Renji stood on the dueling area of the arena, cold eyes focused. His strength was nearly at the peak of the second rank for warriors. For normal first-rank warriors, a hundred pounds was nothing when lifted. As for a second-rank warrior, like Renji, one could easily throw away objects weighing a hundred pounds.
Rand clutched his throat, glowering furiously at Renji. "You…cough…cough… You actually."
Yori's eyes shone with excitement, and now he yelled, "Cool! That felt great! Third bro, and I didn't know you were this strong!"
Magus around, who belonged to the fifth or sixth grade, were in shock. A twelve-year-old magus lifting a person of ninety pounds by his one hand was unheard of. Some of the few magus instructors present only stared at Renji with their mouths wide open in surprise.
"Hi, Rand," Yori taunted, "I heard you were number one among first graders." Rand's face flamed with fury and embarrassment. He had just won the yearly tournament for first graders but now, facing Renji's show of strength, he felt his life was in someone else's hands.
"If you consider yourself skillful, then let's compete with magic," Rand slurred in a tone filled with anger and humiliation. "A noble magus shouldn't resort to warrior skills."
The friends chorused the same, but there was some fear in their voices. That power of Renji took them by surprise. Ryūji just chuckled. "Rand, you honestly reckon that just because you won the first-grade tournament, you're the strongest in here? Think again. The real number one is our dorm's third bro. Make way."
"Third bro, show them what you've got!" Yori encouraged him.
Giichi, not done with his annoyance from Rand's earlier remarks, said, "Rand, know your limitation. Many a master seldom enters the yearly tournament. Don't treat yourself as if you are somebody."
Rand, being driven by his anger, jeered, "No.1 is not by making oneself a declaration. It's by demonstration of one's skill through battle. If you are sure, let's fight."
The other people nearby could only murmur, surprised when the hotel manager didn't interfere but only to prevent angering Young Master Yori.
"Rightly said. Number one is proven, not said," Renji said coldly. "If you can outdo me, I will never meet you again. If I can surpass you, you will not meet with me."
Rand was arrogant as ever. He said, "What about if you lose, you give me a hundred gold coins. If I lose, I give you ten thousand."
Renji frowned. One hundred gold was what he had to live on throughout the year. Yori, sensing the chance, pounced, "Ten thousand gold? Aren't you ashamed of yourself me being generous after offering such a little?"
Hundreds of students in the hotel gasped at that number. Rand looked tentative, for he knew that he used only a few thousands every year. "Alright! Ten thousand gold it is!" he seized, sneering at Renji's way. "Let's go down to where the arena hosted the tournament, alright?"
Renji, Yori, Ryūji, and Giichi followed with deep interest as Rand took his way to where the duel would take place. The hustle in the hotel was filled with the voices of students who came to watch the duel.
At the arena, Rand and Renji faced each other, the two separated by the limestone stage. It had been communicated to almost everyone: now, the crowd was beginning to attend in numbers. Rand looked upon it all with great satisfaction and said, "Today, I will duel Renji. The loser pays ten thousand gold and avoids the winner in the future. Witness this!"
Cheers erupted from the crowd. Rand was fearless in the spotlight; no signs of stage fright. Renji stood quiet, still waiting.
"Enough talking?" Renji had his voice as smooth as ever.
Rand chuckled and both started chanting their spells. At their rank, each was a second-rank magus, and their spells were quite swift to cast. Rand released seven razor-edged winds, but Renji let out five dim red flame balls. Rand couldn't help avoiding the fired ball, but Renji sidestepped the fire balls easily.
And then Renji cast his second spell, "Seismic Shift!" The ground under Rand began to vibrate violently. It took only a few moments of struggling before Rand lost his balance. But before Rand could regain his composure, the third spell of Renji, five stone fists, was catapaulting towards him. But even the best of Rand's effort couldn't save him from being hit by one of the stones, thrown out of the dueling area, flying, and everywhere being covered with dust.
"Magic duel, Renji wins!" the announcer shouted.
Renji's eyes flashed at the tottering Rand, who would get up within a month. Renji had spared him, not aiming at his vitals.
"He is really a dual-element grade-one magus?" The onlookers opened their eyes wide, praising. "He even dodged fireballs and struck spells accurately."
Yori was laughing out loudly. "Rand, you really thought you were No. 1? Our third bro just showed you passion."
Rand clutched his chest and bowed to Renji humbly. "Thank you, Renji. I'll keep my word. Tomorrow, I will bring ten thousand gold at the Golden Bank of the Four Empires. But one day, I promise you I'll defeat you."
Rand and his friends left, the crowd dispersing. Ryūji came up to Renji with a grin. "Man, Renji, you were awesome! You won me such mad respect!"
Renji nodded, their attention received. A girl with golden hair came forward and said she was Danni, one of the first ranks of water magus. "Hi, I'm Renji."Then, he said nothing more and excused himself, as he wished to practice.
After which Renji and his three bros left, paying no heed to the questioning gazes, and Danni and everyone else behind.