THAT DAY I BECAME A STAR

"You are even more rude than I thought."

"And you are stronger than you look."

After Germinia finally releases my foot, I go to Lanuvel and stand next to her. Yeah, like I thought, I am not short. She is just really tall.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"He is checking you out."

"I am not."

"Pervert." Lanuvel blushes and pinches my cheek. Seriously, I was not.

"You don't punish him?" 

"No."

"I had a guy trying to feel up my ass once, I cut his hand and made sure he ate all the fingers on it before letting him go."

"Huh…That's…that's a bit too much." Lanuvel's looks change completely after she hears Germinia say that. It's not that cruel, I think. Though, I should remember that just in case.

"No, from the moment he decides to put his hands on my body even though he was weak, he should have been prepared for the consequences."

"Does that mean you were prepared to let him have his way as well if he won?"

This girl speaks as if she would assume the consequences of her actions, no matter what they were. I kept acting like her. But in the end, I am just a coward who can't even tell the truth because he is afraid.

"That's the motto of my family. Only act because you will face the consequences."

"I see. That's interesting."

"I don't think a weakling like you would ever understand such principles though."

"And why is that? Also, you keep calling me weakling but can you measure strength?"

"I can discern the blessing of people, yes. And yours is weak, really weak."

"Germinia was born with special eyes from what she told me."

"Right. Anyway, you shouldn't rely on your eyes too much. Or you will lose and die before you can even notice."

"They never failed me so far so…"

"So far, yes. Anyway, Lanuvel, I wanted to see you about the class's exams. Samson told me my own would be in two days."

"Yes, indeed. Is there a problem?"

"Who will be the referee? Who do I fight?"

"I think you will fight a teacher normally. The referee is a teacher as well."

"Then I will fight Albert."

"It's not up to you to decide. The school will decide."

"I am sure he will be my opponent. I better be ready this time."

"So, is that all? That's the only reason you wanted to see me?"

"Yeah, thank you." I leave them but then I hear a silent growl coming from Lanuvel. Did I anger her again? Even though I did nothing?

***

After playing with K'nor a bit. I go to the smithy but Sophia tells me that Frank is absent as well. First Claire then Frank, this is weird. Just like the day before, I go to their house but nobody answers. Could it really be that they all got kidnapped?

I go to the guild and meet the city's guards on the way.

"Hello."

"Good morning, sir."

"Please, can you tell me where is Miss Claire?"

"The captain? She hasn't been around for around three days, I think. She sent a letter saying she had an errand to do."

"Did she say for how long she was going to leave?"

"Something like two months."

"I see. Thank you."

For Claire to leave in such a hurry that she would not even take the time to inform anyone directly, it is really weird. But if she sent a letter so I guess it is possible. Though I have a really bad feeling about this.

***

Two days later, the heroes are not back yet. I thought they were just going to punish Farner but it seems there is something else.

"I guess I will worry about that later."

When I enter the training grounds, I see Lanuvel and the others sitting with smiles on their faces. When did they get here? At least that explains why I didn't see anyone this morning.

Even the girl from before, Germinia, is here as well. She is sitting close to Lanuvel. So close I am pretty sure she can feel her breath.

On one of the stages, Albert is standing with his arms crossed. Just like I thought, he will be my opponent. Smith is here as well, so he is the referee, then.

I get on that stage and advance to Albert.

"So, you are my opponent after all."

"Nope. Sorry but teacher Smith here is your opponent. I am just the referee."

"What?"

***

"Wait, why?"

"Why?" Smith advances and places himself between me and Albert. "What? I am too weak for you?"

"That's what you said."

"Don't try to act smart with me. It won't work."

"Calm down, both of you." Albert moves to the side and now, he is the one to come and separate us, using his arms to draw us away from each other.

"I am perfectly calm." Now that I look closely, Smith is more tidy than normal. His hair are neatly tied up behind his head, his glasses are resting on his nose like normal, his clothes aren't wrinkled. What happened? Did he have a change of personality or something?

"No, actually, it might be a good idea to fight you." You did tell me not to dirty the honor of the omega class. I should make sure you won't do the same.

"Kevin, this is simply a small spar to determine the class that would suit you best. It is not a fight to death. Don't forget that."

"Even so, I should at least show what I am capable of, right?"

"Naturally."

"Okay, good."

"Don't hold back or I will send you flying." Smith is really confident. Well, he should be since he is a teacher.

"Okay, take this." Smith gives me a wooden raizen. It is heavier than a normal one. "It is part of the test."

"I see."

I place it on my shoulder and on the other side, Smith brings a staff out as well. But it is not a normal staff. It is smaller and the head looks like a mace. It is made of a crystal contained in a prison of sharp blades.

"Are you both ready?"

Just as we shake our heads, Albert lowers his hand while jumping backward. But none of us moves. I thought Smith would attack directly but the way he is looking at me…

"You are provoking me, huh…"

Since he is kind enough to let me have the first hit, the least I could do would be to not disappoint him. The crescent bullet is not really a secret anymore since Farner saw it once. Let's start with that. A full one made of all types of Angas.

"WHAT??!!!"

"WHAT IS THAT?!!"

Everyone, Smith included, scream as they see the bullet appears above my hand.

"That?" I look at the bullet myself and yeah, it really looks beautiful, though it thinks Excafol's were more beautiful than that. "That's how I am going to defeat you."

"Don't get cocky!"

Smith points his staff at me and it shines red. Before it activates anything, I launch my bullet and it hits his staff, exploding loudly. Almost at the same time, Smith appears from the smoke created, thrown back quite far.

Still, he manages to recover his posture before he goes out of the stage. As he stands back up, stunned from the hit, I notice his arm is badly hurt.

"Oops." It seems I put way too much Angas into this. "Sorry."

Smith looks at me, but instead of anger, his eyes are full of joy and curiosity.

"Incredible!!!" He runs to me like a madman, uncaring of the fact that we are fighting. "I have never seen something like this!"

As he reaches me, he grabs me with his still functional arm and brings his face so close he almost kisses me. I thought he would be angry or sad but he doesn't even look sad at all. I had hoped to see him reacting badly as I would win but now, I don't even know how I should react.

"What script was that? How did you do it? What inspired you?"

Smith discharges so many questions my brain is in shambles. Plus, his hot breath keeps hitting my face and it is uncomfortable.

"Can you move away first?" I push him away then strike my raizen to the ground. "Our fight isn't finished you know. You should stay on your guard."

"Who cares about this silly fight?!! Your class is already obvious anyway! Now explain to me how you managed to create that script!"

"Teacher Smith." Albert intervenes. Thanks to him, I won't have to knock this guy down. "Do you want to put an end to the test?"

"Of course, I do. I have more important things to a-"

"Then please go to the infirmary and have yourself heal first. You are bleeding."

Smith looks at his arm and seeing blood flowing from it, his expression completely changes.

"Oh shit." He falls to the ground like a rock without any other movement. What in hell just happened?