The Arrogance of Humility 2

The Archmagi students moved to the practice room to spar. However, they had to wait for a moment as the magi students were sparring there.

“Regina and Claris,” Professor Arkana called; she was the Professor of the Magi class. It was the last sparring of the day for them; Gina against a girl of the same age, Claris.

They both stood from their seats and walked to the arena. They would have to prepare themselves for the sparring.

Claris adjusted her round glasses as she read the pages of her grimoire with an intense stare. Her front small buckteeth were visible as she fixed her bob hair from covering her face.

Gina did the same as she read her grimoire, thinking about the magic she would cast by the time the sparring began.

Professor Arkana supervised them near the arena and saw the next class coming with Professor Vennefer.

The moment Lucy's and Professor Arkana's eyes met, Lucy fixed and wore her robe formally to avoid getting scolded again.

“Oh?” Professor Arkana smiled as she said to Professor Vennefer. “It’s the next class already? Hold on. This is the last sparring for today.”

The others then sat on the spectator seat with Lucy sitting in the front most row to cheer on Gina.

“Gina! Don’t lose!” Lucy cheered as she stood.

Gina looked at Lucy and smiled with a confident smirk and a thumb up. “I won’t!”

Professor Arkana walked to them and both of them got closer to her.

“Remember: Even though this is a practice, don’t cause permanent harm to your opponents!” Professor Arkana said as she stood between the arena and looked around, making sure nothing was wrong before they started. “If any of you use Maleficium, you will be disqualified in an instant! Regina and Claris, ready?”

Both of them agreed and handed their grimoires to her. Professor Arkana stepped aside from the arena to watch them from afar. They both distanced themselves about 15 steps away, facing each other.

“Ready...” Professor Arkana announced as she raised her right arm, and the girls readied themselves. “Now!” She lowered her right arm.

Gina pointed forward with her right hand and a single-circle green sigil materialized in front of her pointing finger.

“Wind Rage!”

The sigil shot a powerful blast of wind to Claris, and Claris pointed to the ground five steps in front of her. Two brown concentric circles sigil materialized on the ground.

“Magics have levels based on the number of circles,” Lucy thought as she saw the sigil. “Gina’s magic would be outclassed!”

“Gaia Spike!” Claris uttered.

The ground began moving, protruding spikes towards Gina. The wind clashed with the rock spikes, but the spikes prevailed as the wind blast broke.

“Gina! Use your Sylph Wind Blast! Quick!” Lucy thought as her body trembled, anxious from watching their fight.

The spikes were reaching Gina. Gina clenched her fists as she turned and ran from the moving spikes. Claris pointed towards the running and dodging Gina, trying to predict where she would step on.

“Magics will remain as long as the user could keep up with the energy consumption,” Lucy thought. “Claris might exhaust herself like this if Gina could keep dodging. But I know none would be so stupid as that! Be careful, Gina!”

Gina outran the moving spikes; She was running towards Claris, but Claris pointed at a ground where Gina would step on, and a single-circle sigil formed.

“Quicksand!” Claris muttered.

The ground where Gina landed softened into sands. Gina fell into the quicksand sitting down. The spikes caught up with Gina, reaching her. Gina stretched both of her arms forward and twin two concentric circles formed in front of each palm.

“Double casting?!” Lucy thought as she saw the twin sigils.

“I’m saving this for later, but I have no choice!” Gina thought.

“Dual Sylph Wind Blast!” Gina uttered, and powerful wind gusts appeared from the sigils, destroying the spikes, but Claris refused to lose as she forced the new spikes to form.

Their magic clashed for thirty seconds before Claris stopped hers. Gina aimed her magic at Claris, but Claris created a level three earth magic to protect herself.

“Terra Domain!” Claris uttered.

A thick dome of solid rocks defended Claris from the sharp-razor wind blasts. The wind wasn’t enough to tear the sturdy rock dome, so Gina stopped casting and planned what to do next.

Claris knew Gina stopped hers, so she also stopped her rock dome. The rock dome crumbled, and Gina exposed herself open. Both of them were panting as they used most of their energy before.

“Come on, Gina! You can pull this through!” Lucy thought as she clenched her fist and bit her lip intensely.

Gina pointed forward and a green small single circle sigil formed in front of her finger. Claris knelt to the ground and touched the earth. A brown two-concentric circle sigil formed on the ground.

“Sylph Wind Arrow!” Gina recited.

“Titan Sword!” Claris recited at the same time as Gina.

A sharp wind ejected from the sigil, traveling fast to Claris while Claris lifted a hiltless medium sword made of rock covered with runes from the ground. Claris used the sword to block the wind arrow in time, and she rushed forward to Gina.

Gina fired more arrows, but Claris parried them one by one. Claris got hit by some on her shoulders and arms, causing minor damages, but she didn’t flinch; she wanted to end this sparring quickly with a single attack using the rock sword. Gina tried to move back a few steps, but Claris pointed to the ground where Gina stood.

“Quicksand!” she recited aloud as she got closer.

“Gina—!” Lucy shouted.

Gina slipped and fell on her back. If she tried to dodge by crawling, Claris would reach her first. Gina pointed both of her palms forward as she tried to cast her Sylph Wind Blast again. The sigils were forming on her palms, but it broke; she canceled it after realizing she had no sufficient energy left.

Claris was two steps away from her. Claris jumped forward, ready to slash Gina’s chest with a downward cut. Gina forced everything she had left in her as she double-cast a level one wind magic.

“Dual Wind Vortex!” she muttered.

Twin wind vortexes formed from the sigils. The right was spinning to the left while the left did the opposite, creating a devastating vacuum in between. Claris was caught between the vortexes; she couldn’t do anything as the sharp vortexes started shredding her body.

“Argh—!” Claris shouted from the pain as the razor-sharp winds were tearing her skin and flesh.

“That’s enough!” Professor Arkana shouted, but Gina stopped her magic first out of exhaustion.

Claris fell on Gina’s body; she was unconscious from the shock. The wind vortexes damaged her clothes and upper to lower body.

Professor Arkana hurried to them and helped Claris first. She touched Claris’s body with her palms, and a three-concentric white sigil surrounded Claris’s wounds.

“Heal,” Professor Arkana muttered.

Claris’s wounds regenerated rapidly, but Claris was still unconscious. Professor Arkana called and instructed two female students to bring Claris to the infirmary on the first floor.

Professor Arkana helped Gina to stand, but Gina barely had any strength left to move her fingers. She was panting as her eyes were trying to close shut. Gina had no wounds on her body; she just used too much energy. Professor Arkana called more students to bring Gina to the infirmary.

The rest of the second class returned to their class while Professor Arkana remained there. She looked at the damage the two caused. She aimed both of her hands to the ground to cast a level three earth magic. The sigil covered the entire arena.

“Earth Mold,” she muttered, and the arena grounds returned to normal.

“All right, Professor Vennefer. You can use the arena,” Professor Arkana said before returning to her class.

Professor Vennefer stood in the arena, facing the students.

“Okay, everyone! Time for the sparring,” he announced. “The rules are the same as before, but you are restricted to use magics provided by the grimoire you have. Who wants to go first?”

Lucy raised her arm, causing the other students to hesitate, fearing that they might have to challenge her.

“Luxianne?” Professor Vennefer said. “You want to go first—?”

“Excuse me. I have no grimoire. Does that mean I can use every magic?” she asked with a smug smirk.

The students sighed in relief.

“Go borrow one from the grand library,” Professor Vennefer instructed as he pointed at the door.

“Okay!” she said happily as she ran to the hallway, but Professor Vennefer shouted at her before she left.

“COME BACK AFTER YOU GET THE BOOK! DON’T YOU DARE TO WANDER SOMEWHERE!!!” he screamed in annoyance, knowing what Lucy always did.

“Yeah, yeah. Fine,” she replied with little to no care as she left without even lending an ear.

Lucy went to the grand library and took a random, dusty grimoire.

On the first floor, Lucy was going for the stairs, but she changed her mind as she looked at the open infirmary room

“Who wants to go into that boring sparring?” Lucy huffed as she entered the infirmary instead to play and mess with Gina.

The infirmary was always full of injured and sick (faking or not) students. The beds there were more comfortable than the dorms’.

“Lux?!” Gina gasped as she saw Lucy inside the infirmary. “What on earth are you doing here?!”

Lucy laid on her bed casually as she put the grimoire next to her. The bed could only fit one person. So Lucy laid sideways, facing Gina.

“Hey! Don’t just barge in!” Gina said as she had to sleep sideways now.

“This bed is comfortable!” Lucy said as she relaxed her body.

“Don’t ignore me!” Gina said, annoyed. “Why are you even here? You have a class, don’t you?”

“Hmph. I’m skipping it,” Lucy replied blatantly as she relaxed her legs. “Besides, this bed is comfortable. Who doesn’t want to lie on this comfortable, fluffy, and relaxing bed all day long?”

Suddenly, someone opened the curtains next to them; it was Claris; she was peeved because of the noises they both made.

“Can you both date in silence?!” Claris muttered.

“D-Date?” Gina muttered as she raised an eyebrow. “Hey, we aren’t a couple—!”

“Hey. Calm down, Clara. I know you’re still mad that Gina defeated you there,” Lucy provoked and teased her with a smug smile as she caressed Gina’s cheek and looked at Gina’s eyes, creeping Gina out. “Am I right, darling~?”

“L-Lucy!” Gina said with her face red as she removed Lucy’s hand forcefully.

“I-I’m not mad about that!” Claris claimed aloud as her face turned red from embarrassment. She readjusted her glasses as she looked away with her arms crossed.

“Oh? Then what’s that on your nose?” Lucy asked teasingly.

“What?” Claris asked. “What’s wrong with my nose?”

“When one is angry, a pimple will appear at one’s nose~,” Lucy teased with a smirk.

“Ah?!” Claris gasped as she touched her nose in panic, much to Lucy’s enjoyment. Lucy couldn’t stop laughing as tears flowed to his cheek. Claris realized Lucy was messing with her far too late.

“You are angry!” Lucy said as she wiped her tears and pointed at Claris.

“Lucy!” Claris shouted in embarrassment as she bit her lip. She closed the curtain and minded her own business. Lucy’s laugh reached past the curtain piercing through Claris’ ears.

“Lux,” Gina said. “Lower your voice. Someone’s resting here.”

“Then, let’s continue our ‘date’ in silence, shall we~?” Lucy said teasingly.

“As you wish, princess~,” Gina teased as she brushed Lucy’s hair.

“Ah! Gina! Hmph!” Lucy huffed as she pouted with her face red.

“Anyway, why are you skipping the sparring?” Gina asked.

“It’s boring.”

“Boring? I hope you say that during a real battle, where none stops even after their opponents have nothing left.”

“Magics aren’t bound solely to combat.”

“But everyone uses it that way, right? The empire needs a talented person like you to aid the soldiers in combat.”

“I don’t want to participate in one.”

“Why?”

“I want to live in tranquility. I don’t give a damn about the war.”

“It’s the greatest honor for a magus to participate in a war.”

“To hell with that.”

“So Lux, what are you going to do after graduating then?”

Lucy silenced for a moment, thinking with a concerned face.

“I don’t know, to be honest. I haven’t thought about that. That’s why I haven’t graduated,” she replied.

“You are a strange one, Lux. Why don’t you try becoming a professor just like your father?”

“A delinquent like me?” Lucy said with a doubtful smile. “Oh, Gina. You can’t be serious. Vennefer knows that I’m the most unsuitable for it.”

“You are clever and talented already. You just need to fix your anarchic attitude.”

“Becoming a professor, huh?” Lucy muttered as she considered it. “How about you, Gina? What are you going to do after graduating?”

“It’s obvious. I will become an imperial magus.”

“It’s dangerous, isn’t it?”

“I’ll take the risk as the reward is greater.”

“Then Gina. Let’s make a promise!” she said with a smile.

“A promise?”

“Let’s graduate together and pursue our goal!”

“Hm? You have a goal? I thought you had none.”

“You see…” she said as she looked below. “Becoming a professor doesn’t sound that bad.”

“Then, promise.”

“Just a simple promise like that?” Lucy asked, unsatisfied.

“Hm? What kind of promise do you want?”

Lucy grabbed Gina’s thigh, surprising her.

“L-Lux?!” she said as her lips quivered.

“Grab mine.”

“What for—?”

“I don’t want a simple promise. I want an oath so none will dare to break it,” Lucy insisted with a smile.

“Fine then. I’ll do it the way you want it,” Gina said as she grabbed Lucy’s thigh.

“Now, say your full name and your oath.”

“This is getting awkward,” Gina thought.

“I, Regina Caeli Aeris, swear that I will graduate together with Lux and become an imperial magus.”

“I, Luxianne Verre Serafell, swear that I will graduate together with Gina and become a professor of Central Academy.”

Gina pulled her hand back, but Lucy, instead of doing the same, began caressing Gina’s thigh.

“What a tender and beautiful thigh,” Lucy commented as she smiled. “I bet boys would go crazy from touching it~.”

“L-Lucy!”

Meanwhile, in the practice room. The third rank students were having their battle practice. Professor Vennefer supervised them and waited for Lucy to return, but she didn’t as she was skipping the class.

“That damned girl…” he thought as he clenched his fists. “What took her so long to search for a damn grimoire?!”

In the arena, two people were having an intense battle; they were going all out against each other.

“Flame Wave!” a man in said aloud as he pointed his hand forward as he flipped a page of his grimoire after dodging an ice spike almost touching his short shaggy brown hair.

A level two flame magic sigil appeared and a powerful heatwave launched to his opponent. But his opponent, a woman of the same age, didn’t stay silent as she fixed her long auburn hair and bangs from covering her eyes.

She flipped two pages and recited aloud as she pointed forward, “Cold Wind Barrier!”

A three-concentric circle sigil appeared surrounding her. The heatwave didn’t harm her in the slightest. The man read the last page of the grimoire. The last page of the grimoire always contained the last-resort or powerful magic.

“Infernal Pyro Blast!” he recited aloud as he pointed forward.

“That magic!” Professor Vennefer thought, surprised. He hit the floor with his cane three times and a four concentric circles clear sigil surrounded the arena. Both of them stopped fighting as they looked at the professor.

“Professor?” the man asked as he looked at the professor in confusion.

“Continue,” he replied. “I can’t let you both destroy the arena.”

“Ah. Fine.”

A six concentric circles crimson and black sigil appeared in front of the man. The woman opened the last page of her grimoire and pointed forward. “Frozen Lamentation Cocytus!”

“They want to destroy the arena?!” Professor Vennefer thought as he shook his head. He hit the floor with his cane three more times, and the sigil expanded with three circles.

The man’s sigil summoned a barrage of black flames while the woman’s magic summoned blizzard spikes and needles.

The spectators could feel the intense heat from the black flames near the man and the chilling cold from the blizzard near the woman.

As soon as their magic clashed, Professor Vennefer activated his magic.

“Absorb,” he muttered.

Their magic intensity drastically decreased to 1/4, minimizing the damage they might cause. Their magic clashed, causing a devastating reaction, damaging the ground and the surrounding, but none of them were injured as they still stood.

“Ignatius and Celina,” Professor Vennefer thought, pleased. “They’re the most talented and promising magus after Luxianne. Even after using level six magics, they’re still standing calm.”

“Don’t expect mercy next time, Cel!” Ignatius boasted as he opened the grimoire, searching for the next magic.

“Neither do you, Iggy!” Celina said as she did the same.

Celina found it first and cast a level two magic.

“Blizzard Lance!” she read aloud as she pointed forward.

Ignatius also found a level three magic in time to counter Celina’s. He pointed forward and read aloud, “Infernal Halberd!”

Professor Vennefer was tired of waiting for Lucy to come back and knew that they had shown enough.

“Okay, okay. Ignatius and Celina, both of you could stop now,” Professor Vennefer announced.

“Huh?” Celina said, surprised. “But, the victor—?”

“You both showed enough. Time for the next.”

“Hmph. I should’ve won this one,” Ignatius huffed.

“Don’t get cocky! The outcome isn’t—”

“Come on. Both of you stop,” Professor Vennefer said. “Return to your seats now.”

Both of them were hesitant at first, but they listened to him. Professor Vennefer stood and looked at the students.

“You all wait here for a moment and please repair the arena ground. I need to take care of something important first,” he announced as he left.

The students knew what Professor Vennefer meant; he was searching for Lucy.

In the infirmary, Gina’s resting bed. Lucy was sleeping while hugging Gina while she had to stay awake; she couldn’t rest.

Lucy’s face was on Gina’s chest as if it was a pillow. Lucy, while sleeping, kept rubbing her face on Gina’s chest.

“How did it end up like this?!” Gina thought, annoyed as she tried to remove Lucy’s arms and face from her, but Lucy’s arms clenched her body tighter. “Please anyone help me—!”

Gina’s prayer got answered as Professor Vennefer arrived there, facing their bed while looking at Lucy with a death stare. His killing intent was powerful enough to send shivers down to Gina’s spine.

“P-Professor V—?”

“Ssssh…” Professor Vennefer told her to stay silent as he touched Lucy’s neck with his pointing finger. “Itch.”

A single circle sigil appeared on her neck, and suddenly Lucy jumped up and scratched her neck. She felt an uncontrollable and unnatural itch there.

“Ouch! Ouch! What the—?!”

Lucy touched her neck, and another sigil appeared, overlaying the first sigil. “Dispel!”

The itch was gone in an instant. Lucy took a sigh of relief and looked at Professor Vennefer with sleepy eyes, not realizing who he was. She casually scratched the back of her hair and yawned.

She opened her eyes wide as she gasped when she realized Professor Vennefer was staring at her.

“Oh damn—!”

“Luxianne. Where’s your grimoire?” he asked.

Luxianne took the grimoire she brought with her.

“H-Here,” she muttered with her head down and showed the grimoire.

Professor Vennefer pulled her hand and walked out of the infirmary.

“What are you thinking?!” he scolded on their way. “Just because you’re my daughter, you can’t just do everything you want!”

“Sorry…”

“Don’t do such a thing again, Lux! You’re the role model of the academy!”

“Role model?” she thought as she just looked away. “Yeah, yeah. A role model to be feared.”

With no further talk, Professor Vennefer brought her to the practice room. She sat among the other students with the grimoire in her hand.

“Now, onto the next match. Luxianne against…” Professor Vennefer looked at the students, making some of them anxious. He pointed at a boy of the same age as Lucy. “Cletus, you’re up.”

“Eh?!” Cletus said as he stood in shock, fixing his medium curly bob hair. “Why me—?!”

“Come on, it’s just a practice,” Professor Vennefer said, ensuring.

“F-Fine!” Cletus said as he descended to the arena.

“What a hassle…” Lucy sighed and descended to the arena.

They both arrived and stood about 15 meters away from each other.