For the next week, Allen has been training with Rose's help. Rose had him run fifty laps at the beginning of every training session, and then Allen would then practice dueling with Rose. Rose would teach him how to fight better with his sword, and to not rely too much on his magic, due to the low amount of mana he has. She also has been teaching him how to conserve his mana, and to use less yet gain more from it.
"You need to learn how to use less of your mana so you don't run out," Rose said at one point during Allen's first week of training with her. "Once you run out, unfortunately that is where you will stumble in a duel, and that goes for all mages. Luckily for you, you can use your sword to fight as well, but there's only so far you can go with it, without the use of your magic to make you faster and more agile"
"I understand, I will keep at it," Allen would say.
While his training with Rose has been more difficult and exhausting than when he would train on his own, it really hasn't impacted him too much during his class time. For the most part, Ms. Florence teaches things Allen already knows and is aware of, due to his training with William when he was younger. But, he still makes an effort to listen and learn, even if he might almost accidentally dose off every once in a while, in which Thomas has to slap him on the back to prevent him from sleeping in class.
"Hey, you're falling asleep again," Thomas whispered one time when Allen almost dozed off… again.
"I- wha-?," Allen muttered as he came back to.
"Shhh!," Cecily angrily shushed them as she noticed them talking in class.
Ms. Florence would never say a word if she saw anyone talking in her class. The trio figured that she probably didn't care what they did in class, as long as they weren't loud, but that didn't stop Cecily from trying to make Thomas and Allen pay attention. If Ms. Florence decided not to teach that day and just leave it to them to "self study" as she called it, it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for the three of them to study together. After all, all three of them aimed to get out of the F rank as fast as possible so they could continue going up the ranks. This was especially important for Allen, who would have to quit the academy if he didn't get out of F rank by the end of the year.
"Hey uh, Cecily?," Thomas asked one time during their "self study" session.
"What?," she asked, looking up from her book.
"I don't quite get how elemental magic circles work still. Can you explain it for me again?," Thomas pleaded.
"Yes, I'll explain it again," Cecily sighed as she had to explain it to Thomas for probably like the 10th time so far. Allen just laughed as he watched as Cecily had to thoroughly explain it to Thomas as he listened as best as he could, but still didn't fully understand the material.
While Allen didn't really need the self study sessions, he still participated with them to help them out as well as to keep himself focused. His mind would drift over to his upcoming duel with Nathaniel, and him trying to focus on studying was a way to put it out of his mind for the time being. Thomas and Cecily didn't really mention anything about the duel at all as the weeks went by, but he could still feel them getting slightly anxious as the duel's official day was ever so slightly getting closer.
"Hey Allen!," Thomas said at the end of class once.
"What?," Allen responded, shifting back to reality.
"You know, you and Cecily are starting to become a lot alike," Thomas grinned. "Both of you have the habit of drifting off into space and-". But before he could finish that sentence, Cecily was already slamming a book on top of his head.
"Uh… you okay Thomas?", Allen asked, unsure what to do or how to help as Thomas sank to the floor.
"Cecily, what was that for?," Thomas said as he began to get back up from the floor. "All I said was-"
Before he could finish his sentence, Cecily gave him a deathly cold stare, almost saying she'll do it again if Thomas were to finish his sentence. Realizing this, Thomas shifted back to what he was saying earlier before he unfortunately got hit with a book on top of his head.
"So back to what I was saying," Thomas said as he sat back into his chair. "After you and Rose finish your training, I would like to have another duel with you"
"Yeah, of course," Allen responded while still thinking about future events ahead of him.
"I've been training a lot more too, and I bet I can beat you!," Thomas grinned.
"Maybe, guess we will have to find out," Allen gave a shrug.
"No, I will beat you! For sure!," Thomas said with confidence.
"Thomas, the only thing you can beat is the national record for not getting to class on time," Cecily commented in a 'matter of factly' tone.
"Why is it always me?," Thomas complained as Allen and Cecily laughed. Who knew Cecily had so many witty things she could say about Thomas?
About a week and a half after the first day that Allen started to train with Rose, Allen started to get a better hang of dueling against Rose. He has started to get better at conserving his mana use, so that way he doesn't use it all at once. He mostly had to teach himself this, as Rose is not acquainted with how to move and use mana within your own body. She could only teach him in the way of casting magic, and Allen just used that method in a way to suit it for mana manipulation.
"I'm still not sure how you can 'move your mana around' in your body like that and produce those effects, but if that works for you, then use it," Rose had said to Allen when he was practicing using his mana within his body.
"It's hard to explain, William would probably be better at explaining it than I," Allen responded, as he was trying to concentrate moving his mana within his body to his legs.
"So this 'mana manipulation' or whatever it's called… it's supposed to help you move faster?," Rose asked, curious.
"Yeah," Allen responded. "Since I have low amounts of mana, I can barely cast magic at all. So instead, I 'manipulate' my mana so I don't actually cast it. Moving it to my legs allows me to move more quickly, which then allows me to move quicker in a duel and defeat my opponent faster"
"I see," Rose said as she thought. "So far you have been employing methods to defeat your opponent quickly in a duel to make up for the low amount of mana you possess, right?"
"Yeah. Since I don't have too much mana, I need to defeat my opponent before I run out. Once I run out, it's about over for me. That's why your training on how to conserve it better has been really helping," Allen said, grinning.
"Well, of course," Rose said proudly, crossing her arms. "I am the Student Council President, after all"
"Well, I will continue to train hard for the next week and a half, of what we still have left," Allen added.
About half a week later, Allen and Rose were finally able to meet up with William in his office. They would've seen him sooner, if not for the amount of work he had - which mostly consisted of the paperwork he had procrastinated on, unfortunately.
"It seems William is finally able to meet up with us," Rose said to Allen after one of their training sessions.
"Took him long enough. What was holding him back?," Allen asked.
"Seems like he got into his usual habit of procrastination," Rose sighed.
"Sounds about right," Allen said as he recalled several times William had been in the habit of procrastination back in Allen's young training days.
"Well, let's go meet up with William," Rose said as they began walking out of the training room. "He instructed me that he could meet up with us in his office after our usual training session"
"Alright, I'll follow you there," Allen said as they just left the room and she locked the door behind them. "But isn't the academy closed now? Don't we have to be back at our dorms?"
"Technically yes, we are supposed to head to our dorm rooms. However, since William is the head director, he can make exceptions. Especially with my duties as student council president, it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for me to be on campus a bit longer than allowed," Rose explained.
"But what about me?," Allen asked. "I'm not on the student council or anything"
"Again, William can make exceptions. Just in case he needs a reason, we can tell them one of the student council duties involves you, and go from there," Rose answered.
"Right," Allen said as he thought about it for a moment.
As they walked over to William's office on the other side of the academy, the hallways were eerily quiet. Only the sound of their footsteps were made as they walked down the empty hallways. It didn't seem like a single soul was in the academy at this time of night.
"It's rather quiet at this time of night, isn't it?," Allen said, as he looked around the dark halls of the academy.
"It sure is. It's not often I happen to walk around at this time of night, but it's nice in its own way I suppose," Rose responded.
"Interesting," Allen said as they just arrived outside William's office.
"Come in," William's voice came from inside the office, giving Allen and Rose no time to even knock on the door first.
"Geez, do you have to do that every time?," Rose complained as she opened the door as she and Allen walked in.
"I see you are in a spirited mood as ever, Ms. Council President" William chuckled as he leaned back in his chair.
"Right back at you, Mage in Glasses," Rose retorted as she closed the office door.
"Hey William," Allen greeted him as he walked further to the middle of the room, towards where William's desk was.
"Nice to see you again, Allen," William smiled. "Now that both of you are here, why don't you two take a seat?".
Allen and Rose took their seats that they had taken last time they were both here, with Allen on the left chair, and Rose on the right chair.
"So," William began to say as he leaned forward in his chair and rested his head on his hands, like he normally does. "How has the training been going?"
"Past two weeks, Allen has been doing really well," Rose responded first. "He's picking up quickly, despite his low amount of mana"
"Yeah, picking up quickly on running fifty laps every day and dying from that," Allen sighed.
"Well, it's training to improve your endurance in a duel," Rose responded.
"More like a way for Rose to watch me suffer," Allen mumbled, but loud enough for William and Rose to hear.
"I will make you suffer if you keep that up," Rose crossed her arms.
William just proceeded to laugh really hard for a moment as Allen and Rose looked at him, back at each other, then back to William.
"Seems like you two are getting along quite well. Makes me wonder what really happens during your training sessions," William said with a smirk while looking at both of them.
"W- William!," Rose raised her voice as her face was flushed.
"Why do you always have to tease us William?," Allen said, also a bit embarrassed.
"Don't worry, I'm just joking," William said after he was done laughing. "Anyways, I'm aware you have an update on the duel, correct?"
"That's right," Rose responded. "Allen, why don't you tell him"
"I had a rather unexpected visit from Nathaniel after the first day of training with Rose," Allen started to explain.
"Figures he would pull something like that," William said as he sighed. "Did he try to pull anything?"
"If you mean physically, no. The best way to explain it is an open threat at most," Allen explained. "But, we confirmed our official date for our duel"
"I believe I heard something like that from the other teachers," William explained. "It seems Nathaniel met with his teacher to request for the duel"
"He put in a request? What does that mean?," Allen asked, confused.
"You don't know how official duels work, don't you?," Rose asked, tilting her head as she gave him a look.
"No, I don't. This is part of the reason I met up with William the other day before you came in," Allen responded.
"I see. That makes sense," Rose said, as she began recalling the day she decided to train Allen.
"When a student wants to duel another student officially, they must put in a request with the academy through their teacher," William explained. "Once they request it through their teacher, their teacher then sends the request form to the directors of the academy to sign off on, which includes me. But, it seems that form was signed by Walter, as I or Martha haven't received any duel request form to sign that involves Nathaniel"
"Walter? He's one of the directors?," Allen asked.
"Yes, he's the other vice director. Walter Garet is his full name. I'm sure you also saw him at the entrance exam," William explained.
Allen once again recalled the events of the academy entrance exam. If he recalls correctly, he was the director that sat up with Ms. Clark and William as they watched the exams unfold.
"I see. So when a student wants to duel another student, to make it official they have to put in a request through their teacher, and then it's signed by one of the directors, right?," Allen asked.
"Correct. When a director such as myself signs off on it, it is considered official, and will go on your record, whether you win or lose. Otherwise dueling in, say, the training room, is not official and will not go on your record," William explained. "But aside from that, I don't believe you told me when the duel will be"
"Right, I haven't yet," Allen recalled. "The duel is scheduled about half a week from today"
"Which doesn't leave us much time left," Rose pointed out.
"True, three total weeks to train with Rose isn't a lot of time, but it's better than nothing. I trust you will use the rest of the time you have left to train so you can do your best in the duel," William said, giving a small smile.
"Of course. There's a lot I've learned these past few weeks and I've become stronger because of it. I am going to try my hardest to defeat Nathaniel," Allen said, determination in his voice. He thought back to his first encounter with Nathaniel. He wasn't about to let him get away with what he wants.
"Well, perhaps through your training, you may be able to finally beat me," William laughed.
"I still haven't forgotten the amount of times I've lost to you. I will defeat you one day, William," Allen said, grinning at him.
"If you want to beat William, you'll have to beat me first," Rose added.
"Fair enough, looks like I will have to defeat Rose first, then I will defeat you William," Allen said, looking at both of them.
"Well, good luck with that," Williams said, before his smile fading away.
"Anyways, how do duels fully work anyways?," Allen asked, redirecting them back to the original topic.
"Ah right," William said after coming back to reality. "Duels are rather straightforward, wouldn't you say Rose?"
"Yeah I agree, they are rather straightforward," Rose responded, relaxing back into her chair. "Once a duel is officially recognized by the academy, the duel can commence when both parties are ready"
"Correct, that about sums the gist of it. When the official day for the duel comes up, the two sides are given some time to prepare beforehand. Then, when the duel is ready to commence, a teacher will be the regulator for the duel, to make sure no foul play occurs. They also determine when one side is unable to continue, to prevent unnecessary further harm, or even death"
"William, about the foul play," Rose interjected. "How can we be sure that a teacher won't overlook Nathaniel cheating? You know well more than I do that this academy has-"
"Yes, I am fully aware," William interrupted. "That is one of the things about this academy I wish to revise as the head director here. While I cannot fully interject in the duel, because I cannot play favorites, I can at least try to ensure that the teacher who oversees the duel is one who can be trusted"
"We can only hope," Rose said as she sighed.
"You're referring to how weaker mages are treated as 'inferior' by some mages, right?," Allen asked, thinking about his weak amount of air magic.
"Right. Unfortunately, mages now-a-days only focus on how powerful you can cast a spell, and are separated by rank based upon that. I aimed to change that when I became head director of this academy, but it will take some time to fully change," William explained.
"I see," Allen said as he thought. "Aside from that, was there anything else I needed to know about duels?"
"I don't think so," Rose started to say. "It will work similarly to your duel you probably had at the entrance exam, just you'll be up against Nathaniel Rivertide"
"That makes sense. I think I have an idea now how the duel will run," Allen said, while thinking.
"If you have any other questions, feel free to ask," William added. "But just know, there's a limit to what I can tell you, and a bigger limit on what I can do to help you"
"I understand William. It's as you said, you cannot play favorites," Allen said.
"Correct. I'll try to do anything I can to help you, but there is that limit," William confirmed.
"William, would we be able to meet with you again the day before the duel?," Rose asked. "It would be our last day and we would have to go over anything Allen would need to know"
"Sounds like a good idea. I should be able to meet with you two the day before, even if it's on a day that you don't have classes on," William said.
"What about your student council work Rose? I thought you wouldn't be able to train me on non-academy days," Allen noted.
"Well, since it would be the last day before your duel, I thought I ought to make an exception. To make sure you are fully prepared, of course," Rose explained, her face a bit flushed.
"Well, thank you then. I appreciate it," Allen said as he smiled.
"Idiot, why don't you understand," Rose mumbled, quiet enough so Allen couldn't make out what she said, but loud enough to where Allen could hear her saying something.
"What was that?," Allen asked.
"N- nothing!," Rose just looked away from him.
William just was smirking in the background as he watched the scene unfold.
"Oh, don't give me that William!," Rose raised her voice at him as she realized he noticed.
"Oh, don't worry about me. You have more pressing matters to worry about," he said, trying to hold back his laughter.
"William, I am going to-,"
"Rose, I don't think this is a good time to-"
"Shut it idiot!," Rose yelled at Allen, which caught him off guard. William finally couldn't help it and started to laugh hysterically in the background.
Rose, her face flushed completely red, quickly got out of her chair and stormed off, leaving the room. "I'll see you tomorrow!," she yelled as she slammed the door behind her.
"Umm William, is she okay?," Allen asked, completely unaware of what exactly happened.
"Oh, just give her time. She just has quite a few things on her mind that she fully can't process herself," William explained. "But, must I say Allen, you are rather the dense one"
"I'm- I'm what?," Allen asked, confused.
"Nothing. Just give her some time, and she'll be fine tomorrow," William explained as he leaned back into his chair.
"You sure? Cause she seemed pretty upset-"
"She'll be fine. She is called the Blue Rose for a reason you know. A beautiful young girl, with many talents and accomplishments to be proud of. All around her look in awe, or even envy. Yet, every rose has its thorns and as such, no one can get too close to her. But somehow, you manage to ignore those thorns, whether through ignorance or perhaps perseverance, and as such have been able to get close to her," William explained, grinning.
"William, I literally have no idea what that meant. You literally made no sense", Allen said, completely confused.
"Ah, maybe one day. There's a lot for you to remember," he said, but almost immediately regretted saying it.
"Remember? What are you-"
"Nothing, don't worry about it," William said, trying to steer the conversation away. "Now then, it is rather really late for you, and you have class and training tomorrow. Also, I still have a bit of paperwork to finish, so I believe it's time for you to go".
"Alright, then I'll see you again later this week," Allen said, getting out of his chair.
"See you then," William waved him off as Allen left the room.
William began to once again think about the past once more. He had a rather big habit of doing so, and everytime he did, only thoughts of regret and sadness would fill his head. Perhaps, if he did things differently, things would've been much better today.
"If I hadn't-," William began to say, but immediately stopped himself. He decided to lean forward in his chair and work on his paperwork once more to steer his mind away from his long life of mistakes and regrets.