When a child of nobility reaches the age of 16 the become eligible to enter the academy and if they come of age and have not yet enrolled in then by law they are forced to go.
The nobles of the empire having come to know of the academy's infamously hard curriculum made it an unspoken rule to not enrol their children before the age of 19 to ensure that they are fully prepared.
However, house Vorago broke that unspoken rule and forced Christine who had just turned 16 to enter the academy so that she could spy on the other children of the ducal houses and the imperial princess.
' Currently Christines power is no different than an ordinary person and in terms of stats she could be said to be an F- rank, compared to other children her age who have already reached the E rank she was undoubtably far behind, sending her to the academy is simply asking her to suffer '
Sadly, there was nothing I could do about that. At the moment we were moving towards the academy open arenas where we will be forced to fight in pairs against each other in friendly spars, in the novel helped showcase the true power of the protagonist but to Christine it was nothing else but a one-sided beat down which resulted in her getting blamed by the original Nicholos as the reason they lost the match even though he also got beaten.
" Um... Sir Nicholos " the stuttering voice Christine made its way to me as we moved to the arena
" I.. I am useless.. I can't do much.. so please forgive me.. "
However, before she could continue, I stopped her
" Don't apologize "
" I will take care of the fighting so you won't get hurt, but if you ever feel overwhelmed then just tell me and I'll be the one to tell the instructor that we will forfeit, so don't force yourself " I said looking at her.
Hearing my words Christine finally looked up her eyes widening, probably because I said that I would forfeit.
In the world of nobility giving up in a spar is seen as dishonourable and doing so could cause the other noble houses to look down on your own, which was why in the novel Christine never forfeit even though she was scared and was getting beaten.
That is why I said that I'll do it, if a single person forfeits before the beginning of the spar, then it will be put as an automatic loss for the pair however the shame only befalls the one who originally forfeits.
' As long as I do it that way Christine has no need to fear any trouble from her family for losing the spar '
" No no no.... I.. I can't possibly " Christine muttered her eyes trembling
" Don't overthink it " I said with a smile before adding a suggestion
" Just watch the spars for now and if you ever feel it is too much then just tug at my sleeve, how about that? "
Hearing my words and probably realizing I wouldn't change my mind Christine simply nodded her head and stayed silent.
Looking at her I couldn't help remembering the past, she must be confused right now, maybe even afraid of me at the moment probably wondering why I would do such a thing but all I could is continuously reassure her that everything will be fine.
' Back then I would constantly question the intentions of others and get anxious quickly when put under any type of stress, so for the sake of her mental state it would be best to let her take her time choosing instead of telling he outright to do as I say '
' If she chose to not forfeit then I'll make sure that I take down the pair we are against before they could reach her '
With that intention I reached the arena where the instructor having arrived before us was waiting. With a bald head, large frame filled with muscles and a beard wearing a sleeveless top and baggy pants he truly gave of the vibe of military sergeant.
" Ok maggots, now that you are all here let us get this over with " He voiced boomed reaching everyone flinch and Christine tremble
" My name is Denis Vanil, and I will be your practical instructor for this year.
I don't care what you think or how you feel all you gotta do is get your ass's here when I call you so you can fight it out, if you win you fight again if you lose you are out, do you understand!! "
" Yes sir " the students screamed in unison
Hearing the students reply following his so-called speech Denis proceeded to pull a sheet of paper before calling out the names of the first pair and low and behold it was none other than Jake and Elizabeth after them, he proceeded to call another pair consisting of twin nobles called Jimmy and Zack.
With the four having been chosen each took a weapon or staff from the inventory while going to centre while the rest of the students went towards the stands so that they can spectate the fight with the head instructor standing between the two teams.
" I want to see a fight with no holding back, if things get too heated then I'll interfere so don't worry
Now you are to start in three... two ... one ...zero "
The second the count reached zero Jake immediately coated his sword with white magic before disappearing and reappearing in front of Zack who barely managed to block the sword with the side of his axe, sadly he forgot to protect his sides where Jake proceeded to kick him in the liver.
' Isn't that going a bit too far ' I thought seeing Zack collapse to the ground with a thud
However, that didn't seem to bother Jake as he proceeded to run towards Jimmy who was still processing the loss of his brother but before he could reach him a large fireball had already sent him out of the arena making him lose consciousness, courtesy of Elizabeth of course.
And just like that the first spar ended with a flawless victory for the main characters.
' What is important is what happens after though because it will be our turn '
Moving away the injured Denis gave a passing look at the pair before taking out his paper again.
" Well, that was rather quick, now for the next pair Sir Nicholos Arcane and Christine Vorago and the pair they will be fighting will be .."
" Instructor Denis " I shouted interrupting him
" What is the matter Sir Nicholos " Denis said a vein visibly appearing on his bald head
" I just wanted to say that I will be forfeiting, just thought you should know "
" I have some matters to attend to, and I need to move some papers, so I'll have Christine tag along to help "
Having said that I stood up and walked right out with Christine right behind me, feeling the subtle tugging at my sleeve the entire way out.