Wein was the first to attack.
He rushed towards Elliot like a bull and tried to tackle him, but Elliot, in all his bulky glory, literally caught the bull by the horns. He held Wein by the shoulders, and effortlessly flipped the bigger senior up in the air. He hang there for a couple of seconds, legs up, and dropped on the ground with his head between Elliot's thighs!
"Woah!" yelled André with his mouth wide open. "A perfectly executed pile driver!"
"That's amazing, Elliot!" Cat cheered as he jumped up and down beside me.
Even I was surprised with the move and was left speechless! The cheers from around us was earsplitting! Elliot stood up and left Wein in the dust. He showed no signs of standing up.
"Senior," he faced André, "since the fight is over –"
"Who said it was over?" replied André. "Don't those other seniors plan to challenge you, as well?"
We looked at Norbert and the rest of their companions who seemed to have stepped away from Elliot.
"I am tired, senior," Elliot said with a sigh.
"Wouldn't it be better to just end them all right now than to let them sneakily take your friends away again while you sleep?" André asked. "Besides, I want to see more of your moves!"
"I-I challenge you!"
The two turned around and saw Henesey stepping forward. He probably plan to take advantage of the tired Elliot.
"Haa... if you insist," Elliot went back to his corner, shaking his head.
This time, his opponent hunched low in a boxing stance. He began rounding Elliot who kept still, and suddenly sent a fist flying towards his face.
Elliot easily slapped the fist away.
Henesey was taken aback, but he continued throwing punches at Elliot, his movements so fast you could hardly see them. He actually got some jabs in, and soon, Elliot's nose was bleeding.
"That's it, Henesey! Knock that pig out!" cheered his companions, which made the conceited Henesey neglect the fact that Elliot was a grappler.
He came in too close and threw a punch for the last time as Elliot moved aside in one fluid motion and grabbed his arm backwards. There was a loud, sickening snap followed by a howl of pain as Henesey's arm hung awkwardly by his side.
"My arm! Damn you! Ahhh! My arm!" he kept screeching at the top of his lungs.
"Didn't you do the same thing to Arman?" Elliot looked down at the senior writhing in pain by his feet.
"Excellent moves!" André praised him. "Now for the next challenger..."
He looked at the three remaining seniors, but none of them stepped forward.
"What? Is that it?" he mocked them. "Is this all my brother's vassals are capable of?"
Still, Norbert and his two remaining companions kept silent, while the rest of the students watching cheered for our Elliot.
"If there are no more challenges, then this battle is over!"
André walked over to Elliot and raised his arm.
"The winner of the challenge is the neophyte Elliot!"
We all cheered once more as Elliot bowed to the crowd and made his way towards Cat and I.
"You did it, Elliot! You're so cool! You really did it!" Cat pranced around him.
"Yeah, finally," he groaned, rubbing his stomach. "I'm famished, we haven't even had our breakfast yet!"
"Let me wipe that blood off your face first!" I said, pulling out a kerchief from my pocket.
Meanwhile, Norbert helped Henesey to a stretcher held by two medics. Michael and Johnny went to Wein's side. He was just now regaining consciousness. There were two more medics by his side, waiting with their white stretcher. He finally sat up and shook his head like a dog who just got out of the bath.
"I think it's stopped bleeding now..." said Elliot with my kerchief to his nose. "Let's go have a quick breakfast then head to the infirmary to visit Arman."
"That's right! I sure hope Arman's alright! He looked really hurt earlier!" said Cat with teary eyes.
"He would surely recover quickly once he learns how Elliot gallantly fought for him!" I smiled.
We were about to leave the area, when an angry snarl sounded from behind.
It was senior Wein, his face contorted with anger. He grabbed a sabre from the scabbard on Michael's hip and raced towards us.
I looked for Senior André but he was busy sending the crowd of students away. He didn't notice the degenerate bastard rushing at us!
What if Elliot throws himself at senior Wein again?
I quickly thought of a counter spell to disarm him and raised my arm at the ready, but a flash caught my attention as something small and golden rushed past me.
There was a clash of steel as Cat suddenly appeared in front the much larger senior, holding Wein's discarded sabre that was left on the ground earlier.
He parried Wein's blade, sending it flying, then docked down low, and leapt up in the air in a spinning motion, cutting Wein twice with the dull edge of the sword before hitting him on the temple with the buttend of the sabre's handle.
The rest of the seniors stepped back as Wein's weapon flew and plunged into the ground near them.
"Cat!"
It was too late when I tried to stop him.
Wein fell face first on the ground. There was no more need to worry.
"Woah, Cat, you never told us you were this good with a sword!" Elliot exclaimed, picking our small friend up.
"Magnificent!" cried André who came running back towards us. "I had never seen such beautiful swordsmanship since my first year here in the academy!" He looked eye-to-eye at Cat who perched on Elliot's shoulder. "Tell me, where did you learn that swordsmanship?"
"My father's night Sir Arcadia thought me, together with his son, my best friend Lycan," Cat answered, the hives on his face, shining extra red.
I looked at the sabre he still held in his hand.
They were no longer shaking.
"Tell me, senior, do you know a 4th year named Lycan who also likes swords?" he asked. "He's about the same height and build as me with big fuzzy red hair and big hazel eyes and a crooked smile..."
"Sorry, I don't think I know a person like that," said André, shaking his head. "Your sword style looks familiar though, I feel like I've seen those moves before."
"Really, senior?" Cat's face glowed with anticipation. "Can you tell me who that person is?"
"I'm afraid I don't know his name," he said, shaking his head, "all I can say is that he's part of my brother's elite guards."
Cat's face dropped at the news.
"Like his concubines, my bother's guards are hard to run into since they are always following him around," André continued. "But there is a way for you to meet them."
"How is that?" Cat's face brightened up once more.
André showed us a big grin.
"By becoming one of my apprentices," he told us proudly. "You can choose to be a knight in training, or a medic."
"Sorry, senior, but I only want to be apprenticed to Lycan!" Cat quickly answered.
"What? You won't even think about it first?!" exclaimed André, sounding a bit hurt.
"I already promised him that I will only be under him," Cat continued. "My sisters also told me to look for him as soon as possible, he could be quite a crybaby, after all..." he finished with a sad pout.
"What if I challenged you to a duel?" André growled at him.
Cat stared at him wide-eyed.
"I-if you insist, senior, then..."
"Ho-ho-ho, don't worry, I don't like forcing men to follow me," André said, cutting Cat short. "True loyalty only comes from men who serve whole heatedly!" He looked at the bright sky upon saying this and thumped his chest twice.
"Oh, what a nice motto!" said Cat who thumped his chest twice as well.
"It's the motto of real men!" André boasted. "What about you, fat man?" he asked Elliot. "How about an apprenticeship under the second prince of the empire?"
"No thank you, senior," Elliot answered him. "I plan to apprentice myself to a master chef!"
"A cook?!" André looked as him, dumbfounded. "What a waste!"
"Don't worry, Senior André, as soon as I find Lycan, I'll ask him to join your mentorship with me as well!"
"That's a promise between men, then!" bellowed André with another booming laugh which almost drowned the sound of the clock tower chiming eight times.
"Oh no!" Elliot exclaimed! "We just missed breakfast!"