Help! I'm just an extra yet the Heroines and Villainesses want me!-Chapter 41

The next day arrived and William couldn’t help but feel like he was walking into a minefield. The quarterfinals would reduce eight competitors to four, then semifinals would narrow it further to two. After that came the specialty challenges that would determine final rankings for the Inter-Academy team selection.

Three of his remaining seven opponents were sitting at dangerous curse percentages. Claire had exceeded the secondary threshold and was apparently on the verge of a violent activation. Seraphina was one point from her previous activation level. And Lyanna had jumped dramatically from yesterday’s match, showing that combat engagement triggered stronger curse responses than normal proximity.

William dressed and headed to the arena, trying to figure out how he was going to navigate the day without triggering a catastrophic incident in front of hundreds of witnesses.

The quarterfinal brackets were already posted when he arrived:

Platform One: Liam Hemsworth vs Adrian Thorne (Arcturus 4th-year)

Platform Two: William Cross vs Devon Marsh (Luminara 3rd-year)

Platform Three: Seraphina Ashenheart vs Patricia Crane

Platform Four: Claire Hivolt vs Elena Voss (Arcturus 3rd-year)

William felt a measure of relief seeing his matchup. Devon Marsh was skilled but not exceptional, and more importantly, wasn’t on the curse tracking list. A clean fight without complications was exactly what he needed right now.

The relief lasted until he looked at the potential semifinal matchups. If he won and Claire won, they would face each other in semifinals. That would put him in direct combat with someone the system had flagged as extremely high risk for violent activation.

"Competitors to your assigned platforms," the announcement came. "Quarterfinals begin in ten minutes."

William made his way to platform two and found Devon already there, warming up with practice forms. The third-year student had wind and water affinities according to what William remembered from watching preliminary matches.

"William," Devon acknowledged with a nod. "I heard you beat Lyanna yesterday. That’s really impressive."

"She’s stronger than the match result imply," William said.

"Maybe, but you still won." Devon settled into a ready stance as the referee approached. "Let’s see what you’ve got."

The referee checked both competitors. "Begin!"

Devon opened with wind enhancement, using speed to circle and probe for openings in William’s defense. It was a cautious approach that meant Devon had watched William’s previous matches and recognized that direct confrontation favored the fire user.

William didn’t chase, instead creating heat zones that limited Devon’s mobility options while conserving his own essence reserves. Devon adapted by using water techniques to counter the heat, creating steam that obscured vision and made precise strikes harder.

The match settled into a tactical exchange where both fighters tested each other without committing to risky attacks. William maintained pressure with controlled fire enhancement while Devon used mobility and environmental manipulation to avoid direct engagement.

Four minutes in, William noticed Devon’s essence reserves showing strain from maintaining dual-affinity techniques simultaneously. Wind and water were both useful but required careful balance to use together effectively, and the extended engagement was draining Devon faster than simple fire enhancement cost William.

William pressed the advantage, increasing his offensive tempo and forcing Devon to commit more essence to defensive techniques. The steam obscuration became less effective as Devon’s water manipulation degraded from essence depletion.

Six minutes into the match, William broke through Devon’s defenses with a fire-enhanced combination that left no room for evasion. The strike connected cleanly, ending the fight.

"Match to Cross!"

Devon accepted the loss with good grace. "Your essence capacity is unfair. I knew I was running out before you were even breathing hard."

"That hardly true, I was on my last legs."

They descended from the platform and William checked the other matches. Liam had defeated Adrian in a technical showcase that demonstrated why the protagonist was considered the academy’s top student. Seraphina had overwhelmed Patricia through pure combat aggression, advancing with brutal efficiency.

Platform four was still active with Claire fighting Elena. William watched and immediately noticed something was wrong. Claire’s strikes carried excessive force, her movements had a manic edge, and her eyes showed the same wild unfocused quality from her previous near-activation.

Elena was skilled enough to defend initially, but Claire’s relentless assault gave no breathing room. Every exchange pushed harder, faster, with intensity that went beyond normal competition aggression.

"What’s wrong with Hivolt?" someone in the crowd muttered. "She looks possessed."

Claire scored a decisive hit that ended the match, but she didn’t stop. Her sword continued toward Elena’s chest even after the referee called the match, only stopping when Elena threw herself backward in panic.

"Match called!" the referee shouted while stepping between them. "Hivolt, stand down!"

Claire blinked, seeming to return to herself. She lowered her weapon and stared at it like she didn’t understand how it had gotten there. Then she looked at Elena with visible horror at what she’d almost done.

"I’m sorry," Claire said quietly. "I don’t know what... I’m sorry."

She left the platform quickly before anyone could question her further, disappearing into the crowd. The referee looked concerned but didn’t pursue, probably writing it off as competition stress manifesting dangerously.

William felt his stomach sink. Claire was losing control even without him being directly involved in the situation. If they fought in semifinals, there was no telling what the combat intensity modifier would do to her percentage.

The semifinal brackets posted:

Match One: Liam Hemsworth vs William Cross

Match Two: Seraphina Ashenheart vs Claire Hivolt

William stared at the matchups and felt simultaneously relieved and concerned. He wouldn’t have to fight Claire, which eliminated the immediate activation risk. But Claire would be fighting Seraphina, which meant two high-percentage curse targets engaging in direct combat with each other.

That could go wrong in creative and terrible ways.

The semifinals were scheduled for early afternoon, giving competitors a few hours to rest and recover. William found a quiet spot and tried to prepare mentally for fighting Liam while also worrying about what would happen on the other platform.

"William."

He looked up and found Liam standing there with his usual easy smile.

"Looks like we’re finally doing this properly," Liam said while sitting down. "No holding back this time?"

"Were you holding back in our training sessions?" William asked.

"A little, yeah. I didn’t want to actually hurt you during practice." Liam’s expression turned more serious. "But this is a real match with judges scoring performance. I’m going to fight at full capability."

"Good. I’d be insulted if you didn’t."

They talked for a while about combat tactics and mutual respect for each other’s improvement over the past months. William appreciated that Liam approached competition as an opportunity to test skills rather than some personal validation exercise.

"Can I ask you something?" Liam said after a pause. "What’s going on with Claire? I saw her match against Elena. She was clearly out of control."

William considered how to answer her question without arousing suspicion. "She’s been struggling with something. I don’t know exactly what, but it’s affecting her control during high-stress situations."

"Is it dangerous?" Liam asked. "For her or for others?"

"Potentially both."

Liam nodded thoughtfully. "I’ll mention it to faculty after the competition. She shouldn’t be fighting if she’s having control issues that could hurt someone."

"Probably a good idea."

They parted ways to prepare for semifinals. William made his way to platform one where his match with Liam would take place. The arena had filled with more spectators for the semifinal rounds, students from all houses gathering to watch the top four compete.

"Liam Hemsworth versus William Cross, platform one."

William climbed up and faced Liam across the platform. The protagonist looked completely composed, his stance relaxed but ready. William could see the difference between sparring sessions and actual competition in Liam’s eyes—this was serious now.

The referee checked both competitors. "Begin!"

Liam moved immediately with speed that caught William off-guard despite knowing it was coming. The opening combination was faster and more precise than anything they’d done during training, each strike flowing naturally into the next with no wasted movement.

William blocked and deflected, immediately recognizing that Liam had been holding back significantly more than he’d admitted. The pressure was constant and overwhelming, giving William barely enough time to react, much less mount counterattacks.

Fire enhancement clashed against Liam’s neutral essence strengthening. William tried to create openings through elemental advantage but Liam adapted smoothly, adjusting his approach to minimize fire contact while maintaining offensive momentum.

Two minutes in and William was entirely defensive. He couldn’t match Liam’s technical precision or combat experience, and every attempt to shift momentum was shut down before it could develop into anything useful.

Liam increased the tempo and William found himself struggling to keep up. His blocks were getting slower, his essence control degrading under sustained pressure. This was what fighting someone truly skilled felt like—not just competent or talented, but genuinely exceptional.

A feint followed by a low strike broke through William’s guard. Liam’s weapon stopped just short of William’s ribs, a clear winning blow that could have ended the match multiple times in the last minute.

"Match to Hemsworth!"

William lowered his weapon and caught his breath. The match had lasted less than four minutes and he’d barely landed a single strike. It was similar to fighting Adrian in the house finals, except Liam was even better.

"Good fight," Liam said while sheathing his practice sword. "You’ve improved significantly since our first match. In another year you’ll be a genuine challenge."

"Thanks," William managed, trying not to feel too insulted by the ’in another year’ qualifier.

They descended from the platform and William immediately turned his attention to platform three where Seraphina and Claire were preparing for their semifinal match. Both stood ready, but William could see the tension in Claire’s posture and the wild edge still present in her eyes.

This was going to be bad.

"Begin!"

Claire attacked immediately with frightening intensity, launching herself at Seraphina with strikes that carried excessive force. Seraphina met the aggression with her own overwhelming combat pressure, silver hair flying as she parried and countered with brutal efficiency.

The match was violent from the first exchange. Both fighters pushed hard, neither giving ground, their weapons clashing with impacts that sent visible shockwaves across the platform. Claire fought with the manic desperation of someone losing control, while Seraphina responded with her usual predatory focus.

One minute in and Claire was starting to show cracks. Her technique remained solid but her strikes became increasingly wild, driven by curse-influenced obsession rather than tactical thinking.

"You’re strong," Claire said between exchanges, her voice strained. "Stronger than I thought. But you’re not stronger than him."

Seraphina’s crimson eyes narrowed. "What?"

"William," Claire said while launching another combination. "You’re not stronger than William. None of you are. He’s mine. He’s—"

Her words cut off as Seraphina’s counter strike broke through her guard and connected solidly. Claire stumbled backward, her essence flickering from the impact.

"Match to Ashenheart!"

Claire stood there for a moment looking lost and confused, then her eyes found William in the crowd. The expression that crossed her face was pure obsessive need, and William felt the curse percentage climbing in real-time even from this distance.

She took a step toward the platform edge, toward where William stood watching. Then she seemed to catch herself, horror replacing obsession as she realized what she had been about to do.

Claire turned and fled from the arena entirely, leaving the crowd whispering in confusion.

"What was that about?" someone nearby muttered.

"It’s probably competition stress," another student suggested. "She’s been acting weird all week."

’There’s only one way to put an end to this...’ William thought to himself while sighing.

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