Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder-Chapter 1553 - 152 : Great Unity in Friendship

*Cassie*

“We’re gonna miss it if you two slowpokes don’t pick it up,” I complained, jogging ahead of my two friends.

“What’s the big deal?” my friend, Nicole, muttered, huffing as she fought to keep up with my quick steps. “We’re graduating soon. Shouldn’t we be concerning ourselves with more important things?”

“Like practicing for our finals?” Liam supplied helpfully. His legs were much longer than mine and Nicole’s, so he was having no issue keeping up with me.

“We’ve been practicing all day!” I complained with a huff. I grabbed Nicole’s sleeve and pulled her into step beside me. “Let’s have a little fun. I want to see the prospective students sweat.”

“You’re a sadist,” Nicole said. She rolled her eyes but didn’t fight me as I pulled her down to the field where the selection process was taking place.

The fact that Nicole and Liam weren’t affected by my overwhelming optimism was actually a good thing. I had the ability to manipulate emotions. A huge part of my struggle during my time as a student at Queen Lena’s magical school was learning to control this power.

The fact that I was currently keeping my excitement in check was huge for me.

I met Liam and Nicole during our first year. Since then, we had been essentially joined at the hip. I was rather closed off when first entering the academy. I was terrified of people getting mad at me for accidentally manipulating their emotions.

Liam and Nicole didn’t get mad at me when I accidentally made them anxious. Once it wore off, they were fascinated and even found it funny.

My friends and I crept up the hill, peering over and down into the valley where prospective students were showcasing their magic. Many of them were already on the terrifying obstacle course covered in spikes and precarious structures that they had to climb and traverse using their powers.

Liam whistled low when one kid teleported from one platform to the other. “I gotta learn how to do that,” he muttered.

Nicole raised an eyebrow at him. “Pretty sure that’s not how your powers work,” she quipped.

Liam shrugged, “Maybe I have another ability I’ve been hiding from you,” he said a bit cheekily.

I glanced at Nicole before we both rolled our eyes. Liam could create vivid, lifelike projections. It was impressive, but he was kind of always envious of the more tangible abilities that other students possessed.

“You can take mine,” Nicole offered suddenly.

I groaned and shook my head. “You shouldn’t joke about that, Nikki,” I scolded. “You know that your powers are amazing.”

Nikki grimaced, and her shoulders fell slightly. “I know. I’m going to be a great healer one day or whatever, but the power has really been taking a toll on me lately. I guess because I had to push myself even more to get through the last couple of demonstration tests.”

Nikki was probably the most powerful out of the three of us. She wasn’t just a healer. She could transfer life energy from one vessel to another. It was a potentially dangerous ability that could literally kill. She had to wear a dampening charm for the first year before she had a real handle on the power.

Nikki paid extra close attention during the combat portion of the selection process. This was where magic wielders fought one another. Naturally, it was only for prospective students who had an ability that could be used in combat.

I had to look away a couple of times as the students fought. One girl had the power to control trees and was using it to attack a dark-haired boy. The guy made some kind of force field to deflect the attack.

Someone was going to get hurt very soon.

Liam cheered loudly when the kids who had been accepted ascended a nearby stage. They were all sweaty and covered in dirt from the rigorous selection process.

I knew it well.

Seeing the kids getting accepted into the school caused a rush of inspiration and motivation to strike. Liam, Nikki, and I decided to spend more time training.

Just because we were about to graduate didn’t mean we could slack off.

There was a field behind the girl’s dorm building that we liked to practice in. There was a lot of space and less chances of us affecting other people.

Liam lifted a hand, facing Nikki and me. “Don’t freak out,” he requested. “I’m going to create the illusion of a tsunami coming at you.” 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

“Why does it always have to be something terrifying?” Nikki complained, stepping away from him. “Last time, it was giant spiders. Can’t you give us an image of something nice like a rainbow or something?”

Liam rolled his eyes. “It has to be scary,” he said. “I want to use my powers for the greater good, so they have to be impactful. Maybe I could join the defense forces or something if I can create something frightening and realistic.”

I agreed with Liam’s logic. I grabbed Nikki’s hand and squeezed. “This is the perfect opportunity to practice my abilities too,” I said. “I’ll make sure we stay calm. That’s an emotion I’ve been struggling to give people.”

Nikki nodded and let out a breath. “Okay, no pressure, but if you fail, I’m probably going to freak out.”

I grimaced and squeezed her hand harder, focusing completely on the feeling of calm. The familiar warmth stretched through me. I extended it through my fingers and into Nikki’s hand.

“Here I go,” Liam said with a smirk.

Our surroundings were suddenly shrouded in darkness. I fought hard against the familiar panic that filled me and forced the calm back. I felt Nikki’s hand tremble in mine and held my breath, feeling the warmth of my calm seeping further into her hand until it encased her entire body.

She relaxed and flashed me a relieved smile.

Neither of us moved when the darkness gave way to a large wall of water. Liam’s ability truly was extraordinary. The loud rushing of water seemed to surround us. The wall got higher and higher, creating a dark shadow over us.

But I wasn’t afraid.

Suddenly, the frightening image disappeared, and we were dumped back onto the field. Nikki and I looked around in confusion until we saw Liam on his knees several paces away, his palm pressed against his forehead.

“Liam!” Nikki called in alarm as we rushed toward him. We were kneeling in front of him in a flash. Nikki gripped his shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

Liam was clenching his jaw hard but managed to answer. “I might have pushed myself a little too hard,” he said, wincing.

Nikki cursed under her breath. “Sit down,” she ordered tersely.

Liam obeyed with some difficulty, his movements stiff. It was obvious that he was in quite a bit of pain. I helped him into a sitting position while Nikki dug through her backpack. She pulled out a vial with some glowing blue liquid in it. She popped open the cap before hovering her hand over the opening.

The liquid undulated out of the bottle and completely encased Nikki’s slim hand like a glove.

“You shouldn’t have pushed yourself like that,” she scolded Liam, setting a firm hand on his shoulder to keep him in place. “You know what it can do to you.”

“Relax, Nikki,” Liam muttered, but he flinched as another round of pain undoubtedly pierced his skull. “You know my powers aren’t like that. Even if I pushed myself past my limit, it wouldn’t kill me. It’s not like...” he trailed off.

I narrowed my eyes at him warningly.

Nikki pretended not to catch on as she placed her glowing hand over Liam’s forehead, transferring some healing energy into him.

Liam relaxed slightly as the healing magic started to work. He sent me a regretful grimace, knowing he had stepped too far.

Nikki’s magic was powerful and potentially extremely useful in defense and combat, but it was also dangerous to her health. If she wasn’t mindful, she could deplete her life and shorten it.

Curing a bad headache wouldn’t hurt her. It could make her tired, but it wouldn’t affect her lifespan.

“Thanks, Nik,” Liam said when Nikki’s hand fell away from his head. He stood up and stretched. “Not my smartest move ever.”

“That’s an understatement,” I snorted.

We were all sobered from Liam’s little episode, so we decided to lounge under a nearby tree. These were my favorite moments when we could just take a moment to relax and enjoy each other’s company.

The tension was still palpable. We were all thinking about what was going to happen after graduation. “I can’t believe we’re really about to graduate,” I finally said, shaking my head. “Who is allowing us to actually enter the real world?”

Nikki laughed. “We have a handle on our abilities now, at least to some basic extent,” she pointed out. “We’re more ready for the real world than we ever were before.”

I agreed with her to some extent. I was a wreck when I first came to this school, barely able to control my own emotions let alone anyone else’s.

“Whatever happens,” I said, turning to face my two best friends, “let’s promise to stay friends. You guys have supported me through this whole program. I want to continue to be there for each other.”

Liam smirked. “I’m afraid you guys won’t be getting rid of me just cause we’re graduating.”

Nikki nodded firmly. “We need each other,” she said. “You two have helped me through so much. It’ll take a lot more than a graduation to keep me away from you guys too.”

I grinned. “I’m holding you both to that promise.”

The following week, the three of us were clinging to each other once again, beaming since we had just graduated from Queen Lena’s School of Magic.

“We did it, you guys!” I yelled, tossing my hat in the air as high as I could.

Nikki and Liam followed suit, and we laughed loudly as we dove to catch them again before they got lost with the dozens of others spinning through the air.

We had just retrieved our hats when we were approached by one of the teachers. “You three have been called to the dean’s office,” he said urgently. “Immediately.”

The three of us looked at each other, but we had no choice but to follow him into the main building. It was quiet since everyone was outside celebrating and taking pictures. We kept close to one another as we walked.

“Have we done something wrong?” Liam demanded.

The teacher didn’t answer and just wordlessly knocked on the door. We heard a muffled but firm “Come in” before he pushed the door open and let us in.

“Ahh, thank you for coming,” the dean said, standing from his large wooden desk. “I apologize for the abrupt abduction, but this simply could not wait.”

“What is this about, sir?” I asked finally, growing even more nervous.

The dean’s expression was grave, but there was a touch of pride there as well. “A ruthless dragon shifter named Pyroth threatens our entire realm. You three have shown great strength both individually and as a team. You have been called upon to fight for the Light Realm.”

All we could do was gasp and glance at one another in shock.