Start of the Three-way Duel

Arena 2.

An arena with lots of rocky formation that obstruct not only the view but also the movements of the participants.

The uneven and sandy ground made movements feel sluggish.

"What do you mean that Lyon Alva has also joined the duel between Cecil and Alen?"

"With Alen's promotion to rank five, prince Lyon got demoted to rank six"

"And this makes two times that Alen made Lyon sink on the ranks"

"Three-way duels are really rare, and it's even rarer that it's happening on the S class"

"Have you placed your bets? I heard that Cecil's the one with the most votes to win, Alen's second, and Lyon is last"

"I'm personally betting on Cecil to take the win. He has the highest rank between them"

"Cecil might be the strongest, but Alen has that incantationless trick"

"That only works as a surprise attack. It won't work against them"

The talks and opinions on this duel were never-ending.

Currently, students and teachers from all years are sitting on the stands.

"This duel is so important that teacher Crowbell is going to be the referee"

"The match is even going to be spectated by the director herself"

"She never attends a duel"

"I can't believe that this is happening" Theo had to rest his head on his hands from all the stress his friends were causing him.

The blonde prince was expecting a comment from the white-haired princess, but she never muttered a single word.

The air between the two royals from different kingdoms was heavy and uncomfortable.

On the other side of the arena, the group of second year students who explored a dungeon with Alen sat comfortably.

"I don't understand how my man isn't the number one on the bets" Eusta said as he gripped the tickets that signaled him to have placed his bets.

"The top students never dueled against each other when we were in the first year" Enrick said with a nostalgic sigh as he inspected his ticket.

"You talk about last year as if it happened a long time ago" Agatha crossed her arms as an attempt to hide her own ticket.

"But he's right. The top students rarely fight. And a three-way duel no less" Vi held her own ticket high for everyone to see that she placed her bets on her friend to win.

On another side of the arena, Kaida sat next to Yani.

"It's the first day he's back, and he's already gotten himself into a fight" Yani sighed.

"I'll personally use this as an opportunity to learn from them" Cole said as he held a notebook and a pencil.

"Hey Kaida... why have you not gone to see him after he woke up?"

The question posed by the red-haired girl made Kaida's cheek to redden.

"I-I... I don't know" the pink-haired girl sighed and looked to the side.

"What was that? You were too embarrassed to see him af-"

Yani got interrupted by Kaida shaking her violently out of embarrassment.

"Yani... I just haven't had... time to talk to him" she finally stopped shaking her friend.

"We have been really busy" Cole added as he kept looking down at the arena where the three students would fight.

"Thanks for understanding me, Cole." Kaida tried to hide her blush from her friend.

"Then... how about we go see him after the fight?"

Yani smirked at Kaida's poor attempts at hiding her blush.

"... I wouldn't be against that..." Kaida said in a soft, whisper-like tone.

The minutes passed, and the tension in the arena rose as they saw all three participants enter the arena.

The only things that could be heard at that moment were the voices of the students that began to cheer, theorize on how the duel might play out, and random nonsense.

But, it only took the voice of Kafka Crowbell to silence the students.

"Students Cecil Treyaro, Alen, and Lyon Alva are going to battle on a duel to decide an important... thing... regarding class S"

Kafka read from the paper he'd been given with skepticism.

"Student Lyon Alva is here on this duel to fight against both Cecil Treyaro and Alen"

The reason for the duel was kept hidden from other classes, which made everyone think that this was only a weak excuse to justify a fight.

"As the duel rules of Aurum Academy dictate, all three students have a maximum of fifteen seconds of free time to cast a spell if they so desire. During these fifteen minutes at the start of the match, no participant is allowed to move or attack"

"Because this duel has three participants, and by petition of the participants themselves, there'll be no limit to the fight. The only way for a participant to be eliminated from the fight is by either giving up or fainting"

The last announcement shocked everyone.

A fight with no limits on the arena is something that only happens on special occasions. Which means that, even for third years, this'll be the student's first time watching a limitless duel.

With all three students on their position.

Alen chose a pair of daggers, Cecil's weapon of choice was a saber, and Lyon's weapon was an axe.

But the students noticed something important.

"Those aren't dueling weapons!"

"They're real weapons!"

"Unlike normal duels, all participants agreed on fighting with their own weapons instead of props that the academy hands them"

"I wasn't expecting Lyon to also join the duel" Alen sighed as his face showed a clearly uncomfortable expression.

A loud laugh was heard from Cecil's position.

"I personally think that Mr. Lyon joining makes this duel even more exciting"

On Lyon's part, he simply ignored his opponents' comments and focused on his goal.

Winning the duel and climbing up in the ranks.

"The duel starts... Now!"

With Kafka's announcement, every student waited for the first move to be made.

But the action all three students took surprised everyone.

"This is awkward" Cecil chuckled to himself.

None of them were taking advantage of the fifteen seconds they had.

"I was expecting you guys to cast a spell" Alen muttered to himself.

The whole arena became filled with comments from the specting students.

The first spell in a duel says a lot about the ones involved in it. How their approach to a fight might be. If they'd make the fight a magical duel with a bunch of spells flying around or a close hand-to-hand fight.

All three students had arrived at the same conclusion.

Spells won't be useful.

The first spell can be easily dodged, and in a fight where you have to fight two people at the same time, the chances of the first spell doing something is really low.

And above all else, both Cecil and Lyon had Alen's incantationless casting in mind.

In their eyes, Alen could cast any spell and easily interrupt them.

And Alen thrives more in close ranged fights, so a long ranged fight was never in his plans.

The fifteen seconds passed, and all three of them were still on their starting positions.

Alen had one thought in his mind. Never to act, only react.

He knew that they're both stronger than him in their own ways.

Cecil is faster and has better technique, while Lyon is stronger and more durable.

Alen kept both of his opponents inside his range of vision so that none of them did anything he couldn't react to.

"Oh man... no matter what I think of, nothing works in my mind"

Cecil kept his calm smile, even if he was as equally conflicted on the first move.

The first one to be put in a disadvantageous position will be targeted by the remaining two.

"This isn't what I expected..."

"I understand why it turned into this... but I'm still passed off"

"I-I'm sure that they'll act soon enough"

The students became more and more impatient by the second, the fact that none of the three students moved irritated them.

But their demands were satisfied once they saw two students slowly began to walk towards the middle of the arena.

Cecil had his saber positioned in front of him, ready to cut away at any second.

Lyon walked with his axe on a relaxed position, as if sending them a message that he could stop them easily.

The only one that did not approach the center of the arena was Alen.

He began to circle them, trying to get the high-ground by quickly climbing to the top of a rocky formation.

Once he moved to the top, Alen had a clear vision of what was happening.

"You're not escaping easily!"

The two other students raised their voices as they began climbing the same rock Alen was on.

Alen began to think that this move was obvious.

They both want to fight with him rather than with each other. So simply escaping and waiting for them to fight themselves wasn't an option.

But he knew that something like this could happen.

"Winds that flow the fastest. Rain on my enemies a storm of quick and unending darts"

"[Feather Dart]"

With a quick swipe of his arm, a wind current formed in front of him.

From the wind current, a storm of feather-looking darts began to shoot down at the two other participants.

Cecil was fast enough to deflect most of the darts with his sword. But some managed to slip through his defense, causing light scratches on his clothes.

Lyon simply decided to power through them, knowing that the spell won't be effective against him.

Once he was close to the top, the lion prince leaped to the top of the rocky formation.

"!!!"

But to his surprise, Alen had already fled that place.

"Why are you running!"

Lyon yelled as he saw Alen standing on another rocky formation, a smaller one this time.

The fact that Alen didn't answer his question made the demi-human angry.

*Thud*

"He's right, Mr. Alen. Running away makes for a boring fight"

Cecil landed on the same formation as Alen.

"Unlike you two, I fight with something that isn't pure, raw power"

Alen pointed a dagger at Cecil.

"I don't fight like that" Cecil tilted his head in confusion.

"You don't know what it feels like to fight against you"

"But we never fought each other"

"No... but we did spar together"

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