novelIn Between Summer and Winter (3)
| ← Ch.088 | Ch.090 → |
All of the Grade 1 and Grade 2 single rankers participated in the sparring class. Most of the single rankers were part of the Blue Moon party.
Donetta Hadune was talking to his party members excitedly.
"He probably begged Zod with something like 'Can you please tell people that I beat this?'"
"Saying that he is the only hope for the Hebrion Academy commoners."
People giggled. When Desir and his party arrived, they deliberately raised their voices and shared hostile jokes with the intent to embarrass the party.
Adjest and Romantica stared at them but would not react unless Desir did so first. The crowd was mainly targeting Desir, so there was nothing that they could do.
Adjest spoke in an annoyed tone.
"One day... I'll beat them up until they die."
"I'll join you."
Donetta finally shut up when the professor arrived.
"Nice to meet you all. I'm professor Essenblanc Tistachia. I'll be facilitating the sparring lecture today."
Essenblanc had a huge scar on his face and his hair was elegantly brushed back. He was in his mid 30s. He also had thick scars on his arms that made him look strong.
"I was once a soldier, captain rank, for the Golden Hawk Knights of the Hebrion Empire. I used to train and raise little kids like you into a state of combat readiness."
One of the students seemed upset by his words. Essenblanc raised his voice even louder.
"I believe that your true ability only comes with real experience. But you are still inexperienced and immature. You are just like plants grown in a greenhouse. Through these sparring courses you will experience something very close to real battles and grow to your maximum power and strength."
"I have a feeling that this professor is super strict..."
Romantica muttered.
"From what I have heard... there are a lot of interesting students here who are single rankers. First..."
He scanned through the single ranker section and his eyes stopped on Desir.
"So... Are you the number one single ranker, Desir Arman?"
"Yes, I am."
The corner of the professor's lips curled up into a smirk.
"Desir, please come down."
When Desir came down to the podium, Essenblanc squeezed Desir's shoulder.
"When I said 'inexperienced and immature', that doesn't apply to this young man. This student has realized his full combat potential. You know that, don't you?"
"Thanks for your kind words."
"Rumors say that even before the opening ceremony, you have achieved great things. You have killed elite Outsiders and an ancient demon with Zod Exarion, the world's greatest wizard. You are also a technical advisor for the Mage Tower? What a great list of achievements at such a young age."
As Essenblanc continued, Donetta's face contorted with a frown even greater than before.
"I know that all of the nobles at Hebrion Academy are haughty. You have proven that they are no different than anyone else. You should be proud as a commoner."
"... Professor?"
"But Desir, look around yourself within the school. Look at how all of the noble's attention now falls upon you. This is the treatment you get as the hero who saved thousands of people."
"Because it is a lie."
Donetta couldn't stay quiet for a moment longer.
"There is no one who witnessed him killing the demon. Zod probably saw him and sympathised with this commoner, sharing some part of his achievement with Desir."
"Oh... Is that what you think? You are... Donetta Hadune? Is that your opinion?"
"Most of us think so. We know that commoners are not capable of doing such things."
"Please stand up, Donetta."
Essenblanc walked away from Desir and strode towards the Blue Moon party section. Each step he made seemed to resonate, creating a subtle change in the atmosphere of the room.
Before anyone realised, the room felt very cold and threatening. It also felt like he would unsheathe his sword and attack someone at any moment.
Surprisingly though, Essenblanc agreed with Donetta.
"Well, you are right, Donetta. Unlike nobles, commoners are inferior in many respects. For the most part, they are not capable, or just can't do various things that are easy for nobles. You can simply see this from the test results. You can easily compare the ability of the students of Hebrion Academy via these tests. The noble students are way better than the commoners."
With Essenblanc's words Donetta's face brightened. Essenblanc continued.
"Some people think that it is a waste of time and money to even accept them into Hebrion Academy. Maybe Desir himself spread this rumor to build the reputation of the commoners."
"That's right! That's what I wanted to say!"
Donetta clapped his hands in excitement from finally finding someone to connect with.
Essenblanc smiled.
"Then, why don't you come down here and spar with him?"
"Wh... at?"
"If you can't believe it because you didn't see Desir fighting against the demon, then you can come up right now and fight with him. Win and prove that he is a liar."
Desir thought it was ridiculous how Essenblanc brought about this whole situation without asking what he thought about it, but he decided to go with the flow since it didn't seem too bad.
"Well... That's..."
Donetta couldn't finish his sentence. His mouth flapped open and shut, as if trying to say something, but no voice came out.
"If you are not going to come down, just find your seat."
Donetta hesitated a few seconds. He looked at Desir and plopped himself down into his seat.
Romantica snickered.
"I love that professor. What do you think?"
Romantica proclaimed.
She nudged Adjest and realized that her face looked serious. Adjest was looking at the professor very unpleasantly.
"... He is discriminating against commoners. This only feeds the nobles' superiority complex.
This makes it all the more uncomfortable."
"Why? It's true though."
"But..."
She swallowed her words but definitely felt this situation was slightly suspicious.
"Raise your hand if you think you can beat Desir."
Essenblanc announced.
Nobody raised their hand.
"You guys claimed that commoners are inferior and less worthy than nobles. Is this all you can do? Mock and tease others with just words. Are you one of those pathetic people who can take pride in yourself without proving your ability?"
He taunted the Blue Moon party.
"So... I guess there is no noble that can beat this commoner?"
One student raised their hand and Essenblanc smiled in response.
"Great. Come on down."
One man walked down. He was tall with hair that stopped at ear length. The students who saw him were appalled. Desir knew who he was.
"What's your name?"
"Kelt Pasil Niplica."
He was the younger brother of Professor Pugman.
"Wow... A big shot."
Essenblanc laughed. He seemed to be enjoying this moment.
* * *
The wind felt chilly. It was now fall.
Desir and Kelt walked up onto the cold and empty stage. The stage was located in the center of the field and was surrounded by stone and granite boulders.
Kelt started talking.
"I want to apologize on behalf of Donetta. He never stopped gossiping, even though I told him to stop several times."
Desir questioned.
"Why are you apologizing? You have nothing to do with it."
"We are the Blue Moon party."
Desir thought that he would also hate commoners. He thought that it was mistaken to believe that he'd be different as he was the brother of Professor Pugman.
"I just want to make it clear that I didn't challenge you just because you're a commoner. I did it because I wanted to see if you are as good as the rumours say you are."
"Sure."
Desir carefully scanned him.
'Unlike other noble men, he doesn't appear to be discriminatory against commoners. Is he Fourth-Circle...'
Fourth-Circle is the level where one can be considered strong. He must be one of the best in
Grade 2. Most of the crowd predicted that it was easily going to be Kelt's win. Kelt was well known and confirmed to be an experienced sorcerer.
Kelt offered his hand towards Desir.
"Let me introduce myself again. Kelt Niplica."
Desir liked this guy. He had a good first impression of him. He was strong, but humble and well mannered. Before all of that, he wasn't biased by social class.
'... I'll let you have this one by making it close. '
Desir accepted the handshake.
"Desir Arman."
After the handshake, they separated and maintained a distance between each other. Both of them wore Clothes Lines. As they were wizards, they didn't have any weapons in their hands.
"If you're ready, let's start the duel."
Essenblanc announced the beginning of the duel. Simultaneously, magical spells starting arranging themselves in front of both wizards.
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