บท 36: New Challenge
"S-sorry, but could you say that again?" Mika asked politely with an awkward smile.
"I want to spar with you." Belian replied instantly.
Mika wanted to think that he just misheard him.
It was his first day back in the academy.
He just fought against strong monsters and a demon.
Would it not be more than fair to take a little break from all the fighting?
"Of course, I won't use my relic, when we fight. So don't worry about that." Belian added.
"That's not the problem..."
"Will you accept my request?"
Belian's sharp and honest-looking eyes pierced Mika.
For Mika, the answer was clear.
He saw no reason why he should accept.
Fighting the strongest student in the year was impossible as long as Mika's power were sealed.
However, just like every other time, Mika wanted to reject something, a certain someone would meddle in his affairs.
At the same time he opened his mouth, words started to float in front of him.
"..."
Mika closed his mouth again and read through the text annoyed.
"Is something the matter? Did I upset you perhaps?"
Belian tilted his head as he noticed Mika's glare.
"Hm? Oh, sorry I didn't mean to stare at you. I just had to think about something else..."
Mika cleared his throat.
"Back to your request."
Simultaneously, he thought about the floating text.
"Can I ask you why you want to fight against me?"
Side Quest: Hold out for at least three minutes in a sparring match against Belian Ziva.
Reward: Magic will be promoted to B rank
Punishment: Magic will be demoted to D rank
"Isn't it obvious to spar with strong people?"
Belian seemed oblivious.
"No, that's not what I meant..."
Mika put his hand on his face as he breathed deeply.
"Why exactly did you choose me? We met each other only once. In addition, I'm a student from the weakest class, the black class."
Should he accept the quest?
He pondered while conversing with Belian.
"You are not weak."
His usual oblivious and indifferent tone was now serious.
"You cleared the quest, which was designed for white-class students."
Currently, Mika was a C-rank mage.
Normally, people rank up after going through hellish training or sometimes when they find themselves in life-or-death situations.
However thanks to the system, Mika was able to rank up through rewards.
"Well, it was mostly thanks to my companions that we cleared the quest. I didn't do that much..."
He scratched the back of his head.
He kept on playing the fool in the academy.
After all, it was important that nobody knew his real strength.
"You can't fool me."
"I don't mean to fool you, though." Mika said as he still wore his wry smile.
It was tempting to accept the quest, but he could not imagine how he could endure three minutes against Belian without using his full power.
"Why don't you just agree already?"
"?"
Mika winced when he heard a familiar voice whispering into his ear in a bored and annoyed tone.
"M-Ms. Ross, what are you doing?!" Mika said high-pitched as he distanced himself from her while covering his ear.
"Heh, what a cute reaction." Ophelia remarked satisfied.
"..." Mika gritted his teeth annoyed as he was blushing up to his ear.
"Anyways, how about holding that match this afternoon? I will supervise the match for you." Ophelia suggested with a grin to the two students.
"Wait-"
"You have my thanks, Ms. Ross." Belian cut off Mika.
Then, he locked eyes with Mika.
"I will see you in the arena then."
Knowing that it would be pointless to argue back, he acknowledged the situation.
"Fine, but don't have high hopes..."
Thus, with a small smirk, Belian left the classroom.
"..."
"..."
"Don't you have anything to say to me?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well..."
Mika smiled but that smile did not reach his eyes.
"For starters, why don't you explain why you agreed to his request in my stead?"
He appeared calm and yet his tone was filled with anger.
"Where's the harm? It's just a small bout, isn't it?" Ophelia tried to play it off as something trivial.
"The harm? Are you kidding me?! He is the strongest student! How could I stand up to him?!"
"Strongest student? Don't kid yourself. We both know what the result will be."
"Yes, and that would be me getting killed because I can't use my power on him!"
Ophelia just grinned as she averted her eyes from him.
"Fine, fine, calm down now. I apologize to you, but curiosity got the better of me. I mean, the most promising student fighting against you? Knowing your true power, how could I possibly say no to that fight?"
Her enthusiasm returned as she fantasized about the upcoming face-off.
In turn, Mika just sighed.
"You cannot be helped...- Ouch!"
"Shut it and take your seat already." she said as she flicked his forehead.
"Yeah..."
Ophelia headed to the teacher's podium, while Mika trailed behind her on his way to his seat in the front.
[Will you accept the quest now?]
"If I have to fight him one way or the other, I can also try to hold out for three minutes. So yes. I will accept." he whispered annoyed.
Then, the first lesson of the day started.
While he recovered in his dorm room, Mika used his free time to study the notes Ophelia gave him.
Thus, he would not have any trouble at all to keep up with today's lessons.
Trying to ignore the upcoming match against Belian, Mika actually paid attention to the lessons.
In that manner, time passed and the students headed to the cafeteria now.
"W-what?!"
"I see…"
Mika was currently eating lunch with Lily and Sylvia.
During that, he told them about his encounter with Belian and the following sparring match.
The two girls' reactions could not be any different as Lily slammed the table in shock whereas Sylvia heaved a sigh.
Being his classmate, she could vaguely predict what Belian was trying to do.
"You must have a plan already, right? Right…?" Lily wanted to reassure.
She seemed more nervous than Mika despite him being the one who would fight.
"Even though we're considered as the same rank, I still feel like he's on a completely different level than me." Sylvia stated tensely.
Mika just laughed it off awkwardly.
"Well, I will manage somehow." he declared carefree.
"…"
"…"
The two stared at him in disbelief with their mouth agape.
Sylvia sighed.
"If I think about it... Since we enrolled here, there was no single day where you wouldn't be involved in trouble. Don't you want to take a break?"
"Yes, she's right! It's as if you attract all kinds of events." Lily added.
"You two are screwing with me, are you…?"
Mika sounded calm with a hint of anger, leading to the girls giggling lightly.
The three enjoyed the remaining time of lunch as they indulged in conversations about trivial things.
This time, nothing distracted Mika during lunch.
After all, he had a big main event coming up.
"See you later then!"
"Don't try to run."
"Huh? Are you going to watch us?"
"Of course!"
"How could we miss a match like this?"
Mika heaved a sigh.
He was neither happy nor excited about the fact that these two would attend the match.
"Feeling shy? If that's the case then I will have to disappoint you even more because we won't be the only ones watching." Sylvia teased as her eyes scanned the cafeteria.
"?"
Mika tried to look in the same direction as hers and saw multiple students from his class quickly averting their eyes from him.
"Don't tell me…"
It felt like his heart sunk.
"Do you really think that your own classmates wouldn't notice?" Lily meddled in while laughing at him.
Now that he thought about it, there were a few students present during his conversation with Belian.
This meant that those students spread the information about the fight amongst them without Mika noticing it.
"Oh, I almost forgot again. Not only your classmates but also my classmates will be watching." Sylvia stated bluntly.
"Hold on! Do you mean the white class will come?!" Mika asked shocked as he shot up hysterically from his seat.
At the same time, the bell rang.
"Guess it's time to go." Sylvia said with a slight grin.
"Good luck, we will root for you!" Lily declared brightly as she waved her hand.
Thus, the stunned Mika was the last one to leave the table.
"…"
[I already feel sorry for them as they will watch your sorry performance.]
"Shut up."
Mika took a deep breath as he turned serious for a moment.
"System, be honest with me. Will I be able to hold on for three minutes with just my unsealed magic?"
[…]
The system did not reply instantly.
[I need more data about Belian Ziva in order to give you an answer. However, based on the few encounters we had, he seemed strong.]
Completely agreeing with its statement, Mika nodded his head.
[This is just a feeling of mine, but it would be a miracle if you could survive even for a minute.]
Mika's eyes twitched for a minute, however, he could have predicted this kind of answer.
[Therefore, you need a strategy.]
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