The mana Arnos had released spread evenly across the whole surface of the staff, giving it a transparent aura. Seeing this, Arnos was sure he was lucky enough to get the perfect staff on the first try.

That’s when Arnos’s attention shifted to the silence in the arena, everyone was quiet. He turned to look at the target practice area, noticing how all six other students weren’t trying to cast a spell but were instead focused on Emily, who had walked to the center of the training arena. The humanoid target still stood strong since all the spells from the students so far had failed to even scratch it.

Emily raised the wooden staff she had been holding in her right hand to shoulder level, pointing its tip at the stone figure as she took aim.

“Aldraz,” Emily shouted in a loud voice as a small orb of light materialized in front of the staff’s tip. In the next instant, a beam of light magic was released, moving toward the stone figure almost instantly and piercing its neck in the next moment. A huge hole in the stone figure was now evident. Had it been a person, they would have lost their ability to speak before dying in the next moment. This was almost a perfect attack against any mage.

“That was a basic spell?” the girl standing at the next target questioned in surprise.

“It was. It’s Princess Emily—we should have expected it to be otherworldly,” the boy next to her replied.

“It was amazing,” others chimed in. Emily gave everyone a smile as she walked back toward Marcus.

It looked just like the spell Erik used, Arnos thought to himself. Letting out a sigh, he spoke in amazement, “That was freaking amazing.”

“Was it good?” Emily questioned Marcus with a proud grin.

“It sure was something. Way better than the last time I saw you do it for sure,” Marcus added, crossing his arms with the staff between his right arm, as he nodded.

“That was absolutely awesome Princess Emily,” a boy with black hair said, walking toward Emily.

Ah isn’t he the one from yesterday? Arnos thought, looking at him, remembering the boy who had attended to Emily. Arnos walked toward Marcus. “Who is he?” Arnos whispered in his ear.

“Ah, it’s the son of the Victoria household head—Arnold Victoria, brother of Seraphina Victoria, whom you met yesterday,” Marcus added without turning his gaze toward Arnos. He simply kept watching Emily and Arnold.

So basically… he’s bad news, Arnos said in his mind as he tried to quietly walk away from the scene.

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Marcus placed his hand on Arnos. “Where might you be going?” he asked with a devilish smirk, clearly understanding Arnos’s intentions.

“I am going home? Uhh… dorm, I think? I don’t know any spells so i would be wasting my time here,” Arnos added in a defensive tone.

“I’d suggest you wait,” Marcus suggested, his eyes still glued to the scene in front of him.

Arnos nodded and reluctantly stood by Marcus’s side.

“Ahhh, thanks, I guess,” Emily replied. “Are you settling in nicely Arnold?” Emily questioned in an uninterested tone.

“Hmmm, that’s a tough question to answer,” Arnold said, crossing his arms with a thoughtful look. “I think the facilities provided by this campus are average at best. Certainly not something suitable for someone of high standing such as myself—and certainly not for you, Your Highness.”

“Is that so? Well, that’s bad, I think,” Emily mumbled, clearly bored by the conversation.

Okay, why am I feeling embarrassed by the things he’s saying? I’m not even a noble, dammit, He turned to look at Marcus, who was smiling, completely amused. “Do all high-ranking individuals talk like this?” Arnos questioned.

“Not all, but yeah, a few do,” Marcus mumbled as he walked toward Emily.

“Hey Arnold, good to see you,” Marcus said with a smile as he approached them.

“Nice to see you too, Marcus,” Arnold added.

I can’t help but think he’s angry at Marcus, Arnos thought as he looked at Arnold.

Emily quickly glanced toward the arena’s exit. “I think I should get going to get my uniform fitting done,” she said in a polite tone, as she looked at the exit.

“Ah, I could go with you. I have to get mine done too.”

“Isn’t the fitting done separately for boys and girls?” Arnos thought aloud. This caused Marcus to snicker.

Emily did her best to hide her laughter. “I think… I’ll be going by myself,” she added. “We wouldn’t want others to get the wrong idea now, would we, Arnold?” she said with a small smile. With that she left, and Arnos quickly looked away from Marcus and Arnold.

I messed up. Shit, I need to do something about my habit of mumbling stuff. Idiot—I’m an idiot, he scolded himself mentally as he saw Arnold glaring at him.

“Would you like to escort me?” Marcus questioned Arnold with a chuckle.

“Now don’t start picking on me, Marcus,” Arnold added, laughing.

“Isn’t he the one from yesterday? The one Princess called inse…”

“Ahh, about that,” Marcus interrupted. “He’s our dormmate at Ares Dorm too, just so you know.”

“He got into Ares?” Arnold nearly shouted, looking at Arnos.

I mean, I did get into Ares, yes, Arnos thought as he gave a small bow to Arnold when he looked at him.

“You aren’t pranking me now, are you, Marcus?” Arnold questioned.

“Why would I lie to you?” Marcus added with a mock surprised expression. “He really did get in. You could ask Emily if you—well, never mind that. You better go get your fitting done. I have to check this staff,” Marcus said, raising the wooden staff he had been holding.

“You’re not lying?” Arnold repeated, turning his head to glare at Arnos. “He got in, huh? Well, it’s not like mana is everything. We’ll most probably be reshuffled to our rightful places after the battle tournament. Isn’t that true, mister?”

“Arnos. That’s my name, Sir Arnold,” Arnos replied in a polite tone. “And yes, I believe that too. You would most probably get to your rightful place in Celera after the tournament,” Arnos replied, trying his best to butter Arnold.

Arnold didn’t reply to Arnos after that. Giving a sour look, he simply moved away from the arena. Wait a second, did he misunderstood what I was trying to say? Arnos questioned himself as he gave a dumbfounded expression.