Duel

When they arrived at the class, they saw Firia already came and sat in the center of yesterday's table, separating Alicia and Alex. Looking at this, Alicia grabbed Alex.

"Alex, let's look for another table."

"But, it's impolite to others," Alex just said out of reflex since he was still used to Earth's morals and values. He didn't consider Alicia's feelings at all.

"That's right. It's impolite to others, Princess Alicia," Firia chimed in their conversation.

"How dare you..." Alicia was angered.

"Good morning Alex, did you have a nice sleep yesterday?" Firia ignored Alicia, she turned to Alex.

Alex nodded.

"Did I appear in your dream?" Firia tried to flirt with Alex. Looking at this, Alicia gritted her teeth.

Not only Alicia but Joshua also felt annoyed to see the scene. He approached them and sent a glare to Alex, "Don't you dare to run away," he then left them.

"What's wrong with him," Alicia was angry again.

Alex only shook his head and went to his seat. Looking at Alex who was now sitting beside Firia, while Alicia was sitting on the opposite side, she just snorted.

The morning class was soon over.

"Alex, let's go to the cafeteria," Firia grabbed Alex's hand.

Alicia immediately chopped her hand. Of course, Firia dodged, so she quickly released Alex's hand.

"Alex, let's go to the cafeteria with me," Alicia said while smiling, like nothing happened. She ignored the last failure chop and she didn't feel the awkward scene between the three of them.

Alex sighed and went to the cafeteria with them, they ate together again this time.

"Alex, are you going to be alright with the fight, later?" Firia asked. Alex nodded while saying that he was going to be alright.

"Are you sure? I got the information saying that Joshua is a level 2 Earth Mage," Firia became worried and Alex just nodded once again, ensuring he would be fine.

"Hmph, level 2 mage, he can't be compared to my Alex," Alicia snorted.

"What do you mean by 'my Alex'?" Firia snapped.

"My Alex is My Alex. So you better not get close with my Alex."

"You are so annoying..." Firia glared at Alicia.

Alex only shook his head and sighed. He ignored them and left them in the cafeteria.

"Alex, wait for me," they realized that Alex had walked away. Alex ignored them and kept walking away.

The afternoon class was an hour lecture. After the lecture ended, Joshua stood up and turned his head to Alex, "Don't you run away!" he shouted and walked away.

Alicia and Firia were glaring at him.

"Alex, don't worry. Just ignore him," Firia worriedly calmed Alex down.

"Thank you," he sincerely thanked Firia, who was worried about him, he also thanked her for the information earlier. Then he went to the arena.

--

On the stage, Joshua had been waiting for him, he wore his mage robe and held his staff. He stood there proudly.

This duel was known by many. So the arena was almost full.

Suddenly, someone flew toward the arena. When he landed, everyone finally knew the one who came was the Academy's Dean, Alex's Teacher.

"Oh well, isn't this Dean Marco?" the one who talked was an old man in his eighties. He was one of the elders in the academy and he was the Head Teacher for the first grade. When he noticed Joshua's talents, he immediately approached Joshua and made him his student.

"I never thought he got a duel on his second day in the academy," the dean's name was Marco Gilther. Many people usually called him 'dean' so only a handful of teachers dared to call his name. One of them was Joshua's teacher. He was peak rank 7 earth mage, just one step away from rank 8.

"You can make your student surrender first, at least he would only embarrass himself in the arena."

The dean sighed, "You are the one who needed to advise your student. His pride will surely be crushed by Alex, Taiga."

Taiga Erudita was the name of Joshua's teacher. Hearing the provocation, he snorted, "You might need to know that my student is only 17 years old and he already achieved rank 2 a month before the test."

"A 17 years-old rank 2 earth mage?" the dean nodded, "That's good."

"Of course, he is my student, after all. You need to make sure your student will not embarrass himself in the arena," he said smugly. If he knew Alex was already mid-rank 3, he would go insane.

"I believe in my student. You want to bet, then?" the dean asked.

"Haha... I'm sure my student will win. What do you want to bet?"

"One magic weapon."

Taiga was shocked with the bet, he never thought that Marco would put a magic weapon as a bet. "Are you sure? Haha, since you want to give me a magic weapon, then I'll gratefully accept."

"Hey, where is yours?"

"Why do I need to bet. I already know my student will win."

"The bet!" The dean glared at him.

"Okay, fine. I will place two spiritual liquids. It's equal to your magic weapon, I think."

"Sure," the dean smirked.

Not long after, Alex showed up in the arena.

"Heh... I thought you are scared and have already escaped from here," Joshua taunted Alex.

"Please start," Alex just ignored him and looked at the referee. This was also a form of provocation from Alex.

"You! How dare you..." Joshua looked at him hatefully, Alex had angered him with his arrogant attitude, 'How dare you ignored me.'

After looking at the two contestants, the referee announced, "The duel is over if one of the two surrenders. No killing is allowed."

"Match Start!"

Alex raised his sword while Joshua clenched his staff up and chanted his magic. The distance between him and Alex was about 10 meters.

"The earth below, hear my command. Wake up and strike my enemy. EARTH SPIKE!" immediately, many earth spikes rose from the ground and flew toward Alex.

Looking at the spikes coming to him, Alex dodged them easily. Joshua was surprised, he immediately chanted another magic.

"The earth below, hear my command. Awaken and fight your enemy. EARTH GOLEM!" two humanoid golems rose from the ground and charged toward Alex. The spectators were shocked by what Joshua could do. He kept attacking Alex one after another.

"What...He can call two golems already?"

"He must be a rank 2 earth mage."

"A 17 years-old rank 2 mage. He is a genius."

Hearing the comments, Joshua only grinned because he already felt satisfied.

Alex glanced at the two golems. He realized their battle efficiency wasn't that great, and he can dodge them easily.

Looking at Alex dodging his golems easily, he gritted his teeth.

"The earth below, hear my command. Awaken and eat your enemy. EARTH SNAKE!" another two snake-like golems rose from the ground and made their way toward Alex. The spectators were bewildered.

"What? Two golems aren't even his limit. He can summon two more golems?"

"A rank 2 earth mage, summoning 4 golems."

"A genius who will appear once in a hundred year has emerged."

"He might be a rival of the hero from Zircodina Kingdom or the priestess of Holy Kingdom."

"Congratulations Teacher Taiga, your student is a genius."

Many other teachers started congratulating Taiga. He looked at the dean smugly. The dean only snorted. If he knew Alex's talents, his intestines would be detached.

After Joshua summoned the two snakes, Alex started parrying some of the attacks from the golems.

"Haha...how is that? I'm a genius, you are only lucky enough to be picked up by the dean."

"What is he saying?" Alicia was angry, this was the reason all along?

Firia snorted, "Annoying Complex."

The dean can't stand anymore as he watched many have disregarded his student. He stood up and shouted.

"Alex, don't play anymore, finished him. I still need to make 'that'."

Alex recognized the sound. It was from his teacher, he then looked at his teacher and nodded.

"Since the teacher said to finish this right now, then it's time," said Alex while dodging.

Alex then climbed to the top of one of the humanoid golems, then he jumped toward Joshua's direction. Using the golem as his stepping stone, the moment he jumped, the golem was shattered.

Alex's speed was fast, he almost arrived in front of Joshua with a single jump.

"What!" Joshua was shocked by the sudden action.

"Earth from below, hear my command. Rise and....." before Joshua finished his chant, Alex's sword was already pointing at his neck.

The crowd was immediately silent. Alex looked at the referee.

Noticing Alex's gaze, he immediately announced, "Alexander wins!"

The crowd gasped. The mighty Joshua had lost in an instant. Alex had turned the table and he could win the battle easily.

"Haha... I will take these spiritual liquids," the dean laughed happily.

Alex turned back and walked away. He had finished the battle well and he had no regret of delaying it a little bit.

"No no no, there must be something wrong. He cheated, I won't believe this. Earth from below, hear my command. Awaken and bite your Enemy. EARTH WOLF!" four wolves immediately appeared at the arena and charged at Alex.

Alex shook his head and sighed. Then he raised his left hand, 'Oxygen burns yourself, appears in my front and becomes my arrow' while imagining a ball of flame appeared on his hand.

Not long after, A ball of flame appeared on his left hand. And Alex's right hand pinched the ball and stretched it to the back like he was using a bow. Then he released his hand.

The ball flew forward and suddenly split into four, charging at the four wolves and destroyed them. The ball pierced the wolves and touched the arena's wall and exploded.

Joshua was pushed down to the floor because of the shock wave from the explosion. Joshua's teacher was enraged after seeing that.

"Impudent!" Taiga charged at Alex but Alex only became solemn. A shield of flame made to protect himself.

"Taiga, you old bastard. What do you think you are doing to my student?" the dean appeared in front of Alex, enraged.

"He hurt my student. He's so ruthless to his friend, I'm teaching him a lesson now!"

"Hurting your student? Why can't I see it? Your student only got pushed off by the shock wave, he is not even injured. And your student broke the rule. He already lost but still attacked my student."

"My student is still young. He is still rash, but he is a genius who appears once in a hundred years. He could hurt anyone but my student."

"You old bastard!" the power of rank 8 pinnacle erupted. Everybody was scared off, including Taiga.

"This... there must be a misunderstanding," Taiga was now showing a scared expression. He was only a rank 7 pinnacle while the dean was a rank 8 pinnacle. What a thick skin, just before he was mad, he proclaimed a bold thing, and now he said it was a misunderstanding.

"What kind of misunderstanding are you talking about? Your student broke the rules, after the duel was over he still attacked my student."

"There must be a misunderstanding. My student was still young and rash. But he is still a 17 years-old rank 2 earth mage and he can control four golems already. The same number as rank 3 earth mage," Taiga sweatdropped, he crashed just now. Now that the dean was angry toward Joshua's action, he remembered that he was a rank 8 mage.

"So what? Your student is only trash compared to my student."

"How could you say that..."

"What? Your student was born with a silver spoon on him, he is only rank 2 earth mage. My student is only 17 years old, he already reached mid-rank 3. But he solely depends on 'HIMSELF', if you still insisted your student was a genius, that was fine. But to me, your student is 'TRASH'."

"You..." Taiga was speechless after the revelation.