"No, ma’am, I’m not, but don’t you think you’re choking him to death?"
Seras looked down at the boy she was hugging. Realizing her grip, she broke the hug, and Arnos fell to the ground on his back.Coughing, he said, "I saw heaven’s door just now."
Mabel kicked him in the back with her leg. His balance shifted, and he fell forward onto his face.
Quickly, Arnos jumped up and moved five steps away from both Mabel and Seras.
"And what was that for, Mabel?" he asked, shooting her a pissed glance.
"You shouldn't say stuff like 'heaven's door' to a lady, you know," she said in a stern voice, shooting Arnos an angry look.
"What do you mean?" Arnos replied with a frustrated expression. He paused, suddenly embarrassed. "Wait a second! I wasn't referring to her c–" He stopped mid-sentence, flustered. "You idiot! I mean, obviously not. I was literally seeing the heavens in the clouds!" Arnos raised his voice slightly in exasperation.
Seras glanced at their ongoing argument, mildly amused. They sure do get along, she thought to herself, though the scene in front of her was anything but harmonious.
"You weren’t? Oh…," she muttered. Mabel, remembering the way Seras was choking Arnos earlier, thought to herself, It’s totally possible he saw heaven.
"Miss Seras, that garden looks really nice. Should we go check it out?" Mabel said with a smile, attempting to divert attention from Arnos.
"Oh, we definitely could! Let’s go," Seras replied with a giggle.
"You’re trying to change the topic!" Arnos shouted after them. But Seras and Mabel continued walking away, cheerfully chatting and completely ignoring him.
"Huh, Trying to avoid me after falsely accusing me of making a weird comment," Arnos grumbled to himself. Wait a second! That wasn’t even a weird comment, he spoke to himself in a louder voice.
Still, debating the matter wasn’t worth the trouble for Arnos. His attention quickly shifted as he took in the appearance of Training Ground 2.
It’s definitely bigger than the inner training ground of Celera, probably twice the size. His right hand rested on his chin as he considered, Could I ever perform that inferno spell here...?
He shook his head. "No, that probably wouldn’t work, it might affect the building too. I mean, if I can even pull it off perfectly, that is."
His thoughts quickly wandered elsewhere. I could train here when it’s raining, couldn’t I? That would be awesome. A wide grin spread across his face, unable to contain his excitement.
– – – –
As Mabel and Seras strolled through the magical herb garden, Mabel broke the silence.
“So, Miss Seras, I have a question. May I ask?”
“Go on,” Seras replied casually, showing no concern for what the question might be.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Why were you so excited when you found out you were getting a junior?” Mabel asked curiously, glancing over at her.
“I was? Oh, I obviously wasn’t,” Seras said with a playful smile, waving her hand dismissively. “What might you be talking about, Mabel?”
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I don’t mind,” Mabel added neutrally, her gaze shifting toward the vibrant flowers and herbs around them.
“It’s not like that…” Seras sighed. “Hah. See, it’s simple getting juniors in Ares is kind of rare for us. Only a select few are allowed to attend this dorm due to the criteria set by the man who built it.”
Built this dorm? Mabel thought to herself.
Isn’t this dorm under the Celera Institute? She asked
“It is under Celera,” Seras said, “But one of our seniors actually spent a fortune to have this building and a new Ares dorm constructed.” She paused and looked at Mabel. “So, in short, this dorm was entirely funded by his money, which is why it’s so extravagant.”
(Seras spoke again as she walked slowly alongside Mabel.)
“For simplicity’s sake, let’s just say the man who built this dorm was one of the first exceptionally gifted individuals, someone who stood above his peers. He had a peculiar philosophy, providing greater opportunities and benefits to those at the top to inspire them to strive even harder while also motivating those at the bottom to push themselves to improve.”
She came to a stop and looked at Mabel. “Do you know about the tournament you’ll all be participating in?”
Mabel nodded quickly. “I do Miss. It's supposed to happen in three months and will determine which dorm everyone will be assigned to.”
“Good, that makes this easier,” Seras said with a small nod. “The tournament will either involve tag-team matches or solo matches.”
“If it’s tag-team, the semi-final victory must be one-sided, or the duo won’t be accepted into Ares dorm. If it’s a solo match, only those who secure an overwhelming victory in the quarter-finals are accepted.”
“For example, let’s say there’s a match between Team 1 and Team 2. If Team 1 overwhelmingly defeats Team 2, Team 1 will be welcomed into Ares dorm.
But if the match is close Team 1 wins, but it’s evenly matched there are two possibilities. Either both teams will be accepted into Ares, or neither will. That decision is left to Miss Margrave, who was also Ryuk’s instructor when he was a student. He trusts her judgment, so he entrusted her with this responsibility.”
“But why is there such a focus on overwhelming victories? I mean, if someone reaches the quarter-finals or semi-finals, aren’t they already capable?” Mabel asked, her confusion evident.
“That’s the rule set by Ryuk Kozuki. It’s part of his philosophy that mages should be proficient enough to deal with their enemies effortlessly,” Seras explained.
Waving her hand with a smile, she added, “Now, that’s definitely a strange philosophy, but there’s nothing we can do about it.”
“Why not? Couldn’t Celera have a say in this?” Mabel asked curiously.
“They could, but–” Seras sighed in mild disappointment“ his philosophy benefited Celera, so they didn't mind.”
“It did?” Mabel exclaimed, her voice tinged with surprise.
“Yup,” Seras nodded. “A decade ago, students from Celera performed quite poorly in comparison to those from Arens Institute. But with each passing year, we’ve been improving. The headmaster believes this is due to the increased competition brought about by the presence of Ares dorm in our school, so he approved of Ryuk’s rules.”
“So, in short, the headmaster is working with him on this?” Mabel asked, tilting her head in curiosity.
“Precisely,” Seras replied, smiling as she acknowledged Mabel’s deduction.
“I see,” Mabel murmured, processing the information.
Seras gestured for Mabel to follow and led the way to a wooden bench in the garden. She took a seat and motioned for Mabel to sit beside her.
“Let’s put it this way,” Seras continued. “In the last ten years, Ares dorm has only had students six times. The rest of the time, it was empty.” Her tone grew enthusiastic. “Now you understand why I was so excited, don’t you?”
Mabel nodded. “I do.” Then, with a curious look, she asked, “Do you have any fellow dorm mates?”
Seras nodded. “Yes, there are four second-years in Ares dorm,” she replied in a neutral tone. “But we don’t have any third-years.” Her expression grew slightly somber.
“I see. Are they… the scary type of seniors uh, no, what I meant was…” Mabel looked away awkwardly.
Seras chuckled. “You don’t need to worry about them. They’re pretty norm–” she stopped mid-sentence, her expression shifting. “Actually, come to think of it, they are weird. Heck, even I might fall into that category sometimes,” she added with a soft laugh. “But no, they’re not the scary type.”