A/N: Chapter is average length—which means the last chapter will be... quite long! But bear with me! After the last chapter, I'll be uploading either one or two more chapters that have nothing to do with the story, just announcements!
Last chapter will be out by the end of this week! Stay tuned!
——
When you die in the Mystic Legacy Trial, you're teleported back to the white space. But instead of a voice signaling your victory, you're given two options. If you have enough points, you may exchange them with any of the artifacts you acquired. Only then can you bring them with you to the outside world.
But if you don't have enough points, you can choose to 'Leave Trial?'. But be aware that you won't be able to return.
Choose your options carefully.
——
I gazed ahead of me. And I looked at my points.
«510 points»
It seemed I didn't get any points for the 3rd trial. Was it due to me entering that strange place? I shook my head. It didn't matter. What matters is—
1st place: Al Tyre.
2nd place: Rael Vandergarden
3rd place: ...
4th...
I looked at the list and grinned. Al had won. He'd come first. There were a lot of struggles—but he made it in the end. I had a huge smile on as I walked past the list. Now, the only thing left is to receive my reward and—
I stopped walking. Someone was standing in front of me. I blinked and saw—
——
A man.
Hunched back, shaking hands, and teary-eyed, he looked pitiful. But his eyes were—shiny, starry like the vast universe.
Ophelia snapped out of her daze and reached her hand out. "Um, excuse me—"
He jumped back, his eyes flaring open. "D-don't touch me—!" Ophelia jumped back, startled.
"I'm s-sorry!"
"No, I'm sorry for screaming!"
"No no, I'm really sorry for nearly touching you—!"
After apologizing back and forth, they stopped and stared at each other. Ophelia couldn't help but crack a smile, and he did the same. Finally, after a few seconds of staring, she asked;
"Who are you?"
——
"Me? I'm... nobody special." The woman replied as she ran a hand through her hair. Oden narrowed his eyes at her.
"Nobody special? Then why are you here?"
The woman looked at him and smiled. "I want to make you an offer."
Oden took a step back. Why did this feel like a trap?
"What is your offer? I'm willing to hear you out." He harrumphed. The woman let out a laugh, short but clear. Her azure eyes twinkled as she turned to him.
"I don't regret picking you over the rest... I want to offer you unlimited power."
He snorted. "Unlimited power? What are you, a God?"
Her smile widened. "I'm the closest thing to a God your mortal eyes will ever be able to see. I'm able to grant your wishes and so much more, as long as you promise me one thing."
He gazed at her. She wore a dress that seemed to move like the ocean. Her beauty kept shifting, from youthful to mature, like waves. She didn't look human—she was too flawless to be a human. And Oden felt both comfort and discomfort from her.
The soft embrace as you dove through the water—or the horrifying realization you wouldn't reach the surface no matter how much you swam.
Oden wanted to listen to his rational side. To ignore her and walk past her. But he was so curious. It wasn't every day he got such a strange offer.
He opened his mouth and asked—
——
"What do you want?" Caesar stared at the gentle giant who towered over him. The man, every bit as kind as he was large, stared back.
And his answer threw Caserar out of bounds.
"Freedom."
"Excuse me?"
The man seemed surprised at his reaction before repeating himself.
"We—I—want freedom."
Caesar's mouth was agape. He nearly began stuttering but he caught himself. He cleared his throat.
"How am I supposed to provide this freedom?"
The man smiled. His flowy brown hair swayed as he tilted his head. His modest clothing revealed his nature as his light brown eyes looked at Caesar.
He spoke—
——
"By growing stronger! Much much stronger! So strong that no one in the world will be able to even touch you!" The youthful boy said with a joyful smile.
Al let out a sigh. He'd been trying to understand him for the past three minutes—but it felt as though they were communicating in different languages.
"Let me get this right, you want me to get stronger so that I can help you get freedom?"
"Pretty much, yeah." He said, popping the p.
Al stared at him. The question he asked was repeated eight times.
——
"Why?"
——
The dragon lord glanced at the boy.
"Because."
Q frowned. "Can't you explain it?"
The dragon lord shook his head.
"I'm not permitted to tell you anything. You'll understand the reason why eventually."
Q crossed his arms. He didn't like this man. He got a bad feeling from him. He'd suddenly appeared right before he was about to leave the trial. And he was offering him unlimited power—just for freedom? The reason for that? He refused to explain further.
"Do I have to agree to your offer?"
"No." The Dragon Lord shook his head. Q looked at him, smiled, and spoke;
"Then I refuse."
Ivan was stunned as Q walked past him.
"W-wait! Wait! Don't go!"
Q kept walking.
"N-not just power! I'll offer you more! Just don't leave!"
Q didn't stop—Ivan had caught up to him and grabbed him. He whirled and glared at the Dragon Lord.
"You seem more desperate than me! How am I supposed to believe you when you act like this?!"
Ivan pulled at his arm, pushing him away from the door.
"No! There's nothing shady about this! This is me genuinely wanting to help you!"
"I don't believe you!" Q pushed the Dragon Lord off of him and right as he was about to leave—
"I'll help you regain control! No, I'll help you become—!"
Q whirled and his expression became contorted with shock and anger.
"How did you—"
"I know everything! And I can help! As long as you agree, I'll help you!"
Q glowered at him. He still wanted to turn around and leave—but the man not only knew about his circumstances but also had a way to help him.
He couldn't let such a chance pass. Even if this was a lie—which he was 80% sure that it was—he'd take that risk. He peered at the Dragon Lord.
"Don't you have any dignity? Stand up!" Q spoke coldly. Was this someone who'd make him stronger?
Ivan, who was lying on the ground with tears in his eyes—froze. He quickly stood up and wiped the tears from his face. How dare a Dragon Lord like him get down on his knees to beg for a mortal? Unforgivable! He'd teach this brat a lesson!
Right after he agreed to his offer...!
Ivan glared at the boy but when Q glared back, he cowered and grew teary-eyed again. Q sighed.
How would this coward be able to help him?
Q raised his hand and he paused. "I'm willing to accept your offer... under one condition."
Ivan loudly sniffed and wiped his tears again. He arrogantly tilted his head. "What is it, human?" Q rolled his eyes.
"I'll accept if you—"
——
"No."
I blinked. Did I just hear that right?
"What?"
The man, who wore a robe that left his chest exposed, narrowed his eyes at me.
"I refuse."
My smile strained.
"I thought you were desperate for this?"
The man snorted. "Who told you that? I was merely following the script I'd been given. Even though I said all of that, I'm not willing to become your servant just for freedom. I'd rather stay here than accompany you."
Ouch. That hurt. I'm worse than this place?
"Then why are you here? Go back." I didn't want to be associated with someone this rude... I'd rather have no one than him! I glared at him as he turned away.
"I would..."
"But...?" I began.
Instead of telling me, he pointed at his neck. I saw something shimmering around it—it resembled a necklace.
"Is that a necklace—"
"No, it's a—" he gritted his teeth. "—damn her—!" He began to mutter curse words under his breath. "It's... an artifact that won't allow me to return. And restricts my abilities. So whether you like it or not, you're stuck with me."
So, he's not a cheat—but a burden? My face dropped. How could I get this unlucky?
"Will that artifact at least make you help me?"
He raised an eyebrow. "No? It's not controlling me or anything."
"Then what are you good for? Are you even that strong?"
He raised his hand and stared at it.
"Nope."
I took a deep breath. And exhaled. "Could you please return? Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."
The man suddenly smiled. "I'm sorry mortal, but you won't be able to leave without me."
I stared at him. And ran toward the door. I bounced back when I tried to enter—landing on my butt. I groaned. I raised my head and saw him staring at me. He smiled.
"Let's work well together—"
He was mocking me. We both knew he'd sit back and do nothing as he watched me struggle.
I groaned loudly and cursed my terrible luck. Out of all the legacies—I had to get the crappiest.
Fantastic!
"Can you at least tell me your name?" I muttered, having given up. If I can't escape him, I might as well just ignore him.
The man glanced at me. "You can call me Peristof."
I raised my hand, "It's awful meeting you Peristof, my name is Rael Vandergarden."
He shook my head with a wide grin. "Likewise, human."
The tension in the air grew. I glowered at him and he seemed to find it amusing as he continued to smile at me.
Did he like annoying others? Because he was great at getting under someone's skin!
I let go and wiped my hand on my clothes—I spotted him doing the same. We made eye contact and gave the other a fake smile.
Asshole... I thought before turning to the door.
"Let's go," I said blandly, before entering the door. This time, I passed through it easily.
When he passed through the door—he disappeared. My heart skipped a beat.
Was he gone? Did I get rid of him? Finally, I could—
'Huh, so this is where I ended up.' I heard something in my head. I gritted my teeth. It seems like he hadn't disappeared—but taken residence in my head!
'It sure is cozy here... maybe I should—' I heard him abruptly stop talking, and then a light snore.
Was he... sleeping?
I sighed again. I'd secretly hoped he would help me—but he had no plans to do so. He was quite the burden to deal with...
Facing forwards, I saw nothing at first. But then, a small booth appeared. I saw all of the artifacts I'd previously had on it.
And then, the words above them. I read them. Ah, so everything has a price, huh?
[Sacred Souls— A-rank]—150 points
[Dvain's Lost Half B-rank]—50 points
[Rain and Pain, Go away— A-rank]—200 points
[Jinn— S-rank]—300 points (Repairment is 100 more points)
[Siren's Shrieks— Relic-class]—450 points
[Firefly— C-Rank]— 30 points
I stared at the artifacts. And then I let out a sigh. It was this expensive? The only thing that seemed cheap was the socks—which weren't all that useful to me.
I should pick an artifact that I won't be able to find outside—so [Dvain's Lost Half] is useless if I'm able to obtain any speed artifacts. Luckily for me, I already know the location of one of them.
[Sacred Souls] was useful, but it could be hard to perceive where the danger was coming from and frankly, it was too fragile for me to risk it. One slip and it would shatter. 150 points—nearly all of the points I'd gotten from the 4th trial, gone like that?
[Rain and Pain, Go away] was quite tempting to buy. But it was only an A-rank artifact. If it were any higher, I'd pick it. Another flaw to it was the ridiculous amount of mana it needed to be recharged...
I turned to the next item. [Jinn— S-rank] was really helpful. But there was a limited amount of wishes you could ask—and it wasn't guaranteed that it could fulfill your wish. That meant if it was my last hope, it could easily let me down...
The risk was too high. I glanced and saw an ordinary flute. I grimaced. [Siren's Shrieks—relic-class] was useful but I had a hard time using it. Especially since it required a song to be played as you destroyed your opponent's hearing. I frowned. It was surprisingly weak for a relic-class artifact. It had to be some kind of offensive artifact—but its offense was lacking.
I pursed my lips and reached out my hand. I grabbed it and—
'Oh, that's quite the seal on it.' I jumped when I heard Peristof's voice.
"Can you warn me next time!?"
'It was fun startling you, so no.'
I glared at the air before raising the flute.
"What were you talking about? A seal?"
'Yes, there's a seal—hm, no, several seals on every part of the flute. The only part that isn't sealed is the embouchure hole, which is why it appears to be so weak—'
"The what hole?" I interrupted him.
'...the embouchure hole? You don't know what that is?'
"No, should I?"
'How were you even able to use it if you didn't even know what it's called?!'
I didn't respond and studied the flute. It had seals on it? Why? And how do I unlock them?
'—on the flute! It's right there—' he continued to talk nonsense.
"How do I unlock all of the seals?"
He scowled. 'Were you listening to anything I was saying?'
"Yes?"
We both knew that was a lie. He let out a loud sigh in my head.
'You unlock the seals by—'
Silence. I stood for a few minutes, waiting for him to respond. It took me a moment to realize he wasn't going to tell me.
"You asshole!"
I heard laughter before his figure appeared in front of me. He clutched his stomach as he laughed.
"Did you honestly think I'd help you?! I already told you I won't. Good luck unlocking it, because my lips are sealed. Pun intended." He winked.
I narrowed my eyes. He's playing that game, huh? I knew how to make him tell me.
"I bet you don't even know how to unlock the seals. You're probably just pretending to know."
He wore a large smile as he peered at me. "If you're trying to trick me into telling you—it won't work. I'm confident in my intelligence."
I let out a groan as he chuckled.
"Fine! But at least tell me which one I should pick. Or is that too much for you too?" Peristof stopped laughing to glance at the artifacts. He looked to be appraising them with his eyes—before glancing at the flute.
"Out of all of the artifacts—" He pointed at the flute in my hands and the firefly that lay peacefully.
Oh, I'd forgotten to return the firefly to Nio during all of the chaos.
"Isn't that only a C-rank?"
He snorted. "You're far too weak to be looking down on a C-rank artifact. Remember, even with those ranks, they can easily prove you wrong and be far more useful than you expected. The opposite is also true."
"Then... does that mean that both of them have seals on them?"
He flicked a finger in the air. "Bingo! If you can, get both of them, but if that's not possible—choose the Firefly."
I stared at the large bug and shivered. "Why?"
"Just do as I say and stop bothering me." He vanished from my sight. I stared at the firefly and then the flute.
I chose to buy both of them up and grinned. The benefits of being second place—I could choose two items at once!
The moment I purchased them, I saw words appear in my view. 'Leave Trial?' And underneath was the options 'Yes' and 'No'. I hesitated.
But I clicked on the 'Yes' button. I felt something begin to pull me away and when I opened my eyes—
I was back in the real world.
——
I woke up, practically kissing the dirt. With a grunt, I pushed myself up. I stared at the students who were eyeing me.
"That's the last one, isn't it?"
"No, the trial is still open."
"Wait, who came first place then?"
I blinked and turned. I saw a pair of feet materialize right above me and I rolled to the side. Right in time. Al face-planted the dirt with a groan. He was trying to brush it off when the door behind him cracked. The cracks spread to every corner—and it shattered. The students held their breaths as it disappeared. Before they stared at Al.
"He's—"
"He came first place!"
"But he's so ordinary..."
"There has to be something special about him to have come first place!"
The students grew rowdy as they scrutinized Al. The boy stared wide-eyed at them. And then he grinned. He held a hand out and flew into the air. He did a simple spin before landing on his feet.
It was a surprising stunt. I was caught off guard. There was silence. And then roars of excitement and applause. Even if there was still a bit of doubt, Al had proved to the majority that he hadn't cheated his way to 1st place. I grinned, watching him get surrounded by peers or upperclassmen who began to praise him or make connections with him.
Facing forwards, I spotted Oden. He was still on the ground, looking all around for something. I tapped his shoulder and his head jerked to me. His face fell.
"What? What are you looking for?" I asked, curious.
"Nothing..." He spoke, standing up. But I still saw his eyes darting around. I glanced around and saw Claus who looked to be talking. I walked to the side and saw Weiss.
"Oh, there's Weiss," I said. Oden's head snapped in my direction.
"Where!?"
I pointed, and Claus had walked off right at that moment, revealing Weiss. The boy, noticing us, waved and smiled. I was about to smile back when Oden began to sprint. I watched him run past people—there were a few that he pushed and muttered 'sorry' to—before stopping at Weiss.
He breathed heavily.
"You jerk." And then he tackled him to the ground, before hugging him tightly. Weiss yelped in surprise but caught him in time. Oden began to sniffle while Weiss tried to reassure him. I stared at the scene. And then I looked away.
Maybe I shouldn't interrupt them.
I spotted Ru as he waved Ophelia goodbye. We met gazes before he turned around. I didn't say anything as I watched him walk off.
"Rael!"
A hand interrupted my thoughts, as Hina slapped my back. I nearly jumped.
"W-what! Don't scare me like that!"
Hina let out a laugh.
"Congratulations! You came 2nd place, right? I wasn't expecting that!"
I smiled. "I was just a bit lucky..."
Jake, appearing behind Hina, put an arm around her, squeezing her close to him. "Don't be humble, you must've been through a lot there."
My smile grew bitter. 'A lot' would be an understatement to what I experienced in the Mystic Legacy Trial.
But it was thankfully over.
Jun, who'd been watching for a few seconds, finally spoke. "Well done! The Mystic Legacy Trial has now ended! It only took 4 hours!"
I blinked. Four hours...? But we were there for more than a day? How was that possible?
"And when it comes to any reward you might've received, you'll have to register it in the reception. I can see that plenty of you got some great rewards. Keep in mind that the artifacts are not allowed to be used during tests, class, or school without permission. But more on that later."
Jun Keldrass, still floating in the air, clapped his hands. "Congratulations, my dear apprentices! You all did splendidly! The top students will be allowed to stay in Lore Academy—regardless of their previous results. But more on that later! For now, enjoy having passed this trial with—" He waved his hand and tens of mages began to surround us.
"Lots and lots of [Calm] spells."
I looked up at him. Is this the world's equivalent to a therapy session? I noticed one of the mages approach me. In my head, the memories of all of the dead students I saw, the statues, being choked to death nearly two times and more—
It made me realize I might need a buttload of [Calm] spells. I practically sprinted to the mage and sat obediently down as they relieved some of my trauma.
Much... much better... I relaxed and closed my eyes.
——
When they finished, Hina began to drag me away.
"Nooo, I need more spells..." I said, feeling my relaxed state disappear. Hina scowled.
"No! We have to hurry!"
"For what?!"
Hina glowered. "To eat dinner, obviously! This is the only opportunity we have before tomorrow! Jake, go grab Oden!"
Jake, who was already walking away, nodded. "Consider the job already done." I saw him grab Oden, who was still crying in Weiss' arms and dragged him away. Weiss watched it all happen with shock.
"I have him but..." we all glanced at him. There were tears and snot was running down his reddened face. He flailed his arms in Weiss' direction. It was a side to Oden I'd never seen.
Hina let out a sigh and waved her hand to get the attention of one of the mages. The mage took one look at Oden and quickly threw several [Calm] spells on him. Oden stopped crying and he wiped away his tears. His sadness quickly grew to embarrassment.
"Wait—what—"
The three of us shook our heads in unison. There was no need to explain. Jake, Hina, and I playfully winked at Oden before we walked off.
"Where's Kieran?" I asked while Oden followed us with his head down. Hina began to look around.
"He should be somewhere here—"
"Hey, guys!"
Hina nearly screamed when Kieran appeared from behind her. Jake grabbed her before she tripped herself over.
"Ah, sorry! I didn't mean to scare you! I just wanted to show you what I just bought!" He held up a small stone in his hand. I gazed at it blankly.
"What is that?"
He dramatically gasped. "You don't know what this is?!"
Hina shook her head. "How can you not know what this is, Rael? I'm disappointed."
Jake blinked. "...what is that?"
The two paused their teasing to look at Jake. Kieran gave his best friend a disgusted look while Hina couldn't even stand to look at her boyfriend.
Kieran cleared his throat. "This is a recording stone. Even though my allowance is over three digits—these go for disgustingly high prices. I've been saving up for a few months and finally found someone who was selling them for cheap!"
A recording stone? I didn't know those existed...! I stared at the stone, curiously. Did it work like a phone? Now I want one too!
Hina stared at it with envy. "The things I'd do for a recording stone...!"
Oden looked at it blankly. "Is it all that impressive?"
Kieran, Hina, and I turned to him and snapped, "Yes!"
He took a step back, intimidated by our response. "Alright..." he and Jake exchanged glances before shrugging.
We began to look for a restaurant to eat at and soon sat down in one. While taking out the menus, the three mages began to talk about their hardships during the exam season.
"I was trying to make a haste potion, but my partner had read the formula wrong and I added 3 milliliters too much concentrated rosette powder and the potion turned pink!" Hina explained as she hid her face. "I would've failed were it not for the professor's kindness!"
"Who's your potion professor?" Kieran asked, taking a large bite of his food.
"It's professor Dern."
"Now it makes sense, he's almost too kind when it comes to grading..." Kieran mumbled as he stabbed his fork down. Hina raised an eyebrow.
"How so?"
"I was in a group project to create a simple charm. There was me and three others. Guess who did the entire charm from scratch, all by themselves?" He took out the fork and frowned. "I told the professor but not only did he dismiss me, but he allowed those three slackers to pass the class! Absolute bullshit!"
Jake nodded. "It sucks when professors act like that. But I'd rather have Professor Dern than Professor Agatha."
Oden raised his head from stuffing his face. "Agatha? That sounds familiar..."
"Yeah, she's the most hated professor in Lore. First of all, she likes to assign us one assignment, but in the middle of it, assigns us another, all while complaining that we're behind her schedule. I looked at her 'supposed schedule' and that insane woman wanted us to complete several assignments every week! Doesn't she know we have other classes?!" He clenched his fist.
"Not to mention, she doesn't even grade the assignments properly! She just grades them based on how much she likes you!"
Hina cracked a smile. "What was your grade then?"
Jake averted his gaze. "It was an A... but still! I worked hard for that grade but if she had hated me, I'd have failed the class!"
Kieran snorted. "You're one of the lucky ones, if you were on her bad side, you'd receive hell for it. I have a friend who practically aced all of her tests and she gave him a D. Apparently, he hadn't 'challenged himself enough and should stop using textbook answers and try to think outside the box', even though she said moments earlier that she likes answers that are short, precise, like textbook answers. His ranking that year dropped by a lot."
I listened to them ramble, all while making mental notes on which professors to suck up to, and which to avoid. Oden also seemed to take notes, as he paused his eating to intensely listen in.
After venting for half an hour, the mages turned to us.
"Now... tell us what happened in that trial!" Hina said excitedly.
"Don't forget any details—I want to know everything!" Kieran said.
Oden looked up at them with a haunted look in his eyes. "You want me to try and remember everything I just went through?"
"Yes!" Hina replied.
I sighed. "What do you want to know? About statues that could move in the blink of an eye and rip you in half? Or bats who could burst your eardrums and your internal organs? What about gigantic birds that would swoop down and grab you? Or a creepy village that seems intent on forcing you to stay?"
The three mages stared at me, mouth agape.
"Is that what you went through?" Kieran asked.
"No wonder you got so many [Calm] spells..." Jake muttered.
Hina slowly shook her head. "You know what, hold that thought and we'll... discuss it later." They exchanged glances before Kieran cleared his throat.
"Oh, I was suddenly reminded of a rumor I heard." Kieran began.
"What rumor?" Hina spoke. Jake didn't bother to look up—he'd already heard it earlier.
"Apparently, tomorrow, Helm will be dueling a first-year."
Hina rolled her eyes. "Again? Doesn't he have thousands of other girls chasing and begging him to challenge them?"
Jake shrugged. "Maybe he likes to do the chasing?"
Hina shot him a look. "And what's that supposed to mean?" Jake closed his mouth and looked away.
I watched the couple argue with amusement. It took me a minute to process what Kieran had just said.
Wait... Ophelia's duel with Helm was tomorrow? Oh no... this wasn't good. It'd completely slipped my mind! I'd been too busy focusing on ways to escape or survive that I forgot to talk to her about it! And tomorrow... I'd be fighting Ru Hasselt... to the death.
Oden must've noticed my face growing pale. He nudged me with his elbow. "Are you okay, Rael?"
I tried smiling. "Y-yes. I'm just a bit..." I couldn't even finish my sentence. This was bad. If Ophelia and Helm would fight, didn't that mean there'd be a lot of attention on our duel too?!
The three mages looked at me with concern.
"Are you feeling sick, Rael?" Kieran asked.
I shook my head. "No, that's not it..."
Did anyone even know about my fight with Ru? Was I even allowed to talk about it? Perhaps mentioning it was allowed but not that he planned on murdering me...!
My face became deathly pale.
"Rael, we can leave if you want, I'm sure there's a—"
"I'm alright! I just—" Should I tell them? I looked up and took a deep breath. Keeping my emotions bottled up was never good. Sharing it with them might... relieve the stress I have.
Besides, I had trust in them! I'm sure they could keep this a secret!
Taking a deep breath, I said, "Tomorrow... I'll be dueling Ru."
The four of them blinked. "...Who?"
"Ru Hasselt."
It took a minute for the information to be processed. And when they finally processed it—
Hina slammed a hand on the table, shouting; "You're going to duel Ru Hasselt!?"
Anyone in a hundred meters whirled in our direction. I stared at Hina with disbelief. She slapped a hand to her mouth, embarrassed.
"Oops."
So much for keeping that a secret...
——
Thanks to Hina, words about my duel with Ru spread like wildfire. In just an hour, nearly half of the school knew about it.
"Ru is going to duel an apprentice?!"
"Maybe the apprentice pissed him off?"
"Isn't this the first time he'll be dueling someone? He always rejects when others challenge him!"
"I can't wait, this will be the perfect moment to see how strong Ru is!"
Unsurprisingly, no one cared about my side of the story. They only wanted to see Ru beating up a snot-nosed apprentice.
I sighed as Hina kept apologizing to me. She'd even made me my favorite breakfast while apologizing but I'd already forgiven her.
"I didn't mean to! It was just so surprising and I—"
I raised my hand. "It's fine. I forgive you... you've apologized enough." Hina looked at me pitifully. I glanced at Jake and he gently got her away from me, hugging her and telling her to 'stop bothering Rael, he's stressed enough'. I secretly gave him a thumbs up and he returned it when Hina wasn't looking.
Even though the entire school now knew about my duel, it felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.
Kieran held the recording stone in his hand. "I'm so excited to film it! I even arranged for one of my friends to bring theirs and film it too!"
I scowled. "So you can record me losing?"
"No, to record how powerful Ru is! Only a handful of people know how strong he is! I'm excited to see it in person! He might even rival the strongest students in school!"
I was curious about that too. How much had he changed from the character I knew from the game? Did he still specialize in ice magic?
I raised my head and saw the arena from afar. In just a few minutes, I'd be there, fighting with Ru. If things went well—I'll be able to save him and finally destroy one of my many death flags. If things went badly—
I'd be lying on the ground, bleeding to death as Ru watched me die.
The smile on my lips twitched. I wasn't anticipating that... but...
I gazed at the arena with hopeful eyes.
I won't die that easily!
Especially not to you, Ru Hasselt!
——
A/N: Ahhh, they're going to battle like how they did in the old story! Anyone remember that? Hehe.
Don't have much to announce! Hope you liked the chapter!
Thanks for reading!