After our little encounter qith Kaida and Yani, Fran and I finally arrived at the arena were we'll have that special activity.
Once we entered, I saw how we were the last ones to arrive.
"Mr. Alen, princess Von Themys!" Cecil called out to us, waving his arm in the air and approaching us.
Behind him, Theo and Elizabeth followed along.
"Did he already explain what we're supposed to do?" I asked, seeing Crowbell standing in the middle of the arena.
"Nah, he waited for you two"
"Teacher!" Griffa Irea, the emotionless bird demi-human girl raided her hand covered in white feathers. "What is the purpose of this extra activity"
"This will be a surprise test on magic manifestation. I've noticed that the class' level is lower than I like, so I've organized this test to force an improvement"
As Crowbell explained, I could feel the soul of a couple of my classmates leave their bodies.
A surprise test?
"What will the test be?" One of the classmates that has very poor manifestation control, just like me, asked with worry.
"It'll be a sort of game. You'll all play a more basic and barebones version of the gentleman's magic duel"
Almost the while class repeated the name of the game in unison.
"Unlike regular duels you see in the academy, the gentleman's duel differs in the sense that you are not allowed to move around a lot" as he explained, he pointed at one of the students present.
"Raiten, you'll be my partner to demonstrate the test"
The elven student stepped up and stood close to the teacher.
"With thirty-four steps between the two duelists, you'll both cast spells at each other and you'll have to take the blow" the dark-haired teacher explained.
Tapping his shoulder, both Crowbell and Yonaiker walked on opposite directions, counting those thirty-four steps.
"Both duelists start with twenty points, and each hit will take away a point, the first one to reach zero points loses"
"How is this supposed to test our manifestation skills?" The blue-haired Ximuss raised up his question.
"It tests manifestation because there are no turns to attack. Both duelists try to cast at the same time in hopes of being the first one to attack. The fastest fighter will win" as Crowbell explained, he raised up his hand, ready to shoot a quick spell.
"Adding up on the rules, dodging subtracts one point. So don't go thinking you can dodge attacks"
"Cast a spell, Raiten" the teacher ordered.
The nervous student gulped hard as he raised his arm, pointing toward our teacher.
"See through, clear ice from the north, manifest into a projectile"
"[Icicle Shot]"
As te elf yelled out, a cold ice spike manifested in front of him.
The spell was shot at fast speed toward the teacher.
"Is he—"
The student didn't even have time to finish his question, as the spell cast hit the teacher right on his stomach, piercing and getting stuck on his body.
"!!!"
Every student, even the elven boy who served as an example, gasped in surprised seeing our teacher taking the hit without defending.
Blood dripped from the spike onto the ground.
"A tier one spell with a Neutral incantation, a fine choice." Crowbell commented calmly. "However, aside from testing your manifestation skills, your abilities to chant the incantations, even under pressure, will be tested"
"Teacher, your..."
"The duel will either end when one of you reach zero points, or when one of the two faint"
Finally, Crowbell stepped away, as if that ice spike stabbing him was nothing more than an inconvenience.
"Alen, you have a couple extra rules to follow" the teacher stated while picking up a small box.
"No incantationless casting, and not using those skills you're learning recently. While they are used on the full version of the game, we're playing a dumbed down version for you first years"
"Aye, Aye, teacher!" I called out with little emotion.
I had no spells reserved at the moment, so I couldn't use fake incantationless even if I wanted to. And he probably means that I can't use Elemental Defense, which is understandable since it is a second year skill.
"Mr. Alen, fight me!"
"No, we'll fight!"
"It'll be me who'll fight him!"
Cecil, Lyon, and Ximuss quickly challenged me with rivalry written all over their faces.
They were so aggressive in their challenge, that I had to take a couple steps back.
"Stop, you three!" Fran saved me by eating her hands in between them and me.
"Thanks, Fran..." I sighed out awkwardly, feeling a slight bit of embarrassement from having to shield myself in her.
"Duels will be decided by luck! So quiet down and wait for your name be called!" Kafka's strict yell stopped us all.
After Crowbell went one by one taking two pieces of papers from the box with our names written in them, the duels were decided.
Rank one, Theo Der Botcam, will be going against rank sixteen, Lucio Verseli.
Rank two, Franchesca Von Themys, will fight rank eight, Griffa Irea.
Rank three, Cecil Treyaro's duel is against rank seventeen Ximuss Yolte.
Rank four, Elizabeth Bato, will go against rank fifteen, Sylla Darema.
And I, rank five, Alen, will have a duel against rank six, Lyon Alva.
Once my match against st the lion prince, I heard him snort victoriously. His tail swayed and his ears perked up.
With how little we stand each other, I really hoped I didn't need to interact with him any more than I needed to.
"Finally, today is the day we settle everything, Alen!" He clenched his fist before pointing proudly at me.
"I'd rater end this duel quickly" I commented with annoyance in my tone.
Once every duel was arranged, we all got into our positions in the arena.
This one arena, arena two, happens to be the biggest one out of all of Aurum Academy's arenas, making it perfect for ten different one-on-one duels where both fighters are separated by thirty-four steps.
"Are you ready to die, Alen!" Lyon yelled.
"What!?" I yelled back.
"Are you ready to die, Alen!" Lyon yelled.
"What!?" I yelled back.
"Are you ready to die, Alen!" Lyon yelled.
"What!?" I yelled back.
"Are you—"
"Northern winds, attack"
"[Wind Ram]"
With the quick version of the spell, the strike of wind flew fast throughout the air and cleanly impacted on Lyon's chest.
"Guh!" The demi-human prince gasped for air as he was pushed back from my attack.
First hit, the score's now nineteen to twenty on my favor.
"It may be called gentleman's duel, or however it was called, but there's no rule against deceiving the enemy!"
As I triumphantly commented my early lead on the duel, I could see Lyon looking up at me through his pained expression with rage in his eyes.
"Burn my enemies"
"Northern winds, attack"
"[Fireball]"
"[Wind Ram]"
We both cast our spells. However, while my spell was a direct shot to his body, Lyon aimed his fireball higher.
The fireball arched in the air and was falling onto me.
"Come out of the earth and protect me"
"[Rock Wall]"
Lyon quickly cast a spell that quickly erupted a rock formation that shielded him from the impact of my wind spell.
However, since it was a quick incantation, the defensive wall couldn't withstand the impact against the wind Ram and it shattered into pieces.
Although, the wall did fulfill its purpose to defend Lyon, as he wasn't hit.
Unlike me, who completely ate te fireball spell with my body, losing a point and putting us both on equal scores of nineteen both.
"Not so special now, eh?!" He yelled out with rage I his voice. "Not so tough now that you can't win against me?"
"Don't talk shit now on te start of the match. At least wait until there's a big difference between us!" I yelled as I composed myself after receiving a fire spell directly to my body with little defense other than my arms. "But, by that time, the only big difference will be me winning for more than ten points!"
"You wish, you shitface!"
As much as I hate it, he has a lot of reasons to feel special right now.
I am at a disadvantage in this battle.
Not only is my manifestation skills worse than Lyon, meaning that my spells come out slower than his, I also have a small repertoire of spells I can attack or defend myself with.
What do I have?
Wind Ram, Wind Scythe, and Feather Dart? Only three spells I can use compared to Lyon having more spells, and more varied elements with him having two first degree affinities.
I even lack a defensive spell. Sandstorm doesn't work since I can't dodge. Maybe using Wind Hammer defensively is the play?
What about using Sandstorm and dodging? No one will see me dodge and I can just lie and say I never moved and that Lyon failed to aim properly due to the sandstorm being I the way.
That can be risky, as I'm sure I'll lose a point if that is not allowed.
Right now, I'm at a disadvantage.