The sun shone brightly above Proteorno. The bustling city kicked into gear, ready to greet a new day. Raphael stretched on his bed, before preparing for the new day. After he was ready, he went down to the cafeteria on the building’s ground floor. He was planning for a quick, calm morning breakfast, thus decided to go after university hours started, yet-

“It’s him! It’s him!”

“Kyaa! The Great Mage looked so cool!”

“Interesting.”

“That’s all you have to say?”

He was just lining up to buy some food, yet people crowded over him like he was some kind of celebrity. He ended up not buying a normal breakfast, instead opting for two sandwiches. The people who flocked over to him tried asking him various questions.

How he studied, what his routine was like, his favorite food, what he thought about the latest shows airing, whether he was concerned with technology overtaking magic or not, all sorts of things.

He tried to answer as much as he could, but once he received his sandwiches, he darted all the way back to his room.

University students can be scary.

He walked to his bed and let out a sigh. His morning plans consisted of eating breakfast and making medicine. His teachers would be busy until afternoon, after all. He thought about a way to get the medicine out. With so many eyes directed at him, he assumed that he wouldn’t enjoy any peace and quiet for the day.

He opened his phone and looked through his contacts.

* ••

Raphael ended up asking his professors to help with moving and distributing the medicine. After all was said and done, he made his way to the massive stadium south of the complex. It was a competition-size stadium, one large enough to hold international competitions. A wall parted it from the school complex, making it a separate area. The school sometimes rented the stadium out, so the wall prevented outsiders from entering the academy. The stadium itself tended to house several different clubs at the same time from all the branches, making it a crowded area under normal circumstances. Today, however, the situation was different.

All the eyes were at the center of the stadium. Standing on the west side was Raphael, the great mage everyone talked about, while on the east stood Mrs. Quorve, the academy’s respected Advance Magic Combat Techniques professor, along with the three students who tried to fight Raphael before. Behind them, spread out in a line, were a hundred academy students from high school and university, all keen on having a chance to go at Raphael.

This was clearly not what Raphael had in mind.

Is this really fair?

In his eyes, he was the one in a disadvantageous position. These were elites, after all. Proteorno Magic Academy wasn’t a place just anyone could enter.

In everyone else's eyes, it was the opposite. Even this massive formation wasn’t enough to stop the great mage. If required, the entire academy should participate in an attempt to defeat him.

Regardless, while entirely different from what he expected, this should still offer him some chance to learn. He readied his stance.

“Three, two, one, fight!” the referee shouted, beginning the one-sided slaughter. Using his magic, he brought out a submachine gun filled with stun rounds, opening fire at the incoming formation. The first strike alone took out the three students in the front, while Ms. Quorve deflected them. Raphael used wind magic to boost his movement, throwing himself away to the west end of the arena.

Ms. Quorve launched forward, the students behind her launching magic spells. A mix of various spells, featuring different colors and sizes, plunged toward Raphael. Raphael concentrated on dodging the battleground, filled with explosions of different kinds here and there. It took him quite a lot of concentration just to move through the attacks, preventing him from retaliating, a point he needed to improve.

He couldn’t close the distance, the concentrated magic attacks refusing to let him through. He needed a way to stop them. Ms. Quorve got closer. She would soon be on his doorstep. He needed to react.

He couldn’t win if he didn’t do something about the magic barrage. They were endless, not surprising considering the amount firing at him. With quick thoughts, he formed guns of various types, whatever his mind could think of, and fired them. They lasted less than a second, but they did their job. He focused on thinning down their numbers, all while running away. He leaped left and right, front and backward. Now, Ms. Quorve was within range. Using a concentrated attack, she launched a magic laser created with lighting straight at him. He blocked them with a shield. The shield didn’t last, disappearing immediately. It gave him an opening, and he shoved some stun rounds into his professor, sending her down.

“Woah, he defeated Ms. Qourve!”

“Is that… is that really magic!?”

“Impossible! Truly a great mage!”

The stadium ruptured in excitement after seeing him take out one of their teachers. He didn’t have time to celebrate, however. Stepping forward, he used the opening created from the shock to zip past the barrage. He concentrated. Using magic, he created a point-blank defense system, one often found on ships and vehicles to protect them from missiles.

Yes, a massive gun that spits out fifty rounds each second. For this version, Raphael specifically sets its rounds to harmless stun bolts. The barrel whirred and fired for just one second before disappearing immediately after.

But it was enough.

That one strike was enough to take out most of the hundred students behind Ms. Quorve. Only around a quarter of the students remained. He came here to train his movements, and he did just that. Instead of attacking from a distance, he dashed up close, going as fast as he could. He got behind the remaining students, spawned a gun, and fired a stun round from point-blank range at his target’s head.

All while being as quick as possible. He also minimized changing directions, to reduce the times when he needed to stop or slow down. When he did, he made sure he moved as unpredictably as possible, all while keeping his speed. Within seconds, he took out all of the remaining students.

The stadium roared when they saw him standing, alone.

“He’s crazy!”

“All that in under two minutes!”

“Are you serious!?”

“Is he even human!?”

Loud shouts calling his name spread throughout the spectators. They sang him praises as if he was a god or something. He smiled shyly, unsure of how to react. The stun round wore off almost immediately. Seeing the three stand up, followed by Ms. Quorve not long after, the stadium burst into screams once more.

“He knew he could defeat them in such a short amount of time!”

“That’s crazy!”

“He stunned them just so he could attack the others!”

“He’s truly a great mage!”

The truth was, Raphael didn’t put much thought into the stun rounds. Most of the time, the referee or medical teams would be the ones dispersing the stun effects after a battle. The two-minute time limit was there because he didn’t put much thought into them, reducing their effectiveness. He certainly didn’t expect the battle to last no more than two minutes.

Although, now that he thought about it, it was definitely an oversight. What if the enemy woke up and attacked him from behind?

That was something he kept to himself, another thing to watch for if he ever fought a brawl like this again. The students started surrounding him, asking him all sorts of questions.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Everyone, enough!” Ms. Quorve's voice pierced through the air.

“Write down your questions and submit them into a box. We’ll ask Raphael the important stuff.”

“Okay.”

“Ah, that sucks.”

“I want to ask him directly.”

“I wonder how powerful my kids would be if I married him.”

“You’re asking that!?”

With disappointed words, the group dispersed, returning to their activities. Some tried to linger around, asking for handshakes and whatnot, but Ms. Quorve managed to shoo them all away. She took him to a changing room, far away from prying eyes.

“You look awesome if you ask me,” Ms. Quorve stated frankly, handing him a bottle of water.

“That’s not enough, though.”

“What do you mean? I may not be a dragon, but I watched a dragon fight before. You’re definitely better.”

“A dragon tournament as well?”

“Yeah, round one, though. Still. There’s no way you’re losing to them.”

“Still…”

Raphael couldn’t care less about winning. He had the responsibility to honor those who fought to have a chance against him. He needed to improve, he wanted to improve. He wanted to protect her, after all.

The person most important to him, someone he’ll protect till the end.

It was his only goal. The medal mattered less.

“But… even if you said so, it's not like I can tell what you need to improve or learn.”

“I understand my weakness.”

“Really, now?”

“I haven’t integrated my movement magic with my attack magic.”

“... Sorry?”

“Like when you all attack me at once, I was too busy dodging to effectively attack back.”

“But you knocked me down?”

“Only after you got close.”

Dragons had the natural ability of flight, as well as long-range magic attacks. Unlike other humans, a dragon could just fly and stay beyond range when attacking Raphael. Granted, there was a limit on how high the dragon could fly during the competition, but he didn’t want to rely on that during the battle. For now, he could only fly or dash without attacking. He wanted to be able to do both at the same time.

“Sometimes, I feel creating magic is something natural to me. I don’t concentrate as much. I wanted to understand the basics from a normal person’s perspective. If I can understand the techniques people use, maybe I can improve.”

“Do you know how much that hurt?”

“Ah, sorry! I had no negative intention!”

“Just joking.” Ms. Quorve waved her hand.

“I guess I can say I understand. Sigh… Just what were you doing during classes?”

“Sorry…”

“Something comes as natural to you, you’re not encouraged to change things up, because that’s how you always work. Now that you face something your talent can't handle, you learn the basics as a way to get ideas on how to handle it… Even when you outright ignored them before.”

“I promise I did learn some things back in class...”

“And to think you’re the top of your class.” Ms. Quorve smiled, shaking her head.

The university emphasized practical skills, so regardless of his theoretical knowledge, he would always be at an advantage. Didn’t mean he took the theory side of things for granted, but he wasn’t the smartest on that side either.

“Alright, it’s time to train,” Ms. Quorve said, standing up.

“Yes, Ma’am!”

* ••

As Raphael trained hundreds of kilopebs away, Carol was going through her own training session. She had great agility for a human, but it was still not enough. She needed to go faster and higher if she wanted a chance to fight against dragons, if she wanted a chance against him.

“Hmm…”

Lerus, the famous scar-faced lady, stood next to her, caressing her chin.

“What do you think?” Carol asked after going through another lap. One of the ten cones that had been set on the training hall floor was knocked down, but Carol had an increase in speed. It was also an improvement from the two cones knocked in the previous lap.

“You’re improving, that’s for sure,” Lerus answered, still observing her.

“But something’s off…”

“Something’s off?” Carol felt as fit as always. If anything, the thing that was off was the difference in her performance, in this case, an increase in speed.

“I really can’t wrap my fingers around it.” Lerus spun her index finger toward her forehead, continuing her observation.

“How do I say this? It’s like… you’re hesitating.”

Carol cocked her head at this observation. She hadn’t been hesitating, she was sure of it. Every strike, every blow, she put her all on it, as if her very life was dependent on it. If anything, saying that she hesitated felt like an insult.

But she remained silent, waiting for her teacher to continue explaining. Lerus walked toward the end of the training hall, standing right next to the wall.

“Come at me,” she called, ushering Carol to strike. Carol looked at her, preparing her sword. She took a deep breath, before putting Lerus in the center of her eyes, putting all her concentration to this one blow.

Then she dashed forward.

Commanding her wind magic, enhancing herself with spells, putting her everything into this one strike, leaping forward straight for Lerus. She moved like an arrow, practically flying above ground, soaring through the hall. Like a bird swooping on its prey, only her shadow remained. She struck. Her sword shattered Lerus’ first layer of magic defense, signaling that Lerus was defeated.

“... Just as I expected.”

“Huh?”

“You hesitated,” Lerus repeated. Carol stepped back, at a complete loss on what to do. She didn’t hesitate at all. She went in for the strike, ignoring the world around her, her focus solely on her target.

So how come Lerus said that she hesitated?

Just what is the definition of hesitation in the first place?

“I don’t understand…”

It should be clear to anyone that she didn’t hesitate. The scar on Lerus’ face ran between her eye and ear. Neither of her organs should be harmed by that, so why? Why did she think Carol was hesitating?

“Carol, try inviting me to attack.”

“Inviting you- EEP!” Carol fell to the rear. She hadn’t finished her question when the tip of Lerus’ sword hovered straight in front of her nose. It was a training sword, and she had multiple layers of magic protecting her, but the sheer suddenness of the move caused her to quiver nonetheless.

“See?”

“... see?”

“When I invited you to attack, you hesitated, wasting a couple of seconds to prepare yourself.”

“But in the battle, there would be a countdown!”

“Yes, but take too long and your enemy will gain the upper hand. This always happens in our fights. You do know that you’re fighting him, right?”

“... Yeah.”

There could only be one person Lerus was talking about.

“So you also know about him?”

“There’s no rules against finding out.” Lerus shrugged. Raphael hadn’t said anything about it to Carol. There was a chance he knew but kept it a secret regardless, but knowing him, he probably didn’t go looking for his rival's names. He treated everyone equally, after all.

“I saw him fight.”

“Where?”

“The medicine.”

“I’m not sure that counts as fighting.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. Everyone fights their own battles every single day, their very beings formed from experiences dealing with those battles. Just because their fights don’t involve trading blows, doesn’t mean they’re not experiencing battles.”

“Sorry, I still have much to learn." When she thought about it, Lerus' words did make a lot of sense. Just because Raphael didn’t wield swords and knock out monsters, didn’t mean he was living a slow, relaxing life. He worked every day to make the world a better place, that was his battle. That thing pushed him forward, she couldn’t fall behind.

“It’s fine as long as you understand. But, since you’re his girlfriend, do you know the weakness of his magic?”

“Its short duration?” It felt like an easy answer to Carol, so easy that she felt unsure whether she was correct or not. Lerus nodded, to her surprise.

“That, too, is a weakness, but that’s not what I meant.”

“Hmm…”

Raphael’s magic was powerful to the point he had been standing on top regarding everything around magic. A superhuman, to put it mildly. It didn’t seem to have any weakness from the outside, but from the inside…

“Ah!” A lightbulb inside Carol’s head lit up.

“The casting!”

It sounded like a weird word to use, especially considering that Raphael’s ‘spells’ didn’t look the slightest bit similar to a normal magic spell, but it worked under the same principles. The more complex the object or spell, the longer it took to cast. The shape of the casting process was different, but it was there.

“I get it!” Carol exclaimed, and everything clicked in her mind. Raphael’s magic could easily overpower everything she sent at him, so the key was not to defeat him at the end, but at the start. She had always been focused on winning and just winning, not hesitating the slightest when trying to take her enemy out. This was certainly the correct approach when facing other rivals. There was no point in charging headfirst in a battle only to be knocked out by the enemy’s spell, but Raphael, on the other hand, would grow increasingly dangerous the longer time passed.

Other enemies would try their best to stop her charge the second the battle started, but Raphael, who probably knew the extent of her skills, would try to distance himself as far as possible, giving himself time to create one super weapon that could defeat her in one swoop. She needed to prevent that at all costs if she wanted to win.

“So, try-”

With one strike, Carol leaped from her position on the floor and repeated the exact gesture Lerus previously did to her. The sword hovered in front of her face. Lerus smiled and clapped.

“That’s what I’m talking about.” She grinned, even the scar looked beautiful. Yet all this wasn’t yet enough.

“Can I ask you for another round?”

“Yes-” and with that, Carol struck, as fast as she could, repeating blow after blow like lightning.

Truly an electrifying sight.