“GOOD MORNING, CLASS!” Connor enthusiastically said. “I am glad last week’s attack didn't end in any tragedies. Although we did have a couple of reckless students who engaged the Lunarian Ranker in battle. Many people were injured, but no deaths, so I am grateful to Our Goddess Oreto for that. Let’s move to today’s class, we are having sparring matches. You must remember when we spar we try to learn from each other, we are not trying to win or injure each other.”
Most times I get paired with Ron, so I am expecting that. Oswald thought. I wonder why Mr. Johnson keeps pairing us for sparring, if me and Ron dislike each other. After I confronted Two during the attack, Ron feels weaker in comparison. At least I could practice some in this spar.
“The pairings will be as follows: Oswald and Ron, Jack and Aurora, Ellie and John, Marie and Mike, Rose and Albert, Hannah and Emma. That is for the pairings.” Connor said as he wrote down the pairs on the smart board. “Now go to the prep room and change into your uniform. I’ll be waiting in the Battle Room.”
After hearing the last pairing of Hannah and Emma, Oswald looked at Jack and saw Jack’s surprised expression.
This can’t be good, I just learned that Emma had a crush on me yesterday. Oswald thought Now that me and Hannah are a couple I wonder how their sparring match will unfold. And Jack and Aurora just became a couple and now they are sparring partners. I wish Hannah was my sparring partner. Is Mr. Johnson able to smell the drama and he just adds fuel to the fire?
The whole class got up and walked towards the locker rooms to change into their exercise uniforms. After a few minutes all students arrived at the Battle Room wearing slate sweatpants and slate t-shirts with the school insignia. Aurora, Mike, and Marie were also wearing a slate sweatshirt with the school insignia. The pairs split off throughout the room and they began to spar. The battle room was a spacious room with mats on the floor. The big windows illuminated the room. Each pair headed to a section of the room to start their sparring session. The students were separated where they would not bump into another pair and interfere in the sparring.
“Hey Talentless Deus! I met your cousin Joshua Deus over the weekend.” Ron said to Oswald as he readied his fighting stance. “He told me that I should beat you up since he is not here.”
“I see, so he doesn’t intend to leave me alone.” Oswald replied as he approached Ron and threw a punch.
“Or I can get you in trouble.” Ron said as he blocked the punch and kicked Oswald. “Joshua told me he’ll protect me from my actions.”
“That would make you one of his strongest lackeys.” Oswald said while stepping back to dodge the kick.
“You think you are a big shot, now that you confronted a Lunarian Ranker.” Ron said while waiting for Oswald’s next move. “But Two just made good work of you and sent you to the hospital. Hehehe.”
“At least I tried to do something to help the other students.” Oswald said as he launched a kick towards Ron.
“So, at least I can use magic.” Ron said as he countered Oswald’s kick with his own. “Unlike you. You are the only human in the world with no magic. What a loser.”
Oswald stopped talking and continued to launch attacks while Ron blocked or dodged and then launched his own attack. Despite Ron hurling more insults to try and provoke Oswald, Oswald stopped responding to him. Ron became furious at the lack of response.
“So boring.” Ron said, stepping away from Oswald to create some distance. “You know what is funny. I bet Hannah is only with you because you are a Deus and she is so low class she could only seduce the worst Deus.”
“BE QUIET, RON!” Oswald yelled, but Ron smirked.
“That struck a nerve because it must have some truth.” Ron said and noticed Oswald stopped moving and was glaring at him. “You know I am telling the truth. Or why would an orphan seduce someone from the Deus Family.”
“YOU BETTER SHUT UP NOW!!” Oswald yelled. All the other students were now looking at Oswald and Ron. “LEAVE HANNAH OUT OF THIS!!”
“She is just selling herself for a chance at the power of the Deus Family. She is just a low class woman. Hahahaha.” Ron started laughing. Hannah glared at him.
Oswald felt a rage that he could no longer control. He felt the Mana in his body going haywire. He felt his Mana Flow was becoming somewhat similar to his Aunt May’s when she used the Deus State. But he felt his body wasn’t ready to step into the Deus State. He approached Ron and threw a punch. The punch was faster than the other ones and connected with Ron’s head. Before Ron could react, Oswald punched him in the gut. Ron fell to the ground. Oswald then continued to repeatedly kick Ron.
“STOP THAT!!” Connor yelled, but Oswald just continued. Connor ran towards Oswald to separate him from Ron. “OSWALD THAT IS ENOUGH!”
Connor grabbed Oswald in a Nelson Lock, but Oswald was struggling to break free.
“LET ME GO!” Oswald yelled. “HE HASN’T SUFFERED ENOUGH!!!”
“This is not the point of this exercise.” Connor tried to calm down Oswald, but Oswald kicked him in the leg. “That’s it, you are going to the principal’s office. I’ll be calling your parents.”
Once the rage within Oswald calmed down he stopped struggling and noticed everyone was looking at him. Ron was clutching his stomach and crying while Marie was comforting him. Oswald just averted his gaze downwards.
“Marie and Albert please take Ron to the infirmary, Mrs. Davis will look after him.” Connor said. “Oswald to the principal’s office now. I’ll be calling your Dad. I can't believe it, I’ll have to have this sort of talk with Duke Deus!”
Oswald started to head towards the exit of the room when he felt someone grab his hand. He looked back and saw Hannah.
“Oz, thank you!” Hannah said and kissed him on the cheek. “You’re the best boyfriend. I hope they don’t punish too harshly. Just tell your Mom you were defending me and she will be on your side.”
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“Hannah, I’m sorry. This happened because he dislikes me.” Oswald said, holding Hannah’s hand.
“Don’t apologize. You did nothing wrong.” Hannah said. “Ron is the one in the wrong. He went too far. This is why I have disliked him since middle school.”
“Hannah step come back here with the rest of the class, NOW!” Ron yelled. “As for Oswald, follow me. I have already notified the principal. He’ll be calling your parents, since they are influential people. Jack you’re in charge. Please continue the sparring sessions!”
As soon as Connor stopped looking at the other students, Jack smiled and gave Oswald a thumbs up. Oswald smiled at Jack and then followed Connor through the building’s halls and outside the building into the courtyard where they headed towards the Administrative Building. Once inside the building, Oswald spotted Ms .Ramirez, who had a complex expression when she saw Oswald.
“Mr. Lambert is waiting for you two in his office.” Ms. Ramirez said. “Please head inside.”
Oswald and Connor walked past Ms. Ramirez’s desk and at the end of the hall they went inside the door into Mr. Lambert’s office. Inside the office, Oswald could observe an array of degrees and certificates at the far end of the room Mr. Lambert was sitting at his desk. On his desk there was a monitor on the left side from Oswald’s perspective and on the right side there was a name plate that read “Antonio Lambert.” Mr. Lambert was a muscular man with a head of white hair, he wore a slate suit and brown dress shoes. Oswald took a seat on one of the tree chairs near Mr. Lambert’s desk while Connor sat down on one of the chairs at the back of the room.
“Mr. Deus, not even being from an influential family will shield you from the consequences.” Mr. Lambert said in a serious tone. “I talked with your father, Duke Deus. He told me that both him and Duchess Deus will be on their way. He didn’t sound too happy.”
“I don’t care about the consequences. I’ll face them.” Oswald said while looking straight at Mr. Lambert. “I don’t regret my actions. Then what about Ron? He also insulted Hannah.”
“Don’t worry about him. He’ll face consequences once he gets proper treatment.” Mr. Lambert said. “This is a place to learn. We know that accidents can happen during sparring matches, but what you did was intentionally harm someone else in hopes of injuring them.”
“As long as Ron faces punishment for insulting Hannah, I don’t care about what you do to me!” Oswald said.
“Is that so?” Mr. Lambert said. “I see you have the character of a Deus. You’re just like your father. I remember when I was in the Deus Guild as an instructor and I taught him quite a bit before he became the Duke. Hahaha. Those were good times. I wonder if you’ll be like your dad when you confront him. Joseph never really stood up to Victor either now or then. It looks like Duke Deus has arrived. With that Magical power of his is easy to tell when he arrives.”
After a few moments, Joseph and Liliana entered the room. They sat down in the other two chairs in front of Mr. Lambert.
“I am so sorry about this situation, Mr. Lambert. I can;t believe Oswald would do something like this.” Joseph apologized. “We’ll also be taking corrective action.”
“Wait, Joseph. We should ask Oswald his perspective.” Liliana said while holding Joseph’s hand. “Oswald, please tell me what happened.”
“I hurt Ron for insulting Hannah.” Oswald said, looking at his Mom. “I don’t regret doing it and I’ll happily do it again and he does the same thing.”
“Reflect on what you have done!” Joseph yelled at Oswald. “You shouldn’t hurt people like this! You send the other kid to the infirmary!”
“So what? He deserved that.” Oswald said.
“Oswald! You are a Deus, so act like one.” Joseph said.
“A DEUS! Yeah, like those guys using our family name to treat others as less, EH!?” Oswald said. “Just like the other way like you so within the other ones. That’s what you've been doing as the Deus Family Head. You are Duke Deus, yet it looks like Grandpa is the one in charge!”
“I AM YOUR FATHER. LISTEN TO ME OSWALD DEUS!” Joseph yelled.
“WHY CAN’T I ACT LIKE THE OTHERS?” Oswald yelled. “IS IT BECAUSE I AM MAGICLESS?”
“That’s not … Oswald you have to control yourself for your own good.” Joseph said.
“I am done with this, Duke Deus.” Oswald said in a sarcastic tone as he got up and headed towards the door. “Don’t bother following me. Aria is already doing that.”
“COME BACK, OSWALD!” Joseph yelled as Oswald exited the room.
“Joseph, calm down. You should set a better example for Oz!” Liliana said. “You are acting like this and you expect Oz to listen to you.”
“Lily … “ Joseph said.
“Don’t call me Lily right now! I am mad at you!” Liliana said. “We are not punishing, Oz! He did a good job standing up for Hannah!”
“Alright, Liliana!” Joseph sighed. “I’ll listen to you!”
“Duke, it looks like the Duchess is the one in charge. Hahaha.” Mr. Lambert said. “Oswald will be suspended and he will be back Friday. That’s when the students go to the dungeon, right Mr. Johnson?”
“That’s correct, Mr. Lambert.” Connor replied.
“Duke, Oswald is not like you.” Mr. Lambert said. “You never went against Victor, but Oswald just went against you. He will become a man worthy of the last name Deus. Just like Duke Leon Deus made the Deus Family prominent 500 years ago.”
Oswald had gone all the way to the hill overlooking the school. He sat under a tree and was looking at the whole school. He found this view quite pleasant.
“Aria, can you come out?” Oswald asked. Aria then undid her Shadow Magic and appeared behind Oswald.
“You know that was quite entertaining. I wish I had some popcorn” Aria said.
“Can I spar with you?” Oswald asked.
“Sure, I’ll just fight at a level you can handle.” Aria replied.
“No, please use your shadow magic.” Oswald said. “I want to see how wide our gap is.”
“Alright, but you’ll lose right away.” Aria replied.
Oswald and Aria took their battle position and observed each other. After a few seconds, Aria disappeared and Oswald couldn’t see where she went. He started to try and find her Mana Flow, but it looked like she was gone. Suddenly, she appeared in front of him and touched his forehead.
“You lose.” Aria said. “If this was a real life or death battle, you would’ve died.”
“I think I can dodge or block if I go against you again.” Oswald said. “I have figured something out.”
“You’re funny, but I’ll entertain you.” Aria said as she walked away from Oswald.
They once again took their positions and Aria disappeared. This time noticed a fluctuation in the Mana in the surrounding area right behind him and grabbed Aria’s arm before she touched him.
“What!?” Aria had a shocked expression. “How? People your level can’t detect Magic Power plus my Magic Power remains hidden while I am using my Shadow Magic. And you can’t use Magic. Looks like you’re hiding something. I won’t ask, it’s more fun figuring it out.”
Seeing Aria’s Mana Flow, it looks similar to Iseul’s Mana Flow. Oswald though. Oswald then looked Aria directly in the eyes and said, “I’ll surpass those arrogant guys misusing the Deus name. The only one I can accept as better than me is my cousin Leon. He is living up to the legacy and name of our ancestor Leon Deus.”
“I’ll help you by sparring.” Aria said. “You have to work harder to surpass them, since you lack Magic. The Deus Family Tournament is in the middle of December, so you have two months to become stronger.”
“That’s my first step.” Oswald said. “Eventually, I’ll be the one to stop the Lunarian Rankers.”