Vale smiled at this and answered loudly for everyone to hear.
"No, Headmaster. People might think that I only know how to kill my fellow schoolmates if I did that. I'm hoping that sparing his life would change their mind for thinking that I only know how to end the life of my opponent."
Vale spoke magnanimously but Headmaster Jean can see Vale's ruthlessness hidden in his eyes.
The headmaster knows that Vale has other intentions but he decided not to pry too much about it.
Instead, Headmaster Jean laughed with delight.
"Hahaha! Indeed. As a fellow student of the Vermont Academy, you're not supposed to be enemies as these people can be the ones that will save your life once you're outside. Entering the academy isn't just to learn the Darkness Path but to learn that the peak of this path can't be attained by working alone."
Headmaster Jean said as he looked at Larkin Nevil.
"Very well. Since both of you have agreed to these conditions, I hereby announce that your duel on the 29th of July is now official. I will have Arena Master Noah take care of this matter."
As soon as he said this, Headmaster Jean disappeared like a cloud of smoke in front of everybody.
In the meantime, Vale was confused about the way the Headmaster called the President of the Battle Arena Committee…
'Arena Master?'
This is the first time he had heard this title.
He noted this in his mind and thought of asking Secretary Nadine about it when he had the time.
'Ahhh… She's here.' Vale muttered inwardly as he saw Nadine looking at him worriedly. She was with many other students but her attractive face was easily noticeable within the crowd.
Anyway, she probably felt that his match against Larkin would be impossible to win even after 2 months of preparation.
It was quite understandable so he only smiled at her as he decided to leave first.
He can ask her later after the monthly assessment.
Soon, the news about Vale causing trouble with the sixth-year students spread throughout the whole of the Academy... except to the students who were busy preparing for the assessment.
It seems that Jody's senior club member is among the crowd when Vale "provoked" Larkin by staying in the latter's reserved garden.
"This… Isn't this a bit too much?" Vale was dumbfounded as soon as he got a copy of the Academy Newspaper the next morning.
Although it wasn't in the headline, a huge portion of the paper was still dedicated to his battle two months later.
Furthermore, he was even painted as the provoker!
Perhaps, they don't want to offend Larkin Nevil since he has some sort of backer but Vale couldn't help but feel aggrieved about this matter.
He wanted to complain somewhere but he didn't know where. He can already tell that the Academy Publication Committee would just find an excuse since he's only a first-year student without a strong family background.
"Vale… You're really famous nowadays… Look, this headline about the Academy's lifted curse is nothing compared to your provocation against a sixth-year student! You're awesome!" Zeno spoke in excitement as soon as he finished reading the article.
The copy of the paper was just outside their dormitory so they were the first ones to receive this news. This seems to be a privilege for students staying at the Seven Pillars Garden.
"Are you being sarcastic, Zeno? Our friend here is in trouble… There's nothing to admire about that. Vale, if you need help, just let us know." Harith added as they all walked to the hallway leading to their classrooms.
"Thank you… I'm focusing on this monthly assessment for now… If I need some help with my preparations, you'll be the first one to know." Vale said as he can tell that Harith is being sincere about it.
As soon as Vale entered his classroom, he expected his friends to ask about the matter with Larkin but surprisingly, none of them seem to know about it…
Well, except Leonore and Neil who seem to be looking at him with interest. These two probably heard about yesterday's event but decided not to talk about it.
As for the rest, they were all concerned about the assessment so they don't have time to read the special issue of the Publication.
'Wait… Jody should be aware of it too…' Vale mused as he glanced at Jody's seat.
However, it seems that she wasn't aware of it since she just looked at Vale without any reaction.
After Vale found his seat, Professor Stella Harwin arrived with two Student Assistants that they had never seen before.
These two assistants were bringing two boxes filled with unknown materials.
Then, Professor Stella surprised everyone with the type of tests she had planned.
She announced that there's only one assessment for the language class and the elementary spirit law class!
'I knew it…'
Vale was stunned as this is also an idea that he had thought of. He didn't expect that she'll be that lazy to combine the tests of two classes.
"Alright… We studied a total of 180 Oardic words in our language class while we tackled the Fundamentals of Human and Foreign Spirits in the other subject. Our assessment is simple, summon a friendly foreign spirit. However, you can only use Oardic words that I've taught you all in my class."
"Ahh? Professor, isn't this a bit easy?" Neil was the first to react and he believes that this assessment wasn't challenging at all.
Some of his classmates looked at him with confusion since they felt that it was just enough for an assessment.
However, Professor Harwin didn't seem angry after hearing that her choice of assessment was easy.
Instead, she smiled at the student and replied.
"Would you like to go first?"
"Of course… However, what if my classmates just copied my ritual to summon a spirit, wouldn't that be unfair?" Neil asked as he looked at his classmates.
Professor Harwin seem to expect this question as she pulled something out from one of the boxes brought by her assistants.
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