37 Black Versus White

Surviving the tiresome afternoon lessons, the time for the grand match between Mika and Belian was near.

While the first students left the classroom in a rush, Mika leisurely packed his things together.

"Don't make us wait too long, okay?" Ophelia said as she passed by his seat.

Unlike other days, he took more time than he actually needed and waited until he was the only one in the class.

Then, he took multiple deep breaths.

It was in solitude, where Mika could calm down.

[Just for once, I will ask you again. Do you want to take on this quest?]

"Huh? This isn't like you. Wouldn't you usually push me into taking on a quest? Did you have a change of heart?" Mika wondered perplexed.

[...]

Mika sighed.

"I don't turn back on my words. I will take on this challenge."

At first, it seemed like he was unwillingly dragged into this, however, he was secretly motivated to see this through as he thought about the reward.

This could be his chance to move up his magic rank to B.

[I see.]

Mika stood up from his seat.

"In the end, I just have to survive for three minutes, right? As long as we can rope him in with our plan, it will be my victory."

Following those words, he finally left the classroom behind and headed to the portal connecting to the arena.

As he passed by multiple students in the hallway, he noticed that there were only students with grey or red uniforms.

With the black class having the most students in the entire year, it would be rather unusual if they were not seen in this big hallway.

However, Mika did not give it any more thought and entered the portal.

"Oh, there you are! We were slowly growing impatient."

The first person to greet him in the arena was Ophelia, who had a smug grin on her face.

"Let me offer you my thanks for accepting my sudden request." Belian showed his gratitude politely.

"No need to thank me. And you don't need to speak so politely with me, you know...?" Mika replied slightly taken aback as he was still unfamiliar with being treated this politely by someone his age.

"I see... I will try my best." Belian answered pensively.

The three stood in the midst of the arena, but they were not the only people present.

"Jeez, what took you so long?"

"For a minute, I really thought that you would run away."

Mika turned his face annoyed at the direction of the voices he was acquainted with.

"Seriously...?" Mika remarked unimpressed.

Watching him from the stands were Lily and Sylvia.

However, his focus shifted quickly to the people sitting beside the two girls.

Just like Sylvia, these people wore a white uniform.

"I'm sorry for not mentioning it sooner, but my classmates insisted on observing our match. I hope this doesn't distract you." Belian explained.

"No problem..." Mika replied unsure while he still stared at the two.

Whereas the petite girl with long brown hair, Rachel Troa, was about to doze off, the tall and bulky guy, Harik Srong, gave off an intimidating aura as his intense stares were perceptible despite wearing sunglasses in the dimly illuminated arena.

"You can do this!"

"Show them what the black class is capable of!"

Behind his back, Mika heard a horde of people cheering for him loudly.

"I suppose, it's more than fair if you bring your own class with you as well." Belian stated with a faint smile.

Mika turned his neck and saw that said horde only consisted of his classmates.

[No wonder that they were rushing to get out of the classroom back then.]

"Haha..." he laughed wryly as he waved his hand at his class.

Roughly more than 100 students were cheering on one side, while the other side had only four students. Putting Sylvia and Lily aside, Belian only had the support of two people.

"Now then, without further ado-"

"Can you wait for a moment?"

Ophelia already raised her hand to signal the start of the fight, but she was cut off by Mika.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Before we start, I wanted to talk with you, Belian."

"What do you want to talk about?"

"You were the one, who suggested this match, but isn't this unfair? Isn't it clear that you, a white-class student, will win against me, a student from the black class? Even now I still don't fully comprehend why you wanted to fight me, however, I can tell you that I neither possess strong magic nor do I wield a relic, if you were wondering. In other words, my fighting abilities are completely trash compared to yours." Mika elaborated as he smiled trying to act confident.

"So? What's your point?" Ophelia meddled in with a thrilled smirk.

"Well, how about we fight it out with our fists?" Mika suggested.

"This is what you came up with...?" Ophelia muttered in a disappointed tone with her shoulders slumping down.

"That's fine with me." Belian responded unaffected by the sudden change.

No one saw or heard it, but Mika faintly sighed in relief.

"I won't use magic nor will I use my relic. But I won't forbid you from using magic."

"Heh, are you looking down on me?" Mika huffed.

"You will see." Belian stated calmly as he already took up his stance.

His stance looked like he was about to sprint.

Mika pondered.

Was he about to just blindly rush at him?

Nonetheless, Mika raised his guard up.

"Alright, with everything said I will now announce the start of the match!" Ophelia declared to the audience.

[Starting the countdown.]

Thus, everyone's eyes were even more glued on the two than before.

Who would make the first move?

What will be the first move?

The atmosphere was tense.

"Hwuaahh~" Rachel yawned while stretching her arms.

"The match is over." Harik stated sternly.

"..."

Even Sylvia had a concerning look, which was untypical of her.

"Huh? But they didn't move yet." Lily said without hesitation.

Despite this being the first time she interacted with white class students aside from Sylvia, she already spoke to them casually.

"The one underestimating the other is that boy~" Rachel said tiredly as she stared at Mika.

"?"

Lily tilted her head in confusion.

[Don't let your guard down.]

"I know, I won't-"

"!"

He did not even blink and yet, Belian appeared in front of him as if he warped himself.

How could he move so fast without strengthening himself with magic?

This was Mika's last thought before he got hit.

A loud banging sound echoed in the space after Belian kicked Mika into his side.

Mika crashed into the wall causing debris made of stone to fly in the air.

Sandy dust gathered around Mika making it unable to see what his current status was.

Lily and Mika's entire class were shocked to the core.

"Oh boy..."

Ophelia shook her head.

"The winner is-"

"Please wait." Belian cut her off.

"Hm?"

Confused, she looked at Belian, who passed by and headed to Mika.

It was still too dusty to recognize anything in it.

Belian squinted his eyes as he moved forward.

Sand got into his eyes, however, he could not afford to close his eyes.

He just moved forward.

Slowly, the dust started to clear up.

At his feet, there were big stone chunks meaning that he was near the wall.

It also meant that Mika must also be lying there.

"?"

He started to recognize a silhouette, but as soon as he did, a hand reached out to him and grabbed his arm.

Taken by surprise, he got pulled in.

"Ugh!" he groaned silently.

When he was drawn in, he was confronted with a vicious headbutt.

Belian was about to take a few steps back due to the impact, however, he was still grabbed on the arm.

"!"

Then, in a split second, he could not see anything anymore as a punch connected to his face.

Finally free from the grip, he staggered a little bit.

Wiping the small blood trail coming out of his mouth away, he sharpened his gaze.

The dust almost cleared completely.

Thus, the silhouette of a certain person was even more visible.

"Damn it..."

That person sounded like he was out of breath.

"Now I see what you meant... If I hadn't used my magic to strengthen my defense, then it would be already over."

"..."

Emerging from the dust was Mika, who was bending over slightly as he gasped for air.

Blood dripped down from his head and his body was covered in bruises.

Lily, who was spectating everything from the stands, was stunned.

"Is this the strength of Belian Ziva...?" she muttered in disbelief.

She could not imagine how powerful that kick would have been if he infused it with magic.

"Ha! This is to be expected!" Harik huffed with his arms crossed.

"I-I see..." Lily replied frightened off by his sudden shout.

"No, you don't." Rachel said in an unexpectedly serious tone.

"You have to understand that he is not just a normal S rank. He is something special." Harik began to elaborate with a nervous grin.

Sylvia pressed her fists frustrated against her thighs as she bit her lips without anyone noticing.

"After all, he is the man who defeated all three of us at once."