Herad staggered back as he looked at Galen in disbelief.
Did he just…
No, that's impossible…
"DID…. D-DID YOU JUST… PUNCH ME?!"
Herad screamed in disbelief as his trembling hand clutched his jaw that still ached from the punch. His eyes tried to look for an explanation as his muddled mind struggled to understand what was happening.
Meanwhile, instead of answering, Galen just proceeded to form a fighting stance as he raised his fists.
Herad, still in utter disbelief, couldn't help but scream again.
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS, GALEN?!"
But before he could react, Galen lunged at him.
Punch after punch, Herad's anger began to rise, smothering the confusion he had. And with his rage coming to a peak, he punched Galen back, making him stagger backward in shock.
Herad wiped the blood that trickled on his chin as he began to chant.
But before he could finish, Galen lunged again, this time, his punches were far stronger than the last.
Herad, after having been interrupted, figured to just rely on his physical strength which is, in his opinion, far superior to Galen's. Since he had a year of additional strength training due to coming from a family consisting mostly of Warriors, he knew he had the upper hand. So, ignoring the throbbing pain around his face, he delivered blow after blow of punches that made Galen take a step back every time.
And just as he was about to deliver the final blow, he saw Galen blink furiously as he croaked out.
"What are you--"
But it was too late. Herad's clenched fist collided with Galen's cheek and a snapping sound was hear before it all went quiet.
Herad huffed out as he looked at Galen's disfigured face. And sure enough, he saw Galen's broken jaw hanging open awkwardly.
Galen screamed in pain as he pointed angrily at Herad. Then, he tried to speak but to his shock, the words that came out were simply unintelligible.
With no choice, he grabbed a wand and made some sounds before waving it around furiously. In each motion of the wand, magic particles activated and began to light up. And soon, words began to hover in mid-air as Galen continued to write. Then, when he finished he glared at the stunned Herad with pure rage in his eyes.
Herad held a mix of emotions as he was too confused about what to make out of the situation. So, he decided to just simply read on what Galen was writing.
"WHAT'S GOTTEN INTO YOU? WHY IN THE HEAVENS DID YOU PUNCH ME?! LOOK MY JAW IS BROKEN!!! I CANT CAST ANY SPELLS UNTIL IM HEALED BY SOMEONE! AND IF I DO GET HEALED, RUMOURS WOULD START SPREADING THAT I, GALEN OF THE HIGH CLASSES, WAS DEFEATED EASILY BY THE LIKES OF YOU!"
Herad furrowed his brows as he angrily pointed at him.
"YOU punched ME first! I wouldn't have retaliated if it weren't for that!"
Galen glared as him as his response floated.
"Liar."
Herad stalked closer as he angrily pointed at his face that started to swell.
"Do you see this? This is from YOUR punches! Unless of course, you think that I somehow did this on myself?!"
"Of course. Someone like me would never resort to barbaric methods such as fist fighting."
Herad felt annoyed to the brim, so much so that he began to rant.
"Oh, you think you're so noble, huh? You think that you're way above everyone else in here, huh? That, even though we're in the same class, you still feel superior after all these years just because of you're from a pure Mage class family, huh? Well, why don't we have a duel in two days time? That would be enough to find someone to heal your pathetic jaw. And then, well finally see who's the better one among us. But just so you know, you've always been the most annoying, stuck up, spoiled, and delusional noble that still thinks he could beat or be someone as great as a Mirzo. Well, sadly, the reality is here to tell you that you're nothing more than a rich man who gained his power from memorizing spells that were given to you by your father and depending on others to finish the work for you."
Galen was at a loss for words so he simply huffed and turned his back around Herad in anger. Then, he softly tried to cradle his jaw that ached endlessly.
Herad, seeing his actions, decided that it would probably be the best time to leave. He didn't want to stay and risk killing the guy out of anger. After all, his record is still clean in the academy.
But with anger still in his mind, he still wanted Galen to know one thing.
"Just so you know, I never wanted to be friends with you. If it weren't for the fact that our fathers were close friends, I would never even associate with the likes of you. Manipulative and yet, purely dense and delusional."
Herad let out a small laugh as he began to walk away.
A few steps further, he finally noticed that they were in the East Protected Forest of the Academy. It's where they usually conduct spells that have a high chance and area of destruction. And thus, by its name, it has a protective barrier around its surroundings so as not to let destructive and unstable magic particles to leak out during training.
And usually, only the Rose class and some few students from the High classes are able to enter this area.
So now, after cooling down from the earlier drama, Herad began to wonder how they even got here in the first place.
It was truly strange.
Who would manipulate his body?
For what reason did that 'someone' send them here?
And why did Galen start punching him out of nowhere but then, later deny it?
And why here in the East Protected Forest?
Who can even do such a feat?
His head was filled with questions as he navigated himself towards the exit.
But at least there was one thing he was very sure of.
No doubt, this was surely done by someone terrifyingly powerful.