Every student in the academy needed to do at least one duel. The number could go more than that; everyone had at least one.
Though, on average, the number was two duels for each student, there were rare cases in which the two people appointed each other as the duel application.
This was exactly how it was for Irina. After all, from the mont the finals started, both Seraphina and she were adamant about appointing each other.
Otherwise, it would be a clear act of disregard. No matter how hot-blooded Irina was or how annoying and scheming Seraphina was, at the end of the day, both of them couldn't afford to make such claims with their own actions.
Therefore, both of them appointed each other.
And, because of the importance of their duel, it was postponed until the end of the week, which left Irina with a lot of free ti.
She only needed to train. One would think she would train for the duel specifically, but there wasn't any reason for that.
Since the mont she was born, she had always been in a rivalry with Seraphina Frostborne, and she had already trained for such cases.
For these reasons, Irina decided to use her free ti to do sothing she had been curious about for a while: watching a certain soone duel.
With her rivalry with Seraphina postponed until the end of the week, she had ample ti to observe Astron's abilities firsthand.
And since the academy directly announced when each fight would take place, she didn't have a hard ti finding Astron's either.
It was on Monday, 10.15 AM.
At the ti of Astron's duel, she made her way to the arena where the lower-ranked students were scheduled to fight.
She could see that these duels didn't attract large crowds, aside from so family mbers and a few scouts, which ant the arena would be relatively empty.
She didn't want to attract unnecessary attention or spark any rumors, so she donned a simple disguise—an overwhelming make-up, black wig, brown eye lenses, and casual clothes. With her disguise, nobody would suspect her to be Irina Emberheart.
This was not her first ti doing this in any case, so she was confident.
As she found a seat with a clear view of the arena, she noticed the atmosphere was indeed much calr than she had expected.
The absence of a bustling crowd allowed her to focus entirely on the upcoming duel. She settled into her seat, adjusting her disguise to ensure her anonymity, and waited patiently for the match to begin.
The duel between Astron and Wilfred began with a palpable tension. Irina watched intently as Astron drew his bow, his movents precise and calculated.
She observed how Wilfred countered, and his skill and determination were evident in every motion.
When the duel intensified, she leaned forward, her heart racing with excitent.
Astron's strategic maneuvers and Wilfred's relentless attacks were a passable display of skill and tenacity.
The clash of their weapons echoed through the arena, each strike filled with intent and power.
'That guy…..He really is good at acting.'
Irina couldn't help but think to herself. The fact that he was being pushed by such a student was mind-blowing to her since she herself knew that Astron was capable of dealing with a much stronger demon contractor, as well as a demon itself.
But aside from that, his fighting style hadn't changed. Even from the start of the sester, Astron had always fought with his techniques and strategy focused. Even now, rather than relying on his mana or skills, he only displayed his weapon prowess.
'This alone shows his talent. And it also makes sense that he lacks skills with his background.'
Everything perfectly fit into a story fabricated, and Irina knew if she didn't know beforehand, she would easily be fooled. Even after knowing that she had almost been fooled since Astron's acting was pixel-perfect.
[Winner, Astron Natusalune.]
The announcent of the winner was t with applause from the small audience. Irina remained seated, her eyes fixed on Astron as he stood over his fallen opponent, his expression calm and composed.
She watched as he stepped back, his dagger lowered.
But then, just like how it was supposed to be, the crowd returned to normal not long after. Since several other cadets appeared in the arena, and nobody knew him enough to care too much.
So scouts were taking notes, but many of them were unimpressed.
'Well, that was interesting, at least.'
Irina smiled inwardly. She didn't co here expecting much, but strangely enough, she felt herself imrsed in the fight. Albeit lower rank, it was sohow filled with twists.
'Well, I am just making excuses, aren't I?'
Thinking about that, she stood over her seat. Now that she had given her ti to watch this guy and co here, it was now his job to do the sa, wasn't that right?
After all, she had a plan in mind.
With one last glance at Astron, who was exiting the arena, she turned and made her way toward the exit as well. After all, she needed to catch him there.
Irina made her way toward the backstage area of the arena, her steps purposeful. She wanted to catch Astron before he left to gauge his reaction….yeah, his reaction.
As she approached, she saw his lone figure packing his things into a locker. He had already changed into his regular clothes, but the signs of the intense duel were no longer seen.
"Brother, brother…Are you okay? Does it hurt a lot? It was really scary! Is this what you always do?"
On the other side of the room, Wilhelm was surrounded by his family. His little brother stood close by, his eyes wide with worry as he asked if Wilhelm was okay.
"Co on, Rain. Don't you see your brother is completely fine? Sothing like that won't hurt , don't worry."
"Liar. I saw you were almost crying just now."
"Hey! I was not crying…It was just I got dirt in my eye for a second."
"Really?"
"Really. When did you ever see your brother cry?"
"Never."
"That is how it should be," Wilhelm said with a smile. Though from the outsider's perspective, it was evident that he was trying to mask his feelings underneath.
But then suddenly, the woman beside the two ruffled the little brother's hair.
"Rain, your brother is tired. How about you check how other brothers and sisters are doing."
"Other brothers and sisters? Really!"
"Yes. Don't you want to watch them?"
"Yes! Thank you, Mommy." With a beaming smile, the little brother rushed out of the backstage, shooting forward like a bullet.
Then, the woman turned to face Wilhelm, looking at her son with pride, and reassured him. "You really improved yourself," she said, her voice filled with warmth.
Wilhelm, though visibly disappointed by his loss, seed to find so comfort in his mother's words. She caressed his head, saying, "You did well."
Watching this tender scene, Irina felt a pang of conflicting emotions.
A shudder ran through her as she averted her gaze, unable to bear the sight any longer. It was really uncomfortable; she hated seeing this.
She hated it.
mories of her own past resurfaced.
–Young miss, you still have yet to finish this week's goal. You are not allowed to go to bed."
"But-"
"There are no buts. Matriarch ordered to watch over you. Until you finish using stage-1 magic without looking at the description, you won't leave this place." A scene from the ti when she first started learning fire magic.
–Is this all you can do?"
"…."
"Answer ."
"N-no."
"Then, why are you wasting your ti?"
"...I understand, mother."
A scene from the ti.
The mories were slowly taking over her mind, even though it wasn't the place for that. She didn't even notice the fact that her fists were clenched.
[Winner, Jacob Rahel.]
Yet, the announcer's loud voice woke her up from her mories. And the mont her
Irina snapped back to the present, her mories dissolving as she focused on the scene before her. Astron was quietly readying himself to leave, his movents efficient and deliberate.
There was no one beside him, no one to greet him. He was alone, just like she often was.
Irina rembered the fact that he was an orphan without any family. The arena, which had been bustling with activity for monts, seed to isolate him further. Aside from her, there seed to be no one else present for him. He was completely alone.
Yet, Astron carried himself as if this solitude was normal. He exuded a quiet resilience that intrigued her. Irina found herself smiling, mumbling to herself, "What am I doing?"
Was she the only one in this world with a situation like this? Weren't there many people with conditions worse, yet they still fared better?
How did this suit Irina Emberheart?
She prepared to walk towards him, her footsteps echoing slightly in the otherwise empty space.
Just as she was about to approach, she sensed two presences entering the backstage area. One was a bulky man with a huge build, his presence commanding and intimidating. The other was a woman with a mature aura, and her deanor was composed and confident.
Astron looked up, his eyes narrowing slightly as he recognized one of the newcors. His gaze was locked on the bulky man for a second, and then he turned to the woman beside him.
"….."
He assessed the woman for a while, his eyes narrowed. Knowing him, Irina could easily say that the woman was soone he had never seen before, and like a feral cat, he was now baring his fangs.
A thing that he did to every stranger he t.
"Kid."
Yet, the voice of the bulky man took Astron's attention back to himself.
"….."
"….."
The two continued to look at each other without speaking.
Irina couldn't make any sense of what was happening here. Who were these people, and what was happening? Why was nobody talking?
Finally, the mature woman spoke, her voice calm and asured. "So, you really found each other." She glanced at the bulky man, a hint of amusent in her eyes, and then turned her face to Astron again. "I didn't expect to see Garrett 2 here. It is really interesting."
Garrett, the bulky man, looked over the woman.
Reina turned her gaze back to Astron, her expression thoughtful. "You've grown since I last saw you, Astron. Garrett has been speaking highly of you."
Astron glanced between the two of them for a second.
"Do I know you?"
To Irina, it felt like a play was happening right before her eyes.
Yet, she hadn't noticed that two people other than her were also watching this spectacle.
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