Her face was covered by her two arms, snuggling up and murking in their own world as if there is a problem. It is not like her to get involved or get troubled by a lot of things and this is the first time that Aran took his time to check on her. The hiatus for their bonding took a swaying change before their conversation. Concerned by what just happened, he directly confronted her.
"Nikki?" Aran called out to her in a soft tone. Hearing his voice, she immediately stood up in surprise, tangling all of the problems that are causing trouble to her. She began to switch her fun mode and act like there is nothing wrong at all.
"Oh! Aran! I didn't see you there! Welcome back, how is your day?" She greeted him and asked about the shopping spree. Confused by her own greet, he purposely followed the lead as he leaned his back on the trunk of the tree under the meadow of leaves.
The day is almost over and the sun is setting down slowly. Aran sat down on the tree and gazed upward while enjoying the slapping of the fresh wind gradually alleviating all of his stress in an instant. He smiled and started to talk.
"Well, it was fun. I kinda like how it turns out to be perfectly fine. We've bought a lot of things and stuff. I even had myself an article of formal clothing for the dinner." Aran replied.
"Heh, that seems good. So umm... Are you going for tonight then?" Nikki asked but her tone was distorted with worries and fear. Almost looks like she doesn't want Aran to leave for the day. Even while exhibiting her subtle desires in front of him, it didn't go through his mind about what was boggling her.
"Nope, it got canceled, I am pretty sure tomorrow will be the big day. Her father is somewhat busy for today so we have no choice. By the way, what are you doing here?" Aran finally brought up the question about her reason for being in the field.
Perplexed, she lowered her head and leaned back as she averted her eyes from him. Thinking about what just happened earlier is pretty hard and heavy for her right now.
"Well, I was doing some magic sessions where I practice my magic activation sequence. I really need to train my ability to cast magic because that's going to be important for the next few months." She answered in a serious voice.
"Oh, magic session huh, that is pretty cool." Aran smiled and commended her work.
"Yep!"
"Well, I wish our class would actually do what you are doing though..."
"Hmm? What do you mean about that?"
"Well, you know the triathlon and stuff coming, right? We need to do something in that event, we can't just risk our section into oblivion. Our class needs to train their magic as well because it is important for the competition but the problem is, most of them don't even have the will to connect and to participate because of the sole reason. We can't afford to lose and I am trying to invest my time thinking about what should I do to boost their morale." Aran explained with a serious expression.
"I see, that's really tough for you to think right now. With all of that magic insertion and higher ranking implementation, most of our candidates don't really have the choice but to withdraw. But then it would also be fatal if we back out of this because the academy wants everyone to fight." She followed.
"Right, and that's why we need to prove that we have the potential as well. We have been learning magic for like two months now, I am sure that we have progress. But then again, the morality is what I have been yearning for quite a while, that's why I contacted someone to help us." Aran replied.
"Hmm? Did you say you contacted someone?"
"Yeah, I want to try to and have William Smith to train all of our section's candidates and have their morality boosted before the event." Aran didn't even flinch when he told her the impossible of the impossible. Seeing that his prediction and plan are pretty much fluent but not that approachable, Nikki wandered on her own and burst into laughter.
"Hahahahahahahahaha!"
"W-What? Why are you laughing?" Aran asked, feeling embarrassed.
"You are asking me that now? I think you won't be able to get William Smith. That guy is pretty much busy with the media and source already. And besides, you don't even get to meet him, how are so sure that you will be able to contact him anyway?" Doubted by his words, Nikki continued to express her chuckling emotion to strike Aran and his ideals.
"Haha, well, I don't really know if you'll believe me but he was the one who trained me, Lisa, and Huck." Aran rubbed his head and made a weird smile.
"Wait what? You're lying, right? There's no way! Hahahahaha!" Guffawing from his replies, Aran got irritated for some second but sighed in defeat because he knows he can't prove it otherwise.
However, as they stayed on the ground, a voice can be heard approaching their direction.
"Aran!"
"Hmm? Who is that?" Aran stood up and explored the field. He found Huck in the hall running towards him.
"Aran!"
"Oh! Huck is here!" He responded.
"Huh?" Nikki followed him to the hall.
They confronted each other and Huck let out a level of panting as he reached for oxygen.
"Why are you running–" As soon as Aran tried to ask him, he was stopped in his place by Huck's hand being placed on his right shoulder while trying to inhale and exhale deeply on both ends. After calming himself down from the long run, he finally manages to talk.
"H-He... It worked..." His rough voice made it hard to make a clear sentence.
"What? What worked?"
"William Smith... He agreed... We have his permission. He will be arriving here tomorrow." Huck manages to finish his sentence.
"No way! Y-You, guys... You guys really contacted him for help?" Still can't believe what is happening, Nikki took a back step and tried to comprehend what Huck said.
"Huh? What is she talking about?" Huck asked Aran.
"Oh umm, she doesn't really believe us, that William Smith trained us and that we are doing the same process again but this time, for our section's candidate," Aran explained.
"Wait, so it is really true then?!" Again, she tried to reassure.
"Huh? Of course. It was William Smith who helped us get through here. And we are basically trying to ask for his help again." Huck answered.
"I can't believe... Aran, how did you pull this off?" Nikki confronted Aran.
"It is a long story, but basically, his father is the one who contacted William Smith. So I don't really know the details." Aran explained but he was out of the option to redeem for an explanation.
"Nevermind about that, where are the others?" Huck asked him.
"Oh umm, they went straight to bed, I don't think they still have the energy to discuss this. We should probably just take care of it tomorrow." Aran answered.
"I see, well then, I am going back to our room. You take care, Aran." Huck finally left them and waved back.
"All right, man. Good night." He greeted him. Sighing in relief, Aran started walking and Nikki followed him.
"Um!"
"Hmm?"
"I am really sorry! I didn't know that you are actually saying the truth. I doubted you, I really apologize!" Nikki bowed a few times while apologizing to him.
Aran smiled and walked to approach her. He slowly placed his hand on the top of her head and gently stroked it. The warmth contracted through his palm, enabling a sensation to Nikki's head as he shattered what is boggling her current state for such a time now.
The headache that she has been feeling and enduring gradually dissipated, the heaviness of her own experience became lighter as Aran gently caressed her hair, submitting to its overwhelming easiness and relief.
"It is okay..." His soft voice permeated through the room causing her to return back to reality after realizing that she has been getting embarrassed for a while now. Startled by the feeling, she immediately stepped back. Aran noticed that her face are all red up to the top of her ears.
"Hmm? Are you good?" Confused by her quick dispute, Nikki calmed down and answered.
"Y-Yeah! It is just... Umm, how can I say this... Never mind! Good night, Aran!" And then she just pondered and left the hall with Aran all by himself, still lurking for answers to what just happened at that moment.
"Ah, wait!" She didn't respond and just kept ongoing.
(Hmm... What is her problem?)
***
The next day came and it was morning. The weather is seemingly gloomy for the first time, but there was no indication that is going to rain. The accumulation of the thick clouds inserting themselves all together with a touch of the dark-colored bag eventually covered the sun. The atmosphere became chilly all of the sudden and the heat were destroyed.
"So what's the plan now?" Huck asked as he rises and shines.
"William is arriving today, right?" Aran confirmed.
"Yeah?"
"I want you to call everyone and have them gather in our room for today. Tell them that Miss Julia is declaring an open forum for the upcoming Triathlon event. We need to talk to them today about the plan and discuss the process. I will just go on the front gate to meet William." Aran instructed Huck about the plan.
Agreeing with his instructions, he stood up to get dressed and left the room.
"Alright, I will see you."
"Yeah..."
While walking through the hall, he noticed that there were more people coming by to visit the academy. Some of the candidates are exploring the building while the others are just resting on their own accord. It seems like the break really took them off their place. After reaching the central hall, he went outside near the gate and waited for a couple of minutes.
With his smile being intact, he purposely used his perceptiveness skill to scan the area. The flow of the light energy particles was calm. However, as he continued to analyze it, a cluster of its kind was swarming on his left side, dispersing on their own. Making it look like a force was coming to get a direct attack through Aran. But then his expression was neither surprised nor filled with fear, it almost looks like he was expecting something to directly attack him for some reason.
Soon, after pinpointing the exact location of the dispersing light energy particles, he opened his eyes. He then braced himself and stretched his body to the left side to counter the immovable force of someone who owes him a session for the sake of the completion of his suggestion and original plan.
Using his knife, Aran countered the overwhelming force of motion, restricting his impactful kick that has been enchanted with body enhancement magic. The knife disrupt the motion and stopped its intensity, the whole area in the front gates made an exaggerating earthquake, shaking some of the building and conclusively barging some of the walls to crack in their place. The shaking of the whole area interrupted everyone, concerned about what was happening, the guards that were monitoring the whole gates were called to try and stop the issue.
"What is that?"
"An intruder?!"
However, as they were about to fly on the scene, they were stopped by Grandmaster Himawari by raising his right hand, indicating that the issue is not something that is serious or a grave incident. He walked in front of them with a cheerful expression on his face.
As for the rest, the candidates that were in their section's room took a glance over the window to see what just happened. It includes all of the other magicians and warriors as well as the other candidates that were strolling through the hall.
"What the? What the hell is that?" Huck stood up from his seat and glanced over the big window. The smokes finally dissipated through the thin air and the scene was verified.
"Hey, look over there!"
"Is that?"
"No way!"
"YOO LOOK, IT WAS WILLIAM SMITH!"
"What?"
"William Smith is here?"
"You mean that professional magician."
Shocked by the current events, the murmurings began to flood the entire academy in awe. Mahrisse, Lisa, and Eunice were in a paralyzed situation after seeing who just arrived.
"Hey, look at that, isn't that Aran?!"
The girls fawned on the other side of the window to see the grounds clearly. They were right all along, it was Aran who is currently restricting the intensity of William's kick.
"What are they doing?"
"Aran is fighting William Smith?"
"Aran..." Lisa smirked in place.
"Damn that William, always good at barging in and causing destruction all over the place." Huck and the other four went downstairs to greet the two formidable fighters.
"Hmm, it's been a while, Aran. Good job on deflecting that one." After greeting him with such a powerful force, he began to tumble around the air and landed on the grassy field wherein he made a stance in front of the audience.
"Heh, do you really have to do that? Also, your kick hurt you know?" Aran kept on rubbing the slight bruise on his forearm. It was emitting pre-heated steam as the kick was so powerful it diffused a small accumulation of mana on his entire nerves.
"I already told you that you need to be on guard all the time," William replied.
After a small introduction of his own accord, Huck, Lisa, Eunice, Mahrisse, and Nikki go out of the hall to meet the two.
"Aran!"
"William!"
Noticing their stalled presence behind the door, William took a look at the entire academy. Almost all of the candidates were struck by his appearance. Because of his popularity, most of them were happy that he is now on the ground of the academy.
"Hmm... You seemed to have gained quite a fanbase here, Aran. What the hell did you do?" Willliam made a teasing question.
"Stop merging me with your own kind, you were the one who deceived us." Aran smiled as he replied back.
"Oh I didn't deceive you, I just didn't bother saying all of the acquisitions I had. Because that will be a long term of talking, don't you think?"
"Fair enough, but you should've at least talked about it for some time."
"But if I told you that, you may lose interest in training."
"Don't be ridiculous, I love to fight the strongest magician here." Aran confidently implied as he created a form of stance as well with his well-endowed knife.
"You have gained confidence as well, seriously, what are you doing for like two months?" William asked.
"Mostly hanging out and beating myself." He replied with a nonchalant chuckle and tease.
"Hmm, we seemed to have gathered quite a few audiences here. Say, why don't we have a few bars of sparring, Aran?" Inviting him, Aran took a step back and made an exhaling process. He tried to bring out his inner sense of peace and a drooling amount of concentration as he buckled his own body and shoved all of his energy into his legs. And finally, he responded.
"Sure..." With a deadly smile on his face, the pulsive nerve on his forehead popped out.
"Hey hey hey, are they seriously planning on sparring here? They could easily destroy the whole academy." Huck nagged about the unnecessary barging and inviting.
"I can't believe it, Aran took that magic kick like it's nothing? That's like one of the most powerful forces of a magic attack. And he just took it without even humping out!" Nikki was surprised as to how Aran managed to counter the repulsive force of motion that was inscribed on William's legs.
"Well, I think he is used to it by now..." Lisa answered her question. Everyone gazed at her.
"What do you mean?" Eunice asked.
"On the first day of our training, Aran was beaten into a pulp by numerous kicks coming from William himself. He shaped his surroundings and he literally didn't stand a chance to him. But now, you see, the training and practice paid off. He is just standing there full of confidence while fighting a strong magician who is capable of transpiring body enhancement magic." Lisa explained the details.
"Woah! They are having spar!"
"Let's go!"
"Show em' what you got, Hero!"
A cheering happened inside the academy as they were interrupted in their own session.
"Man, when are they going to notice that they are causing a ruckus?" Huck nagged again as he silently leaned on the door with boredom. Noticing the presence of the group, Master Himawari greeted them.
"Oh my, you guys came here as well?"
"Grandpa, good morning." Lisa bowed and the rest followed.
"Um... Why aren't you stopping them, Master?" Mahrisse asked.
"Hmm? Well, it would be a perfect clincher and a stand-up entertainment and activity for the morning session so that the candidates can wake up. Who knows? Maybe it will turn out to be effective? I certainly have high hopes for Aran and I respect Master Smith's decision to show up and do this." He explained.
"Jeez... That's like, a free roam of nothingness..." Eunice replied.
"Agh, let's get started already. I don't want to miss the time for our discussion of the event." Aran was eager to fight him.
"Relax, I was just waiting for the full attention of everyone..." William stretched his suit.
"Don't tell me you're doing this because you want the spotlight?"
"I don't have a say to that, but whatever you take it, I don't really care. Besides, I am taking you with me because you are the so-called 'Hero' of this academy. Hahaha!" He laughed.
"Geh! Where the hell did you hear that from?"
"Lots of sources and I am not obliged to tell, now then... Let's start the sparring!" As William reinstated his magic flow, Aran quickly used his perceptiveness to a level 2 degree, enabling him to narrow down the area and its clauses on their particular location.
With his godlike speed, William started the first move and strung a concatenation of barraged attacks on different spots. Aran opened his eyes and dodged every single of the other hits and the others were countered using his knife. The shockwave turned the whole academy into a devastating arena of impacts, permeating throughout every corner. A streak of wind flapped on their faces because of the powerful combination and counterattacks.
But even with their deadly blows, the cheering of the candidates continued to echo on as they watched the fight. Aran was pre-determined that William might pull another of his stunts that can break his form.
(Damn it, he is much faster than the last time I trained with him. I think he is trying to pull my leg off. I need to be careful with my stances.)
Knowing the risks, he shifted his gears from Eclipse Counter to a formal dodging of attack. This made it faster and smoother to William to connect his blows since there are no individual forces restricting his motion. However, it is also an advantage to Aran's stance because he won't need to deal with the impacts that can cause a major disruption to his concentration.
"Those two, they are equal..." Mahrisse commended them both.
"No, William still has the upper hand here." Eunice says the opposite.
"Hmm? Why is that?"
"Well, on the first bout of their exchange, William puts too much pressure on Aran's stance causing him to revert from a dodging strategy. The impacts of his combos were too overwhelming to Aran himself and if he continues on countering it, William might take the advantage to slowly cull his balance and strike him. At least, that's what I am trying to exaggerate in this form based on my pieces of training. Physical combat has its own equal and unequal forces, once you are trapped with an exchanging of blows, you need to be more aware of your own balance rather than who's going to strike who." Eunice carefully explained.
"I see, as expected of you! You really do have a lot of knowledge when it comes to physical combat!" Mahrisse complimented her.
"Oh umm, it's just some things that I learned as I grow up. There's nothing really special about it."
"Still though, who do you think will win?" Nikki raised the bar.
"It is hard to distinguish because both of them are being cautious of their own stances. Aran figured out how William is trying to deploy his attack while William is determined to put him on his place by connecting his blows to him." Eunice replied.
"So they reached an impasse, huh? Aran really grew stronger over the past few months." Lisa commended him.
"Yeah, his instincts are even sharper than the usual. Is he really a third-rate warrior at some point? I think he deserved to be somewhere on Section A because of his outstanding abilities." Huck agreed with Lisa's opinion.
"Those were not a natural movement born out of a person..." Suddenly, they were interrupted by master Himawari's sentence.
"Hmm? What do you mean, grandpa?" Lisa asked.
"It is difficult to assess, but I have my doubts that he trained his body to execute these kinds of movements. They are not the proper movement of someone who practices martial arts. Have you seen Aran mastering or training any form of fighting techniques?" He asked.
"Not that I know off, he is always goofing off and doesn't even listen on some occasions, but how does it connect to that?"
"If he is not doing any practices or any sort of martial arts lesson, you will be considering... How does he able to contract his movement seamlessly without learning the nature of a martial art practice?" He asked the group in which they were left perplexed by the sudden realization.
"Those accountable changes in his movements and fighting style are pretty vague to comprehend. He can move his body freely, has sharp instincts, knows his environments, and his style of prancing around the area is like a lone 'wolf' ready to hunt someone down." Master Himawari followed his statements.
"Maybe he just picked all of those movements and learned it? Like, it is not even specific, it is very random at some point." Lisa commented.
"No that's impossible, Aran is not a visual learner. Even if he focuses on someone's fighting style, he won't be able to figure out the correct input of that move under a single category if he doesn't know that turning point or the timing. It is really hard to rehash a particular style out of seeing it for once. He must have been training secretly..." Huck made a possible answer.
"He's right, or maybe he may have been hiding something..."
As the fight grows on their intense blow-by-blow coverage, it was finally time to wrap it all up. The grounds were currently smashed into pieces as all of the grass were levitating on every impact. Aran has returned back from his Eclipse Counter technique. He pushed forward to restrict William's move further. On the other hand, William inscribed another form of magic but it was clearly deflected by Aran's knife.
As soon as they reached the impasse, William stepped back and Aran does the same. Both of them charged their legs, imploding their body and improving their torque to its extent.
"Heh!" William dashed forward with his right arm raised, ready to execute a punch. While Aran swiftly ran across the field with his knife ready to counter it.
Reaching the other side of their weapons, the knife and his fist countered each other, causing a massive implosion of wind that manages to reach even the highest floors of the whole academy, leaving the audience in awe after witnessing the powerful blow in history. The circular impact also reached the ground and the grassy field, shaking the foundation and blowing off clouds of dust underneath the stones.
The sparring ended with a tie.