AN EPIPHANY ；mashle

ten ；a wager

you positioned yourself away from the usual crowd, seated on a ledge high up in one of the academy's towers near the field.

but you didn't think those two would be interested in duelo matches. the two who stood before you, shaded from the sun, your seniors, abyss and abel.

"it's the first match of the season! we've got adler dorm vs. lang dorm! the game's already heating up, folks!" the announcer exclaimed the match ups.

the players were already charging straight into the match with lang having the more aggressive play style, while adler had a more strategic one.

"i'm sure you understand what to do with the winner of this duelo." abel spoke up, drawing your attention to him as you lightly kicked your legs back and forth from the ledge.

"are your bets on adler or lang?" you dodged his statement, eyeing the players closely and their strategies.

"kairos." abel glared, silently suggesting that you take your place seriously in the magia lupus as it was your decision to join.

"i have a name. you know that. you wouldn't be content with me calling you alan walker either, would you?" you sighed, taking your sights off the match to finally face the dark looks of the duo.

"you've made your decision to join the magia lupus. it is your responsibility to upkeep your position, (y/n)." abel seethed at your name.

"so you think i'm slacking because i skip your unnecessarily ominous meetings?" you took out a card, sending it straight to abyss who caught it with ease.

"close your eyes and tear." you ordered. the masked student wordlessly complied, shutting his eyes in order to not tinker with your magic.

the sounds of coins falling onto the ground caught his attention, but he didn't open his eyes until the noise stopped.

he peeked an eye open once it was silent. the sight he was met with could be described as impossible. piles of full silver coins with a small number of gold coins, topped off with chips of bronze coins.

"in such short time..?! impossible, how could you have─" he immediately clasped a hand over the mouth of his mask.

"huh? so you can talk." you mumbled, intrigued by the mysterious aura of the student. but he didn't respond after that.

"...how?" abel asked, his voice was low and dark.

"i'm far sharper than any of you, it seems. some students of orca dorm had found a way to cheat the magic scale, don't you know? they're real smart." you knocked at your temple, referring to the brains orca dorm was known for.

abel remained silent, only staring at you, deep in thought. with his usual stoic expression, you couldn't tell what he was thinking until he finally spoke up.

"perhaps i have more use for you than i'd thought." he admitted, reaching down to pick up one of the few gold coins to check it legitimacy. and it was most definitely real.

you were about respond before you felt an unnatural gust of wind brush by you. you turned your head back to see where the match was at, and to your amusement, mash was floating in the air.

by kicking his legs.

kicking... his legs..

'he never fails to surprise me.' you let out a prompt hum.