"So that's what happened," Soren explained.
"How do you always get yourself into these situations, Ren?" she asked, exasperated.
"Don't ask me? It's not like I try to…"
"Sigh, I know. So what did you want help with?"
"Please teach me how to use [Hemokinesis]"
He had been learning blood magic from Lilliana for just over a month now, and because of the importance of [Blood Absorption], he had yet to discover any ways to utilise the first spell he had learned from that element.
"I guess it's about that time," Lilliana said with a sigh.
The reason Lilliana was agreeing so easily was likely due to the fact that Soren had finally crossed the threshold of being able to absorb the blood of others, both human and inhuman.
If he progressed slightly further and crossed over into proficiency C territory, in that case, he may even be able to absorb blood without direct contact, which was what Lilliana determined as battle-ready.
But for now, being able to absorb others' blood within a single month of obtaining blood magic was an achievement that Lilliana couldn't help but feel proud about, even if the process still made her feel slightly uncomfortable; after all, it's always hard to see those you care about in pain.
"What are you wanting to use blood magic for?"
Lilliana's question confused Soren.
"What do you mean?"
"Do you want to use it for attacking, defending or supporting?"
"I'm not sure? Can't I just do all three?" Soren asked, unsure.
"You can… eventually, but for now you need to prioritise a single direction, otherwise you'll grow at a snail's pace," she explained.
Soren, hearing her words, became lost in thought.
'What do I need the most?'
A better way to phrase the question would be to ask what he lacked the most.
It was only then that the answer came to mind.
Across all of his battles, there was always one thing that stood out amongst everything else: his lack of firepower.
He was able to support himself using [Heal] and [Minor Blessings].
He was able to defend himself with [Shield], [Divine Barrier], and by blocking with his handaxe.
But attacking was a different matter. The best he had was [Ignition], which was far too weak to be considered a finishing blow, and [Shock], which wasn't even a lethal option in the first place.
This led him to the easy answer.
"I want to use it for attacking."
"I thought you'd say that. Then let's start right away."
The moment Lilliana confirmed Soren's goals, she immediately got to work sketching an outline of his lesson plan.
"The first step is to learn how to control the blood, the second is how to solidify it, and the final is how to transform it. Does everything make sense so far?"
"It does, but won't this take too long?"
"Hmm… I'm not sure, I reckon you could finish the first step by the duel, but I'm unsure about the rest. It mainly depends on how much effort you're willing to put in since you no longer need to worry about blood loss during training."
Soren was slightly disappointed by the fact that the blood magic was unlikely to be ready by the duel, but that didn't stop him from wanting to learn, as his enthusiasm for magic was genuine.
"That's fine, it's still nice to learn now, isn't it, Lily?"
"It is, but you still have to be careful, even if you can now absorb blood easily. I don't want to suddenly get told that you ended up in the infirmary because you couldn't look after yourself properly…"
"That won't happen."
"Sigh, alright. Let's get started then, use the spell, and I'll give you some pointers."
"Alright. 「Hemokinesis」"
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
The day of the duel finally arrived.
"How the hell do you always get involved in stuff like this?" Felix asked, looking at Soren like he was crazy.
"Do you think I'm trying to?" he retorted.
"At this point, maybe."
"Shut it, trash."
"Well, whatever, good luck."
Felix patted Soren's shoulder as he walked out of the changing room.
Amelia and Esper had already stopped by earlier to wish him well, which meant he was all alone now.
"Sigh, I'm really not…"
The worst part for Soren was the fact that as the frequency of incidents increased, he found it harder to deny with a straight face, but the truth was, he never looked for any of this; he always tried to mind his own business and keep to himself, yet somehow things always ended up in this way.
"There's nothing I can do now…"
[Soren Arden, please get ready and prepare to head out in 5 minutes.]
In response to the TA's words, Soren got up from his seat and started stretching his body.
'I should buy some better clothes later.'
One thing he had come to realise after fighting a few times was that the Stellaris Academy uniform was uncomfortable to fight in, with its restrictive pants, slightly oversized T-shirt, tie that blew in any direction, and the long, flowy cloak that went down past his knees.
It was certainly comfortable and suitable for hiding, but in an open duel like this, it was an awful outfit.
'Should I buy some armour?'
It was a thought he had a couple of times already, even more so since contracting with Hammond, but Soren felt a minor reluctance to do so, as he felt that not only would it be too obstructive, but it would also slow down his movements hugely.
'Maybe I'll just get some relics down the line.'
If he could obtain jewellery or other non-obtrusive items with enchantments or skills from dungeons or auctions, then he felt that would be the best decision.
"I guess I need to start thinking about dungeons, finally."
It was a topic he had avoided, given the difficulty of not only taking them on alone but also trying not to obstruct Alex's path, but now that he had steeled himself to live well, he knew he needed more power.
Of course, he was still going to attempt to fix the cracks that had appeared in the story, but that was something he would have to do over time.
[Soren Arden, please come out when you're ready.]
"It's time then."
He threw his cloak onto the nearby bench and was about to leave the changing room when…
Ting-♪
A sound that could only be described as pleasing was heard, and Soren's lips curled upward at the words printed on the screen before his eyes.
.
▶ Quest Received! ◀
.
▶ Duel ◀
[Details: Win the duel.]
[Difficulty: B-]
[Reward: Increase Agility by 0.3, 150 Points]
.
"I was already planning to win, but I guess I have to try even harder now." He muttered to himself as he stepped out of the changing room and walked towards the arena.
Unlike the mock duels, where all the students of a year, with the exception of the academic students, would be placed in a single building and multiple duels would take place simultaneously, regular duels were held in a proper arena.
Around the campus, there were a total of 5 arenas of varying sizes and capacities, the largest of which was exclusively used for events like the festival that takes place in the second semester.
Soren's duel was, of course, in the smallest of the arenas, where the capacity hardly reached over a hundred, and was mainly used to solve petty squabbles amongst nobility.
Soren couldn't help but think it was a perfect fit for his current situation.
Step step
As Soren finally stood in the arena, he glanced over to his opponent, who was wearing plate armour from head to toe, and smiled faintly before turning to the TA presiding over the duel.
"Hey, if he's wearing all of that, am I allowed to use my personal weapon?"
[As student Ivan Olfram has taken it upon himself to bring his own equipment, I will permit it.]
"Great. 「Inventory」"
The space in front of Soren's left hand rippled as he thrust his hand in and pulled out Labrys, immediately attracting attention with his bold action.
– A spatial ring? Is he showing off?
– I thought his family didn't care about him?
– Maybe it's just a rumour after all…
But the whispers quickly turned to shouting as people finally recognised the axe he was holding.
– Wait! That's Freya Arden's weapon!
– Why is he using it?
Even though the form of the axe had changed, those with good eyesight would easily be able to tell that it was the same axe from the appearance alone.
Soren looked up at the audience.
Although the majority of the seats were empty, he was actually happy with that, as it made it easier to find the people he was close to.
He spotted Felix, Amelia and Esper sitting together with a crowd of girls sitting not too far away who occasionally glanced at Felix with a disdainful expression.
'They must be Essy's friends.'
Then, a bit further away, Lilliana stood alone, her expression slightly anxious.
Soren found it cute how much she worried about even a minor duel like this.
On the other side of the audience was a large group of people surrounding a girl with black hair and red eyes, Louise Cruentus.
'And finally…'
Soren locked eyes with a golden-haired boy.
'He's here.'
Alex smiled and waved when he noticed that Soren was looking in his direction, and next to him, Olivia did the same, even if her smile was slightly strained.
'I should talk to Olivia sometime.'
He felt bad about avoiding her for so long, especially since he was now over what had taken place between him and Alex.
It was as he was thinking this that a rough voice cut through his thoughts.
"You actually showed up?" Ivan said with a scoff.
"Yep."
"You'd better listen well after you've lost."
"You know," Soren started, his tone filled with boredom, "usually when people act all confident before a fight, they're the one who loses."
"Hah, we'll see, won't we?"
"I guess so," he said with a smirk.
Throughout their back and forth, Soren hadn't even glanced at his opponent a single time, instead rolling up his sleeves and inspecting Labrys to make sure that everything was ready.
It was a thoughtless action, not even meant to provoke his opponent, but Ivan's eyebrow twitched.
[Before the duel begins, let's read the reasoning for the duel and the penalty for the loser.]
Both Soren and Ivan nodded.
[Ivan Olfram, ranked 64th in martial studies, claims that Soren Arden, ranked 96th in arcane studies, has not only abandoned his noble dignity, bringing disgrace to his family, but has also been playing around and flirting with women far above his status in a shameful manner.]
"What?" Soren was taken aback as he heard the reasoning for the duel.
'It's true that I haven't cared about my nobility at all, but flirting?'
He felt a headache coming on as the TA continued.
[From high-ranking students such as Esper Rupindolf, to royalty like Amelia Indras Einhardt, and even beyond that with Professor Lilliana Roseblood, Ivan Olfram claims that Soren Arden's behaviour has been audacious considering his own status and actions.]
Soren pinched the bridge of his nose as the TA continued listing reasons before finally moving on to the main point.
[For all these reasons, Ivan Olfram challenged Soren Arden to a duel. The penalty decided amongst the participants was that the loser would grant a wish to the winner. As both students are nobles, this wish will have to be overseen by a member of the faculty to make sure that the wish is fair and reasonable.]
"Sigh…" Soren finally opened his eyes and let out a sigh as the TA's words began reaching their conclusion.
[Soren Arden, are you ready?]
He nodded.
[Ivan Olfram, are you ready?]
"Yes."
[The duel between Soren Arden and Ivan Olfram will now commence…]
[3…]
[2…]
[1…]
[Begin.]
————「❤︎」————