"Glacius Hastam. Congela et Traice." Three large glowing red mana circles expanded in front of his palm as the mana coalesced—creating a wave of pressure that impacted those in the hall. Melody’s screeching scream pierced their ears, but it was drowned out by the hum of power echoing within the hall. The three boys opposite Michael instantly went pale as the absurd amount of mana was poured into the mana circles. "We’re going to die!" Randolph and Craig who were accompanying Braydon turned on their heels and ran as fast as they could, abandoning any semblance of noble bearing—prioritizing their own safety over their bosses. Meanwhile, Braydon froze, his earlier snide grin was replaced by utter shock and fear. His bravado was no more, reducing him to a mere training dummy stood sentinel in front of the powerful attack. Yet unfortunately for him, he did not possess the hexagonal shield like the dummy. Three large icicles materialized from the center of the glowing mana circles, a few inches in diameter and five feet long. They were like spears or lances, ready to pierce through any target unlucky enough to be in their way. Before the entire length of the icicle could reveal itself, the three spears shot out at a blinding speed—each with their own designated target. Braydon was the closest, having not taken the opportunity to run from the very real threat in front of his face. The ice lance blasted through the air, hitting its mark—a bloodcurdling scream proceeding the impact. The sound caused the two escapees to run with even more desperation, spurned on by the deathly wail of their friend. But Michael’s expression was fierce—almost primal as he watched the lance’s sweep through the air at blinding speed. Two dull thuds rang out as the icicles found their mark— screams following shortly after. Having completed their mission, the icicles dissipated, turning into beautiful motes of light that gradually lost their form—dispersing back into the ether. Content originally comes from novel fire.net Melody had closed her eyes after the first scream, unable to watch the slaughter that was taking place right in front of her. She had misjudged Michael completely, never expecting that he was capable of such wanton killing—in Arcadia academy of all places. "Let’s go," Michael said, his tone hoarse as he grabbed onto Melody’s arm—intending to take her back to the violet dorms. However, she recoiled almost immediately, breaking free from his grasp "You monster! How could you kill them!?" she cried out, all the shock, anger and betrayal escaping in one visceral moment. "Kill?" Michael tilted his head in confusion, "when did I kill anyone?" The words caused Melody to pause, her gaze moving towards where Braydon had been standing earlier. He was on the ground, laying on his back silently—but there was no blood, no evidence of the attack striking him at all. She then looked further down the hall and saw two figures seated, their faces pale as a ghost as they stared at Michael with fear. But they too had no wounds, nothing to suggest that they had been struck by the devastating ice lance attack. "Did you really think I would kill a student?" Michael asked in disbelief. Sure he was not in a great headspace at the moment, but he could never be capable of performing cold-blooded murder—or at least he hoped so. Though it was a little saddening to see Melody immediately jump to such a conclusion, he couldn’t exactly blame her for thinking so. After all, it had been his intention to scare the three teens enough that they would think twice about bugging him in the future. Anything less than what he had shown would likely have had no effect. His emerald eyes gazed at Melody, evaluating her silently—as if waiting for her response. Yet all he saw was shock, confusion and a hint of something else. But it disappeared too quickly for him to grasp. "We need to go before a professor arrives..." she said, composing herself. She grabbed his arm and pushed on, walking past the unconscious Braydon as if he was a dead animal on the side of the road. As they walked past, Craig and Randolph were silent, seemingly not daring to speak and risk provoking Michael again. The fear and dread in their eyes were enough for Michael to know his tactics had worked—at least for now. The problem was, how would Braydon react when he woke up? While no one besides his lackeys had witnessed the show of power, the guy’s ego would definitely be bruised from the humiliation. Now that Michael had cast the first stone, it could very well lead down a treacherous path of resulting in all-out warfare between them. Michael glared at the two teens as he walked past, as if to reinforce his dominance. Braydon was one thing, but if he could cow the lackeys into submission—it could very well fracture their group, allowing some breathing space. Their fast pace quickly led them to the violet dorm where Melody opened the door swiftly and turned to Michael, "Get in." She said with all the authority of a noble woman who had been scorned. Michael let out a small sigh in his heart before doing as he was told. As he entered, he saw Rudy lounging on the lounge, his eyes lighting up. "Oh hey guys, happy Sunday," he said with a grin. "What the hell was that back there!?" Melody slammed the door behind her, waving her finger in Michael’s face, clearly angry. "Oh damn, what did he do?" Rudy sat up to attention, his interest immediately piqued. But Melody ignored him, her sapphire eyes focused on Michael intensely. "What were you thinking? Attacking Bradyon like that..." "WHOA! You attacked Braydon!?" Rudy shot up from his seat, his eyes wide with surprise and excitement. "Did you kick his ass? Did he cry?" he fired off rapid questions, unable to contain his curiosity. "I bet he cried—I definitely saw a tear in his eye when I barged into him on the first night." The guy commented, not even allowing Michael or Melody the time to respond. Rudy’s interruption made it difficult to keep serious—at least that was the case for Michael. He wanted nothing more than to tell his friend the entire story, knowing that he would appreciate the move. However, Melody’s glare brought him back to the reality of the situation. Perhaps I acted a little rashly... he thought with a sigh.