'Joshua didn't have time to prepare. I should be able to stop him before he reaches me.'
Paul was in a state of contemplation. Having so many ideas but so little time.
He entered the ring.
Marcus stood in the middle.
"Oscar, you ready?"
"Yeah"
"Ready, Paul?"
"Huh? Yeah, yeah I am."
"Alright, sta..!!"
A second before Marcus could say start, Paul had already begun casting his spell, aiming to shoot down Oscar prior to his movement.
Paul's spell-casting was a bit faster and stronger than that of Joshua. Oscar still moved forward, heading straight for the bolt.
'My spell is complete. I only need to aim but he's heading for the bolt.' Paul smiled, thinking of Oscar's move as an act of blatant buffoonery.
Paul raised his right hand holding the bolt above his head, then he threw it, aiming at Oscar's face.
Oscar was fast, but he still wasn't at a range close enough to throw a punch without getting blasted in the face.
So he switched his move, tilting his head first, then his body to the side, placing his left hand on the ground. He raised his right leg and kicked his opponent on the temple (side of the skull), knocking him out in one hit.
Paul dropped on the spot, totally unconscious.
Sarah shivered while Myra facepalmed at the underhanded move made by Paul which failed successfully.
Standing upright once again, Oscar asked: "is there anyone else?"
No one answered.
Sarah held an expression of caution. 'There's no way I could beat him, no matter how hard I tried.' Now, she was sure of it. Oscar was not someone to be trifled with.
*******
"Okay then, I'm done here."
"Oscar wait!"
"Marcus, you've already seen the way I fight. I'm no mage, I can't cast spells. The academy is not for me."
"But you have been able to use mana long before we did. We've just learned it for how long? A month? You on the other hand have been using it for years."
"It doesn't matter..."
"Why?"
"I can't channel it into spells. I can't even control it past my arms or legs. I need to forge my own path and that does not include going to the academy."
"Haa, I always thought of you as my rival." Marcus sighed feeling deflated.
"I still am. I want you to promise me something."
"What is it?"
"That you will be the strongest earth mage this kingdom has ever had." Oscar's eyes glimmered in expectation.
"I will, definitely. When that time comes, we'll spar." Marcus assured Oscar with a grinning expression.
"Haha, sure thing." Oscar smirked.
"Enough with the bromance. Oscar let's go." Myra interjected.
"But Myra, I didn't give you my response yet."
"No, you did. You just didn't know when."
"What response?" Marcus and Anya asked simultaneously.
"Don't worry about it. It's just something we didn't agree on during the holidays." Oscar said responding to Marcus in a vague manner.
"We're finalizing it now." Myra replied.
"Let's head to my place first. I need to get my stuff."
"Alright, let's go."
Anya, Sarah and Marcus were puzzled by the conversation between Oscar and Myra.
"Is there something going on between them that we don't know?" Sarah inquired.
"Marcus, you went to see Oscar during the holidays, did you notice anything eye-catching?" Anya posed the question.
"Your question seems out of context." Marcus replied to Anya.
"What do you mean?"
"Are you interested in their relationship or are you interested in Oscar?"
"No, I was just showing concern."
"Concern?"
"Forget I asked."
And the trio decided to leave, separately.
However, they forgot about Paul who was still in the ring, lying unconscious.
*****
Oscar and Myra entered the portal linked to the Lane province. As they reached the Lane province they took a carriage ride to Oscar's place.
While in the carriage, Oscar initiated a conversation with Myra.
"How did you know I would accept your proposal?"
"It's simple really. You are in search of knowledge, the knowledge you seek to heal and improve yourself is not unorthodox."
Myra said displaying a meaningful gaze.
"How do you mean?"
"What you can do, how you use your powers, does not conform to the customary ideology of magic."
"So?"
"So, to solve your peculiar problem you need an unconventional method. Which is where I come in."
"Hmm, peculiar problem you say..."
"Is it not?"
"I won't disagree with that. I've informed my parents beforehand about my departure from the province."
"How did they take it? Well or..."
"How else would they take it? They knew I would need to find a way to resolve this problem. They just didn't know where."
"Hmm, makes sense."
"There's one person I haven't broken the news to, my younger brother."
"How close are you two."
"Let's just say he looks up to me, he thinks I'm perfect."
"Really?"
"Yeah, the time I failed my awakening test. He was extremely upset."
"That's understandable, you are his role model after all."
"I wanted to go and speak with him during that period, but I didn't know what to say or how to convince him that I was okay."
"Because you weren't."
"Exactly, but he spared me the trouble and came to my room instead.I was in a better mood at that time, having talked with my mom, and deciding to move past the situation."
"What did your brother do?"
"My little brother always surprised me with his antics."
"That's understandable he's a little kid."
"Well that day, my view on him as a child changed a bit."
"Come on, say it, what did he do?" Myra asked in a slightly impatient tone.
"He came to my room, should I say, he offered his opinion. In his words, he said: big bro, you are the smartest person I know, I will always look up to you, that will never change. Some guys said rubbish about you when you failed the test, so I beat them up. I know you will get stronger. If it's not tomorrow, then maybe the day after or the year after. Even if it takes too long. I'll grow strong enough to defend you from those dunderheads who want to spoil your name."
"Hmm, how did you feel?"
"I was stunned."
"Because he said dunderhead?"
"..."
"I'm kidding, how old is your brother again?"
"He's eight."
"It's nice having a brother like that."
"Until he gets annoying. He's a good boy though." Oscar said with a bright smile.
*****
At the gate of the Manor, there were two guards that were just recently recruited to serve as gatekeepers for the outer gate at the Lane Ducal house. Both of them were fire mages at syne-two, assigned to take the afternoon shift.
"Hey Patrick, have you seen the 'failure' yet?" A tall, red-haired guy said while smoking.
"Lower your voice Keith, do you want to get us suspended on the first day of work?" A short, brown-haired youth retorted. Scrunching his face up at the smell of the cigar his colleague was smoking.
"Just saying…"
"While you are at it, could you put out the cigar too, it's against the rules to engage in such activities while on guard duty."
"Why are you being so uptight, did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed today?"
"I'm not uptight, you are just looking for a way to put us in trouble today. It's like you just wish to get fired."
"…"
"Now, please put it out."
"Ugh…fine."
"Thank you."
"Now as I said…"
"Nope, don't start with this shit again."
The thing was, after the awakening ceremony, different reactions to the result of Oscar were garnered, especially from the fire mages who saw great prospects in the young boy. The reactions, being mostly negative, all died down months later as Oscar faded from the limelight and the emergence of another young prodigy called Zahad.
There were people at the Manor who still respected Oscar there were also people that felt he was a disappointment to his family. For example, the guard Keith, who even though he never met the boy, held a feeling of contempt against him. To him, a boy born into so much wealth, having powerful parents having only the best of anything available and still ending up as a non mage, that was a waste.
While the guards were bickering, Oscar and Myra showed up in a carriage. Before the guards could ask any questions Oscar peeked his head out of the carriage.
"You guys should be the new gatekeepers, I'm Oscar Lane, the son of the Duke."
They were stunned for a moment, both having different reasons for their surprise. One, not believing the boy could still exude an aura of superiority over them, the other just being surprised. They quickly recovered, bowed their heads and opened the gates.
While the carriage was passing through, Keith looked at the carriage and audibly murmured the word: "trash."
This didn't go unheard.
"Stop the carriage."
"..."
"You can go on, I'll be there in a bit."