Aspiration to the Heavens: Becoming the Supreme Mage Vol. 1- Novus Magus

[Revised/Edited] Episode 36: The Fist Versus The Sword

My eyes closed as everything around me started to become blurry. I truly was pathetic.

*Alto*

"Uli!" I yelled, grabbing his sweater and rushing over to him. I stopped as the barrier was slow to be brought down.

Arima ran through it as soon as it began to go down, not waiting for Ms. Zettai to lower it completely.

"Sorry," Xue whispered, turning to look at her. Ulissis laid next to her feet, blood running down his chest.

Arima glared back at her as she walked off. "Sorry? Don't you think you went too far? Ulissis can't be healed using potions or magic."

The Uanian stopped. Her pearly pupils were wide. "What do you mean?"

I walked past them and turned Uli around slowly. The wound wasn't very deep. "Arima, I think he'll be fine. The cut wasn't very deep." I picked him up and glanced back at the white-haired girl. "Though, somehow, you still managed to make him bleed this much."

Xue put away her sword and stared at me. Her eyes were as stoic as ever. "Yueliang don't go easy on their opponents. Every battle for us is life or death." She glanced at Ulissis again. "Though, you didn't answer my question earlier. Why can't he be healed with magic?"

"I don't know," Arima answered as she touched Ulissis's chest. "For some reason, it doesn't have any effect on him."

"That's concerning," Sonata said, appearing before us with Haroun. "Haroun, can you watch over the boy?"

"Yeah, of course," Vermeil's older brother said, holding his arms out.

I nodded and handed Uli over to him. "Take good care of him."

Haroun smiled slightly. "Don't worry, I will."

"I'll watch over him too," Arima volunteered, tears in her eyes.

Sonata smiled. "Alright."

"The next match is Sarah versus An!" Koukyuu announced as all of us made their way back up the bleachers.

Sonata sighed. "Now she's stealing my job."

Haroun snickered slightly. "You two and your rivalry."

She blushed a little. "W-who asked you to comment?"

Sonata sure could be cute.

"Anyway, I'm going to take Ulissis to get treated," Haroun said, walking off. Arima followed after him, leaving me alone.

I joined the other students.

Sarah stared at the purple-haired boy dressed in black leather armor seating as he stood up from his seat. Strapped to his back was an ivory sword. The same sword that defeated her during their sparring match.

"I did not expect that the opportunity to fight you would come so soon," the Princess said, crossing her legs.

An laughed. "Me neither."

She glanced away. "Sadly, I will not fight you. I do not believe myself strong enough to offer an alternate outcome to the fight we had in Xian Forest."

His mouth dropped, as did mine and those of the others. Only Xue managed to keep her composure.

"You sure?" Ms. Key asked, pushing her long white hair back as she sat down next to Koukyuu.

"Yeah," she said, closing her eyes. "I might be prideful, but it's because of that pride that I surrender this battle. I do not wish to duel with someone who defeated me once when only a few days since said loss have passed."

"I understand," Xue said, nodding. "You need time to grow."

She princess smiled slightly. "Exactly."

Ms. Key summoned a microphone. "Hello everyone. It appears that Sarah has decided to give the win to An as a reward for his victory in an earlier match prior to the exam."

Koukyuu smiled and took the microphone from her. "Thanks for that, Sonata. Well, it appears that we can move on to the actual start of round one now that eliminations are done! But first, we'll be taking a break." She snapped her fingers, causing the screen to shift. "Here are the following matches. I encourage our students to do some research on their opponents if they so wish. The next matches will begin in seven hours!"

My eyes widened. In the next round, I would be facing off against Arima!

"What an anticlimactic way to finish the tournament," Hal said, sighing as he stared at the white piece of paper which had appeared in his hands. He snickered. "Oh well, at least we got some time to play!" He glanced at Vermeil before looking at me.

I blinked. Was he sizing me up for round two? I wasn't even sure if I would make it. Ari wasn't an easy opponent for me to take down.

Vermeil walked past him and scoffed. "I know what you're thinking. But know that you aren't the only one of us who knows the other well."

Hal turned his hand and snickered. "Whatever are you talking about?"

The blonde girl sighed. "You know what I mean. You're thinking that you can defeat me simply because you know about my spells. But you must know, I have a few secrets even you aren't aware of!"

He clenched the black tablet in his hands and narrowed his eyes. "Oh? Well, it's the same with me. Feel free to research Alto and Arima if you wish, though. One of us will face one of the two next round."

He had a point there.

"And the one facing either of those two will be me!" Vermeil said before rushing off to the elevator. She looked over her shoulder at the grinning Hal. "You'll regret underestimating me."

"Someone sure is fired up," I said as I stood up and followed after her.

Hal jumped to his feet. "Going to check up on your friend?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I would like to do some training before my match with Arima. But my friends come first."

"You are a good kid," Hal said, patting my shoulder. "Well, I guess that I should do some research on Vermeil after all."

I furrowed my brow. Was I a good person, though? I did get in the way of others, thinking only about myself and my friends during that exam. Like Ari said, I wasn't behaving like my normal self.

Making my way to the elevator, I took a deep breath. If I wasn't careful, my competitive side could blind me again. Having strangers dislike me was one thing, but pushing those I loved away was an entirely different situation.

**Solar Note: Click on that star if you enjoyed this chapter :). Now that I've caught up with where I left off before my latest rewrite, I can focus on this arc**