I was absolutely not planning on losing this match. I'm already teetering on the edge when it comes to how many points I have. Just a few points away from dropping in class rank. So I can't afford to lose this duel. Since it will probably cost me points if I do.
"The victory conditions for this duel are simple. The fight goes on until either one of you runs out of mana. Gives up. Or gets knocked down." Serathen explains calmly. Hands folded behind his back militarily.
Giving us the same spiel that I was sure he had given hundreds of others before. "The uniforms you are wearing are enhanced with protective magic. But still. I want you to try your best to avoid injuring your opponent. No high-star spells. Otherwise, I will intervene and disqualify you. Which will lead to a massive point loss. Is that clear?"
I nod. While Selvan clicks his heels together and answers with a loud and clear "Yes, sir."`Ahhh. Yeah. That makes sense.` I muse while watching the reaction of Selvan.
Finally gaining some insights into who he is as a person. `He was probably raised in a pretty strict household. Possibly with a military background.` Beyond just the fact that he is the number one student.
My suspicion, quickly proven right when we were led to the stairs that led up to the slightly elevated stage that is the arena. Which was designed to let others circle around whoever is dueling at the moment. To watch the match.
Though my classmates didn't seem all that interested. In their eyes, it was pretty clear who would win this match. They obviously thought Selvan would easily win.
And it's no wonder. I can tell too, based on his confidence and the stance he takes across from me, that he has experience in combat. `If this were a fair fight, I'd be so cooked.`
But I wasn't planning on making this a fair fight. `Sorry, bro.` I keep my stance casual and relaxed. Not even bothering to take out my wand while Selvan holds his staff at the ready in front of him.
"Adept Blackwell. Do you give up before the match even begins?" Serathen asks disapprovingly. Clearly, thinking I won't fight because I refuse to pull out my wand.
I shake my head in turn. "No. I'm ready for the duel to begin." A murmur goes through the other students at my confident answer.
"Does he think he can actually win?" "How is he planning on winning if he won't even pull out his wand?" "He is probably just going to give up anyway, right?" "Does he think he can pull out his wand faster than Selvan can cast a spell?" And other such doubtful sentences fill the hall.
But at least Serathen doesn't doubt my words. At least not too much. Though I can see the confusion flickering across his face at my words. "I see. Well then. Get ready."
Selvan drops his stance further. Probably gathering mana for his first spell in his mind already. Probably about to throw up a shield to block my first strike. Since wands are simply faster than staves when it comes to casting spells.
Giving me the clear advantage in speed if we were to actually exchange spells. Especially given that I had resonated so strongly with my wand. Of course, only if I had my wand at the ready.
Which I don't. Since I don't plan on exchanging spells.
"Begin."
The second the signal is given, I straighten up and stretch out my hand, in greeting, towards Selvan, who, as I assumed, had thrown up a quick wind barrier in response to what he thought would be my first move. My first strike.
`Damm. He is fucking talented as hell. That spell came out so quickly. And it's actually not an easy spell either. That's gotta be at least three or four runes in a decently crafted circle.` While I'm admiring his speed and precision, his wall begins to flicker and fade.
My gesture clearly threw him off. Shattering his mental clarity and causing the spell to flicker out with time. Everyone else was confused, too, of course. And I'm not done. I walk towards him in a relaxed and natural fashion. Coming in for a handshake. The confusion grew on his face.
But either because of that growing confusion or strongly ingrained manners, he straightens up as well. Blinking a few times before he relaxes and extends his hand, too. "To a good duel."
Assuming that I wanted to do the equivalent of touching gloves. "Yeah. Something like that." Too bad for him that my gesture was anything but innocuous.
The second my left hand meets his grip, I firmly pull him forward. Drawing my left foot back as I yank him towards me. Pulling him off balance while I shove my right hand in between his shoulder blades. And at the same time tripping him up with my right foot.
Ending the fight by simply grabbing him and toppling him with a simple throw. Since one of the win conditions was just to knock your opponent down.
Of course, it takes everyone a second to realize what just happened. Even Selvan just lies there for a moment. Stunned. On the ground but unhurt. Since I didn't throw him down with full force or anything.
"The winner of the match is Adept Blackwell." The first one to regain his senses and react is Serathen. He has probably seen many more unbelievable things in his time in the military, after all.
His voice, cutting through the hall, finally rattled the other students, who had been staring slack-jawed at the result of the fight, awake.
A frenzied explosion of shock and complaints rained down on me. "What?!? That wasn't fair at all!" "That's right. He cheated. That wa-" The voices tripping over each other are cut off by Serathen.
"Quiet!" He booms while shaking his head in disappointment. "These duels are designed to simulate real fights between magi. Meant to teach you what to expect from combat and what not to do." Chewing out the people who had started complaining. "Trusting your opponent. No matter how innocent a gesture may seem, it is a fatal flaw. A flaw Adept Blackwell knew to exploit. It's as simple as that." Using the exact kind of logic, I had assumed he would.
He was a straightforward type, after all. The kind that sees things exactly as they are. Now I view what I did as not something wrong but as something smart and cunning. "Adept Tharros. This is your loss. I will deduct some points for your poor performance. Adept Blackwell. You will gain some points for your cunning strategy."
Fortunately, Selvan at least appears to be a good sport. He got up and dusted himself off without any complaints. "Sorry."`Didn't want to do that. But I can't afford to lose any more points.` I apologize sincerely.
And I mean it too. This was my first chance at experiencing the mage combat I was secretly thrilled for since coming to this world. Literally the only thing I believe I was good at.
So I'm not happy about winning this way. However, I also know that this was my only chance to win against him. With my current skills, I wouldn't have stood a chance otherwise. He would have easily blown me away. Leading me to make this choice.
"Don't apologize. It's as Professor Kaelthorn said. You simply knew how to exploit a weakness of mine." Thankfully, Selvan was understanding. Much more so than the people who usually hung around him. Though he was also ambitious. As is befitting of someone like him.
"This won't happen again. In our next duel. I will not hold back or be fooled. I will win." His promise was met with a grin. "Looking forward to it."
`Next time I'll beat you with actual magic.` While I vow to myself that if we duel again, I'll beat him with nothing but magic. A promise I intend to keep, like all the others I make with myself.
The duel officially ended with both of us leaving the stage on opposite sides. To make room for the next pair of duelists. Duelists that Serathen calls upon right away. So there is no time for anyone to grumble anymore about me.
Since everyone scrambles to prepare for their duel. "Adept Drosk. Adept Falor. Step forward." Everyone is looking a little more unsettled or unsure about things after my display. Obviously, now considering many more factors of the fight
`That's a good thing. Better to unsettle and surprise them now than if they were in an actual fight.` Of course, not everyone was unsettled by my display.
Elira was up after this second pair of adepts. Looking as intense and untouchable as always. Wielding her magical focus. A pearl-like orb with confidence and elegance against a broad-shouldered boy with sandy blonde hair. Who is called Korrin and wields a wand.
But the increase in casting speed a wand gives, helps him little in his duel against Elira. Who proves why she is in fourth place in the prestige class. Expertly minimizing the disadvantages of her chosen magical focus.
The orb's usual weakness is being made for sustained and controlled spells. And less for quick casts and sharp spikes in power. Mitigated by the fact that Elira's use of magic is meticulous and precise.
Just like Selvan before her, she counters the wand by throwing up a shield first. Calling forth a wall of flame to block the Motus spell, Korrin threw it out as quickly as he could.
`Wife.` My first thought when I saw how expertly Elira wielded pyromancy was, as most of my reactionary thoughts are. Stupid. But it was undeniable that she looked amazing up on stage.
The flames she conjured forth and hurled at the panicking boy were the same color as her eyes. Making it appear as if she was baring her soul to the onlookers for this duel. Revealing a fieriness that stands in stark contrast to her usual composed and cool demeanor.
The boy is quickly beaten back and gives up before he gets hurt. Making Elira the clear victor. Earning her a wink and a double-handed thumbs-up from me. That I know she saw. But clearly refused to acknowledge. `Seems like she is still mad at me for what I did yesterday.` I think while shaking my head and chuckling.
She also wasn't the only girl I seemed to have pissed off. Thalis was in the fifth match. And even though she walked right past me while approaching the steps, she refused to look my way or acknowledge me.
A quizzical expression on my face while I think about what I could have possibly done wrong. `Is she mad that I didn't accept her invitation for lunch?` I muse. `Nah. She acted as usual after lunch. She only started avoiding me on Thursday.`
I scratch my chin. My attention was divided between watching her duel and wondering what it could have been that made her so averse to interacting with me. `What else happened on Wednesday that could have scared her off?`
Thalis chooses to wield a staff. Quite fitting for someone as studious and nerdy as her. And much like her, her opponent's chosen focus also told me a lot about what kind of person she was.
Her opponent. A girl with the last name of Loran wields a bracelet. Bracelets, of course, are best known for making it easier for a caster to weave spells with minimal thought. Replacing a big part of visualizing a spell in the mind through hand gestures. Allowing for more freedom of movement.
Usually favored by experts in Corpus magic. The magic that controls the body and reshapes it to make it more powerful. A school of magic very useful on the battlefield for those types of mages who prefer to engage their enemy with weapons of steel.
Appropriately, Loran was quite beefy for a girl. Not like she was rippling with muscles. But she was definitely in good shape. The practice uniform we were given accentuated her muscles quite well.
And she managed to eke out a victory against Thalis by exploiting the weaknesses of a staff perfectly. Pressuring Thalis with attacks while gracefully dancing out of the way of the strong counterstrikes with ease. Until Thalis was exhausted and collapsed. Losing the duel.
`I gotta keep an eye on that girl. She is good.` Her physical stats must be at least twice as high as mine. If not even more so. And it wasn't like I had to worry about Thalis.
She might have lost, but she only seemed more determined after the duel. I could basically see the gears in her head turning as she analyzed what she did wrong and how to avoid the same mistakes next time.
The next duel after Thalis was fairly ordinary. It was between two people that have obviously never really fought like that before. Not that they still weren't impressive in their own right. As I am right now, they could all handily beat me in a duel.
So I watch each match carefully. But it's only two duels that really draw my attention after Thalis and Elira.
One where that blue-haired girl I had noticed in class before battles against a boy. The girl turned out to be named Liora Veythar. And just based on the reactions of the other students, she seems a bit distant and scary. Though to me, she was just pretty and cool. Like an icy fortress atop a snow-white mountain. Seeming just as unapproachable as Elira. But in a different, harsher way.
The boy up against her, who was called Drosir, seemed more nervous than anyone else so far. His chestnut brown hair and lanky frame were shivering under her cold gaze.
The battle is incredibly one-sided because of this. His lack of focus barely allowed him to mount a defense against her cryomantic spells. Despite wielding an orb that should greatly help with defense.
The fight only lasted a few seconds before he gave up. Cornered and surrounded by icicles that point threateningly at him.
The other duel that had my undivided attention was also the last duel of the day. Held between two boys. One with golden brown hair and a strong, stocky build. Called Solvane. Wielding a bracelet.
Against someone who was clearly a foreigner to Draumond. Malovar. A young man with tanned skin and long black hair. The kind of tan that you get from working outside a lot. Which makes his choice of magical foci all the more curious. He wields a Stylus. That group of magical foci that is so rarely seen in actual combat.
Because they simply lend themselves best to scholarly work and magical grafting. But even so. Malovar handily holds his own. Avoiding the same mistakes that Thalis made in her duel.
As if he had analyzed and learned from her mistakes. Clearly, a good bit smarter and more analytical than most. Though his physical attributes may lag behind. Which is why he does end up losing the duel in the end. But much like Thalis before him, he accepts defeat graciously.
In fact. From what I could tell, he had seemingly given up while still having gas in the tank, so to speak. `Hmm. Seems like that guy is hiding his true strength for the time being.` Clearly not willing to show off in front of everyone carelessly.
Just in case anyone here may become his opponent. `Smart. And dangerous.` Something I maybe should consider doing as well. Not that I do. At least not for now.
It's not like I have any real enemies yet. `Besides, maybe Elira's bitch of a mom.` But I still doubt that even she would actually do anything terrible. `At worst, she'll probably just hire some people to bully and isolate me.....`
"Wait." As per usual, it took me entirely too long for something obvious that I kind of already figured out in my head to click into place. `Yep. That's it. The repeated annoyances and that prank from before were definitely done by her goons or whatever.`
And it wasn't unreasonable to assume that she also spread rumors about me. Or at least told people to stay away from me. Her words as a queen obviously hold enough weight for students to do as she says.
`That must be why Thalis is avoiding me, too. It makes sense. She did mention she was from the west on Wednesday.` I hum thoughtfully for a few moments before, shrugging my shoulders. `Well. If this is the worst she'll do, it's alright, I guess.` I just hoped that Thalis wasn't in trouble because of me.
But my attention was drawn away from my thoughts as the last two duelists stepped off the stage, and we all gathered before Serathen again. For his next instructions.
After all. The duels had only taken about an hour. So there were still three more hours left until lunch break. Three more hours until my first week of school was over. Three hours, I was very curious about. `Go on. Tell me. What's next?`