Saika then jumped back, widening the distance between them before shifting into a stance. She took a deep breath, putting the sword back on its sheath and releasing magical energy so tremendous that the earth beneath them seemingly began to tremble.
Mellaina responded in kind, releasing her own magical energy and preparing a deadly attack...
"Both of you, stop this now!"
"Stay out of this, professor. It's considered shameful in the eastern islands to deny a challenge..."
"Fufufu, this won't be a challenge. This'll be a slaughter..."
Despite his attempts, neither of them yielded.
Things were not looking good for Damian...it hadn't even been ten minutes since he first started class and yet his students were on the verge of killing one another. He could honestly stop their attacks with no problem, but that would risk his cover being blown...
"Blade of Death: Third form..."
"Oh great tree of this world, hear my prayers and grant thine wish..."
He had no choice.
The only plausible solution he could think of right now is standing in between their attack. There's a chance that one of them would stop upon seeing a third party interfere...and if not he's more than tough enough to tank their hits. He could simply brush off his survival to luck.
"Die!"
"Bring it!"
Both of them charged at one another, and Damian immediately ran towards their coalition point. There was no sign of any of them stopping, so he gritted his teeth and braced himself.
Before their attacks landed though, he noticed the grin that was plastered on Mellaina's face...
"Is she..."
Damian's thoughts were cut short as two figures suddenly stepped in.
Richard drew his blade and collided with Saika's.
On the other hand, Sigrid blocked the magic spell cast by Mellaina using his bare skin alone...
"Get out of my way..."
"Don't you folks know any shame?!..." Richard shouted at them as he struggled to keep Saika's blade at bay.
"Oh, quite impressive of you to take my magic head-on, lil pup. But I didn't expect a creature who thrives in fighting to be killing my fun like this..."
"Fuwahahah! Fighting good! But there is time and place for fighting! Father told me this place of learning! Not for fighting!"
Damian was caught off guard by them helping in, but he quickly took advantage of this...
"Saika! Mellaina! Cease this at once! Under my authority as a professor, I hereby place you both under solitary confinement. Continue this any further and I'll be forced to deem you all as delinquents and expel you both!"
"But she-"
"Do you both understand?!"
Damian released a bit of bloodlust with his voice which seemed to shake everyone for a moment...
"Young miss, it'd be best to withdraw back for now..." Sayaka appeared behind Saika before anyone had noticed...
"Sayaka..."
"You shouldn't get yourself into further trouble...her time will come, I'll make sure of it."
She was staring daggers at Mellaina, but she merely smirked in the face of her threats.
I guided them to separate rooms and left them there. The solitary confinement rooms were reinforced with powerful magic barriers, making it nearly impossible for either of them to break out and kill the other. Even if one managed to escape by force, an alarm would go off, alerting the entire academy.
I went back to the classroom and continued our business, but it was clear that everyone was still quite shocked after what just happened. He suppressed the urge to clench his forehead as he thought about the amount of paperwork and explanation that he'd give to the head dean...
At the very least, Damian's advisory session ended without any further problems.
.
.
.
[---]
"So, Miss Mellaina...your professor has given me a run-down of the situation. Would you care to explain to me why you suddenly went off the rails like that?"
Once classes ended, all three of them were immediately summoned to the head dean's office. He was giving off a stare so intimidating that Damian believed that it trumped the ones field commanders would give on the battlefield.
Even Saika, a prodigy of a swordsman who's said to have defeated a hundred men in a single night felt visibly nervous under his presence. Mellaina on the other hand was merely sitting back on the cozy couch sipping tea.
"Forgive me for being blunt, but I don't see the problem. I was merely introducing myself to these poor sobs."
Regis adjusted his glasses as he took a glance at Damian's report.
"It says here that you insulted Saika about her father. You seriously don't see anything wrong with that?"
"Not particularly, no. Besides, she was the one who drew the first blood after my introduction. Don't poke the hornet's nest if you can't handle the sting, am I right?"
"...Miss Mellaina, I need you to understand that you were the one who instigated things. If she were to tell you an insult of the same caliber, how would you feel?"
"Nothing, why on earth would I feel anything about the ramblings of an animal beneath me?"
Gritting her teeth, Saika stood up ready to swing her blade at a moment's notice.
"Please just give me the word..." Her fingers trembled with rage as she braced for an attack.
"Stand down, Miss Saika." Damian's words immediately shut her down though.
"Tch..."
Not long after, she sat back down.
Regis let out a sigh as he placed the report at the side of his desk.
"You're forgetting that Thorfen Academy strives for equality and as such considers status to be irrelevant, Miss Mellaina. No one has the right to belittle anyone. You might've been hailed at the Elven kingdom, and you were granted the rank of diamond in this academy but you must remain humble."
"Pft, equality...we both know that's nothing more than a farce, head dean."
"..."
Regis merely ignored her comment as he made his declaration.
"Since this is just the first day, I'll let you both off with a warning. This won't happen again. Mellaina, your insults are unfounded and rude. Saika, your anger is justified but unsanctioned fights are not acceptable in this academy. Professor Damian will keep me updated with your situation, and should this continue then there will be consequences."
With a sigh, Regis turned around to look at the window behind him.
"This case is settled, you may leave. Good day."
Both of them stood up and immediately went on their way...
"Sorry about this happening on your first day, professor. My first day was pretty wild as well, but it wasn't as rowdy as this. If anything happens, please do reach out to me. Keep a close watch on those two as well..."
"Understood..."
With this, he left the room. Despite not doing much, he felt exhausted. He planned on taking a stroll in the gardens to relax, but he was immediately met with the sight of the two students having a stare-off...
"..."
"...Do you have anything else to say to me, Miss Saika?"
"...Watch your back from now on."
She then turned around and left. While it wasn't any better, it was great that no fighting arose...
With both of them left alone, Mellaina showed her mischievous smirk and scooted close to Damian, pressing her chest against his...
"Did you hear that, professor? She's so scary, threatening me like that..."
She then traced her fingers across his cheek.
"I don't think I'll be able to walk home without getting terrified after what she just said. Would you walk me to my dorm room, professor? Pretty please?~"
"The way you were speaking to the class earlier, I was under the impression that you saw me as inferior as well."
"There are exceptions to everything, professor. There's no way I could ever hate you. Nothing in the world can make me..."
"And why is that?"
"Hehe, now you're making me blush. You can't seriously expect a maiden to just pour her heart out to you like that!~"
Damian knew it was a honeytrap, but something felt off. No matter how skilled someone was at seduction, his sixth sense always helped him spot anything fake.
Yet, Mellaina's feelings seemed genuine, and that's what made it all the more confusing for him.
Did they have a history?
Other than their little incident with the slums, Damian had never met a high elf before. They only provided support against the demon army by sending powerful magical bombardments from the safety of their home.
A high-elf leaving the Yggdrasil tree is an event as rare as a blue moon.
Was she a spy sent by the Elven council to keep tabs on him?
That seemed more plausible, but it also didn't make sense. Other than himself, the only other person who knew of his mission was the Emperor himself. The possibility of an info leak happening is nigh impossible.
"Come on, professor. It's rude to keep a lady waiting..."
"...I'll walk you to your dorm, but only up until that."
He decided to play along for now...
Mellaina chuckled as she skipped ahead, her blonde hair fluttering in the wind. Darkness had already fallen by the time they stepped outside, so the moon illuminated her figure, falling upon her as if some sort of spotlight.
"The moon looks really beautiful at this time..."
He didn't know why, but Damian detected a hint of sadness in her voice.