" Nina asked, raising her brows.

"Yes," Elize replied with a sigh.

"Do me proud Luna." The she-wolf said with a wink.