^^ The Crown Prince, Jackson Bourbon

I walk back to seat numb from the shock. I hear people's whispering around the room about me.

"Can she even get into a magic academy with that low mana?"

"Hah, I guess being born a duke's daughter doesn't mean you have skills!"

"Maybe the rumors were fake? She doesn't look deadly to me!"

Whatever. Their thoughts aren't the biggest problem here. Not being let into the academy is the most concerning issue.

That would mean losing all support from the Callisto family, possibly being disowned. Since I don't have a way out of this world, that means I'd be stuck here as a peasant which is a pretty grim life. Although someone might just kill me since I know too many things or to prevent me from ever rising up again. Either way, it's a fate I can't go down.

I have to get into the normal course of the Academy. Failure isn't an option.

"Well this has been disappointing. I expected better of Rosewood Academy," I say.

"Hah? Just because you have low mana don't go bashing the school!" replies the teacher. Some students laugh at this.

"It's funny you think mana is the only measure of magical strength. Have you ever heard of innate magic?" I ask.

"What? That's something magic beasts have. Or at least that's the leading theory. Not really my speciality. But why is this relevant?" he responds.

"It's relevant because I'm not human, not entirely anyway. And your test doesn't measure innate magic," I explain.

"That's because there isn't a way to measure it!" he retorts.

"So your response is to completely disregard it? Just because you can't understand it?" I reply mockingly.

"Even if I wanted to include it, which is dumb because magic beasts could never be stronger than magicians, after all we have an entire course at this school that teaches students to tame magic beasts, I wouldn't be able to because there is no way to measure it!" he shouts.

"You're kidding me. There's been a test to measure strength out there for centuries. It's called a duel, and I challenge you to one," I declare.

He stares at my shocked for a few seconds, then bursts into laughter, taking a large swig out of his flask.

"HAAHAHAHA! YOU ARE CRAAZY KID!" he shouts, "YOU ARE ON!!! If I take you down you leave this school forever and never come back! If you win, I give my full recommendation to be admitted! Meet me in this room after the other tests are over for our duel. We're already running over time. First one to yield or be unable to get up after ten seconds! Of course getting knocked unconscious or dying also counts as a loss!"

"I agree to your terms," I say. I walk back to my seat and sit down. Conversation bursts around the room.

"My god did she actually challenge him"

"That teacher is no joke. Isn't he the top magician in the world?"

"I heard he once defeated an entire army himself!"

"Better start prepping for her funeral now!"

Ugh, these people never shut up do they? I'll admit sometimes their comments impact me. Nevertheless, I'm somewhat use to people's general disdain for me from my past life being abused by my dad and bullied at school with zero friends.

Yeah, I was really living the high life.

Honestly though even though I'm calm on the surface, I'm sort of freaking out inside. If this guy is really top of the magical world, I don't stand a chance. And what's with him talking so casually about getting killed in the duel? Is that even legal?!?!?!

Actually, I think it is since in a duel anything goes as long as the opponents agree and it meets the basic requirements of a duel which is literally just "a competition between two challengers in accordance to agreed upon rules". Pretty vague. Just like Hal's world to put in a loophole for murder to be legal.

Was I wrong about this?

"Are you sure about this Eve? Even among magicians this guy is know to be crazy," whispers Finn to me.

I guess to him it does look pretty grim. Regardless, I can't back down now. Still, Finn has always been overly concerned about me.

"She'll be fine. Don't underestimate Eve," replies Nyx with a determined look on his face.

I feel a warmth blossom in my heart, and I can't help but smile. I don't know why but I'm a less nervous now that I know someone believes in me. Maybe all it takes is having even just one person in your corner.

"Okey dokey kiddos! Everyone's done except for the princes. Now let's get this over with so I can take the nap I've been looking forward to all day!" the teacher exclaims.

"Brother, you can go first," says the crown prince.

"No, why don't you go first brother," responds the second prince.

"Ugh, we'll be here forever. Crown prince, you go first," says the teacher.

"Of course. But Hector, haven't we tested before?" asks the crown prince. Showing off that he's on a first name basis with the teacher who I guess is a very prominent, very typical. I'm tempted to roll my eyes right now. I have no idea why his reason for loving Helen was because of her pure heart. Maybe he needs to work on his own instead.

"That's true, but they haven't seen it and I have to make stuff look fair," replies the teacher.

"I see your point. One of the things I admire most about the academy is placing merit above status and birthright. I hope that you'll continue to uphold this value, and not let your own prejudices cloud your judgement," says the crown prince walking up to the teacher.

"Are you referring to my reaction to Lady Callisto?" asks the teacher.

"Am I? I wonder why you'd think that?" responds the crown prince. He places his hand on the crystal and it glows a bright golden color. The numbers 357,834 and 67,892 appear above the crystal.

The room erupts into applause and congratulations, although some nobles are noticeably less congratulatory than others, clearly being on the second prince's side.

"Settle down children, let's let the second prince go now so I can finally get to my nap. Alright who am I kidding, I was going to drink some more slip slop juice after this but still! I'll need all of you gone for that, so let's hurry this up!" the teacher announces.

Prince Theodore walks up to the teacher and places his hand on the crystal. The numbers 378,947 and 68,580 appear above the crystal.

The students applaud again, this time with the nobles following the second prince beaming triumphantly and the nobles following the crown prince having some pretty bitter looks on their face. Honestly though when both of them have mana that high, the difference in their mana level is actually small proportionately so they're pretty much the same level.

Still I can't find it in myself to even think about them too much since I'm still way too nervous about my own situation.

Well it is what it is. I can't back out of the duel now, so my only hope is to try my best and hopefully kick that teacher's butt!

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