The Bet Outcome

The whole training yard became silent when Gavin faced the dummy, the tension was almost tangible. The onlookers were caught in the palpable anticipation, awaiting the outcome of the impending spectacle. Gavin, in a calculated move, shot a glance back at Richard. The skeptics, convinced that Gavin had already sealed the victory, erupted into a chorus of chattering and laughter. Unfazed by the surrounding noise, Richard's attention remained fixed on Gavin, his gaze expectant, as if anticipating a particularly entertaining show.

Gavin clenched his hands and reached into his pocket, retrieving a curious object, a slender stick of sorts. Richard's surprise at the sight of what seemed to be a staff was short-lived. He knew Gavin had a penchant for gadgets, but this particular item seemed different of his usual frivolous inventions. The black-haired boy closely observed every nuance of Gavin's movements.

Suddenly, Gavin maneuvered the staff, and words began to materialize. Richard watched with heightened interest as the first word took shape. The effort seemed to strain Gavin, evident in the beads of sweat forming on his forehead. Yet, undeterred, another word emerged, and both glowed ominously.

— Fire blast! — Gavin exclaimed, and in a dazzling display, an explosion erupted at the dummy's location. Spectators stood in disbelief; the prevailing consensus was that Gavin was only capable of casting single-word spells. The dummy now lay in ruins, reduced to only its bottom half.

What the spectators didn't realize, however, was the secret behind Gavin's sudden proficiency. Unbeknownst to them, Gavin's staff, a seemingly inconspicuous device, had unlocked the ability for him to cast two-word spells. This unexpected revelation added a layer of astonishment to the already mesmerizing display, shattering the preconceived notions about Gavin's magical capabilities. The training yard, once enveloped in skepticism, now buzzed with murmurs of surprise and admiration for the previously underestimated mage. Gavin's strategic employment of the staff had not only won him the bet but had also unveiled a hidden facet of his magical prowess.

On the training yard floor, Gavin had collapsed, but a triumphant smile adorned his face. It became apparent that Gavin hadn't employed this particular move solely for the sake of winning a bet; it was a strategic maneuver aimed at securing a high score in the semester test. The test results would determine the students' placement in the upcoming semester, and Gavin, despite his prone position, exuded confidence. He was convinced that this extraordinary feat had secured him the coveted first place.

— Did you see? That's true talent, something you'll never have. — Gavin proclaimed, seemingly addressing no one in particular. However, his words hung in the air, a boast attempting to assert his newfound prowess. Each word escaped between labored breaths as Gavin struggled to maintain an air of composure. Despite his efforts to appear unfazed, the exhaustion painted a contrasting picture.

Laid out on the ground, Gavin's body betrayed the toll of his magical feat. His cloak, once pristine, now clung to him, drenched in the aftermath of exertion. The reddish hue of his hair appeared darker as wet strands clung to his forehead. The once-confident mage, now reclined on the training yard floor, turned his head to acknowledge a distant voice. His posture, a mix of triumph and fatigue, painted a more honest picture than his earlier boast. The fatigue etched across his face told a tale of the toll that showcasing "true talent" had exacted on him.

— Yeah, it's really impressive. Do you want to see something even more impressive? — Richard stop in front of his dummy, turn to the left and look at the boy on the floor. 

"Maybe his confidence will be torn apart? It would be good fun to watch." Richard smiled in expectation of Gavin's reaction. This sadistic personality of him has always caused trouble to Richard in his past world and seems it's not going to stop now that he's in another world.

Gavin's watching and waiting when Richard embarrass himself, Gavin don't need any bet, he just wanted to embarrass Richard in front of everyone. Then tomorrow he will beat the boy and display to everyone in the main gate, since it'll be the last day of the boy in this academy.

Richard is now facing his dummy, he stays 5 meters apart from it. He saw how Gavin's looking at him, that only made him smile sadistically, it always has been fun to make some cocky guys embarrass themselves. The formula is slowly being written in his mind, the mana is flowing through his meridians forming and stabilizing the formula. This formula seems to be way more complex than the ones he tried until now.

When Richard was in the midst of the creation process, an idea popped in his mind, but he didn't focus too much on it, because he needs to stabilize the formula. In a deep breath, the formula stabilized, and a word is slowly being formed in the air. No one else than Professor Alderick seem to have seen anything extraordinary, but the Professor didn't believe in what his eyes are witnessing.

"How did this kid learned that?" Alderick was completely shocked, and Finnian noticed that his uncle seem to be shocked with something. He focused all his attention on the word being formed, trying to understand why his uncle is so amazed.

While everyone else is unaware of what's happening, Richard is trying his best to form the word. Then some seconds latter, the word is formed in the air, seeing how the word is glowing everyone around seem to be breathless. At this point, his mana vessel was almost completely used up, but he kept using the mana of his vessels. 

When everyone assumed Richard would cease, the formation of another word began. Unbeknownst to the spectators, the atmosphere around Richard grew perceptibly warmer, a subtle precursor to the impending spectacle. The spell wasn't fully prepared, yet the air crackled with latent energy, a phenomenon unnoticed by all, including Richard himself. As the final word materialized, a collective awareness swept through the onlookers—the air itself seemed to intensify in heat.

At this juncture, Richard's mana reservoirs were thoroughly depleted, but a contented smile adorned his face. The ambiance pulsated with a kind of primal energy, as if the very essence of heat emanated from Richard's being.

— Grande Braza! — Richard bellowed, channeling every ounce of remaining energy into the incantation. A flame, akin to a beach ball in size, hurtled towards the dummy with a velocity rivalling a speeding bullet. Upon impact, an explosion of searing intensity engulfed everything within a three-meter radius. The fiery eruption, a manifestation of Richard's unwavering determination, painted the training yard in vivid hues of orange.

The flames, born from Richard's unyielding resolve, cast a warm and fierce glow, the air shimmered with the intensity of the blazing fire, creating an awe-inspiring tableau that captivated every onlooker fortunate enough to witness this elemental display. The hues of orange, dancing and intertwining with the primal forces at play, wove a narrative of power and passion, leaving an indelible mark on the training yard and the hearts of those present.

Gavin, sprawled on the ground not too far from the explosion, suddenly found himself bombarded by a barrage of rocks hurled from the force of the blast. His theatrical screams of pain echoed through the training yard as he rolled on the ground in an exaggerated manner. The very embodiment of pain, Gavin's hands trembled uncontrollably, a stark departure from the poised mage who had never experienced such discomfort before.The irony was not lost on those witnessing the spectacle.

Gavin, accustomed to inflicting pain on others, now found himself at the mercy of his own misfortune. The absurdity of the situation played out like a cosmic joke, complete with the over-the-top theatrics of Gavin's exaggerated agony. 

— Bring him to the healers, tell him that he'll have to pay for the service of healing. — Alderick didn't even look twice at the boy in pain, because he was still thinking about what he just saw. Even a needle could be heard, the silence and shock was evident in everyone's faces. Alderick was the first one to wake up from amazement. 

— Richard, pass! This is the end of the test. — Alderick almost run into Richard to ask what he wants to know, but it's common sense that his image as a High mage would be ruined if he acted like that.

Richard is smiling, trying to stand tall and is looking around proudly, even though it may seem an easy thing to do, but Richard is completely exhausted. He used every drop of mana and concentration he had, and now he's an inch from fainting. He refused to faint, he didn't want to give any chance to be mocked by the surrounding kids. Richard promised to himself and to the old owner of this body that he would make his dreams true. The only thing that held him from fainting was his determination to understand the things that are happening, he has yet to sit down and think about many things that happened recently. 

— Everyone, the test is over, the results will be released in a week. Richard, meet me tomorrow at the teacher's office, you know we've got some things to talk. — Alderick stared the boy, if he wasn't so exhausted, the Professor would have shot all his question when the students had left. 

— Thank you, Professor. Can we meet on Wednesday instead? It will take me some time to fully recover. — Richard's words were full of exhaustion, Alderick watching the process to cast that spell, he knew that Richard is not lying.

— Okay, but answer me one thing first. Did you learn that by yourself? — That's the question that Alderick can't find an answer, no matter how he think about it. It's not like if he's thinking with prejudice, but it's only unlogical that Richard that didn't know even how to deal with simple formulas, suddenly is now creating new formulas and more over, for an old language. 

— Yes, I've been working on that spell since I came here, but I didn't want it to leak out. You know I'm weak, if someone knew before I was ready, I couldn't do anything against it. — Richard have been thinking on this answer since he thought about the problems could happen because of his sudden change.

Richard's walk to his dorm had some different kinds of gazes in his back. Some were looking with shock and disbelief, some still have their arrogance, there's eves some that are looking with respect. Hidden in the middle of that crowd, there's someone trying to hide his eyes full of hate. His teeth are grinding so hard that if his body wasn't stronger than a normal human, he'd already have his teeth broken. Unaware of all the different gazes in his back, not much time latter, Richard was already asleep in his bed.