Chapter 42: The Scatter Bar
Waking up, the first thing I saw was a notification.
[Crying over a cat, Romeo? 😂]
I dismissed the screen.
[Don't close the notification. I saw you. Yesterday. In that room. Hugging a cat and crying like a child who lost his toy. Is this what you mean by 'protecting Lianza'? Hugging cats? 🤭]
By this point, what it said mattered little to me.
Garchi was now sleeping on my bed. After having slept curled up against my chest all night, I had noticed he trembled in his sleep. Was he dreaming of the day he lost his owner?
At least he was still alive. And I would make sure he stayed that way.
[Hmm? Silence? How boring. Well, let's have some action.]
[Mission: Flirt with your rival during the training match. Make her blush. Make her lose her concentration. 🌸]
[Target: Alexia Vane.]
[Reward: +10 Experience Points → Base Empero.]
[Penalty for refusal: Lianza will be unable to create ice during her next match. She will only be able to manifest her garnet aura. No elemental ability. Can you imagine what will happen, Romeo? 😊]
An eyebrow raised.
A training match? Wait a moment. How do you know all that will happen?
[It would be weird if someone like me didn't know. 😏]
No.
[No?]
I'm not doing it.
[Are you sure? Think carefully, Romeo. Your beloved Lianza will fight today. Without ice. Against someone who can hurt her. And all because you...]
I said no.
[...]
[You know what? I love it when you're this determined. Go ahead, Romeo. We'll see what happens. After all, if Lianza dies 'by accident' there are plenty of other women out there to conquer. 😊]
The notification disappeared on its own.
These were training matches. Someone like Lianza getting seriously injured in one seemed impossible to me. I trusted her and her abilities...
However, a bad feeling in my chest refused to go away.
I stayed in my room, tense. Processing the idea that I had refused a System mission.
Garchi seemed to notice my distress and meowed. I petted him.
"It's okay," I told him. "Everything is fine."
Everything was far from fine. I had just declared war on the Harem System. And Lianza would take the first hit.
Doubt began to creep in. If I did the mission, Lianza wouldn't be compromised; if I didn't, Lianza would see with her own eyes me flirting with a girl. Besides, Caspian was also there, and he wouldn't stand idly by watching someone try to steal the girl he liked right under his nose.
"I'll be gone for a bit," I told Garchi, filling his food bowl with meat strips. "Behave."
Garchi meowed.
⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽ ☆ ☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅
Duralianne's training arena was full.
Thirty-two students around the circle. Six in the center, waiting their turn. Duralianne standing by the edge. Her pink Empero contained. Her eyes scanning the combat list.
"Today we will evaluate six of you, darlings," she said. "Three matches. Basic rules: no attacks to the head once the opponent is on the ground. No lethal use of Empero. If I yell 'stop,' you stop. Understood?"
We all nodded.
"First match. Dariel Elcronne versus Alexia Vane."
Alexia stepped forward. Curly brown hair loose. Freckles. Closed fan in her left hand. She looked at me with surprise.
"Dariel?"
"Lady Vane."
"I didn't expect to fight you."
"Neither did I," I lied, because the System had already told me.
Alexia's Empero in the web novel was elemental. She could control the wind. She was among the top ten strongest students in all of Mayorka.
For someone like me, who had awakened his Empero only days ago, having to face her, even in a training match, was a titanic task.
That, without taking into account that my ability was far from easy to use.
We took our places in the center. Three meters apart. The sand crunched under my boots.
Duralianne raised her hand.
"Begin."
Alexia was fast. She manifested her Empero. Chestnut-brown. And immediately, wind gusts surrounded her.
She launched three quick blasts. One came from the right, another from the left, and the third, straight from the front.
Dodging the first two, the third came right at me.
Manifesting all the Empero I could, I concentrated it in front of me, creating a sort of barrier.
The gust crashed against the barrier and dissipated.
"Good," Alexia said, approaching.
Duralianne watched us.
I visualized a bar. Solid. The Empero concentrated in my left hand, forming the black bar.
Now closer to me, Alexia launched more wind gusts.
While blocking the first one with the bar, I visualized the word 'scatter.'
'You will scatter everything within five meters around you. You will consume the bar's Empero and activate upon touching the ground. You will only stop when I open my palm toward you.'
Perhaps it wasn't the best order I could write. Three sentences with specific commands that could backfire on me.
But it would suffice.
The strategy would be similar to the one I used that day to survive against Vauxol, but instead of absorbing, I would scatter.
The process of manifesting the word cost me time, which caused the second gust to hit my shoulder; however, I managed to dodge the last one.
[You're still in time. Come on, Romeo, tell her she looks splendid when she creates those wind gusts. 🤭]
I looked at Lianza. She watched me with her arms crossed.
I told you I wouldn't do it. Have you stopped to think that my reputation also carries weight? I don't want to look like a playboy in front of the woman I love.
"Is that all you've got, Elcronne?" Duralianne said from the edge.
"No."
Concentrating more Empero into the bar, I made it denser. I threw it at Alexia.
She dodged it. Easily. My control was too slow for someone with her speed.
But the bar wasn't aimed at her. It was heading toward the ground. At her feet.
The bar struck the sand. Sank in.
And it happened.
All the sand within five meters of the bar started scattering. A compressed sandstorm.
Alexia blinked and, coughing, covered her face. She couldn't see.
Taking advantage, I advanced, concentrating Empero in my right fist.
I struck.
Alexia blocked with both arms. Her chestnut Empero clashed against mine. Dark brown sparks scattered around.
The impact pushed us both backward.
I cast a quick glance at the bar: the word —which had anchored to its tip— had already consumed half of it.
I had to take advantage of what little time I had left.
She coughed. I was panting, but without stopping moving, searching for the exact angle between Alexia, the bar, and me.
And I raised my palm toward Alexia.
"No!" Duralianne screamed.
I didn't yield.
It happened fast.
The bar came toward me.
A loud shockwave was heard, dissipating the sandstorm I had created. The next thing I saw was a figure stepping between the bar and Alexia.
"I said no!" Professor Duralianne repeated, the bar in her hand. "You're disqualified, Elcronne."
"Why?" I protested.
"Lethal use of Empero. If I hadn't intervened... this bar would have pierced your classmate."
Everyone exchanged glances, not understanding what I had done. But it was to be expected; they didn't know how my Empero worked.
"Fine," I said, raising my hands. It was true: I had gotten carried away in the moment.
"Nothing 'fine' about it, young master." Duralianne's Empero waved fiercely around her. "What you just did is serious. When class is over, you will go before the Empero Council to be judged in person."