"How does 200 gold coins sound?"
"..."
Faced with Arvell's mind-boggling words, Kaera and Professor Lemin's eyes widened in disbelief.
"T-two hundred gold coins?"
Professor Lemin asked with a shaky voice.
That was a lot, even for someone like him.
In fact, that was about 3 months of his salary as a 4th circle mage working as a university professor!
That was by no means a small sum.
Moreover… How rich were these kids?
Kaera and Arvell had connections to ducal houses, but wasn't this a bit too much?
'Seriously… those nobles should better educate their children about the value of money,' the professor shook his head inwardly.
While he couldn't tell the nobles how to raise their children, he at least hoped to turn his students into upstanding members of society. freeweb(n)ovel
Arvell nodded his head with the same creepy smile plastered on his face.
"Yes, 200 gold coins." Answering the professor's question, Arvell turned his head in Kaera's direction, "Do you accept Kaera, or are you too scared?"
Kaera blinked a few times before snapping out of her reverie.
"I-it's just 200 gold coins. As if I would back off from something like that! The real question is do you have the gold to back your word?"
To be completely honest, even Kaera felt that the conditions for the duel were a little too much.
200 gold was her monthly allowance, so if she were to lose it all in a bet, that would be far too sad.
However, risking 200 gold was still a small price to pay if that meant that she could get a chance to take back her lost pride.
Worst case scenario, she would just resort to working her ass off to try to sell a few elixirs.
Alchemy was her family's bread and butter, after all.
Kaera's only genuine concern was Lillianna finding out about this duel, which Kaera considered even worse than losing the duel.
Shaking off any lingering regrets, Kaera glared at the boy before her.
Looking at her attitude, Arvell nodded to himself with satisfaction.
"Good, this is how nobility should act. Hmm… maybe you were the real Kaera Brandel after all. My apologies for the misunderstanding."
Veins bulged on Kaera's forehead as she desperately suppressed the urge to pounce the silver-haired youth and rip him a new one.
Pretending to not notice this, Arvell turned to Professor Lemin.
"Is that good enough for you, professor? Since both parties consented to the conditions for the duel, with a professor present no less, there should be no more problems, right?"
Professor Lemin looked at Arvell and then tilted his head towards Kaera.
Finally, he shook his head and gave an exasperated look.
"Since both of you agreed to the terms, it's not my place to really say anything. Furthermore, I'm sure with your backings, even if you can't pay off the bet amount, the ducal houses behind you would probably cover it."
Hearing the response he desired, Arvell beckoned to Kaera.
"Since we got that out of the way, how about we get started?"
"You stole the words right out of my mouth. I'm gonna make you regret humiliating me like that!"
Picking up a staff she'd previously placed on the ground, Kaera pointed the tip in Arvell's direction, holding it at eye level.
'You say all of this, but you're the one who randomly started provoking me,' Arvell sighed internally, 'but thanks to that, it seems my pockets will get a little heavier. So I guess, in a way, it worked out in the end.'
Unsheathing his sword, Arvell also took a fighting stance.
Since both duel participants were ready to start the duel, professor Lemin pulled a whistle from his pockets.
(FWEEE)
Kaera began furiously muttering under her breath at the sound of the whistle.
Matching her, Arvell also began to mouth random words that popped into his head.
Having to pretend to use magic was still one of his top priorities, even if it was pretty tedious.
While doing this, he kicked off the ground, trying to close the distance between him and Kaera.
"Oh flames, become a sphere and burn my enemies… FIREBALL."
Upon completing her chant, a fireball the size of a human fist formed before Kaera's staff and barreled toward Arvell's general direction.
'As expected… This is nothing compared to Jessica's. Even big brother's was far better than this. But it does make sense, considering how strong those two were. Still, though, this is far better than Lydia's.'
Without blinking, Arvell slashed at the oncoming fireball, cleanly severing it in two, causing the 2 halves to break apart and disperse into thin air.
However, it did cause him to slow down, giving Kaera a chance to create more distance between the two.
Arvell gave Kaera a dull look.
'If this is all you can offer, I don't even need to use temporal manipulation against you, much less my 'new' ability. Just my nether-enhanced body would be more than enough, you know?'
Sensing the intentions behind Arvell's gaze, Kaera scowled and began to chant her next spell with heightened fervour.
It was as if she was channelling all of her anger into this specific spell.
"Fall onto my enemy like a curtain of fire… Fire barrage!"
Suddenly countless pebble-sized flames appeared around Kaera and shot at Arvell at speeds that dwarfed the speeds shown by her earlier fireball.
It was like comparing a pebble thrown by a toddler and that of a full-grown man.
Even Arvell was slightly shocked at this display.
'I guess my taunt there really hit the mark. So she's no longer testing me but coming at me with full force now?'
However, Arvell's disbelief quickly faded and was soon replaced with a cold smile.
'Too bad this kind of thing is still child's play. Especially when I've got 'that."
Calmly watching the upcoming rain of fire, the pupils of Arvell's lustrous amethyst eyes twisted and collapsed onto themselves, leaving only stark white sclera.
Two small iridescent dots appeared from the middle of those bare sclera, seemingly out of nowhere.
As if two dots were imprinted onto white paper by an ink pen.
Slowly growing, the coloured dots grew to a size comparable to Arvell's original purple pupils.
The only difference was that while Arvell's eyes were a beautiful purple, a colour comparable to gems, Arvell's new pupils seemed as if they contained all of the colours of the rainbow.
These new pupils seemed to move in real-time, with different parts cycling through all 7 colours of the rainbow.
It was something that would have captured the souls of anyone fortunate enough to catch a glimpse.
However, with their vision blocked by the torrent of fire, this change went unnoticed by both Kaera and professor Lemin, leaving only Arvell as the only one aware that this change had occurred.
'Now… let's take this skill out for a spin!'
[Future Sight]
***
Author's note:
Sorry about the long wait, I know it must have been frustrating.
I've been too bogged up with university studies, so finding time to write was a luxury I didn't have.
However, by no means does this mean that I dropped this nor my other book.
Even if I am forced to update at the speed of a snail, I won't just abandon a story I started (At least I hope so).
Anyways...
Here's another chapter!
New novel 𝓬hapters are published on fre ew𝒆bnovel.com