The next morning, Erwin and Brenin washed up and hurried to the meeting place with the Academy's King of Swords, known as Triton Deepwarden. They skipped breakfast in their excitement. Brenin, especially, was eager to meet him, having high expectations after Professor Dwiell's glowing praise.

In fact, Professor Dwiel explained to Brenin that this academy had 3 kings, which are the top of the academy, and the fact that there were 3 of them was by no means coincidental: in fact, each of these boys excels in the practical subjects of the academy: Meele*, Magic Sword Art and Magic Projection Art.*

Brenin, then discovered that the 3 kings were not chosen according to the preferences of the professors, but according to Rankings, drawn up based on their performance and the results of their fights; there are three rankings, and each of them is divided according to practical subjects.

To get into this Ranking, you had to at least be a student from section B, and once you passed some preconditions, you would be part of this Ranking, where the more you win, the higher you go up the rankings, especially if you beat prestigious students, i.e., Students with at least 60 percent of wins.

Obviously, at the top of the Ranking was the champion, or King, who was not only the strongest, but also enjoyed fame among the guilds, which often and willingly did a kind of "scouting" to monitor the young talents of Veras' academy of thousand magical arts*.

And that, for Brenin was a good thing, since his intention, was exactly to burn the bridges, and be recognized worldwide as the No. 1 swordsman in the school. And he was aiming precisely at the King of Swords, convinced that he could beat him with a little training.

Erwin, too, was excited after hearing Brenin's story regarding the 3 Kings, and although he could not enter the Rankings because he was a C-section student, he was convinced that, before long, he would make it to the B-section, thus showing his full worth.

The two boys, then arrived at the entrance of the gymnasium, being surprised to see that there was an immense crowd inside Gymnasium No. 23; in particular, the training room 23 featured medium-sized bleachers on each side of the room, and in the center, featured a single, large ring, showing signs of past battles; outside the ring, a red circle surrounded the fighting field, with strange symbols engraved on it.

"Wow...This King of Swords must be some kind of celebrity, don't you think?" asked Erwin to his roommate, looking around with surprise and admiration.

"Not that I care" hissed Brenin with an indecipherable expression, who was not swayed by all those people.

At that moment, he was not looking at the crowd, but looking for someone. And after a few seconds of watching, he had an idea of where to find him, since, a few meters from the ring, the crowd was more concentrated.

[...I found you]

Without saying anything to Erwin, Brenin approached the crowd, and without making too much of a fuss, he made room for himself among all those people, even using some force where necessary. The people, who were being pushed by the boy, looked at him badly and even insulted him, but he did not care, since at that moment, his mind and eyes were focused for one and only one person.

And finally, after he had passed that wall of people, he saw him; his rival, his objector...he saw the King of Swords, who with a serious air, was preparing for the coming ranking fight.

The King of Swords was a tall boy with a lean but toned physique and long dark blue hair tied back, which had a beautiful sheen; of the same color were also his eyes, which in some features, looked pitch black. He, like his peers, also wore the school uniform, but one detail was different: on his chest, instead of stars indicating section, was a golden crown, which was pierced vertically by a sword.

And with him, at that moment, he was indeed carrying a sword, a foil*, to be precise.

[I just need to look at him to understand that this is no joke...] Brenin thought: his composure, his "aura" and his mana, though kept at a low level, made Brenin immediately realize that he had no chance against him.

Rather than being worried, though, he was excited by the idea of facing it in the not-too-distant future. Then again, he liked difficult and interesting challenges.

Brenin wanted to see him up close at least once, judge him, and then leave, since at that moment, he did not really feel the need to say anything to him or look at him. But the moment he came face to face with him, he felt the need to challenge him, even if it was too premature.

"Triton Deepwarden!" - exclaimed Brenin, approaching the King of Swords, whose attention was caught immediately, turning with an intrigued gaze toward Brenin - "I am Brenin Zephyr, and I am an aspiring first-year magic knight of Section B. You are strong, I admit it, but soon, that kingly title of yours will be mine. Until then... don't lose to anyone."

[W-Woah... He's a complete lunatic!] thought Erwin amused, who in the meantime had approached to figure out what the hell Brenin was up to; he was amazed at this over-the-top side of Brenin, and began to think that perhaps, he too should have declared war on the Meele King.

"Hey kid!" - exclaimed one of the boys next to the Sword King, with a visibly livid expression, approaching the boy along with some of his other peers-"You think this is a game, get the hell out of here before I-!"

"Who told you I'm joking? Besides, I'm not talking to you, so shut up" "Hey! How dare you-!"

"I said shut up."

Suddenly, Brenin's gaze became dark and annoyed, to the point that the boy who wanted to chastise him, shuddered a little, startled by that look so sharp, and at the same time, so cold and threatening.

"Y-You damn--"

"Hey, that's enough."

Triton, who stood silently for a few moments, intervened before things could escalate.

"Certainly...you're sure of yourself, kid" the King of Swords addressed in a calm tone, however, looking down with grudging eyes at Brenin, who, however, did not flinch.

"If you are not confident in your ability, you cannot be a good swordsman" replied Brenin immediately without fear.

The King of Swords watched her for a few seconds, then gave a forced smile; "Well, you certainly don't lack the language to speak...If you're as good as you think you are, get in the rankings. I'll be waiting for you at the top with open arms, brat."

"My name is not brat" - asserted Brenin, who hated being called that - "My name is Brenin. Try to remember it..."

Triton huffed loudly in annoyance, his expression visibly annoyed by what was happening.

"Damn...kids these days have no respect." - hissed the King of Swords - "I don't give a shit about your name, brat. Now piss off, I've got another dumb freshman to deal with."

[...what?]

Brenin stood motionless with wide eyes as he heard those words come out of the King of Swords' mouth; the crowd headed for the stands, but he stood there, motionless still, watching Triton climb into the ring.

But it wasn't the harsh words that surprised him; no, what surprised him was the fact that at that moment, Triton would face a freshman like him!

Brenin then, turned his gaze around, looking for who this idiot was who, in his first year, had decided to be humiliated in this way in front of everyone, since for Brenin, there was currently no stronger sword student than Triton.

And after a few moments he saw him, inside the ring, sitting on the floor with crossed legs, intent on meditating.

His physique, unlike his peers, was massive and tall, showing a degree of toning that made him appear almost adult. His hair was brown and short, and his face was big, huge, with an expression that Brenin described as idiotic, since he was looking around in bewilderment. For some strange reason, he had no clothing at the top, leaving his pecs and abs on display. And abnormal was his sword, which besides being gigantic, was not well maintained.

Brenin observed him, and surprise, then anger, took over from him: he had the peculiar ability to know instantly whether the person in front of him was strong or not; his "instinct," was almost infallible, and for example, he had not been wrong in judging Erwin and Lucy's level. However, the moment his eyes analyzed the first-grader, a sense of confusion and anger took over him, since in the boy, he saw nothing but...

[Inadequacy...He's not strong at all!]

Brenin could not understand: Why was someone so weak, standing in the ring? Why had Triton decided to confront him, despite Triton's obvious superiority?

All these unanswered questions only stymied Brenin, who, at that moment, felt nothing but annoyance toward that kid, since, if that was the case, then he too could face Triton right now.

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And this frustration, made him lose interest in the confrontation for a moment, contemplating leaving. But then he calmed down, thinking that there had to be a good reason that the bastard was there.

[Yes ... it must be so] Thought Brenin, who turned around heading toward the stands.

"Are you all right, man?" wondered Erwin, who at that moment, had seen him angry for the first time; which was strange for him, since, according to him, such a lazy boy and such a menial man could not get angry.

"All right. Let's go sit down" - cut short Brenin, who headed into the stands without another word.

-----

"Activate the magic circle!" - Triton exclaimed, with some of the boys infusing some of their mana after approaching the red circle outside the ring.

The latter, suddenly lit up, and after a few moments, a transparent dome appeared to surround the ring, leaving Erwin, who had never seen anything like it, dumbfounded.

"What is that thing?" asked Erwin intrigued by the strange orb.

"It's a 'Damage Eliminator' circle" - Brenin replied dryly, still annoyed by what happened earlier - "If you are inside the sphere, for a certain period of time, you don't suffer any kind of real damage."

"Ohh. Is there such a thing? Brilliant!" Exclaimed Erwin, who found such a discovery inriguing.

"Well, not so much, because even if the damage you suffer is not real, the pain still is."

"Uh? What do you mean?" slightly twisted Erwin's head, who did not immediately understand the reason for those words.

"Observe..." merely said Brenin, who, more than ever, was focused on that confrontation, which although useless to him, had nonetheless caught his attention.

After the magic circle activated, Triton stepped into the ring with his foil, and looked at his opponent, who was looking around as if he had a few screws loose; At that moment, he wondered why the hell he had accepted this challenge, since he didn't even want to do it.

That first-grader, since he had set foot in the school, had tormented Triton for days, weeks and months, proposing to him each time the same thing: a challenge to become King of Swords.

At first, he did not pay much attention to it, ignoring him repeatedly, since, in addition to believing that he was clearly stronger than the boy, in his opinion, confronting a first-grader was not at all normal. But when Triton began to find him in front of his dormitory every morning; it became unbearable, to the point that he decided to confront him, so as to teach him a lesson he would never forget.

"Ah! Triton!" exclaimed the little boy with an eerie smile plastered on his face -"You've finally arrived! I'm glad you-"

"Don't talk to me, you bastard" - cut Triton short, who suddenly, was enveloped in a strange, very dense bluish light - "Let's end it here, and after that, don't come after me again."

"Oh! You like to get straight to the point, huh?" - countered the boy, who began to wield his broadsword dangerously, also beginning to be enveloped by his mana, showing a dark orange color - "Me too!"

The freshaman, wasting no time, hurled himself at Triton, excited about defeating.. no, destroying the opponent in front of him.

His burst forward was extremely rapid, to the point that Erwin and Brenin were surprised by the speed with which he catalyzed himself against Triton, displaying incredible explosiveness.

"..."

Triton remained calm and alert, and although he was surprised by that speed, it was not something he had never seen before - "If that's how you want to play it, then..."

Suddenly, his mana was concentrated in the blade of his foil, and with an extremely quick strike, he extended his sword toward the firstborn, but without reaching him.

His opponent remained stunned by that move, seemingly went astray; but in the next instant, a bluish ray escaped from the tip of his foil, advancing at great speed toward the first-grader, who was displaced by such a blow;

[Is that a water beam?!] wondered Brenin and Erwin, shocked that the element of water could be used in such a way.

Erwin believed that the way Elaine used her element was fantastic and unique, but the way Triton used it was also incredible, wondering if, around the world, there were other users of the water element who could do similarly different things.

Brenin, for his part, was shocked by the speed of the blow, and the skill such an attack required; if this was the premise - he thought - the gap between him and Tritrus was much greater than he could have imagined. And while this make him more ecxited, it also worried him a little, since there was no guarantee that he would catch up with him before The King of Swords became an official mage. - [I will have to work my ass if I want to catch him up]

"Headshot!"

The sword king, with a small smile, was convinced that he had defeated him with a single, devastating blow; but his happiness was immediately dampened, the moment the freshman, with a coarse and totally aesthetic movement, quickly moved his arm with which he held his broadsword, deflecting with a simple, but incredible brute force Tritum's beam, which was deflected onto the floor of the ring, instantly causing a hole several meters deep;

[Oooh...Dangerous!] Thought the first-grader, who at that moment, was feeling more and more intoxicated by the clash - [Yes...it's strong! Strong just as I thought!]

[...Luck?] thought Triton at first, seeing Gygas's clumsy movements, which lacked technique and rationality.

It was a seemingly easy fight for him, and Triton was convinced of that, yet, in that moment, he felt that he should not let his guard down; that sprint he had made to get close to him was enough to make him realize that, the primini in front of him, was indeed physically gifted.

What's more, he did not know his element, so, he knew that he should not let his guard down yet, and if possible, he should keep him away as much as possible.

"I don't understand...he doesn't have anything special" hissed Brenin, who couldn't understand how that boy could deal with Triton.

If Brenin was skeptical about the challenger's abilities, however, the same could not be said of Erwin, who, looking at that very unnatural movement, had a strange sense of Dejà-vu, although he had known no other swordsman but Brenin.

"Boy... what's your name?" asked Triton, who despite hating him, was surprised that he did not defeat him with one blow.

"Ah! Now you want to know my name!" - Exclaimed the boy, who had always had that creepy smile on his face since the fight began, which annoyed Triton quite a bit. - "My name is Gygas! Gygas Diamheart!"

"Gygas" - said with a serious tone and concentrated expression Triton, suddenly increasing his mana, surprising Gygas and Brenin, who did not expect that he could be serious against a brat. - "You will regret setting foot inside the ring."

Without further tergiversation, Triton again executed the same attack as before, this time, charging even more mana; on the first hit, a ray of water with a dark coloration and greater density departed like a thunderbolt from the tip of the foil;

Gygas was taken aback, to the point that this time, he did not have time to use his sword to parry the blow, thus forcing him to dodge the blow altogether by moving to the side, with ever clumsy movements.

[This power is...?!]

The freshamn didn't even have time to think of a countermeasure, that at the same instant, Triton made 3 more hits, setting off 3 more beams of similar power but different angle, all directed toward Gygas.

This time, Triton was convinced that he had succeeded in striking him, as were all the people in the arena who were already rejoicing, since they were looking forward to seeing their King of Swords triumph; but once again, like a sand castle, their convictions were disintegrated, the moment Gygas, with unnatural movements, dodged all the blows without any trouble, without any of the three jets of water touching him.

A strange silence, as a result of what happened, descended in the gymnasium it had never happened that someone managed to dodge those 3 blows at their maximum speed, but that first-grader, in that moment, had done what many aspiring "champions," had failed to do; and this bothered him, but at the same time, there made him look even more intently at the deeds of that first-grader, who in those moments had proved himself as arrogant, as well as incredible.

"Brenin, that guy...?!"

Brenin didn't understand. He didn't understand how he had dodged those blows. He didn't understand how a boy his age, could move in such a reckless and dangerous way. Yet, it worked. It was really working. He had managed to dodge those blows, and what's more, without any problems.

But despite this, there was something that bothered him: it was not the fact that he was challenging him that bothered him, although he did not take it well as a thing, but the fact that the boy, despite having a sword in his hand, did not fight and move like a magic knight.

It was almost as if, at that moment, that "barbarian," wanted to prove to everyone that one could win even using a style that was not that of the knights, and it bothered him, tremendously. So much so that he began to cheer for the one he wanted to defeat anyway.

"Someone like him ... doesn't deserve to be the king of swords!" he hissed, unable to contain his anger and causing Erwin, who did not understand the reason for such a mood, to worry.

Meanwhile, Triton was surprised, but at the same time, he felt in his heart that this boy would dodge that blow; after dodging his opening attack, he had doubts about Gygas's abilities; but now that he saw him dodge his blow again, he finally had the answers he was looking for.

[Just the kind of person I hate facing....] He thought with a forced smile, beginning to get nervous.

"Entertain me, entertain me!" Thought Gygas, who at that moment, in everyone's eyes, looked like a hyperactive child who had eaten too much sugar.

"You want to have fun...Okay!"

Triton changed his pose, assuming a more compact posture, strengthening his body to the utmost; Gygas, who saw that change of pose, gave an even more disturbing smile than usual, and without

not even thinking about the reason for such a change, he threw himself headlong at Triton, wanting to hit him hard on the skull.

Triton, however, did not react; he stood firm to the last. Everyone in the stands stood with bated breath, wondering if he had surrendered. But some of them, including Erwin and Brenin, although they were far away, could see Triton's gaze, which was serious and focused.

In a totally aesthetic manner, Gygas raised his broadsword, intending to destroy every part of his opponent's body, putting worrying brute force behind it; but the moment he did so...

*SLIP*

Suddenly, he lost his balance, with Triton needing to take a single step to avoid that attack, and then counterattacking with a quick and accurate jaw, given a sure shot; Gygas sensed the danger behind that attack, which, if he caught it, would end the fight; and so, he blocked his own slash in midair, and concentrating all his mana and leg strength, used his other leg to jump backwards.

But in that position, that dodge was not effective, so much so that, despite his excellent reflexes, he suffered a fairly deep cut on his abdomen and began to bleed copiously.

[Oh...This is not good...]

END OF CHAPTER 33 - ARROGANT