The hot sun beat down on the Savanaclaw Dorm. Over at the Magift Stadium near the dorm, the Savanaclaw members were practicing their rounds for the upcoming Magical Shift Tournament. They were highly anticipating on winning this year, so they planned to spend their time polishing their skills on the field.
One of the older Savanaclaw members, a red-haired aardwolf boy, turned towards the younger members. "Hey, don't slack off! Are you planning to show a shameful display this Inter-dorm competition, like you did last year?!" he yelled.
"Us Savanaclaw can't lose to other dorms in Magift. Kouhais, put your backs into it!" his companion added. "Yessir!" the younger students all yelled excitedly, eager to show off their skills on the field. Meanwhile, lying comfortably up on the nearby bleachers was the Dorm Leader of Savanaclaw himself, Leona Kingscholar.
He was feeling quite proud that his members were raring to do their best for the upcoming inter-dorm Magift tournament. "Oh, oh, good spirit there." he said, idly cheering his members on. "Work hard, you guys. I'll be watching from here."
He then let out a yawn as he folded his hands behind his head and got ready to take a nap. But just as he was about to nod off to sleep, a loud, angry voice suddenly pierced through the air. "You dastard, what're you doing?!" a voice angrily yelled. "Don't grab my shoulder like that. Let me go!"
"No. I'm not going to let go until you apologize." another voice said firmly. The student's voice was so loud, it made Leona open one eye. "Hah? Who's causing a ruckus? I can't sleep like this." he grumbled as he looked down from his view.
He could see one of the underclassmen, a young wolf boy with silver hair, having a standoff with his two upperclassmen. Leona then sat up from the bleachers and looked down towards the source of the ruckus, clearly not happy about his nap being interrupted by a bunch of bickering scavengers. It's time he settled this.
"In Magift, it's against the rule to directly attack the other player without magic. Even so..." the wolf boy said as he crossed his arms and stared at his seniors. "Senpais, you attacked me earlier not with a disk but with magic, didn't you?"
"Striking unnaturally, tripping my legs. ...You keep playing rough, toeing the rules." The older Savanaclaw members just laughed at his statement mockingly. "Hey, hey, Jack, the referee didn't say we broke a rule, right? So what's wrong about what we're doing? Hihihi!" the first Savanaclaw member cackled.
"In any case, you're just a puppy who hasn't even been in this school for a month, you think you've got something worth saying to us?" the second one, a silver-haired bear boy asked mockingly. The wolf boy then cast his eyes downward in a modest manner.
"Senpai? ...To be frank, in Magift, I'm superior to you." he said, rubbing the back of his neck humbly before facing his seniors with a stern expression. "Even if you're older, I have no plans to follow people who are weaker than me!" He declared his last sentence boldly. The two older Savanaclaw members glared irately at him.
"What'd you say?! Do I have to show you some pain first before you get it?" the bear boy asked, glaring daggers at him as he held out his fist. The wolf boy's hair bristled as he glared back at his seniors heatedly. "If you think you can, then come at me!" he growled, getting ready to fight.
But just as they were about to brawl and tear at each other's throats, a deep, rich voice suddenly spoke up. "Oi, you guys, you're being noisy." Leona said, walking across the Magift field towards them.
The Savanaclaw members immediately stopped in their tracks when they saw Leona walking towards them. "D-Dorm Leader Leona!" the red-haired aardwolf boy exclaimed. "This guy... This freshman Jack picked a fight with us." the silver-haired bear boy said accusingly as he pointed towards the wolf boy.
Since being the dorm leader meant that Leona had to look after his fellow dorm members, watching over them was just part of the job description. Nothing more. One freshman in particular had a habit of reminding him of that duty.
Leona turned his gaze towards the wolf boy, Jack. When Jack met his gaze, he stiffened and quickly stood up straight, a stone-faced scowl on his face. "Aah. You're one of our dorm's newcomers for this year, Jack Howl." Leona said, glancing at the white-haired wolf boy up and down.
Jack was a disciplined young wolf beastman who had proved to be one of the more promising ones out of the new group of first years. He quickly made his presence in Savanaclaw known through his talent in Magical Shift.
Even though his stubborn, hard-headed attitude gave Leona more than a headache or two, he had to admit that Jack's grit and dedication to hard work never failed to impress him. Jack said nothing as Leona looked him over. Despite being tense, he could feel slight chills running down his spine under his powerful gaze.
Leona then paused as he shook his head. "Seems as though you've crushed your senpais' pride." Jack then relaxed as he looked at his dorm leader. "...I fight fair and square." he replied.
"Compared to that, these senpais couldn't beat me when fighting normally, so they resorted to playing rough." His golden yellow eyes then narrowed with rage, angry that his seniors would resort to cheating in order to win. "I can't ever forgive cowards like th..." He started to growl angrily when Leona cut him off.
"What's wrong with their play? It's natural that you gotta use your head in a match." he said, tapping his head. Jack stared at Leona in shock, not believing what he just heard him say.
"Wha... Dorm Leader, are you going to allow such dirty tactics?!" he asked disbelievingly. Leona just crossed his arms as he smirked at Jack. "It's "toeing the lines" of the rules, right? Then it's not really cowardly. It's a splendid strategy." he said simply.
Then he frowned. "According to the rules, they did not cause any problems. You, who creates issues within the pack, are more of a problem to our dorm." Jack felt defeated as his broad shoulders slumped. "Darn it..." he muttered.
Leona then smiled. "If you understand what I mean, then sit down and reflect on this." he said. Jack said nothing as he then glared at his dorm leader, feeling a little hurt by his words. How could his own dorm leader say such things? "...I'm going back to practice." Jack said gruffly, then he turned and walked away.
"Kukuku. What a cheeky little pup." Leona chuckled as he watched him walk away. "Seriously, he's so cheeky! Even though he's still a fresh meat first-year, he has such an attitude." the first older Savanaclaw member said as he smirked.
"We should teach him a lesson one of these days. Hihihi." the second Savanaclaw member added, snickering. Leona frowned at the two senior students and crossed his arms. "...Oi. Don't think about stupid stuff." he said cautiously.
"There's not much time left until the inter-dorm Magift tournament. Do you guys really have that much free time between practice?" The two Savanaclaw students immediately went stiff, feeling the stern, predatory tone in Leona's voice.
"Try losing in the inter-dorm competition like you did last year. ...You know what'll happen to you then, right?" Leona asked, raising an eyebrow at them. The two Savanaclaw members cringed, knowing what Leona meant by that. "I-I'm sorry..." the second Savanaclaw student said nervously, bowing before Leona.
Leona then relaxed as he smirked. "In the first place, you guys looked like you lot could've lost to that "fresh meat first-year". I feel embarrassed just seeing it." The two Savanaclaw students flinched when they heard Leona say that.
"Wha... It's not like...!!" the first Savanaclaw student started to protest, trying to deny it. But Leona wouldn't hear of his feeble excuse. "Don't make excuses. Hurry and get back to practicing. Don't bother me anymore." he said sternly. The two Savanaclaw students stiffened and nodded.
"...Yessir." they said in unison. Once Leona left and was out of earshot, the two Savanaclaw students scowled bitterly. "Tch, what the heck..." the first Savanaclaw member grumbled.
"Can't agree with this..." his companion muttered under his breath. Leona let out a tired yawn as he held his hand to his head, feeling annoyed from dealing with his dorm members' petty squabbles. "Haaah. Jeez ...I'm so tired of this." he mumbled.
He really needed a nap.