Duel (2)
“Burn them all, Fireball.”
Chedleton casually claimed the first move against Ellen.
“That isn’t the chant of a first-year.”
“Hah, to cast a perfect Fireball with an incantation that short… He truly is the pillar of House Chedleton.”
“Put him against the fourth-years right now and he’d still win with room to spare.”
“Exactly. At that casting speed, no student in this academy could beat Chedleton.”
While the instructors murmured in admiration, Chedleton’s Fireball closed in on Ellen.
“Embrace strength, Stone.”
A massive boulder surged up from the ground directly in front of Ellen’s feet with a heavy krrrrrum.
It swallowed the Fireball whole. Shattered stone sprayed dust in every direction as the rock cracked apart.
“Cough! Using Stone magic to block that… His common blood shows.”
“He looks like a second-circle mage. Why didn’t he just use Shield?”
“That’s the kind of trick only Magic Assistants use when they’re short on mana.”
Ellen heard the instructors and shook his head.
They have no idea how vital it is to conserve mana when you never know what might happen next.
In his past life he had watched countless high-circle mages who knew only flashy, expensive spells. Their mana ran dry in moments. A mage without mana was dead weight in a real fight. That was why Magic Assistants were often preferred over lower-ranked mages—combat experience had taught them how to use magic efficiently.
“Commoner trash always uses the filthiest magic.”
“Given my origins, I hope you’ll forgive me.”
Ellen’s dry jab finally pushed Chedleton to draw real power.
“Pursue the trail, Targeting. Pierce like an awl, Ice Arrow.”
Four ice arrows crystallized around Chedleton. They scattered like living things, then streaked toward Ellen from every angle.
“He linked two spells?”
“The more I watch, the more impressive he is.”
Even on the verge of death he still flaunts the Chedleton name, is that it?
This attack actually made Ellen hesitate for a fraction of a second.
“It shall be carved into the earth, Dig. Embrace strength, Stone.”
A small pit opened beneath Ellen’s feet. The ground vanished and his body dropped. Instantly, newly formed boulders sealed the mouth of the hole.
Kwaaang.
The ice arrows smashed the stones to pieces, but they no longer had the force to reach the boy inside.
“Where did he even learn to fight like that?”
“Honestly. Those are the cheapest spells a mage can use.”
The instructors could only click their tongues at Ellen’s methods. Only Latard was left speechless by the boy’s ingenuity.
He blocked a second-circle combination with first-circle spells. Ellen just won the battle of wits.
Watching the other teachers miss that fact entirely, Latard shook his head. It was living proof that none of them had ever seen real combat.
“Stuck in a hole like some worm.”
Chedleton’s face still radiated leisure.
“My turn to attack, then? Mana, unleash your power. Magic Missile.”
It was only first-circle Magic Missile. Yet every pair of eyes watching the duel went wide enough to tear.
“H-how many is that?”
“Twenty.”
“He’s a monster.”
Twenty Magic Missiles blazed with blue light and launched at Chedleton in a single volley.
“Protect me, Shield.”
Even Chedleton flinched at the number, but he cast Shield with steady hands.
Kung! Kung! Kwang!
Missiles hammered the barrier from every direction without pause. Chedleton instantly knew the Shield would not last.
One more Shield won’t be enough.
Clang!
The barrier shattered at the exact moment Chedleton’s voice rang out again.
“Protect me, Shield. Embrace, Stone!”
A fresh Shield stopped most of the remaining missiles before it too cracked apart. The last few were intercepted by boulders that erupted around him. Shards of broken stone tore the hem of his robe.
That bastard… He’s even more dangerous than I thought.
Ellen had meant to end it with that barrage. He clicked his tongue in mild disappointment.
“You worm of a bastard!”
Chedleton burned with rage that a livestock commoner’s magic had rattled him so badly.
“Your power shall seize and purify all, Burning Hands.”
In his fury he cast a third-circle spell—strictly forbidden in academy duels.
“No!”
Bezel, serving as referee, and the other instructors all missed their chance to intervene. The attack came too suddenly; none of them had expected a third-circle chant completed that fast.
“Guard me, Protect.”
Through the startled instructors came Ellen’s quiet voice. A translucent sphere of layered shields blossomed around him—the third-circle defensive spell Protect.
Kwaaaaaang!
A thunderous explosion followed at once.
“H-how did you…?”
Chedleton could not believe what he was seeing. He had been angry, yes, but the third-circle attack magic had been cast properly. And that insectile commoner had blocked it completely.
“Are those two really the same year as us?”
The watching students could no longer gauge the level of either fighter.
“That commoner isn’t even falling behind Chedleton!”
“Impossible. How can he be matching the Chedleton?”
The noble-class students grew flustered as reality refused to match their expectations. They had hoped to see the arrogant commoner’s nose rubbed in the dirt. Instead Ellen’s skill far exceeded anything they had imagined.
“That’s our Ellen!”
“I feel like I can finally breathe.”
The commoner-class students whispered their cheers among themselves. Ellen had protected them from the nobles’ tyranny, and now he was standing toe-to-toe with Chedleton, the nobles’ champion. To them he was already a hero.
“What did I just witness?”
“We’re going to have to reevaluate both of them.”
The instructors were equally stunned. Everyone had known Chedleton was third-circle. No one had known Ellen was as well. The idea of a commoner-class student reaching third circle had simply never occurred to them.
“The duel is over!”
Bezel recovered first. He pulled both boys back and checked their conditions.
“Instructors, take charge of the students.”
Only then did the other teachers snap out of their daze and begin herding the crowd away.
“Those two have nothing left to learn in the first-year classes. They’re already better than students about to graduate.”
“But promoting first-years—especially a commoner-class student—straight into the Special Class? That simply cannot be done.”
“If we leave them where they are, they’ll only disrupt the other students.”
The instructors seated around the table raised their voices one after another. Academy Principal Serman Door rubbed his temples as he considered the problem.
“Very well. Issue Rick Chedleton a formal warning for using third-circle magic during the duel and leave it at that. No good will come of poking that particular nest. And promote both Rick Chedleton and Ellen to the Special Class. They clearly do not belong where they are.”
Meanwhile, in the Magic Tower, a man arrived at the room of Eugene, who was preparing for the regular evaluation.
“What do you want?”
Eugene regarded the visitor with open displeasure. Barging uninvited into a mage’s laboratory was a grave breach of etiquette.
“I hear your disciple has become quite the celebrity at the academy. My nephew happens to attend there as well.”
At the mention of Ellen, Eugene’s expression darkened further with suspicion.
“And what business is that of yours, Zack Chedleton?”
The man who had invited himself into Eugene’s laboratory was Zack Chedleton, a mage of House Chedleton.
“I have a proposal for you.”
“If it involves my disciple, the answer is no. I already have my own plans for using that boy.”
“Eugene… if you fail the regular evaluation again, you’ll be expelled from the Tower, won’t you? Word is you have no research results worth mentioning.”
Eugene stopped mid-turn and faced Zack fully.
“And so what of it?”
Zack lifted his chin with arrogant confidence.
“I have an offer that should interest you. Shall we renegotiate?”
Eugene scraped a chair across the floor and sat. Then he offered another to Zack.
“Have a seat first.”