Chapter 14 - I refuse

“I refuse.”

“Wh… what?!”

Aren's face expressed disbelief at the unexpected response. She had never considered that he might refuse. As she tried to comprehend the situation, a devious smile spread across her face.

“Ho… So you’re indeed afraid to show everyone that you’re just a weakling!”

A grin briefly appeared on Azrael’s lips before he regained his composure.

‘She’s still a child, huh…’

“Aren, you talk about duels, but don’t you remember that dueling is only allowed between people in the same class and with supervision?”

Aren’s face blanked as she remembered that rule. Her anger had made her forget it. As she struggled to come up with a reply, Azrael closed the distance between them and whispered so only those in their immediate vicinity could hear.

“Also, wouldn’t it be too shameful for the House of Dufont if one of their children were seen attempting to bully someone five years younger? Truthfully, you’re in a lose-lose situation right now. Why don’t you just back off before losing more face? Most importantly, it would be outright embarrassing to lose to someone five years your junior. Don’t you agree?”

Though Aren was seething with rage and tempted to attack him, she reluctantly agreed. What Azrael said was true. Even though she wanted nothing more than to beat him, she knew she couldn’t afford to lose face and bring scorn upon her family.

With a final glare of deep hatred, Aren turned swiftly and, to everyone’s surprise, walked toward the entrance of the hall without waiting for Azrael’s reply. The cafeteria remained silent as the students tried to understand what had just happened.

“Remind me never to get into an argument with you.”

Winston, coming up beside Azrael, patted him on the shoulder and shook his head in wonder. Azrael couldn’t help but chuckle at his new friend’s amazement.

“Well, that was enough entertainment for one day. It’s about time for the next class. Let’s head out.”

Nodding in agreement, the two headed out. Their next class was ‘History of Xiosu.’ As they exited, the other students kept glancing at them, especially Azrael, with curiosity and interest. Ignoring the stares, they made their way to the classroom.

When they arrived, the seats were filling up quickly, so they rushed to grab two open seats toward the back. Just as the door opened and a male teacher entered, the last remaining seat was taken.

“I see that everyone is here. Good, good. Well then, let’s start with self-introductions. You, in the first seat on the left, begin.”

With that, everyone slowly began standing up and introducing themselves. All those who had introduced themselves were of noble birth and proudly named their house. Azrael could already sense what would happen when it was his turn.

“Winston Wozeal, from the House of Wozeal in the Sunder Kingdom.”

Hearing Winston’s house name, the surrounding students started a small commotion. Their looks shifted to jealousy and respect. Azrael realized that Winston’s family was more influential and respected than he had suspected.

After the teacher halted the commotion, Winston sat down with a sigh. Azrael stood up to introduce himself.

“Azrael Celeste, a commoner from the Nifl Kingdom.”

The class immediately erupted into commotion. As expected, he was the only student not from a noble family.

“Ew, a commoner is in our class…”

“How did a commoner even get into the academy?”

“Some teacher must have felt pity on him…”

“Those bastards! Why I ought to…”

“Winst, calm down. I’m fine, man.”

Hearing the whispers, Azrael showed a bitter smile. Winston, enraged by the students’ remarks, was about to stand up and confront them when someone unexpectedly came to Azrael’s defense.

“Haa, you lowlives. Just because he’s a commoner doesn’t mean he’s weak. I’ll bet ten gold that Azrael can beat any of you here.”

Everyone turned to look at the boy seated in the back, with luscious green hair and stormy grey eyes. The boy’s disdain for his classmates was clear as he sneered at them. Slowly, the class quieted down, and the introductions continued.

Azrael glanced back at the boy, who was now looking at him. He mouthed a silent thanks, and the boy simply nodded in acknowledgment.

After most introductions were over, it was finally the boy’s turn. The class paid close attention, eager to see who had dared to speak up. The boy, looking as if he found the task a hassle, lazily stood up and introduced himself.

“Zer Aiur from the Rhostaz Kingdom.”

He quickly seated himself again. Upon hearing his name, the classroom went into a frenzy.

“He’s that Zer Aiur?! The son of Rhostaz Kingdom’s Prime Minister?!”

“He’s supposedly a genius and a dual elementalist!”

“Not only is he from one of the most influential houses in Rhostaz, but he’s also a genius!”

The students were no longer whispering but were in full uproar. It wasn’t surprising given that Zer was a dual elementalist and from one of the most influential houses in the West. News about him had spread even before he arrived, as the Aiur House had boasted about him to the entire continent.

The teacher struggled to regain control of the classroom. After much effort, the students finally calmed down. Sighing in relief, the teacher began his introduction.

“Well then, students. My name is Sevan Qinzed. I’ll be your teacher for this semester. For this class, we…”

As the teacher continued his introduction, a buzzing sound interrupted him. Looking at something on his wrist, he sighed with a dejected expression.

“Haa… Well, it looks like that will be all for today. For next week, make sure to read up to chapter three, as we will have a test on it!”

The students complained in disapproval at the mention of a test so soon. It seemed that the teacher, irritated by the lack of time to teach anything, was actually grinning as he left. Azrael, seeing this, shook his head a few times, trying to convince himself it was just a trick of the light.

After packing up his things, Azrael started to head toward the back. Winston, noticing this, followed him. Guessing what his roommate was about to do, he smiled as he saw Azrael approach Zer Aiur.

Noticing them approach, Zer looked up from packing his books, curious about their intention. When he saw their attention, Azrael spoke first.

“Zer, I’d like to thank you for your help earlier.”

“Oh, about that? No need. Everyone was being idiots.”

“That may be so, but it’s rare to see someone stand up against them.”

“Pfft, like those fools could scare me.”

Zer snorted in disdain at the notion that he was intimidated by the other students.

“I’ve always hated nobles who think they’re better than commoners just because of their rank. Some of the most brilliant people in Rhostaz came from commoner backgrounds. What you’re born into doesn’t determine your strength or talent.”

Hearing Zer speak so sincerely impressed Azrael. Even though Zer came from one of the most influential families and was considered a genius, he didn’t look down on others of lower rank. This display of resolve gave Azrael a much better impression of him.

“Hey, Zer. I wanted to thank you for helping my friend. Why don’t you join us for dinner? It’s almost time anyway.”

Winston, also impressed with Zer, extended the invitation. His family, having started as commoners before rising to nobility, had a more sympathetic view of commoners. For Zer to share that perspective while being from an ancient noble family was rare.

“Sure, why not? I was planning to eat anyway.”

Agreeing to join them, Zer finished packing his bag, and the three headed out of the classroom to the cafeteria.

“So, what’s the West like, Zer? I’ve never been outside the Nifl Kingdom…”

“It’s alright, I guess. We have a lot of open space for farming. The weather is mild, so it never gets too cold, which I love. There are also many rivers. I used to go swimming all the time.”

“You’re lucky… It was so hot in the Sunder Kingdom, and there were almost no rivers or lakes. Haa… Anyway, I heard you’re a dual elementalist. What elements do you have?”

“Earth and Steel. How about you two?”

“I’m also Earth.”

“Umm… well, about that… you see…”

Azrael hesitated over whether to reveal his elements. If news of his abilities spread, it could become a headache. Unless absolutely necessary, he planned to keep it secret.

But Zer had helped him, and Azrael felt he could become great friends with Zer and Winston. He didn’t want to lie to his friends.

After ensuring no one was close enough to overhear, Azrael leaned in and quietly shared his secret. Zer’s eyes widened in shock. At first, he thought it was a joke, but Azrael didn’t seem like the type to lie about something like this. Zer looked to Winston, who just laughed at Zer’s astonished expression.

“Hahaha, don’t worry, man. I had the same reaction and doubted it too until Azrael showed me.”

“Hm… It’s really hard to believe… In all the history of Xiosu, there have only

been two confirmed tri-elementalists…”

“Well, I can understand your skepticism. After we eat, I’ll show you both again.”

“… I usually practice swordsmanship at night.”

Both Azrael and Winston were surprised to hear that Zer practiced swordsmanship at night. It was a coincidence that, like Azrael, Zer also practiced swordsmanship.

While it wasn’t rare for mages to wield weapons, most mages focused purely on magic training until they reached a bottleneck at the emperor rank.

“What a coincidence! Azrael agreed to teach me swordsmanship starting tonight too! How about this: after we eat and Azrael shows you, let’s all train together? You guys can teach me while you two practice together?”

Hearing Winston’s proposal, neither Azrael nor Zer had any objections. Both were curious to see each other’s skills. With both Azrael and Zer nodding in agreement, Winston was excited, having always wanted to learn swordsmanship.

With Winston encouraging them, the three new friends laughed and headed eagerly to the cafeteria for dinner, and then to their evening training session.