Chapter 33: Strength and Resolve

[ Happy New Year everyone I hope you all have a great 2024 and may all your desires for new year get fulfilled.

And on the day of New Year here is an Extra chapter for all of you, so enjoy guys. ]

....

No one had high expectations for Alaric; his failure seemed inevitable.

However, in the next moment, as the two collided, Roger finally understood why Alaric dared to confront him head-on.

Roger's left shoulder collided with Alaric's left shoulder.

The collision of bodies, propelled by speed, produced a muffled sound.

"Bam!!"

Immediately after, Roger felt an overwhelming force attack him on his shoulder, propelling him and his broomstick far away.

In the next moment, a sensation of pain engulfed him.

His vision flashed with stars, and his body felt as if it were about to fall apart.

He couldn't hold onto the Quaffle anymore, and under this impact, the Quaffle flew far away.

At that moment, he felt like he had collided not with Alaric, who was even thinner than him, but with a solid wall.

He recalled the scene when some foolish Muggles, upon discovering wizards passing through walls at Platform 9¾, curious and attempting to imitate, ended up crashing into the wall.

Back then, he thought those Muggles were both stupid and ridiculous.

But now, he felt that, at this moment, he was no different from those Muggles.

He began to be grateful for choosing to turn sideways, avoiding a direct impact.

If he had collided head-on, he might have been knocked off the broomstick. That would have been a bigger humiliation..

Now, just being only knocked away was the best outcome.

...

With great effort, he stabilized the broomstick through sheer determination, avoiding a bigger accident during the game

However, by this point, the Quaffle had already been taken by Alaric, who had won.

In other words, this round ended with his failed attack.

After a good while, the referee on the sidelines announced the score, looking dumbfounded.

Outside the field, the spectators were in an uproar.

For Alaric himself, the outcome after the direct confrontation was expected. However, for the onlookers, it was completely unexpected.

Including the girls supporting Alaric, everyone found it hard to believe their eyes.

Who could believe that the seemingly weak looking Alaric actually sent the tall Roger flying away, seemingly effortlessly, as if the opponent hadn't used any force at all.

Was there a giant hiding under that exquisite cloak?

Subsequently, the girls erupted into even louder cheers. Their crush had such hidden strength. Especially some senior girls found Alaric irresistible.

Hermione and Penelope hugged each other, whether it was for Alaric's victory or his unharmed state, they were happy that he was safe and sound.

And not everyone in the Ravenclaw team was silent because of Roger's failure.

Ravenclaw's Quidditch team was predominantly composed of girls. 

When Roger failed for the first time, they hesitated due to personal relationships, reluctant to show excessive excitement. 

However, when Alaric defeated their captain again, all the female players couldn't help but cheer loudly, joining Cho Chang in supporting Alaric.

Their genius, their crush, was indeed powerful.

After the second round of the showdown, no one believed that Roger could secure a victory easily.

As a newcomer, Alaric not only possessed outstanding flying talent but also impressive physical strength.

In the eyes of the Ravenclaw players, with his physical strength, Alaric was already competent enough to confront Slytherin's Flint on the pitch and he wouldn't be suppressed by his foul tactics.

Then, facing such a talented player, their only advantage was their Quidditch skills and several more years of playing experience.

In terms of the talent and strength, Alaric was better and if he can use this to his advantage, he may still win against Slytherin.

Therefore, Alaric's advantage, combined with his talent, gave him a chance to win in the end.

Even the boys put aside their jealousy of Alaric and spontaneously started cheering for him.

When two people's scores were close, the one behind would envy the one ahead. However, when the gap was large enough, the one behind would only be left with admiration.

That's how human psychology works, people would naturally choose to support the underdog.

Although their cheering was still a bit sparse, it proved that Alaric, with his performance just now, had earned their approval.

At least no one dared to sarcastically call Alaric a pretty boy or accuse him of being sissy anymore.

Of course, this might also be because they feared Alaric's strength, afraid of receiving a beating from him.

...

On the field, Roger finally recovered from the feeling of being powerless all over, gradually regaining his ability to move.

He nodded to the referee, indicating that he was unharmed.

So, the next round of the match began.

This time, it was Alaric's turn to attack with the Quaffle.

By now, Roger was thoroughly nervous. He stared at his opponent's movements, not daring to be careless.

Because his opponent surpassed him in both flying speed and strength, he had to fully utilize his own skills to compete.

"Come at me!" he shouted at Alaric, also boosting his own morale.

"You have no chance; I'm going to show you the real Quidditch skills!"

This time, Alaric didn't say anything. He genuinely didn't want to exchange trash talk with Roger anymore because he knew Roger was going to lose again.

Even in a skill-based competition, Roger might not be able to surpass him.

After all, Alaric could perform acrobatic flying maneuvers. With these maneuvers, he could offset Roger's flying skills

Combined with his knowledge of football and basketball techniques, placed in Quidditch, he will be able to outperform Roger.

And these techniques he summarized himself were absolutely unheard of by Roger. His experience was useless in this situation.

In this way, he decided not to use his superhuman strength or speed this time but to defeat Roger through skills.

Defeating him in what he was best at—that was the kind of resolve Alaric chose.

.

.

.

Guys, do leave some power stones and reviews.

✌patreon.com/bobthewriter✌

If you guys enjoy this story, you can support me on Patreon and get access to Advance Chapters, it really helps me to work on new chapters.