"Gods this class seemed longer than the last one!" I groaned as Jane, Iris and I walked out of Baset's lecture hall. As we headed towards the entrance Iris rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"I can't believe you fell asleep during class!" Iris hissed.
"I was up late last night studying. I didn't sleep much besides it was a three hour lecture on the history of steeds." I defended. "I mean every time she called on me to wake me up I knew the answer."
"That was embarrassing! You fell asleep five times!" Iris growled.
"Yeah I admit that was bad…." I muttered.
"No use arguing about it now. It's all over with." Jane said, once again trying to keep the peace between Iris and I.
"Fine!" Iris groaned.
"I'm going to shower then head to the lab." I said as we neared the front door.
"Hey Peasant!" The annoyingly familiar voice shouted from behind me. I froze and groaned just as my hand touched the door.
'He's the last person I want to deal with today.' I thought to myself.
"We can just ignore him." Jane said softly to me.
"Yeah. Though honestly the whole peasant thing is getting pretty tired." Iris added.
"Peasant! Don't you dare pretend you can't hear me!" Damon crowed.
I rolled my eyes and turned around to face him. He was standing by the security desk with his signature cocky look on his face. Astrid and Alberto were standing behind him. Alberto looked as cocky as Damon did with his arms folded across his chest while Astrid looked annoyed at everything.
"The dead could hear your damn squawking Damon. What do you want?" I groaned. Damon scowled at me then paused for a second and smiled. It was a wholly disturbing look that made my skin crawl.
"I'd stuff that attitude if I were you. There are less than three weeks left till we have to present our assignments and after learning some more about that spell Lady Baset said you had I know there is no chance in hell that you can complete it." Damon snickered.
"Just like there is no chance in hell that you can beat Chase?" Iris asked.
"Exactly!" Damon said proudly. Alberto shook his as Damon realized what he just said. "Wait no!"
Iris and I both fell out laughing and gave each other a high-five while Jane turned away as she tried to stifle her laughter. Damon turned bright red and it looked like the vein in his forehead was about to burst.
"Idiot! I can't believe you were dumb enough to fall for that." Astrid groaned as she too shook her head.
"Shut up!" Damon barked at her. She simply shook her head then pushed Damon out of the way.
"If all you planned to do was grandstand DeCharles then move. I have actual business with him." Astrid said. She walked past Damon and approached me. She stopped a few feet in front of me then reached into her back pocket and pulled out a white glove then threw it at my feet. I stared blankly at the glove then back up at her.
"Um…you dropped something…." I said slightly confused. Astrid frowned and pointed at me.
"Chase Kingston I challenge you to a duel!" She exclaimed.
"Say what?" I replied then look back at Jane and Iris. Jane looked worried while Iris looked totally shocked.
"I challenge you to a duel!" Astrid repeated.
"Yeah I heard that, I don't know why you want to duel me." I replied. "If it's because you think I insulted you please know that any and all insults I said were solely pointed at the future lord of ass world over there."
"IT'S ASHWALD!" Damon screeched.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." I said dismissively waving him off.
"It's because of that…" Astrid said pointing to my farm crystal. "…That farm crystal has been the talk of the campus for the last three days. Practically everyone knows about it and you. Word about it has even gotten back to my homeland of England."
"What?!" I exclaimed then looked back to the girls again. "Did you two know about this?"
"Yeah. I found out yesterday when I saw a bunch of students hanging around our dorm when Lady Jane and I went back." Iris replied.
"Everyone of them were interested in you and whether your star crystal was real…" Jane said. She took a pause then sighed. "…they kinda swarmed us when we approached the dorm."
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked.
"Because it wasn't that big of a deal. No one was hurt." Jane said. I groaned and rubbed my head then turned back to Astrid. She looked angry that I had ignored her to talk with Jane and Iris but didn't try to interrupt us.
"That still doesn't explain why you want to duel me." I said.
"The fight in the coliseum was disgraceful. You probably already know that Lady Baset offered my team a deal that if DeCharles manages to defeat you by himself she'd make it so we'd all in up in her class?"
"Yeah. She offered Jane and Iris a deal too. They backed out at the last minute." I said giving them both side eye. Astrid nodded as if she already knew that.
"Indeed. The fight was rigged against you from the start and yet you still found a way to win. As it stands I am disgraced." Astrid said. As she spoke she was very animated with her hands and arms. "As the daughter the earl of Southingham it should have been beneath me to accept such a deal but it wasn't. Which is why I am challenging you: to reclaim my honor and to find out for myself if your win was because luck, the power of your star, or talent."
"I don't have time for that bullshit!" I shouted. Astrid's eyes bulged. Iris snickered and covered her mouth to hide that fact, while Damon and Alberto started laughing. "Sorry I'm going to have to refuse."
"You can't refuse! I'm challenging you to a duel! Your honor as a splicer is at stake here!" Astrid rebutted pointing a long manicured finger at me.
"What honor? Everyone already sees me as a filthy peasant." I replied.
"He has a point…" Alberto said. Astrid shot him a glare then turned back to me.
"Fine! I'll just make you accept the duel!" she snapped.
Astrid stared casting a enchantment sigil. Six swords made out of a golden light appeared above my head and plunged into the earth around me. Chains of light suddenly appear from the handles of the swords and wrapped around me binding me there.
"This is the favored personalized spell of my family: swords of righteous restraints! I'm not letting you leave un…"
Just then the spell shattered. Astrid's mouth dropped, she alternated between staring at me and her hand.
"How? You didn't do anything?" she gasped. Alberto narrowed his eyes at me.
"The same thing happened during our match in the coliseum with my spell. I thought I cast it wrong since I learned it earlier but that wasn't it." Alberto said.
"If you guys are done then we'll be leaving. We have things to do." I said then turned to leave.
"Wait!" Astrid exclaimed.
"Nope!" I exclaimed and pushed the front door open.
"And where do you think you're going?"
I froze when I heard Baset's voice and let the spires door close on me. I turned and saw Baset walking up to Astrid's group, mildly amused look on her face.
'Oh fuck…' I thought.
"We're trying to get back to our dorm so we can research a way for Chase to cast spells." Jane replied adopting her more cold and emotionless persona. "Without a way around this it'll be impossible for us to finish your assignment Lady Baset."
"But the Gauntlet has been throw and a challenge issued. Are you telling me that you are not going to accept?" Baset asked. I scowled at her.
"No! Why should I?" I replied. "For my honor as a splicer? So she can feel better about getting her ass kicked when her team had a advantage? Fuck all of that! If it's not going to help my grade I'm not going to do it!"
"Oh really?" Baset said with a devious smile. Jane, Iris, and I all tensed up.
'I think I just screwed up…' I thought.
"Well then Chase, I'll make it part of your grade. I'll even be so nice as to set up how the duel shall be settled. How does that sound?"
"Like bullshit." I replied.
Baset smirked and walked over to Astrid's glove then knelt down and picked it up. She then grabbed my hand and slapped the glove into my palm before closing my fingers around it.
"I'll have all the preparations ready before our next class." Baset as she turned and walked over to the elevators. "Wear comfortable clothes everyone. We'll be taking a small trip for our next class!"