Chapter 027:

Stopping his advance, Grim turned to look back where the unfamiliar student with a crooked nose was preventing someone from advancing. He recognized him to be the student who was accused of inappropriately touching Pricilla.

“Crisps should go the other way 'cause otherwise, lady Pricilla might feel uncomfortable!”

Continued the student with the nose.

“My brother has already made concessions by apologizing for a crime he did not do, but now you punks even want to decide our route for us?” The same plain-faced Graveclaws student from earlier shot back with an indignant expression on his face; beside him, his peers shared the same sentiments and showed it.

Grim sighed as he stepped forward to settle the matter once more ‘Well, whatever, at least this presents a chance to repair my reputation with the students of Graveclaws,’ unfortunately before he could properly step in, mayhem ensued.

“Just shut up already!” The crooked nose student yelled as he attacked the plain-faced youth from Graveclaws.

The punch, much like a spark among dry kindling, set ablaze a roaring flame in the form of teenage students putting hands on one another.

‘Something is wrong here,’ Grim finally sensed after reviewing the events. The matter should have reasonably ended with the accused’s apology, but it didn’t.

‘It’s almost like he wanted this to happen…,’ His eyes locked onto the student with the crooked nose, who gave him a smirk back as if reading his mind.

‘He’s definitely done this on purpose, furthermore, he seems to have noticed that I’ve noticed,’ He thought warily as he watched the student approach him rapidly.

‘It seems like a physical altercation is inevitable,’ Grim calmly deduced after studying the madness in his opponent’s eyes. ‘Well, I suppose this is an opportunity to demonstrate my skills to both Pricilla and the teachers watching,’ His eyes left his opponent and darted toward a crystal stuck onto the ceiling, before looking toward Pricilla.

‘Admittedly this girl is not my type, but she will make a useful stepping stone for my noble debut,’

“Though the circumstances preceding our duel may be unfortunate, let us do battle honorably and at least learn from each other,” Grim stated before brandishing a knife he had kept by his waist. “Lady Pricilla, I suggest standing behind me,”

Pricilla’s blush grew heavier and she nodded meekly before taking a few steps back. At the same time, she sent an inquisitive glance toward the student with a crooked nose, as if asking why he wanted to attack them when they belonged to the same camp.

Around them, students fought wholeheartedly, neatly splitting into two teams each representing their kingdom.

“Hmph, show-off!” Crooked Nose cursed at Grim after seeing him protect Pricilla. He unsheathed his sword and raised it before slashing down.

Knowing that a direct clash of strength would be disadvantageous, Grim nimbly dodged to the side before issuing an attack of his own by slashing his dagger across his opponent’s neck.

Taken by surprise at how ruthless Grim’s attack was, Crooked Nose hesitated for a moment before taking a step back and allowing Grim’s dagger to pass by uselessly. He tried to raise his sword for another attack. Unfortunately, his wrists were suddenly held in place by Grim’s unarmed hand.

‘Strength is greater than mine, speed is about even, but his skills are inferior,’ Grim calmly assessed before sending a kick toward crooked nose’s leg, destabilizing him.

‘But that shouldn’t be the case,’ With his opponent on unsure footing, he capitalized by stabbing at his chest with the dagger.

‘From the way he moves to the blisters in his palm, I can tell that this student is well trained, far more so than a student should be. But his attacks are still genuinely awkward enough to cast doubt over the possibility of him being a knight. A possible reason for this may be…’

A panicked look flashed across Crooked Nose’s eyes before being replaced with cold resolve. Shockingly, he let go of his weapon and, with newfound speed, he intercepted the hand holding the knife while stomping his misplaced foot over Grim’s, simultaneously regaining his balance while disrupting his opponent’s.

“Cocky bastard,” He spat as he pulled Grim’s knife-wielding hand toward him and downward, further throwing him off balance. With a wide grin across his face, he sent a fist toward Grim’s unguarded chin.

‘His speed has increased dramatically, far more than what should be possible even with the weapon discard,’ Grim thought calmly as he tilted his head sharply along with the fist, dissipating some of the force, but even that did not fully negate the attack and he felt dizzy as a result.

‘Things have taken an unfavorable turn, I must employ other methods,’ He thought, trying his best to regain his balance.

“Good move, getting rid of your weapon. Knight training is rigorous and heavily focused, so using a weapon that you are unaccustomed to will undoubtedly lead to a decrease in fighting prowess,” Grim said, staring straight into his eyes.

Crooked Nose was about to throw another punch before he froze in a mixture of surprise and concern as he processed what Grim had told him.

Not letting his hard-earned opportunity go to waste, Grim utilized his foe’s second of hesitation to release his foot and dash backward. ‘That reaction lends credence to the fact that this ‘student’ is actually a knight, but it still does not confirm it completely; nonetheless, adjustments must be made,’

He wasn’t arrogant enough to believe that he could tussle with a knight, no matter how low ranking.

“I am unsure whether it is for my benefit or to better disguise yourself under the eyes of the instructors, but I thank you for going easy on me nonetheless, sir knight,”

Crooked Nose had finally gotten over his shock as rage took its place after realizing that a kid slipped away from his grasp.

“Punkass fuck,” Crooked Nose cursed as he sped toward Grim with unnatural speed.

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“How eloquent,” Grim noted before throwing his dagger toward his opponent’s face.

“Hmph,” The knight harrumphed as he dodged his head to the side with minimal effort; unfortunately, no matter how impressive, such movement played directly into Grim’s hand.

What awaited him after tilting his head was a kick placed directly where his head would end up.

“Fuck!” The knight yelled as he hurriedly ducked his head to dodge with yet another unnatural burst of speed.

Meanwhile, he caught Grim’s foot, palm over the front, minimizing the blow. “Got you now fucker,”

“Yes, how unfortunate for you,” Grim replied coolly as he tapped his leg.

The knight was confused when he heard a clicking sound come from the boy’s leg but soon that confusion was replaced with pain as a knife pierced the hand holding Grim’s foot.

“You son of a bitch!” Crooked nose shrieked as he hurriedly let go of the shoe with a knife jutting out of it.

“The only correct thing you’ve said so far,” Grim replied as he lowered his leg and readjusted his posture.

“You’ve got some neat tricks kid,” The knight spat venomously as he wrapped his wounded hand with a piece of fabric he tore off his robes.

“I do not hold your opinion in high regard but thank you for the compliment regardless,”

“Smartass,”

“Dumbass,”

Finally, the knight let loose a disgruntled sigh as his eyes sharpened with killing intent, “I don’t give a fuck about anything else anymore; I’m killing you,”

Understanding that his foe would no longer hide his abilities, Grim nodded gravely as he took a breath in, looking as if he was about to issue the mightiest of battle cries.

Pricilla gulped nervously as she watched the heated battle before her. ‘So manly~’ She swooned at the thought of Grim bravely defending her honor. ‘Surely he is about to reply to the man’s threat with witty bante-’

“Timothy!!!!! HELP!” A desperate cry cut through the frantic battlefield like a banshee’s song in a raging storm.

………………………………………………..

Just as the fight broke out and minutes before Grim’s earnest plea, Alexander and Ed stood numbly in place as they watched the students tear each other to shreds.

“It’s nice to see kids being lively,” Timothy muttered.

Ed gave his friend an exasperated look, “Hey, Grim looks like he’s gotten himself into a fight, shouldn’t you do something about it?”

Alexander did a double-take before replying, “Hey, why are you pawning this off to me, he is your friend,”

“Oh, NOW he is MY friend, how convenient. Besides, I can’t do anything as I am under oath,” He said with a puffed-up chest as if proud.

“Oh, you still on that pacifist shit?” Timothy muttered with a click of his tongue.

“Pacifist shit? Aren’t you the same?”

“I’m not under an oath, I’m just taking a break from fighting,”

“Tomatoes, toma-” Unfortunately before Ed could continue his pointless idiom, a small body rammed into him at surprising speed, sending both back a good distance away.

Alexander blinked at the suddenness of the blow, before looking toward the perpetrators, a group of snotty-looking Graveclaw punks.

“Well, that’s unfortunate,” Alexander muttered with a smack of his lips.

Then as if it wasn’t any of his business, he turned around and made his way toward the screeching Grim.

………………………………………………..

Edward Nox’s Point of View:

Ed clenched his teeth hard as he forced himself to come to a skidding stop. In his arms, he now held on to an unconscious student with an unusually small frame.

‘Who the fuck is thi-’ His train of thought came to a crashing halt when he recognized who the kid was.

“Zackery Moore…” This cute-looking brat was the only student to come close to Timothy in the strength test.

“Ugghh…” The young kid groaned to life in Ed’s arms.

“You alright?” Big Ed asked, concerned.

“I-I’m fine,” Zackery growled before releasing himself from the larger youth’s embrace. He winced in pain but tried to hide it by taking deep breaths. “Thanks for catching me,”

“You rammed into me, bud,”

“I’m sorry but it wasn’t intentional,”

Surprised by how polite the kid was, Ed’s expression softened. Looking over toward where the boy came from, he saw a bunch of snickering kids. “Your friends, I’m assuming,”

“You can say that,” Zack replied with an apologetic smile. “Anyway, thanks again I’m going now,” He hurriedly said after realizing that his ‘friends’ were making their way over.

“Yeah sure, hm?” Big Ed replied casually at first but then his expression grew sharp as he tugged at the boy’s collar, pulling him back.

“What are you doin-” Zackery started to protest but then his eyes grew wide when he realized what was happening.

Where he had stood before Big Ed dragged him back, a large spike suddenly jutted out from the ground.

“T-that’s…”

“Magic. Your friends?”

“No, they wouldn’t do something like this,”

But before the two could continue their conversation, Zackery’s friends interrupted them, hollering. “You! What are you doing with the demon child?”

“Demon child?” Ed asked.

“Long story,” Zackery replied with a thin smile but it was clear to Ed that the name bothered him.

Ed had the mind to talk to Zackery’s friends but before he could do so, he was forced to dodge back a couple of steps with Zackery once more in his arms as another earth spike appeared beneath him.

“Just what is happening,”

Instead of replying, Zackery just kept taking in deep breaths, as if trying to stave off a panic attack.

“And what the fuck is wrong with you?” Ed continued.

“Stop running!" Chasing them, the group of Graveclaw runts, spouted as the one who seemed to be the leader started chanting for a spell.

“Fuck!” Ed yelled back as he narrowly dodged an arrow of wind.

“Why are you carrying me?” Zackery finally asked after calming down somewhat.

Ed was caught off guard once more at the logical question, but he was too embarrassed to tell the truth; he was just used to carrying people at this point.

Letting the kid down, Zackery took one final breath in as he yelled out “Guys, I’m fine!”

The Graveclaws kids seemed relieved at this and after finally making their way to Zackery, the leader, the same youth who had tried to skewer Big Ed with an arrow, confronted him.

“You brat!” He scolded as he pounded his fist atop Zackery’s head with a little too much force.

Zackery winced in pain but he kept a blank expression on his face. He seemed to know that not reacting was the best thing to do in this situation.

“His Highness delegated the task of managing you to me so you shouldn’t be straying too far off,” He said sarcastically with a sick smile on his face while resting his arm on top of Zackery’s head.

“Ok,” the small-framed youth replied as he took in a couple of deep breaths once more.

“Stop it with the breathing shit, it pisses me off,” The apparent leader said once more as the hand he kept on top of the boy’s head squeezed tightly, pulling a bunch of hair.

Zackery gritted his teeth but continued to say nothing even as he was being dragged by his hair back toward the group of students.

Ed had seen countless situations like this so he knew that this was a classic case of bullying but still, he couldn't help but feel a modicum of pity for the kid.

“Hey, magician” Big Ed called.

The leader of the group turned back with a dismissive look in his eyes. “What do you want?”

A vein popped on Ed’s head as he came dangerously close to breaking his vows but by some miracle, he managed to hold back. He refused to say another word to the mongrel though and merely pointed downward.

The leader looked down with a sneer but then his face froze.

He could now see the magic gathering beneath their feet.