Plenty of things happened after the battle.
First, Larkin was investigated after bringing in a Holy-Attributed Mystical Item inside the Dark Arts Academy.
Although there is no prohibition of that inside the Academy, Larkin would have to prove that he wasn't a spy sent here or that he has no connection with the Order of the Untainted Sentinels that had previously attacked the Academy…
Furthermore, Larkin will be investigated if he has a connection with the secret organization that has infiltrated the Academy searching for a mysterious pocketwatch.
There was also a rumor of him being expelled from the Academy due to his behavioral problems… This shocked many students in the higher years since they know that Larkin has a connection to the previous Headmaster of the Academy.
He's also one of the best students who can represent their Academy in this year's Twelve Academy Competitions.
Larkin had truly made a mistake this time.
Anyway, Vale's duel against the Slender Zombie opened the eyes of all the other students, especially the first-year students…
They finally had a better grasp of Vale's incredible power.
He wasn't simply smart but he was also strong.
***
In the First Room of the Seven Pillars Garden, a group of female students gathered as they talk about the recent battle.
"Maya, that Vale will be a huge problem… He is simply too strong." A female student with short red hair said in a worried tone. Her name is Goldie Forrest and she's one of Maya's roommates.
"Although he's strong… I'm sure Maya can still win against him. No matter what, Vale's spells were only those basic ones. You have to remember that Maya's Dark Spells are all rare ones that came from her family." Another female student said as she tried to find fault in Vale's current strength.
Her name is Crystal Ravinie and although she has the surname of Ravinie, she simply came from a branch family and doesn't have the support of the main branch. Nevertheless, she has a bit of talent allowing her to get into this Dormitory with her own efforts.
Maya sighed after hearing their words. She was well aware that her plans to dominate the first-year batch would be very difficult with Vale's presence.
She previously thought that her only problem was Wilfred Moontomb but she was wrong all along… It was Vale Chambers who was the most troublesome to deal with.
"Although I'm confident with my spells. I think I still have to respect Vale's very unusual physique… I'm not sure but I think he wasn't using some kind of spell to strengthen his body during his duel. It can only be a Mystical Artifact but an Artifact that could give you that level of strength is probably a high-grade Noble Rank or at least a low-grade Royal Rank item… Ana, what do you think?"
"Hmm?" Ana Chalton was a bit surprised after being asked.
She pondered for a moment before she commented.
"Vale was indeed using a movement type Mystical Item that battle. However, I asked the Professors a while ago but they all confirmed that he wasn't using any strength-boosting type Artifact… This could either mean that he's really gifted with monstrous strength or he consumed a high-grade potion beforehand."
With her sudden suggestion, everyone's eyes lit up!
"That's possible! Perhaps he requested 2 months of preparation to acquire a high-grade Potion from his family?" Goldie spoke with a hint of excitement.
Vale's monstrous strength was too mind-boggling after all. They just can't believe that someone of their age would already have such an incredible physique.
"That makes sense… However, even our family wouldn't necessarily obtain a high-grade Potion in such a short amount of, especially with the Alchemists of our Arcane Path. As you know, our Alchemists weren't necessarily good at brewing or concocting potions. Furthermore, high-grade Potions are only produced by First-Class Alchemists whatever Arcane Path they are." Crystal commented.
The others agreed with her explanation… Nevertheless, the potion is their best guess about Vale's unusual power.
As a matter of fact, three days after the duel, a rumor about Vale's unusual strength had spread everywhere and it was close to their guess!
It was said that Vale had consumed the Earth Eclipse Potion before the duel!
This is a high-grade Potion that can boost the strength of the consumer for about 30 minutes and they would also obtain a high resistance against Dark Spells.
This would explain how Vale easily destroyed the rampaging Corrupted Chains and smashed the head of the Slender Zombie.
Furthermore, the reason why many people was believing this rumor was because one of these potions has disappeared in the Exchange Hall!
There were previously four of them but when one of the sixth-year students tried exchanging for them, he realized that there were only three of them left!
He then recalled Vale's duel and made this bold guess which was picked up by the Academy Publication news writers… However, some of them were still baffled at this since the high-grade potion should be worth 5 Contribution Points.
Anyway, since Vale was quite special, they didn't think too much of the contribution points problem since he must have had a method to obtain them.
***
In the meantime, as his friends were happy about his victory and those jealous of him were hoping he would get humiliated one day, Vale was still downhearted about the loss of his friend. Because of this, he decided to visit the Training Hall every afternoon after his morning class…
The Training Hall allows him to borrow a room for himself where he could try his ritual.
Although five days had already passed after his duel against the Slender Zombie, Vale was still feeling dejected because of Lotus' death…
Her death simply came too fast and he didn't even have the chance of saying goodbye or thanking her for her assistance all the time when they were together…
"Vale, you're here again? Are you going to borrow a Normal Training Room or use the Spell Combat Training Room?" The student managing Hall's rooms asked Vale after seeing him arrive. The student is a member of the Training Hall Committee and is assigned to manage the place around this time of the day.
"I'll be using the Normal Training Room."
"Alright… Room Number 16 is available. As you know, the first hour is free but the succeeding hour will cost 100 zen per hour."
"I'll just use an hour…"
Vale then received a plaque that he has to place on the door of Room Number 16 to inform others that it was occupied.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢