Chapter 53 - Duel (1)
After their awkward pick-up line exchange over lunch, Soren and Alia had been overly conscious of one another for a while, but like everything, it slowly faded away as ti passed.
Currently, Soren was sitting with Lilliana in class F, as he had sothing important to ask.
“So what’s wrong, Ren?” Lilliana asked, showing no signs of embarrassnt in using his nickna outside of the dorm anymore.
“Well… I was wondering if I can attend higher-ranked lectures.”
“Oh, right, that makes sense.”
Unlike what Soren had expected, Lilliana just nodded, understanding his question.
“It makes sense?”
“Well, you did rank the highest amongst the lower classes in the written exam during the midterm.”
“So can I?”
“I’ve already spoken to both the class E and class D teachers about your situation, and they agreed to accept you into their class depending on how you do in the final examination.”
“So I have to wait until the second sester?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“Then that’s fine.”
“I thought you’d say–Huh? You aren’t disappointed?”
“Why would I be? I was just hoping to attend so higher-level lectures here and there, but here I am being given a chance to boost my class after only a single sester.”
“That’s true.”
“Oh, I also wanted to ask if it was at all possible for to attend so lectures for other majors.”
“Could I ask why?”
“Well, not to sound arrogant, but as you saw during my duel against Alex, I’m able to use magic whilst moving, I fight with an axe, and I can even use divine power to so extent. So I just wanted to learn how to use everything better.”
“I don’t think there’s any rules against that, as there have been students who have enrolled in both divine studies and martial studies at the sa ti, among other variations… but I’ve never seen a student enrolled in all three.”
“So how does it work?”
“In the example I gave of a divine studies student taking martial studies too, they would substitute a few classes per week with martial studies lectures, or maybe even take so on top of the classes they already have, but at the end of the day they would still be registered as a divine studies student so their ranking and everything else would still be under that role.”
“I see, that works then.”
“Should I put a word in for you for the second sester?”
“Yes, please.”
“So magic is your main focus, then martial, then finally divine, am I correct?”
“Yeah, in all honesty, my divine power is pitiful. I’d just like to learn how to increase it and how to utilise it slightly better, so I doubt I’d take many lessons from that major.”
“Alright, I’ve written that down. Should we eat now?”
“Yes!”
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
As the final bell signalled that all of his lectures for the day were over, Soren didn’t imdiately get up from his seat.
The reason for this was that Alia had asked him to wait for her, since she had sothing to do, and he decided to comply with her request, as he had no reason not to.
The problem, however, was that there was nothing to do.
Back on earth, he would just fiddle with his smartphone during downti like this, but here he couldn't, which usually led him to ssing with his magic, but at the mont, Soren’s magic was almost exhausted from his usual secretive practice during lectures.
In the end, he decided to check sothing he hadn’t looked at in a bit while out of sheer boredom.
“「Status」” He muttered in a lethargic voice.
Fortunately, a significant amount had changed in the almost two weeks since he claid the second hidden piece.
.
[Status Window]
Na: Soren Arden (1★)
◈ Stats
Stamina - 1.6 (E) [Increased by 0.3]
Strength - 1.3 (E-) [Increased by 0.1]
Agility - 1.5 (E) [Increased by 0.2]
Mana - 2.2 (E ) [Increased by 0.1]
Divine Power - 1.0 (E-) [Increased by 0.2]
◈ Skills
- Basic Magic
└ Breeze (D) [Increased by 3]
- Blood Magic
└ Blood Absorption (D ) [Increased by 4]
- Pain Tolerance (E-) [Increased by 1]
- Basic Axemanship (F ) [Increased by 1]
.
It was an almost unbelievable amount of growth in such a short tifra.
Part of this was because Soren was still in his growth phase, where stats and proficiencies were easy to raise due to their low levels, but the rest was purely a result of his own effort.
From [Blood Absorption] and [Pain Tolerance] being raised with Lilliana, to [Basic Axemanship] and his physical stats being raised with Alia.
Even his secret training during lessons that raised his mana, divine power and [Breeze].
Soren was putting in an almost inhuman amount of effort, all the while balancing his studies and social life.
Surprisingly, though, he didn’t struggle; he didn’t even view himself as balancing things, as most of his training was done in the company of others, making ti pass easily.
If the Soren from the day of transmigration saw himself now, he would probably shed tears, saying how this was the one thing he didn’t want, but to the current Soren, his daily life was enjoyable.
Ever since coming to terms with his own strengths and weaknesses, he had been able to enjoy life to its fullest, even becoming closer to his friends in the process.
Thud!
As if mocking his pleasant thoughts, the classroom door swung open roughly and in the doorway stood a boy, much taller than Soren.
If Soren had to describe him, then he would have simply said that he fit Lilliana’s type to a T.
But that wasn’t important right now.
The mont the boy opened the door, everyone's eyes beca fixed on him; then, as if by reflex, they shifted to Soren.
‘Why are they looking at ?’
He couldn’t help but be montarily confused, but then it clicked: nobody ca to this classroom unless they were here to talk to Soren.
‘Damn it… This ti it’s not !’
Soren lanted his situation before turning his attention back to the door.
The boy standing there scanned the room with a fierce gaze before finally locking eyes with Soren.
“Soren Arden.” He said as he walked towards his desk.
“For fuck’s sake.”
He couldn’t stop the curse from escaping; he had just been thinking to himself that he was being wronged, then the boy suddenly called out his na, making denial unavoidable.
It was just as Soren had wiped his face with his hand in an attempt to calm down that…
Slap
A small piece of cloth hit his face.
“Eh?”
Soren was confused by the situation taking place.
“What’s going on?”
“I challenge you to a duel, Soren Arden.”
Soren looked at the boy standing in front of his desk and the piece of cloth on the floor, alternating between them, before it finally clicked.
But just because Soren understood didn’t an he would take it well.
“Piss off.”
He had too much going on in his life to waste his ti fighting so random thug that he didn’t care about; there were no benefits to be gained from winning, and too much to lose if he lost.
– Gasp!
– What about his noble dignity?
Soren heard the muttering of the bystanders, but ignored it.
He was well aware that the way he spoke and acted lacked the usual noble dignity that nobility was expected to carry themselves with, but Soren never cared about that; after all, he was practically a disowned child, and beyond that, he enjoyed treating those around him casually.
Upon hearing Soren’s refusal, the boy’s face contorted with rage for a mont before his lips slowly curved up, forming a mocking grin.
“Ah, I get it. You’re scared. Is that why?”
Soren didn’t even bother responding to the obvious provocation; instead, he simply rolled his eyes, but the thugs' following words caught him off guard.
“Do you always need won to stand up for you? Don’t you find it pathetic? Not only do you drag Princess Einhardt around with you, but you’ve also managed to pull in Lady Rupindolf. Do you have no sha?”
Soren closed his eyes for a mont and let out a deep breath.
He knew the words spoken by the boy were purely provocation, but that didn’t lessen the impact.
“What’s in it for ?” Soren finally asked.
“What?”
“Surely you’re not going to co all the way to class F to pressure a student ranked 96th into duelling you so that you can beat them up, only to offer nothing in return. There is zero reason for to accept your challenge.”
“Do you not care for your noble dignity?” The boy asked in genuine surprise, as if he had not been expecting this outco whatsoever.
“Fuck that, what’s that going to get ? Noble dignity doesn’t feed , doesn’t clothe , nor does it make stronger. So give a reason.”
Soren, being a transmigrator from a world much different from this one, where he had lived a life far from the ideas of nobility, had no pride in his nobility at all; if anything, he only felt resentnt for the title he held, as all it ant was that he had more problems to deal with in this fantasy world.
It may have been different if he had felt the power of nobility even a few tis.
Still, he hadn’t once felt that; the only ti being a noble had ant anything was with the Hammond situation, but even then, with Esper by his side, it wouldn’t have mattered anyway.
“Wow, the rumours were true, you really do act just like a filthy commoner.”
Unfortunately for him, his words ant nothing to Soren.
“Whatever, have you got anything to offer or not? I’ve got plans.”
“Fine, the winner can make any one wish of the loser, is that good enough for you?”
Slam!
The door swung open once more, and in walked Alia with her usual lethargic expression.
It was only once she noticed the atmosphere that her expression finally shifted to one of hostility.
The guy in front of Soren, seeing Alia’s face, backed down anxiously and slowly walked towards the door to leave.
Just as he passed by her, however, he opened his mouth to speak, just loud enough so that Soren, who was nearby, would be able to hear.
“I will save you, Princess, just wait for .”
After saying everything he had to say, he was about to leave the classroom under Alia’s glare when Soren finally spoke up, a smirk plastered across his face.
“I get it now. Fine, I accept.”
“Accept what?” Alia asked.
“I accept this guy's duel. The loser grants the winner a single wish, right? Of course, since he’s so noble, I’m sure he won’t mind if I set the date and ti, since he was the one who challenged . Let’s see… How about three days from now, after classes end, is that good with you?”
The guy made a bitter face as he responded.
“...Sure.”
With those words, he turned and left, not even sending a single glance back towards the classroom.
“Are you sure about this?”
“Do you think I’ll lose?”
“...He’s weak, but you’re weaker.”
“I know.”
“Okay.”
After finishing their conversation, Alia took a seat next to Soren and leaned against his shoulder.
“Don’t lose,” she muttered, causing Soren to smile.
“I won’t.”
————「❤︎」————
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