Valerian, The Legendary

It was the simple wind movement spell, but this time he cast it against himself to break the momentum he had gained from the fall and landed softly on the ground. Then he walked to the center of the ring and stood in front of Kartan Shin and the burly man.

The latter said, “You may call me Instructor Chug. Since you are the first person to reach the top of the vine, you have an advantage, in the battle competition, if you are to reach the rank of the fourth person, and then you lose a match, your ranking will stay fixed as the fourth person. Do you have any questions?”

Valerian thought for a bit and said, “No, Sir.”

Instructor Chug nodded and then took out a list from his sleeve, then he began to read the names of people. Kartan Shin had told the mages to gather on the left of Valerian, and the warriors to gather in a neat column at the right of the boy.

Standing in the middle of the people, Valerian seemed a bit out of place, but his face did not show any emotion. His gaze was fixed on the space between the shoulders of the two teachers facilitating the procedure.

After the students were gathered, Instructor Chug said, “Now, we will draw the lots. The warriors will contend with each other, and the mages will face each other to the fullest. Valerian, since you are the only battle mage in the academy you get to wait till the competition between the two sides is settled.”

Valerian was not surprised but then he raised his hand and said, “Sir, may I ask you a question?”

Chug was curious about what this young child would ask him and nodded, and Valerian asked, “Sir, these competitions will determine the ranks of the best students in the respective fields. But may I ask, if the rankings will be announced separately as well?”

.....

Kartan Shin nodded and said, “Is that not obvious? Why do you ask? Are you not satisfied being ranked first in your creed?”

These words caused a lot of people to snicker, while some were disappointed by such behavior displayed by Kartan Shin.

Valerian raised his head and matched his gaze as he said, “I did not expect to hear such words from a teacher like you, Sir. If you can be satisfied by calling yourself the best when you compete alone, then please by all means do so.

However, my mother has taught me, that one can only get ahead of others when they are acknowledged by their rivals and peers, otherwise, you must know that the life of self-proclaimed titles is very delicate.”

His words sounded reasonable and well-founded, but this guy had directly thrown sarcasm at Kartan Shin and the people with wisdom could hear it. An invisible slap landed firmly on the cheek of the wind mage.

Kartan Shin was aware that he was rebuked by a greenhorn for his values, which were not even true. He asked, “What do you want then?”

Valerian said, “I only seek a chance to learn from my peers, I wonder if they agree with my words? A warrior and a mage cannot attempt to kill each other but they can learn from each other. Can they not?”

His calm tone was setting off a storm one after another. When Kartan Shin was shocked and dazed, Valerian quickly turned around to face the tallest observation tower and said with a sonorous tone, “I implore the elders, to grant us this chance to learn from each other and to allow the younger generation to grow.”

The people were shocked, they did not expect him to directly seek the intervention of the higher authorities. This child had the guts, that was sure.

...

Fallax chuckled as he looked at the stunned faces of his cohorts, and said, “Come on, the youngsters are gazing at you with anticipation, you old people better not let down them.”

An old man asked, “How can this be allowed? Do you not know that a battle mage can suppress any of the warriors and mages of the same level?”

The rest of the people agreed and they did not wish to agree with this proposal, when Fallax said, “What is the big deal? Tell the top mage student and the Top Warrior student to fight with him at the same time. Whoever manages to stand till the end, give them the best in the school title. You people sure are cunning and cowardly, no wonder your skills have stagnated, you no longer have the spirit of adventure.”

This caught the attention of the people. Stephanie could not help but interject, “Sir, will it not be too difficult for Valerian to face two people at the same time? He will have to concentrate on the battle, but it can definitely cause serious damage if he was not careful enough.”

Fallax frowned and wanted to defend his student when Fragrantia countered, “You do not have to worry about that. He is a wise person, and since this was his own proposal, he must be aware of all the risks, but if he is not, then he should not be asking for such things. This is something he incurred upon himself. He should pay the price of his actions.”

She was displaying a crueler front to the people, but at the same time, she was stating that her son must be smarter, and should not be afraid of facing the consequences of his actions.

The Magus Supreme of the Wind Magic Tower stood up and asked, “Student Valerian, are you sure you want to go ahead with this? Let me tell you, that if you want to compete with the others, then you will have to compete with two sides at the same time.

That means, the top mage and the top warrior. You might get hurt in the process. Are you sure you want to go ahead?”

Valerian raised joined the palms of his hands and said, “I accept it, Sir.”

The old man looked at his cohort and said, “He is very calm about this. Why are we acting like worrywarts?”

They all cast a wary glance at Fallax and the old man snorted as he said, “You look down on my student? He will be fine. Go ahead.”

The old people gave in and they all agreed to the proposal. Valerian thanked them and went to the side to wait for the two competitions to end. In the mean time, he was playing with his daggers and at the same time, he was observing all the potential opponents.

He was a firm believer in the saying, know yourself and know your enemy. This way he will be able to prepare a few tactics in his mind. His eyes were locked on the rings in the ground.

The big ground was divided into two parts. One was where the warriors battled with each other, and the other was allocated for the mages.

The process of the battles was also different in the two parts. Warriors believed in a single chance, and they administered the knock-out style.

The mages on the other hand were more organized. They divided into seven groups and initiated a cycle battle system. The one who could fight a complete cycle with all the six opponents was allowed to have a rest and then wait for the second round, but if the person was defeated, then the winner will enter a cycle battle.

This way they will find the best mage. Yes, hypocrites, were suitable for the personality of a mage. These guys had no respect for each other let alone others. The stronger person will get an advantage. Well, mages all were opportunistic people.

Valerian looked at them and shook his head, however, after half an hour, a person from the water mage group managed to clear all the six opponents and then sat down on the side, focusing to regain his mana. This gave the silver-haired child some excitement.

Warriors cheered and caught his attention as a person used his technique more than his strength to deal with an opponent. Valerian nodded at this as well. He liked the people who used their brains in battle.

Only when they have a good brain will they be able to use the able body. As the battles continued the crowd also cheered, after all, they were all the relatives of the students competing against each other.

Suddenly, Valerian felt a pang of hunger and took out fruit from his magical pouch to eat it. His actions caught the attention of the elders in the high gallery. They could not help but take note of this child who was acting all calm and composed.

To think he even had the mood to eat during a time when he should be worried about how to fight two people at the same time. This was going to be interesting, they thought.

Valerian would have scoffed and said, ‘Not interesting, but plain, you old fools. You overestimate your talented young students.’