[Rank 96 and 89 of arcane studies come down to the arena.]
"Your turn, little hedgehog, do me proud."
"Shut it, trash."
While walking down to the arena, Soren thought back to the opponents listed on his paper.
Rank 89 and 83 of arcane studies, and Rank 83 of martial studies.
While he had been initially surprised by the difference in ranks, Soren soon remembered something.
'They're all class E.'
Thanks to the quest, he was well aware that he couldn't expect the duels to be easy, but he also knew there was no reason to be anxious.
'A C rating is doable.'
Reaching the arena, he started stretching his body and looked up at the audience.
"Wow, nobody gives a shit about us, huh?"
It was to be expected, given that it was a duel between two students of the lowest ranks.
'Ah, wait, one person is watching.'
Soren raised his hand and flipped off the piece of garbage who had waved at him before looking back at his opponent.
"Tsk, how unrefined, no wonder you have no friends besides that disgusting filth you always hang around."
"..."
Soren couldn't help but be confused by his opponent's words.
'Is this guy seriously doing this?'
"Kekeke, Look at you, not even being able to talk back, am I that terrifying?"
"..."
Soren pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes.
'Do people like this really exist?'
He had expected it to some extent, given that it was a medieval fantasy, but seeing such a snobby rich kid in person left him speechless.
"Give up now, and I'll go easy on you."
Soren sighed at the cheap provocations and spoke.
"Listen, I don't know where you're pulling your confidence from, but you're only barely in class E. Maybe tone down the third-rate villain act a little, okay?"
Being ranked 89th meant that Doron Inenklees had only just escaped class F, as it contained the students ranked 90th through 125th.
"What—! You dare mock me? Do you have any idea who I am–?!"
"Not a clue."
"You—!!!"
"Please stop, it's embarrassing."
It may have sounded like provocation, but Soren genuinely felt embarrassed by Doron's words.
'Things like this were fine in the game, but here it's so cringy…'
[Mock duel between Soren Arden and Doron Inenklees begins.]
After the TA announced the start of the duel, Soren kept his distance, choosing to play it safe and wait for Doron to throw out a few attacks so he could see what he was dealing with.
In Soren's mind, even if someone had a personality as bad as that, it didn't mean that they were weak; a great example of that was the guy that Soren always hung around.
Whooosh!
Soren easily dodged the shockwave that Doron fired off and waited for his next attack.
Fwoosh
But he quickly noticed something was off.
'What is he doing?'
Roughly a minute had passed since the duel had begun, and Doron had only fired off a total of four spells.
On top of that, the spells Doron had fired off were all basic magic with proficiency not much higher than his own.
At first, he had thought Doron was messing with him, baiting him into lowering his guard, but upon further inspection, it was clear that wasn't the case as sweat trickled down his forehead and he gritted his teeth.
Soren stood there in disbelief.
'Hello? No, what the hell is this? Difficulty C? Bullshit.'
"Uh, hey… don't take this the wrong way, but… Is this really it? Where did all that confidence come from?"
– Ahaha!
A laugh was heard from the audience, and Doron's face contorted with rage.
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY—?!"
"I- You know what… just forget it."
To Soren, his reaction had already answered his question well enough, but Doron couldn't accept that.
"I'LL MAKE YOU PAY–!!"
"Maybe you should get those anger issues checked, 'kay?" Soren said with a smile.
Soren watched Doron's face turn as red as a tomato in real time.
Shatter
'He can't even hold a magic circle anymore.'
Soren was starting to understand why Doron had been trying to provoke him so hard earlier.
'Actually, maybe it wasn't intentional.' He thought, not wanting to give Doron too much credit.
Every time Doron attempted to form a magic circle in his hand, it would shatter completely, thanks to his letting his emotions get the better of him.
'This is just getting sad… let's just end it.'
For the first time since the duel had begun, Soren started moving towards his opponent.
Dash
He ran towards Doron, not even bothering to cast any spells in the process.
Doron began to panic when he realised he could no longer cast, and his face was filled with embarrassment.
Just as Soren reached Doron, he pulled his leg back and…
Thud!
Kicked him right in the stomach.
Then just as Doron was about to fall to the floor, Soren grabbed Doron by his long brown hair and pulled his leg back once again, this time aiming for a completely different location.
Doron, noticing this, began to flail his arms in panic.
"Wait, wait! No! Stop! Not there!"
But Soren didn't listen.
Thud!
"Kuh–! C-Crazy Bastard—! Cough!"
Soren let go of his hair, and Doron collapsed onto the ground.
[Soren Arden wins.]
Doron's eyes were filled with tears as he covered his precious spot with his hands.
At the sight in front of him, Soren smirked, which caused Doron to start threatening him again, but Soren didn't listen and instead turned around to go back to his seat.
– Ew, what's wrong with her?
– Ugh, his kind of personality is the worst.
A few comments were coming from the audience seats, but Soren paid no mind to them.
'He was the one who started it in the first place.'
"Did you have fun, little hedgehog?"
"Yup, it was great. Did you hear what he was saying?"
"It was pretty funny how he kept saying stuff like 'Do you know who I am?!'"
"What kind of backing does he even have to have confidence like that?"
"Supposedly, he's from a viscounty in central Fialova."
Soren paused at Felix's words.
"Wait, his status is lower than mine?"
To put it into perspective the Arden family is a border Count family who are very highly respected thanks to the achievements they've piled up defending against Valefor, and Doron, who Soren had just thoroughly trampled on, was from some nameless viscount family in the capital, meaning he was just a pampered noble who had never seen a day of hardship in his life.
"Yeah, that's what was so funny. He'll probably get into trouble for trying to abuse his status, though, I mean, he was so loud about it that even people watching other duels started paying attention."
'That explains the voices at the end of the duel.'
"Seriously, though, what an idiot. I know it's just a rule in name only, but if he's that public about it, he's basically begging to be punished."
[Rank 23 of arcane studies and Rank 25 of martial studies, please come down to the arena.]
"Welp, that's me. Cheer me on, okay?"
"Don't worry, you can count on me. I'll cheer my heart out for Rank 25."
"That's the spirit, little hedgehog."
Pat pat
Felix patted Soren's shoulder, causing him to recoil in disgust.
He then looked down at the arena, trying to see if there were any interesting duels ongoing, when golden-blonde hair caught his eye.
'There he is.'
Soren grinned at the sight.
Alex, the protagonist, was standing in the arena.
————「❤︎」————