Silence fell over the area after Joker One outright threatened me. He just crossed the line. Everything he and his companions had said before this could be excused one way or another. Threatening a member of House Sturm’s main family? There was no coming back from that. From the worried expressions on their faces, Joker One’s companions knew this.

I, on the other hand, felt ecstatic. Joker One just gave me the justification I needed to beat the ever loving shit out of him. It truly was a beautiful day. The sky was clear, the morning sun was shining, and we were surrounded by the splendor of nature.

Leroy tried to walk over to Joker One, but Joker Two and Joker Three blocked his path. Despite everything, they remained loyal to their companion. I didn’t know whether to commend them for their solidarity, or shake my head at their stupidity.

“You go too far, Timothy.” Leroy said in a grim tone. “Lord Gabriel is a part of the main family. Not even you can get away with making threats against him.”

Timothy? Oh! He was Timothy Jeffers. That was why I found him familiar. It also explained his arrogance. The Jeffers family was one of House Sturm’s highest ranking vassals. They had served us for centuries, and many of their members were powerful wizards in their own right. In fact, if they wanted to, they could have broken off and formed their own House a while ago. However, they chose not to.

The head of the Jeffers family, Trent Jeffers, was my father’s bodyguard, while his wife, Aleah Jeffers, was the captain of House Sturm’s retainers. I wondered how Timothy was related to them. Not that it mattered. It wasn’t going to save him.

Timothy Jeffers… No, I was going to keep calling him Joker One in my mind. Joker One ignored Leroy’s words and focused on me.

“Well, Lord Gabriel?” He asked. “What will it be?”

Did he really think he could get away with threatening me like this? Or did he plan on silencing Leroy and I? The Northern Annex was the perfect place to attempt a murder. It was a fair distance away from the rest of Sturm Manor, and few people ever came this way. Of course, I wasn’t going to stand by and do nothing.

I sized Joker One up. He was shorter than me, but bulkier. He outweighed me by a significant margin, and all of it was muscle. In a fight between the two of us, most people would bet on him. And that wasn’t even taking his magic into account.

Wizards measured their general power by the quality, or the rank, of their magic circle, starting at the First Circle and going all the way up to the Ninth Circle. Each rank was exponentially more powerful than the previous one.

I sensed that Joker One was only at the First Circle. In most cases, that would have been more than enough to deal with someone like me, who didn’t even have a magic circle. However, I was confident in my ability to deal with a First Circle wizard, even in my current condition. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have gotten involved in this matter at all.

Based on his physique, I guessed that Joker One practiced internal magic. It was a form of magic where wizards used mana to reinforce their bodies and increase their physical prowess. Strength, endurance, speed, and so on. Any wizard could use internal magic, regardless of their elemental affinities. In many ways, it was similar to the basic body enhancement techniques that martial artists used. However, internal magic was weaker and less effective.

Likewise, wizards who practiced internal magic also used fighting styles that took advantage of their reinforced physiques. While these fighting styles resembled martial arts on the surface, I refused to acknowledge them as such. They were crude imitations at best.

“I’m going to hit you in the face.” I said.

With that, I swung my right arm at Joker One. He blocked me with ease and smirked.

“Did you really think-” He started to say, but I interrupted him with a swift kick between the legs. This caught him off guard, and he let out a pained groan. He didn’t even have time to use internal magic. Leroy and Joker Three winced and made sympathetic noises.

Using magic required concentration and focus, internal magic included. Kicking a wizard between the legs, male or female, was a good way to distract them. Was it underhanded? Yes. Did I care? No. I was at a severe disadvantage here. If I wanted to win, I needed to fight dirty.

While Joker One was reeling from my kick, I took the rock I picked up earlier, the one in my left hand, and swung it at his face. I put all of my strength into my attack. He tried to avoid it, but reacted too late. I slammed the rock into his jaw. His head snapped back and blood sprayed from his mouth. Some of it splashed onto me, but the rest missed.

I swung the rock at him again, this time hitting him in the square in the face. I heard a crack as I broke his nose. More blood sprayed from his face. This time, most of it landed on my clothes. Joker One stumbled backwards, before falling to one knee. However, instead of stopping, I bashed him in the face again and again. I couldn’t afford to let up. Otherwise, Joker One would recover and kick my ass. I needed to end this fight now, while I still had the advantage.

His companions stood there with horrified expressions on their faces. I doubt they had ever been in a serious fight. This might have been their first exposure to the brutality of battle. Even Leroy, who was on my side(?), seemed shocked by my viciousness.

Joker One’s companions snapped out of their daze after I bashed him in the face for the fifth time. Or maybe it was the sixth? I wasn’t keeping track.

“Stop it!” Joker Two screamed. “You’re killing him!”

I ignored her and hit him in the face for the sixth(seventh?) time.

Joker Three skipped words and went straight to attacking me. He recited an incantation and formed a series of mudras with his hands.

Wizards just needed to focus and concentrate on the spell they wanted in order to cast it. However, using tools helped them focus their minds, increased the power of their spells, and let them cast those same spells while using less mana. Incantations and mudras, symbolic hand gestures, were two such tools.

A small mote of fire sparked to life in the air right in front of Joker Three. In less than a second, it grew to the size of a fist. Fire Bolt, one of the most basic Fire spells in existence. If that hit me, it would burn a hole right through me. Even if I survived it, a big if, I’d be in a world of hurt.

However, just as I was about to throw the rock at Joker Three, Leroy hit him with a vicious punch to the side. Joker Three stumbled to the side. His Fire Bolt dissipated into nothing and the mana he used to cast the spell sublimated into the environment.

Despite this, I couldn’t relax. Joker Two decided to follow her companion’s example and started casting a spell. However, instead of a Fire Bolt, I saw a blade made of compressed air form in front of her. Wind Blade, a basic Wind spell.

I threw the rock at her face. She was too focused on casting her spell that she couldn’t dodge. The rock hit her right in the nose. Bull’s-eye! Her head snapped and she fell to the ground, screaming. Blood streamed from her nose.

“My face! You hit my face!”

I took a moment to glance at Leroy and Joker Three. However, I needn’t have worried. Leroy had already subdued his opponent. Joker Three laid in a heap on the ground, unconscious. I blinked in surprise. That was quick. I appraised Leroy with new eyes. Like Joker One, it seemed he practiced internal magic. It appeared that he was pretty adept at it too. A shame. Leroy would have made for a great martial artist.

I glanced at Joker One. He laid unmoving on the ground, his face a bloody mess. I didn’t know if he was unconscious or not. He was still alive, I knew that much. His chest moved up and down in a steady rhythm. Good. I hadn’t held back when I hit him, I couldn’t afford to, so I feared that I had killed him. Thankfully, it hadn’t come to that. I wanted to give him a beating, not kill him.

With Joker One and Joker Three out of the fight, that just left Joker Two. She struggled to get on her feet, glaring at me through tear-filled eyes.

“I suggest you surrender while you’re still ahead.” I said in a cold voice. “Keep going, and you’ll only make things worse for yourself.”

Joker Two paused while halfway off the ground, a conflicted expression on her face. Fear and uncertainty mingled with anger and hate.

“Right now-” I kicked Joker One’s prone form. He groaned, but otherwise didn’t react. “-this idiot is the only one who will face serious punishment. He threatened a member of House Sturm’s main family. You and your companion? You two were just defending your friend. At least, that’s the argument you’ll make when we report this to my father.” I walked over and crouched in front of Joker Two. “However, if you make the wrong choice, you won’t even get that chance.”

Joker Two swallowed and stared at me with wide eyes. Blood flowed from her nose in a stream. For the next several seconds, no one said or did anything. After a while, Joker Two bowed her head.

“I… I surrender, Lord Gabriel.” She said in a wavering voice.

“Good. Maybe you’re not a hopeless cause after all.”

With that, I stood up and stretched. My body ached in several places. Despite my bravado, this fight had strained my body. If it had gone on any longer, I might have pushed myself too far and suffered a serious injury. Ugh. I needed to get into shape as soon as possible.

I noticed movement from the corner of my eye. Leroy regarded me with a wary expression on his face, as if I were a wild animal. I found his wariness both amusing, and disheartening.

My mother, and perhaps my father as well, already suspected me. This incident would just make things worse. It was out of character for the Gabriel Sturm that everyone else knew. Perhaps I should have just left when I had the chance.

Oh well. Nothing to do about it now except strive forward and handle things as they came. Maybe this was for the best. Hiding the truth from my parents never sat well with me. This way, I could be honest with them.

“Well then,” I said, “Come along, Leroy. Let’s go.”

He narrowed his eyes at me.

“Go where, Lord Gabriel?”

I snorted.

“To report this to my father. We might as well get the inevitable out of the way.”