"Gray! It's been some time!", Jade exclaimed as she bear-hugged her sister.
"Big sister Jade! Please stop! Everyone is watching!", Gray protested with a red face while others looked at the two sisters in amusement.
"Why aren't we like that?", Flare asked her sister. Clare frowned, "Because you spontaneously combust whenever you get excited, and you only hug me when you're excited. Unlike you, I am not fireproof."
Still, everyone didn't expect the Sword Princess to be this laid-back. They then looked at their other guest who stood next to Seventeen and Ruth.
"The Luminous Knight.", Damien said in awe.
"Arguably the strongest Light warlock in Arken.", Robin remarked, "I can see her resemblance with Arthur. Their faces look the same, bewitchingly beautiful. Otherwise, I would have a hard time believing they are siblings."
"Speaking of which. Where is Arthur? Doesn't he know his sister's come?", Damien looked back at the main staircase. "He'll come. Don't worry.", Minerva replied.
Jade stopped pampering her younger sister and walked over to Seventeen. He coughed to gain their attention, "You guys may already know who our guests are but still let me introduce them."
Glancing at Jade he spoke, "This is Jade Aria, Captain of Squad 22 and head of the Aria Arken Family. We all know her as the Sword Princess. Also, she's Gray's sister."
Jade smiled and waved, "It's a delight to meet you guys. Thanks for looking after Gray and helping her grow, both as a warlock and as a person."
Gray turned red and panicked, "Sister!"
Everyone laughed heartily at her cute reaction.
Still chuckling, Arthur spoke while glancing at Alice, "This is Alice Night, Captain of Squad 24 and the head of the Night Arken Family. She's called the Luminous Knight and is also the older sister of Arthur."
"Who I haven't seen till now.", Alice said with a smile as she looked around for her brother. "It's a pleasure to meet you all. Arthur told me a lot about his classmates and I am truly grateful for you all being with him."
"Alice? Why are you early?", Arthur suddenly emerged from the upper floors, surprised to see his sister in the dorm.
Alice crossed her arms with a smile, "When did you expect me to come then?"
"By evening?", he said while the others parted a way for him as he came to stand in front of his sister. She grinned, "You've become bolder."
"I've always been this bold, dear sister.", Arthur spoke confidently.
Alice can see that he has grown so much in the past few months. His magia is more refined and denser. She can see that he became powerful.
'Looks like you haven't raised hell in the academy yet.', she thought. Her younger brother's intelligence and craftiness is his most powerful weapon. The contributions he made to the Night Family in the shadows were more than what she and Allistair did.
But still, he's her younger brother and she and Allistair will be there for him, even if it means having the world against them.
That is the vow Alice and Allistair took on that night 14 years ago with the flames of their burning house containing the bodies of their parents as the witness.
"What's with that long face? Remember something unpleasant?", Arthur asked.
"Well. Something like that.", Alice cannot lie to Arthur. It's hard to fool this guy. He raised an eyebrow but didn't press the issue.
"Well. Don't you have something to talk about with our instructors?", he crossed his arms. "How do you know about that?", she was surprised and looked around for anything that screamed Vesta Freydis.
"Instructors are supposed to meet the families of their students at least once and I am sure this is the first time you and Lady Jade are seeing sir.", Arthur replied.
"That's true.", Jade said, surprised by the ingenuity of the young Night. She knew he was smart but not this smart.
Alice smiled, "We'll talk later but first.", she took out her sword from her storage ring, "Shall we see how strong you've become?"
The other students gasped. A Captain, that too the head of an Arken Family has challenged Arthur. They looked at him and were more surprised when he was unfazed.
Minerva and Ray chuckled. They had seen the two siblings fight many times and the winner always turned out to be Alice.
Arthur smiled, "I've been itching to fight you."
"You look really confident.", Alice grinned and turned Seventeen, Ruth, and Jade, "Is it okay if I have a duel with my brother?"
Ruth arched her eyebrows, "Are you sure about that?"
"Yes. I am."
"Then shall we use the larger area behind the dorm?", Seventeen suggested. Alice and Ruth nodded while Jade laughed, "This is going to really interesting."
Seventeen clapped his hands, "Alright guys, today is a day off and there is a special surprise this afternoon.", he and the captains had talked about an interesting activity. He talked to Ruth about that and she was on board with the idea with a lot of enthusiasm.
Everyone was happy at the news, the training was that hard and it would be an opportunity to see how a Squad Captain fights.
*******
They all gathered at the huge training ground behind the dorm building. It is bigger than the training ground in the courtyard and is used when all of them are training together at the same time.
"You really went all out in the kitchen, Minerva.", Ray remarked as he examined the delicious snacks laden on a table near where they were sitting. It was as if they are watching a tournament.
"Well. I have to impress two Family Heads since I am a Raven.", she replied. "Trying to create ties with the Aria Family huh? Sneaky but it's a good strategy. Take it slow.", Ray grinned.
"You and Arthur really know me .", she grinned back. They then sat down next to the others on soft mats they brought from inside. Even Jade was sitting down, right beside Gray who was fidgeting.
The two warlocks in the duel prepared for their fight. Alice had taken off her coat and her hair was tied back. She did some practice swings with her sword.
It has a white blade with blue edges and a silver hilt with a grip of white leather. It was like the polar opposite of Arthur's purple-tinged Ghost.
Arthur had changed into a black sleeveless turtleneck that showed his slim yet well-built body, a fact that's not ignored by the ladies in the class.
"Damn. He looks hot.", Rhea remarked and the others, including Jade couldn't disagree with that. She glanced at Gray who was staring at the young Night with a small blush. She grinned at her sister's cute reaction.
Arthur ignored the looks he was getting and tied back his hair which had grown long enough to reach the middle of his back. 'Looks like I should ask Vesta to shorten it a bit.', he thought.
"Are the preparations done?", Seventeen, who is acting as the moderator of the duel asked. Both of them nodded and took their stances.
Seventeen and Ruth nodded to each other. The barrier around the dorm will be enough for the duel but the latter is holding an enchantment for a second barrier in case the first one fails. They can't have a Captain's magia running wild on the academy premises.
"Let the duel between Alice Night and Arthur Night begin!"
Alice made the first move, and in an instant, she was in front of Arthur and swung her sword upwards. Arthur leaned back and the white blade breezed just inches from his face.
There was considerable force in the attack as a gust of wind was generated when Alice attacked. Despite this Arthur calmly took a few steps back, but not before his sister swung downwards.
He was looking for that opportunity and to the surprise of his sister and the spectators, jumped out of the way of the attack and landed briefly on the blade before launching himself above Alice.
He twisted in midair and struck at her unguarded back. But his sister was quick. She swiftly turned around and blocked the attack while releasing a magia pulse that blew Arthur back.
Before he could recover, Alice appeared right below him and ready to strike. He won't be able to dodge this. There is only one way.
He released his presence for a brief moment. Despite not having an attribute, Arthur possesses a powerful presence, and if he releases it briefly, the effect on the opponent is the same as getting a strong blow from everywhere at once.
Even the powerful Alice was no exception. She stumbled when his presence hit her but she recovered quickly.
That was enough time for Arthur to land on the ground right in front of her and strike. He enveloped Ghost with magia and with a hiss from the blade, he swung upwards.
Alice used her sword to block the attack and huge amounts of magia exploded out from the contact. She felt herself being pushed back and smiled, "Is that all you got?"
Her eyes glowed and the magia around her started vibrating. Arthur's eyes widened as he realized what was happening. He streamed magia into his legs and jumped as far away as his sister and closed his eyes as she unleashed her attack.
{Light Code: Flashbang}
An explosion of bright light blinded everyone except Jade and the instructors and even they had a hard time blocking the blinding light.
"Thanks for giving me the heads up.", Seventeen told Ruth who just smiled while she squinted, "Flashbang is a favorite Code of hers and there isn't a fight where she doesn't use it."
"Wouldn't that make it a predictable move?"
"Yeah. But what can you do even if you know she will use Flashbang? You will be blinded no matter what you do. Unless you have eye protection at the beginning of the fight. Alice tends to use it at the most unexpected times.", Ruth replied.
Of course, Arthur knew about this and covered his eyes right in time. Unfortunately, he was right near the epicenter of the explosion of light, so he was affected but not as much as he would've been if he hadn't closed his eyes.
He found it hard to see so he used his magia sense to read his opponent's movement and that was a wise decision for Flashbang was just a cover for Alice's following magia attack.
{Light Code: Radiant Needles}
Hundreds of light needles rushed at him. He still found it hard to see but he can feel them coming closer.
He took a deep breath and streamed magia into Ghost. The sword started hissing with the increase in magia and time slowed down.
Just as the needles were about to hit him, he swung his sword.
'Night Style seventh form: Decimating Ripple'
A powerful wave of magia hit the needles, destroying them and rippling in all directions, destroying more needles behind until all of them were destroyed.
One of the ripples flew at Alice. She enveloped her sword with light magia and deflected it in another direction. The barrier around the dorm pulsed as the small ripple of magia hit it violently.
She looked at her brother who was just opening his eyes, impressed, "Is that all, dear brother?"
Arthur grinned, "Oh dear sister. I am getting started."