Arthur's challenge

The duels were proceeding very smoothly,

Arthur was effortlessly defeating the opponents and was shining brightly in the duels,

However, he would taunt me with a mocking smile whenever he emerged victorious.

I ignored his provocation as my attention was drawn instead to a redhead girl,

'If I recall correctly, her name is Jane. she is from the family of mages '

'She will be a member of hero's party and excel in using fire spells'

Jane was also wining every duel with ease and her position in top 10 is already fixed at this rate,

Emma also noticed my focused attention on Jane,

As I continued to stare her, Emma's heart grew heavy.

Her eyes moistened and breath shortened,

'Why am I feeling this way? I don't even like him, he has already called off the engagement '

'I can still claim my rights if I become a sage... I don't need his support '

The pain and confusion quickly turned into anger,

'Why is he still staring that girl, I am more attractive than her so why is he paying attention to her? '

As the duels approached their conclusion, the stage was set for the final battle.

Taking their places on the stage were none other than the hero and his future teammate.

Arthur stood with his blade drawn on one side, while Jane wielded a short wand on the other side.

Arthur eyes remained fixed on Jane,

'Another beauty... attending the academy was undoubtedly the best decision I've made '

Jane furrowed her brow upon noticing Arthur's expression.

"What are you staring at? Have you never seen a girl before?" she retorted.

"I have," Arthur replied confidently, "but none as beautiful as you."

Jane frown deepened: "I hope your sword is faster than your tongue. "

The battle started immediately after that,

Jane launched a fireball, but Arthur swiftly intercepted it with his blade.

However, Jane had anticipated his move. The initial fireball served merely as a distraction. Without hesitation, she conjured a second fireball, significantly larger than the first, hurling it towards Arthur with precision.

Arthur was surprised but barely managing to position his sword as a barrier between himself and the oncoming fireball, mere moments before it engulfed him.

He was sent flying backward to the edge of the platform,

Arthur managed to maintain his balance, preventing himself from falling.

Regaining his composure, Arthur said: "I underestimated you "

With that said, Arthur darted towards Jane,

But Jane has already casted a flame tornado,

But Arthur was also prepared this time, he imbued his sword with a thin layer of Mana and cleaved the fire tornado in half

The next second, Arthur sword was placed at Jane's throat.

Arthur said: "Admit defeat "

But Jane had more tricks up her sleeve; she had just completed casting a spell, summoning a raging firestorm that enveloped her.

Arthur leaped back to avoid the encroaching flames,

Jane said: "I am not that weak "

Jane then launched a barrage of fist sized fireballs towards Arthur,

Arthur smiled as he cuts through the fireballs and slowly getting closer to Jane.

"I like beauty with strength... but you are not strong enough "

A bead of sweat trickled down Jane's forehead as she was also running out of mana,

But Arthur was easily slicing through her fireballs,

Arthur once again puts his sword at her throat,

Jane asked: "Why don't you just push me out of the platform? "

Arthur said with a cheesy smile: "I can't hurt a beautiful woman like you "

Jane gritted her teeth with anger and jumped out of the platform.

The announcer then announced Arthur as the winner,

The stadium resounded with the applause of the crowd.

Arthur raised his hand silence the applaud and said as rightfully as possible,

"I am from a common background and I have to fight to enter the academy "

"I want to test the nobles who were said to have received the training from the childhood "

Arthur's words were filling the stadium with silence,

Arthur further said,

"So I want to test the nobles if they have the strength or nor. "

"I am challenging Archie Everheart for a duel. "

The nobles frowned hearing this while the commoners looked towards me with awe,

I sighed and said: "I refuse "

My refusal caused an uproar in the stadium,

Arthur said with a sly smile,

"Then can I assume that the heir of Everheart family is a coward "

Mary beside me stood as the aura of intermediate level swordsman erupted from her,

Mary said: "How dare you disrespect the Everheart family "

Arthur was now further surprised as his eyes fell upon the beauty of Mary,

'Another beauty... I hit the jackpot '

Arthur said: "Beauty, why are you angry when I am challenging him "

I said: "Because she is the heir of the Everheart family "

My words again caused an uproar among nobles and commoners,

Bur for Mary, they were like cold bucket of water to her anger,

Mary turned towards me and said,

"How can you say that? "

Arthur also said: "So you are hiding behind a woman now. "

I saw the determination in Arthur's eyes and said,

"I will agree for the duel, but what's in it for me "

Arthur said: "I will bow down to you if you win, however you have to bow down to me if you lose "

I said: "Nope, I am not gaining anything from the conditions. "

Arthur gritted his teeth as he pondered about what kind of guy am I,

His provocations didn't affect me, I even flat out rejected his proposal.

After thinking some time, a sly smile appeared on his face as he turned to look at Emma,

Arthur said,

"What if I win, you give back the support to the princess "

"And if I lose, I will kneel down and apologize to you "

Emma frowned as she heard this, but still felt a little bit of warmth in her heart,

This is the first time someone took her side after Archie took back his support.

I sighed again and said: "Are you dumb? How are the two-condition equivalent to each other "

Arthur gritted his teeth with anger,

I continued: "How can giving her support to be a queen equal to you kneeling to me? "

Arthur angrily said,

"Archie Everheart!!! you are going too far "

"A man only kneels to his parents, So my kneeling is enough "

Even the audience was now dumbfounded,

"Is this guy actually dumb? "

"How can someone be this thick-skinned? "

"But what is his relationship with princess Emma "

"I think he is the new lover of princess "

"I think she has lost her mind after losing her right to throne "

The voices of the audiences further enraged Arthur,

Arthur said: "Ok, you choose the conditions "

I said: "I don't even want to duel, why would I choose conditions "

Emma on the side was also angrily staring at Arthur,

The previous warmth was now diminished by the voices of the audience,

'Why did he have to bring me into this... my reputation is ruined '

'I will take my revenge '

*Ding*

[Task: - Get defeated by the hero and make a way for him to get closer to princess Emma.]

[Reward: - +20 proficiency in magic and swordsmanship.]

[Failure penalty: - None]

I was surprised to see the first task provided by the system,

'What kind of a system are you? a counterattack one or a story follower one '

'You are giving me reward for changing the story and following the story '

The system never answers me, so I chose to now dwell into it,

A smile also appeared on my face as I saw the task,

'I can hit two birds with one stone if I play my cards right here '

I saw Arthur was still glaring at me angrily,

I said: "We can duel, but my conditions might be a little difficult for you to complete "

Arthur said: "Try me "

I said: "If you win, I give you the permission to date princess Emma one time under my name "

"Whaaaaaat" The audience was now dumbfounded,

Even Emma couldn't believe what she had just heard,

But she quickly came back to her sense as anger enveloped her,

"How dare you put me as a bet... I am the member of royal family "

I said: "A member who has lost all of her rights, so you either say what I tell you or be called back by the royal family "

"You also betted me to date a maid for a week "

Emma's was now trembling with anger but tears were also flowing out of her eyes,

"How can you do this to me... Don't you love me "

I chuckled and said: "I used to, but now... you are just a stranger to me "

 Arthur said: "Are you telling the truth" 

I ignored his question and said,

"And if you lose, I will use her as a maid "

Arthur was now also trembling with anger,

"You have gone too far Archie Everheart... I will beat you up for the princess "