With a heavy sigh, the geeky guy changed the crystal to a new one so I could re-measure my mana-pool.
And as expected, it displayed my mana-count of 846 again, Mr. Ito even confirmed the number himself this time in order to try and calm down Kaori, who's still in disbelief:
"H-How is this possible…"
"Now that everybody knows I didn't cheat, what happens next? My mana-pool is confirmed to be over 800, can I just automatically be promoted to wood [III]? Or do I still have to fight against Mr. Wyatt?"
Mr. Wyatt comes up to me and answers:
"I guess ya can still fight me if you want, otherwise we'll just directly promote you to wood [II]. You're mana-pool is impressive, but we can't promote you to the third class unless ya show us something amazing during the mock battle… Ya did saw my fight with that Yuma kid right? Ya could get seriously hurt if you're not prepared…"
"Thanks for the warning professor, but I would like to try my luck anyways. I have a couple of friends waiting for me in the wood [III] class."
"I like yer attitude kid."
Everyone looks a bit shocked that I dared to challenge Mr. Wyatt. Even Yuma, who has the knight-talent, could just barely graze him.
I was about to walk to my corner of the arena in order to start the duel, but I guess Kaori just can't keep his damn mouth shut:
"T-This is unfair!! Y-You're only allowed to fight Mr. Wyatt if your mana-pool is between 500 and 800, but somehow your mana-pool is above the upper limit! So you can't fight him! AH-HA!"
Mr. Ito interjects:
"That upper limit was only introduced because we didn't expect someone from the wood [I] class to have a mana-count above 800, it's not like we haven't changed the upper or lower limits before."
"I DON'T CARE! THOSE WERE THE RULE YOU SET FOR US!"
Urgh, he's really desperate, he doesn't even care about his image… Or maybe this won't impact it much? Does rich and powerful dad outweigh annoying dick?... Sadly enough, it probably does…
Anyways, let's just get on with this exam:
*SIGH* "Alright then Kaori, who do you suggest I fight? Surely not your dad right? I know he normally cleans up after all your messes, but I don't think he's a teacher here?"
That seemed to piss him off:
"Don't talk shit about my dad unless you want a public execution, you peasant! Did you forget he's a powerful figure in the golden lions guild! I was going to suggest you fight Mr. Nakamura, the instructor of the silver class. He's the instructor directly above Mr. Wyatt, it only makes sense that you have to fight him."
He can't be serious right? Mr. Wyatt would already pose a great challenge for me, wouldn't the instructor of the silver class be even more powerful?
I look at the instructors on the field for someone with a shred of sanity left, but Mr. Ito simply has his head down and Mr. Wyatt just looks really frustrated. Even the crowd doesn't protest the obvious bullshit that's going on, except for a few cries from Fudo, Lance and Juniper… They're probably afraid of his dad, I already noticed that the teachers are especially wary of Kaori…
Fine, guess I'll fight that Nakamura guy… Wait, Nakamura… Wasn't he the guy who discriminated against Juniper for being from Russia? At least I have a reason to beat him up now, especially since Juniper is watching. Still, I won't just accept his proposal without taking advantage of this opportunity first…
"Alright, I'll fight him. On one condition, if I can knock him down, I'll be directly promoted to the bronze class! How about that? Seems fair to me."
"Hmpf sure, not like it matters. You couldn't even touch him if you trained for a thousand more years. Ha-ha-ha!"
Right as Kaori is finished maniacally laughing, a green haired, dainty-looking fellow with glasses that was sitting next to him suddenly stands up. He seems to be around his 30s?
He elegantly walks towards the arena and stops right before my nose, presumably in an attempt to intimidate me. It didn't really work though, in part because of his feminine looks and the fact that he's about 10 centimeters shorter than me. I guess this is supposed to be Mr. Nakamura…
"Hmpf! I'll only stoop this low and fight a wood student such as yourself because young master Kaori asked, you should feel honored, plebian."
Oh god, this guy talks in an even more annoying manner than Kaori. I didn't know that was possible!
I've got no real reason to respond to his provocations, but the following lines will be a small payback for Juniper:
"Even if you base your entire career and self-worth on pleasing the arrogant child of a rich father, it won't stop your hairline from receding~"
"Hmpf! We'll see if you can still make jokes like that when your face is pressed into the soil of this arena."
Wow, I expected him to be a bit more flustered, but to my surprise he kept up his elegant manner of speech. At least he's a bit more composed than Kaori, it's honestly just too easy to get under that guy's skin.
We both take our place opposite from each other in the arena and stand there while the referee counts down. Thoughts and doubts are racing through my head.
"3!..."
For this mock battle, I decided to not use my water cutter cartridge, it'll just draw too much attention. It's probably the first ever offensive water magic after all… Besides, this is a mock duel, I don't have to play all my cards yet.
"2!..."
Instead, my loadout consists of: 'clay hide', 'after image', 'shadow steps' and 'explosion'. It's pretty decent, maybe a bit too much emphasis on movement…
"1!..."
Explosion is a pretty powerful yet cheap offensive magic, I just hope it'll be enough to take down Mr. Nakamura…
"START!"