"I'm betting on you winning, Bael!" Ophelia yelled out, watching Bael fight the masked student with glee. She had already long defeated her opponent.
Bael smirked, knowing that he could just keep doing the same thing over and over again and he would have the upper hand, it seemed the student even though excelling in combat, focused his combat on having the advantage of initial stealth. According to Astram, the stealth magic wasn't too bad for a wizard of his age, so it was most probably his most honed aspect as well.
"Crap, he won't let us go if I lose before he gets here..." The masked student suddenly muttered, his mind wandering elsewhere. Bael took this chance and threw a kick at his shin, using the same two magecraft spells from before.
The student quickly created distance, understanding that clashing wouldn't be in his favor. He wasn't skilled for nothing. What bothered Bael was what he said, but he easily ignored that and kept closing the distance until the student's back hit the wall.
"Laena! Run while he's distracted, I can't have you get your watch taken!" The student suddenly screamed, as the air suddenly seemed hazy around him. The temperature around him was getting higher. Luckily his kinetic spells were useful for whatever the heat meant.
Bael quickly closed the distance, but then the student jumped up high... and kicked off the wall, to the other student that was called Laena. Ophelia quickly got up, surprised.
"An elven name... And he prioritizes her over himself? Peculiar." Bael analyzed that the female student, Laena, seemed to be a half-elf, evident from her human ears paired with her elven name. There are many elves, they weren't important in this day and age anymore ever since the treaty.
It seemed like he was holding off Ophelia, who had previously kept Laena within her sight without stealing her watch. Bael was glad he didn't try to fight the student while they were like that.
"I didn't think you'd use 'that', you know it won't be good for you on the first few days of school right?" Ophelia smiled even while seemingly getting pushed back, blocking his every attack with the side of her rapier.
Suddenly, Ophelia's hair started to float. And her movements became much more swift, after analyzing the changes in both the masked student and Ophelia, it seemed to be much more simple than realized.
'Hm! Who would have thought? His physical rank must be at the bare minimum to use the "Mana Rush" enhancement spell! And her... she's not using any type of spirit magic that moves the wind for her, she's manipulating the wind around herself to assist her movements all while fighting... this world has a lot more to offer than I thought! I had thought this world would be weak after taking a look at you.' Bael ignored the last comment, taking in the confirmation from Astram.
'They really are talented.' Bael thought, reminding himself that he had to make sure to keep his amicable relationship with Ophelia.
But he had something else to do, take the watch from the half-elf. He might as well get rid of hindrances, right?
"What in the- YOU DISGUSTING HUMANS?!" The masked student stopped all of a sudden, letting Ophelia look away to where the sound came from. Bael quickly cocked his head in that same direction.
"You two had ONE JOB! And now I have to clean it up for you?! Truly you can't even deal with two weaklings..." The elf who came through the door shook his head, finally taking a clear look at the two enemies.
Ophelia gave him a taunting smile, one that also indicated that she knew him. The elf's face darkened, gritting his teeth.
"Didn't I rank higher than you in the entrance exam? Fufu, I knew she looked familiar, so since we know each other I didn't take her watch!" She put her hand to her mouth and laughed. Bael noticed the elf taking something out of his pocket.
"Your unfounded arrogance knows no bounds, Ophelia... even though you may have outranked me, I don't have to deal with you myself!" The masked student quickly came to his side and grabbed the thing out of his hand. There were two small marbles, Bael didn't know what they were.
'I've seen something like those before... We called them "Magic Candies", even the mana it's generating seems to be similar. Though the only problem is that sword experts and high-mages usually ate them to boost their mana, I don't think the after-effect would be good on these kids.' Astram was worried for the students, why wouldn't he be? He heard a lot about these boosters and their misuse, he had to put a stop to their distribution to the young mages in the magic tower once!
Luckily there was only one case that caused death, among others like long-term mana exhaustion and extreme insomnia.
"Well, we can't stop them now... This is an extremely disadvantageous situation that I can't just simply turn around." Bael had thought about stopping them, but he couldn't do so right away, with the new threat looming over.
The person in front of him was one of the top ten entrants to the hardest academy in the world to get into. Much like Ophelia. Although she ranked higher, he could see something on her face that looked much like his, she was being careful, being sly.
She taunted him to affect his mental, meaning she didn't have a 100% way to beat him in an entirely fair fight. If your strength is close anything can happen of course.
"What, you're feeding your subordinates candies now? It's probably some type of drug... how disappointing, your esteemed Highness Faelar." She haughtily smirks once again, taunting the now-named Faelar.
The name Faelar came to Bael's mind as a shock. The only young pure-blooded high elf to roam the earth, along with his half-sister which created a shock to the world long ago, being the first high elf and human child. It was said that Faelar although extremely adept at spirit magic, ever since coming to earth has had a problem communing with the spirits of the earth. Probably because of his personality, one article stated.
But it was exactly that, his personality. Why the hell did he come to the academy?! He was a known racist throughout the world, this all started from a young age too! It was said to come from his currently unknown father's side, who probably raised him to be like this before his, very much-known and beloved mother, came to pick him up and show him the human world.
He used to go to school, up until middle school where it got bad enough he needed to be home-schooled. But that didn't matter too much right now, but the still shocked and constantly analyzing Bael... smiled since he now had a great plan.
"Ophelia really? You placed higher than the one above all humans, Faelar? Does that mean he really isn't as talented as a high elf should be... is he even, a real high elf?" Ophelia looked at Bael, stunned. Even she didn't want to aggravate him that much. He had a low temper, and this was a fight that you had to hold back in before the instructors stopped you.
Bael gave a stoic wink to Ophelia, she nodded, almost laughing at his comical appearance.
They both turned serious when two students who were mana-boosted appeared. Especially Ophelia, since both students seemed to be eyeing her specifically.
Faelar on the other hand was eyeing Bael, who stared back with an unwavering poker face. The staring went on for a while until... it all began, at once.
'Just this once, I'll lend you this skill temporarily.' Bael's thoughts were seen through by the old Archmage, he had once again given permission. He didn't know how even without all his skills on the system, he could share this one, but he gave permission anyways.
This skill was... [Allure of Mana]. a passive skill that made your mana more pure, attracting spirits and making it so that unwilling spirits won't attack you. As pure mana reminds them of their originator, the mother of all spirits. Your mana is naturally strengthened.
[EGO factor raised, synchro rate raised. When the temporary skill is released, recoil will occur.]
Bael ignored it and rushed in, knowing his first attack would be through his use of spirits since that would be his first choice with his elven arrogance. And just like he said, flame spirits could be seen moving to his will and begun shooting fireballs at Bael, most getting weaker the closer they got to Bael or missing entirely. Faelar didn't notice this in all his rage, as he thought he was simply dodging or getting lucky.
Using his now purified mana from the passive skill, he started to use a much more powerful kinetic combo. Although using the same two spells from before, the impact could be seen! Although it didn't break any bones, it seemed Bael was pushing this high elf back!
But that was... delusional to say the least. Bael's arm was bleeding, from an attack that should've lessened the recoil.
"Did you truly get arrogant you utter worm?! Of course, I wouldn't overly rely on spirits! It's basic knowledge... that even Earth's spirits are subpar to that of the elven forests! I must at least make use of my own magic, to be a true high elf of esteemed qualities!" It seemed Bael miscalculated Faelar's arrogance.
It seemed his mother's homeschooling actually changed his attitude slightly.