Chapter 9: Friends
Sebastian headed out early and arrived at the fountain before it was seven in the morning. There were only a handful of people other than him in the area. He found a bench to sit down on and waited patiently.
But, only his exterior was calm. Inwardly, he was the definition of anxiousness.
Who could be the one meeting me? Is this a trap? Will I really get what I need? Various thoughts ran through his head. Other than Amy, he only had a handful of acquaintances in the House of Luna.
Though now, only Amy remained in contact with him, she wouldn't use an official seal for a matter like this.
"...Sebastian Sol," a rough voice called out to Sebastian from the side.
Sebastian quickly turned his head and when he saw the person who called out to him, his eyes widened. "Markus Luna...!" he spoke in a small shout. Luckily, nobody heard him.
"Could you be the one I'm supposed to meet?" Markus asked, "the key, show it to me."
Sebastian rummaged through his pockets and took out a key. Markus looked at it for a second before taking out a small box with a crescent moon engraved on the top. He took Sebastian's key and inserted it into the keyhole before turning it with a click. Seeing it be the right key, he passed the box to Sebastian.
"My business with you is done, I have no idea why that person wanted to contact you but I don't want to deal with it," leaving those words behind, Markus left. It looked like he was only a proxy.
"To actually have the head of the House of Luna as a proxy... who is the one that sent me the letter?" Sebastian felt slight fear thinking about it.
Markus Luna is Amy's father and the current head of the House of Luna. Even among 『Inheritors』, he is a special existence. If a person like that were just a proxy to deliver an item, then what kind of identity does the person who sent him hold?
Sebastian could only think of a handful of people but the identities of each one of those people were frightening beyond belief. If any of them were to set their sights on Sebastian, he wouldn't be able to live past the day.
However, there was one other matter that Sebastian had to be wary of—how was this person able to find out Sebastian was researching about the stigma? And, even if they had the means to find out, how did they know about it this quickly?
Sebastian had considered the matter of information leaking about what he was searching for but he estimated that it'd take several months at the least. It only had only been a little less than a week and someone already prepared for him.
He looked down at the small box in his hand. He looked around. There was a handful of people in the surroundings but with the exception of a single youth, the rest were elderly who came to relax.
Still, he didn't want to risk being seen here and he quickly headed home. The clothes he wore as an overwear—a standard tunic with a cape draped over his back—provided as a good cover for the box.
Once he reached his home, he quickly ran upstairs, locked the door and closed the windows. He set down the box on the desk with the key still inside. Finally, he steeled himself enough to open the box and the contents of what he saw dumbfounded him.
"This is...!"
...
The next day, Sebastian had an unsightly expression on his face. He had just returned to school and his head was still filled with thoughts about the stigma. He spent the night studying the old book and the item in the box so he felt a little groggy.
But the reason for Sebastian's expression wasn't his lack of sleep.
There will be a small-scale free-for-all held jointly by their year. It only lasts for a couple of hours and participation is mandatory. They had been given special clothes in the morning, the ones used for battles.
The special clothes provided extra protection from abilities and they were much more effective than a full suit of armor. Clothes like these were woven of special cloth and enchanted by the House of Hamond who had inherited the ability to enchant clothing and weapons with special properties.
Just receiving a set of these clothes would give a normal person joy but Sebastian only felt dread as he looked at it. Wearing the clothes meant participating in the battle but if he didn't wear them, then he might get injured.
However, there was no way around it. If he were to skip, then not only would he be punished, his grades would also suffer as a result.
He sighed and resigned himself to fate. He could just get someone to eliminate him early as the concept of surrender wasn't instated.
Luckily, he was still of the House of Sol and the people serving under them would move to protect him or at the very least, won't move to harm him. If the event were announced last week then Sebastian could've prepared but it was announced on the same morning it was going to be held.
The current principal of Aubrey Academy is an eccentric after all.
Sebastian's steps were heavy as he made his way to the court. Fortunately, weapons were provided to students who would be disadvantageous in a fight.
He had been in this event when he enrolled last year and he was provided a wooden sword as his means of attack. Needless to say, he got eliminated without being able to do anything.
Amy protected him and so did the houses serving under the House of Sol but there were too many opponents aiming to weed out the weak and Amy's power wasn't cultivated properly at the time.
But this year is different, Amy had reached the highest power among her peers. However, it was only natural that the ones wanting to remove Sebastian early have gotten stronger as well.
Once Sebastian arrived at the court with the rest of his peers in the same year, three people immediately came up to him.
"Sir Sebastian!" James called out. Sebastian looked at their direction and saw the three of them look at him with joy.
"Sir, do you need any help?" Willow asked. The three of them are obviously aware of Sebastian's condition and offered to help.
"That'd be great. Are you sure?" Sebastian asked.
"Yeah," Freddie paused and wrapped his arms around James and Willow, "we're fellow roommates so helping each other is a given."
Sebastian looked at them with a warm smile, he couldn't find any trace of ill intent in their words and nodded, "then, I'll be counting on you three. Unfortunately, I've only got a wooden sword to fight. Also, no need to call me sir, I'm fine with whatever you call me."
The trio looked at each other and seemed to have a silent conversation in that brief instant as they all placed one of their hands on top of each other's. Sebastian stared at them for a few seconds wondering what they were doing until Freddie pulled Sebastian's hand and placed it on too of theirs.
"To victory!" the trio shouted. "It's not a competition though..." Sebastian retorted.
It would be the first time in two years that he had seen people like these three. Not only did they try helping Sebastian who is the target of scorn, they also did it without any ulterior motives.
Just as they finished with their team shout (Freddie, Willow, and James), another person approached them, Sebastian specifically.
"Sebastian," Amy called out from behind.
"Amy, you're here," Sebastian immediately separated from the three and walked up to her.
She looked at the three people behind Sebastian scrupulously then at him, "and these are?"
"James, Freddie, and Willow, they're my roommates. We're going to be teaming up with them this year," he informed Amy.
"I see," Amy nodded a few times then turned to face the trio before bowing thirty degrees, "I am Amira Luna, thank you so much for taking care of Sebastian."
Her voice was charming and smooth. It also had a calming tone and the usually rowdy trio actually became flustered to respond and unintentionally bowed by bending half of their bodies.
"Not at all! We haven't done anything of note to president's boyfriend to deserve this respect!" Willow was the first to talk with a loud voice despite being the one with most experience with women. Freddie and James also affirmed Willow's words.
Sebastian's expression changed after being called Amy's boyfriend but before he could correct the mistake, Amy walked to the trio and raised their heads with a beaming smile on her face. "You three can call me Amy, any friends of Sebastian are my friends as well!" she was obviously quite pleased with what she heard.
Sebastian intentionally coughed to hide his embarrassment but when Amy heard that, she turned stiff. Then, she also intentionally coughed twice with a flush on her face. "He isn't my boyfriend... yet," Sebastian couldn't quite hear what the last part she said was but the trio heard it loud and clear.
They all looked at each other with wry smiles and waited with Amy and Sebastian for the event to start.
They didn't wait long, one of the instructors walked in front of them and the many other students with them, "attention!"
Sebastian and the others focused their gazes on the instructor who continued speaking, "same drill as last year, no surrendering. But remember, don't overdo it against an opponent that can't fight back anymore!"
Last year, Sebastian was knocked unconscious and forced to retire from the rest of the event because he couldn't be even swing the sword properly and was knocked out when Amy got separated from him. Although he didn't really want to participate, he couldn't do it half-baked as the instructors would catch on.
Last year's happening is what Sebastian wanted the most but this year, he had to at least uphold Lyons' honor. If he were to get eliminated without being able to do anything, that would just step on Lyons' goodwill for teaching him for the past year.
That's why, Sebastian's wish for this year would be to eliminate an opponent—but that would be just useful thinking. Hence, his true goal is to last at least half an hour in the tournament. If no mishaps were to happen, his current team would be more than enough.
The instructor finished giving instructions. All of the students made their way to various parts of the court in teams. The moment the event starts, everything would descend into utter chaos and so everyone chose the optimal place to be.
After everything had settled down, one of the teachers yelled from the seats, "the annual mock battle free-for-all starts now!"
Just as the echoes faded, everyone moved. Sebastian, Amy, Gilbert, everyone. Various groups took the initiative in attacking and a multitude of abilities were scattered around the court.
Flying rocks, shards of ice, giant plants, the entire court was in chaos and many people were blown away. Sebastian also had to close his eyes because a huge gust of wind stopped their group.
Amy held out her hand and immediately, an orb of light manifested in her hands. She clapped and the orb began covering her hands. She stretched out her arms and a wall of light began to cover them.
Freddie took out several blocks of wood and threw them into the air which began seeking out opponents. His ability is related to psychokinesis but he can only control objects he has thrown. Typically, their house uses flying knives but because this was a school competition, he couldn't use anything that would kill.
Willow created small pale blue flames that surrounded Amy's barrier while James and Sebastian are on standby.
Few would dare fight an organized team of that level. However, as they were advancing and relying on Willow to eliminate opponents coming near, several groups altered their courses towards them.
And within one of the groups... is Gilbert Walt.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
SeverTheHeavens
SeverTheHeavens I've been busy for the past few days and had no time to write at all. I'll still be busy until Monday but I can probably squeeze in writing to my schedule.
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