By the time Lia arrived at her next destination, she was wearing a simple backpack she bought at one of the stalls, stuffing her books into it. She saw some pouches that had enchantments on them, capable of storing many things. The only problem was their price was in the thousands of CP. Letting out a depressed sigh, she looked at the busy shop before her, shaking out her frustration from her head. Unlike the bookstore, a sea of people constantly came and went in there. Getting in was a feat in itself, pressing her small frame through the bodies of older students and local citizens. Finally stepping into the shop itself, other impatient students were pushing her forward so she would make her order at the counter already so they could move on.
"What can I help you with?" Asked a teenager standing behind the counter, looking at her with a bland look. He was around 180 centimeters tall and had straight, short, greenish hair and emerald-colored eyes. By his uniform, he was a third-year student, and his element was displayed as someone dabbling in two already: Nature and Earth.
"I'd like to buy some low-level ingredients that can be used for starting out, learning alchemy!" Lia answered, looking around, feeling dizzy. The counter itself was filled with thousands of images of plants and unknown ingredients, then there was the constant buzz of others talking, haggling, and ordering their own components. She glanced at the inventory book but had no idea what was what, not even when she read the names listed next to the images.
"I see, I see." The boy nodded, remaining calm and unbothered, but a small smile was noticeable on his face. It was evident he approved that someone young, and by her uniform, a first-year student was interested in alchemy. "Your element is fire, yes?" He asked, receiving a nod from Lia. "That will help you make potions, but you need to control it carefully! What kind of potions are you looking to make?"
"I… I don't know." Lia replied, hesitating a little. "I have 40 CP to spend! Can I get some for that? I am fine with things that have no real value; I just want to experiment and get a feeling for it!"
"I see, I see." He nodded his head, approving her thought process, but he also saw the growing line behind her getting restless, murmuring that this is not the school… an amateur should start there; she just holds up the line. "One moment." He smiled, reaching under the counter, and soon, he picked out a small box. It was the size of a music box that she had back home, next to her bed, sitting on her night table. It was dark brown in color, made out of some kind of wood, with a six-sided formation atop its lid, locked down by a soft, golden energy seal. "Here, it will be 40 CP!"
"What is this?" Lia asked, but then her bracelet beeped, displaying the transaction window. "Oh? An Item Box?" She quickly read it, as it was an artifact crafted to hold a fixed amount of alchemy ingredients, keeping them fresh. From what she read, it had space for 20 items, not bigger than a human heart. Right now, it was filled with 20 different essential ingredients, enough to try and craft one of five beginner healing potions. "I'll take it!" Lia smiled happily, paying for it quickly. "Thank you!"
"Sure thing!" The boy nodded, but before Lia could say something, she was already pushed to the side by another, almost making her drop her new box. She was grumbling before finally being ejected from the shop by the sea of people pushing against each other.
"This place sucks!" Lia moaned, finally catching her breath, standing outside, holding her item box to her body. "Uuuu…" She shook her head, turning around to go to another place when she collided with someone.
The sudden impact drew a yelp out from her as she landed on her butt while her box crashed against the pavement, loudly shattering in the process.
"Whaaaa?!" Lia drew in a sharp breath, sounding like a cry. She was dumbfounded, watching the sturdy-looking box of hers splinter and spill out its ingredients. Even worse, the one she crashed into lost her balance and, as she was trying to find her footing, stepped all over them, crushing most of it in the process.
"Damn, watch where you go, pipsqueak!" She shouted down at her, as she was at least two heads taller than Lia. She had medium-long, black hair reaching down to her shoulders, and her yellowish eyes looked at her with contempt.
"You good, Yanura?" Her friends asked, looking to be around 16 or 17 years old. Lia, Watching their uniforms, quickly determined they were 2nd-year students in command of only one element. The one she bumped into had the same icon as Koa, a blue water droplet on her vest. She had an hourglass-like figure and clearly wore faint makeup to look even more beautiful right in the middle of her blooming period.
"My ingredients!" Lia stood up, stomping in place, looking into her eyes with puffed-up cheeks, pouting and turning angry. "You have to pay me for those! Those were 40 CP!"
"Pft, pay you? Look where you go, idiot! I ain't paying you shit!"
"I don't want shit!" Lia harrumphed, "I want money!" She stretched out her palm, pointing into it. "Pay me!"
"What?" The girl flinched, thinking she heard it wrong… she was a 2nd-year student, yet a kid was demanding her to pay? For that worthless stuff on the ground? "Go away, pipsqueak! Before I hurt you!" She laughed, echoed by her friends, finding it hilarious.
"So you won't pay?" Lia stomped in place again, now gathering a small crowd, curious about what would happen.
One of the spectators, a 3rd-year student, was also looking on, his silver-colored eyes focused on the group of girls. He was wearing his school uniform, displaying his light element with a golden star.
"..." He almost stepped forward to intervene, but then he heard Lia's following words. It made him raise his gray eyebrows and run his fingers through his almost white hair, tucking it behind his ears. "Nice…"
"Then I challenge you to a duel!" Lia pointed at the girl's face.
"I refuse!" She answered immediately, "Don't think I have time to play with every little idiot that comes around!"
"I evoke my right to force a Duel of Righteous Cause!" Lia said, her voice firm, as her hair slowly floated upwards behind her. Her mismatched eyes watched the girl's stunned expression as she did not know what was happening. Yet the next moment, her bracelet lit up, and the familiar, synthetic female voice spoke out from both of theirs.
"After review, Righteous Cause was invoked successfully. The challenger, please state your demands."
"I want," Lia said, completely focused, unblinking, watching Yanura like an owl. "Yanura to pay my damages. Also, I want her to pay 100 CP as punishment because of her previous refusal!"
"What are you on about?!" Yanura shouted, but the voice simply acknowledged it.
"The system deemed it acceptable. 140 CP in total. Arena A1 has been reserved. 15 minutes until the duel commences."
"Wait?! I don't have a say in this?!" Yanura screamed as the countdown appeared for her too, and Lia had already left, hurrying towards the arena, leaving her broken item box and ingredients behind, still under the feet of the girl.
"Righteous Cause," the voice said, almost like explaining it to her, "After suffering valid humiliation, the challenger can state his or her desires to regain his or her pride. The system deemed her to be correct in evoking her rights for a Righteous Cause. The challenged has no say in the stake of the duel. If the system deems it sufficient, the duel commences as usual. Note: If the challenged wins the duel, he or she is exempt from another Righteous Cause duel from the challenger and is exempt from paying any reparations."
"Fucking hell… I never heard of this…." Yanura said, surprised and even shocked, but then her friends quickly turned her sudden fear into glee.
"She is a first-year student! With fire as her element! What are you afraid of?"
"Ah… damn it! I was just too surprised!" Yanura said, hitting her forehead, now much calmer, laughing with her friends. "I don't want a strike… let's go; let me beat that kid, and we can continue our day!"
Most of the people in the crowd sighed, thinking Lia was in for a real beating, not even following them, going back to their own things. This was not that rare to be surprised about in the end. Yet one of the spectators thought otherwise; the young man with gray hair and eyes followed the group, intending to spectate what would happen.
The first to arrive at Arena A1 was Lia. She placed her hand on the energy barrier, waiting for Yanura to arrive. Her blue and red eyes were resolute and serious, looking like a warrior, ready to stare down death itself. As she stood there, she moved her head slightly, noticing a 3rd-year student arriving, even before Yanura. He just smiled at her and nodded a little, prompting her to return the gesture. Before she could start thinking who he was, Yanura also arrived with her friends in tow. By now, she was confident and ready to teach Lia to a painful lesson. She said nothing and entered the barrier, followed by Lia without a flinch. Her friends, including the silver-haired man, quickly activated their bracelets, inspecting their duel from the outside.
"Challenged," the system's voice said, "Choose the battlefield."
"Hmph…" Yanura smirked, watching Lia's fire emblem on her vest, "The open ocean!"
As soon as she said it, the scenery changed, and they were standing on a little, floating wooden plank, facing each other, around 20 meters away. The sky was free of clouds, and it was a hot summer day inside the arena, and the surface of the endless, blue waters was calm, just like a mirror.
"I'll teach you-" Yanura said, already stepping forward, easily walking on water, but she was interrupted. Lia shot forward as if she was shot out from a cannon as soon as Yanura opened her mouth. Lia's legs burned with crimson fire, whistling through the air, aiming a lethal kick straight at Yanura's neck, coming down from an angle.
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She barely managed to raise her arm to block, and when it met with Lia's shin, she heard it breaking… and it was not Lia's leg that cracked apart. She couldn't help but scream out, then was sent flying backward from the transmitting energy, blowing a huge water curtain into the air, sparkling in the strong sunlight. Lia was floating, kept above the water by her fire burning below her feet, making her hover in the air. Her eyes watched the water, scanning, knowing this was not the end.
Yanura's attack came from under her a moment later. It was as if a shark tried to bite at her from below, but Lia was quicker. She flew away, spinning mid-air, forming a finger pistol, and shooting at the appearing water shark. Her balls of flame hit it straight but it remained undamaged, extinguishing Lia's attacks quickly.
"I'll break your bones, bitch!" Yanura appeared at a different place, her arm already fixed, holding a small, empty vial between her fingers.
"Potions…?" Lia murmured, flying further up as the water shark constantly followed her to bite down on her legs.
"Being an amateur, you forgot to ban consumables!" Yanura flashed a grin, waving her hand while her bracelet lit up. She summoned four blue magic circles that shot out fast, sharp, and highly destructive waterspouts. They were as thick as an arrow but could easily breach most armor, not to mention human flesh. They took a lot of mana from her, but she already grabbed another vial, drank a potion, and refilled her spent mana.
"..." Lia said nothing, dodging again, taking a quick look at her mana pool, which was decreasing steadily as she was literally burning it to make her able to fly.
On the outside world, the silver-haired man tilted his head slightly to the right, thinking to himself.
"Her mana is at the Magi level, so she can keep up with a 2nd-year student… but her spells are only at the Discipli stage… something is missing…."
"You are a quick one; I give you that!" Yanura clicked her tongue inside the arena, "But you need to learn your place!"
"I know my place." Lia answered, her red eye locked onto Yanura, "I am right where I want to be."
Listening to her, Yanura was forming a new magic circle, combining her summoned ones after failing to land a hit on Lia. She wanted to unleash her strongest spell, creating a water tornado, but what she saw made her gawk.
Lia slowly closed her blue eye, only keeping the red one open, raising her hand. In it, a robust sniper rifle was forming, similar to the one her mother could conjure. In size, it was bigger than Lia, but it had no actual weight. It appeared only in a second, burning in a bright, orange hue, while Lia looked through its scope. Before her open eye, a formation started to appear, locking down straight at Yanura, displaying not just her coordinates but also the wave that her mana fluctuated at. Every living being who managed to learn how to use magic had their own unique resonance. It was what made them possible to manipulate it and cast spells… and now Lia locked right onto Yanura's.
"Warning-" Lia heard a voice in her head, coming from her bracelet, as her mana was reaching close to zero, feeding it to her spell. Everyone knew if a mage overdrew her powers and exceeded what she could handle, it came at a price. It was bound to have a backlash; depending on the amount, it could even be life-threatening. If nothing else, being knocked unconscious was a guarantee. Yet Lia ignored it, instead pulling the rifle's trigger.
"I'm not afraid of you!" Yanura shouted, but it was mainly aimed at her own psyche because what she felt at that moment was precisely fear. She hurriedly changed her spell, already transforming it into defense, raising the ocean's water to form a bubble around her.
"No use," Lia whispered as her body was distorted, turning ethereal and exploding into embers of flame.
What she shot out was not a bullet or energy ball; it was herself. It took her only a millisecond to appear before Yanura, slipping by the completed defenses of her, appearing inside her now enclosed 'prison.'
"What?!" Yanura shouted, surprised, blinded by the light accompanying Lia's teleport-like move.
"I don't need mana... Nor items... Only my body~" Lia said as she flashed an evil grin, ignoring that she had almost no mana left and simply punched out.
She hit Yanura straight in the stomach. It gave out a resounding thud, shutting her up entirely and cutting her breath short. She shot out violently, but as she enclosed herself in her strongest defense, she crashed against the ceiling of her bubble. Before she could drop down, Lia was up next to her, her palm whistling forward, smacking straight into her jaw, followed by a crack and a few of Yanura's teeth flying in the opposite direction, faster than her body. Lia did not let her fly away this time, grabbing her hair with two hands, spinning her the other way, and smashing her against the water prison like a ragdoll.
On the outside, Yanura's friends were horrified at what they were seeing, and the silver-haired man gently twitched his eyebrows, trying to keep his composure with great effort. He wanted to sigh but couldn't, as this was not against the rules. The system would automatically interfere if any of their lives were in danger or close to being crippled. Everything else was permitted. When Yanura's body was being flung the other way, Lia still holding her by the hair, she felt a tug at her body, and everything turned white. The next moment, she stood outside the arena, holding only a few strands of Yanura's hair while her opponent was unconscious, lying a meter away from her. It was the same as her previous duel; the moment one of the participants lost consciousness, it immediately ended. This time, Lia made sure it was not her.
"Winner: Lia. Transferring over winnings." The synthetic voice said, and Lia's grin widened, watching her CP reserves jump up from 2 to 142.
"Yanura!" Her friends gathered around her, helping her sit up as she slowly recovered consciousness. She was dizzy, her face hurt, and she wanted to cry. "You!" One of the girls stood up, but then the gray-haired man stopped between the two groups.
"Stop." He said, raising his hand, glancing at Lia first, who curiously tilted her head, blinking her mismatched eyes with innocence. "Sion, Disciplinary Committee." He officially introduced himself, resulting in everyone's bracelet around him in a five-meter radius beeping and displaying an empty projection with the words; Waiting for Judgement.
"Huh?" Lia gasped, even more excited, as she read about them.
They were a group of students that were selected by the system. Becoming a part of the Disciplinary Committee was not something one chose to do; it was earned. Nobody knew the exact criteria, but since its establishment 2000 years ago inside the Academy, its members were the 'police force' on this floating island. Their job was to make sure the rules of the Academy were held up by its students and that visitors to the island were not a danger to the others. When Lia's group arrived, Sion was part of the three-man group that checked them in when the Pearl docked in. He was amongst the few who knew her last name because of it.
"We did… nothing!" Yanura's friends quickly said, standing up, forgetting to help Yanura stand up, raising their hands in defense.
"I… wouldn't say that," Sion said, smiling a little. "I was watching you for a few days." He continued, holding his hand behind his back, facing the group altogether. "There were reports of bullying amongst the 2nd year students, and all of my leads led to you lot…." He looked into their eyes, scaring them, "Surprisingly, all of the victims had one similarity… they had an amicable relationship with Master Lauron."
"Eh?" Lia flinched, twitching her mouth, leaning to the left, looking out from behind Sion, watching the girls with a weird look. She did not expect her sudden meeting with such a nasty group of girls to be because of jealousy... And because of her brother.
"We-" Yanura tried to say something, but her face was hurting, and she was still bleeding from the wounds that her knocked-out teeth had left behind.
"Shut it." Sion shook his head, flicking his fingers as a light strap simply sealed all of their mouths, unable to speak anymore. "I am not interested in excuses. I collected enough evidence. Especially when you lot ran into Lia here. I have recordings of you casting a spell," he explained, watching Yanura, "That weakened the integrity of her box, making sure it broke apart after crashing down. Stepping on the ingredients was just an added bonus." He sighed, shaking his head, "I already had the system review everything. Now… her reaction to invoking a duel was surprising!" Sion laughed, looking back at her over his shoulder, drawing an embarrassed chuckle out of Lia. "But, it is time I mete out the real punishment."
"Mhmf!" The girls tried to say something, but Sion just raised his hand.
"By the rights bestowed upon me," he said in a steel-like voice, "Every one of you receives a strike until the end of this semester!" He snapped his finger, and their bracelets beeped, recording it down. "Be happy; that is all that you get now." Sion added, his voice plain and dry, "I despise people like you… If I ever hear rumors of similar antics… I will turn your strike into a permanent one…."
After finishing, the energy tapes that held their mouths were removed, but none of them had the urge to say anything. Sion was simply watching them, his unfriendly eyes filling them with fear. In the end, Yanura stood up, looking at Lia, who merely returned her gaze, utterly unafraid of her.
"What's your name?" Yanura asked.
"Lia!" She answered, walking out from behind Sion, standing straight, placing her hands on her waist, and puffing out her flat chest.
"Your family name!" Yanura repeated, her voice seething from anger that she tried to hide.
"None of your business!" Lia answered, sticking out her tongue.
"Don't even try to intimidate her with outside threats." Sion spoke up, but it was not the type of warning that the group of girls thought it was. This time, he warned them out of kindness.
"Let's go…." Yanura moaned, turning away, wobbling, supported by one of her friends in the end as they left.
"Hehe… Thanks!" Lia giggled after they left, looking up at him.
"Sure." Sion nodded with a smile, looking at her, and scanning her body. "That was interesting."
"Teehee~" Lia blushed a little, and she wanted to say something when her legs faltered, and if not for Sion, she would have fallen backward. "Uwah… I'm a bit woozy!"
"Of course!" He laughed, supporting her with two hands from behind, producing a small vial. "Drink it; it restores a small amount of mana!"
"Thank you!" Lia exclaimed, grabbing at it, and gulping it down, already feeling strength returning to her, managing to stand straight again. "The moment I relaxed, everything started spinning!"
"Adrenalin sometimes is even better than mana!" Sion patted her back, "Feeling better?"
"Much better! How much?" Lia nodded, raising the empty vial.
"Nah, don't worry about it!" He shook his head. "It's cheap, only 5 CP."
"That is a lot!" She protested, wanting to pay him, but Sion patted her head that she did not refuse at all.
"You lost your stuff, huh?"
"But I have money now! I can repurchase it!" Lia laughed, already back in a happy mood as her mana was quickly regenerating, surprising Sion with how energetic she looked only after a minute. She was already bouncing a little after remembering that she now had a lot of CP.
"Is that so…?" Sion asked, crossing his hands. "Say what!"
"What?"
“Ah… not like that…” Sion flinched at the immediate answer from her, not letting him continue.
"What!" She repeated, different from previously.
“Argh… you…” Sion faltered a little, and watching her mismatched eyes, it was hard to tell if she was playing him or if she was serious. Her face throughout the duel was pretty serious… yet now she was acting like a little girl again, making him sigh. "Say… khm, let's say... Khm, SO! I will accompany you back to Alchemy Haven, okay? I know the guys at the back; let's get you a sweet deal, hm? I also need to buy this and that, so it's a good deal in my books!"
"Woah?! Really?! Really, Really?! You are a good guy! Sure! Yey! I like you! Want to be my friend?" She asked, already sending an invite over to him.
"Sure~" He nodded, accepting it.
At first, he was uninterested. He heard about the Six Houses all his life, growing up. The ancient tales, legends, and fables… but they were exaggerations in his eyes. What made them great was the wealth that they amassed through thousands of years. He had his pride, believing that one day, he would reach the same height as one of the Houses' best mages. After seeing Lia's Item Box be broken, he was about to step in, but what followed greatly surprised him. Especially when Lia did not give away her background in the end. Now… now he was interested. Not in the name of Amarin… but in Lia.