Chapter 160 - Aftermath Of The ‘Spar’

There was a little bit of intimidation in his voice, causing the students to disperse instantly. Looking towards Arthur and Layla, he thought aloud.

"Whatever shall I do with the both of you?"

He sighed as he released his aura, making them regain their movements before looking at the damaged Training areas.

'Punishments are futile and would most likely get me a target on my back from both the royalists and the Grand Duchy. Guess I will just fine them and get them to pay for the damages done and the medical bill for the students.

Nahh, the second one is useless; the school infirmary exists after all. Seems like only the fining is plausible.'

He then turned to the two and spoke aloud.

"Two training areas damaged and there are two of you, each one pays for each area's damage. The bill would be sent to your rooms."

The moment he finished, he vanished from the spot leaving the duo behind.

"So in the end, who won?"

After a few seconds of silence, Arthur asked out loud, causing Layla to facepalm while sighing.

"Is that really all you can think of right now?"

"Yep."

Seeing Arthur shamelessly nod while replying, Layla sighed once again and turned to Nicole and Edward who had finally come closer.

"Who won?"

Edward was still trying to comprehend the fact that he just saw Arthur who was supposed to be unable to use his energy, utilize not only aura, but magic, and even cast multiple spells with the proficiency of someone who was definitely not using his energy for the first time.

Nicole on the other hand, was staring at the duo blankly while thinking of whether to reprimand them again or just ignore the incident as a whole.

As for Esna, she was applying first aid magic on her ankle that she sprained while trying to escape the debris from the collapsing building.

"Well, they are all out of commission so let's call it a draw."

"Agreed."

Layla and Arthur came to an agreement as the duo decided to call it a day and return to their dormitories.

◇ ◇ ◇

If the two top-ranked third years of the royal academy were to have an unofficial duel, there wasn't much of a problem, after all, friendly spars were not prohibited by the academy.

However when said 'spar' ends up destroying not one but two of the private training areas, then there are bound to be rumors flying around.

Many knew about how strong each of these training rooms was and the fact that the duo destroyed the entire building in the course of their 'spar' was quite shocking, to say the least.

The press clubs didn't hesitate to latch on to the story, interviewing other students who were in the area in hopes of finding out what truly happened and how it did.

A few students who were passing by and saw the building collapse also happened to see the duo duking it out as the clashing of dark and silver auras was too hard to miss.

As for the issue of Arthur using aura, with the existence of a convenient artifact known as 'Aura Augmenter', that question could be answered before it was even asked.

However, for a certain lesser royal who was present since the beginning of the 'spar', he knew fully well that all that was a ruse and Arthur could actually use his own aura.

Naturally, Arthur who had partially given up hiding his ability to use his energy didn't bother to give him a proper explanation and left it all to Layla who didn't understand the full story herself.

She did succeed in making sure Edward would not, willingly or unwillingly tell another about it. As for Nicole, she was fully trusted by Layla and Arthur as such they didn't bother going through all that stress for her.

This left Edward aggrieved but understanding that the duo had known Nicole for far longer than they had even known of his existence, he decided to let it go.

When the bills for the damages caused by the two, ended up being forwarded to their respective households, they ended up being called back home and scolded by their parents.

Correction; Layla was scolded by her mother who summoned her to the Eryrth mansion on Aeturn, while Cattleya ended up calling Arthur because she wanted to upgrade the tracker she previously placed in his body.

As for the plan, the two had to go over to a special realm where a day was 48 hours instead of 24 for training, which ended up being canceled as 'punishment'.

Eventually, the duo returned to school before anyone, save Nicole, realized they were even gone and carried on with the rest of their third year.

Arthur also received the location for the very suspicious auction that the drifters were organizing and Larry had got him to attend.

It was to take place on a certain planet Nemo, the planet that could be considered the headquarters of all affairs that occurred in the Nemo Galaxy.

Apparently, dignitaries from all across the hell universe, even other universes were going to attend, in disguise of course.

The auction was barely treading the line of what could be considered 'legal' according to the Devildom's laws so no one wanted to be recognized at such a place.

In fact, if Arthur didn't know Larry personally, he may have not known that the drifters were the ones planning it behind the scenes.

Not wanting to also be implicated in whatever mess was going to go down afterward, Arthur also planned to go there in disguise and not publicly carry anything that he was known to possess.

Like a certain semi-transparent blade that was bound to him.

The goods to be sold there were also kept secret, this made the potential attendees anticipate it even more.

The months rolled around as the preparations were being made and soon there was only one month left to the auction and three left to the end of the year.

While thinking how time passed so quickly, Arthur dragged Layla over to a nearby star system that was known for its high-quality energy cores, to do a little bit of training.

The real aim was for him to get in shape for the inevitable battles that were going to break out after the auction itself ended and people were all trying to rob each other of whatever they had bought.

Knowing himself, there was no way he would not attract substantial attention so he planned to get in shape before this happened.

{Hey y'all, it's your friendly neighborhood _michael. So the events that occurred when Arthur dragged Layla over to this nearby star system are pretty much what happened in the first five chapters. From Chapters titled 'A Thousand years ago' to 'The Story begins'

Just wanted to let you know ????}

Of course, in the event that someone above his league tried to rob him, he would either attempt to escape or obediently give up the item they wanted.

The option of having Lute fight for him was out of the question as Lute would not be following, or to be precise, Arthur was going to have Lewis' cousins hold Lute and his team off while he made his way over to Nemo alone.

After being followed by Lute and his team to almost everywhere he went, Arthur wanted to take this chance to experience going off to a potentially dangerous place on his own.

It was a decision that could be considered unwise by some but Arthur was never one to care much about other people's opinions.

And like so, as the year drew to an end, the Long-awaited Auction was finally beginning.

◇ ◇ ◇

On a certain high-level planet, one filled with an abundance of magic power and other energies in its environment was a garden of flowers. It was one that covered an area that was easily as large as a major city in any world.

The smell of roses wafted through the air as the morning sun, casted its glow on their petals. One could hear the chirping of birds and the tinkling of wind chimes as a cool breeze blew through the garden.

The garden was truly a delightful mix of fragrance that was brought alive by the sounds of nature and enhanced with colors that only Mother Nature herself can create.

In the middle of this garden, sat a beautiful young maiden with fair skin. One whose face could only be described as the epitome of young beauty. She was clad in long flowing clothing and had a wreath of blooming flowers on her head.

On her laps, was a dog that seemed out of place in this beautiful scenery. It was black with three heads and three pairs of deep blue eyes. From each of its open mouths, one could see its teeth that were sharper than blades forged by master craftsmen.

It had a small crown of flowers resting above its middle head and it snuggled on her stomach as she patted its back.

Suddenly, the three heads all snapped in the same direction as the dog let out a low growl with its eyes glowing.

"GRRRRRR....."