Chapter 12: Chapter 12

This one's for Kingdom2618, thanks for the review! Also thanks to Aballer5 for voting, thanks for the support!

Loud banging woke up Wilfred from his deep slumber. Rubbing his eyes, he peered at the window where the bright light that was pouring into his room originated from. The banging at his door continued alongside shouts of 'You'll miss Lucy's matches!'. The gears in his head finally clicking together, Wilfred rushed to get dressed and opened the door, Lucius standing outside looking frustrated.

"You picked the wrong day to have a lazy morning!"

Wilfred tried to calm him down by waving his hands.

"I know, I know. Was just exhausted is all. Whenever I [Construct Artifact], it drains me. The mana comes back but it's like if I over exercised. Did I miss much? Let's go down right now and we can talk on the way."

Wilfred closes the door and makes sure to lock it, his artifact weapons hidden in his room. Lucius starts the conversation as they head down the corridor.

"Well, at least we passed.There's still Lucy to go but she's better than us at combat so she should be fine."

"True but I feel like they have something planned to make sure she fails and is kicked out of the academy. We'll need to pay close attention. Say,I have an idea, do you think you can..."

Wilfred whispered his plan in Lucius's ear.

"Hmmm. I think I could. I haven't tried before though."

"Well, it's worth a shot. The way they mentioned that Irena would like to see her in the matches makes me feel like it'll be rigged again. That teacher who does the matches must be in on it. How do they decide the matches anyways and who is that teacher?"

"Well, they're supposed to draw students and pair them according to the draws. It's not really looked over though since why would a teacher rig it? This year it's Nicolas Trechar, I haven't had classes with him so I couldn't tell but he mainly deals with the third years."

They finally reach the fields outside after coming up a staircase. The crowd is out in full force, even some spectators have come around to see what the second years look like. Higher up on the wall itself, Wilfred notices some people standing by and watching.

Were they here yesterday? I suppose I didn't really check.

Looking back on the spectators, Wilfred notices a few of them wearing uniforms, likely the factions that Primus hinted at. He would have to learn more about them, likely soon too, before they knew too much about him. In these kinds of kingdoms with less technology, things were usually violent and democracy is not an idea yet. If he was courted by some faction for his strength, perhaps another one would try to eliminate him as an obstacle.

Not everyone has the same goals. In truth, Wilfred would be mostly fine serving this country as well as he could, trying to keep enemies at bay and ensuring the prosperity of the citizens with his knowledge. This could rub the wrong way some rich merchants or power hungry noble that have other intentions than progress, which are their self interests.

From his experiences thus far, Wilfred did not think highly of the nobles. They were pompous, patronizing and arrogant. To boot, they think lowly of those not nobles and discriminate based on that alone. In Wilfred's mind, this is one of the worst things as even those born from poverty can have grand ideas and amount to great power. Especially in a world such as this.

Looking at one of the spectators, a man wearing a uniform that looked to be in his 30's, Wilfred decided to approach him.

"Hey there. Some good matches today?"

The man turned around at the sound of someone addressing him and looked around, seeing nothing he looked down and saw Wilfred.

"Oh, yes. Quite a few promising ones this year. It's more for the fourth and third years that I'm here though."

"If I may ask, who are you with? "

"Hmmm? It's obvious no? This is the uniform of the Leganon army. I'm here scouting potential new recruits. "

Wilfred was visibly confused.

"But, we have to serve for 4 years anyways, you don't need to recruit us. "

"Ahh. Perhaps it wasn't properly explained to you. Yes, all who graduate will join the army. However, as captains, we will select who joins our squads for that time. You do not simply join the mage corps, that's for after your mandatory service if you wish to stay in the army. Many go for more lucrative options such as adventuring or mercenaries to nobles. I am looking for the best talent for my team. "

"Ahhh. So once we graduate, then we have to get chosen by a squad captain. How does the structure of the army work though? "

The man nodded.

"Squads are 10 plus the captain, with four being mages. When the mages are done with their mandatory service, we try to retain them obviously, the new ones take their place. Squads go out on patrols of their assigned areas. We keep the more seasoned veterans on the main trading roads while the recruits get to experience the joys of monsters in the wilderness. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some matches to attend. Good talking to you though Wilfred, look forward to when you'll be older. "

The captain knowing his name startled Wilfred a bit and he wondered who the man was.

"Thanks for answering my questions captain…? "

"Alfonse. Captain Alfonse."

The captain then went back to watching the matches.

Wilfred had many more questions for the captain but it seemed it would have to wait for another day he told himself, seeing Lucius out in the crowd wave at him to follow. Giving one last look to the people at the top of the wall, Wilfred headed towards his friend.

Wading through the crowd, they look around for Lucy, hoping to find her before her matches are over. Thankfully, Lucius manages to find her momentarily. Lucy has her arms crossed as is glaring menacingly at her sister on the other side. Wilfred speaks, drawing her attention to him.

"Hey, how's it goin--Oww!"

Lucy drew her hand back and slapped Wilfred on the shoulder.

"Hmph. You're late!. I already had my first match of today and I won. You weren't even here to cheer me on or anything."

Wilfred rubbed his shoulder, Lucy has quite the temper.

"Hey, we're here now and we'll stay. I've got a plan in case they plan on cheating. Just need to wait. "

Lucy crossed her arms, her distaste for her sister apparent in her face.

They waited a few more matches, nothing out of the ordinary happening. A few fights later, Lucy's turn came again.

"Alright, next up, Lucy versus Isabella. "

From the eastern side, a figure made its way through the crowd. Upon closer look, Wilfred could make out the silhouette of Isabella and Lucy's supposed sister behind with her group of friends.

Wilfred nudged Lucius, reminding him of the plan. Trying to see if anything abnormal was up, Wilfred used [Analyze], going back and forth between Lucy and Isabella.

'Bang!'

The fight started without delay. Already knowing Isabella's stats, Lucy wasted no time and opened with an [Entropic Bolt], a darkness spell with good range since Isabella could not hit her from this distance and then followed with a [Barrier Lv1]. The bolt flew fast and true but not quick enough to hit before Isabella's [Barrier Lv1] got up in time.

"Won't be that easy cousin! I'll make your father rue the day he decided to have you."

Isabella launched herself at Lucy with fury in her eyes. With his Analyze up, Wilfred was able to see her stats.

Isabella Rafal [Lv. 11]

Health: 75/75

Mana: 370/370

Str: 11

Con: 13

Agi: 14

Dex: 16

Int: 20

Wil: 15

Wis: 15

Lck: 14

Skills & Spells: [Analyze], [Barrier Lv1], [Mind Break], [Water Spear]

Hmmm, first time I see a mental spell. How do you defend against it? Does Barrier work? [Water Spear] is also new. You would think ice would work better for that.

Wilfred stopped focusing on those irrelevant thoughts and tried to see if he could find any trace of Isabella cheating.

Isabella threw her hand forward shouted '[Water Spear]!' A long strand of water erupted from her hand and aimed at Lucy. The water hit Lucy's shield without much impact but then started surrounding it, forming a water ball all around her. Lucy's vision now obscured, Isabella distanced herself and casted her [Mind Break]. Lucy flailed around hopelessly, screams of pain emanating from within the barrier. Wilfred thought they might stop the fight right then but remembered it was until physical damage was taken.

Isabella cackled evilly from her position, watching Lucy flail left and right without being able to see her enemy. Lucy casted a shock but the water surrounding her absorbed it. It was visible now, the current surging through the light resistance of the water. It would surely electrocute Lucy should her barrier fail. Already Wilfred could see it weaken, the water constricting around her and the electricity likely also damaging it. But Lucy did it again and again. Twice more she casted [Shock] at the water, only feeding it electricity.

Isabella laughed at her futile attempts to free herself but it proved to be her undoing.

Lucy sprung into a sprint with no warning and jumped towards Isabella, catching her by surprise. Colliding with her, the electricity roaming the water discharged itself into the nearest person, Isabella. The shock from all the energy quickly passing through her shield sent Isabella flying but she landed safely, her barrier still intact.

That can't be! Wilfred thought. The amount of power accumulated there should have easily broken her barrier and damaged her.

It was also apparent on Lucy's face, who struggled to keep standing up after using her willpower to survive the onslaught of the [Mind Break].