after a very exhausting day I finally get back and as I enter the King himself was waiting and behind him was Crystal probably worried about Siderene.
Siderene whose eyes were swollen from all the crying continued to tightly hold my ripped up and ragged shirt. Her maid arrived to escort her into her room not long after.
"Go rest, I'll explain what happened"
I say as I gently take her hand away and she nodded and walked away.
"Shall we speak in the dining room? I'm starving"
Rexcarius still with a suspicious look followed me to the dining room and Crystal hanging back behind him.
As I dine with the leftovers from the meal earlier Rexcarius began to ask questions.
"What happened?"
I first calmly chew my food and started talking after.
"Let's see, first Siderene's bodyguard was murdered"
Everyone including half of the residents of the castle that were eavesdropping behind the large door of the dining room gasped. It seems everyone was curious, everyone but Alfron who simply walked to his room indifferently even as he saw his sister emotionally traumatised.
"What?"
Crystal was the first to react.
"And then we were taken, hostage"
That was what Rexcarius cared about as now he was the one shocked.
"We—"
"And lastly Siderene was almost raped"
I said as I chewed the next mouthful. Everyone has been on edge as I just keep on nonchalantly chewing as Rexcarius berates me with questions.
"How did this happen?"
"How is my sister?"
"Did you catch the culprit?"
"What about you?"
Rexcarius and Crystal asked one after the other.
As usual, I unhurriedly finish chewing my meal and talk after. It's bad manners to speak with your mouth full after all.
"Well firstly this happened upon the 5 hours Siderene refused to participate in our little activity and some bandit might have seen the opportunity and took the bodyguard by surprise."
"Your sister for the most part is unharmed as I managed to subdue the abductor before he could do anything to her"
"As for the culprit, well their both dead as one was betrayed by the other and the remaining one was massacred by Siderene's pet"
"And as for myself other than a few scratches and bruises, as well as a completely exhausted body, I am relatively fine."
"Wow that's a lot to take in at once"
"Take your time your majesty as I enjoy this delightful meal"
They both as to think for a minute as I just kept having one mouthful after another.
"Well in any case thank-you for protecting my daughter"
"It's my pleasure, your majesty"
I said as I left the dining room and from outside the door, the people eavesdropping scattered like flies.
I could hear murmurs from behind me that were as follows.
"Who is that boy? how could he act so casual with the royal family?"
"I hear that boy is a teacher!"
"What him? You can't be serious!"
"He looks pathetic! how could he be any qualified to teach?"
I simply walk away not having the energy to deal with anyone of them.
As I arrived in my room Claudia was asleep in my bed and normally I would leave her alone but I was at my limit and just collapsed in my bed next to her.
It seems that startled her because before I fell asleep I heard her gasp but I can't deal with that yet. I…am…to…tired.
As I woke up my burnt hand was wrapped in bandages and didn't hurt anymore, she probably applied some ointments. I get up from my bed and Claudia was sewing my shirt which I was simply planning on throwing away but I'll acknowledge her hard work I guess.
"Good morning Claudia, I'm sorry I startled you last night"
"Ah! Good morning master Spade, please don't worry too much I understand that you were very tired"
I simply stared at Claudia for a while why I was prepping my brain for what's to come today. Upon noticing the complete pause Claudia became flustered and also stared at me embarrassed.
"W-what is it, master Spade?"
"Ah nothing, you're just much more talkative now"
"I'm sorry, do you want me to be quiet?"
"No it's quite alright, you have a soothing voice"
she slightly blushed as she continued knitting.
"So how are you adjusting to our new home?"
I say as I get out of bed. It seems that Claudia changed my clothes as I fell asleep.
"Ah the people here are so kind, and they're also quite curious about you Master Spade"
"Hoho I'll say, by the way, Spade is fine you don't have to be courteous when we're alone"
"I simply must not! Miss Tina told me never to address the masters by their real name and, ah!-"
As Claudia was talking I changed my shirt into something more presentable for breakfast and seeing as she didn't mind it when she changed my clothes last night I thought she'd be fine with it but it seems not.
"Master Spade what are you doing?!"
"Changing my clothes now if you mind I'd like some privacy I'm going to change my pants"
"But that's a maid's job!"
Ah, Claudia, you're worried about all the wrong reasons.
"Look last night you've been a great help, mending wounds and all that but I can do this alone so if you'd just wait outside I'll be done in just a bit"
She wanted to stay but my order is still the highest authority. I then prepare myself as today I start magic lessons and for sure Rexcarius would be watching hence I need to make it flashy.
After I dine in my room I had Claudia put it back as then arrive at the study.
Alfron along with my new instructor was patiently waiting. Wow for this you go but not for your sister? Oi, what's with the families of this world?
"Good morning I am Spade Escroc and I shall be in your care"
"Good morning Spade, call me Professor Urgrand and this is your first magic lesson correct?"
"Yes professor"
"Very well put your hand on this orb and let's find out your magic affinity"
I do as he says but before I put my hand I first look at Alfron.
"I'm sorry but what is the prince doing in here? he's making me quite anxious"
"Don't you know? I'm your classmate!"
Alfron smirked. This boy sees me as his rival but to me, he is nothing more than a flashy car. You might be stronger, faster, and richer than me but there is no way you can ever be my equal.
I put my hand on the orb and for a second it mists up and after a minute some words appear. A rough English translation would be "Illusio" and yes it was missing the last letter.
Alfron laughed upon seeing it.
"Oh you're not so special after all"
"Prof. what does he mean?"
"You see Spade, Illusio is support magic and it is useless in combat and even among fellow support magic it is ranked low"
So not a good start eh. Well, it doesn't matter as my brain has always been the only thing that is important and I have read that a fully developed body can combat magic at it's best.
"Prof. Urgrand how about I have a sparring match with Spade just to give him a taste of magic combat"
You're kidding, right? A newbie fighting someone who has been training ever since he's 8? it's an extremely unbalanced match!
"Well I don't see the problem"
Well, this teacher obviously has a favourite. This is why I wanted solo lessons. I thought we were going to spar in the garden somewhere but we fought in the castle's arena where many people gathered upon the ruckus Alfron cunningly planned.
"Don't worry I'll go easy on you! Just try not to embarrass yourself"
Alfron teased. Upon Urgrand's Que the match began and Alfron wasted no time because he immediately made the ground shake.
Perhaps spikes from below? A diversion for a physical hit? I needed to predict Alfron's move and react quickly so that this doesn't end in a disaster with both Crystal and Rexcarius losing faith in me.
I would use my shock bracelet but after last night's incident, any more damage to it before it recovers may result in permanent paralysis.
So I can't use my right arm, magic, or any of my hidden staves so how should I play this through?
Option one is to test my luck and fight him head-on which my chances of losing a humiliating defeat are high.
Option two is to use indecent techniques that ups my chances of winning but ultimately whether I win or lose I will suffer large loses like losing everyone's respect or even awfully harm Alfron.
Option three is the safest of all which is to simply surrender. it's anticlimactic and perhaps people would even see me as arrogant and further ruin my standing but by doing so I hide my cards and not suffer a large loss in my dignity. It's essentially a no-win solution but one with the lowest risk.
Should I just surrender? No, I'll see this match through and try to stall as much as I can. Of Guy, I also need to have a strategy even if it's just to run away.
As the shaking stopped Alfron ran towards me and I saw two possibilities. One that his attack is a diversion and something is coming from below or two that the main attack is head-on and the shaking was a bluff.
I react accordingly and ran towards him predicting his magic is how he'll attack but sadly I was wrong as with his superior strength he kicked me to the ground and as fell he used magic to shatter the ground below me and I barely managed to escape his pitfall trap but I didn't have enough time to rally as he kept going with the body hits.
While taking the hits blow per blow I came upon a fourth option and quickly put it to action.
"This is fun"
I smugly tease and punch his chest from which made him feel the shock I get from lying. He was stunned for a while and I kept on hitting him until he recovered composure by then I release my hidden weapon.
The memories in this body are somewhat locked and certain memories will just pop up out of nowhere in my head. This particular time was when I was being beaten by my father in this world where I felt a similar feeling of weakness and lack of control.
That memory was mostly irrelevant except for one scene where my father stopped beating me and told me to put the knife down, had this been yesterday or any time earlier I would never have thought much of it but now that I know what magic I hold that scene where my father thought I was holding a knife made so much more sense than him being too drunk and paranoid.
I just have to remember what I did that day, what I thought, felt, and did. I was terrified and defenceless and I wanted someone else to feel that. My pain both in this world and the other has been endless if only I could make someone else see my fear I would do it! To everyone who goes against me, you shall see my fear! Mirror World!
Suddenly Alfron flinched and walked a step backwards with a terrified look. I used that to land one more punch, or so I planned but I changed my mind and fell on the ground. This is part of my plan don't worry! This is part…
Alfron with a terrified look revealed his ultimate spell, The Lunar Eclipse and as he cast it the sky went dark and from above a giant boulder emerged. It was the size of the arena and it continued to grow.
Upon seeing my defenceless state Urgrand tried to stop the match but there was no stopping Alfron as he made the Boulder so incredibly large that some might have mistaken it for the moon itself and then with a quick flick of his finger it fell at such a rate that you could ride the fastest car to exist and still not escape its area of damage. For a man of no ways to defend my self, it spelt utter doom.
The boulder was released but in mid-air, it vanished as with the magic of the strongest mages in the castle combined it was just barely enough to stop the fall but even if every mage in the castle released their strongest magic such a spell could not have been stopped if not for the absolute magic of the King himself which was the only person in the country to counter such a powerful spell in such a short time.
In the end, Alfron also collapsed in exhaustion as the match ended in the best way I could have hoped for. In a draw against a top tier magician despite having one of the weakest magic of them all.
Name: Alofaron Troy Valhalien
Magical Attribute: Gaia Luna
Height: 5'8
Weight :68
Age:19
Likes: Women, Victory, Night
Dislikes: Being tricked, Losing, Crystal
Strengths: Talented, Magical, Physically strong
Weakness: Academics, Illusions, Rexcarius
Value:95/100
Control: 2%
Status: Has yet to earn respect but he has acknowledged my intellect and found me a suitable rival. Further improvement of relationship is likely