“Essentially, Seraphine will be assisting me in dueling you.” The sage said.

  “What?! Why the fu-I mean, hell would I need to learn dueling?” Aurelius questioned, completely taken aback by such a ridiculous statement.

  “First of all, Seraphine here is an aspiring scholar mage. She needs training for her career path.” The sage explained, pointing at Seraphine who promptly displayed an impressive show of jazz hands.

  “Second of all, you are in some deep, deep shit, and we need to make sure that you’re able to at least deter the SIMPLEST kinds of trouble as much as possible. It would be a ludicrous day for the Commission to pour this much resource into you only for you to get involved in some bloody mugging and croak.”

  “Thirdly, duels train mages and their casting, given that it allows for a hands-on application for learned magic. It reduces casting time, and has a multiplying effect on spell mastery.”

  “I’ve already acquired the proper permits for our little practice today, tomorrow and basically all weekends into next year. Let’s call it the perks of being an employee of the Commission.” She elaborated.

  Aurelius couldn’t help but feel that her “permit spamming” was a little optimistic given the kind of enemies that were on his poor, poor ass.

  However, he also supposed that this was her way of informing Aurelius that he had a shot of surviving for a long, long time. Maybe.

  “You guys will be under my supervision, basically meaning that you guys can go all out on each other. I will prevent fatal attacks from connecting. However, I will not be preventing injuries from taking place. In fact, I will encourage the infliction of minor wounds and I want Aurelius to attempt to do as much for Seraphine as possible.”

  “She is training as a scholar mage, meaning that she will be venturing into archeological explorations and tracking monsters after her graduation. While the danger isn’t particularly great, it is always good to train to take hits and to endure through it. Your life may depend on it one day.” She concluded ominously.

  Seraphine looked rather excited at this absolutely psychotic statement, which kind of terrified Aurelius. It seemed that he was a magnet for women with SERVERE mental issues.

  “Can I have Sylven assist me? She’ll be accompanying my travels in the future, and it seems rather silly to have her sit on the sidelines for the battle.” Aurelius’s masochistic senior pointed out.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “No. I need her help to assist in healing after the end of the battles. I won’t be bothering the Guardian Spirits of the Academy for such trivial matters today.” She replied decisively.

  “It won’t be good for you to become dependent on your familiar. Even with a lifetime contract, training together comes after you’ve built up confidence as a mage. It actually is detrimental to soul-shaping for Sylven to assist you, given that bad habits are bound to build up.”

  “Finally, I’ll be adding a restriction on you, Seraphine. I want you to use only basic magic in your duel with Aurelius.” She instructed sternly.

  “Hmm, sounds challenging!” Seraphine responded happily.

  Basic magic was difficult for most elemental mages, given that their soul shape was geared towards manipulation of mana present within their respective elements and utilising the unique properties of said elements.

  Basic magic relied upon the general shape of the soul, and the mana manipulation at the primary level that relied on the basic movements of the soul. Given that it didn’t use the specialised carvings often present within elemental mages to channel the elemental mana.

  Therefore, it was a challenge for Seraphine, who had barely practiced her magical fundamentals with her circular souls at the start of her magehood.

  “Please stand 12 metres apart. You are allowed to move towards the center line, which is where I will be standing. You will immediately forfeit the match if you cross this boundary.” Sage Yeltz lectured, pointing the two academy students to stand at their respective positions.

  It’s barely been less than 15 minutes since we greeted each other?! Is she making me duel Seraphine at this ungodly hour without even prior instructions? Aurelius thought with horror.

  He readied himself by reciting the spells that he knew that had the potential to be used as offensive magic.

  His mind went blank as the very depths of his horrifyingly undereducated mind produced a mere 2 spells. Lightning magic and basic mana bullet. Both were taxing, given the amount of mana manipulation that was required. And slow to cast.

  “Basic dueling courtesy will mean that you cannot back away more than your initial starting position, given that it shows cowardice. You will now bow towards your opponent and state your name. I will mark the start of your duel.” The sage instructed.

  Aurelius and Seraphine looked at each other, one smiling menacingly, and the other frozen in grogginess and horror. And they bowed.

  “On your mark… Get set…” The sage barked at the two of them.

  Aurelius tensed, feeling a rush of blood into his head, dispelling the last of his sleepiness. He froze on the spot, with a stiff posture reminiscent of a stone golem.

  Seraphine, on the other hand, felt her face flush with excitement, as she sought enthusiastically to impress her idol in Sage Yeltz.

  The sage, on the other hand, looked rather pleased with her… peculiar style of teaching as she glanced with a small smile at Sylven sitting on her shoulder, exchanging a look of amusement with each other.

  She raised her hand into the air, as she looked on at the two of her students with anticipation and pleasure.

  Actually, she was looking more at Seraphine, her apprentice be damned. But that was besides the point.

  The time seemed to slow for Aurelius as the sage and her raised left hand sliced through the air.

  “Go.” The sage barked.