The next day, Paley walked to school in silence. The others thought he was nervous, so they tried to comfort him.
"Hey, it's okay to feel nervous, man. You're strong. You can do this." Adimia patted him on the back.
"Thank you, Adimia, but I'm okay." He replied. He wasn't nervous but preparing himself for every situation he could possibly think of. The most common rule in an official magic duel is to hit the opponent's chest or head. You gain points by doing this, and whoever has the most points at the end wins.
They arrived at school, where everyone watched them in crowds. Libon was outside, trying not to make eye contact with Paley.
"Paley, I-" A teacher approached him.
"I'm fine, miss." He interrupted her before she could try and get him to forfeit the duel. Lessons were dry and awkward. It was hard for everyone to pretend like there wasn't going to be a duel between a noble and a peasant.
"Paley, are you sure you'll be okay?" Dillie whispered. They were doing a silent study in History.
"Yeah, don't worry. After all, I've beat a Weynsoo. I can easily beat this guy," He reassured.
"...Thank you, Paley." She held his hand and smiled warmly, "For trying to get our debt off."
"You're welcome. If you don't mind me asking. How much was it?"
"Five diamond coins," She said, surprising Paley. It was an enormous sum for commoners, so her family only managed to pay off fifty gold coins.
"That high? What scumbags," Paley hatefully glanced at Libon, who was rubbing his eyes from sleeplessness.
"Nobles do this a lot. They tell refugees from war-torn countries they will pay for their houses, only to give them a stupid debt like that." Dillie.
"So, there are other families out there in that much debt?" Paley asked, and she nodded.
"Way more." She said.
The duel was after school. Paley and Libon stood facing each other outside on the field. Libon had a look of nervous anger on his face - mostly at Paley's calm demeanor. A teacher stood on Paley's right, stating the rules of the duel.
"This will be an official match," He began, "so the rules are such: Only the challenger and the challenged are fighting. No one else is allowed to interfere, even if one of the duellers is heavily injured." Libon gritted his teeth at that. His father was supposed to make it a safe duel for him, not allow the possibility of his bones being broken.
"The use of runestones is prohibited. You must fight either topless or wear special garments to ensure that no magic clothing is being worn. You will earn points by hitting the chest and head of the opponent. You get one point for the chest and two points for the head. The duel will last thirty minutes, are you both ready?"
'Thirty minutes!?' Libon thought, panicking, 'My mana will run out too fast!'
"I'd like to make another demand if I win." Paley raised his hand.
"Okay, but then Libon must state another demand for his winning too." The teacher said.
"I want you to clear all debts people have to your family," Paley ordered.
"Libon, do you agree to that?"
"Hell no!" Libon refused.
"Why? Are you scared you'll lose and dishonor your family?" Paley provoked him.
He hesitated but eventually gave in to his anger, "Tch, why would I ever be afraid of you? ...Fine, but in exchange, I demand that all of you will be my servants!"
Paley glanced at the others before making his decision. "Sure, I agree to the condition." He told the teacher.
"Paley!?" Reben and Jurie exclaimed.
"Don't worry, he's got this," Adimia said, watching confidently with the others.
"Okay, I will now prepare the arena." The teacher took out a glass box with a grey runestone inside it. He placed it on the ground, stepped away, and said: "Create Arena."
A large metal cage rose from the ground, trapping the two boys together. Libon gulped as pillars, cubes, and arches of metal rose too. These were to be used as cover, and they were mirrored on both sides to make it fair.
Paley took his uniform off, revealing his now well-built body. It was still fairly skinny, but there was sharpness and tone to his muscles. Dillie stared at him as he stretched and warmed up, unable to take her eyes off him. Libon awkwardly took his uniform off. He was completely flat with a slightly deformed belly.
The teacher quickly checked their trousers to ensure they were the school's and clean, "The duel begins... now!" He started a stopwatch, expecting the two to charge each other. Instead, Libon put up a barrier while Paley stood still, watching him calmly.
"Are you going to fight or what!?" Libon asked, anxious, from behind his barrier.
"I am," Paley smirked at him, though he wasn't looking at Libon. He was looking behind him. Libon turned around in horror to find a deformed Earth Golem towering over him. It punched him across the face, making him lose his balance and fall to the ground.
He cried out in pain and put his arms up in defense, forgetting to keep using Protection magic. The Golem punched him again, this time harder. The impact reverberated through his body and bolted his head back onto the ground.
"Holy smokes! That's a golem!" Diz jumped in excitement at the front of the crowd. Some strangers passing by also stopped to watch, but all they watched was Paley bullying Libon. The Golem earned Paley two points from one successful hit to the head.
The students were afraid to cheer. Most of them hated Libon, but they were scared he was going to punish them if they cheered for Paley. But when they saw he was getting beat up so badly, they found they weren't scared anymore.
"Go, Paley!" They all cheered in unison. The Golem raised its leg and powered it through Libon's guarding arms and into his chest, kicking the air out of his lungs.
"Stop... Please..." He wheezed.
"Do you surrender?" Paley asked coldly, slowly walking towards him. Dillie went crazy at the sight of his cool expression as he put Libon through hard pain.
"Like hell, I would surrender to the likes of you! Orphan! Scum!" Libon took his frustration and anger out with words. The Golem threw another punch, but he dodged and suddenly reached into his pocket to take out a small green bean.
"How dare you shame me!?" He shouted and swallowed the bean whole. All of his muscles tensed up as he gained strength. His belly seemed to retreat into his body and his chest and shoulders grew slightly. He put his arms up and managed to block the next attack from the golem, then slipped out from under it, sprinting toward Paley.
"Isn't the use of runestones illegal!?" Jurie shouted at the teacher, who gritted his teeth in frustration. He wanted to stop the match and declare Libon the loser, but he knew he would be punished if he did. Even worse, he was the one who supplied Libon with the energizing beans.
Libon revealed his magic type as he prepared to throw an attack; Strength Magic. Everyone can use Strength Magic to a certain level since it's a type of Enhancing Magic like Protection Magic. But, people specializing in strength magic can go beyond their physical limitations and become akin to monsters.
"Strength x 10!" Libon's muscles convulsed and grew as he sprinted faster and faster at Paley. He tried to punch Paley in the head but a thick yellow barrier blocked his fist. He bellowed and followed up, kicking Paley in the side of the leg, making him fall onto the ground.
"DIE!" He unleashed a barrage of attacks onto Paley's face, completely nullifying the effects of the Facimut Pulveris. Everyone would've seen Paley's real face - if it wasn't for the swelling and bleeding.
Libon backed off, trying to catch his breath. His muscles returned to normal, and he calmed down. He had gained sixteen points on the head and was sure to win.
"That's what you get, orphan scum." He began walking away, but the cage didn't lower.
"T-The match isn't over until the full thirty minutes." The teacher said.
"But he's dead!" He shouted, gripping the cage's bars.
"Who's dead?" Paley rose from the ground, pissed off. He put his hands on the ground, releasing a flashing carpet of yellow light.
"You piece of-" Libon was going to run at him but found himself frozen in shock as thirty Earth Golems rose out of magic circles around him.
"Come on, what's the rush? We have thirty whole minutes to spend with each other." Paley smiled under his swollen cheeks. Yellow lights suddenly came to life inside the eyeholes on the Golems' faces, and they all ran at Libon.
"Strength x 50!" Libon shouted, desperately boosting his strength to fight the golems. They all surrounded him and exchanged blows with him until one of them landed a hit on his chest. He panicked and took out a big red runestone, pointing it at the golems.
"Blast!" He screamed, his voice breaking. The runestone unleashed an explosion, disintegrating the golems. Everyone ground their teeth in frustration and annoyance at the cheater.
Libon sighed in relief, noticing the shadow that fell on him too late. Paley was above him, pointing a lance of Earth down at him.
"Arms x 100!" Libon shouted, tearing up from desperation, and put his arms up. The muscles in his arms became dense and strong enough to block the sharp lance, but it still managed to cut into his forearms slightly. He cried out in pain.
"You bring shame to your name," Paley said coolly and landed in front of him, winding up a jab to Libon's jaw. The crowd around the cage stopped cheering from sheer awe at the battle.
"Swords!" Libon shouted desperately, activating yet another runestone in his trousers. Five white magic circles appeared in front of his legs, and five blades shot out of them and into Paley's legs. Paley backed up, shaken by the sharp pain in his legs.
"PALEY!" Dillie and the orphans ran up to the cage, "You scumbag! You know you can't win against him, so you're using these dirty tricks!" She screamed at Libon.
"Shut up, slut!" Libon retorted.
Libon was a sheltered noble, so a little cut on his finger would have him complaining for hours to anyone and everyone. But Paley was the exact opposite. Despite having five swords impaling his legs, he was ignoring the pain completely.
"Do not... Call her a slut." Paley's eyes widened with fury, "You hit my little brother, harassed my sisters, and call my best friend a slut?" His voice turned raspy and malicious, "I should kill you right here."
"No! Paley!" Madella called out. He saw her standing with Teerom on the street behind him.
"You will be imprisoned if you do that, Paley." The teacher said, trying to help Paley however he could.
Paley sighed and calmed down, "Sorry, mom. I won't think about that ever again." He smiled at Madella, who was heartbroken seeing him so injured. He put his hands to the ground again, but Libon wasn't going to allow him to summon any more Earth Golems and ran at him.
"Got you," He grinned victoriously and stood up as Libon approached. Libon realized he'd fallen into Paley's trap too late as he covered his arm in rock and punched Libon in the chest. He grabbed his head right after with his other hand and slammed it into one of the pillars of metal before jumping away.
"Sandwich," Paley panted and a magic circle appeared fifty meters above Libon. Next, a pillar of Earth fell from it, and another pushed Libon up.
"Strength Max!" Libon screamed in terror as the two pillars sandwiched him, crushing some of his bones. Strength Max was his strongest spell, making his body reach far past its limits to the point where it injures itself.
"Paley!" The teacher screamed.
"He isn't dead!" Paley shouted as Libon jumped off the disintegrating pillars toward him, roaring like an animal, "Come at me!" Paley held his hands out as if he was going to perform a spell. "Oh, you idiot," He smirked and stepped out of the way, letting Libon fly towards a spike of Earth. Libon's roar turned into a scream of pure terror, but inches before he was impaled by the spike, he was silenced and thrown off course by a simple finishing punch from an arm of earth.
He crashed into one of the archways and landed on the floor. He lay there, hanging onto consciousness with pain shooting all around his body. The Max Strength spell made his muscles enter a state of hypertrophy, making them extremely sore. That, accompanied by the damage Paley did to him, was unbearable.
About twenty-five minutes had passed since the duel began and he tried to keep fighting. Paley couldn't help but respect that slightly.
"I... won't..." Libon struggled, crawling pathetically towards Paley, who rested against the pillar, catching his breath.
"I won't lose!" He shouted, his speech impeded by his broken jaw. The only thing numbing the pain and keeping him awake was the adrenaline in his body.
"You just did," Paley said weakly. He created artificial legs with Earth magic, and stumbled over to him, "You're at 20 points. I'm at 12." He punched the helpless Libon in the head hard, "14." He said and punched him again,
"16. 18. 20. 22!" He could've stopped there but continued punching Libon's head, "24! Never touch Amasha or any of my family again.
26! Never so look at a woman the wrong way.
28! Do not dare to call Dillie a slut.
30... I don't really have a reason for that one apart from you're a piece of shit." He stood up, leaving Libon unconscious on the ground. As the thirty minutes elapsed, the crowd stared at Paley in silent disbelief. He stood weakly yet so powerfully and victoriously.
"The duel is over!" The teacher exclaimed, "Paley wins!" He couldn't help but laugh. Everyone broke out into a massive cheer and ran to him as the cage lowered.
"Paley! Paley! Paley!" They chanted and threw him into the air.
'Let go of me! I've got holes in my legs!' Paley couldn't find the strength to yell at them. But luckily, his legs were still covered in rock, keeping them safe from the crowd.
"Paley!" Madella, crying, waded through the children and hugged him, "We have to get you to a doctor."
"No..." He struggled as he held onto her, "Healing Magic doesn't... work on me..." he said before passing out in her arms.