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Part II Chapter 30 - Magic Lesson

"I thought you'd say that."

What is he thinking?

Lucius straightened his back and took a deep breath, puffing out his chest.

"My name is Lucius Bain!" He suddenly shouted, attracting the attention of everyone around us. "By the old laws of this school, I hereby challenge you to a duel!"

...

What? That's it?

I frowned a little confused at the boy who was grinning confidently.

And then I sighed.

"I refuse."

"I'll wait for you next- Wait what?!"

His face washed blank in surprise, Lucius looked at me with wild eyes.

"I said I refuse," I repeated with the same disinterested voice.

"You can't refuse a duel!" He exclaimed, outraged.

"Of course I can. I just did."

"Do you have no honor?!"

"Nope, I don't."

Bewildered, Lucius stayed still for a few seconds. He had clearly not expected me to decline, not in front of this many witnesses. But I couldn't care less for my reputation. Thanks to my brother, it was already bad anyway. So I'm not going to bother myself with him. The chatters of the surrounding people brought back the frozen Lucius to his senses.

"Aren't you just admitting in front of all those people that you cheated?" He finally got a hold of himself.

I could tell by the tone of his voice that he was losing confidence. So I simply tilted my head at his accusations.

"I cheated?"

"Yes you did!" Lucius denounced, as he pointed at me. "That incantation of yours...!"

"You mean 'Abracadabra'?"

"It doesn't even mean anything!"

Well, he does have a point, but that's not going to help him. After all, there is no way for him to check.

"Yes it does," I lied. "It means 'Fireball' in an ancient language."

The boy flinched at my casual explanation as the people around him were starting to grin out of amusement. I flatly refused his duel and now, his groundless accusations were making a fool out of him. He knew it. He clenched his fists, slowly losing patience.

"E-Even if that was true," he grunted. "What kind of chant is that short?"

I shrugged.

"Why not? Such a simple spell as casting a fireball shouldn't have a long chant to begin with."

For the boy, it was straight provocation. I was basically telling him that he was the abnormal one, for being unable to cast a simple fireball without a long chant. Still, he couldn't find anything to retort so he simply took it in, his face reddening in anger. Around us, those who had listened to our conversation mocked the poor boy. Vivian was no exception. She tried to hide a chuckle with her hand, but it didn't escape Lucius' eyes.

"What are you laughing at?!" He vented his frustration on her. "You think this is funny?"

Startled, Vivian averted her gaze, but her smile was not subsiding.

"Well, kind of," she admitted in a low voice, loud enough for Lucius to hear.

The boy's eyelid twitched as the veins in his temples were ready to pop out. He couldn't tolerate the humiliation any longer, or at least, not coming from Vivian.