328 A Duel
The idea of reuniting with her father again made Eleonora jump with happiness. Arthur loved to see her like that and was happy she reacted so well after hearing it, as he was afraid Eleonora would not want to part ways with the friends she made in Odemore.
“When can we go?” Eleonora said as she walked around her room, packing her stuff for the trip.
Arthur still had to wait for Signy to find someone to take care of Odemore, but she guaranteed him she had some people in mind, so it should not take long, or at least Arthur hoped so.
“Soon, Signy is finding someone to assume her position here. Who do you think she will choose?” Arthur asked.
“Well, I believe Helga will be the one.”
“Helga? Wouldn’t she go with us?”
Signy and Helga were friends, and Arthur thought she would come along with them to improve her strength in a more competitive environment.
“She’s married to a noble now and pregnant.”
“What?”
The fact took Arthur by surprise, but it was something understandable. Helga was not someone with immense talent, and neither had the dream of achieving the peak of the magus world. She had decent strength and now wanted to settle down, building a family with someone else.
“I see. If it is Helga, then Odemore will be in good hands.” Arthur said.
“Absolutely. Arthur, I will finish packing my things and shower.”
“Are you kicking me out?”
Arthur was joking with her and preparing to leave, but then Elora said, “Eh, you can wait inside here if you want.”
That was unexpected.
“Am I her crush? No, this will get messy; she is Nefion’s daughter and somewhat a relative of Jane…”
Just thinking about the situation gave Arthur’s headache, so he said, “I would love to, but I also have some things to do. We’ll see each other later, alright? Bye-bye, Eleonora.”
“Oh, no problem,” she said with a non-content face, “bye-bye, Arthur.”
Arthur left Eleonora’s room and spent the rest of the day exploring Odemore, seeing the students and teachers, and looking for anything that might need improvement. The barrier surrounding the school could receive some upgrades, and with Arthur’s power, it was not a big deal to improve it.
Another thing Arthur did was share some of the high-grade spells he got from the central continent, allowing more mages to reach the rank 1 one day, increasing not only the power of Odemore but of the whole continent.
“Now, with all these new books in the library, the mages here have a better chance of reaching greater heights.” Arthur thought as he added some books to the library’s collection.
Signy waited for Arthur outside the library with a familiar woman beside her. It was Helga, who was pregnant, just like Eleonora said.
“Helga, it is so nice to see you, and congratulations on the baby and marriage,” Arthur said with a smile.
“Thank you, Arthur. Signy told me you were back, and I could not believe it! Not only that, but she offered me her position. Are you being serious about this?”
Although Helga married a noble, it was not a rich one, and even with her power as a mage, providing her family a good life was not an easy task, especially when talking about children. But if she got Signy’s position, then everything would become a lot better.
“I am dead serious. Signy will leave with me, Eleonora too, and I don’t see a better person fit for the job than you.”
Arthur was being sincere when saying that, which made Helga emotional, having tears streaming down her face as she almost kneeled in front of him.
“This position means a lot to my family and me. Thank you, Signy, Arthur; you two are blessings in my life, and I hope we can see each other in the future.”
An emotional departure between the three, but mainly between Helga and Signy, the closest ones; Arthur left after a few minutes, leaving the two alone to say goodbyes to each other.
He then returned to Eleonora’s room to see if she was ready, but someone stopped him along the way. It was Eleonora’s friend who heard some rumors about Arthur going into her room.
“James? Is there something you need?” Arthur asked when he noticed the youth in front of him.
“I know you are incredible, but do you accept a duel?” James said.
Some students were nearby, and when they heard such a thing, no one could believe it.
“Is James crazy? The person in front of him may be young, but he is the school’s founder and the strongest mage ever on this continent.”
“Right? I heard it is because of a girl.”
“A girl? Are you talking about the beautiful blonde girl who trains with him? I never believed he had a chance, and now it seems the girl has a crush on Arthur, so it is even more impossible for him.”
Arthur was surprised by the sudden duel request, and it was not hard to understand the reason behind it, even without the students whispering around them. But, deep down, Arthur felt terrible for the kid.
Even if Arthur was not there, Eleonora never saw James as more than a friend.
“It is what it is. I feel bad, but I know you cannot force anyone to like you, so if Eleonora does not feel the same way, you should accept it.” Arthur thought.
He gazed at James, who had a grudge against him, showing some hostility, and said, “are you sure you want to do this?”
It would be a boring fight, one James had zero chance of winning with his power, but if Arthur did not accept it, he would keep asking, making him lose his patience.
Arthur believed that would at least make James see the difference between the two, increasing his desire for power, and who knows, maybe one day he would turn into someone incredible too.
“I am sure of it,” James said firmly, adding one more thing to his sentence, “are you scared of me?”
That was the funniest thing Arthur had heard in a while. It was understandable. Everyone talked about how grand Arthur was, but no one knew the difference between his power and everyone else.
A duel in front of everyone would allow them to understand this difference, increasing Odemore’s and Arthur’s popularity even more.
“Scared of you?” Arthur laughed out loud in front of James and then said, “maybe if you train a thousand years, no, that is thinking too highly of you.”
James had a fire burning inside of him after hearing that. He did not believe the difference between the two was that high, especially when Arthur had no mana in his body at all.
“When?” James asked.
“Tonight? I plan to leave with my girls soon, so I will check with Signy and Helga to find an arena. Are you okay with it?” Arthur said, passing by James, who had the urge to punch him in the face.
“Good, good. The sooner, the better!” James said.
He left after that encounter, and the rumor about the duel spread across everyone inside the school, and they all had one thought, “does James wants to die?”