Chapter 34

The Winters Mother and Daughter

  The last thing for this initiation ceremony was a duel between two new students decided by Martha but before she could say something. The always silent HouseMsaster of Sentinels spoke in a raised voice to Walter from her area,

I had no idea there was another mage of the second circle among the first years, it's a shame that we didn't get her.

  Sentinels' area was exactly opposite to Prophets', her remark drew everyone’s attention and Walter who thought that there was only a single child with two circles suffered a huge blow. He thought this time Prophets got the most talented ones

  Aredhel pushed a girl forward and asked her to introduce herself; the student under the hood stepped forward and pushed the hood back. She was a fair-skinned beauty with deep cyan eyes that could captivate anyone but the thing that stood out the most was her silver hair which was different from the usual golden hair of the Elves.

  Even in Elves, there were two divisions, normal elves and High Elves. The second one possessed a terrifying amount of mana as compared to any other race and this rare beauty was a high elf like her mother Aredhel.

Walter shouted at Aredhel,

Don't you have any shame, woman? Showing your daughter.

Aredhel gleefully mocked him,

So what if I am shameless, your distorted face is reward enough.

  Martha already knew about the child because she was a staff ward and had an amicable relationship with her. So she was surprised on knowing that there was another talented person in the Prophets like her and it was a human child too.

  The girl who became a spectacle for her mother didn't lower her eyes even once, she was used to the spotlight and contemptuous gazes so she bravely stood her ground against the numerous stares. Hans was also looking at her and found confidence instead of arrogance in her face.

She said,

Delimira Winters, a quad elemental mage of the second circle.

  Hans took a long breath and soon released it, a quad Elemental, his expectation and Vanessa's word came true, people he monsters. Walter knew that her daughter who sometimes visited Concordia in her early years was talented but reaching the second circle and possessing all four Elements of mana was making him sad for himself.

  It was not rare that children inherited mana properties like their parents but she inherited all of her mother's mana properties. Hans was too busy staring at the girl with ManaVision, he failed to see her clearly because of the robe she was wearing but there was a light inside her that was shining like something he never saw in anyone.

  Hans's eyes also led to the other elves who were showing their visible discomfort but soon it turned into disgust. He looked more intensely at her but found nothing to be disgusted about. Walter patted him on the head and said,

Hey no matter how pretty the girl is, you shouldn't stare at her that way. She is probably the strongest this year (first year).

Hans replied quickly in confidence,

Nah, I was playing the staring game with her.

I don't mind you playing any game with her but you should see, her mother is also playing the same game with you.

  His words led him to see the houseMaster of Sentinels, staring at him intensely. Hans lowered his gaze immediately, any mother will feel angry if her daughter was ogled by someone. Martha felt more pissed with Hans because of his behaviour, neglecting the fact that he was just a ten years old curious boy.

She announced again,

Since you all have received your houses, you will be moved to your dorms but before that, we have to see who will become the fresher king. I will choose a person and he could challenge any of you for a duel.

  Being the fresher king meant respect so everyone was eager to be chosen by Martha but the lady in green was looking at Hans. Hans was not afraid of any fights but he did not understand why there was some hostility in her eyes but he could not care less so he showed his confidence, provoking Martha even more.

Martha said,

Hans Richardson of Prophets, come forward.

  With a click of her finger, the seating area got swapped with a cemented floor and the boy made his way towards it. Martha looked at him with scorn and said,

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You can challenge anyone you want, they will have a choice to accept or not. If they refuse then I will pick a suitable person for you.

There was a weird satisfaction in her tone that he didn't like but he has to go with the flow now. Hans asked her,

Do I get anything if I win?

Martha smiled and said,

The honour of having your name on the wall of fame and the title of Fresher king.

  Hans didn't care for honour but the fight itself, he wanted to scale himself against the so-called genius here. As far as he observed, the strongest mage here should be the girl known as Delimira Winters. He looked straight at Delimira and challenged her which she straightforwardly refused, surprising everyone. She was probably the most powerful person here and no one had thought that she would refuse the challenge. Hans was one of them so he tried to provoke her,

Getting scared on the first day, are you?

She replied in a cold voice,

You should learn more words before trying to incite me, shorty.

Hans mumbled silently,

sh..shorty...

  Hans wanted to provoke her but he was getting provoked instead. He was only curious before but now, he wanted to beat her. Martha interrupted before he could say anything Martha interrupted,

You can not force someone to duel here. Since your opponent has refused, I will choose your duel partner.

  She scrambled in papers but a sudden voice stopped her, a tall elven boy was coming forth from Sentinels. He was the holder of the first position in regular admissions and before Martha could say anything, he said,

Please allow me to fight, professor, I currently hold first place in admissions.

  Martha was looking for a suitable person that could let Hans learn that having a background was not enough to survive in Concordia. Choosing the best candidate on her own for a younger opponent would have gained her criticism but the story would be different if Hans accepted it on his own. She looked at Hans and asked him,

He is the best in admission, I have not chosen for you, if you don't want to I will choose an appropriate person for you.

  Her words were twisted and if Hans chose to back out from this then he will be looked down on as a person who ran away from a challenge. Hans smirked and accepted.

Martha acknowledge their decision and explained,

This will be a knockout battle between both of you and if you want you can surrender in between by accepting your loss.

Hans intervened,

What I can't do in this duel?

Martha asked back,

What do you mean by it?

Hans looked at her in annoyance and said,

Obviously, I can't kill him, so what other things are prohibited?

She was confused why the child who was going to lose said those words but she replied,

Only killing is prohibited, but can you even hold your own, your opponent is placed first in admissions.

Hans replied to her mockery with a grin and serious tone,

You better prepare a stretcher.

The elven boy came in front of him and Martha asked them to introduce themselves as the custom of duels. He said to him in a quiet voice, difficult for others to hear,

How's your sister? I heard she got better.

  Hans was perplexed by the tone of his opponent who was mentioning his sis Vanessa with this much hatred and seeing his confused face the elven boy added,

Oh didn't you know, your sister ran away leaving her friends behind as bait, I thought what happened to her was retribution from the gods but that bitch got cured, that's not fair, right?

Hans glared at him and replied,

Hey, I don't give a shit what happened before, mention her one more time and you are dead.

You won't understand, I will kill her myself. One of the people that she used for bait was my elder brother and she will pay for it.

So what?

  The elven boy wanted Hans to feel disgusted at Vanessa by reminding him of her shameful deeds but Hans just looked at him with scornful eyes so he shouted at him,

She used her fellow teammates as bait… If my teammates can't have my back then they should at least be a proper bait for me. What's wrong with it?

The Elven boy laughed in frustration at him and said,

So it's in your blood.

  Hans looked at Martha who was also surprised to see that there was some bad blood between these people. She was reluctant to announce the start after knowing that but both the parties in question were emanating hostility towards each other. She thought if something happens she will intervene and signalled to start the duel.

The Elven Boy introduce him first,

Rominick Stalon, first circle, fire and ground mage from Sentinels.

Hans replied with the same tone,

Hans, wood mage from Prophets.

***