章 43: Xander's Proposal
"B-brother?"
"Huh? Why should I participate?"
"..."
Not one of the three potential participants seemed delighted.
"What's with that grim look, Belian? Shouldn't you be happy?" Xander asked in a mocking tone.
"Why do you want to drag those two into our fight?"
"Why do you think that I would fight you again? From our first encounter, it was clear that I was superior to you."
He passed by Belian without really looking at him and walked towards Mika.
"Furthermore, I want to fight against him." Xander stated as he stared daggers at the stern Mika.
"I didn't figure it out yet... Was it because you dared to stand up to me yesterday? Was it because of your weakness? Or was it because you had the guts to insult those sharing my blood?"
And when he stood right in front of Mika, his smirk vanished.
"You fought against a demon, right?" he whispered into his ear.
"!"
Mika instantly jumped backward.
"Well, what I want to say is that I just want to beat the crap out of you." Xanders said in his usual manner.
Turning his back on him, Xander stepped towards the academy's entrance again.
"And there's no better time and place than the tournament in a few months. The teachers haven't announced it yet, but it is possible to arrange a match between different years."
Grinning mischievously, he turned his neck slightly back to Mika.
"Thousands of people will come to witness us, students, battling it out against each other."
"What's the point of challenging an upperclassman? According to what we have heard, the first-years only receive rewards in the tournament designated for first-years." Sylvia wondered quietly.
"Hah! Of course, there will also be some kind of rewards even though only underclassmen can qualify for them." Xander replied arrogantly after surprisingly hearing what Sylvia muttered.
"I wonder what a reward looks like if you win against an upperclassman..." Lily chimed in.
Xander was facing everyone.
"Now, what will it be? Will you accept the conditions?"
"B-brother, is it even allowed for a first-year to team up with a second-year...?" Cail asked submissively with his eyes cast downwards.
"Huh? Of course, it will be okay. They won't object to anything I say." Xander responded sounding like he was slightly offended.
"I-I understand!"
Meanwhile, Mika was completely absent from the conversation as he was checking out the words in front of him.
It was a new quest.
"But what's the point if your brother joins you? If he beat Belian and Mika would he gain something from that?" this time, Gerard was posing a question.
"Good point, coming from a silver student. Technically, only underclassmen get rewarded because they challenged someone from the higher year. But in his case, he will get nothing. Just like me."
Xander approached Cail and put his hand on his shoulder.
"I suppose, that you have no objections to that, right?" he asked with a smile that did not reach his eyes.
Cail, who felt the grip around his shoulder tightening, gave in to his threatening aura without hesitation.
"I-I'm honored to be of use to you, brother!"
"Good. That's my little brother."
Following that, he let go of Cail.
"What a psycho..." Gerard commented disgusted.
Then, Xander suddenly clapped his hands together.
"Ah! Let's make this offer a bit more tempting for you!"
His eyes wandered to Belian.
"Let's say that the winner of this match will receive the title of the strongest student." he suggested.
"..."
The grim look still did not disappear on Belian's face.
Rather than grim, he appeared more furious.
"Still not satisfied? What more do you want?"
"Do you really think that my intentions were so shallow? What I truly want is a one-on-one fight against you." Belian said.
However, Xander sighed.
"One-on-one? Really? Don't overestimate yourself. Even on my worst days, I'm better than you on your best days."
"Then, I don't see-"
But before he could finish, Mika walked to Belian's side.
With a soft touch on his shoulder, he lightly shoved Belian to the back.
"We will accept." Mika declared firmly.
"Mika?"
[The clearing criteria for the quest got adjusted.]
While Belian was baffled by Mika's surprising answer like everyone else, Xander's grin just widened.
"Are you so keen on being called the strongest?" Xander teased.
"No. I couldn't care less about the title. I just have my reasons for beating you."
For just a split second, his grin vanished, only to return a moment later as he burst into loud laughter.
"Hahahaha!"
He could not stop laughing.
"W-what did you say?" even Belian asked for Mika to repeat himself.
"You want to defeat me? Hahahaha!"
"Do not disrespect my brother like that, you damn-"
"Cail and Xander Maystra. Be it a two-on-two or even a two-on-one match. I, Mika Elbar, will emerge as the victor." he said sternly.
Mika's eyes were sharp and determined.
His expression did not show any signs of arrogance or nervousness.
For him, this was not just a friendly spar nor a simple match.
It turned into a life-or-death situation.
"Is that so?"
Xander turned serious as well.
"Well, I will look forward to the match. As your senior, I will handle the arrangements for the match." Xander said before he entered the building alone.
Naturally, Cail followed his older brother's trail like a loyal servant.
"Are you really sure about that?"
Not a single second after the brothers were not in eyesight anymore, Sylvia sneaked up to Mika.
"Yes."
He did not waver.
"Why are you doing this?" Belian asked in a tone deeper than usual as he slightly frowned.
It was rare for him to show any kind of emotion.
"Sorry, but I can't tell you yet."
"..."
Belian turned around.
"I see. Knowing that it is you, I shouldn't be so upset and yet..."
He began walking to the entrance.
"I'm sorry." Belian added.
Mika just watched him enter the academy.
"Hey, Sylvia."
"Hm?"
"Will you participate in the tournament?"
"..."
She thought for a moment.
"I don't know yet."
"I see."
"You won't participate, right? I mean, you have to prepare for them after all."
Mika nodded.
"..."
She stared at him slightly confused.
"Why are you so serious all of a sudden? Wouldn't you normally be more carefree or annoyed about the current situation?"
In his field of vision were Lily and Gerard, who were chatting.
"You're right. Normally I should be like that. But this time, I can't allow any kind of slip-ups."
She realized that it was not the right time yet to get more answers out of him, therefore she just stared alongside him at Lily and Gerard.
"Hey, do you know Judi?" Gerard asked Lily with a smile.
"Of course, I do! We're friends!" Lily responded enthusiastically.
"Well, you see-"
The two did not notice yet that Mika and Sylvia were observing them.
"From afar it looks like they have the same personality." Sylvia remarked jokingly.
"Yeah."
However, his eyes were focused solely on Lily.
"Let's move on. Classes will start soon." Mika suggested indifferently.
"Sure..." Sylvia replied still feeling that something was suspicious.
During all the years he spent together with the system, he encountered many types of rewards.
Boost in strength or magic. More knowledge. More money. More experience.
At the same time, he also suffered punishments.
Be it bad food, illness, torture, magic or physical deprivation.
Everything was directed at him. The good and the bad.
But the new quest was different.
For the first time, he would not be responsible for just himself alone.
He already knew what it felt like to be threatened with death as punishment.
At first, he was cautious, tense, anxious and nervous until he slowly got accustomed to that feeling.
"..."
He took a quick glance at the words now floating sideways from him.
'Why does it have to be this way?', Mika thought starting a mental conversation with the system.
[...]
'Couldn't it be me like always?'
[At this point in time, I cannot offer you a satisfactory answer.]
Mika clenched his fists.
[I can only tell you that it was an order from above.]
'From above? What are you talking about?'
He wanted to shout internally.
[I am just a messenger. My function is to be the bridge between you and the one giving the orders.]
'Then tell me who that person is!'
[I am not allowed to do that yet.]
[Even if I tell you now, what will you do with that information?]
'You want to know what I want to do? For giving me such a ridiculous quest...'
"I want to smack that person in the face." Mika muttered the last part of his thought out loud.
"Did you say something, Mika?" Lily wondered as she tilted her head.
No matter what he had to do, he will ensure that the quest gets cleared without any problems.
"No, I didn't."
Main Quest: Either place first in the tournament or win the match against the Maystra brothers.
Reward: The third installment (3/6).
Punishment: Lily Hayth's death.
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