Mayhem
Chapter 8. The Dark Prince: Sparring
(From Toren's perspective)
—Let's talk, — said Professor Grimvale. —Emil, do you have any excuses?
Emil hesitated a bit. But then he pulled himself together and said:
—I honestly apologize, I was drunk yesterday, — he said. —I've already apologized to the guys.
—Ah, youth, — Professor Grimvale took a sip of tea. —I understand, these are your most turbulent years. But you shouldn't cross the line. You need to live up to the status of a student at an elite school.
—I understand, — Emil replied immediately and lowered his head. —It won't happen again.
—That's enough, — said Professor Grimvale. —Emil, you can go. I want to talk to these two, — he looked at Emilia and me.
—I'm sorry once again, — Emil bowed and quickly left the room.
The professor waited until Emil left, took a sip of tea, and smiled slightly.
—And you met much earlier than I planned.
Emilia and I exchanged glances but said nothing.
He thought for a moment. Emilia and I just sat quietly.
—Sometimes I become so stupid, — he said quite calmly. —Forget it. We'll talk later.
—Why are you doing this to me, director, — Emilia said discontentedly. —What do you mean we met earlier than you planned? I won't calm down until I know the truth.
—There was no hidden meaning in that, — replied Professor Grimvale. —I'm an old man, I always say some nonsense.
—Do you think I'll believe you? — Emilia continued.
—Don't argue with the director, — Grimvale replied. —Learn from Toren. He's sitting quietly and not poking into other people's business.
Apparently, that's how he tried to shift the topic to me.
—The less you know, the better you sleep, — I said shortly. —And anyway, don't try to change the subject.
—You could become an excellent politician, — he said. —You stated your neutral position, but in fact took Emilia's side to get more information through her.
—You're overestimating me.
The director looked at me thoughtfully and said:
—You're quite cunning, but you lack acting skills.
—Don't ignore me! — said Emilia.
—I'm tired. That's enough for today, — said Grimvale and snapped his fingers.
In the next instant, Emilia and I found ourselves at the door to the director's office.
—What was that? — asked Emilia, looking at me.
—Do you think I know? — I replied. —I didn't even finish my tea; it was tasty.
—I agree with that, — she said.
We decided to just go to the dormitory.
(From Emil's perspective)
The next day after classes, I was about to go home.
After that incident in the park, many guys look at me with contempt. So after classes, I try not to linger and hardly leave my room.
That day was the first time I drank, and I immediately caused so much trouble.
To hell with all this. I won't drink anymore.
Kair is trying to support me in every way. He's a good friend. Even that day, he tried to stop me. I don't want to blame anyone. Everything that happened is only my fault.
At the exit from the school building, I ran into Emilia. She saw me and immediately approached.
Was she… waiting for me?
—Hi, — she said with a cute smile.
—H-hi.
I got a bit flustered. Probably because I'm still ashamed in front of her.
—You're a good mage, right? — she asked while I was lost in my thoughts.
—Well… not really.
—Don't be modest, — she lightly patted me on the shoulder. —They didn't accept you into this school for nothing. I accidentally saw your test results; they're pretty average. So your strong side is magic.
—W-well… you could say that.
In reality, my magic is the most ordinary too. It's just that my father is an official, so he got me in here. But I can't tell her that. I don't want to look pathetic.
—Why are you asking? — I asked.
—Listen. Let's train a bit.
—In what sense?
She thought for a second, and then still said:
—I want to fight you.
What? Why does she need that?
Is she still angry at me?
Though… that makes sense. I really screwed up.
If it calms her down, we can fight. I'm not even against her beating me. She won't kill me, after all.
—So, do you agree? — she asked.
—Well… if you want, sure.
The whole way, we walked in silence. I didn't even know what to talk to her about. The only topic I understand something in is games. But she's probably not interested in that.
We arrived at the mage arena. It was a huge building with a round arena inside, almost the size of a soccer field. The presence of such a building on school grounds shows how rich this school is. Surprisingly, at that time, there was no one here.
We stepped onto the arena and stopped about twenty meters apart.
—Shall we start? — shouted Emilia.
—Yeah, — I shouted back.
I didn't have time to blink.
A small area of ground around Emilia was covered in fire. From her hands, a figure began to form out of flames.
It was a bow.
A fiery bow.
Almost immediately, an arrow appeared with it. I got confused. This wasn't how I imagined our fight at all.
Is she planning to fight seriously?
In the next second, Emilia shot a fiery arrow at me.
I crossed my arms and created a shield of magical energy, then hurriedly tried to concentrate all my power at the point of impact. But it didn't help. The shield absorbed most of the damage, but I was still thrown back several meters.
(From the narrator's perspective)
On the continent of Tautari, from first to sixth grade, all children study in regular schools.
From seventh to ninth grades, children endowed with magic study in special schools for mages, where they are taught to control their power. At the same time, they also study regular school subjects, though not as in-depth.
After ninth grade, children decide for themselves whether to continue studying magic or not.
The closed academy where Toren studied was an exception. It was a secret institution for particularly gifted individuals, where magic and school disciplines were studied equally. Most of its graduates became either agents for secret missions or elite soldiers.
Meanwhile, Emil realized that something was wrong here.
Emilia was too strong and was fighting seriously.
After the hit from the fiery arrow, he was thrown several meters. In those moments when his body hit the ground, he managed at the last instant to create small magical shields that saved him from serious injuries.