The Mage in Glasses. This was a nickname that was supposedly given to William at some point.
Allen wasn't completely sure why he was given this nickname, but part of it was obvious as William always wore silver circular shaped glasses. William never took them off, as far as Allen was aware.
Anytime Allen ever asked about them, William brushed him off and told him not to worry about it. Even when his friends had asked about it, William also gave them vague answers.
However, despite William's friendly appearance, he could also look very intimidating. Allen also knew facing William in a duel was no easy task, yet here the five of them were, planning to face William in a 5v1 duel.
"Allow me to show you all why a majority of England considers me the Mage in Glasses," William had said, with a look of pride on his face.
Now, it was up to Allen and his friends to win this duel so they could go on a club trip. They just needed to land one hit on William. Which seemed somewhat easy, however if they got hit once they would be out too.
"Uh, okay so this may be way harder than I thought," Thomas admitted, wondering what they were going to do.
"You just now thought about that?," Cecily sighed.
"How about this," William suddenly spoke. "I will give you all 1 minute to figure out a battle plan. Your time starts now!"
"Wait what?," Thomas said, completely surprised. "You mean right now?"
"Your time is ticking," William reminded them.
Everyone finally realized the situation and they all formed a small circle to discuss what they wanted to do. They decided to have Allen, Thomas and Rose on the frontline, considering two of them use swords and one of them uses their fists. They will have Stephen and Cecily in the back casting magic from behind as support. With a little bit more planning, they finally finished and reconvened to where they were before.
"All done?," William asked. "I would hope so, as your time is up now"
"Yeah, we're all ready," Allen agreed, unsheathing his sword once more.
"Good. I hope you five kids will make this interesting," William responded, adjusting his glasses with a small smirk on his face.
"William, if I do anything today, I will make you take off those glasses of yours!," Rose announced.
"You will? Alright then," William simply laughed her off.
"Alright, allow me to restate the rules for this duel," Ms. Clark announced from the side of the arena. "Allen and his team wins if they land just one singular hit on William. If anyone on Allen's team gets hit even once, they are out. William wins if everyone on Allen's team is out. Does everyone agree to these terms?"
"I do," William quickly responded, readjusting himself.
"We agree," Allen answered for his team.
"Alright, let the duel begin!," Ms. Clark announced, stepping back so she could properly observe the duel.
"Alright you five, show me what you can do!," William said with a smirk on his face and his hand outstretched.
Everyone on Allen's team looked at each other, and nodded. They knew what to do.
Thomas, with his magic already ready, rushed in towards William. William had a surprised look on his face, but he could tell what he was doing.
"Take this!," Thomas yelled, jumping towards William to land a hit on him.
"Too slow," William said as he quickly maneuvered to dodge Thomas' attack.
"Shoot," Thomas mumbled to himself, having to catch himself so he didn't fall over.
Just as Allen had suspected, Thomas wasn't going to land a preemptive strike. It was worth a try, though. But they still had to carry out the rest of their plan. Rose looked at him in understanding, and they knew what to do next.
"A nice try, but not quick enough," William said to instruct Thomas. "But I'm sure you'll get better"
"Thanks director, but I would be more worried about my other friends," Thomas said, grinning.
"Ah, I was waiting for that," William responded, quickly moving to the right to dodge Rose's rapier.
"Dang it William, just let me hit you!," Rose yelled, quickly striking at William.
"And what's the fun in that?," William laughed, dodging each attack.
"There's more fun over here," Allen announced, slashing his sword towards William.
"I was waiting for you too, Allen," William said while grinning, as he moved to dodge both Rose and Allen's attacks.
"Don't forget about me so soon!," Thomas yelled, charging in to attack William.
"Now this is what you call fun!," William laughed as he quickly maneuvered to dodge all three of them at the same time.
"This… is the Head Director not using any magic at all?," Cecily asked, frozen in place watching the others trying to land a hit on him.
"Yeah, you get used to it," Stephen shrugged, used to stuff like this. "C'mon, we should probably help them out"
"Right!," Cecily agreed, a determined look on her face as they started to move closer and ready their spells.
As Allen, Thomas and Rose all worked together to try to land a hit on William, Stephen and Cecily worked together to ready spells to send over at William. They have to be careful though, as they don't want to hit their own teammates.
"Ready?," Stephen asked, readying his spell.
"Of course!," Cecily nodded in agreement with her spell ready.
With both of them casting elemental circles of their own, they carefully sent magic William's way as his back was turned to them. Will they finally land a hit on him?
"Now this is what teamwork is, you five!," William yelled, turning around to face Stephen and Cecily as their magic was being sent his way. He quickly moved his hand towards them, and with just a snap of his fingers, their magic was dissipated.
"What the-," Thomas suddenly stopped in his tracks as he just saw what happened.
Without even the use of an elemental circle, William had easily stopped their magic, all while carefully dodging the other three's attacks.
"William, you're insane!," Rose yelled after witnessing what just happened. William could only smirk at what she had to say.
"You get used to it," Allen and Stephen said at the same time.
"I commend all of you for getting this far already," William said, readjusting his glasses. "This duel has been going on for quite some time. But now, it is time that I get a bit serious myself"
Everyone could only freeze up at William's words. Finally get serious? After all this time, William was essentially playing around with them. The fact that William was one of the strongest mages in England finally hit them.
Allen already was aware of the things William was capable of. However, he had yet to see William face multiple people at once, including Allen. So even he was utterly surprised at what all was happening. Could he ever hope to reach William's level of power?
"Well, what are we waiting for?," Rose yelled as everyone froze up. "We want to win, don't we? Let's keep up with our plan!"
"That's right! We can't lose this!," Thomas yelled, as he bumped his magically hardened fists together.
"That's the spirit, show me all what you've got!," William yelled, egging them on.
Thomas quickly rushed in to land a strike on William, like what he did at the very beginning of the duel.
"As I said, too slow," William announced as he barely moved to easily dodge Thomas.
"Huh?," Thomas muttered, as he felt a tap on his back as he started to fall towards the floor.
"William landed a hit on Thomas. Therefore, Thomas is out!," Ms. Clark announced. Everyone's thoughts of what might've happened were finally cleared up.
"I'm out?," Thomas murmured in disbelief as he remained on the floor.
"Don't feel too bad. I think you did a great job," William gave him a thumbs up.
"Thanks," Thomas smiled, but it was clear he was disappointed in his quick defeat.
"Looks like it's just us four now," Rose noticed.
"What should we do?," Cecily asked, a bit worried.
"What we planned to do from the start," Allen said, determined. "We're winning this duel, no matter what"
"Yeah, I like your thinking, Allen," Stephen agreed, grinning.
"Let's go!," Allen yelled, as the four of them moved to attack William.
"Now that's what I like to hear," William said as he once again began to dodge their attacks.
Even with just four of them, they are still doing well to keep William on the defensive. They had to go on the offensive, otherwise they wouldn't win this duel. Allen and Rose worked together to keep William on his toes as Stephen and Cecily worked together to cast spells headed in William's direction. William continued to snap his fingers as the magic headed towards him while he easily dodged Allen and Rose's attacks. This duel was heating up by the second.
"You're going to have to try harder if you want to win this duel," William advised them as he almost managed to tap Rose's shoulder.
"Shoot, we can't keep this up forever!," Allen yelled as he went in to help out Rose. He was starting to run out of mana to keep up with William.
"We're going to have to move in closer if we want to change this," Stephen exclaimed as he was still trying to send magic towards William.
"Agreed. Let's move in!," Cecily responded as she was sending magic of her own.
Stephen and Cecily rush in to get closer to help out Allen and Rose, as it was clear that they were starting to run out of energy.
"What are you two doing?," Rose yelled as Stephen and Cecily moved in closer. Clearly, this was against their original plan.
"Helping your asses out!," Stephen yelled, finally closer to his father.
"Language, Stephen," William advised him as he was in the middle of dodging an attack by Allen.
"I don't care!," Stephen yelled back, as he began to cast a large spell at him.
Allen and Rose quickly moved out of the way to dodge Stephen's large magical attack. He sent a fury of air slashes towards William, forcing William to have to quickly dodge all of them.
"You're getting better, but not enough," William smiled as he snapped his fingers. The sound seemed to echo throughout the room as Stephen's magic quickly dissipated.
"No way…," Stephen fell on his knees, finally using up all of his mana.
"And you're out. You did a good job, my son," William smiled as his hand was resting on Stephen's shoulder. Just when did he move in over to Stephen's position?
"William landed a hit on Stephen. Therefore, Stephen is out!," Ms. Clark finally announced. Everyone was in shock once again.
William's face quickly turned to surprise when he had to suddenly maneuver to the right. Cecily's magic had continued past Allen and Rose and slowly dissipated on its own. Apparently her magic caught William off guard.
"Just when did you learn to do that?," William looked at her in surprise. She didn't offer any sort of answer as William had to move again to dodge her attack in the last second before it would've hit him.
"Yeah, that's my Lily!," Thomas yelled from the stands as Stephen walked over to join him.
"You're getting better as I thought you would," William smiled as he placed his hand on her shoulder from behind. Lily turned around to find herself already defeated.
"William landed a hit on Cecily. Therefore, Cecily is out," Ms. Clark's announcement once again filled the room.
"Noooo, Lily!," Thomas yelled from the stands, sad. "You did great regardless!"
"Thanks, Tom," She smiled as she made her way to sit with Stephen and Thomas.
"Well, it's just you two then," William smiled as he readjusted his glasses once again.
Allen and Rose looked at each other, truly realizing the situation they were in. They stared at each other in complete shock.
"Allen and Rose, we know you can win this for us!," Thomas cheered from the stands.
"Win this for us!," Stephen also cheered.
"Well, aren't you going to show me what you two can do?," William smirked as he awaited their next move. "Show me you both have what it takes to use both the sword and magic!
Allen and Rose once looked again at each other, but nodded in understanding. They knew what to do. Their training together as the Training Club would not be wasted. It was now up to them to win this duel.
"I wonder what they could be up to," William grinned as he once again adjusted his glasses.
"Take this, William," Rose yelled as she finally cast her first spell.
"Finally casting spells, are we?," William grinned as he snapped to cancel out her spell.
"Just when will you shut up?," Rose grinned back.
"That's no way to talk to your Head Director," William sighed, but couldn't help but laugh.
"And when will you notice what's behind you?," Rose smirked as she watched what was about to unfold.
"Hey William!," Allen grinned as he striked William from behind.
"That's one way to stab someone in the back!," William grinned back as he quickly moved to dodge.
"Then I guess I will have to stab you from the front!," Rose yelled as she was already in position to strike William.
The two of them began to work together to strike at William. William had to constantly move, otherwise he would get hit.
"I see your training together is starting to pay off," William smirked as he dodged their attacks. "You two must love training together"
"Shut up!," Rose yelled, her face flushed as she cast a spell at William at point blank range.
"Well isn't that rude," William said as he snapped his fingers to quickly dissipate the magic that would've marked his defeat had he not.
"And not admitting defeat already is also rude," Allen said as he was striking at William.
"I commend your strategy," William admitted as he kept moving to dodge their attacks.
The two kept up their attacks to try to land a hit on William. Allen was constantly striking at William while Rose shifted between attacking with her rapier and using her magic. This could only go on for so long.
"C'mon you two, you both look like you're about to faint," William smiled, but still had a look of concern on his face for them.
And William was right. Allen and Rose had been using up all of their energy for this entire duel, trying to strike at William. Both of them were beginning to move slower, their legs wanting to fall over. Rose may have a bit of mana left, but Allen was almost completely out of usable mana. They needed to do something, otherwise they wouldn't be able to go on their club trip.
"Rose, I'm going to do it!," Allen yelled.
"You idiot! You know that's risky!," Rose responded, understanding what Allen meant.
"And what could you two be talking about?," William asked, curious.
"Rose, just trust me!," Allen yelled back.
"Alright, don't tell me I didn't warn you!," she sighed as she readied her magic.
Rose began to charge at William, constantly trying to cast magic at him while also trying to land a strike on him.
"What's this? Changing up your fighting style, Rose?," William looked interested as he moved to dodge her attacks and snap his fingers to dissipate her magic.
"Shut up and let me hit you!," she yelled as she tried her hardest to hit him.
While Rose was occupied with William on her own, Allen was taking a moment to think to himself. Rose only had so much time left before she would fall over, and Allen did not want to send anyone to the infirmary today. He quickly prepared himself for a last-ditch effort to defeat his once mentor.
If there was something William was very proficient in, it was detecting magic. And not just magic, mana as well. Anytime someone used magic, William could sense their magic. Even when Allen used his mana within his body, William could sense that too. Allen wasn't sure how he did it, but he knew William could.
But what if there wasn't any mana or magic for William to detect? What would happen? Allen was ready to test this out.
"Just what are you two doing?," William asked, as he was waiting for Allen to finally come back.
"Your opponent right now is me, William!," Rose yelled.
"What are you talking about?," William asked, as he was already behind Rose.
"Shoot!," Rose yelled in frustration, unable to stop him.
"William landed a hit on Rose. Therefore, Rose is out!," Ms. Clarks voice rang throughout the arena. Their most likely defeat drew near.
"Great job Rose. But I think it's time you take a moment to rest. If I let you continue, you would've passed out from exhaustion," William smiled as Rose's knees buckled and she fell to the floor.
William was right. Rose looked like she would pass out any second. In a way, William did her a favor, even if it meant they would lose.
"Hmm, now what was Allen doing?," William thought out loud, finally realizing he lost track of Allen in mere seconds. He was too busy focusing on Rose. Did Allen also finally run out of energy?
"Wait-," William suddenly yelled, turning around to see Allen from behind.
"Hey William!," Allen smiled, his attack already in motion.
William realized in the mere seconds that he turned around that Allen's strike was about to make its mark. He quickly realized what Allen had done - he completely stopped using his mana! William could only laugh as he realized his own mistake. But even with this small mess up, this wouldn't be enough to make him lose.
"Nice try, Allen," William smirked as he quickly maneuvered back to dodge his attack.
"I thought you'd try that!," Allen yelled as he expected William's movements. He quickly maneuvered himself forward and changed the direction of his strike.
His strike began to make its way upwards, towards William's face. William realized he could not stop what was about to happen. He managed to dodge Allen's strike by the skin of his teeth, but at a price. The tip of Allen's sword made contact with William's glasses.
William's face turned from relief to utter surprise, frightened even, as his glasses began to fall off of his face. Time seemed to slow down as Allen watched William's expression change completely in mere seconds.
William's face quickly then became serious, as he snapped his fingers. The echo seemed to go throughout the room, as any trace of William completely vanished.
"What the-," Thomas exclaimed, as everyone noticed that William was suddenly gone from his position. Everyone looked around to see where he had gone.
Allen first looked down at Rose, to see the complete shock on her face. They both realized that the other saw what they thought they did. Allen then looked around at everyone else, who seemed to only notice William's disappearance. Perhaps only Allen and Rose saw what they thought they did.
Allen finally noticed William across the room, far away from where he was before. He had moved from where Allen was to where he was now in just the second it took for him to snap his fingers. Just what did William do?
He stood there, holding his finger on his glasses, as if he was making sure they didn't fall off. He didn't mutter a single word, only standing there. The whole room was filled with confusion, unsure if this duel was still going to continue.
"Umm, William?," Ms. Clark loudly asked, concerned.
"This duel is over," he quickly responded, just loud enough for everyone to hear.
"What?," Ms. Clark exclaimed. "William-"
"I said, this duel is over," William responded once more, his voice serious.
"I-, alright then," Ms. Clark agreed, but still concerned.
Allen and Rose didn't know what to say. What could they say or ask? At first, getting his glasses off was just something they thought of for fun, but it turned out to be more serious than they thought it would be.
"What just happened? The duel is over?," Thomas exclaimed as Stephen, Cecily and him got up from their seats.
"Father, are you okay? What just happened?," Stephen asked as he had rushed over to him.
"Yes, I am fine. Thank you, Stephen," William smiled at him.
"Are you guys okay?," Thomas asked as Cecily and he rushed over to Allen and Rose.
"Yeah, we're okay," Rose responded as Allen helped her up. "Thanks Allen"
"Don't worry about it"
"But what happened? Did you land a hit on him Allen?," Thomas asked, searching for answers.
"Not quite. Did you guys see what happened?," Allen asked.
"No, at least I don't think so. All we saw is that you went to strike William and then he had vanished," Cecily answered.
"Allen, I don't think they saw what we saw," Rose said as she looked at him.
"Right," Allen could only respond as he then looked over at William. Stephen and Ms. Clark were over by him, making sure he was alright. William had seemed shaken up.
"What should we do?," Rose asked. "Should we-"
"This duel is a draw," William announced, loud enough for everyone to hear.
"A draw?," everyone collectively asked. Ms. Clark was by far the most confused, as she was supposed to be the one to oversee the duel.
"Correct," William quickly responded. "As such, I will allow all of you to go on your club trip. Provided, all of you study while you are on it"
"William, are you sure this is okay?," Ms. Clark asked out of concern.
"Yes, I have already decided," he responded, smiling back at her.
"Well, I suppose it worked out in the end?," Thomas thought out loud, unsure whether to be happy or concerned.
"We can discuss where you all want to go on your club trip at a later date. You all are dismissed and may go back to your dorms for the night," William announced, as it was already sunset.
"C'mon everyone, let's go," Ms. Clark tried to get them moving.
"But what about my father?," Stephen asked, looking back at him.
"Don't worry about him, he's fine. Let's all go," Ms. Clark smiled as she began to get everyone moving.
As Allen walked with everyone else to leave the room, he could only look back at William. There was only so much he knew about him, but with every day it seemed he got further and further away from him. Even though William was no longer his mentor, and he was no longer his protégé, he still felt concern for him. He could only leave the room with everyone else, leaving William alone in the room.
Once everyone had finally left the room, William took a deep breath.
"I almost broke my promise to you once again," he said out loud to himself.
He began to walk towards the exit of the training room, after he knew enough time had passed.
"I know they are just kids, but I know that one day they may even surpass you. They just have that much potential," William said out loud as he couldn't help but smile. "I may not know what the future may hold, but I know that one day Allen will make his mark across England. He will surely finish what you started, something I was never capable of"
William finally made his way out of the room, slowly closing the door behind him. It was time for him to get yet another night without sleep as he returned to his duties as the Head Director of the Academy.