Walking through the corridor towards the waiting hall Ariel noticed that most of the corridors didn’t have any decorations in them. They were quite wide and spacious, but all of the walls were just made out of plain, white marble, besides that there was only a blue carpet fully covering the ground.

Since there wasn’t anything interesting about the decorations he spent the whole time thinking up plans of how to deal with Vern if something unexpected happened. That although was very unlikely.

When Ariel finally reached the door, he quietly entered the waiting hall and noticed that it was quite a spacious room with some decorations like pictures and weapons on the wall apart from that there were comfortable seats for the competitors to sit on while waiting.

Looking over the students he didn’t see anyone that would attract his attention or threaten him and just found a free seat where he could wait until his match began.

After waiting for about ten minutes, one of The Academy’s workers slowly came up to him and started informing him. “Mr. Ariel, the next match will be you against Mr. Vern so please prepare in the mean time.” Nodding gratefully at the man Ariel stood up preparing to go to the arena for his match.

Unexpectedly someone stood in his way as he wanted to walk through the doorway. Directing his gaze at the person Ariel was slightly stunned to find that the one standing in front of him was actually his older brother James.

He has matured quite a bit since he last saw him, he appeared to be slightly less childish and his looks also improved, but the golden hair and piercing green eyes similar to their fathers remained the same.

Ariel simply stood there and waited for James to start speaking, thankfully he didn’t have to wait for long since soon James opened his mouth. “I truly cannot understand. How exactly have you become so stupid? You actually accepted Vern’s challenge to fight, he will completely destroy you. I am also annoyed that he thinks he is worthy of Erna, but you are powerless against him so just give up and let me take care of it.”

Hearing James words Ariel looked at him strangely, trying to understand why did actually come and say this. As Ariel eyes stopped on James face he could see that it still held the same proud look as if he was the most important person around, yet Ariel could also see something in his expression that wasn’t there before and he didn’t understand it.

He was about to speak, but at the last moment decided to keep his breath and simply walked past James without replying. This made his brother furious as his face contorted in anger and he instantly walked away after letting out a mocking sneer. But not before saying his last words. “You should stop being so arrogant with nothing to back it up, or someday you’ll regret it.”

Ariel heard this, but it only made him more confused of why was his brother giving advice to him. However now he didn’t have time to think about it and just continued forward.

Going out into the spotlight Ariel saw the already familiar stage and could hear many cheers directed at Vern’s entrance. He seemed be quite popular with the students because of his status looks and strength, on the other hand, when it was Ariel’s turn most of them were just awed by his handsome appearance, but didn’t have any hope that he would be a fit opponent for Vern.

No one could truly blame them, so far all of the battles between an officer and his opponent ended in the officer giving up as soon as the match begun. However soon they will be shown how mistaken they are.

As Ariel came up onto the stage he could see Vern standing on the other side with his handsome face holding the same arrogant smirk like before. Over his school uniform he wore a red robe, signifying that he was a fire mage.

When Vern saw Ariel, his smile became more ferocious as he spoke. “So you didn’t run away. That’s perfect I can show you up in front of all these students and teachers. I will make sure to mess up your face so much that Erna won’t be able to even look at you.” Vern continued spouting his threats as if he had already won which made feel Ariel annoyed, so he responded. “How long will keep talking, I am pretty sure it is a battle of fighting and not one of talking bullshit.”

Ariel’s sharp words made Vern taken aback and also ticked off as he let out his last threat. “If you want to experience humiliation sooner I can help you with that.” Finishing his sentence, Vern drew his staff common for apprentice mages and prepared to cast his spells.

Seeing that the two of them stopped talking, the referee declared the start of the battle. Vern instantly started chanting a spell while still having that degrading smile on his face. Mean while Ariel only stood there, not moving from his spot at all.

Noticing that Ariel wasn’t planning on surrendering the whole audience felt shocked even the referee was thinking if something was wrong with Ariel.

Just at that time, Vern finished his spell, flame burst, which can make the area the caster designated ignite in a fearsome flame. The unmoving Ariel was engulfed easily by the roaring fire, making the spectator gasp at the sight.

The referee wanted to intervene, but the flames were still covering Ariel and he had to first check his condition according to rules before he could do anything. Vern on the other hand wore a smug expression as he watched the burning flames. He had from the start not thought that Ariel could be a worthy opponent to him.

When all the people have already came to the conclusion that Ariel would be lucky to survive, his cold and indifferent voice sounded from within the fire. “Is this the best you are capable of? This might be enough to roast some meat, but to me it feels more comfortable than threatening.”

Hearing his words Vern, who was already planning on turning around and leaving, stopped in his tracks and looked back with shock clearly visible in his eyes. The roaring fire which looked like it could burn anything slowly changed.

At first it wasn’t visible, but soon the audience noticed that the flames were actually started freezing over. Bit by bit it turned completely into solid ice, and then shattered.

What appeared was Ariel, standing there like nothing happened. The only thing that was different was the cold aura covering him that signified that he has entered the Disciple rank. Unknown to them, he has reached Elite rank just before entering into The Academy and this didn’t go unnoticed by the teachers.

However, what attracted the most attention was his affinity of ice. The spectators weren’t stupid and knew that ice wasn’t a common element and could only belong to a variant. A variant mage without a corresponding bloodline meant he was a pure variant and had the highest realm of talent. All the teachers watching the duel had their mouths wide open, the audience was completely speechless and even Vern felt his legs growing weak.

Ariel’s friends just like everyone else were shocked beyond belief as their eyes were about to pop out. Only Ariel’s footsteps still rang out through the silent stadium.

Getting his wits back together Vern looked towards his opponent, only to see two emotionless and cold eyes stare back at him, making his blood freeze over and reminding him how ineffective his spell was. Seeing fear on Vern’s face Ariel continued slowly walking while speaking. “Where did your courage disappear to? Didn’t you say that you’ll show me my place before? Or were those all empty words?” As Ariel walked the ground beneath him froze over as if making way for a king.

His words made Vern furious and humiliated, slightly lessening his fear as he spoke back. “Do you think just because you have variant magic you’re stronger? Too bad for you fire is the perfect counter for your magic.” Vern has long since lost his cool and completely forgot the possible level difference between them as he started casting another spell.

Finishing it in a second he let out a cry as he let it loose. “Let’s see how you take this.” The simple fire bolt he cast easily traveled through the air and once more landed a direct hit on Ariel, again engulfing him in flames. Seeing this, Vern let out a satisfied smile, but it soon it stiffened when the dust started clearing.

Ariel was standing there unaffected, and in front of him there was a shield made of ice protecting his entire body. This display magic made the higher ups of the school breath in cold air in surprise. This time Ariel used magic with no incantations, showing that he could use magic with out chants, which was impossible even to most senior mages. Such talent was simply too extraordinary and once again made the mages lose their wits.

For the one fighting him however it was frightening. All the previous composure Vern had slowly fell apart as he started letting out more fire blasts towards Ariel, which seemingly did nothing.

When he was already quite close to him Vern decided to take on a different approach. He started casting another spell he hasn’t used before. Just as he finished it he unleashed its power. The spell he used was flame bullet, a spell that let out a barrage of fire attacks which went at the opponent from all possible angels.

Unfortunately for Vern, when they were about to make contact, two more ice shields appeared around Ariel instantly blocking every single flame bullet.

Seeing his last ditch effort fail and also noticing how little Mana he had left, Vern completely lost his cool and took several steps back, Ariel in the mean time let out a sigh of disappointment and spoke again. “You only reached this measly level and are already so arrogant. What a pathetic person, I don’t have any more time to play with you. I will show you how worthless you are.”

Ending his words Ariel manifested a beautiful ice spear engraved with all kind of patters making it look majestic and at the same time very delicate. Vern understood that this time Ariel will finally start his attack and tried defending himself by quickly casting a flame wall in front of him.

However his power was way to low to pose any defiance against Ariel’s ice spear and it went right through with only barely noticeable melting on it. Being a mage Vern didn’t have very good physique and barely managed to move his body as the spear penetrated his left shoulder.

Feeling the pain, Vern let out a miserable shriek as he started rolling around in his own blood. Ariel although, moved without slowing down and stopped right in front of him.

When the pain slightly subsided, Vern noticed Ariel standing besides him and fear instantly crept into his heart. Barely able to speak comprehensible words he started desperately shouting. “Do you think my family will let you go? If you go further you’ll regret it trash.”

His shouts were in vain as Ariel didn’t pay them any heed and spoke. “I don’t feel the need to fear the words of a pathetic man like you. Enjoy the pain while it last.” When Ariel finished speaking, Vern felt how his body started freezing over.

Looking down he saw that the lower half of his body was already froze and started shouting. “No, no, no. You can’t, stop, STOP.” Vern didn’t have time to finish his sentence as he completely turned to ice, leaving only an unsightly ice sculpture.

Vern won’t die, but he will definitely have a painful frost bite for many months to come. The audience which was petrified through the whole thing suddenly came alive and broke out into cheers. The teachers also held satisfied expressions while looking at Ariel as he left the stage, not paying mind to the frozen Vern.

Ariel didn’t feel like this was an accomplishment as he heard the praises, to him Vern was no more than a bug he could crush any day. He was much more interested in finding a worthy opponent to test his limits. This thought traversed his mind as he exited the arena.

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If you want to read further, visit https://verathragna.wordpress.com/ I will always have an extra chapter there