||A duel between Orpheus and Marios, officiated by Mr. Stylianos will be held in the next five minutes||
||Those interested should please make their way to the dueling arena for the match||
The announcement sounded twice in everyone's ear around the academy, igniting a very huge uproar between the academy personnel, staff and students.
"Whoa dude, did I hear wrong?"
"It's the late bloomer versus Marios; I have to see this mate"
"What's so important about this match anyways?"
"I guess you don't know yet. Marios has always bullied the late bloomer. However, the former beat up the latter while in the second berserk stage. Perhaps, this duel is to settle the score"
"It's going to be a one-sided battle. I heard that Marios just recently became a low-level advanced magus while Orpheus is still a low-level junior magus"
"Only one way to find out. At the arena"
…
In the weapons room, Mr. Stylianos dropped the axe he was cleaning immediately after hearing the announcement.
"Why in fate's name is it me? What happened to the others" he yelled to no one in particular "And in Orpheus that stupid to fight someone two level above him?"
He then left the room while grumbling in frustration
…
Three minutes after the announcement, the dueling arena was bustling with both junior and senior students of the academy. The arena looked like a large stadium with a large space and a risen platform in the middle.
"Whoa! I haven't seen or heard of a duel in the academy in ages"
"Yeah. After the last incident, people seemed to stop issuing duel challenges"
"What incident are you talking about?"
"Later. They are about to enter the battle stage"
"Ahem," Mr. Stylianos stepped onto the platform in the arena "May the two dueling participants step up?"
Marios walked up to Mr. Stylianos with his spear in hand, earning a large amount of ovation from the crowd. Before Orpheus could walk towards the stage, he was stopped by Andrian.
"Orpheus, are you really sure about this?"
"Never been more sure," Orpheus replied with a smile on his face "Relax, this is going to turn out well"
"Okay, if you say so" Andrian nodded
"Hey Orpheus," Marios yelled out to him "having second thoughts?"
"Gotta go" Orpheus rushed to the stage, getting loud boos from the crowd
"Now that they are present, let me introduce them officially" Mr. Stylianos said, "We have Orpheus, low-level junior magus versus Marios, low-level advanced magus.
The rules are as follows; in the event where your opponent is no more able to fight, do not attack or you'll lose the match. If you are pushed off the stage thrice, you'll lose the duel. And lastly, you can only win this duel if and only if your opponent is no longer able to participate, accepts defeat, or pushed off the stage
If y'all understand, take your places" Mr. Stylianos said
Orpheus and Marios walked to opposite sides of the stage and took their battle stances
"Ready?" Mr. Stylianos stared at both of them for affirmation before bringing it down "Begin!"
Marios immediately disappeared from his position, leaving a small crater where he stood and appeared before Orpheus, thrusting his spear at his chest.
~What speed~ Orpheus eyes widened in shock as he shifted his head sideways, barely dodging the spear.
"Heh, you have pretty good instincts to be able to dodge that attack. But I'll see how you fare against this one" Marios smirked and raised his spear above his head, coating it with fire and lightning
~Are you friggin' kidding me?~ Orpheus panicked and hurriedly took out his chained blades before coating it with fire
"Take this!" Marios threw the spear at Orpheus while running behind it
~Ya know, I'm starting to think accepting this duel was a really bad idea ~ Orpheus' eyebrows twitched in fear
[Raise a fire wall you idiot]
Orpheus inhaled in air and stabbed his blades into the ground. In a split second, a wall of fire rose from the ground, stopping the spear in mid-air
"That was only a decoy, fool" Marios appeared before Orpheus and punched him, sending him flying, making the audience to cheer
"Hahaha. This truly is a one-sided battle"
"The late bloomer will have to learn his lesson"
"What is he doing?"
[Orpheus, you're leaving the stage!]
"Huh?" Orpheus opened his eyes and found himself airborne "Oh shit!"
Wings, made of fire, suddenly appeared on his back, propelling him back to the centre of the stage.
"Elemental beast transformation?" Mr. Stylianos gasped inn surprise "When and where did he learn it?"
Meanwhile, the sudden appearance of wings left the audience with fallen jaws
"Hehehe, he picked my wing" Tana chuckled
"I admit you're good. But I refuse to believe that you have more tricks" Marios sneered
The area around Orpheus suddenly became heavy, making him to fall to the ground without being able to move
"Whoa, he can also use gravity" someone in the audience gasped loudly "I heard it's a very rare element nowadays"
"Seriously? Man, Marios is damn rich"
"I'm beginning to envy him a little"
"Orpheus!" Mr. Stylianos yelled, "do you concede?"
Orpheus tried to stand up but immediately fell flat on the face once more
"Orpheus!" Aella yelled from below the stage with a little concern in her voice
"Oh, is she your girlfriend?" Marios walked towards Orpheus "well I don't think so. If not, you won't give her away that easily"
"Shut up!" Orpheus grunted, barely raising his head form the ground
"Heh, you still have the nerve to talk huh" Marios began to stomp his foot on Orpheus' head repeatedly
"No!" a pink-haired girl screamed from the audience "stop the fight! Orpheus, just concede already!"
"Hmm, the new girl too huh" Marios stared at the direction of the scream. You know, I don't know what they all see in a late bloomer like you. I guess that after I win this duel, I'm going to play with them a little. Your little female bodyguards and the new girl, I mean"
"Leave them out of this" Orpheus mumbled
"Huh? Did you say something?" Marios laughed maniacally while rubbing his foot on Orpheus' head
[Orpheus calm down. You'll go berserk]
~It doesn't matter. I will make him pay!!~ Orpheus' eyes turned orange and the temperature around him increased drastically
"Finally getting serious?" Marios smirked "unfortunately, you still won't be able to touch me"
*Quick sand*
Orpheus began to sink into the ground and the pressure from the gravity pushed him further into the ground until he disappeared completely
"haha, see you later scumbag" Marios laughed loudly
In the meantime, the audience began to protest on seeing the scene before them
"Hey! Mr. Stylianos, stop him"
"Yeah, he can't kill anyone in the dueling arena"
"This truly is not good"
"He deserves it though. He was a fool to accept a duel from someone two levels above him in the first place"
"Like you're better off than him. If Marios were to challenge you, will you have the confidence to accept it?"
"Whatever, he was behaving cocky after awakening the dark element"
"By the way, when did he get the fire element?"
"Quiet everyone!!" Mr. Stylianos said "By virtue of Orpheus no longer being able to participate in the duel, I hereby declare Marios the…"
BOOM!
A large pillar of fire rose from the ground where Orpheus had sank, shooting up into the sky, turning it red.
"What the…" Mario's smug-looking face turned into one of utter shock
The temperature of the fire pillar was so high that the area around it was immediately turned into lava. A while later, the pillar dissipated, revealing Orpheus with a black scythe in his left hand and a white one in his right hand
"I'll make you regret ever mentioning their names," he growled
"You think you can beat me because of this little makeover? Dream on, man" Marios took his stance again
"We'll see" Orpheus disappeared from his position