"I like that attitude in someone, Alen" Julius tapped my shoulder and gave me one of the fakest smiles I've ever seen in my life.
"You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to"
"Let him go, Julius" Enrick ordered.
Fran was furious at Julius because she mentioned a delicate topic for her.
"Listen, Alen. I have a... proposition for you... a deal, an agreement" Julius ignored Enrick as if we were the only two present here.
"I have no rea-"
"Now, don't be too hasty. Just listen to what I have to say"
"He won't be your lackey, Julius" Fran finally spoke up with a cold and spiteful tone.
"I don't care about you, little princess"
"Say, Alen. Do you know how the eye of the storm spell works?"
"It c-"
"It creates winds that move rapidly on a circular motion around the caster, like a tornado. It traps your opponents inside it, and the winds start closing in around the caster after a couple of minutes. The time it takes for it to start closing varies depending on what incantation was used"
After he explained how the spell works, the wind walls started to slowly move inwards.
"I don't think the other students can break or escape from the inside of the spell, and I'm the only one who can cancel it. I think listening to me is the correct option"
The other students started panicking. They all started to chant whatever spell they thought would save them.
"I don't care about the other peasants! You let Alen go right now, or-"
"Or what? You don't seriously think you can beat me, right, princess?" Julius asked the angry white-haired princess.
Fran opened her mouth to answer back at the blonde first prince, but she was quickly interrupted.
"I'll save us some time, you can't"
As much as Fran wanted to fight back at him, she knew that Julius was right. Even at this early point in time, he outshines some teachers in magical talent.
"You'll be really disappointed with me, Julius. If you want my secrets, you're not getting them. If you want me to follow you around like a slave, I won't accept. If you wa-"
"I told you not to be too hasty when choosing what to do. I haven't even told you what I want to do"
"Was I wrong in my assumptions on what you want me to do?"
"No. But you just put it in such a way that makes me look like the bad guy"
He can't be serious. He comes out of nowhere, casts a spell to trap students that have nothing to do with this, and calls them hostages.
Enrick only managed to open his mouth before he even said a single word.
"I won't accept a duel. You're many spaces below me in the ranks. I am on the very top of the second year S class, and you are a simple C-rank"
Enrick clicked his tongue and looked at the wind wall. None of the spells the other students cast could do anything against it.
Is there truly nothing I can do besides accepting what he wants.
I have no spells in my reserves, and I don't have any way out of this one.
He is really close to me, though I have little to no options to create distance between us.
"I want you to leave those weak bums and join me and my friends. You'll start from the very bottom of our group and make your way up the ranks. Yes, you might have to do our share of work, but I assure you that you'll see much more improvement with us than you'll ever do with those guys"
He finally told me what he wanted me to do.
"He won't! Alen's my friend, and I won't let you take him away from me" Fran shouted, angry at Julius.
"Yeesh, seeing how she is... I'm probably doing you a favor. Nothing good comes from being together with that ki- erghk!"
I headbutted his nose with the back of my head.
"If I told you no the first time. On the second time you ask me, the answer is still no. Then the third time will also be a no, especially now that you almost said something about my friend"
Blood started flowing from Juluis' nose. He quickly wiped it off with his forearm.
"A friend that's just using you? I don't see how being with me could be any different than being with her"
Julius pointed at Fran.
"Such a good friend, but she didn't move a muscle to help you. No one did. All I see is that they wouldn't put themselves in danger for you"
"Shut up, Julius!" Enrick yelled, tired of the blonde prince.
"You're the first one, Enrick. The boy saved your life by putting himself at risk of dying, and you can't fight against me to save him in a less dangerous situation?"
Enrick recoiled and went dead silent.
"And that girl. She's the princess of the Montanev kingdom. She's known for being a loner that treats everyone else like they're some trash underneath the sole of her shoe"
Julius pointed at Fran.
"Why would she befriend you, a nobody that came out of nowhere, on the very first day in this academy, especially with what kind of reputation you had before your duel against that other student"
"She's just using you, Alen. You're just a pet for her, and once yo-"
"They're my friends, and I don't have friends just so they can repay me later. I don't care if they couldn't fight for me right now because that's not why I make friends for" I interrupted him before he could say any more nonsense.
"I have friends to spend time with them, to laugh and enjoy my life with them by my side. And I spent enough time with them to know that I also mean something to them..." I glanced at Fran, who looked at me wide-eyed and with a slight blush on her cheeks.
"I am also smart enough to know who to be friends with and who I should stay away from" I turned to look at Julius once again.
While I wasn't looking at Enrick or Fran anymore, I could feel their stares on my back.
"Is that so..." Julius took a deep and long sigh "Alen, you don't know how to choose your friends"
"My useless brother, that good for nothing princess, those weak second years, him included..." he pointed at Enrick "And that sinner and her whole group. The only one that's somewhat decent enough is my useless brother's bodyguard, and even he isn't smart enough"
"Don't care, I don't regret making the friends I made in these past four weeks"
"You're also dumber that I first thought" Julius stood up straight and pulled his blonde bangs backwards, revealing his deep red colored eyes.
"You just doomed a bunch of students into... a week, maybe two weeks of injuries that won't allow them to attend their classes"
"Enrick, can you keep him from attacking us while I plan something?" I asked to the redhead.
Enrick just let out a deep breath, as if a weight was lifted off his shoulders. He took a step forward and cracked his knuckles.
"I'm sorry for not acting before, Alen. It won't happen again" his tone was now more confident than before "Leave him to me, I won't let him interrupt whatever you want to do"
I smiled as I watched his back.
"I just need a couple of minutes"
"For you, my friend, I could get you an hour to plan"
I just chuckled "Don't go getting too arrogant now. Know your limits. But I trust you to distract him for long enough"
"Julius! This isn't a duel. This is just a fight between you and me. No weapons, only our fists and magic"
"I got relegated to bei.g distracted by a simple guy with nothing going on for him. Enrick, you are neither a peasant who can surprise anybody, nor a low-ranking noble to have something to back you up. You're just a guy. You won't ever stand out no matter what you try"
"I don't need to stand out. I have a friend who trusted me with a task, and I won't fail him again. And that task is to be a bother to you"
Both of them started to chant the incantation for their respective spells. Even if this wasn't an official duel, they still treated it as one by following the fifteen second rule.
But it was clearly obvious that Julius was casting the stronger spell.
"[Tempest Gauntlets]"
A tier four wind spell. It coated Julius' entire arms and hands with a sharp and fast rotating wind.
"[Rising Heat]"
A tier three fire spell that increases physical stats of the caster.
Taking advantage of his increased speed, Enrick ran at Julius while winding up his fist for a powerful punch.
The prince easily deflected the red-haired' swing with his forearm, and thanks to his tornado-coated arm, the deflect also damaged Enrick's arm.
Julius counteratttacked with a punch to the chest that caused even more damage thanks to the fast spinning wind.
But Enrick tried to ignore the pain, rising up his defense by placing both of his fists up, covering his face.
Enrick threw a quick jab.
Swish.
Julius moved his head and dodged it, taking a step forward.
But Enrick's arm came back to put up his defensive stance.
Julius attacked anyways, knowing that his attack would hurt no matter he defends.
The punch passed through Enrick's arms, the fast spinning winds making him bleed in the process. It finally landed on the redhead's face,.launching him backwards.
"A bad choice in spe-"
"Disperse and burn my enemies"
"[Fireball Barrage]"
Multiple fireballs came out of Enrick's palm as if it were a shotgun to attack the prince.
But once the fireballs got too close, the prince used the defense provided by the wind spell he cast before to dissipate the multiple fireballs as if he was just brushing of a fly that was bothering him.