"Well now," William chuckled. "Wasn't that the interesting display we had there"
Allen sat there for a moment processing what had just happened between William, Rose and him. After Rose left, the air in the room seemed to calm down a little, as if Rose's presence tensed the air at any given time.
"I suppose you could call it that," Allen shrugged.
"So, what did you think of her?," William asked, his head leaning in, eyes filled with curiosity.
"Oh, what do I think of Rose?," Allen asked, giving it some thought. "She seems interesting enough"
William seemed to sit and ponder for a moment, then spoke again. "Anything else at all? Anything you notice about her?"
"No, not really," Allen shook his head. "I suppose I would say she seemed a bit more stressed and out of place than what she normally appears to be"
"Is that so? Nothing at all seems familiar about her? Anything at all?," he asked as he seemed to lean forward even more.
Allen thought it was strange that William asked him that question. After all, this was the first time he's ever met Rose if you don't count the opening ceremony. Unless he's met her before?
"Not that I can think of. I suppose a little bit, but I mean this is the first time I've met her, so I am not sure," Allen told him.
"I see," William spoke while staring into space, then decided to change the subject. "So, how is your class going so far? I know we're only a few weeks in, but are you making any progress in your class?"
"Yeah a bit," Allen responded, nodding. "Although all the stuff we're learning is stuff I already know or our teacher just has us self study"
William let out a little laugh. "Well, that is the F rank class for sure. Though I suspect you won't be in there for long. Just continue your studies and training and you'll be out of there soon enough"
"Well eventually I think I will, but it's a matter of C rank I have to worry about," Allen said, giving William a slight stare. After all, William is technically the reason he has these conditions.
"Ah yes, that," William nodded as he let out a slight chuckle. "As you remember, you wouldn't have been able to attend if I didn't give you those conditions. But don't worry, you can easily increase your rank in your participation in the tournament. If you do well, your rank can be increased"
"And that's if I even have a chance in the tournament," Allen laughed.
"Oh don't worry Allen. Long as you keep training, I'm sure you will do well in the tournament," William encouraged him with a smile.
"Well, training every day is pretty much the plan already," Allen shrugged.
"Aside from your class, have you made any new friends?," William asked.
"Oh yeah, I have. Tom and Lily from my class," Allen responded.
"Oh, you must mean Thomas Terrastone and Cecily Rivertide? Rather interesting," he smiled.
"Wait, do you know them, William?," Allen asked, curious.
"Of course I know them," William explained. "I am a Windblade, after all. Of course I would know members of the other great families".
"Ah that's right," Allen said as he remembered about William being in the Windblade family.
"So, I presume you've been training with them, yes? What do you think of them?," William asked, finally leaning back in his chair.
"They both are good at fighting for the most part. We've all been training together for the past week or so each day. I think each of them are doing really well," Allen explained.
"While all three of you are F ranks, that doesn't necessarily match your skill in battle. Each of you possess talent, it is only a matter of working hard to make talent into experience and becoming an expert," William encouraged him.
"Yeah, I think both of them have a lot of potential with their magic even though they are only F ranks. I feel like they can both get out of F rank rather quickly if I just keep training with them," Allen agreed.
"Thomas has a unique earth magic hardening ability he can use if I am not mistaken, which is why he is an exception. Despite this unique ability, his overall magic reserves are still low which is why he is an F rank. If Thomas trains enough he can surely become a strong magical knight," William explained.
"Yeah I saw Thomas use it firsthand in our practice duel. He explained it a bit to me," Allen said.
"And then of course there's Cecily," William continued to explain. "She has her own ways she can improve like...".
"Like what?," Allen asked after William sat there for a few moments thinking.
"Hmmm… nevermind. That is for her to discover. Anyways-"
"Wait, what are you talking about William?," Allen asked, interrupting before William could change the subject.
"Ah, that is something I cannot, or should I say do not, want to tell you. She will figure it out for herself the more she trains," William explained.
Allen wasn't sure what William could be talking about. As far as he was aware, Cecily didn't possess any sort of ability like Thomas did. He thought hard for a moment, but couldn't come up with anything.
"I'm not sure what you could mean, but if you say she has something then she must have some sort of ability," Allen finally responded.
"It is simply something that she will one day discover for herself. She has talent, she just needs to find it," William explained.
"Well all of us will continue training so she will find it eventually then. We will continue to train to become stronger," Allen said enthusiastically.
"Good, that is what you should be doing right now. Keep training to get better, and you will all get promoted to D rank very soon", William said with a smile.
"I hope so and that is what I am aiming for," Allen said confidently. "My goal to become a magical knight has not changed"
"Well good, stick with your goal. But I believe it's time for you to leave. Unfortunately, I have a lot of paperwork still to do, and very little time left," William sighed as he motioned to the stacks of paper on his desk, most of them still not filled out.
"Well I suppose that is what happens when you are the head director of a prestigious academy, William," Allen laughed.
"Ah oh well, I'll get this all done eventually. Even if it costs me my entire day, that is," William sighed again.
"Don't worry William, you can get it done," Allen said enthusiastically as he got out of his chair.
"Oh and don't worry about Rose," William said as Allen was about to leave. "She hasn't had the best past when it comes to fire magic, so just give her some time to think about it"
"Alright, sounds good William. I will see you later then," Allen said as he walked out of William's office.
William waved him goodbye and then reluctantly got back to his paperwork.
After Allen left William's office, he decided to head back to his dorm room since it was already pretty late. He would have to fill in for Thomas and Cecily later, in class tomorrow. He finally went to bed and fell asleep as he thought about his conversation with William and Rose.
Once Allen woke from his slumber, he got up and began to get ready to go to class. He got his uniform on, strapped his sword to his waist, and put his singular glove on - the one he always wears on his right hand.
This time Allen, Thomas, and Cecily agreed to meet up for class today. Thomas had said they had some business to take care of before class, so he told Allen that they would meet him at class on time of course, or at least that's what he said. Allen had a hard time believing Thomas could make it anywhere on time.
Allen walked into the familiar scene he sees everyday when he goes to class: Ms. Florence at her desk reading her book, and the other two students already there in the back of the room. Both of them never talk or converse with anyone.
The female student, who is the earth mage who always wears a hoodie over her head, still remained quiet and still. Up to this day, no one has ever seen her face before. Allen still didn't understand why Ms. Florence allowed it, or the academy for that matter.
Seriously, Allen thought. Do they ever talk at all? Or will this be how the rest of our time in the F ranked class will go?
He took his regular seat he sits in everyday and waited for Thomas and Cecily to arrive at class. Just two minutes before class was supposed to start, he could hear their voices down the hall getting louder and louder as they approached.
"-ou that we would be here on time! We're almost there!," a voice that was definitely Thomas' could be heard inching closer.
There was a moment of silence for maybe less than a second before he finally heard Thomas speak up again. "Ouch, that hurt Lily! You don't have to- okay okay, I'll stop, alright? We're almost there"
As Allen saw them walking in, he saw Cecily was glaring at Thomas, which he assumed was because of what Thomas was saying earlier. They both looked up to see Allen sitting at his usual seat, and they both greeted him before taking their own seats.
Allen looked over to see Thomas with an obvious smirk on his face. He's definitely going to ask me about yesterday, Allen thought.
"So Allen, care to explain why the student council president out of all people came to personally get you?", he asked as he looked at him very curiously, almost without blinking.
"Well, it's a rather long story," Allen tried to avoid the topic.
"Oh c'mon Al! You can tell your buddy Tom here all the details, such why a cutie like the student council pres-"
Thomas would have continued, if not for the fact that both he and Allen had felt a deadly aura come from Cecily. They both turned to look at Cecily, who was staring at him intensely.
"Wait Lily, I meant it as a joke!," Thomas put his hands up in an attempt to calm down the deadly Cecily, who looked like she was going to pounce on him at any moment. "I swear-"
"Alright everyone, time for your lesson," Ms. Florence had made her way up to the front of the room, to everyone's surprise.
Absolutely grateful that Ms. Florence saved his hide, Thomas put his undivided attention to the front of the room. While he used this as an excuse to avoid Cecily and it worked for now, there was no guarantee he would be okay after class. Allen tried to hide back his absolute laughter trying to escape his lungs.
Ms. Florence's lesson didn't last too long. They paid attention the entire time, and even Cecily stopped giving Thomas her death glares after some time to pay attention. After class had ended, the three of them regrouped out the classroom door to talk.
"So Allen, mind telling us the story of how such a cute-"
Thomas had started to bring up his previous question before class, but then quickly remembered what would happen if he were to finish that as he started to feel Cecily's glare already.
"Er, I mean the story of why the student council president was here yesterday?"
"You mean when she came to get me from class yesterday?," Allen asked. While he wanted to avoid the topic, he knew Thomas would keep asking him until he answered.
"Yeah, that! Why would the student council president come to get you herself? Al, do you know her or something?," Thomas asked.
"Actually, I don't know her. Yesterday was my first time I can recall ever talking to her," Allen responded.
"So then, why would she personally ask for you? I wanna know all the details," Thomas asked as he started to slowly inch closer to Allen, as if Allen would tell him faster that way.
"Well, she took me to Willi-, I mean the head director's office, where the head director talked to both of us," Allen continued.
"About?," Thomas stared him down, waiting for a response.
Allen had to take a moment to think. He couldn't tell Thomas about the entire meeting, as he obviously can't tell him he is a fire mage. He also couldn't just lie to him either. He finally decided to just tell him the truth, but not all of it.
"Well, the head director thought it would be a good idea if Rose and I were to train together…," Allen responded awkwardly.
Thomas just stared at him for what seemed like forever. His original curiosity turned into disbelief and shock.
"Wait, you aren't serious, right? The head director… wanted you… and Rose… to train together?!?," Thomas finally spoke, his eyes completely wide open.
"Well, that was the plan the head director had anyway. Rose declined for now," Allen shrugged.
"N-no way. Not only do you know the head director, but now you are getting closer to the student council president? I'm getting jealous Allen," Thomas jokingly sobbed.
"Hold on, I just know the head director from when I was younger! Also it's not like I got closer to Rose or anything, she declined as I said!," Allen tried to explain to Thomas. Allen could also hear Cecily in the background, giggling at the situation.
"Well if you end up training with Rose, what about the training with Lily and I? You're just gonna leave us for some hot upperclassman now?," he said as he jokingly sobbed again.
"I- no. I would still train with you guys! That's assuming I even end up training with her. I don't really see completely why the head director would want me to train with her. Isn't she an A rank?," Allen asked.
"She is an A rank, correct," Cecily spoke up out of nowhere and caught Allen and Thomas off guard. "Maybe it's also partially because she also fights with a sword too?"
"Hey that's right! She fights with a rapier!," Thomas said as he snapped his fingers as he remembered the small detail.
"I believe it is her family's sword. The Marion families' sword passed down generation after generation,'' Cecily added.
"Hm, maybe that makes sense. There aren't that many mages that fight with a weapon, right?," Allen asked.
"As far as I can tell, only you and the student council president use weapons at all here at the academy. So yeah, that makes you stick out like a sore thumb," Thomas laughed.
"I guess it does," Allen shrugged as he sighed.. "I'm also an F rank too, so…"
"Well, we're all F ranks so I suppose we all stand out. Just, not in the good way," Thomas laughed.
"Well, are you ready for our daily training then? Now that I told you what you wanted to know?," Allen asked, glad the conversation was over and they didn't pry further. While he trusted Thomas and Cecily, there was only so much he could tell them.
"Sure, let's head out! I'm always ready for training! Lily, are you ready?," Thomas asked, getting all giddy.
"Of course," she nodded, already following them.
They arrived at the training grounds, in which the scene looked the same every day. There were various students there who also trained after class, from all sorts of ranks and years. Generally speaking, A ranks didn't train here as often, which made Allen wonder where they even trained to begin with. Perhaps A ranks get their own special room?
"Alright, let's get some real training going on today!," Thomas said as he began enthusiastically stretching and getting pumped up.
"Always so excited, like usual," Allen laughed.
"Well of course! I'm always excited to get a good training session in. And it makes things better when I can go all out on you with my abilities, Al," Thomas said as he continued to stretch.
"Of course Tom. Looking forward to it like usual," Allen said as he was doing his own warm up stretches, although not as enthusiastically as Thomas was.
As they both were stretching, Allen noticed that Cecily was acting a bit off. She seemed to be staring into space, but more out of fear. He noticed Thomas caught on to, and looked to where she was looking at.
Walking towards them was a student who wore a water academy uniform. He was a bit tall in figure, and had a sort of natural intimidating look. His face had a rather handsome look, enough to where he figured girls would fawn over him if not for his expression. His expression was one that looked like he was constantly observing his surroundings as if he was an inborn predator, ready to trample whatever got in his way. But what surprised Allen the most, was his hair and eyes. His long hair that barely touched his shoulders and mischievous looking eyes were both light blue in color, very similar to a water based color. He also noticed it was very similar to Cecily's hair color and eye color. Could he be a Rivertide like Charles and Cecily that he's met so far?
"Well, if it isn't little Tom and Lily. It's been awhile you two," the student has a suspicious grin on his face as spoke. He continued to walk in their direction.
Cecily proceeded to avoid eye contact as much as possible and seemed to be… shaking in fear? Thomas had immediately moved in front of her and Allen in an almost defensive maneuver.
"What do you want?," Thomas asked in such a serious yet frustrated tone that Allen has never heard from him before. Not even when they had problems with the students in the cafeteria that one time.
"It's just that… I haven't spoken with you two in what feels like forever. Just thought we could… catch up," he spoke with a mischievous grin on his face.
Upon closer inspection, Allen noticed something on his uniform. A pin that had the characters of "2C" written on it. He remembered what Thomas was telling him a week ago after Charles had interrupted their training.
This student has to be Nathaniel Rivertide, Allen thought. Charles' older brother.
"I'm not interested. You can leave us be," Thomas commanded, although Allen detected a hint of uncertainty and slight fear in his tone.
"Why the unfriendliness? We have to maintain some sort of relationship since we're children of the great elemental families, right? Or have your families already forgotten about you because of your magic?," he said with a playful, yet condescending smile.
"Just, just be quiet," Thomas muttered. Allen barely heard it from where he was standing.
"Hm? What did you say?," He asked, but didn't receive an answer. "Anyways, I wanted to talk to Cecily about her and my arrangement together. Isn't that right Lily?"
Lily showed no indication of giving him a response. She just stood there, refusing to look at him. Thomas didn't seem like he was going to do anything further, either. After seeing what had happened and no action from the other two, Allen thought he had seen enough of the scene before him.
"Hey, I think that's enough," Allen told him, standing in front of Thomas.
At first he had a look of surprise on his face, as if he didn't even notice Allen was there the entire time. Then his surprise turned into interest.
"Ah, you must be the student my brother was going on about. I swear, he wouldn't shut up about you. It seems he wasn't wrong when he told me you barely have any magic at all. 'The Weakest Mage', the other students have been calling you. Allen Fleming, was it?," he asked, tilting his head while he seemed to be getting a better look at him.
"Correct, my name is Allen Fleming. And you must be-"
"The name's Nathaniel Rivertide. A pleasure to meet you," he bowed with his right hand on his chest as he spoke. Allen had found it a rather weird way to introduce yourself. "I'll have to apologize, as it seems that a few of my friends bothered you in the academy's cafeteria about a week ago"
Allen of course remembered what he was referring to. A few students were bullying them since they were F ranks. He honestly didn't care at this point, as he was more worried about the current situation.
"Don't worry about it. So, what about this arrangement with Cecily you were speaking of?," Allen asked him, maintaining a defensive position in case anything happened.
"Oh that? It's just that I had asked Miss Lily here years back if she would take my hand in marriage, obviously," he stated, as if that was a completely normal thing.
"What? Wait, aren't you both like cousins?," he asked, a confused look on his face. Was this a normal thing?
"Well of course we are. It isn't uncommon for cousins in the great elemental families to marry and bear children. And if that isn't possible, then someone from the other prestigious families, even if they are a step below ours. After all, we wouldn't want to dirty our bloodline, now wouldn't we?," he said with an arrogant grin on his face.
"E-Excuse me?," Allen said as his anger started to swell up. He knew he needed to stay calm, but he couldn't help it.
"So of course, I asked Cecily for her hand in marriage. The other Rivertide girl is a bit… well how should I say it? Ah, nevermind," he explained. "Either way, Cecily is the only one fit as I see it. Just unfortunately, she's declined my every advance and keeps around that Terrastone boy. And here I thought our families had a mutual understanding that we aren't to bear children with someone from a different element. Doing so causes… problems, you understand?"
Allen could not believe what he was hearing. Every word out of Nathaniel's mouth made no sense to him and just made him angrier. He had to keep remaining himself to keep his cool, otherwise his fire magic could get exposed. After all, magic can respond to your emotions at times, and fire magic was no exception. He noticed Thomas remained quiet as he watched the exchange between Allen and Nathaniel. Thomas kept looking back at Cecily and then back at them. Finally, Allen took a deep breath for a second to calm down and finally spoke.
"Well it seems to me that Cecily isn't interested in this 'arrangement' of yours. So you can stop asking her about it," Allen stated in a calmer tone, but the anger was still prevalent in his eyes.
"Well, why don't we ask Lily her thoughts on the matter?", he turned to look at Cecily. "So Lily, how about it?"
Cecily still refused to speak. The whole time she has remained silent and it seemed like she was going to stay that way.
"She's not interested, Nathaniel. She has never been interested. There's no need to keep asking." Thomas sternly told him.
"Well, I want to hear it from her. Cecily, tell me-"
"I think Thomas made it perfectly clear what her response was. She's not interested," Allen snapped, his anger finally seeping through.
"Oh, is that so?," Nathaniel said with a serious look on his face for a moment. "Well then, nevermind"
Allen took a second to think. There's no way someone like him would just decide to stop.
"Well then Allen. Why don't you and I have a little duel?," Nathaniel quickly changed the subject, as if this was his whole goal from the start. "If what my brother says is true, you defeated him in the entrance exam duel, yes?"
"That's correct. I did defeat Charles," Allen responded, still not letting his guard down.
"Well then, how about it? Let's have a duel to see who is stronger then," he smiled condescendingly. "I promise you it would be fun"
Allen remembered what Thomas had said about Nathaniel. Thomas specifically told him not to duel with him, no matter what.
"I refuse," Allen stated, unwilling to change his answer.
"Well, that's very unfortunate," he sighed. "It looks like I'll have to take matters into my own hands"
Nathaniel quickly summoned what seemed to be a water magic circle from his right hand. It was an average sized one, but Allen sensed something off about it. In addition, it was aimed for Cecily.
Without hesitation, Allen quickly unsheathed his sword and moved in the way of Cecily so the magic circle was instead aimed at him. He pointed his sword up in defense, ready to block any incoming attack he may throw at him.
Both Thomas and Cecily looked in utter shock at the scene in front of them. This was the first time Cecily looked directly at what was happening in front of her. Even some of the nearby students looked in shock at the scene unfolding in front of them.
"So Allen, what will it be? If you're not going to accept my duel here, then unfortunately I'll have to do what I must to get what I want," he said with the most sickening grin Allen had ever seen on someone before. He still pointed his magic circle towards them, ready to send out his spell at any given time.
Allen gritted his teeth thinking what he should do. He was almost certain that Nathaniel would send a spell their way if he didn't act. Allen doesn't know how powerful he is firsthand, so this could turn out disastrous if he doesn't act quickly.
"Very well Nathaniel! I'll accept your duel!," Allen shouted at him in his anger.
"Well now, that's what I like to hear," Nathaniel said as he immediately stopped casting his spell. "Very good, very good,"
"And if I win this duel, then you will leave Cecily and Thomas alone," Allen said.
"Oh. you wish to add conditions? Very well, I will leave them alone from now on if you win the duel. As for if I win… well, I'll have to think about that now won't we?," he laughed.
"You can leave us alone now," Allen angrily said.
"Yes, yes I shall leave… for now. I will contact you later about the official details about our future duel. I'll see you later, Allen Fleming," he laughed as he left.
Allen couldn't believe what just happened. He had accepted Nathaniel's duel, which Thomas had specifically told him not to do. Either way, he did not regret it. He would rather protect his friends in the end. He turned back around to Thomas and Cecily.
"Hey are you guys okay? Cecily?," he asked in a worried tone.
"I- I'm fine," Cecily managed to say, still looking at the ground.
"I'm okay, I'm just very frustrated," Thomas said as he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.
"I think we should head out," Allen tried to push them out of the training grounds, as they were getting a lot of unwanted attention.
"I- I think so too," Thomas quickly agreed.
Allen figured they were both shaken up from what just happened, so he figured he would talk about what happened with them tomorrow. He led them to Cecily's dorm first, going as far as they could since males aren't allowed in some areas of the female dorms. Allen then walked Thomas back to his dorm room. The whole time none of them said a word. Thomas seemed to be frustrated with himself, while Cecily was still scared out of her mind. Allen didn't blame them.
Allen walked himself back to his dorm room and sat down on his bed. There wasn't much they could do in the current situation, so he just hoped what he did was the best way he could've handled it. If he had fought Nathaniel there in the training grounds with the intent to harm, they could've gotten suspended or even expelled.
Allen doesn't know yet how powerful Nathaniel is, or when exactly his duel will be. The only thing he could think of doing is asking William for help. William can't directly interfere in any way, but he can at least offer some advice or something.
The only thing on his mind is that he wanted to defeat Nathaniel. He was absolutely frustrated with how Nathaniel treated Thomas and Cecily. He was going to win, and get Nathaniel to leave them alone.
Either way, this would mark Allen's first duel at the academy. There was the entrance exam duel, but that doesn't count for records. He decided that he will train even harder until the duel happens so he can be sure to win.
Nathaniel, Allen thought to himself, already knowing it would be hard to get sleep that night. I won't forgive you, and you will regret what you did. I will defeat you in the duel, and you will leave my friends alone!
Volume 1 End