"98… 99… 100!"
Julian panted, collapsing to the floor. Eudora fell along with him, as she was sitting on his back.
"Jeez. You're pretty strong, for a kid."
"When you can't use mana… strength and intelligence are pretty important."
"Hah! A mana-less vessel. One would think I've gone crazy. But I think you're a pretty good choice, no?"
"How am I a… good choice?"
"You're smart. And you're envious."
"Envious?"
"Yeah."
"No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are. I can sense envious feelings. You're envious of a lot of things. Your peers' strength, your peers' relationships."
"…"
"I don't blame you. You're extremely unlucky. To be born without the ability to use mana? Sheesh. I would've ended my life if I was you."
"You're not… helping. And get off me!"
"My apologies!"
Eudora got off Julian's back, allowing him to finally get up. Julian was indeed getting stronger, which could be shown by his physique.
"Ack.."
He stretched.
"Put your shirt on. Classes are starting soon. Good luck!"
Before he knew it, Eudora was gone. He was stuck, alone in his apartment. And as she said, classes were starting soon.
He washed off as quickly as he could and got ready, putting his clothes on. Despite his haste, it was not enough.
"This is the third time you've been late, Mr. Thorne."
Mr. Gilgolor tapped his clipboard, sighing. Julian looked around nervously, looking for an excuse.
Would it be best for him to just tell the instructor that he was being worked to death, trained till he was senseless?
Maybe Eudora would get into some big trouble if I did say something like that.
"I woke up late. I apologize, sir."
"You've said that too many times. I guess you'll have to be disciplined."
"Eh?"
"Arum Hikho, you'll be dueling your classmate Julian for the rest of the period."
'Arum Hikho… why does that name sound familiar?'
The boy in question walked in front of Julian, yawning with slight arrogance. His hair was dark brown with some light brown highlights here and there. His eyes were a soft blue, the light kind.
He stopped yawning, and quickly changed into a more kind face, with a welcoming smirk.
His uniform was different from Julian's.
'He must be in the student council. Like that Gervem guy.'
Julian picked up a wooden sword, along with Arum.
'I guess this class is good. Physically, I'm improving, but my swordsmanship is somewhat lacking.'
"Go!"
Julian charged at him.
Swsh!
He sliced my sword at him. Or so he thought.
He had only been cutting at the air.
Arum's sword was already pointed at Julian's back.
"It's your loss."
He spoke so lackadaisically, without any care.
Even someone as unskilled as Julian could tell.
'This guy… he's the real deal.'
. . .
. .
.
(Cafeteria)
"Hey, Ian. Do you know anybody named Arum?" Julian asked, taking a bite out of his chicken.
"Arum? Of course, I know him. He's a part of the student council. He's also extremely skilled with swordsmanship."
"Extremely skilled?"
"Like, a child prodigy of Sar."
"Wow…"
"They say he wields his sword the way a poet wields his pen. Why, did you see him?"
"Yeah. I had to duel him, as a punishment. He was so fast, I couldn't even tell what happened. It was over before it even began."
"That sounds like him."