Chapter 175.

PART 1.

“To win a duel, you do not only have to be superior to your opponent in terms of magic, spells, stamina, and strategy, but you also have to be vicious. This is because there is no way to win a duel without damaging your competition. You can’t hope to hit them with a simple spell and expect that their foci would come to you sailing in your hands, and even if they did, you’ve got to be wary since there are mages who can fight fociless. In fact, some of them fight better without a foci. So, dealing damage is the only way.” said Dimitri.

“I’ve seen you all compete in the selection tournament. I think Avinash, Tom, Hatori, and Daphne have this viciousness, but the other half of the team is lacking. let me illustrate this point with a duel. Avinash, Ravina, you’re up.” the area is cleared, and both duelers get ready to fight.

“Begin!” declares Nandan, and the fight starts.

Avinash and Ravina both cast spells on each other, but Avinash’s spells come faster and hit much harder. The final spell which ended the duel hammered Ravina in the stomach, and she is then thrown to the ground. She lost her foci, and Avinash summons it. he starts to move his staff to cast another spell, but Nandan declares him a winner.

“Do you see what I’ve told you? Ravina has a feisty personality. She does not give up easily. But when it comes to dueling, she does not utilize that, and that is reflected in her spells. In contrast, Avinash walks into the ring with one goal: to win and dominate your opponent. That is how you have to approach every duel. We will work on this. For now, get ready for your own spars. Ravina and Avinash are excused from the first round.” said Dimitri.

PART 2.

It is the middle of the festival, and the tournament is at the end. Usually, it lasts until the final week of the month, but this time, Raven has dominated his opponent so thoroughly that there is no chance of catching up to the other player.

This is very disappointing for Raven. At first, he thought that the competition would be tough this year. and yet, as he makes his final move, his opponent resigns, and he manages to defend his title. When the final game is done, his name is put in the hall of fame, which is where the names of the champions are put if they defend their titles three times successfully. Even among the hall of fame, Raven has a rank of his own, because he will graduate next year, and he has not lost the title even once.

Still, he is disappointed by the match. “Wait, I’m thinking like Hatori!” he realized with horror.

“Well, that is one way to put it,” said Suresh, coming to take a seat.

“When did you come here?” asked Raven.

“I wanted to see your final match, so I asked to be here,” said Suraj. “Well done by the way.”

“Thanks. I’m sure you were rather busy.” Said Raven.

“Not at all. I feel proud that I did not lose to a bad player. If not that, I would have the satisfaction of seeing you lose. Win/win in my opinion.” Said Suresh with a smirk.

“Whatever. You still can’t beat me,” said Raven.

“If it weren’t for the match you’ve already played, I would have shown you your place. I’ve learned new tricks,” said Suresh, with a gleam of competitiveness shining in his eyes.

“Show me those tricks some other time,” said Raven, and they made a silent agreement to play another match between them in the future.

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PART 3.

Hatori is testing his project. After resting in the room of frozen time, he is working on the graduation project. He carved the runes to summon the object to his location, but when he activates the runes, nothing happens.

A few seconds later, the stone on which he carved these runes melts, and Hatori has to shield himself from getting splashed by the molten rock. Sighing in disappointment, he walks out of the underground lab, hoping to get an idea after taking a walk in the fresh air.

“Yo! You look exhausted. You need this more than me.” said Shin, and gives the glass of sugarcane juice he had in his hand to Hatori.

“Thanks.” Hatori gulps the entire thing down. It was too late. By the time his neckless warned him that something was wrong with the juice, he had two devil-like horns on his head.

“You bastard, get back here!” he chases after Shin.

“Dammit!” he cursed, as the shorter boy manages to get away.

“Don’t worry about it much.” said James, who was sitting on the grass on the secret ground, “Those horns will disappear in an hour or two.”

“That’s better,” muttered Hatori. “Do you have any clue of what I can do with my project?” asked Hatori.

“You could look at the other teleporters, didn’t you do this before? Another look won’t hurt I think.” Suggests James.

“Good idea.” Said Hatori, and left to find a teleporter.

“Let’s hope he won’t steal and dismantle it this time,” mutters James.

PART 4.

Hatori couldn’t find a teleporter. He spoke to Professor Krodhatma about it, and the angry professor agreed to provide him a small one later. so, he walks, enjoying the evening. Ever since he modified his body to resist the cold temperature better, he has been liking winter better. though not enough to call it his favorite weather.

He notes just how many students are cuddling and kissing. Getting annoyed, he decides to hide within his room. ‘Maybe gaining eyes wasn’t such a good idea.’ He thought to himself.

“Hatori, where are you going?” asked Daphne.

“Nowhere.” He lied.

“Whatever. Why don’t you come to the food stalls with me? that’ll be the last year we’ll get to enjoy it.” she asked.

“Sure.” Said Hatori.

The food is infinitely better than watching people cuddling all day long, thinking they are hidden from everyone’s eyes, while in reality, everyone can see what they’re doing.

PART 5.

Porus receives a letter from the king of Albion, inviting him to see the inter-school dueling tournament. He plans to go there, but he has to decide who to leave behind in his absence. Sundar has to be involved more than he is used to, and Amarnath has to handle the political matters.

Some more people come to his mind, but he decides to discuss them with the general and his prime minister before taking any action.

PART 6.

Dimitri is enjoying the festivities. He is annoyed that the Europa Academy does not do something similar. then again, he likely wouldn’t have left his training. Still, just because he likes to remain in shape, does not mean he doesn’t like to enjoy the festivities from time to time.

He likes the team. Their methods of using magic are very different compared to European methods. That is why he is dueling them whenever he can, to give them a chance to get familiar with other ways of casting magic.

‘Though I think it is time to take the intensity up a notch.’ He thinks as the students enjoy, unaware of the plans going on in their coach’s mind.