"Oh, you mean Allen's duel," Rose responded, while getting her senses back together.
"Correct. You've already told me how it went, and I also have some sources as to how the duel went. However, I'd like to hear it from the one who actually was in the duel," William explained while motioning over to Allen.
"You want me to explain how the duel went through my own eyes?," Allen asked.
"Well of course. Not only because you were actually the one participating, but because it was your duel. Rose was only a spectator, after all," William added.
"Well, calling it a simple duel would be a lie," Allen nervously laughed. "Where to begin?"
"Just start wherever you'd like," William said, patiently waiting for Allen to start.
After Rose took a seat, Allen began explaining the events that went down in his duel against Nathaniel. He explained how he was mostly defensive at the beginning, then pushed to the offensive. He explained that at first, he gained the advantage against Nathaniel, but that was soon overturned once Nathaniel put on the mysterious ring that was most likely a magical artifact. After Nathaniel put the ring on, he gained much more power. At that point in time, Allen was already exhausted, using the rest of his mana. Nathaniel quickly turned it back around again.
Instead of ending it there, Nathaniel proceeded to humiliate Allen as much as he could, getting the audience riled up. Meanwhile, Allen began a last minute ditch effort to defeat Nathaniel with any mana he could possibly use within him, and then quickly moved at him. He managed to put Nathaniel on his toes for a split second, only to be ended when Allen's foot was discovered to be slightly outside the boundary zone, resulting in his loss.
"How unjustly," Rose said in an annoyed voice, commenting on Nathaniel's behavior in the duel.
"It is quite unfortunate how Nathaniel has grown," William commented.
"Nathaniel does things like that?," Martha commented last, confused that students could act even worse than she already thought.
"Well, it was definitely a duel I knew I was getting into, but there were parts I was not expecting," Allen nervously laughed.
"Don't tell me you would allow Nathaniel to do such things to you!," Rose said, annoyed at Allen for not being that mad at Nathaniel. "You would allow him to get away with this?"
"Well, of course I hated that he did that to me," Allen responded. "But there's not much we can do about it now. Only way I could get back at him would be to duel him again, but I doubt I could win with how the last one went"
"Even so, you would condone the humiliation he put you through?," Rose raised her voice. "His actions were beyond what's allowed in a duel. He should be-"
"That's enough, Rose," William intervened. "Isn't that what we've been talking about this past week?"
"I-, sorry," Rose apologized, putting her head down for a moment.
"No, it's alright. I understand your frustrations, but no need to get mad at Allen about it. After all, the humiliation was directed at him in the first place," William explained.
"Yeah, don't worry about it too much Rose," Allen tried to reassure her. "After all, it was my duel, and my problem to deal with"
"No need to take things on alone, Allen. Don't try to develop that kind of habit," William said as he looked at him.
"Right," Allen responded, thinking for a moment.
"Either way, several of the actions Nathaniel took in that duel were unacceptable," William said, starting to get serious. "However, we are limited to what we can do at the moment. That's what Rose and I have been working on, not just these past weeks, but since last year when she first became student council president"
"I see. So my case isn't the only one where a student went out of line?," Allen asked.
"Well, not the first time Nathaniel has gone out of line like this," William explained. "And he's not the only troubled student at this academy"
"We already have enough students as is causing a bit of trouble," Martha added, after listening in on their conversation. "But I still don't get all this…"
"Alright, I'll step back for now," Rose responded. "But what about the outcome of the duel? What of your sword?"
"Well apparently it should be Nathaniel's now, but it seems he refused to take it," Allen explained. "He has yet to ask for it from me, maybe he doesn't want it?"
"If I remember correctly," Rose started to say while she thought back to the duel. "At one point he took your sword while you were down on the ground. He tried to flaunt it to the audience, getting them more riled up. However at one point, he just threw it back near you"
"He just decided he didn't want it after holding it for a bit?," Allen asked.
"Not really. It didn't seem like he just didn't want it, more like the sword didn't want him," Rose said while thinking.
"What do you mean by that?," Allen asked, confused. His sword was just a regular sword, right?
"Well it seemed like the sword gave him an adverse reaction. I doubt anyone else noticed it aside from myself, but it seemed like the sword just… didn't like him," Rose explained.
For a moment, the room was quiet. Martha was just listening the whole time, trying to take in everything they were saying. William remained silent thinking about the past, while Allen and Rose were talking about Allen's sword.
"What do you think William?," Rose asked.
"I-," William said, suddenly getting out of his thoughts.
"What do you think about his sword?," Rose asked him again. "Why do you think Nathaniel would act that way? You were the one who gave Allen his sword, right?"
"In fact I did," William responded, with his face looking a bit more sad than usual. "It was originally his mother's. I gave it to him after the ending of his training as sort of a parting gift"
"And yet you've yet to tell me anything else about my mother," Allen shrugged. "It's the one topic you choose to avoid"
"I'm sorry, but it's not quite something I can tell you," William apologized. "You'll have to make do with what I've told you"
For a moment, everyone was quiet in the room.
"Well, anyways," Rose started to say, breaking the silence. "We still need to go over Ms. Lynde's actions. She was the overseer of the duel, correct?"
"Yes she was," Allen responded. "She introduced herself to me before the duel began. It seems like she wasn't being fair when conducting the duel"
"Or conducting it correctly at all," Rose added. "Nathaniel's attempt at humiliation was utterly unacceptable, and the teacher overseeing the duel should've put a stop to it the moment it began. Yet, she allowed it to happen"
"If I recall correctly, Ms. Lynde happens to be Nathaniel's homeroom teacher," Ms. Clark added.
"Well, the original teacher who was supposed to oversee the duel was changed at the last minute," William finally spoke again. "Originally it was going to be Mr. Lyon. He's one of the D class teachers, and while may not be so enthusiastic about students like Allen, he would've conducted the duel accordingly. However, he had to back out at the last minute. It seems Ms. Lynde was chosen last minute, without a director's approval or knowledge"
"Out of all the teachers that could've been chosen, they instead allowed Ms. Lynde to oversee the duel?," Rose asked, a bit annoyed. "If she really is Nathaniel's homeroom teacher, is that even allowed? Is anyone's homeroom teacher allowed to oversee their duels?"
"Any duels must be overseen by a teacher that does not teach any of the students involved, must be impartial, and must be faithful with the duel's rules. This is the rule for every single academy recognized duel," William explained. "There are exceptions to the rules at times when needed, but we must follow all the rules as much as we can"
"Then how could Ms. Lynde oversee the due-"
"More than likely a plot," William stated, a serious look on his face.
"A- a plot?," Martha exclaimed.
"You can't be serious!," Rose raised her voice.
"William, what do you mean?" Allen asked, wanting William to explain.
"Mr. Lyon was originally supposed to oversee the duel, as I stated previously," William began to explain. "But at the last minute he suddenly couldn't and it was changed to Ms. Lynde"
"Yeah, you already explained that," Rose pointed out.
"Tell me, why do you think Ms. Lynde was suddenly able to oversee the duel?"
"I-," Rose started to say, but couldn't come up with anything.
Allen thought for a moment. William said before that any sort of duel needed a director's approval. Also, the academy needs to follow its rules as much as possible.
Could it be possible-
"While Ms. Lynde might've been underhanded with her actions in the duel, I doubt she'd go out of her way to even be more underhanded and go against a director of the academy," William finally explained. "If she did that, then she could easily be suspended and/or fired from her position"
"Then how could she have-"
"Martha, did you authorize the sudden switch in the duel?," William suddenly asked.
"No, I did not. I definitely would've remembered if I did something like that," Martha responded, but still confused where William was going with this.
"And I certainly didn't authorize such a change. So, who else would have the ability to suddenly do this?," William asked, looking around the room for an answer.
For a moment, everyone sat in silence. No one could come up with something.
"What about the third director? Isn't there a third director at the academy?," Allen suddenly asked.
"Wait, you don't mean he would-"
"Bingo. Walter Garet, or Mr. Garet, one of the vice directors of the academy, other than Martha," William smirked, finally getting the answer he was waiting for.
"I wouldn't expect Walter to go out of his way to do something like this, but it wouldn't be something out of what he would do," Martha noted.
"So it was the other vice director who authorized it then? Mr. Garet, right?," Allen asked.
"It would seem so," William sighed.
"But why would Mr. Garet do something like that?," Rose asked.
"Well without getting too much into it, Mr. Garet is a rather stubborn man," William chuckled a little. "He is rather not fond of change. It was no surprise that he acted to allow Ms. Lynde to oversee the duel"
"What do you mean by that? Why would Mr. Garet do that?," Rose exclaimed.
"Tell me Rose, when someone that came from who knows where suddenly comes in and manages to easily beat a Rivertide in the entrance exam duel, what do you think people would think?," William asked, looking directly at her. "You of all people should know the answer to that question"
"It's-," Rose started to say, but went quiet for a moment. "It's because they want the top to stay on top, and the bottom to stay on the bottom, isn't it? Allen suddenly came into the picture and is starting to break what is normally expected at this academy"
"Correct. Unfortunately that's how things have been here at the academy, and it's hard to change things when many want to keep it that way," William sighed.
"But you still haven't explained why Mr. Garet would do such a thing!," Rose exclaimed. "Far as I am aware, he wouldn't go that far-"
"You got part of the answer correct, but there's a piece you are missing," William pointed out. "Don't worry, you may understand some day"
"What? What do you mean-"
"Don't worry about it, Rose," Martha suddenly spoke up.
"I-," Rose started to say as she looked at Martha, but decided to quiet down.
"I know you can be confusing at times William, but do you seriously have to be as confusing as mages still trying to figure out where elemental magic came from?"
"Oh, is that what you think?," William said after he laughed for a moment. "Am I really that confusing?"
"Either way, there's one more thing we need to discuss, and that's about the ring Nathaniel had," Allen said, switching topics.
"The ring? Oh right, the ring you mentioned Nathaniel put on near the end of your duel," William responded, thinking for a second.
"I'm assuming it was some sort of magical artifact. I don't know much about them, but I don't know what else it could be," Allen said while he was thinking. He remembered the magical artifacts he saw in London with Thomas and Cecily.
"It had to be a magical artifact, nothing else exists that could produce that sort of output," Rose spoke up. "However, the effects it produced aren't seen in common magical artifacts, and common magical artifacts are hard to come by as is"
"What sort of effect did it cause?," William asked, awaiting the answer to his question.
"As far as I am aware, magical artifacts simply increase your magical ability, but not by much," Allen explained.
"Right, magical artifacts are magical tools that can boost your magic in several ways. Although magical artifacts are rare enough as is and come at high prices, it's difficult to find one that can dramatically increase your overall power, or give you very unique abilities," William explained. "So, you must have seen one out of the ordinary, one that does not match what I just explained, right?"
"Definitely," Rose immediately responded. "I've seen plenty of magical artifacts, since plenty of the richer families own some of their own. But never have I seen a magical artifact that can move where you can cast a magical spell"
"What do you mean by changing where you cast a spell?," William asked, leaning forward.
"Normally when you cast a spell while creating a magical circle, the circle appears in front of your hand. And the larger the circle, usually the stronger the spell, correct?," Rose asked.
"Right, when you cast a spell with a magical circle, it appears in front of your hand," William responded. "What are you implying by asking that question?"
"The spells he cast after he put that ring on, he-... it wasn't like anything I've seen before," Rose responded, while thinking back to the duel. "Nothing like what he did in my duel when I faced him. He managed to cast it farther away"
"You're not serious, are you?," William asked, thinking.
"It's just as Rose explained, he somehow was able to cast his magic from further away," Allen added. "After I saw him put the ring on, not only did he seem to get a boost to his magic power, but it seemed like he got it back, and then was able to cast magic from further away. Luckily I was able to sense where it came from, but at that moment I was too weak to dodge"
"So, it boosted his magical ability, possibly increased his magic, and then gave him the ability to cast his magic from further away…," William commented, still thinking.
"How could something like that be possible?," Rose asked, confused. "You don't think-"
"This runs deeper than I thought," William stated after he looked back up.
"What do you mean, William?," Martha asked. "I've never heard of a magical artifact that could produce such effects, not even from Reynold Enterprises"
Reynold Enterprises. Where did I hear that from?, Allen thought. It sounded familiar to him, but he wasn't fully sure where he first heard it. Then he remembered. It must've been that company I saw that was getting the most attention when I was in London with Cecily and Thomas. There was someone who saw me and offered to buy my sword from me.
"That's exactly where it came from," William stated.
"I could possibly see that, but how could Nathaniel get a hold of something like that? Not even Reynold Enterprises sells artifacts like that"
"That's because it isn't sold. It must have been a prototype," William explained.
"A prototype?," the three of them asked at the same time.
"While it's not common that they hand out prototypes to have them tested for regular use, it would not be so uncommon if they handed it out for a specific purpose," William explained.
"A specific purpose?," Rose asked.
"Correct. And I wouldn't be surprised if he handed it out himself, directly," William responded while thinking.
"You mean the owner of Reynold Enterprises?," Rose asked.
"And who would that be?," Allen asked.
"Reynold Windblade, my eldest nephew. Owner of Reynold Enterprises. If you can't tell, he named it after himself. A very prideful one at that, makes the other Windblades look selfless. But that doesn't mean he can't back up his own bark," William explained.
"Back up his own bark?," Allen asked, confused.
"It means he can back up what he brags about," William responded, chuckling a little. "But seriously, he is a very important factor in how London is today. He has natural talent when it comes to running a business and making money. He is a large factor in maintaining London's economy"
"Then why would someone like him give Nathaniel a prototype as you said? Why would he give that to Nathaniel, even if directly?," Rose asked.
"It wouldn't surprise me if he planned this from the beginning. He must've known about the duel not too long before it happened," William responded.
"How could he have known about my duel? And why interfere?," Allen asked.
"That's a good question, and one I cannot fully answer at the moment. But it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for him to do something like this if he had something to gain from it," William explained, looking down again to think.
"So you're something he had something to gain if he gave Nathaniel a prototype ring to use in the duel against me?," Allen asked.
"Yes, as I don't see it as any other way. I'll need time to think things over about it," William responded.
"Well, I think that covers about everything in the duel, other than the ring part," Allen said, after there was a moment of silence in the room after William spoke.
"Well even so, I'm still not satisfied about it. There's still something going on here, and I don't like it," Rose said, slightly annoyed.
"Annoyed or not, unfortunately that's how it is," William shrugged. "There's not much we can do about it now after the duel, but we can still figure out something. Nathaniel still stepped out of line in the duel, and Ms. Lynde did nothing to stop it"
"Well, even so I'm still annoyed…," Rose responded, crossing her arms.
"Rose, you don't have to get so mad on my behalf," Allen said, smiling.
"I- hmph," Rose looked away, still having her arms crossed.
"Don't you have some student council work to do before the end of the day?," William asked, looking at her while smirking. "Something about budgeting?"
"I- oh no!," Rose said while quickly getting out of her chair. "I'll have to go for now"
"Guess I'll see you later?," Allen said, Rose suddenly leaving, catching him off guard for a moment.
"Wait…," Rose suddenly stopped before she left.
"Yes?," William asked, awaiting her response.
"I haven't forgotten why we are behind on the budget. You'd better do your end of the work," Rose said while giving an intimidating look at William.
"Of course, of course, I'll get to it soon," William said, putting his hands up.
"You'd better," Rose said while she slammed the door behind her.
"Of course she had to slam that door again. Geez, we're going to have to repair that door for like the fourth time already," William said while he sighed.
"Why does she always have to leave like that?," Allen asked, half confused, half amused.
"She always has to make such grand entrances and exits," William responded while he organized the paperwork that was on his desk that Rose had put there when she first came in.
"Well, I suppose that's the end of our discussion then," Allen said, shrugging.
"It would seem so," William responded, with a slightly annoyed look on his face while looking at the paperwork on his desk he was organizing.
"But still, I can't believe something like that was planned, and Walter was involved," Martha commented, while thinking.
"You and I both know that these sorts of things happen here at the academy plenty, and that's part of the reason we are working to fix that, are we not?," William asked, while still organizing the papers. He still proceeded to scoff a little while organizing his work.
"But still, something like this…," Martha responded, still thinking to herself.
"We'll have to leave it at that for now. We can talk more about it later. Seems we've got a lot more on our hands than we originally thought," William said, finally finishing organizing his paperwork. He still had to go through it, though.
"Guess we will talk about it more at another time," Allen added, getting out of his chair.
"Anything else you wanted to tell me before you leave?," William asked, looking at him.
"Actually yeah," Allen responded, remembering what he last wanted to say.
"And what might that be?," William asked, awaiting his response.
"It seems I am able to use my mana a bit more differently," Allen responded.
"And what do you mean by that?," William asked.
"You know how I've been using my mana to condense it to my legs to move faster? Well I managed to condense it to my arms, like you suggest trying. I was unable to do it before, but was able to do it in the duel," Allen explained.
William paused going through the paperwork for a moment after he heard what he said. "I see. Well congrats. Keep up the work on that".
"Thank you," Allen responded, smiling.
"Wait, what do you mean by 'condensing mana'?" Martha asked, really confused.
"Oh, don't worry about it," William shrugged. "Just something the kid is working on"
"Well, that's all I wanted to say. I'll see you later!," Allen waved as he began to leave for the door.
"Oh, before you leave," William caught him before he left.
"Yeah?," Allen asked.
"You are able to join a club now. Any and all F ranked students are now permitted to join clubs. Make sure to let your friends Cecily and Thomas know," William said as he smiled.
"Thanks," Allen responded.
Before any F ranked students were not permitted to join academy clubs due to them being considered failing students. However, William had been working with the student council to change the rules of the academy, that one being one of them. It seems he managed to finally turn it around. Now that Allen can join a club, he's not sure if he wants to join one yet.
"Oh, and one more thing," William caught him again before Allen left.
"What else was there?," Allen asked, confused on what else William needed to tell him.
"How's Ms. Florence doing? She's your teacher, right?," William asked, a grin on his face. "I don't get to talk to her often, which really sucks. Why does she have to act so cold when she is extremely hot and-"
"William!," Martha yelled after she slapped the top of his head, sending William's head down to his desk.
"Ow, that hurt-," William managed to mumble after getting his head sent down to his desk, disorganizing his paperwork once more.
"Uh…," Allen managed to make out, really confused as the scene unfolded.
"Oh, don't worry about it Allen. This idiot feels the need to make such comments all the time when I'm around," Martha explained, an annoyed but red flushed expression on her face.
"Ah, right…, Allen responded, slowly starting to head out of the room. Guess it was that way with them. No wonder they seem to talk so much.
"See you later, Allen," William managed to wave with his head still down on the desk.
"Bye?," Allen responded while slowly closing the door behind him.
"Damn, now I've got to organize this paperwork again," William said, loud enough for Allen to barely hear outside the closed door.
With the discussions finally out of the way for now, Allen headed back to his dorm. There was a lot he wanted to do in the future, but so little time. They're already over two months into the academy year. He remembered how Thomas was asking him about a rematch. Perhaps he'll start with that first, after he gets his thoughts in order after a night's rest.