Mock Battle

[Sarah's POV]

Tuesday morning.

I woke up at 6 AM and washed my face.

Yesterday was a long day.

I recalled Young Master's warm smile after I thanked him for everything.

When I looked at my reflection in the mirror I saw my cheeks blushed a little.

His face is already handsome but that smile was a real cheat.

I slapped both my cheeks.

"Get yourself together. From now on he is your Young Master."

I went into the kitchen and I remembered that the Young Master wanted me to prepare lunch for him too.

That reminded me of when we were in class. 

I was nervous when he said he was going to test my food.

Usually, I am very proud of my cooking but at that moment, I had a sudden anticipation and fear.

But contrary to my concerns, after he took a bite his eyes were sparkling. He even did say it was delicious and I had some skill.

That made me happy.

I shook my head.

"Let's just focus on cooking lunch!"

These ingredients are? There is mana beast meat here.

Hmm, with these I can cook a delicious lunch. I hope it suits Young Master's tastes.

With that I started cooking.

***

[Dylan's POV]

"Yawn."

I opened my eyes and checked the time. It's 8 AM.

I should get ready. Today's first class is [Magic in Combat I]. I am actually hyped for this class.

With my mana I can actually cast somewhat useful spells. 

I want to learn more… or Dylan does?

Today I feel like I merged with Dylan more and can recall more of his memories.

Are you still yourself when you gain memories of another like it was yours?

I should visit the library to research about the artifact. I know where it is but it was a game and I usually fast traveled to cities.

So I will need to learn where to go and maybe Sarah can help with that. I should ask her first.

After I got ready, I left my room.

Outside next to my room Sarah was waiting leaning on the wall and resting her eyes.

How long has she been waiting here?

She looks cute.

Now when I think about it. Traits in this game are not usually present at birth. And they do not always necessarily force you to be in a way. So my [Psychopath] trait does not actually make me a psychopath.

But it definitely affects your nature. I wonder what happened to Dylan to have this trait?

When I recalled his memories there were gaps. Especially the memories about his mother.

Stella Snowlion. 

What I remember about her is she was told to be the most beautiful woman in the United Empires.

From Dylan's memories I can see her face. Her face is not clear but I can definitely say she always smiles at me and I feel warmth in my heart.

Sarah opens her eyes and gets startled when she sees me looking at her silently.

"G-good morning, Young Master. Sorry, I dozed off while waiting."

"Don't bother. I was just admiring your looks."

This guy knows how to use his charm it seems.

Now that I recall his memories he usually takes advantage of his looks in certain times. But his biggest mistake is after reaching his goal he destroys his connections and keeps himself alone.

Maybe it's related to the memories I can't remember.

Sarah's cheeks are a little blushed and she just stares at me blankly.

Well to be expected I guess.

"Let's go to class." Oh, this time I said what I wanted to say directly.

"Ah, Yes!"

Then we started walking.

***

On the way I asked her.

"I am thinking of visiting somewhere this weekend. Do you know where we can take a carriage?"

To be honest, from my memories I can tell Dylan was mostly a shut-in and even when he did go out there was always the family carriage and servants. Even with my game knowledge I don't know where to go when it's real life. The game was an old JRPG so there were mostly menus you would go back and front.

"Uh? There is a carriage station at the entrance of the Academy. I can make an appointment if you desire, Young Master."

She told me while making a confused face. It's normal for her to be confused. The station is in the entrance and someone like Dylan who is always 1st in exams is unaware about it.

Let me tell you I don't know if it's his trait or not but when he doesn't care about something he doesn't even consider remembering anything about it.

"Then do so. I want to go to the Artheana Mountains."

Sarah suddenly looked at me with scared eyes. Because Artheana Mountains is a place where people often went missing.

"Young Master, may I ask why you want to go to such a place?"

"You don't have to know. It's private."

"Ah, yes."

She looked a little sad after hearing my words.

Did I get better at controlling [Dreadful Presence]? She looks better than yesterday while walking with me. I don't feel any different or feel like I got better at controlling it.

I wonder what is Sarah's [Charm]. When I look at her I still feel something that is hidden deep in my chest. I don't think it's love but something twisted.

***

Soon we arrived to the class. Upon entering, a huge arena like structure welcomed us. 

As always every students eyes was focused on me. When I noticed that my body had an urge to fix it's posture and act noble. This is one of Dylan's qualities I guess.

I saw some people talking among themselves. They are probably gossiping about me. Well that's to be expected. In the first week of the classes Dylan acted cold towards everyone and shut them down but now suddenly took a servant.

By the way Ryan and Dion should be in this class. Ryan is not a talkative guy but Dion is a warm person. If I compare him to Dylan, he has looks to rival, but his lineage is that of a Count's.

Ryan has scarlet hair and golden cat like eyes.

In the game you could choose Dion's hair and eye color. But right now he has dark blonde hair and emerald eyes.

They are in the center of the arena waiting for the teacher to arrive. Well my body instinctively wants to be in the front so I walked next to them and started waiting.

Ryan just glanced at me and turned his head. Dion on the other hand looked at me then Sarah and raised one of his brows. 

Dion walked toward us and stop right next to Sarah.

"Hello, I'm Dion."

He said with a warm smile to Sarah, lifting his hand for a handshake.

Sarah looked at me like she was waiting for my response. I gestured with my eyes saying 'it's okay'.

Meanwhile Dion looked at me with a little frown. It's probably because of my [Dreadful Presence].

He is a righteous person, so my aura makes him oppose against me.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Sarah."

She said while shaking Dion's hand.

"Nice to meet you too, Sarah. May I ask if you are okay?"

Sarah was perplexed for a second.

"Ah, yes. I'm fine. Why did you ask?"

"I just wanted you to know, if you need any help, just tell me."

Then Dion looked at me and said.

"Because I won't stand still when someone uses people for their self-interest."

I just stared back at him without sayin anything. Well I know he is a person with strong justice and faith. Even his traits are reflecting that nature.

Suddenly the door opened and Trixie Silverborne entered. 

I mentioned before, she is a mage and, in fact, quite a good one. Her attributes are probably in the 3-digits.

***

After taking attendance.

"Now that we are done with attendance. Let's start with practicing what we learned last week."

"If you remember last week, we learned about low-grade spells. Who can tell me the most common low-grade spells are?"

As soon as she stopped speaking, I noticed everyone's gaze on me. Even teacher Trixie looked at me.

"Yes, Student Dylan."

I was confused then realized my hand was raised high. Must be a muscle reflex. At least I know the answer.

"The most common low-grade spells are <Haste >, <Grease >, <Burn >, <Freeze >, and <Shock >."

"That's correct. If you look at page 15 in your books you can find how these low-grade spells can be used in combat."

"Now, I will give you 20 minutes, and after that, we will have a mock battle. You can use any of the spells in the book as long as you use low-grade."

With her words everyone started murmuring and some were focused on the book like myself.

***

"Now line up here and draw a number from this box on the right. The next one in the line will take a number from the box on the left."

After Sarah picking a number, it was my time to draw one.

I went to the box and drew one. Please don't let it be Dion or Ryan.

[6]

Hmm, there are 40 people in this class so the maximum number would be [20]. Well if there was number [0] then maximum would be [19].

"Now I will call the number starting from [1]. Come to the arena when your number is called."

Good, number [3] was Dion but there is still Ryan.

If you wondering how Dion's fight went. He doesn't have too much mana but enough to cast 8 <Shock > spells. Unfortunately his opponent was Brigitte Tailor.

A commoner but she must have much more mana than him almost as mine. Maybe more. Comparing to our age which is 18, it's usually considered high if you have [Mana: 30]. 

I probably didn't mention but people usually attend to the academy when they are 18-20 years old. There are some cases where younger or older people start but it's rare.

In this duel you are not using your strength or martial arts to overpower your opponent. You have to use low-grade spells smartly to hit your opponent with spells.

After a certain amount of hits, mana badges we have will get lit and you will be considered defeated.

You can also move around if you are fast but the area we fight isn't that big. It's a mana circle cast by our teacher. As soon as you are in it. You can't leave until the fight is over.

That makes Ryan a monster when it comes to mana. His attributes should be like this.

Dragonkin [Ryan Flamecaller]

-Attributes-

[Strength: 8]

[Stamina: 23]

[Mana: 65]

[Mind: 45]

[Vitality: 35]

[Intelligence: 77]

[Faith: 5]

[Charm: 28]

-Skills-

[Inferno Burst Lv.3]

-Traits-

[Mana Control], [Calm]

His [Inferno Burst Lv.3] is one of his early, insane skills. He can use 70% of his mana and condense it in his palm. Then, he can burst it in any direction. The range and power make this one of the most powerful skills in the game.

While I was lost in my thoughts.

"Number [6]. Come forward." 

It was time for me and I am so excited right now. Even though it's my first time using these spells. I can clearly remember from my memory. How to utilize the spells to win. How much mana they will each use. Everything is in my mind. From the calculations, I can probably cast up to 11 low-grade spells if I choose the one with the highest mana cost within the common low-grade spells. Which would be <Shock >.

I step into the magic circle and looked up to see...

"Sarah..."

"U-uh. Young Master."

Ok. I didn't expect this. Nonetheless, my competitive nature is on fire right now. Since she beat me in the cooking class – well, to be honest, probably everyone in that class beat me – I had this competitiveness towards her.

"Do your best. I don't like it when someone holds themselves back."

With my words Sarah seems to have courage and I saw a little bit of fire in her eyes too.

"Yes, Young Master."

We took our positions and waited for the signal.

"3,2,1, START!"

As soon as it started. I cast <Haste > to my legs. <Haste > makes it so that you can move 25% faster and you can't stack it.

Sarah cast <Grease > on the floor and then cast <Haste >.

I was thinking of casting <Grease > too but the circle is small and <Grease > can put on fire. So, maybe I can use it to my advantage.

Now that I look carefully the pattern of <Grease > is on one side of the circle like a half moon.

I cast <Freeze > on the floor to boost my movement and rushed at her.

She cast <Defense > on herself?

That is one of the high cost mana spells among the low-grade spells and not a common one. Well teacher said we could use any from the book as long as it was low-grade. But how high is her [Mana] to cast this. If I cast <Defense > 25% of my mana would vanish.

I cast <Shock > and crouched while sliding on the frozen surface. <Shock > can create an electrical shock from your hands and has half meter range an this is the one that with the highest cost among common ones.

<Shock > hit Sarah successfully but her mana badge only wen up so little thanks to the <Defense > she cast.

I was about to retreat to the other side but at that moment Sarah cast <Grease > and <Burn >.

The circle became a straight hall all of a sudden. After Sarah cast <Burn >, my left and right were engulfed in flames.

She wants a direct confrontation? This is only advantageous when...

When you have much more [Mana] then your opponent. At this realization I felt a subtle irritation.

So are you saying you have more [Mana] than me?

Let's find out then.

I cast <Grease > and make it into a bubble then cast <Freeze >. With this If I hit her directly, I can create an explosion.

My main focus is to make her use <Defense > so that she loses [Mana].

At that moment Sarah cast <Ice Spikes> which creates spikes made of ice and you can launch them to your opponent. Number of spikes depends on the [Mana] used.

On Sarah's hand, 10 spikes were hovering. It's insane, this girl.

As soon as she started shooting the ice spikes.

I threw the grease ball I made to the air and cast <Burn >.

It exploded and a fire wall spread between us for a second.

When ice spikes broke through, I crouched and protected myself with my arms.

I got hit by 2 spikes. I don't know how many more she can shoot but if it goes like this, I will be in a bad situation.

I cast <Freeze > to put off some of the fire on the ground to make space.

***

After some time I used 90% of my mana but her mana badge is only half-full. And mine will be full after 1 more hit.

We are both panting and glancing each other.

How? How can she have this much mana she cast 4 <Defense >, 5 <Burn >, 5 <Grease >, 3 <Shock >, 2 <Ice Spikes> with 10 spikes each and 4 <Freeze >.

If my calculations are correct she must have [Mana: 70] at the very least to cast all of them and then collapse but she can still go?

Sarah who the hell are you? She was a monster in a puppy costume.

This... I can't lose here... I must win... I promised to...

Without realizing I started to leak my [Dreadful Presence].

My sight started to blend in pinkish-purple and I stared at her.

I will not let you win.

I will consume you and become stronger.

I will not give in.

I could see her face filled with terror, trembling without moving.

With each step, I found myself halfway in front of her.

This is the face. You should make this face in front of me.

Anyone who dares to stand before me should look at me like this.

I will not spare anyone. 

I saw Sarah moving her mouth but couldn't hear anything.

While I took another step.

*BOOM

A huge <Fireball > run past me. 

"STUDENT DYLAN! STOP!"

With that I came to my senses.

What was I going to do to her?

Teacher must have cast that spell because my [Dreadful Presence] alarmed her. Even she must got scared.

But Sarah's eyes are full of sadness for some reason.

"Young Master! Please, someone! Call a doctor!"

Huh? 

Then I slowly looked down.

What I saw was that my left leg and right arm were gone half-way through, burned to ashes.

With that I lost consciousness.