Adrias' training

"Your name is Vivian? What's your last name? Are you a noble?"

The baptized Vivian stared at Grace's questions without answering, then simply turned her head away in silence. The obvious disregard caused Grace to widen her eyes and shout.

"You bastard, who do you think you are to be so arrogant, I am Grace Mayne, third in line to the Mayne throne, and you dare to disrespect me and think you can get away with it!"

Morgan and the Mirko Academy's representative, who had approached with a look of helplessness at the uproar, stopped Grace.

"Your Majesty, please stop being so angry."

"Your Majesty, this is a foreign country, so please watch your language...."

"Shut up! How dare you lecture me?"

In a fit of rage, Grace blocked Vivian and Adrias from going their separate ways.

Then she drew her staff from her bosom.

"Your Majesty!"

"Did you think you could ignore me and get away with it? If you kneel here and apologize, I will forgive you and make room for you to dine with me."

Just as Vivian's complexion was turning icy, Adrias stepped forward.

His gesture startled Vivian, who looked up at him in surprise and reached out her hand cautiously.

"Vivian. I can't believe I brought you to this place and gave you a bad experience."

"No. This isn't your fault, Adrias, it's...."

Adrias smiled softly at Vivian, who shook her head, before turning to Grace.

"Did you say you were Prince Grace of the Kingdom of Mayne?"

"Who are you, I have no interest in you. Did you come out here to try and win the lady's favor? If so, you've made the wrong choice...."

"Grace. Grace Mayne. This is Rodlen Academy. I don't know how Mirco Academy operates, but at least here we're all equal students, with no class distinctions. That means your paltry status has no meaning here."

As he spoke, Adrias slowly exuded energy.

The aura created by the mana he emitted gradually permeated the atmosphere around him.

Even though he was respectful, the growing aura made his appearance seem ferocious.

It was a sense of unrefined wildness, yet somehow sticky and sinister.

"Grace Mayne. Your status here means nothing, only your ability. If you have it, prove it with power. If you don't, I'll take it right now."

There was power in Adrias' calmly spoken words.

There was a confidence in his words that told me he could crush his opponent at any moment.

Even the people around him held their breath as Adrias stood there, looking intense and arrogant.

"Hmph. Hmph."

Adrias's aura was overwhelming.

Grace let out an uncomfortable cough, and then quietly returned to her seat.

The wand in his hand, however, was trembling.

"That, student Adrias. I bow and apologize for any offense."

"It was Vivian who was offended, not me."

"Ah, that's right, Student Vivian, I apologize."

"...It's okay."

Morgan apologized, forgetting about Vivian because Adrias had made such a strong impression on her.

But when Adrias looked at Vivian's complexion, he realized that she was flushed, and he was trying to comfort her.

"Adrias stood up for me.

Of course, her mind was a field of flowers.

When the dust settled, the waitress wiped the sweat from her brow and said.

"Uh, ma'am. We just happen to have an open table outside, near the pond, and I was wondering if you'd like to dine there?"

"What would Vivian like to do?"

If this had happened when she was alone, Vivian would have felt bad and looked for another restaurant, but now she was in a good mood because of Adrias.

Besides, she couldn't pass up the chance to enjoy a meal alone with him.

"I'm good, I'm hungry."

With that, Adrias turned to leave, casting one last glance in the direction of Mirko Academy before heading out.

There he saw Grace, still looking impatient, and a blue-haired mage who appeared to be Keshurn.

He hadn't expected Grace to be there, given that only the highest-ranked students were invited, but it seemed she was attending the exchange as a prince.

"Rather nice.

I had let it slide earlier, but for Keshurn's sake, I had no intention of letting Grace go.

The exchange would last a week.

That was plenty of time to work things out.

"I'll break your spirit and make you mute.

Adrias smiled a ghastly smile that no one could see.

* * *

A private training room with a chilling atmosphere.

In the center of it lay a man who looked as if he had given up on the world.

His name was Todlon Terry.

A man who, not so long ago, had been valedictorian of the Knight Academy's graduating class.

"Mm-hmm."

As he struggled to open his eyes, his body hit the bottles lying around the training room.

Drinking inside the training room was strictly forbidden, but he didn't care.

He'd been acting like it was all over since the last tournament of his life, when he'd fallen in the round of 32.

He'd been stuck here for days, drinking himself into a stupor, as befits a man of his size and stature.

The Academy's graduating class was a meritocracy, with students choosing their own assignments unless they had private tutoring, so this behavior could go undetected.

Thump, thump, thump!

As I lay on the ground, wrapping my head in my hangover, I heard someone knocking on the door of the training room.

"What kind of asshole...."

Still, in a bad mood, Todlon staggered to his feet and made his way to the door.

He pushed it open and saw an unfamiliar figure at the door.

"Who the fuck are you and what the fuck are you doing knocking on the door of the training room?"

"Toddlon Terry. I'm Antonio Holt, formerly of the School of Magic."

Todlon spat on the ground once, wondering if he was crazy, and tried to close the door.

But then Antonio's soft voice came through the crack in the door.

"Todrón Terry. Aren't you pissed? I mean, you only made it to the round of 32, and no one saw that coming."

"This asshole...."

Feverish for a moment, Todlon reopened the door and immediately grabbed Antonio by the scruff of the neck and lifted him up.

Dangling in midair, Antonio showed no sign of distress, his mouth still twitching in a nonchalant manner.

"From the smell of alcohol on your breath, I'm guessing you've been drinking yourself into a stupor, and how could you possibly outwit the woman who defeated you?"

"Say one more word. I'll show you a spell that will make your hair disappear."

Antonio grinned at Todlon, who was now radiating mana and showing signs of life.

As he hung, he rummaged in his bosom and pulled out a small vial of reagent.

"A gift."

"What?"

Todrón took the vial from Antonio and let him go.

The vial was very small, about the size of a pinky nail, and contained an unidentifiable black liquid.

"You, what are you doing?"

"As I said, I'm a student of the School of Magic, in the same graduating class as you, and I've had a very bad tournament, so I was just trying to identify with Mr. Todlon."

"That's not funny, so what is this potion?"

"It's a new potion that Professor Kyler Schutzman, our potions professor, has created. It's better for you to experience it for yourself than for me to explain its effects."

"A potion made by a professor? Why do you have it, and you're full of shit about testing it for yourself."

At Todrón's words, Antonio only smiled.

He shrugged and began to back away slowly.

"Well, eat it or not, that's up to you. But I can tell you one thing for sure, I'm the only one who can get that potion. I was able to get it because I work for the professor."

He turned, waved, and disappeared.

"I'll see you next time. I'll be back here in a week."

"You're an asshole."

Todlón walked back into the training room, thinking he'd met a freak.

But in his hand was the potion Antonio had handed him.

His body was broken these days anyway.

He had no motivation to improve.

'He wouldn't have given me poison.

Besides, the amount of food was small, so even if I ate this much, I thought I would just get a message.

No. I didn't need any excuses.

I'd run out of alcohol anyway, so I decided to try whatever it was, just to see if I could be fooled.

Gulp.

"Hmm?

The potion's effects were immediate.

And the reaction was not at all what he expected.

"This...."

Even though he hadn't been physically active, a powerful energy began to circulate in his body.

Not only that, but his mana seemed to increase, as if it had been pumped.

"What the hell!

I shouted at the top of my lungs.

He heard a popping sound and felt more power than he had ever felt before.

Todlon then went on a rampage in the training room, swinging his sword frantically.

After about ten minutes, he stopped, wistfully watching the power fade away.

"This is crazy. How do I have all these potions?

He felt a pang of regret, as if he had wasted the potion for nothing.

But then he remembered what Antonio had said about coming back in a week, and he grinned maniacally.

"If only I could get my hands on the potion again...!"

Vivian Bellocan.

He might be able to beat her.

The unheard-of female prosecutor who had dared to defeat him, the top of his graduating class.

She had destroyed his entire career.

Now it was time for revenge.

"Wait. Vivian Velocan!

* * *

They finished their meal and arrived at the administration building.

Something unpleasant happened on the way, but fortunately, Vivian didn't seem to mind.

After eating, I was able to get to the meeting right on time.

In the clearing in front of the main building where the meeting was to take place, all of the Rodlen Academy students who had agreed to attend had already gathered, including some of the students who had excelled in the last tournament, and one unexpected figure.

"I didn't expect Louis to come.

Lewis' appearance was unexpected, but as a freshman captain, a super rookie who had gotten into the school with unprecedented grades, the principal seemed to care.

Given her reputation, Lucia should have been offered a place, but seeing as she wasn't here, it seemed like she declined.

"Adrias Cromwell."

The voice sounded vaguely familiar.

Vivian, who was next to him, responded.

"Congratulations on winning the tournament. Lady."

"What congratulations, now. And...."

Diane paused, awkwardly looking away, and then spoke up in a small voice.

"Stop calling me ma'am. You used to call me that when we were kids."

What's wrong with her?

Must have eaten something wrong.

Regardless, she asked me to call her that, so I did.

"Yes. Dene."

"Don't use that honorific! Ouch, never mind. You're on your own."

The reaction reminded me of Bahá'u'lláh.

The way she acted, as if she was guilty of something.

The reaction was so similar that I wondered if it was his daughter.

"What is it? Did I do something wrong?

I couldn't think of anything.

Anyway, while I was talking to Diane, Viviane looked at me and Diane in a strange way.

After a few moments of admiring her unreadable gaze, Luis approaches from the distance.

"I think you should take a look at him, too.

I feel nervous.

It still doesn't really sink in that I'm actually talking to him.

As he gets closer and closer, I hear someone shouting.

"Hey, students!"

In the distance, Morgan was waving and calling out to us.

He waved to us and said

"The venue is ready. Let's go!"

Morgan's arrival meant that the Mirko Academy students were already seated.

I had a feeling that the other students had the same idea.

It was like a war cloud.

'You don't want to be beaten by a student from another academy.

There was bound to be a chi battle, as young people are wont to do.

I had a different attitude, however, as I wasn't there to fight them in the first place, but to get to know the playable character, Keshurn.

"Keshurn Violga. A genius of auxiliary magic and magic circles.

It couldn't hurt to get to know him.

As I followed Morgan into the building, I saw that the interior was decorated like a banquet hall, just as Morgan had said.

Contrary to my expectations, there were no Mirko Academy students in sight, and we were the first to arrive.

"The Mirco Academy will be here soon, and I hope you can mingle and socialize with each other."

With those words, Morgan turned to go.

Soon after, the door opened and the Mirco Academy representatives entered.

With that, the tension that had been present before reached its peak.

"Hmm."

The Mirko students seemed to sense it too and looked at us nervously.

This is not good.

I was here to get acquainted with Keshern, whom I might never see again.

"Oh well. I'll make a move.

I wasn't interested in leading, but I'd do it for a cause.

I took a step forward.

And just as I was about to say something to lighten the mood.

"Yes, you! I've heard you're that half-wit who claims to be able to use swords and magic at the same time! I heard that your magic skills are only at the beginner's level, and you dare to talk down to this Grace Mayne without any fear!"

...That changed my mind.

There's nothing like a good smackdown to lighten the mood, is there?