Ch. 43 - Still a weakling

*Pant* *Pant* *Pant*

"I *Pant* finished."

"Congrats. But you're going to have to do a lot better than that if you want to succeed."

"How fast did I run?"

"You ran eleven-minute miles. Quite slow, but it's a start."

"Seems like I have to run a lot more."

"I'm glad that you understand that."

"Could we head back inside now master? I'm feeling freezing."

"Hahahaha, of course we can. Let's get something hot to fill your stomach with. My treat."

"Thank you master."

—In the dining hall—

"Slow down there. Chew before you swallow. We're in no rush."

After feeling satisfied from filling my stomach with delicious, warm food, master and I silently sat in the dining hall for a few minutes.

"Umm... master?"

"Yes Azrail?"

"Could I tell my friends about you being my master? I feel like a bad friend for hiding information from them."

"Sure. But I'm assuming this only includes Ronald and Valde, yes?"

"Thank you master!"

"No problem. You should join your friends now. It's getting late."

"See you tomorrow master!"

Master simply smiled.

As I was walking out of the dining hall, master gazed at my back with complicated eyes. I didn't even begin to understand the depth of master's eyes nor his thoughts.

"Where have you been this entire time Azrail?" Valde asked as he saw me enter our new, secluded study spot.

"Yeah, what were you doing?" Ronald added.

"I was training with Professor Costanzo."

"Huh?" The two of them reacted.

"Professor Costanzo is my master?"

"Like a disciple master kind of relationship?"

"Yes. A disciple master relationship."

"How did that happen?" Ronald asked with slight envy.

"Remember the day Professor Costanzo gave me detention?"

"Yeah."

"During the detention, Professor Costanzo said that I reminded him of his younger days and asked if I wanted to train under him, and I said yes."

"Wow, what a stroke of luck you have."

"Congratulations Azrail. I think you're Professor Costanzo's first disciple too. I know many of the past have begged to be his disciple, but he rejected them all."

"How'd you do it Azrail?" Ronald asked with a little bit of desperation in his voice.

"I didn't do anything."

"Damnit, Azrail. You can't be hiding such valuable information from your brothers."

"I really didn't do anything."

"Stop it, Ronald. Professor Costanzo must very value Azrail. Otherwise, Azrail wouldn't have been his first disciple."

"If I had a master of the likes of Professor Costanzo, the butcher of war, I would definitely become super strong in the future."

"Be patient Ronald. Once your bloodline awakens, there will be lines of professors asking to be your master."

"You're right. I'm just a little bit shocked."

"You're not the only one Ronald, for I am as well," Valde replied.

"What have you been doing with Professor Costanzo, by the way?"

"Master is helping me train my magic control to become a body caster."

"What's a body caster?"

"It's where a magician uses their body to cast magic rather than using a physical medium such as a wand," Vade answered.

"Is that very hard?"

"Well, I say it depends. If you already cast magic through physical objects, the change to not using one could be extremely difficult. In contrast, in Azrail's case, it's probably easier since he'll be building his foundation based on body casting."

"Is it too late for me to do it?"

"No, not really. But are you willing to spend all that extra effort to learn body casting?"

"I don't know."

"That's fine."

"Well, Ronald and I have just finished all the homework, so I'm not sure what we should do now."

"Could I look at your homework, so I have an easier time while doing it? I reckon it'll only take me an hour or so to finish homework if I know what to look for."

"Sure."

"Thanks."

As I had promised, I managed to finish all my homework in just over an hour.

"Where's Ronald?"

"Ronald went to sleep. It's already pretty late, to be honest."

"But I didn't feel like I've done much today."

"Get used to that feeling. You're going to become very familiar with the feeling."

"I don't think I want to."

"There's going to be a duel tournament in a month."

"Oh."

"You need to be prepared for it."

"Of course I will."

"It's not as simple as you think."

"Hmm?"

"It's a tournament in name only. The entire thing is rigged for the nobles to come out on top. I'm telling you to be prepared to fight people with many more years of experience using magic than you."

"What do you think of my chances of winning are right now?"

"Abysmal."

"I find that hard to believe."

"I understand why you feel that way, but the reality is you have yet to fight against a magician."

"What do you mean?"

"You've fought against me and was able to put up a good fight, but that was on the premise that I didn't use magic. If I were to use magic, it would've been a slaughter."

"…I trust you, Valde, but I still want to see it to believe it."

"Sure."

The two of us made our way to the arena we sparred in for the first time. It was already very late, so we didn't see any other students. The two of us eventually arrived at the arena and stepped in.

"Are you ready Azrail?"

"Yes."

Once the spar began, I immediately started making my way towards Azrail in a linear fashion. I was moving very fast, but I wasn't charging, so I still had the option of dodging in case it needs be.

Valde seemed unfazed by my actions and proceeded to point his wand at the ground beneath me. All of sudden, vines as wide as an adult's arm sprouted from the ground and aimed to wrap around me. The moment I saw the vines appear, I had ducked to my side, barely slipping away from the flexible vines. I thought I was in the clear, but I heard something whistling in my direction. I lifted my head only to be greeted by several blocks of earth the size of a palm flying directly at me. I did my best to dodge them but was still hit by one of them. It hurtled like a bitch.

"Do you understand the power gap between the two of us now Azrail? You have no solution to me using magic."

"Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer."

"Whatever you say. I'll play with you some more."

Valde once again waved his wand, and the arena shaped to fit his imaginations. I felt that the ground I was standing on was becoming softer, becoming more challenging to move, and it was almost like I was now standing knee-deep in sand.

"The one thing you have going for you is your agility, but as I have just demonstrated, it's very easy to negate your advantage."

He wasn't wrong. The invisible pressure Valde was asserting on me was suffocating. I felt like a rat in a maze while Valde was the human above, just watching my struggles. Frankly, I was not too fond of this feeling.

"It's already late. Let's stop this Azrail. I've already successfully demonstrated my point here."

I couldn't say anything in return. He was right. He had gone far and beyond when it came to proving his point. His combat prowess was in a different league. I was still a weakling.