Just like in any world, rumors and questions circled fast in high school.
Who was Alphonse Harvard?
Why did he get into a fight on the first day?
Why did the Professors even allow such a fight to take place?
Did Alphonse really use four different magic circles in that fight?
Where did Alphonse learn to use magic?
Would there be any repercussions to Alphonse now that he had defeated a noble in a duel?
Since Alphonse had shown his adequacy in Combat Magic, wouldn't he be promoted to the second year's curriculum for combat magic?
Alphonse, however, had spent his afternoon escaping the grasps of his peers. Currently, he was locked in his room with Ethan, who had run away with him, as well as Jessica and Sasha, who were picked up along the way.
"YOU'RE telling ME that ALPHONSE here used FOUR different magic circles today in his duel?" Jessica was so surprised she had turned a bright tomato red while listening to Ethan's recounting of the duel.
"That's incredible, Alphonse! If anything, I'm just glad you're safe, man." Sasha was more impressed by Alphonse than worried.
"That's right. He used Fireball, Windball, Lightningball, and one other spell we haven't even learned yet." Ethan bragged.
"And where were you in all this?" Jessica ignored his bragging, "I thought you were supposed to be there to prevent him from getting hurt?"
"Well, I was going to step in if things looked rough, but there wasn't even a chance for me to interfere," Ethan looked more serious now, "I was worried initially when they declared that there wasn't going to be any magic used and that weapons were also banned, but Al managed to do some kind of physical attack to counter Lars' charge. It was so fast and jaw-dropping, I think even Professor Caebo was impressed. You should have seen the look on his face."
"A physical attack? From Al?" Jessica was clearly confused, "Ethan, tell me again, you said Al here used a PHYSICAL attack?"
"Huh? Yeah, he used...." Ethan realized something was amiss, "Hey Al, what was that anyway?"
'Oh no… I didn't think of an excuse for this yet,' Alphonse panicked.
"Well, I was pretty surprised when he charged at me, so I just reacted on instinct and that sorta just happened." Alphonse tried to maintain a poker face as he lied.
His three friends simply stared at him.
'As expected, they're not going to believe such an excuse?'
As the silence persisted, Alphonse found it harder and harder to maintain his calm and eventually cracked under his friend's intense stares.
"I guess it runs in the family…" Ethan shrugged.
"Runs in the family? What do you mean?" Sasha inquired.
"Well, Ethan's parents are ex-adventurers and ex-mercenaries. His mother used to be a skilled warrior and his father was a pretty highly rated mage before they both retired and started the Silverwing Merchants." Jessica explained.
"Wow…" Sasha was amazed, "So not only are you skilled in magic AND combat, but you're also rich!"
Her eyes were glowing.
"Y-yeah… You could say that…" Alphonse responded, relieved to have his lineage back up his incompetence in crafting excuses.
*Knock Knock*
"Student Alphonse, you have a visitor." A servant's voice came through the door.
Upon opening the door, Alphonse discovered that the servant had brought Otto Halstein to his room.
Although Otto appeared calm on the surface, Alphonse could somewhat see what he had come for.
"So, I see you've defeated my brother." Otto started, "Very impressive."
"Thank you," Alphonse returned formalities half-heartedly, "Anyways, what can I do for you today?"
Otto wasn't anticipating Alphonse to dismiss his greetings with such an attitude.
'Getting cocky just because you cheated in a duel…' Otto gritted his teeth, 'No matter, tonight, we'll get our revenge!"
"I'm here to challenge you to another duel." Otto tried to speak in an even tone, but failed. It was obvious that he was anxious.
"Sure, I accept." Alphonse didn't hesitate in the slightest.
"Wha- I see, alright. Student Gymnasium, tonight as soon as the sun sets. We'll show you our specialty! You are allowed to bring a Second." Otto declared in a hurry. He then spun on his heels and marched away haughtily.
"Another one so soon?" Ethan asked as Alphonse returned to his friends, "I don't like the sound of this one…"
"Yeah, maybe you should just leave them," Jessica added, "There won't be a professor there today, so there'll definitely be some foul play."
"I'll be fine," Alphonse tried to ease the tension, "Don't worry, I have a plan."
"Right! Since he already beat Lars once, doing it again should be a piece of cake, right?" Ethan, seeing Alphonse trying to calm him down, remembered that he himself had lectured Jessica earlier about believing in Alphonse.
"Speaking of cake, could you buy me some cake, Alphonse? I heard that the cake here is pretty good in the West Dorm." Sasha asked with her eyes glistening, "Especially that Strawberry Creme Cake! And the cake with a million layers!"
"Sasha! Ethan! Aren't you guy's too relaxed about this?" Jessica reprimanded them, "Aren't you afraid that they'll just gather up a gang of other students to try and ambush Al? I wouldn't put something like that past them… and what if they bring weapons!"
"It'll be fine, we'll just go with him! Even we have some use when it comes to helping out Al! We can all create our own mana cores, so we can just have Al write a magic circle for us, and we'll be able to help him in case he gets ambushed!" Ethan dismissed her worries.
"Right! And in the case that they bring weapons, then we could all just hide behind Ethan and let Alphonse take care of it!"
"Eh? We're using me as a shield?" Ethan was surprised!
"Yep! You're not going to force us defenseless maidens to guard you are you?" Sasha looked at him with puppy eyes.
"It'll be fine," Alphonse declared firmly, "I'm allowed to bring a Second, so I'll be bringing Jessica. To be honest, as long as the fight is fair, I won't be needing a Second, though."
"Eh? Me?" Jessica was surprised that she had been elected.
"Yep! It's part of my plan, don't worry about it!" Alphonse laughed, "Alright, does anyone else want cake? I'll fill you guys in on my plan after we eat, how's that sound?"
---
"Headmaster Flicker," Professor Caebo greeted the headmaster as he entered the room with Professor Veronica.
"Ara! Caebo, good to see you! You as well Veronica!" Headmaster Flicker returned the greetings jubilantly, "Well now! How did the duel go?"
As soon as Lars had challenged Alphonse to a duel this morning, Headmaster Flicker was immediately informed. It was actually her that permitted such an event to take place on the first day.
"It was quite unexpected." Professor Caebo answered excitedly, "I've brought the Crystal of Recording from the Gymnasium. We should take a look before talking about it."
The Crystal of Recording was a special tool that all Professors carried. They allowed the professors to record what was happening around them as long as the professor supplied it with mana.
"Very well then, let us see…" Headmaster Flicker received the crystal ball from Professor Caebo and set it on her desk. She held her left hand over the ball and opened a grimoire with her right hand.
Soon, a hologram erupted from the crystal, allowing the three professors to observe the battle from a bird's eye view.
As soon as the replay was over, Professor Caebo tried to ask Headmaster Flicker about her thoughts on the duel, but was promptly stopped by Headmaster Flicker holding up a finger; her eyes glued to the hologram.
Without a word to Professor Caebo, Headmaster Flicker started up the replay of the duel once again.
It wasn't until the fifth time that the replay had ended before she was willing to speak to both professors.
"Student Alphonse's files show that he's had no combat training while growing up. The only things his parents had taught him were basic arithmetic and kingdom history." Headmaster flicker read off of Alphonse's student profile, "During the physical examination before enrollment, it was noted that Student Alphonse had a weak constitution and would bruise easily. His only redeeming physical feature was that he had more stamina than the average boy."
Professor Veronica interjected, "But if that's the case, how did he manage to counter that initial charge from Student Lars so well?"
Although Professor Veronica wasn't experienced in melee combat, she had seen her fair shares of battle. If she didn't catch on that Alphonse's counter had been premeditated after watching the replay five times, she wouldn't have qualified as a Professor.
"Precisely!" Professor Caebo added, "I was so surprised when I saw it at first! We might even need to promote him to a higher Combat Magic class soon as well. He cast four different magic circles already. With just a little bit of training, he's guaranteed to be valedictorian of his year at the end of the first month
"Very impressive indeed. He learned well throughout the day and was able to apply what he learned. We already knew that his family produced many strong mages, but to think that one skilled in physical combat would appear as well. Anita Harvard must be proud." Professor Veronica celebrated.
"Now, now, let's not get too ahead of ourselves. If I'm not mistaken, the Halsteins are nobles, yes? Their pride will not let go of this, they're sure to go and cause another problem…" Headmaster Flicker paused for a moment to think, "If my suspicions are correct, they might just have another bout sometime tonight. Professor Caebo, Professor Veronica, if you wouldn't mind, please join me in tonight's patrol. Perhaps we'll see something interesting…"
---
*Pant* *Pant* *Pant* *Pant*
The back yard of the West Dorm was filled with the panting of Sasha, Jessica, and Ethan. The trio lay collapsed on the floor, covered in sweat.
Only ten minutes had elapsed since they started, but they were already exhausted.
"Well guys, what do you think? Personally, I don't think I'll have any problems." Alphonse laughed.