Defeating the dark skinned man shot Clifford into limelight in the academy. The fact that he wasn't enrolled yet made other students, Masters of various groups and the teachers of the academy to consider him a frightening talent. Clifford was surprised at how fast the news travelled. At the same time, he didn't want this, he only wanted to have a duel. He didn't know it would escalate this much.
On his way back to the hotel, he saw people look at him and whisper to each other when he passed them by. He knew they were definitely talking about the duel.
"Maybe I should stop wandering around the academy for some time," he thought. The tournament is still a few days away.
Clifford got back to the hotel, he immediately sat down in his suite to start meditating and cultivating. His duel with the dark skinned man was pretty tough and it benefitted Clifford a lot. He gained more control over his mana and he was getting closer to a breakthrough to the intermediate rank. Clifford felt like he was progressing too fast in his cultivation so he decided to wait a while in the basic rank. He wanted to have a very solid foundation at this early stage of his cultivation.
Having a very solid foundation would help him to go really far in his cultivation and path of magic. If he took things too quickly by progressing too fast, his cultivation might get stuck in the future.
He could feel his breakthrough reaching the bottleneck but he suppressed it.
After meditating for a while, he left his suite to have a short walk in the city's park and breath in some fresh natural air. After walking for a while, he saw Benson Byers under a tree with a young woman. He didn't want company so he tried to avoid him, he wanted to take a break from anybody related to the academy. Unfortunately for Clifford, Benson saw him.
"Hey mate!!" Benson shouted and waved at Clifford."
Clifford shook his head lightly, he saw Benson and the Young woman walking up to him.
Benson gave Clifford a big hug. "You're now f*cking famous in the academy mate!!" Benson exclaimed.
"How did you defeat that dark skinned guy? You're frightening my brother. You're the new favorite of all the girls in the academy, I'm taking you as my mentor... you're....
"Shut the hell up Ben, you could've at least acquainted me to your friend before you start ranting! The young woman was offended.
"I'm sorry....my bad," Benson said while scratching the back of his head. "Clifford, meet my twin sister Ada."
"Pleased to meet you," Clifford stretched out his hand, he took Ada's hand and kissed it with a sweet smile on his face. Ada was a cute and adorable young woman, she had her blonde hair tied into a ponytail, she had a delicate face like those from the fairy tales. Her small body frame and puffed chest would make men go crazy.
She wore a red dress to match her stunning lower lip which was painted red.
She returned the greeting with an enticing and sexy smile as well.
"I'm more pleased to meet you Clifford," she said.
Her enticing smile was already doing things to Clifford, he was stunned. The smile made her more beautiful, Clifford could swore she was the most charming woman he had ever seen.
Benson noticed the two and was a bit displeased. "Are you f*ucking flirting with each other in my presence," he grunted.
"Not at all mate, but you've got a sweet sister." Clifford slapped Benson's shoulder slightly before he winked at him.
Ada noticed this and gave a slight laugh.
"You've charmed almost all the girls of the academy with your good look and your strength, now you want to snatch my sister from me?"
"You can't marry your sister mate," Clifford said teasingly.
"F*ck it." Benson spat. "Let's talk about something else.
"Which school would you register for when you get enrolled in to the academy," Ada asked Clifford.
"I can't say yet, probably the shadow school. I'm lagging behind in it. Clifford said. He took Ada's hand gently and they started to walk ahead. Benson was at a loss for words. Just like that, the lovebirds ignored him.
"I need to get my self a babe too." Benson said with determination. "This fucker just charmed my sister," he howled while he followed them dejectedly.
After some time, Clifford departed and left for the hotel. It was already evening when he got there. He went straight for the hotel's cafeteria. He ordered for some sandwiches and a bottle of soda at the serving counter, he got his food and sat by an empty table.
He has already eaten half of his food when someone sat on the chair at the other end of the table. Clifford looked up at the person, it was a young man. He'd probably be a little older than Clifford, he had an aura of confidence around him. He had fine features, silver hair and a broad chest that exuded his masculinity. After Clifford took a glance at the young man, he continued eating his food gently.
"Ahem.....! The young man gave a dry cough to grab Clifford's attention but the latter didn't bother to look at him.
The young man then lifted his legs and crossed them on the table. This infuriated Clifford but he kept his cool. "Don't pick on my nerves." Clifford said with a cold gaze.
The young man chuckled slightly, "do you know who I am?"
"I don't give a damn about who you are." Just remove your filthy legs off the table."
"Ohhh," I'm the son of the owner of this hotel." The young man stretched out his two hands and said in a proud manner.
"I don't give a damn about that either." Clifford said while he maintained his cold indifferent gaze.
The sound of claps reverberated through the cafeteria, the young man was clapping while laughing loudly. " I deeply admire your courage Mr Clifford but you messed with the wrong person." The young man quickly attempted to punch Clifford on the face. Clifford was surprised at how fast the young man was, but he narrowly dodged the punch. Clifford was ready to retaliate when the sound of claps was heard once again, the young man had a gentle smile on his face this time around.
"You've got fast reflexes for a mage of your rank, I heard of your duel in the academy and I'm here to test you my self. Not many people can dodge my punch, you passed. The young man said with a soft smirk.
Clifford was confused but he didn't say anything, he continued eating his food gently. "Trouble always come for me, he shook his head lightly.
"My sister rarely likes men, it seemed she took a liking for you." The young man said. Immediately Clifford heard the young man, he choked on his food.
"Whatever it is that you're thinking, it's not so. There's nothing between us," Clifford replied.
The young man stood up, rested his two hands on the table and brought his face to Clifford's face. "You don't toy with my sister's heart. If you do so, I'll kill you with my bare hands." He threatened.
"You can try," Clifford was not intimidated.
"The young man smirked again. "My name's Thomas Patterson," he offered Clifford a handshake. Clifford hesitated before he took the handshake. He didn't want to get into any trouble but he would not allow anyone to intimidate him.
"Nice meeting you, we get to know each other better in the future," Clifford said. The young man then left the cafeteria. Clifford hasn't had time to process everything that just happened when Dora entered the cafeteria and headed straight for Clifford with a cold smile on her face.
"When do I get a break from these people, Clifford muttered silently. "Could she be so nice to me because she likes me or she had other motives?" He thought carefully.
"Good evening Clifford," Dora greeted. She was wearing a silver dress as usual, this time as a gown. She let her silver hairs draped over her shoulders which made her look more stunning than ever.
Clifford returned the greeting gently before offering her a seat. She never noticed lecherous gazes from Clifford whenever they were together and this always impressed her. She was used to the lustful gazes of men whenever she was in their company.
They discussed for a short while before she proposed what she had came for. "There's a party tonight, an influential man of this city is the host. There would be influential people there, my parents and brother would attend so I'm obliged to attend too."
"That's great, but it had nothing to do with commoners like me,"
"Since you're acquainted to me, you're no commoner anymore. In fact, I've come to ask you to be my man for the occasion." Dora said gently.
Clifford didn't want to attend any party, but he felt indebted to Dora, she has kind of helped him even though he didn't ask for it. He decided to be her man for the occasion. It wouldn't be bad if he was the man of such a beauty for a special occasion.
Clifford stood up and took Dora's hand gently and said in a polite and sweet manner, "shall we go now my dear lady."
This warmed Dora's heart, she gladly stood up and led Clifford out of the cafeteria with their hands cuffed together.
Men in the cafeteria stared at Clifford jealously.