Clap clap!
「Okay! Take him away to the infirmary, please!」
Letting go of the obelisk, Aria claps her hands. The barrier retreats, splitting at the top of the dome, and recedes back into the luminous runes. Two mundane Academy workers emerge from the crowd of spectators, and rush towards the beaten student.
「Wow… Straf is sure strong, huh?」
Tisha says in overt awe, staring at Straf and his bored, handsome face. She idly eats another piece off her tray.
「Yup. He's the strongest.」
Cycelia nods with a proud smile, also looking at him while the workers scoop the challenger up by his arms and legs.
「Huh? I thought you were the strongest, Lia. With the exam, and all…」
Neela tilts her head at her, blinking in confusion.
「No, no… I don't even know how I did it. Straf can do much more amazing stuff.」
Shaking her head in denial, Cycelia replies with a soft smile. The two workers carry the dazed, barely conscious student out in a quick trot.
「Who's next?」
Aria asks, looking at the group of students. A student in glasses silently raises his hand, and walks closer.
《Hmpf. I'll teach him a lesson, unlike that last one.》
He thinks, and pushes the glasses up his nose with a smirk.
「Okay. Go to the red obelisk… Straf! Reset to your position!」
The professor instructs the student, and shouts at Straf in the arena. She places her gloved hand back on the pillar next to her, and waits.
《Simple and efficient spells that can't miss are the best. Knowing a lot of magic means nothing if you don't know how to utilize it. I'll make you pay for shoving me like I'm a piece of garbage…》
The bespectacled student thinks, glaring at Straf's back while they both approach their starting positions.
「Say, Lia… Are you and Straf… You know…」
Tisha says, and Cycelia's smiling face turns to her.
「Hm? What?」
「Come on, Lia, you know… Is he just a bodyguard?」
She tilts her golden head, looking at Cycelia with curious ice-blue eyes.
「H- Huh?」
Cycelia's emerald eyes fill with worry. She briefly glances at Neela's inquisitive face, before locking gazes with Tisha again.
《Huh? Did they figure us out!? Oh no!》
「Erm… Um… You see… The thing is…」
Her eyes escape downward, and she clutches at her silver medallion for comfort, searching for the right words to use to explain her reasons for hiding her identity.
「Come on, Lia! Are you dating? Or not?」
Neela impatiently chimes in, pouting.
「Huh-!? Ah- No! We're not! He's just a bodyguard! He's just a bodyguard!」
With her face flushed red, Cycelia quickly denies.
「Huuuuh?」「Huh? Really?」
Tisha and Neela reply, both tilting their heads further in surprise. All three turn their eyes back to the arena when the new challenger finally arrives at his obelisk.
《Windbolt might be a little weak at this range… No matter, it'll pack a punch still. I'll knock you around with my magic, like you knocked me around with your shoulder!》
The student mage adjusts his glasses with a smug, confident smirk, looking at Straf's bored, handsome face.
《…I can tell from your face alone, that you're an idiot who has never read a single magic book in his life. Your luck runs out now.》
He lets out a scornful huff out of his nose as his expression twists into a scowl, and adjusts his glasses again.
「Duelists, prepare yourselves!」
Aria's voice calls out, but the student's eyes remain focused on Straf.
《…I'll open with a Windbolt, and if he begins casting a shield, I'll cast something faster. Something that'll put some pain into those dull cattle-like eyes…》
He adjusts his glasses one last time, glaring at Straf. Keeping his hands lowered, he wiggles his fingers with anticipation.
「Begin!」
She shouts, and the golden, partly transparent barrier shoots up from the obelisks surrounding the arena, forming a dome. With a piercing gaze, the student snaps his palm towards Straf.
「Vortex, vortices-!」
The challenger pauses his incantation, blinking in confusion. Straf is casually walking towards him with his hands in his pockets.
《…Why is he not casting anything?- Whatever, works for me! Come closer and eat a good hit, dimwit!》
「…Swirling winds, become tame for my gain…」
He continues his incantation, and a condescending sneer appears on his face.
「Lia… Straf is free, right?」
Tisha asks, looking at Cycelia.
「Hm? Yes, slavery is illegal in my kingdom.」
She quickly replies with a light nod of her head.
「No, Lia… What Tisha meant was, Straf isn't seeing anyone, right? He's not… Romantically involved?」
Neela asks, and both of the girls lean in, waiting for the answer as Cycelia's face snaps between the two.
「Huh? Roma-? Ah!」
Suddenly, her jaw drops and eyes open wide. A baseball-sized blur of air shoots across the arena towards Straf, becoming invisible from its leading end just a few paces before reaching him.
「No!- I mean yes! He's married!」
「Tsk… Figures…」
Tisha clicks her tongue and turns her head away, grumbling.
「Yeah, it'd be shocking if he wasn't…」
Neela lets out a disappointed sigh of defeat. Straf continues walking forward, seemingly unaffected by the spells hurled at him.
《What's going on!? Have I miscalculated the range!?… No matter, I'll just wait until he's closer…》
Still pointing his palm at him, the student adjusts his glasses with his other hand. He waits, and waits, while Straf ominously strolls across the arena towards him.
《…Now!》
The space in front of his hand blurs, and shoots towards Straf's chest. He rolls his eyes, and the magic projectile appears to clip right through him.
《It missed!?- No…》
The challenger blinks, looking with wide-open eyes at Straf's bored face.
《Something… Something is amiss. I saw dust kick up behind him. It's not possible that he has some form of defensive magic blocking my spells…》
The student thinks. Fear and uncertainty grows more intense in his heart, while the handsome man is taking his time, as if on a walk in a park.
《Is it possible, that?…》
The mage looks at his opponent's upper body, and points his palm at his knee. Windbolt shoots towards Straf's knee from his challenger's palm, and impacts the dirt, kicking up a large cloud of dust behind him. The mage gulps.
《…I didn't miss. Sure enough, his medallion was elsewhere on his chest…》
He thinks as he stares at the silver medallion on the handsome man's chest, in a completely different place, than when he cast the spell at his opponent. He subconsciously lowers his palm a little in pure, wide-eyed shock.
《…He dodged!》
「Iyh!…」
The challenger yelps through clenched teeth as Straf stands right in front of him at an arm's reach, glaring down into his bespectacled eyes. He winces, and closes his eyes when the Straf's hand reaches for his face.
Crack.
The sound of glass breaking makes the student open his eyes. Straf is holding badly bent spectacle frames on his palm, amidst fragments of glass. His challenger furrows his brows, and adjusts his spectacles.
Or so he thinks, as they are missing from his nose. Only then he realizes, that the mangled glasses in Straf's hand are his. The student's eyes widen in shock, as he looks up at Straf's blurry face and his slanted mouth.
「Guess you'll have to ask your friends for notes from here on out…」
Straf says with a snide grin.
「…Just kidding, I know you don't have any. Have fun squinting. Are you satisfied?」
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
「H- Huh?」
The student stammers, confused by his question.
「I asked if you are satisfied. If not, I'll break more than your specs.」
He replies, dropping the glasses at the mage's feet.
「Uh… Ms. Aria, I believe we can conclude the duel!…」
The despectacled student shouts, looking at the professor at the obelisk outside the barrier.
「…Are you two done? Are you satisfied!?」
She asks, lightly tilting her head.
「Y- Yes!」「I'm not, but I've got shit to do! Can we end it here, or do I have to cave his face in!?」
They both shout in reply. Aria lets out a quick sigh, and lowers the barrier. Straf turns, and heads back to the blue obelisk.
The defeated challenger gives his mangled glasses on the dirt one last sullen look, before dejectedly shambling for the Academy's doors.
「Next! And make it quick!」
Straf shouts, spreading his arms as he glances over his shoulder at the group of students.
「Hmpf. What a band of amateurs. Did the headmaster lower the bar? That was a pathetic display. I'll show you how it's done.」
A new challenger approaches the red obelisk, without waiting for Aria's instructions. She clicks her tongue, but ultimately says nothing and allows it.
「…Straf sure is not having any trouble at all, huh?」
Tisha remarks while the duelists approach their pillars.
「Uh-huh. This kind of thing is nothing to him.」
Cycelia proudly nods her head, smiling.
「Have you met Straf's wife, Lia?」
Neela asks, tilting her head.
「Uhhhh… Yyyyees?」
She hesitantly replies, and her eyes jump back and forth between Neela's and Tisha's.
「What is she like? Does Straf have a type? Who is she?」
Tisha asks, also tilting her head, and her blonde eyebrow raises to meet her diagonal braid on the side of her forehead.
「She's… Um… She's a queen!」
Cycelia confidently declares with her index finger extended.
「Huh?」「What?」
The two girls look at each other, before turning their confused gazes back to Cycelia's emerald eyes. The barrier raises, and Straf once again leisurely walks towards his opponent, while the student is casting something at him.
「You mean of your kingdom?…」
「…Wouldn't that make him your father? Who is Straf, really?」
Neela and Tisha ask with their brows heavily furrowed, and blinking at her.
《How do I make this work, how do I make this work!?…》
Cycelia curls her lips inward, gently biting onto them while her eyes dart between the two.
「N- No! What I meant was… She let me… Borrow him… For a little while!…」
She elaborates, awkwardly grinning at them, and nervously chuckling. Tisha and Neela glance at each other with confused faces, then turn their eyes back to Cycelia, and stare at her in silence for a prolonged moment.
「Huh. She sure trusts him a lot…」
Tisha shrugs her shoulders, and watches the challenger run in panic from Straf. He is chasing his opponent by slowly and casually walking towards him in a straight line.
「Why are you running?」
Straf calmly asks, loud enough to be heard by the spectators.
「Coward! Stop running, and duel him!」
Aria shouts in anger with a sour expression on her face.
「…Yeah. It's kind of weird. Is their marriage going well, Lia?」
Neela asks, after the three get momentarily distracted by the background events.
「Uhhh… Yes! Yes, it's going very well! They couldn't be happier!」
Cycelia quickly nods, returning a broad smile.
「Tsk… Yeah, figures… Bet they love each other a whole lot…」
Tisha clicks her tongue, glaring with scornful ice-blue eyes at the fleeing student slowly run out of evasive options.
「Yes, yes they do!」「Tsk…」
Cycelia confirms, and she immediately clicks her tongue again in response.
Clunk!
The barrier lets out a peculiar glass-like fleshy impact noise when the student's back slams into it. The partially-transparent bubble gains a very opaque, milky, cloudy patch right where the student hit it, but it quickly fades into its normal transparency again. He bounces off, and crashes face down. Straf remains frozen in his one-handed throwing posture for an extra exaggerated second, before returning his hands to his pockets. The challenger shakily rises to his elbows, but quickly loses strength and collapses flat on his face into the dirt.
「Get up, or the duel is over!」
Aria commands, but the student doesn't as much as move a muscle. She lifts her hand off the obelisk, and the barrier drops just as the two Academy workers from before return to the crowd.
「Ah, perfect timing! Take this one to the infirmary, please!」
She points at the downed student, and the two men quickly jog up to him, scoop him up by his arms and legs, and trot back to the building.
「Okay, look!… Do I really have to keep doing this?」
Straf asks, spreading his arms with a slanted mouth, and an annoyed expression on his face.
「…Are you saying you are chickening out? Do you not want to duel anymore? I think no one will look down on you if you forfeit the rest-」
Aria asks with her fists on her hips, and a hint of smugness to her smirk.
「No, what I mean is… 」
He cuts in with a disdainful scoff, shaking his head.
「…This is going to take the whole fuckin' day at this rate. Can't I just fight them all at once?」
Straf adds with a snide grin directed at Aria and the challengers, throwing his arms up, before dropping them limp and returning his hands to his pockets.
「Hmpf. Who's next?」
She scoffs as well in reply, and turns her gaze to the group of students. One of them meekly raises his hand.
「Okay, go to the red-」
「N- No, Ms. Aria… I'd like to cancel my challenge… I'm fine now…」
The student lowers his head in brief shame, but then another student comes forth.
「Uh… If it's not a problem, I'd like to cancel mine too, Ms. Aria.」
He says, and the two glance at each other with brows furrowed in worry.
「And me!」「Me too!」「Yeah, cancel mine too!」
More students step forth, raising their hands as they approach the mage with the huge hat. Each of the challengers looks at Straf's lightly amused face with nervous eyes. Aria spreads her hands in exasperation.
「Aahhh… Guess that's it for the duels today.」
Neela grumbles softly.
「Tsk… Whatever, I'm almost done with my food anyway.」
Tisha shrugs, although there is visible anger in her shoulders. Perplexed, Cycelia's head jumps left and right to each of the girls a few times.
「Well, if no one is brave enough to take on Straf, then return to your classes!」
Aria shakes her hat in frustration, and stomps away from the dueling grounds. She briefly glances at Cycelia and her friends as she passes by.
「Guess we'll have to return these- Ah! Straf! Hi!」
Tisha glances at the wooden tray in her hand, but then notices Straf approach them. She wastes no time greeting him with a sly smile.
「Hm?… Did you like it, Lia?」
Straf only spares a short and singular glance at the golden-haired girl, before entirely turning his attention and smug smirk to Cycelia. Tisha's face veils an angry veiled frown, but it slips through the crack of imperfection.
「Yes! You were really cool! I was a little worried for a moment, though…」
「…Why?」
Straf asks, furrowing his brows and lightly tilting his head.
「Well… The barrier blocked our vision… I was thinking all sorts of stuff happened…」
Cycelia replies with a little embarrassed pout on her face.
「Yeah, and then the stream of Windblades… Why did none hit you? It looked like they would have.」
Tisha chimes in, looking at Straf.
「I'm just too high level for them.」
Straf shrugs, and scoffs. He begins heading for the Academy building, and the trio follows.
「Straf, when will you join me in a class again?」
Cycelia asks as they walk behind him.
「Yeah! We miss you!」
Neela chimes in, chuckling quietly with a large smile.
「Hmmm… Definitely not today, Lia, I need to do some stuff first. But maybe soon.」
With his hands in his pockets, he idly looks up for a few seconds to think, then shrugs his shoulders.
「I… I see…」
Though Straf's eyes are turned forward, she nods her head, but there is a clear hint of disappointment in her voice…