Blue College Combat Mage

“Shit,” you mutter to yourself as you sit crouched behind a slab of broken stone. A dull whistle rings in your ears as another spell races past overhead, before detonating with a bright white flash some distance behind you. You look to the side, taking note of the feminine forms of your teammates also crouched behind similar barriers.

“Shit, shit, shit,” you curse again, your frustration at being pinned down in this position releasing itself through unladylike swearing. You peek your head up to take a brief glance, dropping after an instant to avoid the shower of magical projectiles shooting through the air your skull just occupied. Gritting your teeth in frustration you focus your magic, and summon a magical eye high up in the domed roof of the room. Closing your real eyes you focus on your magical eye, and peer down upon the battlefield.

A scene of devastation greets your eye, broken pillars and craters from numerous explosions pepper the floor, floating globes of light sending long shadows creeping along the ground, shadows that are banished each time a bright bolt of magical destructiveness races past. Two groups of girls are crouched at either end of the hall, one group in tight shirts of blue, the other in red. You spot your distinctive blue hair crouched among the blue-shirted girls, only five of your team remaining from the original twelve. You turn your gaze to the red team, noticing that their numbers are still in double figures, only having lost two girls so far. A green haired figure stands unconcerned at the back of the team, pointing and shouting orders.

“Alyssa” You mutter to yourself as you recognise the distinctive hair colour of your opposition’s team captain. It was a tradition to colour your hair a bright colour when becoming a team captain, differentiating you from your subordinates.

A shrieking whistle and an explosion shakes you out of your musings, reminding you that the current situation is your team pinned down, against superior numbers and firepower. Losing this match would drop your team’s rankings down again, probably resulting in another visit to the blues' lieutenant, a meeting that your arse still feels slightly sore from.

You are a girl currently going to the pentagon of all-girls schools collectively known as Academy. Starting in blue college (one of the five colleges) you trained in combat magic from an early age, slowly working your way up the ranks to become a team captain, and lead a squad of 12 other girls in the intercollege competition you are currently fighting in. The different colleges pit 12 girls against each other in constant fights, each match having different objectives for success, to find the strongest college.

Your current match pits you against one of the strongest teams of reds. The objective is for your team to release a sealed ‘demon’ in the reds territory; however, the keyword for releasing the ’demon’ is known only to those on the red team. This means you are going to need to capture one of the reds' girls, and interrogate them, all the while under enemy fire. So far the match hasn’t gone so well: five of your team members having been taken out by a powerful group spell from the reds, and another two being taken down by the continuous volleys of fire.

You glance tentatively around the corner of the pile of rubble, spotting and identifying 3 girls of the other team. The only way for you to acquire the keyword is capturing one of the girls. You scan the faces of the opposition, and see that the closest girl to you, a stereotypical curvy blonde, seems a bit distant. With a small smile you decide that she will be your first target.

You push your hands tight together, and begin to mutter the words of a summoning spell. The flashy, though weak, attacks of your comrades are distracting the enemy team, allowing you the time to complete the summoning. You throw your hands wide, a string of arcane symbols spreading between them, before coalescing and forming themselves into a humanoid form. A dark figure forms out of the air, its outline seeming to suck in all light, no features visible at all. With a gesture and a quietly whispered command you direct the creature to the girl.

With a flash the creature disappears, its form flickering and disappearing as it races across the shattered ground. You peer out around the rubble, watching with fingers crossed as the creature approaches its target, hoping that it will not be noticed by the absentminded girl. Luckily the flashy magic of your team draws all the enemies' attention, allowing your summon to advance unnoticed.

Finally the girl notices the form rushing toward her, and spins slightly, letting loose a high pitched scream of surprise. The action is too late however, and the summon pounces on the girl, covering her in its dark form. You mutter the words of returning, and the demon disappears, and reappears next to you, dumping its victim before fading out for good.