After Allen had unsheathed his sword, he began to prepare himself for his practice duel against Thomas and Cecily. He also noticed the two of them began to prepare magic of their own.
Allen decided he wouldn't use much of his mana within him; he just needed enough to test Thomas and Cecily's strength and how they duel.
"Alright guys, let's see what you got!," Allen said out loud, signaling the start of their practice duel. He waited for them to make the first move.
Thomas struck first. He summoned a decently sized earth elemental magic circle, which his earth magic came out of, hurling towards Allen. Allen swiped with his sword, cutting through his magic.
Cecily struck next. She summoned a very small water elemental magic circle, of which a small portion of water magic went after Allen. The magic was nothing compared to Charles' magic in his entrance exam duel, but still was decent. Allen once again cut through the magic using his sword.
"Is that all you've guys got?," Allen shrugged, hoping they would try more. "You guys have done duels before, right?"
Both of them didn't say a word. They simply looked at each other, nodded, then looked back at Allen. Allen knew they were up to something, for sure.
Cecily then began to form her water elemental magic circle again and attacked Allen with her water magic once more. However, this time she was on the move, running in a circle around Allen. It was like she was trying to find a blindspot on him.
Allen kept up with her, slashing away her magic anytime it was hurled at him. She was doing no damage whatsoever, and seemed to be wasting her mana reserves.
Just what do they have in mind?, Allen thought, as he kept up with Cecily.
It was then he realized something was off. In the corner of his eye just a few moments ago, he saw what looked to be Thomas charging up his magic in some way. He hadn't chosen to pay attention, as he was focused on defending against Cecily's attacks.
However, in a split second, Allen's instincts kicked in, and he quickly veered to the side. Thomas had attacked from his side, sending his fist down at Allen. Luckily, Thomas was unsuccessful, as Allen managed to dodge the attack. Thomas almost fell over on the ground, but he managed to stop himself from falling.
"What was that?," Allen asked, interested. "I didn't know you could fight with your fists like that!"
"Oh this?" Thomas asked, looking at both of his arms. "This is my way of fighting"
Allen looked over at his arms, where he saw something rather interesting. His fists and part of his arms seemed to be hardened with his earth magic. They were now more brown in color, and looked to be as hard as stone. Allen was glad he managed to dodge that attack, as who knows how much damage they would've done.
"As I mentioned before, I am considered an exception in the family. My magic isn't very powerful, but I have an ability where I can harden parts of my body using my earth magic. Instead of attacking with magical spells, which I suck at, I instead do this!"
"Wow, that's really cool!," Allen grinned. "Just how do you do that?"
"Well I can explain more about it later. We have a duel to finish, now don't we?," Thomas reminded him, grinning back.
Thomas once again charged at Allen, swinging his fists. Allen kept swiftly dodging his attacks, but found it harder with each time Thomas attacked. It was like Thomas was adapting to his defensive tactics, learning from their duel each time he attacked.
Thomas then sent his fist really hard and quick at Allen, which Allen had to block just as fast with his sword. His sword then slid across Thomas' arm, which Thomas took advantage of and sent his fist straight for his chest. Allen managed to quickly dodge out of the way right before it happened.
"Well aren't you the close quarters type of guy," Allen chuckled as he took a second to breathe.
"I could say the same for you, Allen," Thomas grinned as he also took a breath.
Without another word from both, they once again began to strike. Allen managed to put Thomas on the defensive this time, as Allen adjusted his strikes based off of Thomas' fighting style. Right before Allen could put Thomas at swordpoint, his instinct kicked in and he quickly veered to the left.
Allen realized the whole time he was fighting Thomas, Cecily had been readying a spell at Allen. He thought it was strange Cecily wasn't attacking him beforehand, but not worth trying to figure that out right now.
She had somehow managed to conceal her spell, in a way where Allen didn't detect her spell right away, nor hear the spell come right after him. If his instincts hadn't kicked in, he definitely would have been hit from the spell.
"How were you able to be so quiet with your spell?," Allen asked, impressed.
"As I have also told you before, since my magic is weak I am considered a failure. And since my magic is weak, it makes it much easier to cast my spells quietly, and I can strike from behind without my opponents noticing"
"That's amazing!," Allen grinned.
"Thank you," Cecily responded, her cheeks red from embarrassment. Perhaps she doesn't receive that many compliments?
"Well, both of you can handle yourselves pretty well," Allen complimented them. "But this fight isn't over until I or both of you are defeated! It's time to get serious!"
"Serious?," the both of them asked at the same time.
Allen took a quick moment to close his eyes, to allow himself to sense his mana within him. Despite the low amounts of mana he had, he began to move his mana towards his legs. It was the same trick Allen had used against Charles in the entrance exam duel, and one of the few tricks he had up his sleeve.
Thomas was preparing to defend against Allen's next attack, with Cecily supporting from behind. They didn't know what he was up to, but they were ready.
Unfortunately, Thomas was not prepared for how quick Allen had become. Allen had already moved in quickly, ready to strike Thomas. Thomas put his arms up in defense, ready to take a full-on hit. But instead of striking forward, Allen had quickly moved to Thomas' side and pointed his blade at Thomas' neck before Thomas could react.
"You've been defeated," Allen announced.
"So I have. I admit defeat," Thomas put his arms up. "But, you haven't beaten Lily yet!"
Right after Thomas spoke, three small waves of Cecily's water magic moved in on Allen at full speed. In a quick flash, still using his air mana in his legs, Allen had managed to dodge all three surprise attacks. He pinpointed the location of where the attack came from, but didn't find Cecily there.
Once he had finally deciphered where Cecily was, two more water magic attacks went in to attack Allen. He cut through the first one, and then dodged the second one. He finally prepared his mana once more, and then propelled himself towards Cecily for a strike at full speed.
Just before Allen could reach Cecily's position, she already had her arms up.
"I- I admit defeat," she announced, just as Allen stopped himself next to her. The mock duel was over.
"Well, good fight guys!," Thomas said as he channeled his earth magic out of his arms, and then proceeded to do some stretches. "That got me fired up quite a bit!"
Allen sheathed his sword away, then dispersed his mana from his legs, allowing them to naturally flow once more. He quickly felt the exhaustion afterwards. Perhaps he had used a bit more mana than he expected? Normally when he uses a bit too much, it takes a small toll on his body, no different to what he is experiencing now.
"Good job both of you!," Allen gave them both a thumbs up. "I think I have a good handle on both of your fighting styles now"
"Oh, is that so?," Thomas asked, smirking. "What do you think then, oh wise one?"
Allen couldn't help but shake his head in amusement at Thomas' last comment before continuing.
"While both of you may not have the best mana reserves, both of you make up for that in various ways. For Thomas, it is his unique hardening ability. This allows him to get up close and personal with a mage, which most mages struggle with close combat. It provides him with a good mix of both offense and defense"
"Heh, of course. Thanks Al!," Thomas said, cracking his knuckles.
"For Cecily, it's her interesting natural stealth ability. Having lower mana reserves means it's harder to track her general location, and harder to detect or see magical spells coming your way. In addition, her magic casting is oddly quiet, making it much harder for me determining where she was at any given time"
"Thank you," Cecily nodded, a small smile on her face.
"Yeah, you pretty much got everything down," Thomas nodded. "But how were you able to detect magic like that? As far as I am aware, no one I know can do that. I mean, you can obviously hear magic being cast, but it's like you knew where Cecily was, or should be"
"Oh that?," Allen asked as he nervously laughed, trying to figure out how to respond. "I learned it from my mentor, though I am not quite at his level yet. I can just barely detect it, almost like a sixth sense. I would say it's closer to instinct, though"
"Woah, that's so cool! Can you teach us how to do that?," Thomas asked, grinning.
" I would like to learn it as well," Cecily agreed.
"Sure, I don't mind. I may not be good at teaching it though ,as I don't fully understand it myself," Allen admitted.
"Awe this is gonna be so great!," Thomas said, almost jumping from excitement.
Thomas and Cecily eagerly waited to learn as Allen prepared to give them a small lesson. But before Allen could start, a voice interrupted.
"Well, well well. What do we have here?," the voice came from behind.
All three of them turned to see none other than Charles Rivertide, the same student Allen had dueled in the entrance exam. He stood there with the same arrogant look on his face he once had, like he still was top of his class.
"Charles?," Allen asked in confusion, not expecting to see him here.
"That's right Allen. It's me, Charles. The guy who was unfortunately defeated by you in the entrance exam," he explained as he crossed his arms.
"Ah right. I remember winning against you," Allen nodded his head. "The duel was rather quick, too"
Right after Allen spoke, you could see the small look of annoyance on Charles' face.
"And I, Charles Rivertide, will not forget that insult, you see," Charles started to ramble on. "I was put into the B rank instead of the great A ranking because of you! Surely if I had won, they would've seen my great potential I hol-"
"So, what do you want, Blondie?," Thomas interrupted, with a nonchalant look on his face. Although, you could see a small smirk growing in the corner of his mouth.
"B- Blondie?," Charles responded in utter confusion, as if he didn't expect such an insult. "How dare you insult a Riverti-"
"I don't want to hear anything from you, Charles," Cecily finally intervened, her voice firm. "You can leave, you know"
Allen was in utter shock at Cecily's sudden change of tone and manner. She was almost a completely different person, now that Charles was here.
"Now, now Cecily. You don't have to be so rude to your cousin, you know," Charles said while trying to get her attention. But it wasn't working, as Cecily wouldn't even look at him.
" I have nothing more to say to you," Cecily closed her eyes, still looking away from him.
Charles just stood there, completely silent. It's like he forgot why he was even here in the first place.
"Ok, mind telling us why you are here, Charles?," Allen asked, asking for answers.
"Ah, that's right," Charles remembered, turning to face Allen. "I wanted to make something perfectly clear to you, Allen"
"And? That is?"
"I promise that the next time we face each other, I will definitely win!," Charles pointed at Allen, with a look of determination, but slight arrogance.
"Ok, looking forward to it Charles," Allen responded, nodding his head.
"I- I wasn't expecting you to say that," a slight hint of confusion on his face. "Anyways, the next time we duel Allen, I will make sure you lose!"
"So what you are trying to say is, you want to be Allen's 'rival'?," Thomas asked, tilting his head and narrowing his eyes.
"Rival? No, Allen isn't worthy to be a Rivertide's rival!," he pointed at Allen again. "He is simply an opponent who needs to be put in his proper place!"
"But, telling him that the 'next time we duel' and that 'you'll win' sounds a lot like what a 'rival' would say," Thomas said, smirking at him.
"I- nevermind. Just know Allen you will lose! I promise you!," he shouted as he began to walk away.
"Ok, have fun with that!," Allen shouted back at him, waving him off.
Charles was about to walk away, when it seemed like he forgot to say something to Allen.
"Oh, and by the way Allen," Charles turned back around. "Your 'victory' against a Rivertide will not go unnoticed. My older brother seems to have taken a fun little interest in you. Hope you are looking forward to that!"
As Charles finally walked away, Allen stood there in confusion. Older brother? Just who is he talking about?
"He finally left. Took him long enough," Cecily shook her head.
"Geez, Lily. Wasn't expecting you to get so like that with him today. That's probably a new record for biggest shrug of the century," Thomas laughed.
"Oh sorry, my bad," Cecily apologized. Seemed like she was back to her normal, shy self now that Charles was gone.
"Just what was that all about?," Allen asked. "I also wasn't expecting you to act like that, Lily"
"Charles is-"
"No, it's okay. I'll explain," Cecily interrupted.
"Alright, go ahead," Thomas agreed, putting his hands behind his head as he started to pace around.
"Charles Rivertide, is my cousin. He is the son of Susanna and Francis Rivertide, my aunt and uncle. Susanna Rivertide is the current head of the Rivertide family, meaning she is a part of what's considered the main family. Her younger sister, Judith Rivertide, is my mother. Judith is the current Water Leader of the Triumvirate"
Allen took a moment to take all of that information in. The Triumvirate, he thought. The current governing figure on elemental magic. The one's also behind the attacks on fire mages.
"So your mother is the water leader, alongside Solomon Windblade as the air leader?," Allen asked for clarification.
"Correct," Thomas answered on Cecily's behalf. "And my uncle, Giles Terrastone, is the current Earth Leader of the Triumvirate"
"Ah, I see," Allen spoke as he began to connect the dots between their families. "So why the bad blood between you two and Charles? Other than his usual arrogant self I have come to notice?"
"Personally, I have never liked him," Cecily shook his head. "He always wants to act arrogant, saying things like how he is better than us. He even thinks he's better than some of the Windblade children, but he certainly matches their arrogance levels. He has always been trying to wedge the distance between him and I, only because I am a fellow Rivertide. Almost everyone else he doesn't care for"
"Ah, so that's why you get like that when he is around"
"Right," Cecily agreed.
"Cecily, Charles and I have all known each other since we were young," Thomas began to explain. "Charles and I have had our petty fights, but I seem to be the only other person he will give some of his precious 'time' to, but I think that's only because Cecily, his cousin, has always hung around me. He probably thinks of me as a 'rival to the Rivertides' as well"
"Seems like it was a fun childhood, then," Allen cracked a joke.
"Certainly was, considering we were all born in the 'Great Elemental Families' everyone praises. Didn't help that we were born with basically no talent or the regular 'gift',"
"Even so, I think you both have great potential. I think you both have what it takes to be great in your magical skills," Allen said to boost their spirits, but still believed what he said.
"Thanks Al," Thomas grinned.
"Thank you, Allen," Cecily shyly responded.
"Hey, it's no problem," Allen smiled. "We can for sure practice in the future to hone our magic skills"
Both of them nodded in agreement.
"But, enough about that for a moment. What you should be concerned about right now is what Charles told you before he left," Thomas reminded.
"Oh, you mean his older brother?," Allen asked, remembering Charles' last statement. "Just who is he?"
"Charles' older brother is Nathaniel Rivertide. He's a Year 2, Rank C student here at the academy," Thomas explained, although you could tell he wasn't happy to be talking about him.
"So why should I be so concerned about him? He's just a C rank right?," Allen asked, confused.
"He's a C rank essentially by choice. He has no sense of honor or code when it comes to magic. He's very greedy and gets angry when things don't go his way. The academy had to put him into C rank because he refused to participate enough in his B rank class, although I'm sure he could achieve A ranking if he actually tried"
"Seems like if trouble was a person, it would be him," Allen joked.
"Precisely so," Thomas agreed. "If Charles has said that Nathaniel has his eyes on you, that definitely isn't a good thing. Nathaniel may try to initiate a duel with you in order to humiliate you. Whatever you do, do not accept a duel from him"
Thomas had explained that in a serious tone, which made Allen a little worried. But even then, he could always decline any duels Nathaniel may try to initiate.
"Don't worry, I plan on training more before I start to participate in duels. I will just simply ignore him if he tries anything," Allen grinned.
"Good idea," Thomas agreed. "So about that magic detection technique you were going to teac-"
"Okay, class time is over kids," Ms. Florence had walked up to them. "Time to leave the training arena"
"Aw, our time is already up Ms. Florence? Can't we stay a bit longer?," Thomas pleaded.
"No, I am afraid your time is up. Class time is over. Other classes will be using the training room today, so if you want to use it further you need to wait until they are done. You all are dismissed"
Ms. Florence already began to leave the training arena, not even checking to see if they're leaving.
"Well, there's always another time," Allen shrugged. "I'll be sure to show you guys next time"
"Well, there's always another time," Allen explained. "I'll be sure to show you guys next time".
"Of course. And I can show you some of my tricks!," Thomas grinned.
"I can try to show you mine as well," Cecily added.
"I'll see you guys in class tomorrow!," Allen waved as he headed back to his dorm room.
"See you tomorrow, Al!," Thomas said as both he and Cecily waved him off.
I can't wait to train more with them!, Allen thought, excited. It's only day two, and I'm already enjoying myself! I hope the rest of the year is as great as today!