Water Vs Fire

"Again!"

The yellow-haired instructor ordered the two students standing in front of him, both holding wooden swords.

Immediately, the boy shot himself forward with his wooden sword ready to strike down the girl he was against.

Like a weak noble, she carelessly swung her training sword at him, and he easily struck it out of her hand; no one noticed she had lost until they saw it land on the floor after spending a second in the air.

"WOOOWWW!!"

The rest of the students stood in awe of what had just happened between the two. But who could blame them, this was the section nine swordsmanship class—a class for those considered to be beginners of the sword.

Basically, it was a class for nobles who wanted to be dark knights but were not yet cut out for it. This section was meant to help them learn how to move and use a sword properly before being promoted to the next class.

The lower the section, the stronger you are, so it made a lot of sense as to why he was in this class.

"That was good, Arthur. You'll be promoted to section eight, soon." The instructor commented while the boy returned to his original position.

'Good. This section is getting me nowhere.'

Arthur snorted and placed his wooden sword back into the barrel for keeping wooden swords. Sections starting from seven and above didn't need real swords for training—it was a freakin safety measure.

"I hate this class. They do know I am stronger than this, right?" Eris cried once she saw him heading toward her.

She had changed back to her uniform after beating up every opponent given to her. She was good enough to qualify for section three—but the rules are the rules. And like him, she had to do a test to approve her promotion.

"You were registered as an archer…and in this kingdom, all dark knights need to know how to use swords," he grabbed a white towel to clean the sweat off his face.

"Why do you humans limit yourselves…? It's pitiful, honestly speaking. That's why in a fight of the best archer against the best swordsman, the archer would definitely win." she said while they watched the other students practice.

"What if the archer runs out of arrows to shoot…?" he asked, waiting to see what dumb response she had up her skull.

She shrugged at his question. "Umm…ever heard of magic arrows?" She asked, "They return to their user once fired, giving me an endless supply of arrows."

"You know those cost over one million zeni? Not forgetting that they need to be custom-made by elves," he argued.

"That's a small price to pay for never-ending arrows. Also, how do you know all that stuff yet you're in the dark knight sector?"

"I read a lot, I guess," he responded with a grin.

"The library has so much knowledge to offer. And since most club activities need magic, I use that time to read about the magic system of this world. The concept of magic fascinates me."

"If you think you're going to find anything connected to your Will, you won't. To find that knowledge, you need to leave this kingdom and head west beyond the Beast Glades, then enter the elf domain--those guys are good with keeping knowledge. I bet they have something that can help explain your abilities."

"Aren't the beast glades like the scariest place in the Southlands? And when did I say I am interested in harnessing my Will…you said a very small percentage of your people are lucky to even tap into its power."

"Yeah, but I never said it was impossible."

"Arthur Bellrock!"

They were interrupted by the instructor's voice.

"Yes!" Arthur turned to face the instructor. And to his surprise, Linda was standing just next to him, waving with a controlled smile to hide her anger.

Everyone, including the instructor, was surprised to see her. Mages rarely came here, especially one this powerful.

"You're needed by the disciplinary committee."

He continued, showing the amount of respect the committee had around the school.

"I will take it from here," Linda spoke, and the professor relaxed.

She moved forward, produced her wand, and then pointed directly at Arthur: her wand was slim and black like a well-curved piece of wood. Her eyes flashed blue before she uttered a few magic words that caused her wand to shoot out a blast of clear water at a pressure strong enough to break down a thick wall.

It was heading for him.

Gasp**

He was about to cast a wind barrier when Eris jumped in and canceled out the water spell with a swing from a magic sword she had pulled from thin air.

All the water evaporated instantly and left the two ladies exchanging intense glares as if they were about to initiate a battle now. Though it wouldn't be a fair fight because Eris was stronger.

Linda simply grinned before putting her wand away, impressed by what she had seen.

"You're also strong…please come with me…to…to the committee headquarters," she muttered anxiously.

'All the confidence she had just come with has disappeared already?!'

Arthur was surprised to hear that her anxiety had returned. Or was it even gone in the first place?

"For what?" Eris asked and pointed her red-colored claymore at Linda. The blade was steaming from the amount of heat it was generating. She had used her flames to cut through water magic.

"Y—Y—You…see, Arthur…."

"I was asked to join the disciplinary committee, and now Theo wants to talk to me."

Arthur completed her sentence for her.

Eris' jaw dropped, along with everyone else classroom.

"Wait, what?... When?"

"After my fight with Grey," he answered. "But I don't remember saying yes."

He turned his eyes back to Linda.

"Exactly, but I don't advise you to reject our offer. We get access to so many privileges, and if you were here during orientation, you would know what I am talking about," she said.

You could tell she was already getting uncomfortable from the number of eyes looking at her. Her legs were trembling -and she was trying so hard to keep her focus on Arthur.

"Okay," he agreed.

"Eris…also, I think she would make a great addition to the disciplinary committee," she added.

"I don't wish to involve myself in human affairs, the only humans I am friendly with are Obsidian and Arthur. The rest of you are just ants," she barked before her sword was pulled back into the red jeweled silver bracelet on her right hand. She still had her gaze fixed on Linda.

Angered by the dragon girl's words, Linda summoned her wand once again.

"It's Professor Obsidian. Know your place, Red dragon," she snarled, as if she had been taken over by a different personality and the previous Linda had been put to sleep.

Their eyes locked for a moment. And snap. There was an increase in magical energy in the air.

They were about to initiate a battle when Arthur whooped in to save the day.

"We don't need to fight, right Mr. Locke?"

The instructor came back to his senses after hearing his name. He was still in shock that he had powerful students in his class.

"Yes…Arthur is right. Indoor duels during a class are prohibited, even with a barrier initiated."

Once she heard that, Linda put away her wand and faced the baffled Mr. Locke. She bowed halfway to apologize to the middle-aged man.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience, Mr. Locke. Can I borrow one of your students?"

She was back to her usual self.

Mr. Locke had no words for her. Though he was a tall large man in his late thirties, he had total respect for the leaders of this academy. Linda could do whatever she wanted and got away with it.

"Yes, you can," he nodded at her request, then at Arthur to approve.

Before walking out, Linda exchanged one last glare with the red-haired dragon girl saying: "This isn't over."

'Women.'

He sighed and raised his arm halfway. While focused, he whispered out a word, and his sword came flying from the changing room; it landed in his grip as intended. Then he followed the brown-haired beauty with glasses.