Her cackle reverberated throughout the arena. Then she leaned forward, sticking her rapier into the dirt and holding her stomach as her laughter grew more uncontrollable. Her wings flapped rapidly, as if keeping pace with each laugh. 

“Um… Kei? What is happening right now?”

“I wish I knew…”

Felicity and Kei watched this moment unfold in pure confusion. 

“Hahaha…Oho…Ohohoho…” The noble vampire finally stopped laughing and stood up straight. “Phew…I…I have never…hahaha…never in all four of my years at this school…have I seen such ingenuity from a freshman…haha. Not since him, anyway.”

She picked up her rapier and held it up in a long stance. 

“I haven’t had this much fun in years, Mister S’han. If our duels are going to be this way going forward, making you mine is an absolute must!”

Sydney flew over to him again. As she shifted into another inside right thrust, Kei spun away, but his barrier still clipped her blade, flashing red to confirm another clean hit.

Damn it!

“Seventeen seconds, Kei!” Felicity called out. 

Kei generated a tiny surge of electro magic into his right palm and held it toward his club lying several yards away.

“Fortis Magneto!”

The club scraped against the dirt before suddenly zipping toward his outstretched hand. Kei caught it and immediately spun on his heel.

Sydney was already charging. He raised his club just in time to meet her rapier. The weapons clashed, electricity trickling between them as their mana signatures reacted to one another.

The two broke apart, only to collide again moments later.

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

Kei blocked. Sydney parried. He swung. She deflected. They moved almost as if they were mirroring one another, matching each other's strikes and counters beat for beat.

Until—

“Time's up, Kei!”

Felicity's voice.

“Huh?”

Kei immediately felt it.

The lightness in his body was gone. His muscles suddenly felt heavier, his movements slowing back to normal.

Sydney didn't hesitate.

Her rapier flashed toward his left arm.

Slash!

Kei recoiled, only for her next strike to catch his right leg. His knees buckled, and he crashed down onto the dirt.

“Aghh!”

“Kei, no!”

Sydney descended after him, her wings beating just enough to slow her fall. She raised her rapier into a high stance, her right leg leading as she prepared to bring the blade down.

Kei gritted his teeth.

I gave it everything I had… and it still wasn't enough!

He looked up at her, refusing to surrender.

I'm not letting it end like this.

His fingers tightened around his club as he raised it to meet her blade.

“Milady!”

Holland's voice suddenly rang across the arena.

Sydney's eyes narrowed. “Not now, Holland!”

“But, milady! Someone has breached our stealth barrier!”

She froze.

“Ugh. Already?!”

That was all Kei needed. He drove his club into her midsection.

“Oooof!”

Before Sydney could recover, Kei focused what little mana he had left and released a burst of electricity.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

Electricity surged through Sydney's body.

Flash!

Her barrier lit up red.

Once.

Only once.

But that was all Kei needed.

Felicity's eyes widened.

“Omigods, Kei… Kei, you did it!”

She rushed over and knelt beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Holland stood frozen at the referee's station, one hand covering his mouth. He slowly turned toward Sydney, his expression filled with guilt.

Her barrier had shattered.

Sydney remained hunched over, one hand clutching her stomach.

“Milady, I…”

“Just call it, Holland.”

There was no anger in her voice. In fact, it sounded unlike anything Kei had heard from her since they first met. Almost heartbroken.

Holland hesitated, then straightened himself and raised his right arm.

“The winner of this bout… Kei S’han!”

Just then, another spatial rift opened beside the referee station.

Just then, another spatial gap appeared beside the referee station. A young man dressed in the Basilisk Academy uniform stepped out. He had a round face, olive skin, dark-brown, nape-length wavy hair, and gold aviator spectacles. He was approximately two or three inches shorter than Kei, but the stubble on his chin suggested that he was at least a few years older.

The young man surveyed the area, his eyes scanning the thralls still standing in the cavea. They met his gaze with looks of cold indifference. Clicking his tongue, he shifted his attention toward Kei and Felicity.

“Hey, are you kids alright?” 

His voice was much deeper than Kei had expected. His tone gave off a stern impression, but Kei detected a tinge of warmth beneath it.

“Y-yeah. We are now.” Felicity smiled over at Kei. “Thanks to this guy.”

“.....”

“.....”

The young man studied Kei for a moment before scowling and turning toward the Ace.

  “And as for you, Syd…what in the hell is all of this?”

“Good morning to you too, Geno,” Sydney responded curtly. 

Holland had since walked over to her, casting a cleansing spell to remove the dust from her clothing. Kei figured he ought to learn that at some point, given how dust-ridden his own clothes could get after casting his Sandstorm Vortex spell. 

“Five. I count five more of them than last time,” Geno said, holding up his fingers. “And you were still about to add two more to your…your…posse?”

“‘Thralls’ is the preferred term.”

“Right, and I couldn’t give a bunyip’s left ballsack what you prefer, would I?”

“Goodness. Such vulgar language!” Sydney put her right hand over her mouth mockingly. “Not setting a good example for the underclassmen with that filthy mouth, I’m afraid.” 

“Oh, shove it, you walking cadaver!” He gestured to her thralls. “The only reason you ain’t locked up right now is cuz you found some…screwy loophole to enthrall them!”

Sydney scoffed. She hadn’t looked in his direction once. 

“Again, they came to me of their own accord.”

“Really”? He pointed toward Kei and Felicity. “And did they?”

“Well…no. I’ll admit that they were brought to me…forcefully.” She eyed Kei for a while, giving him a small grin. “I asked for them to become my thralls. They refused. I then made a wager, challenging the cute half-elf boy over there to a duel…”

Kei felt a chill run down his spine at that word. 

Cute? Ugh. 

“...and, if you must know, Geno,” Sydney continued. “I was defeated. Quite decidedly, in fact.”

Geno dropped his arm. 

“What?!”

“You heard me.”

Geno straightened up, shifting his glasses. 

“Alright…just so that I understand: this kid defeated you?”

“Yes.”

“Sydney B. Jones?”

“Yes, that is my name.”

“Daughter of Baron Jones?”

“He is my father, yes.”

“The Ace of Basilisk Academy?”

“Yes, yes, and yes!” Sydney finally turned to face him, annoyed with his questioning. “That is my title. Don’t wear it out!” 

She stopped herself and took a breath. 

“And I probably would have won them over if a certain someone hadn’t broken my barrier.” 

“Oh, don’t try and make this about me, Syd.” Geno walked up to her. “You’re lucky that no one else saw this! A freshman defeating an Ace…that would send the whole school into a frenzy. Hell, the poor kid could probably be penalized for skipping the line!” 

Now it was Kei’s turn to be shocked.

What?

“You really think me a fool, don’t you, Geno?” Sydney folded her arms. “Why else would I have moved us to my battle room? I think I would understand how our school’s ranking system works better than some rankless senior, thank you very much.”

“Look, I’m just saying that you need to be more careful with stuff like that.”

Sydney turned away in a huff and muttered under her breath.

“Hmph. You sure like to pick and choose when to be worried about people…”

“What?”

“Nothing. I didn’t say anything.” 

Thanks to Kei’s keen hearing, he had fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—caught every word.  

Her tone...

There it was again. That peculiar change in her voice. Gone was the playful arrogance she'd displayed throughout their duel. For a moment, she sounded almost…disappointed.

Felicity helped him to his feet, and the two teenagers continued to awkwardly watch the exchange, unsure whether to interrupt. 

“Call me crazy,” Felicity whispered, leaning toward him, “But am I the only one who’s sensing…?”

“Tension?” Kei finished with a smirk. “Heh. You could cut it with a dagger.”

The girl nodded, giggling at his remark. 

“Of all the ways I thought this day would go…” She looked around the battleroom once more. Kei noticed a twinkle in her eye. “…this wasn’t even on the list.”

“Mm. I wasn’t sure what to expect, either,” Kei admitted, still wincing. “The wind certainly works in mysterious ways.” 

Her eyes flicked toward him. She studied his face for a moment before giving him a playful nudge. 

“That it does, my new friend. That it does.” 

Meanwhile, Geno and Sydney were still in the middle of their heated tiff. 

“One more year, Geno,” the young man muttered to himself, rubbing his temples. “One more year and you’ll be rid of her…”

“Oh, do trust me, Farris,” Sydney retorted. “The feeling is mutual. Have fun trying to keep up with me in the meantime.”

She turned on her heel and began walking toward the freshmen. 

“Dammit…” Geno sighed heavily. “What will it take, Syd?”

She stopped but didn’t turn around.

“For what?”

“For you to finally behave yourself.”

Now it was Sydney's turn to sigh. 

“Honestly… If you still have to ask that question after all these years… then you’re an even bigger dullard than I thought.”

With that, she resumed her walk toward Kei and Felicity, Holland following close behind.

“Congratulations are in order, Mister S’han!” Sydney smiled like a proud parent. “To defeat an Ace on your very first day of secondary school! Why, you must be over the moon! And the Yolk, too, might I add!”

Kei scoffed. 

“Just so you know, I only agreed to the duel to earn back our freedom. Had I known I was breaking school protocol, I would never have agreed.”

He lowered his gaze.

“Besides, I’d hardly call that a true victory. You were distracted.” 

Felicity frowned. 

“Kei…”

“Buhahaha!”

Sydney burst into laughter, catching both freshmen off guard. 

“Oh, worry not about what I said to old carpet-head over there. I was just giving him a hard time.” 

Her expression grew serious. 

“Listen, I let my concentration slip, and I take full responsibility for it. Perhaps I need to keep up with my training.”

She rolled her eyes thoughtfully, placing a finger on her chin.

“Hmmm…”

Then her face brightened.

“I could really use a—”

“I think I’ll pass.”

“Wha…?!”

Sydney was taken aback by his sudden rejection. Kei folded his arms, meeting her gaze with an unwavering expression. He'd already heard enough to know where this was going. 

Seeing that he wasn't about to budge, Sydney let out a defeated sigh.

“Right, sorry. A deal is a deal. Holland.” 

Her blonde thrall opened another spatial rift off to the side. He then retrieved Sydney's rapier and its parasol-shaped scabbard, returning the blade to its rightful place. 

Sydney gave the freshman one last look. 

“If you truly insist on ‘going by the book’, that’s fine by me.” 

Sydney brought the parasol over her head. 

“I will be watching your progress with great interest. If you continue to improve this year, who knows? Maybe there’ll be a spot for you in Academy Showdown.”

“...?!”

That last statement gave Kei pause. 

Only a handful of freshmen made it to Academy Showdown each year. Given how grueling the event could be for underclassmen, most freshmen—and even some sophomores—chose to bow out entirely. 

Sure, Kei had trained relentlessly to hone his magic and combat skills. But qualifying for the largest event of the school year?

 That still felt like a long shot.

“......”

“......”

For a moment, the two simply regarded one another in silence. Then Sydney turned toward the portal, Holland following close behind. 

“Geno ♪♪, this may be too much to ask, but be a dear and rebuild the barrier you broke around my battleroom, will you?”

“Yeah, yeah. Stay out of trouble!”

Sydney glanced over her shoulder, flashing him a mischievous grin. 

“No promises! ♥”

Geno and the freshmen watched as they passed through the rift before it quickly closed behind them. 

“““......”””

With Sydney gone, an awkward silence settled over the battleroom. Kei and Felicity glanced up at the cavea and noticed that the remaining thralls had already departed, leaving them alone with Geno. 

“They sure move fast,” Kei remarked.

“Mm-hm.”

“Heh. Tell me about it.”

A few more seconds passed.

“““......”””

Unable to bear the silence any longer, Geno inhaled sharply and turned stiffly toward the two underclassmen.

“G-Geno! Geno Farris! Senior artificer! Pleasure is all mine.”

He nervously extended his right hand. However, upon getting a better look at Kei, his expression fell.

“Yeesh, kid. You look like hell.” 

He rummaged through the brown satchel at his side and fished out a light-brown, sugar-coated pastry. A smile formed on his lips as he offered it to the younger boy.

“It’s my last bombolone, but it oughta do the trick. I poured a healing potion into the batter.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

Felicity narrowed her eyes. 

“Wait. Did you pull that from a spatial pocket?”

“Nope.”

“So that was just…sitting in your bag? Like, your actual bag?”

“Yep.”

Visibly disgusted, Felicity turned toward Kei, who was already chowing down. A faint green aura had begun to envelop his body as the healing potion took effect. 

“Mm. This is quite good, Felicity. Wish to try some?”

“Nah, I’m good.”

Geno glanced at his watch and nodded. 

“Anyways, gather your stuff. It’s time I got you two outta here. The first bell just rang. We can discuss what transpired here at a later date.”

Kei noticed Geno's sudden shift to a more professional tone. It was a stark contrast to how he'd addressed Sydney just moments earlier. 

Geno turned around and raised both hands. The gems embedded in the matching silver rings on his index fingers shone with brilliant white light. As he rotated his hands clockwise, a new spatial rift began to form before him.

“I hope our troublemaker of an Ace didn't spook you kids, too much,” he said, almost as though he were apologizing on Sydney's behalf. “But I really should warn you: if you think she's crazy, just pray you don't run into the Eyes of Medusa.”

Kei scrunched up his face. 

“Who?”

“Basilisk’s student faction,” Felicity chimed in. “In order to duel Sydney, students need to go through them.”

“Ahh, I see.”

The rift widened. 

Geno turned toward them with a smile.

“Y’know… It's been a while since I've seen her that excited. I guess she really saw something in the two of you.”

“......”

“......”

Geno took a step toward the rift, and the two freshmen followed.

“This may be long overdue at this point, but welcome to Basilisk Academy.”

END