Magical Duel
“Ah… Actually, I have been challenged twice.”
“Oh, yeah I had heard about it. Something about Lux’s other matches… what was it? Was it just the day after the ceremony?”
“I had assumed that Lux would be challenged but it’s pretty neat compared to me.”
With Lux’s battle on the first day, a lot of his spells were already made public making him a suitable target to aim for. While on the other hand, no one knew about Misty’s skills at all keeping her in the mystery. But was that all?
“I can’t help it. I’m being accused of being weak. Since I lost to a commoner.”
*sigh*
Lux sighed. What he meant was clear as a day. The reason for his troubles was of course Arum. Everyone believed with all of their hearts that a commoner ought to be weak.
But Arum had felt no anger because of that. His batchmates seemed immature at most. The only time he had even felt anger was when his master was disrespected. That was truly his borderline causing him to go crazy.
“Can’t you just refuse?”
Every student had the right to refuse the duel. Or at least that was what was written on paper.
“No, it’s my duty to be responsible for my defeat. I cannot run away from it by rejecting duels. That would only further soil my reputation that is already eating dust.”
*sigh*
Arum wasn’t convinced that Lux had lost. After all, hadn’t the match ended in a draw. But Lux seemed to be convinced about it, that he had lost. Peer pressure of the nobles had taken its toll on him.
“It’s been a mess. There have been a lot of people who are eyeing me. With my spells being revealed for them to watch I have become a scapegoat, an easier target than the others to prove themselves and their strengths in magic.”
Elmira nodded.
“It’s stupid for them to think they can defeat his result. I don’t think defeating Lux would be easy for any of them as he has his own bloodline magic and we all know how strong that is.”
Lux couldn’t have helped but have his bloodline magic been underestimated thanks to it losing to non-attribute. No matter how strong his magic is, no one would be willing to accept it considering the scenario.
Lux smiled.
“I am happy that you appreciate my skills. If I can manage, I will continue to accept these challenges.”
“… That’s right.”
Since Lux had already decided to charge against such foolish nobles with his bloodline magic then there was nothing Elmira could do about it.
And Lux too was convinced that Elmira didn’t really care at what he did.
“It’s annoying but it feels quite strange that the Orrick family’s bloodline magic was breached by Arum’s broken magic.”
“Oh, that’s because Lux didn’t do anything out of his arrogance.”
Arum could not yet consider himself to be superior to Lux for he knew that the reason why he won was that Lux had underestimated him. Had Lux cast a defensive spell or two would the result have been the same as it was now? Arum couldn’t be sure.
Lux smiled wryly.
“Still, it’s amazing to have so much mana to be able to destroy it.”
Arum’s face crooked a little as he felt that he was praised for being able to destroy it despite being. It was just a rephrasing of the same words, but its meaning was clear as a day.
He wondered whether Elmira was teasing him again. But Elmira was analyzing him instead of teasing him like usual.
“Aren’t you just pushing with pure mana?”
“Yeah, that’s about it.”
If Arum were, to be honest, there was nothing for Elmira to analyze. It was as simple as it could be.
“Arum… you should stop.” Misty intervened between the two of them.
Why? Wasn’t it obvious what Elmira was doing? She was trying to get information out of Arum so that she could use it against him in a duel!
It was only when Arum turned towards Misty’s annoyed expression that he finally realized the seriousness of the matter. But if Arum were, to be honest, he didn’t care if others knew about his spell. They would be able to recreate it anyway.
Elmira shook her head.
“Just when it was getting fun. By the way, Misty is also the second daughter of her family. Do you have bloodline magic as well?”
The questioning was now directed towards Misty instead. But was Misty as carefree and confident as Arum was?
“Fu Fu, do you want to know so bad?”
She laughed with no immediate replies causing Elmira to click her tongue.
“Tch, that’s no good.”
Elmira could only withdraw from the battlefield of words if Misty had such a high guard up.
“I see… so you people explore each other’s weaknesses like this…” Arum muttered to himself.
“Why does it feel like you are impressed with that?”
For Arum who had lived in the boonies, he had rarely ever lied to others let alone trying to deceive them. Life in the boonies was a simple one where people hunted in the wild just like the beasts of prey. Lying? Dece[ption? They only thought those to be the jobs of the foxes and vixens. They had never thought of it highly.
But being in the circle of nobility Arum was exposed to the new side of humanity.
Arum was strangely impressed by the deceptive gazes shared between their friends.
“Well, I have been persistent because I think it is difficult to fight in a duel against any of you. All three of you are truly strong.” Elmira claimed shamelessly.
“By the way, what about you then? Were you challenged by anybody?”
Lux realized that the only ones who were asked questions were the three of them and no one had asked a question about Elmira’s status.
“I was challenged once.”
Lux and Misty looked at each other as their eyes talked to each other. Them not getting many challenges was certainly understandable considering their backings. But Elmira? Why wasn’t she getting any?
That could certainly be considered a bad outcome. What could have caused it? They had no idea.
Misty bit her lips.
“Is that so? I wonder if they are waiting to challenge you later since your powers are not completely clear yet…”
“Yeah, it’s kind of a downfall to receive no challenges and you would be ridiculed if this continues considering your position. If you have the change you must always take on it since your tally is too low. You are planning to take a win from me right?”
“…”
Elmira didn’t reply.
All she did was take a sip from her cup and that was all her gesture entailed. Only God knew what was going on in her head. The other two nobles also fell silent, not sure how they should be continuing the conversation after this. Elmira’s situation was certainly out of the box.
But there was one person who was completely oblivious to all of this. Being a commoner he knew nothing… neither about the school nor about the nobles.
“Eh? Is that so?” Arum tilted his head in confusion.
Arum had never even thought that not getting challenges could be bad. It was only through the reaction of the other two that he realized about it. Arum had been loafing around for two weeks without even thinking about it. His battle against Lux was his only duel so far.
“By the way, what happened to that one match?” Arum asked. He was more hyped up about a possible discovery rather than his impending crisis.
“Well, I won, I won. But no one was watching our match so I will tell you. It was not a fair victory since the person who was my opponent got burned. It happened almost a week ago.”
The rules of such matches were clear. No serious injury was to be delivered to the opponent. And Elmira’s opponent burning away could only mean that she had messed up badly.
“So that’s it…”
“That is why…”
Misty and Lux muttered to themselves as the situation became clearer. They were convinced as to why Elmira was having trouble finding challengers.
Arum too recalled a certain boy he had met a week ago. Certainly, it seemed that he was burnt in many places.
“It looks like Elmira messed up to make it a fair one. That is what happens when you have a sharp tongue.” Lux claimed to cause Elmira’s veins to twitch.
“It’s better than the others. At least I don’t have to hide my true personality in front of my own friends.”
“Your true personality is sharp and bitter… you have a bad personality.”
“Wow, I don’t want to be told that by you, Lux…”
Elmira moves her chair away from Lux with a disgusted face that bore disdain for the same.
Magical Duel
“Ah… Actually, I have been challenged twice.”
“Oh, yeah I had heard about it. Something about Lux’s other matches… what was it? Was it just the day after the ceremony?”
“I had assumed that Lux would be challenged but it’s pretty neat compared to me.”
With Lux’s battle on the first day, a lot of his spells were already made public making him a suitable target to aim for. While on the other hand, no one knew about Misty’s skills at all keeping her in the mystery. But was that all?
“I can’t help it. I’m being accused of being weak. Since I lost to a commoner.”
*sigh*
Lux sighed. What he meant was clear as a day. The reason for his troubles was of course Arum. Everyone believed with all of their hearts that a commoner ought to be weak.
But Arum had felt no anger because of that. His batchmates seemed immature at most. The only time he had even felt anger was when his master was disrespected. That was truly his borderline causing him to go crazy.
“Can’t you just refuse?”
Every student had the right to refuse the duel. Or at least that was what was written on paper.
“No, it’s my duty to be responsible for my defeat. I cannot run away from it by rejecting duels. That would only further soil my reputation that is already eating dust.”
*sigh*
Arum wasn’t convinced that Lux had lost. After all, hadn’t the match ended in a draw. But Lux seemed to be convinced about it, that he had lost. Peer pressure of the nobles had taken its toll on him.
“It’s been a mess. There have been a lot of people who are eyeing me. With my spells being revealed for them to watch I have become a scapegoat, an easier target than the others to prove themselves and their strengths in magic.”
Elmira nodded.
“It’s stupid for them to think they can defeat his result. I don’t think defeating Lux would be easy for any of them as he has his own bloodline magic and we all know how strong that is.”
Lux couldn’t have helped but have his bloodline magic been underestimated thanks to it losing to non-attribute. No matter how strong his magic is, no one would be willing to accept it considering the scenario.
Lux smiled.
“I am happy that you appreciate my skills. If I can manage, I will continue to accept these challenges.”
“… That’s right.”
Since Lux had already decided to charge against such foolish nobles with his bloodline magic then there was nothing Elmira could do about it.
And Lux too was convinced that Elmira didn’t really care at what he did.
“It’s annoying but it feels quite strange that the Orrick family’s bloodline magic was breached by Arum’s broken magic.”
“Oh, that’s because Lux didn’t do anything out of his arrogance.”
Arum could not yet consider himself to be superior to Lux for he knew that the reason why he won was that Lux had underestimated him. Had Lux cast a defensive spell or two would the result have been the same as it was now? Arum couldn’t be sure.
Lux smiled wryly.
“Still, it’s amazing to have so much mana to be able to destroy it.”
Arum’s face crooked a little as he felt that he was praised for being able to destroy it despite being. It was just a rephrasing of the same words, but its meaning was clear as a day.
He wondered whether Elmira was teasing him again. But Elmira was analyzing him instead of teasing him like usual.
“Aren’t you just pushing with pure mana?”
“Yeah, that’s about it.”
If Arum were, to be honest, there was nothing for Elmira to analyze. It was as simple as it could be.
“Arum… you should stop.” Misty intervened between the two of them.
Why? Wasn’t it obvious what Elmira was doing? She was trying to get information out of Arum so that she could use it against him in a duel!
It was only when Arum turned towards Misty’s annoyed expression that he finally realized the seriousness of the matter. But if Arum were, to be honest, he didn’t care if others knew about his spell. They would be able to recreate it anyway.
Elmira shook her head.
“Just when it was getting fun. By the way, Misty is also the second daughter of her family. Do you have bloodline magic as well?”
The questioning was now directed towards Misty instead. But was Misty as carefree and confident as Arum was?
“Fu Fu, do you want to know so bad?”
She laughed with no immediate replies causing Elmira to click her tongue.
“Tch, that’s no good.”
Elmira could only withdraw from the battlefield of words if Misty had such a high guard up.
“I see… so you people explore each other’s weaknesses like this…” Arum muttered to himself.
“Why does it feel like you are impressed with that?”
For Arum who had lived in the boonies, he had rarely ever lied to others let alone trying to deceive them. Life in the boonies was a simple one where people hunted in the wild just like the beasts of prey. Lying? Dece[ption? They only thought those to be the jobs of the foxes and vixens. They had never thought of it highly.
But being in the circle of nobility Arum was exposed to the new side of humanity.
Arum was strangely impressed by the deceptive gazes shared between their friends.
“Well, I have been persistent because I think it is difficult to fight in a duel against any of you. All three of you are truly strong.” Elmira claimed shamelessly.
“By the way, what about you then? Were you challenged by anybody?”
Lux realized that the only ones who were asked questions were the three of them and no one had asked a question about Elmira’s status.
“I was challenged once.”
Lux and Misty looked at each other as their eyes talked to each other. Them not getting many challenges was certainly understandable considering their backings. But Elmira? Why wasn’t she getting any?
That could certainly be considered a bad outcome. What could have caused it? They had no idea.
Misty bit her lips.
“Is that so? I wonder if they are waiting to challenge you later since your powers are not completely clear yet…”
“Yeah, it’s kind of a downfall to receive no challenges and you would be ridiculed if this continues considering your position. If you have the change you must always take on it since your tally is too low. You are planning to take a win from me right?”
“…”
Elmira didn’t reply.
All she did was take a sip from her cup and that was all her gesture entailed. Only God knew what was going on in her head. The other two nobles also fell silent, not sure how they should be continuing the conversation after this. Elmira’s situation was certainly out of the box.
But there was one person who was completely oblivious to all of this. Being a commoner he knew nothing… neither about the school nor about the nobles.
“Eh? Is that so?” Arum tilted his head in confusion.
Arum had never even thought that not getting challenges could be bad. It was only through the reaction of the other two that he realized about it. Arum had been loafing around for two weeks without even thinking about it. His battle against Lux was his only duel so far.
“By the way, what happened to that one match?” Arum asked. He was more hyped up about a possible discovery rather than his impending crisis.
“Well, I won, I won. But no one was watching our match so I will tell you. It was not a fair victory since the person who was my opponent got burned. It happened almost a week ago.”
The rules of such matches were clear. No serious injury was to be delivered to the opponent. And Elmira’s opponent burning away could only mean that she had messed up badly.
“So that’s it…”
“That is why…”
Misty and Lux muttered to themselves as the situation became clearer. They were convinced as to why Elmira was having trouble finding challengers.
Arum too recalled a certain boy he had met a week ago. Certainly, it seemed that he was burnt in many places.
“It looks like Elmira messed up to make it a fair one. That is what happens when you have a sharp tongue.” Lux claimed to cause Elmira’s veins to twitch.
“It’s better than the others. At least I don’t have to hide my true personality in front of my own friends.”
“Your true personality is sharp and bitter… you have a bad personality.”
“Wow, I don’t want to be told that by you, Lux…”
Elmira moves her chair away from Lux with a disgusted face that bore disdain for the same.
