Tbate: Kal-El

Part 36: Calm before the Storm

Arthur Leywin POV:

One month has passed since I started attending Xyrus Academy. I'm definitely more familiar with the layout of campus, and I feel like I'm more settled into my classes. Well, my practical battle mage classes, sure. Boring classes like "History of Dicathen", I don't feel as confident about...

This class is my last one for today, and I am exhausted! How is this tougher than actual fighting?!

Welp, at least it's the weekend tomorrow so I get to go home and see my family. Maybe I should finally help Ellie awaken, and try to make her an emitter.

"Stop right there, Leywin!!"

I turn around, and see Clive Graves panting as he must have run over to catch up to me. He wipes the sweat off his forehead, points at me with a grand gesture.

"I challenge you, Arthur Leywin, to a duel!!" Clive declares.

"Should you really be picking on a 9-year-old kid like me?" I retort.

"B***s***!! You've made me look bad in the practical battle classes too many times! Now uphold your honor and accept my challenge!"

"Hopefully my mom doesn't catch me saying swear words like this in front of Ellie..." I mutter to myself. "Fine! I accept, though I'm surprised you still want to do this, after I already defeated Jamiel and Charles in duels already."

"Shut up!! I'm different, and better than those fools!" Clive says angrily, as he presses his uniform's badge to activate the dueling system's boundary shield. I press my badge as well, and the shield deploys around us to isolate us from the surroundings. Some students gather nearby to watch. The shield blocks some sound, but through my Ranged Hearing, I can hear them talking. Looks like some of them are even expecting Clive to win, because he's on the Student Council...

Clive takes out a bow from his dimension ring. "Now feel the wrath of the power of the Graves family's techniques!!" He launches several arrows at me, augmented with wind. As the arrows approach me, Clive grins as he snaps his fingers. The arrows suddenly shake erratically, and then collide with each other, causing them to zigzag and change trajectories to fly towards me at different angles.

Hmm, whatever.

--Static Void--

Time stops, and I grab the arrows out of the air.

--Time Resume--

Clive's grin wipes off his face. "Wait, what?!" He exclaims in surprise. "How did you do that, Leywin?! Argh...you must have cheated somehow, with...an artifact or something!! No matter, I shall overwhelm you with my strength!!" Clive proceeds to fire more arrows continuously, hoping to hit me.

But they're too slow. I start to walk forward towards him, while making minimal movements to sidestep and avoid his arrows. Clive grimaces, and backs up as I get closer to him, until his back touches the dueling system shield.

"I can't lose!! I'll finish you off with my strongest attack!!" Clive gathers all his mana for a final attack, some kind of larger arrow infused with wind mana. "Eat this!!!" Clive shouts, as he fires the arrow.

I'm fast enough to dodge, but I'll go with something simple. I augment my fist, and I punch the arrow. The wind mana infusing the arrow scatters from the force of my fist's impact, and the arrow shatters into pieces.

"...I lost..." Clive utters in disbelief. He slowly reaches for his badge, deactivating the dueling system to indicate his loss. His face scrunches, and he throws his badge on the ground in rage. "F***!!!" He yells as he storms off.

As I pat off some dust from my clothes, I hear the surrounding crowd muttering.

"Clives lost to that 9-year-old? Wow."

"Clive sucks. He really sucks, his house is gonna be really disappointed."

"Is it because Arthur is a quadra-elemental? He's only a red core after all."

"People should stop challenging Arthur, he's too strong, especially for a kid."

Well, hopefully people will stop challenging me to duels. Time to go home.

I walk into an alleyway, and after making sure there's no one watching, I activate illusion magic to hide myself, and I take off into the sky to fly home.

3rd Person POV:

Meanwhile, another student is walking away from the site of Arthur and Clive's duel. A certain half-elf boy from the Wykes family named Lucas.

"Stupid commoner...needs to be put in his place..." Lucas mutters under his breath as he walks.

At the same time, Avier, Cynthia's bond who is actually a wyvern, flies back towards Cynthia's office in owl form.

"Arthur Leywin's power is abnormal...and yet Lord Mordain confirmed that Arthur is not a reincarnation...what is going on? I still can't sense Arthur's core, and I don't think it's because he is a quadra-elemental mage. The next time I meet with Lord Mordain, I wonder how he will decide on investigating the boy..."

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New cover pic, yay

Some big stuff gonna go down starting next part!!!