The Chosen One

• [ 21 ] •

Headmaster Jackson's POV

She respectfully bows to Barden before taking her stance again. She looks slightly worn out, yet is still bearing with it. The water master is forms a ball of water out of nothing, pushing it towards Rose. She doesn't move away, instead she flicks her wrist to the side. The ball of water loses it form and drops to the ground, now out of her way.

"So water is easier for her to manipulate." I think to myself. She shakily begins raising a good amount of water of of the tub as she brings it to her side, the water begins moving gracefully her way. Barden is just watching her get the hang of holding the water in the air when he's powerfully blasted with the water. He loses his balance from her advance, but quickly gets it back. Barden begins advancing Rose with short bursts of balls of water. She creates the shield like she did against her battle with Ivanov, this one more visible obviously.

My friend easily forms a large ball of water and shoots it towards the girl. Rose confirms the water shields grip right before she is forced backwards from the attack, remaining on her two feet. Nothing happens for a couple seconds, then I feel the air becoming dry. Instead of the regular humid air I am used to, this one feels drier, like you may in Russia.

I see Rose gathering the humidity from the air. She forms 8 medium sized balls of water from the humidity in our area. Without giving Barden time to think, Rose pushes the balls quickly towards him in all directions, much like the moving targets in her weaponry test. Barden dispels 6 of her attacks, all within his sight. The other two water balls make him stumble, approaching him in his blind spot, just out of his peripheral vision.

Then, the ever so graceful Barden does something I never imagined he could do. My colleague grows frustrated at the advance, forming his own attack. The water master forms a small boulder sized ball of snow and rushes it towards Rose at incredible speed. I would imagine him training with fully grown adults this way, maybe an impressive year 4, not a first year on her second day.

Snow can only be called upon by water masters, making it hard for any other non-master water wielder to dispel of the attack. Also, only some highly advanced year 4's would be able to react to an advance of that speed. But no, he launches his assault on Rose, a 15 year old who is just using her water element for the first time.

Rose sees the snow attack and looks at a loss for what to do next. The snow forcefully hits her side, sending her flying into the air. I watch uselessly as she hits the ground on her left side and tumbles on the dirt. I can see the blood gushing from her lips as her face makes contact with the dirt ground, tiny cuts and scratches cover anywhere bare skin shows.

I see Rose struggling to breath, unmoving from her sprawled position. She swiftly with grace hangs her head, not submitting to Barden, but to her pain. People in the crowd gasp, a large group of boys from year 1 begin shouting to get help, probably from her home village. Many year 3's and year 4's openly glare at their instructor, knowing that his attack was unfair and difficult to react to, causing her to be injured. The medical team is rushing to get supplies, not predicting her to be this hurt.

Me? Oh I am fuming. Of all people, Barden should know that he mustn't let his emotions rule his actions. I know he would never intentionally hurt a student, but this time, he has gone too far. He walks out of the arena, his head down in shame. Rose just lays there on the ground beginning to move her muscles. She holds her left side with her right arm, her left arm pushing her up. She shakily raises from the ground, wincing in the process. She looks around at her peers, then her gaze moves to me. I raise my eyebrow, but she doesn't care, she is waiting for me to ask her the next question.