The Path 045

"What's going on here? Why haven't the two of you changed into your uniforms...?" asked the Coach, approaching Will's group as the forty-five-minute preparation period neared its end.

"We've decided not to participate," replied Will, appending, "Instead, I'm planning to sponsor and help train those here."

"Are you sure?" asked the Coach, raising his brows in surprise. "People of your caliber are rare among First Years. If you work hard, you could set or break various records."

Though the Coach's words prompted a Quest to appear before Will, the latter wasn't the type to change his mind once made, responding, "I can do the same six months from now."

"Hmmm..."

Since he couldn't force Will to try out, the Coach didn't press the matter and instead passed his gaze over Ishyll, Ahmad, Alessandra, and Madeen.

"Well, if you've already made up your mind, I won't try to change it," said the Coach, scratching his head. "But what are you going to do about your extracurriculars?"

"Oh, that?" asked Will, adopting a playful smile. "I was thinking I could enter a provisional apprenticeship under the Professors in charge of the Duelist League. As a Practitioner and the disciple of a living legend, I feel there is much I could teach my fellow First Years. Not to mention, it would give me much-needed experience managing others."

"Hmmm...it's unorthodox, but I'll speak with the Chancellor and see what he has to say on the matter..." said the Coach, nodding affirmingly. Then, as it was nearly time for the duels to begin, he half-turned, adding, "Good luck in the coming battles..." before departing for the fully-repaired stage.

"The influence of the Oirthears is extraordinary..." muttered Alessandra. Her family, a County, wasn't exactly low-brow, but there was no way she could oppose or speak on equal terms with the Academy's personnel. Yet Will did it as if it were completely natural...

"We should take this opportunity to stretch and loosen our muscles," supplanted Ishyll, feeling that Will might get annoyed by Alessandra's comment.

"That's a good idea," agreed Alessandra, briefly glancing at Will before looking at Madeen and adding, "Come on, Maddie, let's help each other stretch."

"I don't need help..." responded Madeen. "And who said you could call me Maddie?"

"Oh, come now. No need to be so cold," said Alessandra, approaching to whisper, "We both know other girls are going to target Will. Wouldn't it be better if we presented a unified front?"

"..."

Though she didn't respond to Alessandra's words, Madeen offered little resistance as the former guided her to the side for some joint stretching exercises. Ishyll and Ahmad followed suit, but instead of helping the other stretch, the former prepared by practicing loading his crossbow while the latter started performing slow and methodic movements similar to Tai Chi.

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"Alright, you lot! Gather round!" shouted the Coach, prompting the sixteen remaining applicants to gather. Will and Ohta were also present, but since they wouldn't be participating, they stood off to the side, the former with crossed arms and the latter with hands in his pockets.

"First up is Iode Nergle," said the Coach, surprising many. "Come forward and declare who you would like to challenge. Just remember, you only get one chance. Aim too high, and you'll fall just as far."

"Ha! I'd like to see just who thinks they can clip my wings...!" responded Iode, leaping onto the stage and thumping his chest with his left fist as he roared, "Bring forth your strongest!"

"Awww. Does this mean I won't get to play with the Gamma Star of House Oirthear?" asked an androgynous-looking youth with somewhat unkempt, medium-length brown hair and distinctive, pale yellow eyes. Golden, coin-shaped earrings dangled from their slightly pointed ears, and they wore a layer of makeup to accent their already effeminate features. However, as their attire consisted of a red-and-black, fur-lined coat with gold trim and an open front, exposing their flat stomach and chest, it was fairly obvious they were a boy.

"And you are...?" asked Iode, lowering his posture and hunching with his right hand forming a claw and elbow near his side, stirring his Mana and Aura in preparation for a fight.

"Oh? You don't know who I am?" asked the androgynous youth, smiling as he performed a deep, theatrical bow and stated, "I am Horito Zieger, but I prefer my stage name, Baeghori."

"Little deceiver...?" asked Iode, followed by a contemptuous snort as he added, "Whatever. Your tricks won't work on me."

"Oh, wow," remarked Horito, raising his head and appearing surprised as he revealed, "I haven't heard those words since I swiped the top-ranked position six months ago."

"Six months ago...?" Iode parroted, realizing that if Horito had taken the top spot six months prior, it must have been when he first enrolled. If that was the case, and he had held the position ever since, it would be unwise to underestimate him.

"Horito, Iode. Are the two of you ready?" asked the Coach, holding the same remote he used to pull up the display showing the current First-Year Duelists and their statistics.

"Ready!" responded Iode, punching his fists together.

"Do your best," mused Horito, supplying a playful wink before he and Iode promptly disappeared. Immediately after that, bright, bluish-white sparks began crackling approximately fifty meters above the arena, followed by a large, spherical projection expanding outward to show the duo standing in the middle of a circular stone arena, floating amid an empty white void.

"Eat this...!" shouted Iode, kicking things off by launching himself toward Horito with an explosive burst of speed. He even emitted reddish-black flames from his hands to propel himself faster, but Horito appeared more amused than concerned as he remarked, "The crowd adores bravado, but this isn't a war zone..."

Punching Horito's face, Iode intended to send the effeminate youth flying off the arena, but there was no feeling of impact as both his fist and body moved through where the former had been, dispersing it into smoke.

"A modern Duelist understands that people come to see a show and to be entertained," said Horito, appearing atop one of thirteen pillars circling the stone platform's edge.

'He's contracted with a Smoke Elemental...' Iode noted, spinning around to face Horito in his hunched-over, defensive posture. The exterior flesh and spines covering his wings were superior to most conventional forms of armor, so by simply hunching over, he greatly reduced the number of angles his opponents could attack from.

"If you really want to become number one, you need to grasp the basics of presentation and showmanship," said Horito, spreading his hands and causing clones of himself to appear atop each of the thirteen pillars.

Ignoring Horito's words, Iode closed his eyes and attempted to discern the former's location. Horito hadn't used teleportation or any other kind of spatial movement. And, while the pillars weren't especially tall, it would be difficult for him to appear atop one so quickly after disappearing. In other words...

'There...!' Iode shouted internally, spreading his wings, leaning forward, and opening his mouth wide to unleash a thin, laser-like beam of flames that could melt stone.

Leaping out from hiding behind one of the pillars closest to his spawning location, Horito performed an agile combat roll as he shouted, "Wow! And I thought my breath was bad...!"

"Get serious...!" roared Iode, shifting his weight and bringing his left wing forward like a shield, causing the spines covering it to gain an ivory-white glow. His actions confused those who had never witnessed Horito's duels, but things became clearer when a curved, fang-like dagger appeared out of a smoky plume, impacting Iode's wing and reflecting off it.

"Where's the fun in that...?" asked Horito, causing Iode's eyes to widen as the voice originated from his blind spot, specifically where the dagger had been deflected.

While throwing a second dagger past Iode's body, Horito stabbed down with all the force his slender arms could muster. Fortunately, he had Aura as a crutch, so while his raw power was nothing to write home about, he managed to sink the blade's tip a few centimeters into Iode's wing as the latter smashed it into him, sending him flying.

'This bastard has Warp Daggers...!' Iode screamed internally, red, tiger-like markings appearing on his face as he turned and raised his right wing just in time to block a second stab.

"Oh? Your reaction speed is incredible...!" exclaimed Horito, grinning with the tell-tale expression of a battle junkie. Iode extended the spines on his wings and shot several out like bullets, but just like his preliminary attack, they passed clean through Horito's body, dispersing it into smoke.

"It's too bad you didn't do your research," Horito joked, appearing next to the pillar Iode had damaged with his breath attack, waving the dagger he had left behind as a precaution.

"You're a damned coward..." growled Iode, beginning to feel weak as the poison coating Horito's daggers flowed through him. He tried using Aura to resist and expel it, but as the daggers were enchanted with the Wound Aggravation enchantment, they sank deeper into his wings.

"There's nothing wrong with using the means available to you to achieve your goals," said Horito, opening the right side of his coat to reveal more than a dozen extra daggers. He also had on a harness that wasn't visible at a glance, within which sat a black, revolver-like pistol.

Drawing the pistol from its holster, Horito clicked open the drum, paying more attention to loading a handmade bullet than Iode himself as he said, "Let this be a lesson to you, junior. You're not a wild animal, so-"

Before Horito could finish speaking, Iode abruptly opened his mouth and unleashed a second beam of fiery energy. Horito dodged by tilting his head and turning his body to the side, but that was just the start of Iode's assault, his skin turning a mix of red and black and his teeth growing into sharp fangs as he charged at the former in a wrath-induced frenzy.

"I stand corrected," said Horito, his expression unchanging as Iode tore through his faux body. In the very next moment, he appeared behind the enraged youth, the barrel of his gun placed at the back of Iode's head as he remarked, "You're definitely a beast..." before pulling the trigger.

*BANG*

Though Iode's durability was far beyond his peers, the bullet Horito used against him was enchanted with the Third Circle spell, Flash Freeze. Thus, while it failed to pierce the base of his skull or fracture his spine, a layer of ice rapidly spread across his body, drastically decreasing his mobility as he fought to resist the invasive energy.

"Wow. You're really tough," remarked Horito, genuinely surprised that Iode had managed to take a bullet to the back of the head without immediately being incapacitated. Unfortunately for Iode, daggers and bullets were just two of the weapons in his arsenal.

Evading Iode's last-ditch effort to slice his gut open with the tip of his wing, Horito reached into the left side of his jacket and pulled out a tiny, black, spherical object. Pressing and holding a small button on its surface caused a bluish-white, circuit-like pattern to slowly materialize over three seconds. Then, as Iode turned toward him and roared, he casually tossed it, underhand, into the enraged, frost-covered youth's face. What followed was a stabilized, spherical explosion of bluish-white energy that, seconds later, subsided to reveal a statuesque version of Iode, frozen solid...

"There. That ought to have cooled you down," joked Horito, approaching the still-alive Iode with his custom-made black revolver in hand, this time loading it fully with six rounds of Flash Freeze. Iode's physiology allowed him to endure being frozen solid, but as it placed a tremendous burden on his Aura and Mana, all Horito had to do to ensure victory was prevent him from breaking free...

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