Chapter 3: Lessons on Dueling
FALL TERM - DAY 7
Aries de la Fel was running his mouth again and this time, there were consequences. Namely, that Blackclaw picked me to go first to duel against his teaching assistant. Did I mention that I hate this class?
I'm here because I wasn't left with much of a choice. Considering I'm here to learn how to practice magic, I figured all of my classes would include spellcasting. Not so. So far, it's been a lot of lectures, a lot of assigned reading, and then a sliver of spellwork wedged into Blackclaw's combat lessons, and only Blackclaw's combat lessons. Unfortunately for me, that meant I had to enroll in this class for the rest of term. I'll be stuck with Aries for ten more weeks.
Because of course he signed up too.
So, Aries was running his mouth. "Don't go easy on me, Noodle. I can take a hit."
If I looked up, hoping I might see someone sock him in the gut, could you blame me? But no, he was talking to a yellow-furred dogfolk boy, Noodle, who sat in the row behind us. His pink tongue was sticking out and his fluffy tail thumped against the wood back of his chair. He wasn't really the type to hit anyone.
"I had a personal trainer that said half of fighting is learning how to fall. He was a werewolf, by the way, and you better believe he didn't pull punches."
I snickered to myself. Only Aries would brag about being good at taking a beating.
Over the last few days, I realized Aries mostly just left me be if he saw me reading a textbook before class. He was still too loud and sometimes he pulled one of my horns to the side as he slipped past the back of my chair to his seat. But like I said, mostly left me alone. But right then, he'd noticed me looking on. Which might as well have been a written invitation to engage.
His lips twisted up into a smirk. "You ready to duel with us today, Zeph?"
Zeph?What the hell? I couldn't help myself. "You want to duel? You don't know how to cast anything yet. Don't be ridiculous."