“Oho, it looks like you are my opponent, Kate,” Riley says in an amused tone, looking at the piece of paper in her hand.   

“Yeah, looks like it,” Kate replies with a nod, showing no particular emotion.   

“Well, considering that neither of us has learned too much Magic, I guess we got lucky here,” Riley comments.   

“How come?” Kate asks, frowning.   

“You see, at least one of us will surely win,” Riley answers with a shrug.   

“Hmm… True. Anyway, Jacob, who’s your opponent?” Kate asks me.   

“Leo, he’s one of my friends. We are in the first group,” I tell her.   

“Oh, really? Going first… you much be nervous.”  

“Not really, no. What’s your and Riley’s group?” I ask.   

“Twenty-fifth. It’s going to take a while for our turn to come. Anyway, I’ve been meaning to ask you—Oh, Principal Winde is speaking again.”  

Suddenly, Principal Winde gives a small cough from the ground below (that gets amplified by magic again) before starting to speak.   

“Group one, please come down to the dueling area!” he calls out.  

Well, time to go and whoop Leo’s ass for not saving me a seat.  

[You want to sit with your friends that much?]  

Oh, hell no. Sitting here with Riley and Kate is much better. But still, as my best friends, it was Ryan and Leo’s duty to save me a seat.   

[Fair enough.]  

“I will be going then,” I say, getting up from my seat.   

“Best of luck, Jacob! I hope you win!” Kate says, squeezing my hand for one last time before letting it go.   

“Yeah, best of luck!” Riley wishes me as well.   

“Thanks!”  

I walk down the stands, towards the ground. Like me, other students from group one (including Leo), also make their way to the ground.   

“Hey, Jacob! Here!” Leo calls out the moment he notices me, stopping on his track to wait for me.   

“What!?” I ask grumpily, reaching him.   

“How come you arrived so late today? Ryan and I— we were waiting for you,” he asks with a frown, starting to move again.   

“Really!? You guys were waiting for me!? Great, you must have saved me a seat, right? I will skip the duel and sit there right now,” I say sarcastically.   

“Oh, don’t be mad, man. We did save you a seat, but my girlfriend came and start demanding that she wants to sit with me no matter what— and I just couldn’t refuse her,” Leo says with a shrug.   

“…”  

[…]  

“Please don’t start ignoring me now, Jacob. I am not lying, we saved you a seat,” Leo says earnestly.   

“…”  

[…]  

“What? Why are you gawking at me?” he asks, looking at me in confusion now.   

“What the fuck!? You have a girlfriend!?”   

[What the fuck!? He has a girlfriend!?]  

“…”  

This time, Leo doesn’t speak. He looks at me in shock— his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide— as if he couldn’t believe what has happened.   

“I… I did it… I FINALLY DID IT!!!”  

The next moment, he shouts out, tears of joy running down his eyes.   

“After so many failed fucking attempts, I finally told you that I have a girlfriend. I was trying to tell Ryan as well, but the guy sitting behind us was laughing so loudly that he couldn’t hear anything at all.    

“But that doesn’t matter anymore! You’ve finally heard me, Jacob! You can tell Ryan about this!” Leo says joyously.   

“W-Wow, I never thought that this day would come… Leo… girlfriend…” I mutter, feeling a little dazed from this massive shock. These two words just don’t sound right together.  

“Yeah, me neither. I just asked her out on a whim, and she said yes! Sorry though, you and Ryan will have to be single forever without me. It’s going to be a duo now instead of a trio,” he says, putting a hand on my shoulder as if pitying me.   

Yeah, sure…   

“Anyway, who’s the unlucky— I mean, lucky girl?” I ask.  

“Oh, look there! She’s sitting just a few seats away from Ryan,” Leo says, pointing close to where Ryan is sitting (he waves at us).  

… What the hell!?   

“Aria!? Aria is your girlfriend!?” I ask, getting an even bigger shock than before.   

[Are you fucking kidding me right now!? Aria became this guy’s girlfriend!? Has she gone mad or something!?]  

“Eh? No, not Aria, idiot,” Leo says, shaking his head.   

“She’s our enemy, remember? Why would I date her? No, I am talking about the girl sitting next to her— Debbie Sherman!”   

…   

[…]  

Long blond hair tied in a ponytail and furious-looking bloodshot blue eyes…   

“L-Leo, my buddy…”  

Chiseled jawline and an average-looking face…   

“… please, tell me…”  

Over six feet tall, body absolutely ripped with huge and bulky muscles…   

“… that you are joking,” I say, feeling a chill run down my spine.    

“No, I am not, why?” he asks, a confused look on his face.   

“…”  

“What!?” he asks as I silently stare at him.   

“Debbie Sherman is the junior state-level powerlifting champion! She can easily lift you up with her pinkie finger and throw you away a hundred yards, you know!?” I ask.   

“Come on, you’re exaggerating too much now.”  

“Okay, I am. But still, think about the sex! She will crush you, buddy! You will die! At least think about your little son down there, how can you do this to him!?”  

“Fufufu… You poor soul. We’ve already had sex multiple times, and as you can see, I am still in good shape. Debbie’s surprisingly gentle— with me and my son,” Leo tells me with a smirk.   

“Ugh…”  

So, this guy’s not a virgin anymore. I need to kill my imagination…   

[Hey, do you have a crush on that muscle-mass?]  

No, why?   

[Then it’s fine, isn’t it? If Leo is happy with her, you don’t need to concern yourself with this.]  

… You’re right.   

“Ahem… well, I guess I am happy for you and Debbie, Leo. Congratulations!” I say with a forced smile.   

“Thank you, buddy! I hope you get a girlfriend soon— no, never mind, that’s impossible!” Leo laughs smugly.   

Can I strangle this bastard!?   

[Calm down, calm down!]  

Continuing to talk like this, Leo and I, along with six other students, finally reach the center of the ground where Principal Winde is standing.   

“As you can see, we have divided the area into four blocks. Please take position with your opponent in your respective block and wait for my signal before starting the duel. Good luck!” Principal Winde says, addressing us.   

Leo and I move to our block and stand near the ends of the rectangular dueling area, facing each other.  

“Are you ready, Jacob?” Leo asks.   

“Yes, I am. And you?”  

“Obviously. Oh, and by the way, I am sorry to inform you, but I cannot show you any mercy today. I will have to utterly demolish you,” he tells me with a grim smile.   

“Why, you want to impress your girlfriend?”  

“Well, you can say that, but there is a different, even more important reason— I am going to ask Kate out on a date after this match. So, I want to impress her,” he says, stretching his arms.   

…   

“What did you say!?”   

“I am going to ask Kate out. You know, Alex’s ex-girlfriend?” he repeats.   

[Okay, I take back my words. Don’t calm down, strangle this piece if shit!]  

“The fuck do you mean you are going to ask Kate out!? You already have Debbie, don’t you!?” I ask furiously.  

“Fufufu… Well, I am doing this because if my system, so she won’t mind— and nor should you,” he says, smirking again.   

“My system is of that type, you see?”  

…   

He’s freaking lying. There is no way his system is sex-related… right?   

[How would I know that?]  

Well, I do. I am this bastard’s best friend. I know that he just wants to enjoy multiple women.  

“Okay, fine. But if I win, I will ask Kate out,” I tell him.   

“It’s settled then. By the way, against a guy who needs supplementary classes, I am pretty confident,” he says with a laugh.   

We will see…   

Even if I don’t win, it’s not like Kate will agree to go on a date with you anyway. I know for a fact that she likes me.   

…   

“Okay, get ready everyone! I want you to start the duel on the count of three!” Principal Winde finally says.   

Leo looks at the stands and waves at Debbie (she waves back enthusiastically).   

“One….. Two…..”  

He then looks around some more and finds Kate as well, giving her a creepy wink.   

Bastard…  

“This will be over in a second! I will make sure this weak guy doesn’t die!” Leo shouts out to no one in particular, though his eyes are set upon Kate.   

Yeah, you got that right— this will be over in a second.   

“….. Three!”  

“OIYAAAA”  

The moment Principal Winde finishes his countdown, Leo gives out a really weird cry, and start moving his hands weirdly. To me, it looks like he’s doing some sort of tribal dance.   

“Behold my ultimate attack! Double Fireballs!” he shouts.   

Instantly, a ball of flame appears in each of his hands, which he finally throws at me after doing a lot of unnecessary hand movement again.   

“Heh!” I snort out.  

Covering my hands with a thick layer of water, I swat away these tennis-ball-sized fireballs effortlessly.   

“What the fuck!? That was my ultimate attack!” Leo cries in shock.   

Time for some offense…   

Without answering him, I raise my hand and throw the same spell back at him.   

“Fireball!”  

The crowd leaks out a collective gasp. It’s clear to everyone that my single fireball is much bigger in size compared to Leo’s fireballs combined— even Leo understands this.   

Surprising me, Leo thinks with his brain for once and breaks into a run, getting away from the Fireball’s trajectory.   

Yeah, like I am going to let you escape…   

“Mud!”  

“Aaargh!”  

I create a really small puddle of mud directly underneath Leo’s feet, making him slip. Though before he could hit the ground, my fireball hits him square in the chest.   

“Tch… Tch… Tch… Poor guy and his broken dreams.”