The Storm (2)

Now that she's completely woken up, Inna shook her head vigorously as she tried to shake off the sudden pounding headache she had. She didn't understand what was happening with her body anymore but she still tried her best to understand what was happening around her. Since she was only able to sleep for about a moment before her drowsiness completely disappeared from the screams of complaints that bombarded her ears, she was able to hear pretty much every bad thing they've said about her.

And at first, she just planned to just ignore them and leave to avoid causing a bigger scene. But when she saw everyone laughing at her, her pride wouldn't allow her to leave as though she was trying to escape.

It's both embarrassing and degrading! It's as though she's some sort of loser!

So, despite her unsteady movements, she still made an effort to stand straight as she glared at the people who were laughing at her. She made sure that the emotions that were boiling in her were being clearly shown, making the glare in her eyes sharp with anger despite having traces of drunkenness in them. And as she swept through the people around her with her intense glare, one by one they slowly stopped their laughter. It left the room so quiet that she could hear a pin drop.

Then, she faced the fighter with the same glare as she spoke furiously.

"What's wrong with a girl drinking, you dick?! What makes me so different from you guys aside from having no dick?! I'm still the same human being, jesus christ! I'm perfectly free to make my own decision and do my own thing! So don't you start yapping about how women shouldn't fucking drink!"

The fighter was irked by her statement but now that everyone's attention was on him, he didn't know what else to say to thoroughly debase her so he figured to just point at the flaw he found in her statement.

"My name is not jesus christ!"

Inna was too furious to even mind what he said as she pointed at the direction of the four students who all haughtily looked at her. She pinned them to silence with the same glare she had as she began to shout.

"As for the four of you! Boo-hoo for you not being able to have my good fortune to stumble upon the Headmaster! Stop being so jealous and butthurt about it! It's not my fault I'm lucky!"

After releasing it all out, her throat started to feel sore so she decided to stop screaming. But despite her lowered volume, the emotions behind her words were of the same intensity.

"And you keep talking about me being weak as if it's going to affect me, heh. Dude, I've literally lost count on how many times I've been called that by people I barely even know. You think you guys are the only ones who call me that? It's been such an everyday occurrence that you could say I'm immune to it. But for argument's sake, I'll just say that the 'weakling' title you keep giving me isn't even valid anymore. I mean, it's been a year! Try to keep up with the present, dorks."

The four students gritted their teeth in irritation.

To think that this low-life would actually have the audacity to talk back to them!

One of them couldn't endure his annoyance anymore. Feeling irked seeing her confident pose, he decided to make a snarky comment with an overly condescending tone, hoping it would somehow diminish the confidence she had.

"Heh, you're just all bark no bite. No matter how hard you train, you obviously can't beat someone with actual talent."

Inna snorted as she slowly walked towards the man. Despite her unsteady drunken gait, she still emanated a menacing and confident aura.

"Oh-ho? Try me, bitch."

The student decided to meet her halfway as he tried to show a brave front. Then, with a smug smile, he raised an eyebrow at her as though he was taunting her.

"You want me to try? Heh, fine. Although it feels degrading to do this, teaching you a lesson would be rewarding enough."

Hearing his strange way of speaking, Inna looked at him with a confused expression.

"What are you talking about?"

Raghnall felt like it was time for him to intervene so he hurriedly grabbed Inna's hand as he whispered to her.

"I think we need to leave now."

Inna was startled at the urgency in Raghnall's whisper so she couldn't help but vehemently whisper back.

"Why?!"

But before Raghnall could answer, the student pointed at Inna and began to speak haughtily. His following words soon answered Inna's question.

"By the name of Garnel Haber, a student from the Heather Class in the Magic Department of the Eldora Academy, I hereby announce an invitation of challenge towards… this idiot… for an official duel! Witnesses who approve of this duel, please say 'Agree'."

The three remaining students all smiled in excitement as they nearly exclaimed the word.

"Agree!"

The student huffed in confidence as he smiled smugly at Inna.

"Since we have three witnesses, the duel is now made valid. What's left is for the other party to accept the invitation of challenge."

Inna looked at the student with a thoroughly confused expression. Then she alternately looked at the student and Raghnall as she tried to think of what to do next while hoping that Raghnall would give her an explanation.

Raghnall rubbed his palm on his face as he tried to suppress the rising irritation he's feeling that was mixing with his regret as well.

"It means that… he wants to fight with you. Students aren't allowed to use magic to fight unless they issue a formal invitation of challenge and validate the duel so he's doing that now."

Inna smiled maniacally as she looked at Raghnall.

"I see. Good. Veeeeery good. And what do I do next to actually start fighting?"

Raghnall sighed deeply.

"Don't you want to refuse it, even just a little bit?"

Inna looked at him with an incredulous expression as though the thought never even crossed her mind.

"Why should I? I'm trying to prove a point here so it'll be weird for me to back out now."

Raghnall looked at her long and hard as he felt the bubbling regret rise in his heart.

He should've run out immediately after he speculated what the student was about to do.

Issuing an official duel meant that he can no longer intervene with whatever happens during the duel. Because if he did, he'll be punished yet again for disobeying the Academy's rules. He can intervene discreetly but in this situation, there are far too many witnesses for him to try and cover his intervention up.

So, if something unlikely were to happen, he'd could only stare at them.

But then again, death is a natural result of any duel. He knew that all students in Eldora were aware of that fact though sometimes they end before things get too serious.

So, he can only hope that nothing bad would happen to Inna. He had confidence that she can win but there might be a chance that she wouldn't win unscathed.

But seeing the excited yet stubborn smile on her face, he knew that she wouldn't change her mind about fighting the guy.

So, with only a defeated sigh to express the inner turmoil he's feeling, he calmly replied.

"Just… answer him the same way he invited you but say that you're accepting the invitation."

After a few silent seconds of recalling his words, Inna accepted the challenge with a wide smile.

"By the name of Ingrid, a student from the Lily Class of the Magic Department of the Eldora Academy, I hereby accept the invitation of challenge of… this idiot... for an official duel."