After the talk, Devonte cheered a little, and Zane used this opportunity to distract him by asking for horse riding lessons, which the knight happily obliged. The process should have been relatively easy: as long as Zane used mana to control his body and remain steady, he could master the basics. Unfortunately, the small amount he had previously used was painful enough, leaving him with no choice but to do it without any extraordinary assistance, and that required real skills.
Luckily for him, this was not his first time riding a horse. Cindy once had a friend who was obsessed with the creature, and she had a few farms. It took him a while to remember and apply the previous skills, but he eventually got them down. After more than an hour of riding, the two of them returned to the dorm. Tom and Evans were the only ones present in the living room, so after nodding to them, Devonte went straight to his room.
"Is Devonte alright?" Tom Nguyen asked.
"He should be," Zane replied. He wasn't too sure. Although Devonte no longer looked depressed, he never stopped speaking in Gremorian for the remainder of their time together.
"Thank you for before," Evans said. "And as I said: it won't happen again."
Zane glanced at him for a moment before sighing. "I feel like I have to say this: the company you keep is a representation of who you are. I know you feel like you don't have a choice in the matter, but you do — you always do. Maybe not now, but at a certain point, people will not think you are any different than James."
"…I understand."
Zane wasn't feeling well, so he didn't proceed with his plan to share guild lectures with Tom; they could do that tomorrow. Instead, he slept early to rest his mind and spirit, a wise decision, as he woke the next day feeling refreshed, with his headache almost gone. The tension in the dorm remained high, making everyone a little tense. Evans tried to appease the situation by apologizing for James' action, but ultimately, his apology meant nothing since he wasn't the cause of the incident.
Most of the day was uneventful. Zane couldn't use magic, so he focused on physical exercise and reading. Besides exchanging lecture notes with Tom, only two mildly interesting things occurred. First, Keesha checked on him during the Elite Class, asking if they were alright. Zane didn't mind as long as she stopped; plus, she had already apologized, so they patched things up. Finally, during their Knight-Mage Training, Ahmed brought someone.
"Guys, I would like you to meet Khadijah," Ahmed said, pointing to a girl dressed in black long running pants, a black sweater with long sleeves, and a red hijab. "Khadijah, this is Keesha, Evelyn, Tom, Evans, and Zane."
"Hello," the group said.
"Hello," Khadijah replied, her voice soft and melodious. "I've heard a lot about you."
"So have we," Evelyn said, smiling. "Ahmed will not miss any opportunity to mention you."
"Is that so?" Khadijah replied, glancing at the red-faced Ahmed from the corner of her eye.
Ahmed cleared his throat: "Since Zane is out for the day, what's the team?"
"Besides Zane, there are seven available — an odd number," Keesha frowned. "How about for the first round, we do Mage vs Knight: 4 to 3?"
"It's Khadijah's first time; we can't be bullying her," Ahmed said.
"It's hard to say who would bully who," Evelyn added.
"Let's just keep the previous format: One knight and two mages. One knight will have to sit down each round and be the judge," Zane suggested.
Tom Nguyen nodded. "I'm fine with that."
"I'll sit down for the first round and be the judge," Devonte said.
"So, it's going to be me against you?"
Khadijah smiled. "Don't you dare go easy on me."
"I would never," the lover boy swiftly said.
The teams were quickly divided: Keesha and Evelyn picked Khadijah, turning the round into a men vs women. Zane found a spot to observe, and as soon as Devonte gave the starting shout, things became exciting. In terms of life energy level, Khadijah was in no way inferior to Ahmed. However, her fighting style was completely different.
Devonte was an attack-focused fighter. His terrifying life energy meant he could tank many hits, and more importantly, his extraordinary senses also allowed him to be nimble and easily evade most spells. Ahmed was more well-rounded. If needed, he could attack, and if necessary, he could also play defense; he played whatever role his team needed. Meanwhile, Khadijah was a defense master.
The way she wielded the shield was both masterful and artful. No matter what spells Tom and Evans threw at her, no matter how much Ahmed and Tom's undead tried to intercept Keesha and Evelyn. Khadijah always intercepted or diverted them. With this advantage, the two female mages devastated the male mages, swiftly ending the battle.
After a quick break, the next battle began with Devonte joining the boys' team. His existence immediately changed the dynamic. As usual with anyone with Devonte on their team, their tactic involved constant attack. The powerful knight rushed toward the opposing team and was immediately intercepted by Khadijah. To be fair, she held him back. However, from Zane's observation of her life energy, it was clear that every block put immense pressure on her muscles and bones.
"Hmm? Is she channeling the force?" Zane thought. Every time Devonte struck, the life energy in Khadijah's muscles and bones channeled the force from her hands to her legs, and discharged it to the ground. It was quite the brilliant application of force and physical energy. "She also seemed to have mastered spacing."
Devonte was fast, but Khadijah kept up with him with the smallest movements; by controlling the pace of the battle, she kept Devonte in a limited area, reducing his movement advantage. Zane even noticed she often forced Devonte to use his left hand, or his non-dominant hand.
"Using skills to make up the gap in stats? That's a good strategy. Unfortunately, Devonte is also highly skilled," Zane thought. The crux of this match comes down to two people: Devonte and Keesha. When Devonte bypasses Khadijah, the girl loses; if Keesha eliminates Evans first, the girl wins. As for Evelyn and Tom? Sadly, they eliminated each other. Evelyn's Earth defensive magic made Tom's undead useless. Still, her slow speed also meant she couldn't do anything to Tom, who had learned to be slippery after constantly losing due to being directly targeted.
"Hmm?" Zane muttered. Something unexpected had occurred. After realizing his situation, Devonte became smarter with his attacks, fully using his power and speed; he slowly and methodically regained control of the match's rhythm, pushing Khadijah to the brink of defeat. However, just as he was about to succeed, the young Muslim woman suddenly sneak-attacked him by smashing her shield into his stomach.
Devonte reacted quickly and blocked with his sword, but the attack still did enough damage that his legs were weakened. Khadijah didn't give him more time and switched to a more offensive tactic; more importantly, she noticed his weak leg and kept attacking it. Once that happened, Zane thought the girls had won a second round, and he was right, but not for the reason he had thought. Keesha didn't defeat Evans, which gave the girls a numerical advantage.
No, the MVP of this fight turned out to be Evelyn. The young heiress suddenly cast the 0-ring Spell: Earth Skipping. Using vibrational force from the ground, she propelled her body forward at enormous speed. Additionally, since this spell was new, Tom could not react in time when Evelyn — fully clad in Earth Armor — rushed toward him and pummeled him to the ground. Then, the magic knight allied with Khadijah to take down Devonte, who was barely holding on. By the time they finished, Keesha was also victorious.
"What a great fight," Ahmed praised. While everyone knew why he was saying that, Zane had to agree with him. Everyone showed their skills in this fight. "Let's take a 10-minute break. Knights, check your weapons. Mages, recuperate your mana."