'This is such a chore...'
It was against my best interests to fight her right now.
Thunder had already began gathering around her rapier, and she moved towards me at an inhuman speed.
Barely able to comprehend her speed, I quickly used a blind, and then a confuse.
She was briefly stunned by my attack, and in that moment...
[Joker's Ace]
My magical strength had been significantly increased, and Aria was currently under the effects of confusion.
I placed both of my wrists together and created a ball of light, shooting a beam towards the stunned Aria.
Crash!
She was knocked back into a tree, but she was able to quickly recover.
[Joker's Ace has ended.]
'Hmm... I guess it's not enough.'
"Such pathetic trickery, again?"
A ball of electricity gathered at the tip of her rapier, aimed towards me.
"Alright, wait up, I surrender!"
I put my hands up in a defeated stance.
"..Huh? Wait, our rematch was not supposed to be like this?"
My sudden surrender had immediately caused some confusion stacks to be placed upon her.
"Wait, listen to me for a second. I have a proposal."
Aria looked at me suspiciously before putting her rapier down, dispelling the spirit magic she was about to cast earlier.
"Alright, so how about this... Since we're the clearly the best here, why don't we meet up at the center of the forest near the end of the exam? After we defeat everyone else, wouldn't that be the greatest finale?"
I appealed to her belief that we were rivals, proposing an interesting idea.
Her golden eyes shone with intrigue.
"Hm... Alright! That sounds good."
'Wait, what? It worked that easily? I didn't realize she was this dumb in the game?'
I had expected that I would have to convince her further... But that seemed to be unnecessary.
"Uhm.. alright then, great!"
I responded with excitement, before trying to leave quickly.
"Wait, Voltaire is telling me that you're just trying to run away, is that true?"
'That shitty spirit is smarter than her....'
"Uhm... of course not, I have my honor after all, how can the son of a duke run away from a battle?"
This was a lie. I had no honor.
Despite this, the explanation seemed to work well enough for Aria, and we quickly separated.
I had no intention of actually confronting her again, as my best ability, Joker's Ace, had not been able to take her out.
If I actually had to take her on, I'd have to find some way to confuse her.
'Ugh... can this really be called a mythical class?'
Banishing such thoughts, I ran around collecting more orbs.
This time, I moved with more caution as to avoid any other troublesome individuals.
'Phew... I made the right decision being careful.'
I had barely missed Iris, who was very close to the second golden orb.
Although I had managed to improve my relations with the other heroines, my status with Iris had remained poor.
I was sure that she would blast me to pieces with flare magic if we were to encounter one another.
Anyway, claiming the second gold orb went smoothly after she had left the area.
I was afraid that she would find it herself, but it seemed her senses had not become that fine tuned yet.
Originally, I would have most likely been able to win with my current amount of orbs, two gold and 7 silver.
But I had found out now that Aria was going around robbing people.
Even if she only obtained bronze and silver orbs, if she got enough, she would quickly surpass me.
Thus, to ensure I placed first, I needed to get all five golden orbs.
--------------
"Looking for this? Hm?"
A class B student was looking at me arrogantly whilst holding a golden orb.
[Analyze!]
[Name: David D. Dumbass
Class: Mage
Overall Rating: B-
Strength: C+
Vitality: B-
Agility: C-
Intelligence: B-
Wisdom: D+
Charisma: F-
Feelings towards you: Wishes to humiliate you.]
I couldn't help but mutter upon seeing his name.
"David... D. Dumbass?"
"Hey! It's pronounced Dúm-bássé! It's an ancient name going back centuries!"
"....Yeah, I'm sure... Anyway, you're right, I want the orb."
Judging by his feelings towards me, it was pretty obvious he was picking a fight.
He was someone I felt confident in taking on.
"Well.. you see, I think it's about time someone puts you in your place. And that person will be me!"
'...If I have to fight someone as stupid as this.. I should at least have some fun.'
I applied confusion on him and began speaking.
"Wait, you're right! I'm sorry, Lord Dúm-bássé! I was mistaken, you're truly great! Please, let me go with my life in tact!"
"W-wait, huh?! I mean, wow, I suppose my name has spread quite far through this academy, uh-"
[13/21 Confusion Stacks]
My strange way of acting had immediately confused him, strengthening me.
Whilst he was sheepishly muttering a response, a magic circle appeared on my hand and I blinded him.
The strength of my blind was far greater than before.
If before it was like shining a powerful torch in someone's eyes, now it was like being hit by a flashbang.
"Ah! You coward!"
He shouted at me whilst covering his eyes.
I ran up to him, immediately uppercutting him.
My improved body had enhanced my strength greatly, and he was knocked into the air by a few feat.
"S-shit, my tongue!"
It seemed he had bit his own tongue. How painful.
Well, I'm not trying to kill him or something.
The dumbass was still fumbling around, and so I began showering him with a barrage of small balls of light.
"Ah! Ah! Stop!"
At this point, he was rolling around on the forest ground like some sort of pig.
After I had stopped, he opened his eyes to look at me.
My unimpressed expression probably made him feel worse.
"A-arlight, take the damn orb! Just leave me be!"
I took the orb, but I wasn't done with just that.
I made a gesture with my hand, asking for more.
"W-wait, you want more? Come on, man!"
He pleaded to let him keep the rest of his orbs.
And in response to his request, a magic circle appeared on my hand.
Understanding what this meant, he succumbed to his fear, and handed over his orbs.
Just for fun, I blinded him again, before leaving quickly.
'Three golden orbs... Two to go...'