It was the day after the grading, Mason would now officially be one of the two best students in the year.
It was like that... But nobody actually accepted it.
''That kid definitely got carried in the Dungeon, it's not possible for a nobody to be as strong as a princess. That isn't how this world works.'' Some student said to his friends.
Mason walked by the group the moment he said it and overheard, but he decided they were just jealous and they weren't worth his time.
He had just finished his daily classes and he was quite bored. Sure, he could go and train relentlessly, but he didn't see the merit in it.
Even if he had upgraded his overall talent with the Mana Flower, it was still quite garbage. If he didn't have the System he wouldn't have even been a Mage.
'I wish there were more exciting events in a school year. It might be handy to have knowledge about a lot of stuff, but isn't finding out yourself during adventures more fun?' Mason thought.
As he was strolling down the hallways of the Academy he walked past a face he knew by now, Harry.
''Hey, Harry! Congratulations on getting second place in the Expedition!'' Mason tried his best to make new friends.
Harry didn't mind speaking to Mason a little bit since he knew it could be handy to make connections with the 'strongest student'
''Thanks, you did even better though! Congratulations.'' He answered.
''I got lucky, that's all.'' Mason tried to be humble, not that it worked.
He clearly had a look on his face that was the embodiment of arrogance, although he himself would call it confidence.
''I didn't know you were that strong man, you should've told me! I would have invited you to my squad!'' Mason said.
In reality, Harry wasn't strong alone. But he was very experienced.
He had great teamwork with his squad mates, and he could move based off of them to get the greatest advantage in a fight.
Harry was also a master of sneak-attacks, but this was something he never let anybody know.
''Me and my squad worked hard! Anyways I'm on my way to the duelling grounds, I still have a lot to learn after all.'' Harry cut the conversation short.
''Alright man, I'll leave you be in that case. See ya!''
After Harry had left, Mason started thinking to himself.
'Duelling grounds... Maybe I should go there too, I have nothing to do anyways.'
And so, Mason started making his way towards the duelling fields. He would be observing first, he wanted to know what level the average student was at.
*clang* *thunk*
''Come on Harry! You got him!''
Mason heard all kinds of people yelling at the ongoing fights, it seemed Harry already started fighting too.
He was here to spectate average students however, Harry was above their level. He decided to go to places with the least spectators.
After walking around for a bit he found the perfect fight.
Two students he didn't know anything about, and nobody was watching. Everything they did looked off to him.
Whether it was their inefficient movements, or their usage of magic. It didn't look quite right to him.
'System, could you tell me their levels?'
[They are both level 16, Host]
'Hmm... 16...'
'It seems the average level is pretty low compared to me, but I think even talented students like Allan should only be level 30 right now.'
'I'm a genius after all' Mason chuckled to himself.
Mason kept watching as he tried to see what he would do if he were the one fighting instead, this was also a good way to improve.
''Alright, I'm bored of watching, let me try this for myself.''
Mason started walking towards the place where you had to sign up for a duel, it was a small tent.
''Uhm, hello?'' Mason asked as he saw nobody inside.
Just as he said that, a familiar face walked into the tent.
''Oh, who do we have here? If it isn't Mason White.''
Mason recognized the voice immediately, it was the mysterious teacher that disliked him from the very moment they first met.
''Can I register for a duel here? I feel like fighting someone, don't worry, I'll hold back.'' Mason said.
''You won't be needing to hold back, you'll be fighting Harry Duscan.'' The teacher said to him.
The teacher also believed Mason was carried by the princess in the Dungeon, he would bet on it.
'This kid is too arrogant, thinking he is better than everybody in the grade just because he finished in first place by luck.'
Mason was thinking about how Harry would be fighting already.
'He's pretty strong, right? I won't ask the System about his details, that way I can train better.'
Mason started making his way to the arranged platform for his duel.
He arrived there first and he had to wait for a minute or five before Harry finally arrived.
''It seems we'll be fighting each other faster than we thought!'' Mason said excitedly.
''I wish you luck, Mason'' Harry said with confidence.
The referee of the match had arrived too, he would step in if it got too dangerous for one of them. He would also be deciding who won.
''Start!'' The referee yelled out.
Harry dashed towards Mason instantly as Mason defended with his sword.
'I should try to improve my sword skill instead of my magic, it's starting to lag behind.'
Harry was very fast, it was because he was boosting his speed with wind magic. Wind magic was very versatile, as you can attack and defend with it.
Harry conjured a strong wind behind him and shot himself forward with immense speed, this was a risky attack because he couldn't stop himself if he wanted to.
Mason decided to dodge, he wasn't confident in blocking an attack like that.
He underestimated the speed of the attack however, it grazed his chest as he started bleeding slightly.
They kept fighting like this for 3 entire minutes, with Mason being on defence the whole time.
'I'm getting bored, my attacks with the sword can't reach him since he's so fast. Also, shouldn't he be tired soon?'
Mason decided he would start using magic now.
Harry conjured a small tornado, much like the one Jacob had used in his match against the teacher. It was just a whole lot weaker.
''Ice Domain''
Mason used Ice Domain as the entire surroundings froze up, he dodged the small tornado.
''Ice Lance''
Mason used Ice Lance once, thinking it would be enough to seal the deal.
Harry dodged it easily with his monstrous speed, he was starting to pant and was slowing down.
The disadvantage of moving around with wind magic, you get tired, fast.
Mason had limited options since he didn't want to expose his space magic.
''Ice Golem''
Mason used Ice Golem to limit the movement area of Harry, he had thought up another brilliant plan.
''Ice Wall''
''Ice Wall''
''Ice Wall''
''Ice Wall''
He spammed Ice wall all around Harry, who was now stuck between the walls, the golem, and him.
''Ice Wave''
After restricting his movements, he used his largest attack. This way Harry could never escape getting hit.
''Damn, How much Mana do you have?!'' Harry yelled out frustratedly.
After getting hit, he couldn't get up for a bit since Mason used Freeze on him.
''Ice Lance''
''You can't dodge this one!'' Mason yelled as he was about to fire the Lance at Harry.''
Just before he could fire it he felt a hit in the back of his head. It wasn't Harry, the referee found the attack to be way to dangerous and possibly fatal.
''Mason White wins!'' The referee yelled out.
Mason got up with an annoyed look on his face.
'Did he really have to hit me like that, where'd he even come from?'