The next day, the sun climbed lazily over the village.
Ash arrived just as the courtyard had been converted into a dueling space.
The teacher stood in the center, drawing a line in the dirt with her staff, announcing each match with her usual detached tone.
The matches went quickly. Some students overwhelmed their opponents in a matter of seconds, others dragged their fights out for show.
Marine's fight had been near the middle. Her opponent, a lower-ranked noble with wind magic, lasted barely a minute.
With her tired eyes and absentminded stance, it looked like she hadn't even been trying.
When the fight ended, she dusted off her uniform and walked past the teacher without waiting for a verdict.
Then, without warning, she stood next to Ash.
"You saw that?" she asked without looking at him.
Ash nodded. "You held back."
"Of course I did," she replied as she crossed her arms. "I don't need to take someone like that seriously."
Ash glanced at her sideways. "Are you going to take Vander seriously if you had to fight him?"
Marine narrowed her eyes. "I've fought him before. He's a little too proud of his flashy magic, but he's not untouchable. Why? You think you're going to win?"
Ash didn't answer immediately. He simply stared at the center of the courtyard, where the next match had just ended and the teacher was calling for the final duel.
"Vander Von Seraphis versus Ash Valeender!"
The crowd shifted. Whispers spread like wildfire.
Vander stepped forward with a wide grin, rolling his shoulders and summoning sparks of light across his arms.
Ash walked forward too, but slower, with no theatrics. Just the same determined steps and the same unreadable stare.
Marine tilted her head slightly and muttered under her breath.
"…Don't lose, idiot."
The teacher raised her hand, then brought it down with a sharp motion.
"Begin!"
Vander grinned immediately, already walking forward as if this wasn't a fight, just a game.
"Didn't expect you to actually show up, Ash," Vander said with a chuckle, letting a small flame flicker across his palm.
"I thought you'd fake a stomachache or something. You always did cry when you got hit."
Ash didn't blink. He simply stared, arms relaxed at his sides. "That was before."
Vander tilted his head, amused. "Before what? Before you realized being pathetic was your full-time job?"
"Before I stopped caring what someone like you thinks."
"Hah!" Vander barked a laugh and swept his arm forward.
Flames shot out, fast and wide like a curtain. "Then I'll make you care."
Ash extended his hand, and with a low crackle, the ground around him rattled.
Rusted nails, broken glass, and metal scraps from the training ground's edges began to rise.
Trash Manipulation surged to life as he pulled the filth toward him like orbiting blades.
He swung his hand upward, and the debris clashed against the flame, but most of it burned on contact.
"Tch," Ash muttered as he rolled sideways to dodge the rest of the blast. His fire isn't normal. It burns too hot, just like the description said.
Vander stepped through the smoke with fire crawling up his arms. "You really don't get it, do you?" he said as fire gathered above his shoulder.
"You're not just fighting me. You're fighting the legacy of Von Seraphis. Our domain isn't just flame—our flame comes from the Fire Dragon God himself. This is divine fire!"
Ash's eye twitched slightly.
He flung more debris directly at Vander's face. But the moment the projectiles approached, Vander's aura pulsed outward.
Fire exploded from his body in a shockwave, melting everything in mid-air.
Ash crossed his arms just in time as the force hurled him back. He crashed across the dirt and tumbled, his back slamming into the courtyard wall.
Vander cracked his neck and stepped forward. "You still think this isn't above you?"
Ash spat blood into the dirt and stood up slowly.
"No," he said, steadying his breath.
"But I'm not stopping either."
Then, he moved again.
Ash charged without hesitation.
The metal scraps orbiting him spun faster, the shards of rusted tools, broken armor, and chipped glass accelerating like tiny blades.
He gritted his teeth, fully aware that the past version of himself would have already been beaten by now.
But this wasn't the same Ash.
This time, he wasn't here to survive.
He was here to win.
In the crowd, students murmured with widened eyes, some leaning forward in disbelief.
"Is that… trash magic?" one of the students whispered.
"But Ash never even had mana before," another said.
Even the teacher blinked once, narrowing his eyes. "That's definitely not normal. I've never seen him use any kind of ability."
Marine, still catching her breath from her own match, had walked up to the sidelines again.
Her tired eyes flared open with a jolt. "Wait… he can do that? Since when?!"
So he wasn't bluffing about becoming stronger, she thought.
Ash roared as his trash spiraled around him like a barrier, deflecting the smaller sparks from Vander's flame.
The air was thick with heat, but Ash kept pushing. The closer he got, the heavier the pressure from Vander's flame became.
Vander's eyes twitched. "You think garbage can block divine fire?!"
He launched a whip of flames toward Ash's side, but Ash ducked under it. He launched three more rusted bolts forward, then dashed in close while Vander flinched.
Ash's fist tightened.
"I'm not losing again!"
He punched him.
Vander's eyes widened a split second before Ash's knuckles slammed into his jaw.
The noble's body twisted midair as he was flung backward, crashing through the dirt and skidding across the sparring field in a cloud of dust.
Silence fell over the arena.
Marine's jaw dropped.
"He… actually hit Vander?"
One student gasped.
"Vander got hit? That's impossible!"
Ash lowered his fist, panting. His arm ached. But for the first time in front of his whole class, he had landed a clean hit. A solid one.
I'm not the same Ash anymore, he thought. I'm getting stronger, whether they like it or not.
Vander rose from the cracked earth. His face curled into a grin, arrogance unmistakable.
"Did you really think that trash would beat a Seraphis?" he said. "I don't know what kind of trick you pulled, but someone like you doesn't deserve to stand on the same ground as a noble, let alone fight me."
Ash narrowed his eyes but kept his stance steady. "It's not about what I deserve. It's about what I've decided. And I've decided that no one like you gets to step on me again."
Vander's grin faltered, but only for a second.
"Then I'll crush that little dream of yours myself."
Suddenly, the ground beneath Vander glowed red.
Flames surged from his feet and spiraled behind him into the shape of a massive fire dragon.
Its molten jaws opened in silence, exhaling heat that cracked the ground beneath Ash's boots.
Ash's eyes widened. Is that… the Fire Dragon God?
(Art Display)
He charged anyway.
He surged forward with every piece of metal, wood, glass, and rusted blade spinning with him.
The trash formed a jagged wall around his body as he aimed for Vander's chest.
But in one instant, the fire dragon behind Vander flared, then vanished in a pulse of heat.
Ash barely had time to see Vander's footwork change.
Wait—
BOOM!
The force of the impact crushed the barrier of trash, shattered his defense, and blasted him across the field like a comet.
His body slammed through the dirt, bouncing once—twice—before crashing to a stop near the forest edge.
He couldn't feel his left arm.
He tried to move, but his legs buckled.
Then he heard it.
"Vander Von Seraphis has won!"
The teacher's voice echoed across the field.
Ash's eyes twitched. What…? I lost?
He blinked.
How did I lose?
His body gave out.
He fell, his back hitting the dirt. His eyes faced the sky, but it was the silence that hit harder than the flames.
Then came the voices.
"Tch. Of course he lost."
"Seriously? He thought he had a chance?"
"He actually looked cool for a second there."
Marine stood frozen near the edge of the field. Her fists clenched tightly.
Why did he rush in like that? He was doing fine…
A girl nearby whispered, "I mean, come on. Trash is still trash."
The teacher let out a sigh, not unkind but final. "That concludes the match. Ash Valeender showed unexpected ability, but the outcome was never in question."
Ash didn't say a word.
He just lay there, blinking against the sun.
So this is what it takes… Then I'll keep going. I'll lose again. And again. But one day—
You won't say those words.