“At least introduce yourself, man,” Jordan admonished, and the tall teenager had the good grace to bow sheepishly.

  “Sorry, sorry. I still have my blood up from the duel,” he said. “I am Thaddeus Rottiman, though everyone calls me Thad.”

  Oh, this is too good, Orion thought, trying to hide the amusement from his face. So far, the Radiant Vigil had just been a bunch of muscle-heads that would have been at home among gym culture back on Earth, but he knew better than to dismiss them.

  The paladin order was a major faction, comparable in size and influence to the Lunar Sanctum. They couldn’t be that straightforward, no matter how familiar they appeared or how friendly they acted.

  In fact, Orion was pretty sure that more than one older paladin was currently watching him. One at the window up there, another on the other side of the training ground, and at least one more who is pretending to tend to the gardens.

  They weren’t particularly subtle, but then again, they didn’t have to be. This was their embassy, considered a piece of their own land. On it, only their laws could be enforced, and now that Orion was looking for it, he could tell that the constant pressure of Valderun’s wards was as light here as it was in the Sanctum’s embassy.

  If they decided he was an enemy, only Magistra Kissea would stand between him and certain death. While he respected the old woman, he doubted she would be able to face everyone here, let alone the entire embassy.

  Their local representative is just a Second Order paladin, so her tier is around three rather than four like Yue's, but that doesn’t mean she should be underestimated. To hold such a position, she must have the confidence of the Grandmaster.

  “Pleasure to meet you, Thad. I’m Orion, as you might have heard. I’d be glad to have a friendly spar,” he finally replied, setting the stakes light. He would participate in this test, but he wouldn’t let himself get carried away. “Though I warn you, I am a mage, and I fight like one. Don’t come crying when you lose without having touched me once.”

  As expected, that sparked a round of excited yells and shouts. The squires gathered on the training ground seemed to view the banter as good sportsmanship, so Orion thought it would be a good way to further endear himself, even though it wasn't his natural instinct.

  It did, however, have the effect of making his opponent that much more competitive. Thad grinned nastily, stomping to the opposite end of the ring and gesturing for him to come closer. “Let’s see if you are all hot air, pretty boy.”

  The jab at his appearance annoyed him, but Orion knew better than to show it, so he pressed a hand against his cheek and batted his eyelashes. “Are you coming on to me? I have to warn you, you are a bit too muscular for my tastes.”

  Groans and loud laughter echoed again, and Orion took that moment to inspect Thad.

  [Thaddeus Rottiman - Lv. 31] [Radiant Squire - D-Rank]

  So, not another extra ranker. I was starting to think they grew on trees, considering how often I’ve met them. It was still a respectable level, given that Thad was about his age, and most of his class in the Sanctum still hadn't reached level twenty-five, let alone surpassed thirty.

  Orion supposed there had to be a reason his comrades were so confident in his chances. However, it didn’t make much sense, since Jordan was way more impressive stats-wise.

  I guess I should show off a little. I came all this way to impress, after all, and if I lose now, the pride of the entire Sanctum would be on the line.

  Not that he cared much for such things, but if he wanted to build his reputation beyond being just an interesting oddity, he would need to draw a clear line in the sand between himself and his “peers”.

  Fortunately, he had his Computing Crystal with him, which meant the duel was basically over before it could even start. Now he just had to decide how long to let this go on.

  I don’t want to humiliate him, even if that would make my name known quickly. No, that could jeopardize my good relationship with Jordan, and I’m not in a hurry yet. I don’t doubt everyone else will want their turn in the days ahead, so I’ll aim to dominate without overwhelming him.

  The healer who had directed the previous fight and whom Orion had secretly checked and learned was actually a second tier on the verge of the third, came to a stop between them.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “This will be a friendly duel between Thad of the Radiant Vigil and Orion of the Lunar Sanctum!” He shouted. “I will call the beginning and the end, and there will be no disputing my calls. First blood, submission, or removal from the ring are all acceptable victories.”

  Once he was certain neither contestant was about to argue, the healer stepped back and signaled for them to prepare. “One, two, three! GO!”

  Immediately, Light mana began to gather around Thad, but in a way that was very different from most witches. Instead of creating shields or preparing a powerful attack, Orion saw that Thad was channeling the energy into his own flesh, pushing his body beyond its limits and gaining a substantial boost in physical strength.

  That looks like magic to me. I don’t understand why everyone insists that the paladins are not a magical class when they are so obviously one.

  Pushing aside matters of semantics for now, Orion quickly spun up a [Light Shield] through the CC and was rewarded with a less flashy but more durable construct that he knew could withstand whatever Thad might throw at it.

  If I had it when we were attacked on the carriage, I might have been able to do more than just run away.

  Still, this could serve as the first real field test. Seeing that Thad had finished his buffing sequence, Orion started walking toward him, clearly catching many of the onlookers off guard.

  Mages, after all, were known to avoid anything that required using their body, and few things were more involved than getting close to a melee fighter.

  Thad didn’t seem intimidated by the display, merely grinning wider and rushing ahead.

  Now, Orion was pretty sure he could end this very quickly, but that would involve shooting deadly lasers at innocent teenagers, so he refrained from that course of action.

  Instead, he cast one of his favorite spells, covering the entire ring with it.

  “[Antigravity]” he called out for the benefit of those watching. Chantless spells weren’t necessarily all that impressive, since anyone could master a tier zero spell to that level with some effort, but his creation was clearly above that.

  The slightest change in hue all over the ring was the only warning Thad received before the world upended. With a shout, the large boy went flailing, trying to use his powerful muscles to pull himself back down to earth.

  To his credit, it only took him a few seconds to realize his efforts were futile and that to break the spell, he would need to use his own mana.

  By then, however, Orion was already preparing his next spell, all the while carelessly walking toward his opponent, unaffected by the change in gravity.

  As mana gathered around Thad, strong enough to break his spell, Orion took the opportunity to cast a new effect over the field.

  “[Warm]” he said, and Fire mana surged, creating friction in the air and turning the ring into an oven, once again forcing Thad to focus on protecting himself.

  Luckily, Orion had guessed correctly because his opponent was able to endure the discomfort and heal himself from the worst of the damage, thus surviving something that would have cooked him alive if he were an ordinary person.

  Still, he hadn’t cast that without good reason. The heated air swirled, responding to physics just as it did magic, and Orion spun one last spell before reaching Thad, placing his hand on his glowing form.

  “[Wind Push]”

  What was essentially a strong gust of wind fueled by a good amount of kinetic energy came together just as he pressed his fingertips against Thad’s armor, giving the impression that it was his gentle push that moved him.

  Thad exploded outward, rushing out of the ring and slipping through the crowd just enough to show that his trajectory was intentional.

  All three spells had been executed with an expeditiousness and smoothness that would have matched a caster of a higher rank, and Orion knew the masters among the observers had noticed.

  Still, he’d stuck to tier one magic aside from [Antigravity], which was a highly complex spell that didn’t look very impressive unless you could peer into its inner workings like he could with [Verification Principle].

  It is not as unique a trait as I initially thought it to be. Since Antares directly told me he has ways to access information from the System, it must be available to at least some classes. However, it can't be that widespread, or everyone would realize that magic isn’t as simple as they imagine.

  “The winner is Orion of the Lunar Sanctum!” The healer shouted before rushing over to where Thad was getting back up.

  The squire tried to wave him off, but the man wasn’t about to be denied and quickly wrapped him in a lattice of healing magic, which eased the redness of his skin caused by [Warm] and put him back to rights in just a minute.

  Meanwhile, Orion checked out his gains.

  SYSTEM NOTIFICATION

  +4.750 Exp

  Level up!

  Well, I've been using a new spell and have been working hard over the past few days, so it makes sense.

  Most of the experience came from his unique use of [Warm] and [Wind Push] together, but some of it was from winning the fight. It was quite the feat of magical combat, after all.

  Hmm, I could probably get more if I took the time to understand how his magic works.

  The fight had been too intense for him to stop and analyze Thad’s spells, but he doubted it would be an issue, given the calculating looks everyone in the training grounds was giving him.

  “Well, that was even better than I expected!” Jordan shouted exuberantly, walking up to him and slapping his back, this time with a more acceptable strength.

  Thad shook his head, much like a dog, and squared up to him. For a moment, Orion wondered if he’d overestimated his friendliness, but luckily, that turned out not to be the case.

  Grinning widely, Thad reached out with his meaty hand, and Orion soon found himself on the receiving end of a vigorous handshake. “That rang my bell!” He laughed uproariously.

  Smiling faintly, Orion nodded, “At least you took it like a champ.”

  Jordan snorted, patting his friend on the back, “This guy can take a lot of damage, but he still needs to improve his situational awareness. All the fights he lost in the past month were because his opponent maneuvered him out of the ring.”

  Thad smiled sheepishly, ducking away from Jordan’s quick flick at the back of his head, “I get a bit too into it most of the time, but I couldn’t even attack once! It’s not my fault, you should fight him yourself, Jordan.”

  Jordan hummed thoughtfully, clearly considering Orion’s apparent age alongside the show he’d just put on.

  “Oy, there is a line!” someone shouted from the back, and Orion turned to see that indeed, a line of would-be fighters had formed, all of whom were eagerly grinning at him, just waiting for their turn.

  Resisting the urge to groan, Orion told himself this was what he wanted. It wasn’t easy to convince himself, but he didn’t have other options.

  Well, at least I should be able to figure out their magic this way. That should give me enough to level up again.

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