"Hello, everyone. I'm Julian, your teacher today." A man introduced himself in front of several students. "And this is Vega, my companion." He then introduced the purple-haired woman next to him.
"Hello, everyone. I'm glad to see fresh faces here. Eager faces to follow your passion." Vega continued the opening. She started walking among the rows of students. "Being a fighter is special. You can protect yourself as well as those closest to you. Who knows? You might become the savior of the world." She slipped into a joking tone at the end of her sentence, which elicited laughter from her students. "Whatever your reasons are here, we promise to make you the best fighter so you can right wrong," she added.
"Yeah, that's right. We won't only learn how to fight but also why we should fight. This is important because we, Astrix students, won't become criminals in self-defense or helping people," continued Julian. "We won't allow that to happen."
"And, of course, there are sanctions for anyone violating that." Vega continued as if they were talking at each other.
Carl had a hard time swallowing his saliva. That sounded like a serious threat—or was it. However, he could understand it. Choices always come with consequences. If he chose this path, he must do it for good. The real goodness.
"Do you understand?" Julian asked aloud.
"Yes!" all students answered in unison.
"Then let's start the class. I want to see your initial abilities to know where to teach each of you. We'll have a duel against us."
Instantly, there were whispers all over the place. They obviously didn't expect to have to do it on the first day.
"You can choose what kind of duel you want. Whatever you feel that you can do it better."
Suddenly silence. There was doubt on the students' faces. Inevitably, they would lose against him. It was a suicide task, right?
"Don't be afraid. We won't scold you or kick you out of school if you lose. After all, there's no losing or winning for a fighter. There's only self-control." Vega emphasized and motivated the students to dare to go forward.
"You'll have your turn, anyway. So go ahead," said Julian impatiently.
However, there was no change. Students still stood in place.
"Okay. If no volunteer goes forward, I'll choose randomly. I'll start with-"
Before Julian could finish his sentence, one student raised his hand and said, "I'll take the first turn."
All the students turned to him. Apparently, it was the guy telling Carl and his friends to be quiet before the ceremony started.
"Good! You did a great job taking the first turn."
The guy and his companion walked forward. Right in front of Julian, they stopped.
"What's your name?"
"Darren," Darren replied curtly.
"I'm Irvin." And he was his companion.
"So, what duel do you want to do?"
"Run."
Darren seemed to press the pause button by his sentence. All silent.
Julian was the same. He tilted his head while questioning his hearing. "Sorry. Running?" he asked for sure.
"Yes. You said I could choose anything." Darren answered flatly, as flat as his expression.
"Yes. Yes." Julian started to regain his sanity. "You can choose anything, including running. But this won't be a normal running duel. We will race, and who can reach the finish line at any cost wins. Do you understand?"
Darren nodded in agreement.
"Okay. We'll start the duel."
Students were asked to step aside and stand on the sidelines because the field was used for the game. That was about the length of a football field.
"Are you ready?" asked Julian when the preparations were complete. The start and finish lines were there, and he and Darren were already in position.
"Yes." Darren always answered curtly. Apparently, he was the type to get to the point and didn't like small talk.
"We'll start in three, two, one. Start!" shouted Vega.
Darren and Julian shot past the starting line. They ran as fast as they could.
But suddenly, a light appeared in front of Darren, then a hole appeared precisely one step in front of him so he couldn't dodge. He fell. Meanwhile, Julian was still running with a satisfied smile.
It turned out that this was what he meant by not an ordinary running duel. Anything could be done, including blocking the path using companion magic, to get to the finish line. It certainly wouldn't be interesting if it was an ordinary running duel, right?
Luckily, Darren wasn't hurt because the hole wasn't deep. He immediately got up to continue his run.
Meanwhile, Irvin returned to Vega's actions by weighing Julian's shoes to make it difficult for him to walk. But, Vega moved quickly to erase it.
The trivial trick continued throughout the running duel. They used magic to create barriers, such as wind, rain, sand, and more. And each party tried its best to prevent and eliminate it.
And finally, after five long minutes, the duel was over. The winner was as expected. Julian.
Yeah, who could beat the combination of Julian and Vega? Students at their level certainly couldn't do that.
But that was not the point of the duel, was it? It was not about winning or losing. It was about testing students' abilities.
"Good job, Darren!" said Julian with a big smile. "You guys worked really well together. That was a great start," he added.
Julian then turned to look at the other students. "You may see me and Darren doing nothing but running, and the companions seem to work a lot. But, behind that, there's cooperation. I couldn't have won without Vega's help." He explained. "In summary, you must trust each other. If one struggles to do something, the other must help the other. That way, you and your companion will become the greatest team," he concluded.
The rest listened to his explanation in silence. At least, through a duel, they could directly observe each other's role and practice it in their relationship.
"So, who wants to be next?"
Dex raised his hand excitedly. While Thomas was surprised and slightly cursed his decision. Their cooperation was still far from Darren and Irvin's. They would only display their absolute defeat in a humiliating manner.
"Okay. Come forward."
Hearing that, Thomas had no other choice. He and Dex came forward.
"What do you want?"
"I want a normal duel." Dex was excited to say it.
Thomas could only swallow his saliva. That was the worst because they would lose even faster than the previous running duel.