Chapter 127: Another Duel
I stood on the platform, my opponent across from me. This fellow from Germany had performed quite well, but this fight was already beyond his level. In fact, he was just unlucky. *If I weren't here, he'd have every chance of taking first place in his group, but...*
"Begin!"
The judge had gone over the rules with us ages ago, and now the signal came. All manner of spells flew in my direction. The fellow really was good. Disarming spells, blasting spells, Jelly-Legs Jinxes, binding spells, fireballs, which were fortunately allowed this year, all of them came at me. I caught some spells on the tip of my wand and redirected them into the platform right in front of my opponent, while others, like fireballs, I destroyed in flight without hesitation, all while working on my Semblance.
Five minutes flew by, and the time I'd given my opponent to prove himself ran out.
"Disarming..."
A single spell tore from the tip of my wand. It passed straight through another elemental spell, destroying it, pierced the boy's shield, and slammed into his left shoulder. His wand flew from his hand and quickly found its way to mine.
"And our winner! Draco Black! Though we never doubted our champion, did we?"
The spectators cheered, while I merely smiled and headed to the box assigned to me.
"Why didn't you deal with him right away?"
Yang pounced on me as soon as I stepped inside, and her tone, along with her furious expression, made it clear she truly didn't understand my reasoning.
"Because I can afford to give young talents a chance to prove themselves. Give them a shot at victory..."
I shrugged.
"Huh?"
"There's always a chance that some young talent has developed a spell specifically for the tournament, one you won't be able to defend against. So I was giving him a fair shot. Of course, such a trick wouldn't work on me. I'm nearly a master of charms and spells for a reason, but still..."
"So in other words, you wanted to humiliate him..."
Yang curled her lip in distaste. She still hadn't calmed down since learning that Daphne serves me. *Perhaps I'd made a mistake telling them about it back then? Though what difference does it make to me? I had no plans for Yang then, and I have none now, so...*
"If I wanted to humiliate him, I'd spend an hour firing painful spells at him, things like this..."
I spun my wand, sending a stinging spell at Yang at its lowest power.
"Ow!"
She jumped in place and stared at me angrily.
"At the same time, I would destroy every one of his spells and keep causing him pain. That would be humiliation, but what I did was an opportunity for him to show himself and an extremely tiny chance at victory."
"Yes, yes, you're just so incredibly cool..."
"Yang!"
Ruby tried to calm her sister. Unlike Yang, Ruby, along with the other girls, had not only heard my opinion but also Daphne's, who had spoken to them openly and held nothing back. They had really tried to understand her... yes, they still hadn't understood why she held that exact opinion, nor why Summer treated it as normal, but at least they didn't hate me.
"Ruby, come on, didn't you see?! He just..."
"You act worse during sparring!"
Yang froze, looking at her sister in disbelief.
"How many times have we told you that? How many times have we asked you not to play with your opponent when you're taking damage, but to simply knock them out?! But no, you have to laugh merrily while getting hit in the face first, and then, when the opponent accidentally touches your hair, beat them half to death. Though if you had been serious from the beginning, your hair wouldn't have suffered."
"That's different! My Semblance is like that! It accumulates strength from the damage I take!"
"Uh-huh..."
I nodded.
"...and the fact that your Aura can be pierced in ten different ways without letting you accumulate damage is just..."
I waved my hand.
"...nothing."
"What did you just bark?!"
"Daughter..."
Summer had grown tired of listening to these arguments.
"Let's not judge a person from another world, who allowed your mother to survive instead of ending up on a vivisector's table, who gave her housing and work, who gave you housing and work..."
As Summer said this, she frowned because she saw that her words weren't really getting through to her blonde daughter.
"...and I won't even mention that he is right about piercing Aura."
"But you..."
"Oops... I said it..."
Summer covered her mouth with her hand, pretending she was very ashamed.
"...in short, apparently, in all my joy, I failed to see that Taiyang neglected your upbringing. So tonight, we'll have an educational conversation and a training spar. Because if you don't see that your fighting style is flawed..."
She shook her head.
"...then I, as your mother, will show you that, and at the same time, knock some sense into you. Just look at what she came up with... being rude to someone who owes her nothing at all and still provides her with housing and work..."
"I can do it myself..."
"On your own, you'll end up on a vivisector's table! Fool! Or do you think this world is a fairy tale just because there are no Grimm here?! There are plenty of hidden reefs here that can sometimes make this world seem worse than ours!"
"That's exactly what I'm saying!"
"No..."
Summer shook her head.
"...that isn't what you're saying at all. You simply found something to pick at, and you don't even understand that, in fact, Draco could have obtained ALL of my knowledge a long time ago. He wouldn't even have had to promise anything for it. He could have simply sent me to the vivisector's table immediately. Furthermore, he was under no obligation to help you..."
"Mom, don't..."
Ruby placed a hand on her mother's shoulder, and Summer sighed, closing her eyes for a couple of seconds to calm down.
"...it's just Yang, she's like that. She doesn't tolerate what she considers unfair..."
Then Ruby turned to me.
"...Mr. Black, forgive my sister. She isn't a bad girl, it's just... the customs in your world really do look strange to us..."
"Speak for yourself, dummy..."
Weiss shook her head.
"...personally, I've been familiar with such customs for a long time. They go by different names, names more familiar to us, but in fact, it's the same thing. So Yang, calm down. Or don't you know that we have contracted workers in our world?"
"That's different..."
"You are wrong."
Weiss interrupted her friend.
"...it's no different. It's the same thing, only here there's a contract that, as Daphne told us herself, obligates Draco to ensure she has a certain standard of living, while we have no such thing. There's a contract for a hundred and forty years, one that will be passed down to your children, and a written wage that might not even be enough to live on in ten years."
Yang frowned and threw Blake a quick glance.
"Yang, I understand your dissatisfaction, and I don't like what I learned either, but I also heard Daphne's opinion. Besides, Daphne told us everything, with examples... So I'm simply asking you to accept that although the institution itself is disgusting and can be used for bad things, Draco doesn't act that way."
"Blake, you're my partner, you should be on my side..."
"I'm on your side, I just know you... don't act rashly, and let's just observe from the outside how it goes. You know, I don't like all of this very much either..."
"Fine..."
Yang sighed, while I noted once again that the catgirl was very, very sensible. Though in my opinion, she most likely wouldn't leave her team, and such a partner wouldn't hurt me at all...
"...fine! I'll observe!"
Meanwhile, the fights continued, and soon Fleur came onto the platform. She wasn't as unshakable as I was. Still, that didn't stop her from winning her first victory and doing it easily enough for everyone to see that she was, after all, one of the main contenders for victory in her age group.
"Congratulations."
"Thank you."
Fleur smiled at me and sat down beside me.
"Still, I have plenty of room to grow, but even now it's clear that unlocking Aura gave me a significant boost to my capabilities. Before, I would have spent much longer dealing with my opponent. So..."
She chewed her lips.
"...if not for you, I would have tried to rise further."
"Well..."
I shrugged.
"...you can try that anyway. There's no rule against challenging an opponent from the older age group after he loses to me."
"Hmm..."
Fleur was intrigued.
"...are you sure of that?"
"Yes."
"Excellent!"
She lit up enthusiastically. Ruby approached me.
"Mr. Black..."
"Ruby, you can call me by name."
"Uh-huh... Draco, um... you said we could try to learn this too... shooting flashes from a wand..."
Even though she was a little older than me, she looked a bit uncertain.
"I remember. But first, you need to be tested. From what I can see and feel, you have a chance, and so does Blake, but Yang and Weiss don't have the ability to learn it. However, I could be mistaken. Perhaps their gift is just too weak, and that's why I can't sense it. In any case, even if they don't have the gift and can't cast spells with wands, they can learn potion-making, even if not at a master's level. Still, they'll be able to brew a few healing potions, some strength-restoring potions, and a dozen different potions, and in battle, that's already a great help. Also, not having the gift won't stop them from mastering certain artifacts..."
I thoughtfully looked over Weiss and Yang.
"...creating artifacts and runic chains themselves, and there's ritual magic too, though it's very complex and slow, but you can manage with sacrifices..."
"Sacrificing people?"
There was contempt in Yang's voice.
"Well, if it's a rapist who was fond of little girls, I don't see anything wrong with that..."
I shrugged carelessly, and Yang flinched, unable to find an answer.
"...but in most cases, you can slaughter a bull. In short, even if it turns out that you, like Summer, have no gift, you can always find ways to develop and expand your combat capabilities."
"Will you test us today?!"
Ruby continued pressing me.
"Of course."
I nodded.
"The testing ritual itself is not that complicated, so we will test you today. After that, we will choose teachers for you. Unfortunately, the school will not accept you..."
I shook my head.
...this year. Enrollment has already ended. But if you make an effort, Ruby will be able to enroll next year, while you will only be left with studying at home.
"Pfft!"
Yang snorted contemptuously.
"Yes, yes... you don't like me and you don't trust me."
I nodded.
"However, I can also make an extremely thin armored bodysuit, one that fits so snugly you won't even feel it. And it provides better protection than some kinds of armor."
"And what will you demand from us for it?"
"For it? For that, you would have to sign a contract..."
Yang immediately received a smack on the back of the head from her mother and bit her tongue.
"Be quiet, Yang. I know what Draco is talking about. That bodysuit costs so much that with that money, you could build five Beacons and fill them with students, providing them with plenty of Dust."
"Huh? What could be that expensive?"
"The hide of an ancient magical creature, of which there is... one... on the entire planet, as far as I know. Perhaps two or three more could be found in other countries, but even so, the basilisk doesn't shed its skin often, so the ability to make such suits is limited."
I explained to Yang.
"True, there are other creatures. Contracts won't be necessary for those. Dragonhide, while not common, can be acquired in sufficient quantities. A contract for a couple of years, during which your salary is reduced by ten percent, but you get to keep the suits."
I shrugged, and the girls sank into thought...
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