21 Protagonist Vs Reader.

I had severely underestimated the weight of the situation. Evangeline was only putting on a tough front, and I failed to notice that. In reality, her desperation to grow stronger and get recognized by her father was far more than I ever could have imagined. It seems like Sophia has opened up some old wounds from Evangeline's dark past.

This is getting more and more complicated. In the novel, the author didn't really specify what kind of past Evangeline had, or what her true motives were. He just wrote, "Evangeline Gracefield, a villain with a very dark past.", it wasn't really anything concrete.

Well, most lightnovels don't have a solid and concrete background of any villain...

'I'm more curious than anything right now... what exactly did Evangeline do in the past?', I wondered.

"*Sigh... You! Samuel Francis! You can run away now, or face me in a duel..."

Evangeline stared at Julian dumbfoundedly. She couldn't believe what she just heard.

"W-what... why...? Why are you asking for a duel...?", she fumbled out.

"I'm simply fascinated by the person who scored first in the written exams and wanted to test out his battle prowess!", Julian lied out of his teeth without even flinching.

'Well, I can understand why he's lying though. He knows that if he said the truth, that Sophia asked him to do this, the situation would only get worse for him. He just wanted to end this as quickly as possible.'

'If I lose this duel, Julian will be very grateful to me and probably even do me a few favours. His relationship with Sophia will also come to an end. Julian will become a lone wolf and progress through the story alone...'

'The story has already deviated way out of control. I can't do anything about it now...'

'All that said... I really fucking hate losing... so I'll win this duel without a doubt...'

After gritting my teeth because of the pain caused by deactivating concentration, I answered Julian, the protagonist.

"Okay, then... I am honoured to be recognized for my talents by the 1st place of the practical exams... Although I will accept your duel, keep in mind that I am a mage, so I will need to get my staff and robes before I can continue."

'What?! He already has a staff and a robe?', Julian thought.

"Sure... I'll wait at the duelling arena. You should arrive there within 30 minutes."

"Fine."

As I was about to leave to my dorm, I felt a pull on my shirt.

It was Evangeline, with eyes full of worry and sorrow.

"wh-why... are you doing this?! You won't win!"

"If I don't win, You'll probably be dragged away by them again. Would you want that?"

Evangeline's eyes were now almost about to tear up.

"wh-why are you so concerned about me here?! You should first ensure your own safety!!", she changed the subject.

"Heh... I'm sure to win this duel, Evangeline...", I answered with a smirk on my face.

She looked stupefied and asked, "What? how?"

"Remember the skill I used on you?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Well, I lied when I said that that was all it could do...", I informed her and left for my dorm.

Evangeline's expression was quite interesting, haha. It was a mixture of anger, hope, wonder and curiosity.

I got my staff and robes from my dorm and reached the duelling arena where I reunited with Julian and Sophia who was looking at me with distasteful eyes.

"I'm ready. Let's do this.", I told Julian.

"Then, let's go.", he replied as he walked down the arena towards its centre.

I followed and felt a gaze on me.

It was of course, Evangeline. She had worried eyes. But as soon as I looked back at her, she averted her gaze and started to fidget around.

"We begin when this coin hits the ground.", Julian said with a coin in his right hand.

I nodded in agreement and he tossed the coin into the air.

*Ping!*

As soon as the coin hit the ground, Julian unsheathed his sword and rushed towards me at an unbelievable speed.

But as soon as he got close enough to me, I casted 'Dark Press', which disbalanced his charge and caused him to miss me entirely. He barely kept himself standing after stopping all that inertia.

As he was in a shocked state, I casted 'Magic Arrow'.

Julian, sensing the arrow, jolted around and barely managed to deflect the arrow, although he still wasn't on safe ground.

Deflecting the arrow required him to pick up his sword from the ground that he was using as a cane to get his balance back.

As soon as he deflected the arrow, I casted another Dark Press on him, this time completely disbalancing him and making him fall on the ground.

He did try to dodge the attack after seeing the dark purple magic sigil appearing beneath his feet, but he was too late.

Sophia was in disbelief at what she was witnessing. The same could be said for Evangeline, who was thinking, 'He's much stronger than I thought!'.

Julian on the other hand was still composed. After a decade of fighting, he had developed his morale to the maximum. So he never got surprised by any type of new attack.

He simply got back up and looked me dead in the eye. It almost looked like he was staring into my soul.

He wasn't though. He was just trying to figure out what kind of movements I make before I attack or use a specific kind of spell. He probably already got an idea of how he could counter the Dark press and punish my casting state.

'Damn main character... he's unfazed!', I grumbled.

'But I'm not done yet, Julian...'

I activated Concentration and discarded most of my emotions.

I had no choice but to use my full arsenal of spells against Julian. He was that powerful, even in his weakened state. (Julian has lost most of the powers he had in the other world.)

Well, I guess the same could be said about me... I hadn't even reached the first degree of mastery of gravity magic, and yet I'm already this strong...

The stare-off lasted for a good minute before Julian broke the silence.

He started to breathe heavily and suddenly I could see a transparent green energy coating his sword.

'He's finally using it... Aura...'

Aura was the manifestation of condensed, liquified mana, which only a handful of talented awakened could use. It was mainly used by people who fought in close quarters.

Using Aura made the weapon and the body of the awakened several times stronger and faster.

High-level awakends could even launch a chunk of their aura towards a target far away from him/herself by slashing towards their direction.

'With the level of Aura he has now, it's impossible for him to launch it towards a target which is out of his sword's reach...', I concluded after seeing Julian getting ready to charge at me.

As soon as he charged towards me, I cast Dark Lift onto myself, reducing my weight and jumping several feet into the air.

Julian was unfazed by this yet again and quickly jumped up himself, reaching me in no time.

Although, that was a blunder on Julian's part.

I expected him to do that, so I casted a Gravity Bullet, aimed at Julian.

He saw the dark purple projectile and hit it with his sword, expecting it to be deflected.

But Gravity Bullet isn't a spell that can be deflected.

The bullet stuck to his sword and-

*SSSHHHHHWWWWOOOOPPP*

Julian got violently pulled towards his own sword, injuring himself in the process.

His Aura-imbued sword did multiple times the damage it should have done.

This blow managed to shock Julian. He was stunned by this attack that he had never seen before.

Although, he didn't let it get too into his head.

He ignored the pain and flew straight towards me, jumping up from the ground again.

'Shit.', I cursed as I had no means to defend myself against Julian at the moment. Force Smash wouldn't work mid-air, as it might backfire, and besides, I didn't have enough time to cast it anyways-

*Clang!* *BOOM!*

I defended against the sword's blade by using Amaranth. But that didn't help with the sheer force behind the attack.

I was sent flying towards the ground and crashed violently. I could feel my left hand's bones completely shattering and some of my ribs too.

The pain was tremendous, but I was still holding on quite calmly, thanks to Concentration.

Julian landed on the ground on his two feet and charged towards me again, this time a lot slower because of the injury in his right arm and ribs.

I stood up as well, and as soon as he got close, I casted 'Force Smash', violently repelling Julian's sword and body, sending him flying.

"TSK!", Julian got owned by that attack, which made him very angry. Although he had kept his composure in check at all times.

That Force Smash bought me enough time to get my bearings straight again and get back in the fight.

The fight was now almost over. I knew that I had to end it quickly, so I casted the Stone Barrage Reinforcement Combo.

Julian looked at the 4 rocks being formed and condensed and got ready to either dodge them or cut them down with his sword.

He increased his Aura and went into a defensive stance.

The rocks heralded towards Julian mercilessly and-

*BOOM* *SHANG* *SLASH* *CRUNCH* *BOOM*

He managed to block and dodge all of them, but he had underestimated the force behind the rocks, making him use a lot more stamina and Aura than he had originally planned.

As we were about to attack each other again, we were interrupted.

*WHISSSSSS*, the sound of a whistle. A very loud one, at that.

"This match is over.", a feminine voice greeted our ears. It wasn't Evangeline or Sophia but belonged to a much older woman. It was Julian's homeroom teacher, Mrs Annabelle.

Me and Julian looked at the teacher and looked back at each other again, before both falling to the ground because of the pain and exhaustion.