And the winner is?

Looking down from the rooftop, my mind had finally cleared a bit from the completely unreasonable surge of anger that had come over me.

Looking back, I could somewhat understand myself getting a bit agitated and frustrated, but becoming so angry that I couldn't even stand staying in the classroom? That didn't make much sense.

'-Will you finally listen to me now, darling?'

Finally, I could clearly hear Lucifer's voice calling to me, a voice that I knew had tried to call out to me before when I had that childish tantrum but that I had ignored.

'Yeah, I'm listening...'

And so, she began explaining, entering one of the rare moments where I could fully believe that she had actually been a former god.

'-First of all, I'm guessing you are surprised by your own reaction, maybe even a bit scared. But that was the demon part of you reacting to your emotions, making them more exaggerated and pronounced.'

'So what, I have anger issues now?'

'-Don't be like that. There's no way something like you wouldn't understand what I'm saying.'

'Haa... I'm sorry. It's just... weird.'

To lose control like that, although not nearly as horrid as to have to see a video of myself attacking Ms. Zito, was still insanely unsettling. Even more so as I wasn't really in a position to afford it, as it could very well be the last straw that made my situation unbearable.

Then, Lucifer continued on, somehow starting to wake me up from my ignorant state of mind.

'-Also, why do you assume that Dona wants you to lose?'

'What do you mean?'

'-Why would it matter if she was your homeroom teacher or not? It's not like she will just disappear just because she isn't your homeroom teacher. She will still be there. Also, no matter what was said at the strange event you went to; if you perform well today, don't you think they would have to take it into account at least a bit?'

'That's...'

'-Just stop being a crybaby, Aarick! Now, get down from here and get ready to fight!'

Ultimately, she was right. I was just being overly dramatic for no reason. This was just an academy, and in the future, none of this would even matter.

"Haaa... You're right."

'-I know I am. So why are you not moving?!'

'Yes, yes, I'm going.'

==========

Having finally found my way to the designated arena where we would be holding our match, I wasn't too surprised to see a crowd consisting of the other freshmen and our teachers standing on the side of the ring. Because... I had sort of gotten lost on my way here...

To be fair, and while I admit it was my own fault, I hadn't gotten to know where we were going after I had stormed out of the classroom, so I had to try and use the phone that I got from Dona to look where I was supposed to go.

Sadly, I wasn't all too good with technology as I hadn't had access to those kinds of things before now.

Nearing the cluster consisting of both of my own classmates and the freshmen from Mr. Ainsworth's class, I couldn't help but noticed all of their different expressions. That being said, most of them seemingly thought that this was just a waste of time, with Will absolutely being one of them.

However, I felt a lot more disappointed to see the reaction of the beautiful girl next to him, even though I knew I shouldn't. Because her expressionless face framed by her long blue hair also told the story of her truly not caring about this.

'I guess a fight between a weakling and a bully just isn't important to them...'

About Hugo the bully, he was standing right next to Mr. Ainsworth with a grin on his face, clearly happy that he would get to show me my place today, to pay me back for whatever unknown thing that I had done to him. Just like me, he was wearing our black school uniform, but he was also holding a large axe over his shoulder.

"You're finally here, Mr. Laupier? We had almost begun to think that you had run away or something!"

Naturally, Mr. Ainsworth wasn't one to miss a chance to dish out a little verbal jab at me, and although Dona tried to ignore it, I could see her crossed arms tensing a bit. Of course, I also chose to ignore his stupid words, as they were just petty words from a teacher who couldn't act like an adult.

"So, now that the participants have arrived, we can finally start the event! So, Mr. Laupier and Mr. Riley, please take your positions after equipping the protective bracers."

Holding two very unassuming metal bracers in his hand, both I and Hugo stepped up and took one each, promptly equipping them on our wrists.

These bracers were the insurance that the academy had during duels. In all arenas at the academy, there was a sort of protective aura that would make sure the students would not die during fights. Naturally, Ms. Zito had given me a long and complicated explanation that I did not understand at all, but what I did understand was that there would be no danger to my life.

The only unfortunate part was that it would not save us from getting wounded or feeling pain...

Standing inside the huge arena, with the floor covered with fine sand, and feeling the looks of the other freshmen, I should have been nervous. Yet, I wasn't.

Looking at the averagely-built Hugo, holding that big steel axe on his shoulder, I could only find myself feeling a bit excited again. Excited because no matter the outcome, I would get to test out my newly acquired powers, to truly see what I was capable of.

Ultimately, wasn't there no way for me to go except forward?

It didn't matter what the other students thought of me, as they wouldn't be a part of my life in the future anyway.

"Are the participants ready?"

"Ready!"

Hearing Mr. Ainsworth's voice calling out to us, Hugo instantly responded, showing just how impatient he was.

Turning my eyes toward the cluster of people, they finally landed on Dona, who just nodded, confirming that I didn't have to worry about anything, that I just had to try my best.

"Ready."

"Then, without further ado... Begin!"

'Huh?'

With no countdown or anything, Mr.Ainsworth had suddenly just started the fight, throwing me completely off.

Sadly, Hugo didn't care about that at all as he dashed forward, now holding the axe with one hand by his side.

'-Aarick, move!'

Things had happened so fast, and before I knew it, Hugo was already swinging his axe toward my neck.

Seeing the metal shining under the sun above us, time seemed to stop for a moment, a moment where I had to do something as to not allow my head to be chucked off my shoulders.

And with the axe now being so very close, there was only one thing I could do.

*Shiing!*

A shrill sound was made when the axe passed right over my head, a head that was automatically lowered due to me falling on my butt.

"Idiot!"

Grinning widely as he saw me fall, Hugo didn't hesitate to fix his posture and send his axe downwards using an overhead attack.

Ultimately, I had no choice but to throw my body to the side, trying my best to get away from him, but of course, he wouldn't let that happen.

The result was that I was now jumping all over the place as his axe constantly honed in on me like a missile, not allowing me to fix my posture.

Then, he finally made the mistake of putting too much power into his swing, allowing me to gain the opening I was looking for. An opening that was created due to Hugo starting to enjoy himself too much and lowering his guard.

****

[Levi's Pov]

Seeing the absolute mess in front of me, it was hard to believe these two were students at Augustus.

Though I knew that they were both regarded as the weakest of each freshmen class, it was still painful to see.

Even more so as the one tumbling around on the ground was Aarick.

With his uniform now dirty from the sand, and gritting his teeth, there was absolutely no semblance of him ever being properly trained.

Though Hugo was not a great fighter, he had still gone through training, so it was no surprise to see him enjoying the moment, toying with Aarick as he swung his axe wildly.

While I was struggling to keep my hands from shaking as I was once again overcome with guilt, something very strange happened as Hugo's back blocked my sight from seeing Aarick.

Despite the bully raising his axe once again, fully intent on continuing to play with his food without even using his element, he suddenly fell to his knees.

At the same time, a female voice rang out.

"The duel is over. The winner is Aarick Laupier."

Then I saw him.

Slowly standing up, the white-haired youth with blood-red eyes showed me what had happened behind Hugo's back.

Because on his hands there were now huge, dark claws, one of which was now colored red with blood. Blood that slowly followed the orders of gravity and colored the sand beneath him red.