"Stop laughing. Because I essentially called her talentless in front of the entire class, she challenged me to a duel. A duel means that we have to assign someone to fight for us or fight ourselves. That's why I need your help."
"I have one question," Leo said. "Actually two. But the first one is more important."
Roland nodded.
"Why can't you fight yourself?" He asked.
Roland almost started crying. "It's because I didn't know that she was that strong. I never bothered to check the New Student Ranking. Apparently, she is ranked 76th on the ranking. We only have around 30 people on the ranking out of 500 people, and she happened to be one of them." He said.
"Okay, make that four questions. So you said you never checked the New Student Ranking. So what made you come to me?" He asked.
Roland immediately shook his head. "Oh no. I didn't mean for you to fight for me. That's too dangerous. Since you were an Aura Knight, I was hoping you know someone who was stronger than her so he can beat her in the duel," he said.
Leo maintained a serious expression when he heard that statement and continued speaking. "Now my third question. What is the reason for even fighting? Can't you just forfeit?" He asked.
Roland shook his head. "A duel is honor bound. To make both participate wholeheartedly, each party has to bet something of equal value. She bet land in the city worth 1 million Starcoins, so I have to match that bet. I will lose that money if I lose," he said.
"Continuation of the third question - would you give the money that you won to the person who won the battle for you?" Leo asked.
Roland nodded. "As long as I don't lose any money," he said.
"I'll do it," Leo said.
Roland raised his eyebrows. "You?"
"I meant that I will make sure that someone stronger than the 76th rank on the New Student Ranking will fight for you. Is that good?" He asked Roland.
Roland nodded. "Thank you so much. I will owe you so much," he said.
"Oh, you have no idea how valuable your proposal is. You are essentially hiring someone for 1 million Starcoins. You can get a lot for that. I will make sure you get what the money is worth," he said. "But now, for my final question. When is this fight?" He asked Roland.
Roland looked away with embarrassment. "Tomorrow," he whispered. "At sunrise."
"Tomorrow? You were working with very little time, Roland. If you didn't have me as a roommate, I think you would have been in a big predicament," he said. "I'll get it done. What is the location of this fight?"
The reason it was very less time was that it was already evening. He had probably come to Leo after he went to his other acquaintances and they were unhelpful.
"The arenas of the academy. You can rent one of them for 100 points," Roland said.
"I'll get your fighter to the arena on time," Leo said. "You just take some rest and calm yourself down. I will make sure that everything is perfect."
"Thank you so much for helping me, Leo. I will remember this for a long time," Roland said.
He went back to his dorm while Leo smiled to himself. He had the opportunity to make 1 million Starcoins. As he was getting ready to go back to his training, he heard a knock on the main door to the dorm.
He sighed and got up to get the door. When he opened the door, he found Marcus there.
"Why are you here?" Leo asked him.
"You have no idea what I just found out. Apparently, there is a fight between two nobles tomorrow. I was going to tell you so that we can go together," Marcus said.
Leo burst into a smile. "You know about this fight?" He asked Marcus.
"Are you kidding? The entire first year knows about it. The commoner mages told their friends who spread it all over the campus. Do you know about it too?" Marcus said.
Leo nodded. "I am going to the fight. I already was going to go since my roommate is going to drag me there. Do you want to join us?" He asked Marcus.
"Yes. I'm bringing Lyra too. Madison, if she joins us." He said. "Is that also okay with you?"
Leo shrugged. "Whatever works. I'm sure we'll be in for a treat." He said. "Come to my dorm by 5 and we will leave together."
Marcus nodded and left. Meanwhile, Leo went back to his room. At this point, he lost the concentration to train in magic. He was just curious about how the next day was going to turn out.
The reason he had said okay to it was because of two things. One was the money. He wasn't going to say no to that chance. But the other thing was why the fight started. He didn't like people who looked down on commoners. He wanted to show the nobles who were truly on top of the ranking.
He got on his bed and decided to just wait till the next day. He closed his eyes and decided to just train his Aura Technique till the next day.
The night passed slowly as Leo lay on his bed, thoughts swirling in his mind. He couldn't shake off the anticipation building within him, fueled by the upcoming duel between the nobles and the opportunity to prove that talent surpassed birthright. Despite his determination to train his Aura Technique, his mind kept drifting to the events that would unfold the next day.
As Leo closed his eyes, his senses heightened, and he focused on channeling his aura. The room filled with a gentle hum as his body synchronized with the energy around him. Leo delved deeper into his training, honing his concentration and control.
An aura swirled around him. It had a hint of the shadow element, making it hard to track in the darkness. He only swirled the aura around himself but didn't use it to attack anything. He wasn't planning on damaging his room while training.
Minutes turned into hours and he completely lost track of time. He was woken up from his trance by a knock on the door. He opened his eyes.
"Come in," he said.
The door opened and Roland walked inside. "It's 4:30. Can we leave now?" He asked Leo.
Leo shook his head. "I have a friend joining us at 5. We can leave then. Sunrise is at 6, so we will still have plenty of time," he said.
Roland nodded. "That works. Once again, I am very grateful to you for doing this, Leo." He showed his gratitude.
"Don't sweat it. We will be there in time with your fighter." Leo promised.
Roland left the room but Leo didn't go back to training. There were only 30 minutes left before Marcus was going to show up, so he didn't bother going back to training. After twenty minutes, he heard a knock on his door.
"Finally," Leo said to himself as he got up.
