Chapter 3 – The Idiot VS The Genius

The class was still bustling. The Alchemy teacher hadn’t yet entered. It looked like today’s lesson would start late.

Van smiled knowingly. “Just stay quiet. Let me handle this,” he said, stepping forward, approaching Alya and Sheela. I was starting to feel afraid of whatever he was going to do.

But before I could stop Van—no matter what he was planning—he threw his gloves in front of Sheela.

Van grinned. “I, Van, challenge you, Sheela, to a magic duel.”

“If I win, stay away from Alya,” Van said.

Sheela fell silent. “I knew you were stupid. But I didn’t know you’d be this stupid.”

“You seem to still be arrogant.” Van seemed a little annoyed too. “I’ll make you regret what you said.”

“Huh? Regret? Since when can a fool make someone regret something?”

That girl. She seems to have quite a venomous mouth. Van was starting to get provoked.

“Listen here. You might be able to talk a lot now. But after this, your mouth will be gagged by my victory.”

Van grinned happily. He quickly took some distance and took a stance.

Van frowned, confused. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, that’s what you mean. Guess why?” Van chuckled, realizing his stupidity. “Okay, if you win, you can ask me anything.”

“Are you sure?” Sheela was a little incredulous.

“Okay, then.” Sheela smiled happily.

I sat frozen in the corner, my mouth half open. Alya was still shocked by what had happened, but didn’t say anything. She just glanced at Sheela a little nervously.

Van stood in the middle of the classroom, his fists clenched, his body leaning forward as if ready to charge at anyone. Across from him, Sheela stood elegantly, her arms folded, her silver hair glistening in the morning light from the window.

“This is crazy,” I muttered under my breath.

The students around us had already moved to the edge of the room. Some even climbed onto tables, cheering them on as if they were watching a formal duel. They formed an arena around the two of them.

“Everyone ready? Begin!” shouted one of the students. Regardless of who gave the command, the duel had already begun.

Van lunged toward Sheela, preventing her from starting any spell or magical trick.

A good strategy. One of the most sensible strategies when facing a sorcerer like Sheela is to not let her opponent start their spell. It seemed Van wasn’t just all brawn. He could use his brains sometimes.

Unfortunately, Sheela was still able to dodge. Just as she jumped beside Van, he began his spell.

“Auqa Lance.”

A water spear formed. It floated beside Van. Just as it was perfectly formed, the spear struck Van hard. Van, caught off guard by the counterattack, was thrown against the classroom wall. Some of the girls screamed hysterically. The boys cheered.

Van sat down weakly.

“Are you done? Looks like you only….”

Before Sheela could finish her sentence, Van threw his glove at her face.

Sheela dodged the glove. But it was a feint. While Sheela was busy dodging the glove, Van lunged forward. This time, Sheela wouldn't be able to dodge.

"Wind Slash."

A blast of wind hit Van as he tried to approach Sheela. Van was thrown against the wall again. He fell to his knees.

I knew that spell. It was one of the ones I used on Nolan in the game. It activates when someone tries to approach the caster. So there's no preparation required to cast it. You could say it's like a passive skill.

Seeing Van sitting silently on the edge of the classroom made my mind go blank. This duel is one-sided. Van can't get close to Sheela. If he continues, he'll just become a punching bag for her. I have to stop this duel.

But how? How can I stop their duel? I can't just suddenly enter the arena. I don't have any magic, either. I might end up being the one Sheela's target.

Come on, Kevin. Think. There must be something useful about your gaming knowledge. Anything. About Sheela. About Van. About the students in class. About what's taught at this academy.

Realizing something, I turned my gaze to the teacher's desk. The Alchemy teacher, whoever he  or she was, still hadn't arrived. However, his tools were still displayed there.

"Ah, there he is." I ran through the crowd when I saw the object I was referring to.

Meanwhile, in the dueling arena, Van stood up again. He decided to use his magic. He grabbed a piece of wood from a nearby broken chair or table. It seemed Van intended to use it as a medium for his magic.

Sheela, realizing this, immediately stepped forward, preventing whatever Van was about to do.

"You've been fooled." Van grinned. He threw the wood forward, using the same deceptive technique as the glove technique. Sheela was surprised by the sudden attack. But would that technique work?

Sheela dodged the thrown wood. However, Van still didn't move forward. He seemed to be buying time.

When Sheela's left foot still hadn't fully touched the classroom floor, Van moved forward. He understood the weakness of the passive Wind Slash spell. This magic will throw anyone within a 1 meter radius of the magic user. However, for the user's safety as well, the magic will not be active if the magic user is not standing perfectly on both feet. Because, if the magic is active in such a situation, the magic user is also thrown away from the magic.

Realizing this, Van aimed for a moment when Sheela dodged the thrown piece of wood and wasn't standing properly.

Van grinned as he managed to get close to Sheela. He threw a punch at Sheela's face. She turned her head, avoiding Van's blow. Van threw another punch with his left arm. Again, Sheela managed to dodge. However, Sheela pulled herself back, away from Van's punch. It seemed Van had cornered Sheela.

"Wow, why are you backing away? Are you scared?" Van taunted.

Sheela wiped the sweat from her forehead. However, Sheela seemed to be under pressure from Van's attack. "You know, you're making me sick. I'm not going to hold back anymore."

Just as Sheela finished her sentence, a loud howl of wind was heard. The temperature in the classroom also began to cool. Small ice crystals even began to fall inside.

"Hey, what happened? Why is it suddenly so cold?" one of the students exclaimed.

This is bad. This was truly dire. I knew what was coming. This was one of the elves' abilities: combining magical attributes. In some cases, humans and elves could possess dual magical attributes. However, elves were more special. They had a close connection with spirits. Their connection with spirits brought them closer to the concept of magic. This allowed them to combine their two magical attributes, creating a new attribute beyond the four basic ones.

In other words, Sheela, an elf, could use ice magic, a combination of her wind and water spells.

I didn't want to freeze to death. Forget the duel. Forget Alya. There were more important things than Van's ridiculous idea.

I picked up a crystal piled among the alchemy tools. I examined it briefly, then threw it in the middle of the room.

In the middle of the room, Sheela had finished her spell. A gust of wind, now followed by falling snow, began to form. Several students flinched in horror. Van did the same. This was probably their first time seeing magic beyond the basic attributes.

“Glacies Vinculum.”

Ice began to creep from Sheela's feet toward the rest of the classroom. Van jumped back, avoiding the ice that crept under his feet. The other students began to panic, running away. However…

The crystal I threw was hit by the ice generated by Sheela's magic. As soon as it touched the crystal, it was sucked into it. It was as if something was forcibly pulling it into the crystal.

“Woah, what happened?” The class was confused. Sheela also seemed confused by what had happened to her magic.

But there was no time to explain what was happening. I burst into the dueling arena.

“Van, open the window quickly!” I shouted, running toward the Crystal.

“Huh? What are you doing?” Van was confused, still processing what had just happened.

"There's no time, hurry." I was already standing in front of the crystal. I quickly grabbed it and ran to the window.

Van ran as if he knew what I was going to do. He opened the window quickly.

The crystal in my hand began to crack.

Oh no, there's no time.

I decided to throw the crystal out of the classroom.

Just as it was floating outside...

Boom.

A loud explosion occurred.

I looked outside the classroom, gasping for breath. Luckily, the explosion wasn't that big. I looked at Van, who was standing confused next to me.

"That was almost it, hah hah," I said breathlessly.

Van stared out the window. "Wow, what was that? It looked like fun," Van said. In contrast to my worried expression, Van's face was beaming.

This guy. That was a life-or-death moment, and you call it fun?

However, before I could hit Van's head, a shout interrupted the commotion in the classroom. 

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING, HUH!”

Standing in front of the class was Professor Jamund, his face bright red.