CHAPTER 159: BAD BLOOD

The girl kept pressing, her attacks relentless... walls, pillars, spikes driven by brute force. But the boy never retaliated. He just evaded, gliding across the arena like a shadow, eyes calmly observing the girl’s every move.

Then, she shifted, planting her foot, preparing a trap beneath him. Sharp pillars of earth began to rise beneath the boy.

But before she could finish the attack—

WHOOOSH!

A massive wave of water erupted from the boy’s outstretched hands, surging forward like a tidal beast.

The girl reacted fast, forming an earth wall just in time. The water slammed into it with a deafening crash. The impact shook the arena, but the wall held, at first.

Then—

Crack.

A thin fracture split across the wall’s surface.

The girl’s eyes widened. The boy didn’t move. This had been his plan all along... using water not to overpower, but to erode.

Another crack. Then another.

The girl tried to reinforce the barrier, but she was seconds too late.

CRASH!

The wall shattered, and the roaring wave blasted through, slamming into her and sending her flying across the arena. She hit the protective barrier hard, crumpled to the ground, and didn’t get back up.

Just like that... the match was over.

The wiry guy had won and the large holographic screen announced his victory.

Jayden turned to Cassandra, a knowing smirk tugging at his lips. "Told you."

Cassandra rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "Hmph. He just got lucky."

Jayden chuckled but said nothing, the smirk never leaving his face.

The tournament raged on, match after match, with the strongest students of Eleanora High carving their way through the brackets.

Tasha had dominated effortlessly, her lightning strikes leaving opponents twitching on the ground before they even realized they’d lost. She had won all her fights, either by forfeit or knockout.

Jayden barely broke a sweat, his unnatural strength and adaptability making each fight seem like child’s play. He didn’t use any ability throughout the rest of his matches, neither did he spend more than a minute in every fight.

Cassandra, despite her frustration with constant Martial Arts modifiers, had dismantled every challenger with surgical precision. She never got the Ability modifier, not once. But the ones she fought in, she won all.

Jessica, though not as overwhelmingly powerful as the others, had proven her mastery over wind, outmaneuvering foes with grace and strategy. She managed to win two of her fights as well.

And after a series of fights, the finals finally arrived, and in a twist of fate the tournament was already coming to an end.

Mrs. Valerie stepped forward after the last scheduled match, silencing the crowd with a wave of her hand.

"The preliminary rounds have concluded," she said, her voice amplified through the arena’s sound system. "We now proceed... to the finals."

A large holographic screen lit up behind her, displaying the brackets.

[Final Matchups:

[Cassandra Isley vs. Theo Anderson]

[Jayden Starrk vs. Mark Dain]

[Natasha Smith vs. Laura Kenshin]

[Carl Danvers vs. Jessica Smith]

The crowd rippled with gasps and murmurs. Some cheered. Others looked on in shock.

Cassandra and Theo was first.

Theo stepped forward, eyes darting between the crowd and the stoic figure of Cassandra, who stood still with her hands behind her back. After only a few seconds of tense silence, he stepped back.

"I forfeit," he muttered.

Shock rippled through the stands.

"Did... did he just forfeit?"

"He didn’t even try!"

"He looked at her and noped out! Cassandra’s awesome."

Mrs. Valerie consented the forfeit and Cassandra was declared the winner.

Next was Jayden vs Mark. The two approached the stage, but before even setting foot on the platform, Mark turned to Mrs. Valerie.

"I forfeit as well."

More gasps. But the students could still relate. Who in their right mind would fight Jayden? He was a monster.

He was declared the winner before heading back to his seat.

Tasha stepped into the ring next, facing off against her opponent; Laura. But to everyone’s surprise, Laura didn’t even draw a weapon.

"I’m not fighting someone leagues above me," she said simply, stepping aside. "It’s pointless."

Tasha raised a brow. "So..."

"Yes." Laura finished. "I forfeit."

Tasha didn’t say anything. She simply walked off the platform, arms crossed as the screen displayed her as the winner.

The students didn’t even complain about this one. They knew Tasha was already above their league, fighting her was truly pointless. It’ll only lead to unnecessary pain for her opponents.

Lastly, it was *mCarl vs Jessica. Jessica stood calm, so did Carl. But before they could even step down to the arena, Jessica raised her hand.

"I’m out. No thanks."

The arena exploded into noise—complaints, boos, and groans.

"This is a joke!"

"Where’s the actual fighting?!"

"Too many forfeits! This is the finals, not a walkover."

Mrs. Valerie pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed deeply. "Miss Smith, are you certain? Don’t you atleast want to give it a go?" she urged.

But Jessica shook her head. "Nope, I’m good. I’m not interested in winning anyways, so I’ll just watch and see how this plays out."

Mrs. Valerie exhaled. "Very well," she said. With a flick of her fingers, the holographic screen shifted.

[New Matchups:

[Cassandra Isley vs Tasha Smith]

[Modifier: Ability]

This time, the crowd really erupted.

Cassandra and Tasha.

Two of the strongest students in the entire academy. While Tasha was the undisputed powerhouse, Cassandra had always been a mystery. She was known to be at level 17, but that was her accessment from two years ago. She hadn’t gone for a reaccessment ever since, but everyone knew she was definitely stronger than she claimed to be

Even Jayden watched carefully, arms folded, eyes sharp. "I wonder who would win this."

Jessica leaned forward. "Yeah, it’s hard to tell. And even though Tasha’s level is higher than Cassie’s, I can tell that Cassie wouldn’t let up so easily. Heck, even I know I can’t defeat her."

Jayden nodded. "Tasha is strong from what I’ve seen. But Cassie... I’ve fought with her once, and I almost lost. Infact, based on aura, she’s more powerful than Carl. Which means her and Tasha should be on the same level."

Jessica exhaled deeply. "I see. That means this fight would be impossible to predict."

Jayden nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Right now, all we can do is watch and see how it plays out."

The students whispered theories, gossip, speculation. And all of it faded as Cassandra and Tasha stepped forward—silent, composed, and dangerous.

They weren’t friends. They weren’t rivals either.

But they despised each other.

No one knew why. But everyone felt the tension in the air the moment they locked eyes. The way they looked at each other...it was like they’d been waiting for this moment for a very long time. And in truth, they had.

Tasha rolled her shoulders, cracking her neck. Her aura flared slightly, like fire licking beneath her skin.

Cassandra simply took a battle stance. No energy flared, no aura, no theatrics.

But her eyes? They said everything.

Jayden swallowed, sensing it in the pit of his stomach.

This wasn’t just a tournament match.

This was personal.

Jayden turned to Jessica. "Okay, is someone gonna tell me what exactly happened between them?" he said.

Jessica sighed. "I guess I could tell you what happened. But you didn’t hear it from me, okay?"

Jayden nodded. "Okay."

Jessica leaned back in her seat. "Well, it all started about a year ago. Tasha was running for president and Cassie was supporting her campaign. Infact she was going to be Tasha’s vice president."

"So what happened?" Jayden asked.

"Everything was going fine at first. Cassandra was using her popularity to reel in supporters for Tasha and they actually had a chance of winning even though their opponent was the daughter of the city’s leader." Jessica explained.

Jayden raised a brow. "I thought Tasha won unrivalled."

Jessica chuckled. "She did in the end, but... it’s kinda complicated." she replied. "Anyways, they both stood a chance at winning. But then... Cassie suddenly declared her interest in becoming president and ran against Tasha."

Jayden pupils dilated in awe. "Woah, that must have been..."

"Bad?" Jessica Interrupted. "Yeah, it was. Tasha was devastated. She felt betrayed, angry. I was too. We didn’t expect Cassandra to do something like that."

Jayden exhaled. "But why would Cassie do something like that?"

Jessica sighed. "At first I thought Cassie was just being a basic bitch. But then I realised that there had to be a reason she’d do something like that." she said, turning to face Jayden.

"And it turns out... she did."

Jayden furrowed his brows, he was now very interested in the story.

"When I confronted Cassandra, she explained to me why she did what she did." Jessica said. "Their original opponent, Megan White, wasn’t just the daughter of the most influential person in the city. She was also the most powerful person in the academy at the time, with a power level of 23."

Jayden was stunned. "Level 23?"

Jessica chuckled. "Yeah, impressive right? That was who Tasha had to compete with. And believe me, it wasn’t easy." she explained. "Cassie brought in fans, yes. But they weren’t enough to defeat someone like Megan. So she decided to try something more drastic. Building a political fanbase of her own."

Jayden arched a brow. "So running against Tasha was a strategy?"

Jessica nodded. "Yeah. Cassie knew that most of the students would support her if she went for president, rather than being the vice president of someone else. So she planned to run against Tasha, secure more fans and forfeit at the last minute while making sure to redirect her newly gotten supporters to Tasha’s cause."

Jayden chuckled. "Wow, that’s actually a really good plan."

Jessica smiled. "I know right. Cassie was quite the politician back in the day.

"Guess she picked up a few things from her mother." Jayden muttered. "But... did Tasha know about this plan of hers?"

"She did eventually." Jessica replied.

Jayden furrowed his brows. "So what happened? Why didn’t they resolve things? Afterall, Cassie did what she did for Tasha’s sake."

Jessica sighed. "That’s what I don’t understand till this day." she said. "When I told Tasha about Cassandra’s actual plan. I thought they would reconcile, but... I was wrong. They didn’t. Infact, things became much worse between them."

Her gaze turned to face the arena where Tasha and Cassandra stood. "I don’t know if it’s because they refused to apologize to each other, or because Tasha was mad Cassie didn’t tell her about it sooner. Either way, they’ve been like this ever since the day Megan and Cassie forfeited the election. Hurt, spiteful and mad at each other."

Jayden exhaled and faced the arena as well, he had already learnt what he needed to know about Cassandra and Tasha’s bad blood.

Down at the arena, the air was thick with tension. The girls were still engaged in an intense staring contest.

Even Mrs. Valerie didn’t say anything at first. She looked between the two girls, eyebrows raised. Then, finally, she cleared her throat.

"You may both approach the platform."

Both girls stepped forward without a word.

The crowd leaned in, holding their breath.

And the arena, once so loud, fell silent again.

Exactly like it had with Laura and Jayden.

Only this time...

It was a battle between old friends.

"You ready for this?" Tasha asked, her fingers sparking with lightning.

Cassandra grinned as her fists got engulfed with flames. "Always."

Then together, they chorused:

"May the best girl win."