Another abyss.
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.
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"Prince Ayrton and prince Feron will have a sparring match," Edward said in a loud voice as everyone gasped in anticipation of their encounter.
Feron was shocked by the announcement, and Ayrton was staring at him with a startled expression.
Gage heard Lynorr and walked down the stairs, "Professor Edward, his hand is hurt," she stated.
"Has his wound not yet healed?" Before the Academy's entrance, Gage questioned Lynorr, who was in the front row.
Arlo muttered, averting his eyes, "Yesterday when he woke up, he somehow got hurt again."
"How? I thought that perhaps my spell hadn't worked the last time" As he moved past the other royalty and neared Feron, who was standing next to Ayrton, Gage said.
Arlo said nervously, "That's a lengthy story," as he saw Gage go toward Feron and Ayrton.
"How did you get hurt, Your Highness?" As he stood next to Feron, Gage inquired.
Feron said, oblivious to Ayrton's intense gaze, "It was a small mishap."
Feron offered his hand to Gage, who then took it and used it to cast a spell to heal his wound while holding it.
"Thank you, Professor. Could you also treat Lydan's injury?" Feron enquired and expressed his appreciation.
Without turning to look at Feron, Gage moved in the direction of Lydan.
"Can I, Your Highness?" With a kind smile, Feron asked.
Gage placed his palm on Lydan's forehead and began chuntering as Lydan nodded to give permission.
...
While seeing Gage as he was using a spell on Lydan, several of the nobles in the rear were muttering to one another.
"What is going on?"
"How did princes Feron and Lydan sustain their injuries?"
"I suppose they fought,"
"The person who should initiate a fight is not His Highness Prince Feron."
"His Highness Lydan is also injured."
"The fight must have been instigated by Prince Lydan."
"I share your opinion"
...
Edward drew everyone's attention and said, "Let's start our sparring match now that all the injuries have healed."
"How are we going to fight here?" Someone from the Nobel class inquired.
Edward smirked and said, "We'll be making an abyss like the one you all witnessed while entering the Academy for that," as several of the professors who were standing next to him descended the stairs and surrounded all the students in a circle.
As he stared at the professors who were chuntering some spells, Lydan's eyes sparkled with excitement.
The professors' spell-casting had created a huge space for the students to fight in, and after a while, all the students saw that everything around them was white and that nothing was visible next to them.
Edward stated to the students, who were all standing perfectly still, "You all can disperse now."
Like every other student, Lydan was taking in everything around him and thinking to himself, "This is all so magnificent; only if I could utilize magic too."
While some of the students were in awe, some were nonchalantly observing the royals, while others were giddy with excitement.
Feron thought as he spotted Arlo approaching him, "I'm having a feeling that Ayrton won't go easy on me."
"Having fun, huh? It's been a while since we've sparred" Feron grinned as he heard Arlo say with delight.
"Our parents forbade us from using swords, but now I can hear the sound of metal striking metal again," Arlo said.
As Arlo's eyes shifted to Ayrton, who was looking in the direction of Lydan, Feron answered, "You are right."
Arlo gave Feron one more look before asking, "What happened to him?" Feron replied, "He has gone insane," in a quiet voice.
"Isn't it enjoyable?" Arlo questioned Ayrton while disregarding Feron's eye signal.
"It will be more enjoyable if I can use my powers while sparring," Ayrton said as he eventually turned to face Arlo.
When he heard Ayrton's voice, Feron gulped his saliva with a creepy look, and Arlo nervously giggled after observing Feron's and Ayrton's facial expressions.
Arlo attempted to sound cynical as he said, "You are not in a war, Ayrton."
With a straight face, Ayrton replied, "It's equal to that."
"Feron, did you harm him in any way?" Arlo spoke softly to Feron.
Feron said lowly, "I don't remember doing anything like that.
As he left Feron with Ayrton, Arlo wished him luck.
"I've sensed someone staring at me for a while, or is that just my imagination?" Lydan had an inside thought.
"Lady, you all right?" Ophni inquired after observing Lydan's perplexed expression.
Ophni grinned as Lydan gestured, "Don't call me that."
Ophni asked, "Why?"
"Because I am..." When Lydan heard Edward's booming voice, he stopped gesturing.
Edward stated as he stood with the other teachers, "All of you, if you have admired enough, then please pay attention here."
The students once more gathered in front of the instructors, who were watching from a higher level created by the dense cloud-like fog.
"The winner of the most matches between the two princes will spar with me in the final round," Edward said. "After the first match between the two princes, all of you are to be decided your sparring partners. After you win against your partner, then you are to choose another partner."
The students began whispering among themselves.
"What sort of instruction is this?"
"Now even the ladies must spar?"
"Why even are we fighting in the first place?"
"This is not power-sharing, is it?"
"They are saying that the spells they are teaching are from other kingdoms, but in actuality, they are just old spells that function the same as the spells from our kingdom."
"It doesn't make sense; we believed that only royalty engaged in combat, but the professor is ordering us all to engage in combat."
As he overheard some of the pupils mumble to one another, Edward replied, "Those who are thinking that this sword sparring is no power-sharing then let me tell you that learning swordsmanship's technique of other kingdoms is also included in the power-sharing."
Ophni remarked, smirking, "So, you are telling us to fight with each other for nothing, don't tell me that you think we'll view sparring with you as an honor." Edward was glaring back at Ophni, one of his eyes twitching with wrath.
To be continued...