Chapter 583: Chapter 07: Storm in a Teapot (2)_2
"Deal."
With Angel volunteering, the president suddenly felt emboldened. He stepped out from behind Angel and said loudly, "You won’t cause us trouble, but what about the others? Are they included too?"
Gegil turned back smugly and shouted, "Answer him!"
"The same applies! We listen to Gegil!" The magic apprentices behind him shouted in unison.
"If he can beat Gegil, I’ll eat this stone tablet." Someone muttered quietly.
Turning his head back, Gegil smiled and asked, "So, are you ready to accept my challenge?"
"I have a lot to do and no time for something as ridiculous as a ’duel.’ However, one of our members is quite interested in sparring with you," the president said, glancing at Angel.
Following the president’s gaze, Gegil also looked at Angel. "You?"
"Yes," Angel replied.
"What’s your name? I don’t think I’ve seen you before."
Before Angel could answer, the magic apprentices behind him were already whispering among themselves.
"Huh? Isn’t that Angel? Did he join the Vein Council? I didn’t even notice just now."
"Unbelievable. I used to admire him, but now he’s stooping low to serve those people!"
"He’s only been here for a year, hasn’t he? And now he dares to challenge upperclassmen?"
"You’re... Angel?" Gegil asked, raising his chin high and practically looking down his nose at Angel.
"Yes, it’s me," Angel nodded.
"Oh, so it’s the famous Angel. Are you sure you want to duel me?"
"Why not?" Angel retorted.
"Sure, of course," Gegil said with a mocking smile. "But just so you know, I’ve heard about the trick you used to take on your mentor. It won’t work on me."
"Then I’ll use something else," Angel replied flatly.
For a moment, Gegil hesitated. He noticed that Angel wasn’t wearing a magic power testing badge on his chest and seemed extremely composed.
To be cautious, he turned back toward his companions.
"Are you sure this is Angel?"
"Yes, it’s definitely him. He’s very skilled."
"Skilled my ass. He’s just a freshman."
"But he did defeat his mentor."
"Are you sure it was a defeat? If Amos Mage had fought back, Angel wouldn’t have survived even nine lives combined. He’s only in his thirties. I’m sixty-one! If I lose to him, I might as well quit the Magic Academy."
"True. No matter how talented he is, it doesn’t justify being this ridiculous. But why would he join the Vein Council?"
"Are you sure you want to duel him? I’m a bit worried."
"Of course I’m sure. Why wouldn’t I be? If I’m afraid of him, how will I accomplish anything big? As long as it really is him, that’s fine. That idiot Alvis is obviously trying to use his name to scare us off. Too bad Angel’s just a newbie, and we’re not fools." Turning back, Gegil walked up to Angel again and said, "I agree. But it won’t be you accepting my challenge; it’ll be me accepting yours. The rest stays the same."
"What’s the difference?"
"Of course, there’s a difference. Challenging a lowerclassman? I still have my pride."
"Fine, then I challenge you."
...
The wind blew softly, pressing down the grass in the training field.
Yes, the training field. It was here, just a year ago, that Angel took his entrance exam.
Angel, stripped of his robes and dressed only in casual wear, and Gegil, clad in a heavy magic robe, stood in the center of the field, magic wands in hand, facing each other.
Onlookers, mostly magic apprentices, formed a large circle. This spectacle was far grander than his entrance exam a year ago.
Mosharili stood amidst the crowd, nervously clenching her hands.
The president feigned nonchalance, but the sweat on his forehead betrayed him.
As for the other students?
The vast majority were cheering for Gegil.
"Gegil! Gegil! Gegil! Gegil!"
The chants were deafening, with each roar louder than the last.
In a way, the Vein Council was indeed the outcast of the school. Almost every student at the Magic Academy stood against them...
"Begin!" Gegil pointed his wand at Angel. "You’re the freshman; I’ll let you make the first move!"
"You’ll regret that," Angel said softly.
"Maybe. Go ahead," Gegil said, spreading his hands in mock indulgence.
Unexpectedly, Angel didn’t start reciting an incantation. Instead, he gripped his magic wand and began walking towards Gegil step by step.
"Huh? What’s he doing?"
"Close-range instant magic?"
"I don’t think so."
The magic apprentices were whispering.
Gegil also seemed puzzled.
When Angel closed the distance to about ten meters, Gegil raised a hand and shouted, "Stop! If you take another step, I’ll attack!"
Angel paused mid-step but a moment later planted his foot down firmly and continued forward.
Gegil grimaced and decided to hold nothing back.
A Fireball Technique swiftly formed and screamed towards Angel.
Angel instantly cast a Shield Spell in front of himself.
A Level Two Shield Spell versus a Level Two Fireball Technique. The flames exploded in an instant, shattering the shield.
As the smoke cleared, Angel continued advancing.
Gegil grew agitated, his mouth opening slightly as if to prepare a new spell.
However, what that spell might have been would remain a mystery, for Angel suddenly broke into a sprint, accelerating with the speed of a hundred-meter dash.
At that speed, closing a ten-meter distance took only a split second.
"What are you doing?!" Gegil cried out in alarm.
He barely finished his words before Angel’s left hook slammed hard into his face.
In an instant, the thunderous cheers around the training field fell silent. The entire area descended into deathly quiet.
Everyone’s eyes widened, staring blankly.
Even Mosharili’s mouth hung agape.
They all stared, watching as Gegil’s face contorted from the force of the punch, his body lifted off the ground, floated weightlessly, and then crashed heavily onto the earth, kicking up a cloud of dust. On the slippery grass, he even slid half a meter before coming to a stop, lying still.
All the expressions in the crowd froze, as if a time-freezing spell had been cast over the field. Only the wind continued to blow gently.
Angel stood silently, lowering his head to rub his knuckles.
Although he’d trained in archery before and his physical strength easily outmatched regular magic apprentices, that was in the past. Over the past year, he hadn’t trained much, and his fitness had declined. Not to mention, he had put everything he had into that punch—it had been a brutal strike.
Under the gaze of the crowd, Angel quietly turned around, bent down, and picked up his wand, discarded in the middle of his charge. He then walked step by step towards where the president and Mosharili stood, as if nothing had happened.
Some onlookers trailed him with their eyes, while others glanced back and forth between Angel and Gegil lying motionless on the ground.
Regardless, at this moment, no one spoke. Everyone held their breath, dumbfounded.
When he finally reached the president and Mosharili, Angel took the robe Mosharili handed him—the one he had entrusted her to hold earlier—and said softly to the president, "Let’s go. It’s settled. Don’t forget your promise."
With that, he strode off.
It wasn’t until then that the apprentices rooting for Gegil—or rather, nearly everyone present—let out panicked cries and rushed towards Gegil.
"Gegil! Are you okay?!"
"How are you feeling?!"
"Oh god, he’s completely unconscious! Quick! Take him to the infirmary!"
Poor Gegil would probably never know that he could have won the duel. All he had to say to Angel was, "I’ll give you four hundred silver coins."