Allen Fleming stared down his opponent, in the event he would try anything else. He still had a lot of energy left in him, but he wanted this duel over as quickly as possible.
"I- admit defeat," Anthony declared with an annoyed tone, as he broke the silence throughout the room.
The silence in the room remained for only a few more moments, until the duel referee confirmed Anthony's defeat.
"And there you have it everyone!," Lisa and Misa announced together. "With this, it makes The Weakest Mage's first win! Allen moves on to the second round!"
As the crowd was filled with a mix of emotions, whether celebrating his victory, or annoyed at Anthony's defeat, Allen breathed a sigh of relief. His first duel was over, faster than it started.
Allen took a moment to relish in his quick victory, for he had a lot to worry about here soon. He still had three more consecutive duels he needed to win, all against unknown opponents at this time.
While William, the previous head director, was the one to place the conditions on him, the conditions were still in effect for him. While passing them would prove difficult, as he still needs to make back to D rank (and then to C rank), in the end he was glad he had those conditions. It was, at the moment, one of the only major things keeping Ellen from immediately expelling him.
As part of his conversation with Walter Garet, the Earth Vice Director, and Ms. Florence, his teacher once again, Mr. Garet informed Allen that the conditions became a loophole for Allen to remain at the academy. Allen needed to use this loophole to his advantage, while also doing his best to pass the conditions as well.
"But then again, when have things ever been easy for me," Allen said out loud to himself, as he held a hand on top of his now sheathed sword. He took a moment to look over at Anthony, who had already started to make his way out of the arena.
While Anthony was already a bit of a distance away from Allen, he could still see something on Anthony's right hand - a ring. Allen had his suspicions about it at the beginning of the duel, when Anthony acted so confidently and flat out told him that he would easily beat him and gain favor. Allen had, at that moment, decided to shrug him off. However, he still took into account that something was off. How could a mage like him act so confidently, already knowing Allen's advantage over standard mages?
Well, I suppose I can speak to Mr. Garet and Ms. Florence about that later, Allen thought to himself, as he started to make his way out of the arena as well.
While Allen wasn't able to meet up with his friends at this time, he made sure to set some time aside to watch their own duels. And luckily enough, all of them managed to make it to the second round, like himself.
With the influx of students gone, after making their way back to their dorm rooms to study or rest, Allen had made his way over to a room he has started to grow very familiar with. He made sure to knock a certain way, rather than burst the door open.
"Come in," a voice said, right after clearing their throat.
"Excuse me," Allen said as he walked in, making sure to close the door behind him.
Allen was once again in Mr. Garet's office, with Ms. Florence in there with him. They were busy filing through some papers at Mr. Garet's desk. Mr. Garet took a moment to acknowledge him, before turning back to their work.
Allen knew better than to interrupt them, so he decided to take a seat near the desk, while he waited for them to finish up. He could use the break anyways, since he spent the entire day training, participating in the tournament, and contemplating matters related to said tournament.
"Your thoughts, Danet?," Mr. Garet asked, as he showed her one of the documents on his desk.
"Very plausible, but not enough evidence, as I am sure you are aware," Ms. Florence answered, as she pointed out a specific part.
"Ugh, we're getting nowhere," Mr. Garet let out a sigh of frustration, as he slammed down the papers on his desk.
"With Ellen already catching wind of us, thanks to a grand idea of yours, it's getting harder to gather evidence," Ms. Florence pointed out, crossing her arms.
"Yes, yes I am aware," Mr. Garet gave her a look of understanding. "But you know as well as I do that such measures were needed"
"I'm not arguing that they weren't, I'm just telling you the consequences of said actions," Ms. Florence responded back, the deadpan expression on her face remaining unchanged.
"Of course," Mr. Garet replied, clearing his throat. "Anyways, our main guest is here"
Ms. Florence turned back to see Allen sitting near her, with a slightly surprised and amused look on her face. She gave him a slight nod before turning back to quickly organize some of the papers on Mr. Garet's desk.
Ms. Florence organizing things?, Allen thought to himself as he tried to hold back his laughter. If only she did the same thing for her own desk in her classroom.
"Anyways Fleming, thanks for your patience," Mr. Garet turned in his direction, clearing his throat. "Congratulations on your first victory. I absolutely knew you could do it"
"You don't sound very sure," Allen gave him a slight glare. "I'll have you know it was an almost flawless victory"
"Yes, yes. I saw the whole thing, I was there," Mr. Garet shrugged him off.
"Anyways," Allen said, changing the topic. "We need to discuss the issue regarding my first duel"
"Let me guess," Mr. Garet started to say as he leaned back into his chair, crossing his arms and a more serious look on his face. "Just what we expected?"
"Correct," Allen nodded, as Ms. Florence turned to face him. "My first duel opponent, Anthony Lowe, wore a ring on his finger that didn't look like an ordinary ring. As you two are probably starting to suspect, it could have been a ring-type magical artifact"
"Rather curious… and annoying," Mr. Garet commented, as he stroked his hand through his facial hair. "I could tell something was off the moment that brat started to cast his magic"
"Too fast, even," Ms. Florence jumped in. "Even for a normal mage, magic casting takes time. A mage needs to cast their elemental circle, and then visualize the type of spell they want. An experienced mage could do it much more quickly and efficiently, and I highly doubt this Anthony is such a mage"
"Right," Allen agreed with them. "While I may have ended the duel rather quickly on my part, his spellcasting seemed off, even to me. I may not have this whole 'spellcasting thing' down, but can usually tell somethings off if I see it"
"Hmm, so a ring-type magical artifact with the capabilities of casting magic faster…," Mr. Garet said out loud, as he contemplated the ordeal.
A magical artifact with an ability not seen in the market, Allen thought to himself. Could it be a prototype like Nathaniel's, from Reynold Enterprises?
"Perhaps the suspected interference from Ellen?," Mr. Garet asked out loud.
"Has to be," Ms. Florence answered him. "No way a mage, even a B rank, would possess a magical artifact like that just because. Ellen must have rigged the duel without us noticing"
"Don't look at me like that," Mr. Garet stared back at Ms. Florence, who was giving him a small glare. "You should know as well as I do that I am doing what I can to make sure Ellen does not rig Fleming's duels. But there's only so much I can do with her annoying influence of hers, and assistance from the Triumvirate"
No, Reynold Windblade made a promise to remain neutral during all of this, Allen thought to himself, as he contemplated while Mr. Garet and Ms. Florence bickered.
"Regardless, just how could they obtain a magical artifact like that without assistance from Reynold Windblade?," Ms. Florence pointed out.
During the time that Allen had been working with Ms. Florence and Mr. Garet, Allen had informed them everything he had known previously, in addition to his conversation with Reynold Windblade.
Reynold Windblade, was of course, the owner of his company, Reynold Enterprises. Reynold had informed Allen previously during their discussion that he would remain neutral. Allen trusted his word, but there was still the current issue.
"Perhaps prepared in advance?," Mr. Garet suggested. "Still could have come from Reynold Enterprises or something similar, but before the agreement?"
"Perhaps, but at this point we're getting nowhere," Ms. Florence exclaimed with a sigh. "At the end of the day, magical artifacts are allowed as long as they were approved beforehand. Which again, Ellen could have been involved with as well"
"This is getting more frustrating by the second," Mr. Garet exclaimed as he slowly moved his chair back and forth.
"Could we even prove that Ellen is personally interfering with Fleming's duels based on what we have alone?," Ms. Florence asked.
"Even if we could prove it, what difference would it make?," Mr. Garet pointed out. "With the Triumvirate at her back, she'll just find a way out of whatever situation we can put her into"
"I suppose you have a fair point," Ms. Florence said with a sigh. "We'll just have to trust Fleming will continue to win his duels"
"I'm right here you know," Allen said as he stared at both of them. "Either way, I will do everything I can to continue to win my duels. My continued attendance at this academy depends on it, and I am not just about to let Ellen take all of that away from me"
"Good, keep that mindset and you'll do just fine… probably," Mr. Garet said, a small smirk forming on his face.
Allen raised an eyebrow as Ms. Florence could only offer him a shrug at Mr. Garet's indifferent behaviors.
"Don't worry Fleming, you can trust Walter and I will do what we can to continue our investigations and make sure your duels are as fair as possible. We won't know who your second duel opponent will be quite yet, so in the meantime I highly suggest that you continue to train and do your best"
"Of course," Allen nodded with a small smile. "I aim to do just that"
"We will be limited due to Ellen's nature, but I promise I'll continue to help," Mr. Garet said, with his arms crossed.
"I knew you had it in you to be kind," Ms. Florence smirked.
"I am only doing this because it is in both of our interests," Mr. Garet replied with a grunt.
"Yes, yes old man. We all know you-"
But before Ms. Florence could finish her comment, there was a knock at the door, specific to what they were supposed to do before entering. Perhaps August or Sarah decided to drop by?
"You can come in," Mr. Garet announced, his head resting on his hand.
The door slowly opened to reveal not one, but multiple people that Allen instantly recognized.
"Yo," Stephen said, with a small wave.
Allen also saw none other than his good friends, Thomas, Cecily, Sarah and August behind Stephen. August shook his head while he kept eye contact with Allen, almost as if to say this wasn't his idea.
"Got room for a few more?," Stephen asked, a small grin forming on his face.