An Offer

Their group split up into their usual pairs for mana capacity training, each heading toward their normal buildings.

Jace and Aurora entered their training building, only to find it far busier than usual.

Jace scanned the room, taking in the unusually high number of students. "I wonder what's going on," he said. "There are way more people here than normal at this time of day."

"I'm not sure either," Aurora replied, glancing around she saw the familiar pure black uniform of the rank 1's. "There's Hannah, let's go ask her." 

Jace followed her line of sight, spotting Hannah seated near the dueling room, watching a match intently. Her sharp, dark brown eyes stayed locked on the duel in front of her, her focus unwavering. Her wavy auburn hair was pulled back into a short ponytail, and her sleeves were pushed up to her elbows as she rested her chin on her hands.

From her build and the way she carried herself, Jace got the distinct impression of strength. There was an effortless confidence in her posture, something that made it obvious why she had been ranked fifth.

As they approached, Aurora called out, "Hello, Hannah."

Hannah turned to face them, nodding once. "Oh, hello, Aurora. Jace." Without another word, she returned her focus to the dueling ring.

Jace and Aurora took seats beside her, their gazes following hers toward the arena.

"What's going on tonight?" Aurora asked. "Why is it so crowded?"

"That," Hannah said, gesturing toward one of the screens on the wall.

Jace followed her gaze, and his eyes widened slightly at what he saw.

Displayed on the screen was an official academy notice:

"Students, from now on, all training facilities will have the option for official duels. Results from these duels will be recorded, and starting from the fifth contest, a live ranking will be posted, showing the top ten students based on their performance in these duels. Please see further explanation of rules in notification sent to your rooms"

"Another way for us to compete then." Jace said after reading through the notice, a grin forming on his face. The idea of testing himself against others had his excitement rising, he was already wondering how high he could climb the rankings.

"Don't get too excited over it," Hannah said nonchalantly.

Jace raised an eyebrow. "Oh? I'm guessing you've already read the other rules, then?" Aurora asked, intrigued.

Hannah nodded but didn't immediately respond, instead pumping her fist as the match in the arena ended. One of her team members had won, and she finally turned back to them.

"I have. And that's why I'm not letting my primary duelers participate," she explained.

Jace and Aurora exchanged a look. "Why's that?"

"One of the conditions for these official duels is that every match is recorded and available for any student to review."

Aurora immediately frowned. "That's definitely a problem." She turned toward Jace.

His head snapped toward her. "Please don't say it, Aurora."

"Unfortunately, I have to, Jace." Her voice was firm.

"But think of all the practice I could get," he argued, trying to sound reasonable.

Aurora shook her head. "Absolutely not. It's bad enough that our official matches can be studied, letting people have even more footage of you dueling? I won't allow it."

Jace groaned. "Come on Aurora, please? I just wanna duel." He switched to pleading.

Hannah, watching their exchange, leaned forward slightly. "This is mostly because you guys made enemies with the nobles, right?"

Aurora nodded. "Correct. I'd rather not give them more information than necessary."

Hannah rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Alright, I have a suggestion. What if we schedule private practice duels between my team, yours, and Christian's?"

Aurora considered the idea, crossing her arms. "Interesting thought. But why specifically us three?" She paused, then continued, her tone measured. "My team has already pissed them off, and Christian has every reason to hate them after how they were taken down. But why should we trust you?"

"Fair question," Hannah acknowledged. "But honestly? The reason you should trust me is simple, I deliberately avoided having you and all the other nobles in Rank 1 on my team."

She stood up, crossing her arms before continuing. "I hate nobles. And the only reason we're even having this conversation is because he," she pointed at Jace, "made a mockery of them, and instead of benching him, you backed him up."

Aurora studied her for a moment before giving a measured nod. "Interesting. I'll need time to consider if there are any downsides."

"That's fair," Hannah replied. "Just let me know what you decide. I was already planning to talk to Christian, and I'll be doing so with or without you."

She turned to leave but paused after a few steps. "Oh, and Jace, Harper's interested in dueling you. Even if your team doesn't join our arrangement, consider dueling her anyway."

With that, she headed toward the private training rooms, leaving the offer lingering in the air.

After Hannah walked away, Jace turned to Aurora. "We have to agree, don't we? I mean, Hannah herself is ranked fifth, and Harper is literally right behind her at sixth." He recalled the top ten list. "Wouldn't they be excellent practice partners?"

"Certainly they would be," Aurora admitted. "I just want to take some time to think about it first. No need to rush into a decision if I can avoid it."

She was already leaning toward saying yes, but careful consideration had never steered her wrong.

Jace sighed, raising his hands in surrender. "Alright, you're the boss. But if I'm not allowed to participate in this, you, Lyra, and Astra better be ready to duel me a lot more often."

Aurora smirked slightly. "You know I'm never opposed to dueling. Maybe tomorrow, after I've thought over Hannah's offer. For now, we have other training to handle."

She stood up and started toward the elevator.

Jace groaned, dragging his feet as he followed. "Dueling is way more fun than this."