278 Chapter 278: Practice Matches

After a night of discussing both history and business with Principal Porter, I was finally released and allowed to return to my room.

Honestly, I had nothing to say. Principal Porter could just read all the stuff I showed him. I was merely just regurgitating past scholars' work, without having any of my own ideas or arguments in the mix. Mostly because I was a half-baked scholar who was more interested in magic than studying. I liked reading and writing, that was for sure, but I preferred to be practicing my own magic.

Even so, I couldn't help but feel excited. Once this exchange session was over and we returned to Jing Tian Academy, I could prepare for yet another expedition. Even though they were two different fields, history still had an intimate relationship with archeology, and I really couldn't wait to join the expedition. I wasn't as sanguine about venturing through the notorious Black Underworld Swamp, but as with everything else, I took it in my stride and hoped to get it done and over with as soon as possible.

At the very least, the Black Underworld Swamp and its denizens provided me with ample opportunity to sharpen my fighting skills and polish my magic. They were a different type of opponent when compared to human mages, but they would still present quite the challenge. A fight to the death was still a fight to the death, and would help me hone my senses and instincts to their peak. If anything, I preferred fighting monsters to humans anyway. Not because they were easier, but because I was supposed to protect humanity, not…defeat them.

Unfortunately, what I wanted wasn't always what I got. There were times when I had to fight other humans to protect innocent civilians.

Anyway, I managed to finish reading several of the books and I brought them back to the library. On the way there, Lilith waved and approached me.

"You are the Garrulous King!" she shouted.

"…say what?" I responded, utterly baffled. "I'm the what king now?"

"Never mind." Lilith folded her arms and glared at me. "You can continue pretending, but I know the truth! I know your real identity!"

"Lady…you're not making any sense at all. Are you perhaps confusing reality with some web novel?"

Lilith sulked. "What web novel? I'll have you know that I never read Battle Frenzy!"

"Lady, you're not convincing anyone here. I didn't even mention the title, yet you already know the specific web novel I'm referring to. We don't have any OP system, I'm not some overpowered Mary Sue dude who can use every weapon in existence, I don't dive into any pseudo virtual reality system to fight other people, I'm not the team captain of Jing Tian, I'm just ripping off scholars from my own time instead of actually innovating stuff and contributing to the creation of knowledge, I don't have any clown floating around me, I don't have weird out of body experiences in some spiritual plane where I meet people from the empire and go on adventures in strange tombs with them, and I certainly don't have a harem of beautiful girls falling for me just because they think I'm some mysterious fighter who kept his identity a secret while maintaining an unbeaten record."

"Uh…" Lilith was unable to catch up with my wall of text that she actually blanked out for a few seconds. "All right, you win."

"As all things should be," I replied, relieved. "Anyway, I'm sure you're not here to break the fourth wall and rip off Battle Frenzy, are you? Are you looking for me for something?"

"Um…" Lilith looked at me guiltily. She couldn't possibly be serious. Did she really come here to troll both me and the readers? Seriously?

"…"

"Okay, okay! I really did just come here to accuse you of being the Garrulous King! That's what Laura did in Battle Frenzy, and I'm supposed to be a copy of her!"

"Then do something original to distinguish you from her! Don't just rip off a character from another story!"

"Ahem…" Harrison cleared his throat behind Lilith, and both of us immediately shut up when we realized we were making quite the ruckus in the library. "Sorry, Miss Lilith, but if you have no important matter to discuss with Richard, then I would like to impose on his time right now."

"You need me for something?" I asked, feeling relieved that someone was going to approach me with serious business for once. At least Harrison wasn't a rip-off of some character from another story…

"I'm supposed to be Reed from Battle Frenzy, minus the unbelievable villainous side."

"Are you reading my mind or something!?"

"Do you really think you're the only one who can break the fourth wall?" Harrison crossed his arms. "That aside, I need you in the gymnasium. We've a practice match with the students of Sexton Academy today."

"Oh, okay." I lifted the books I had placed on the table. "Let me loan these out first and I'll join you in a second."

"Why are you even borrowing physical copies?" Harrison asked, perplexed. "You could just order the digital copies online and read them on your smartphone or Kindle device. They don't take up as much space and are more accessible and convenient. You didn't even need to physically come to the library and carry those books around in the first place, and you won't have to worry about returning them."

"You're right." I looked a little sheepish. "But if I don't come to the library, I wouldn't have done that whole writing in someone else's holographic bulletin board thing, and we wouldn't have this scene where Lilith accuses me of being a Garrulous King."

"Remind me why we even need that scene…no, actually, please don't." Harrison realized I was going to give him a troll answer. "Anyway, let's go. Excuse us, Miss Lilith."

"I'm coming along if you don't mind." Lilith was smiling. "I want to watch."

We headed to the training room where I had sparred with Lilith just the other day. Quite a lot of students had gathered in the gymnasium, which wasn't unusual. Many of us came here with the goal to learn each other's magic and size up our potential rivals and challengers in the upcoming tournaments. The sparring matches also provided ample opportunity for preparation and practice for the actual thing. In fact, there were already a few practice matches held between several schools, but fortunately Harrison was on top of things and he had already recorded them.

"Why are you having a practice match with Sexton Academy?" Lilith asked curiously. "Did they challenge you? Did their vice-captain hold a grudge against Richard? Did their vice-captain beat up Theodore as revenge after being humiliated by his wrong prediction that the Garrulous King would lose his OP system match?"

Both Harrison and I stared at her, completely confounded.

"Do you know what she is talking about?"

"No." I had an idea, but I wasn't going to admit to Harrison that I knew she was referencing Battle Frenzy, or I would look like I was participating in the trolling as well. I wanted nothing to do with her odd commentary. "She's speaking in some alien language I can't decipher."

"B…but it has to be, right?!" Lilith protested. "Otherwise why would Sexton Academy randomly challenge you? Their captain or vice-captain must be holding a grudge against the protagonist and seeks to humiliate his team! That must be the only reason!"

"Miss Lilith." Harrison was struggling to sound patient. "I'm not sure where you get all these weird ideas from, but real life does not operate in that way. Most people can't be bothered to go out of their way to humiliate you for no reason other than because you're the protagonist. And most people wouldn't hold a grudge over something as inane as 'you're trash, therefore I must put you in your place.' Especially toward someone they have met for the very first time in their lives. Do you randomly walk up to a stranger and start mocking him just because he's from another school?"

"No…"

"There you go. Besides, we're not the only ones who have conducted practice matches. Crimson Valley Academy and Redfield Academy just had their practice match not too long ago. Veritas and Reunion Academies are just about to finish theirs. And after our match, Springville Academy and Huo Tian Academy will be having theirs. I'm sure none of them are sparring because their captains hold a grudge against the other school and seek to humiliate them."

"Uh…"

"Besides, isn't that what we are all here in the first place?" I stepped in before Lilith could cry from Harrison's tirade. "Practice matches. Preparation for the national tournament. It's only natural we want to do test runs and probe each other's strength before the actual thing."

"Geez! I know! I was just trying to make a joke! Why can't you guys get the reference?"

"Because I'm not a fan of Battle Frenzy," Harrison replied shortly. Probably because the guy his character was based on was some awful one-dimensional villain who existed only to shallowly give Wang Zhong and Tian Jing Academy problems. Don't ask me why. I don't know the reason either.

I had to admit, I enjoyed reading quite a lot of Battle Frenzy, though. There were a few flaws, yeah, but it was still good, mindless fun, if you aren't too anal over logic.

Fortunately, the rest of the team was already assembled.

"Captain Harrison?"

A handsome, blond guy approached our team leader. Harrison nodded and bowed politely.

"Captain Paul?"

I immediately recognized his uniform. So this was the captain of the Sexton Academy team. He smiled.

"Since this is just a practice match, I probably will sit this one out. I mean no offense, but I would like to assess the capabilities of my team members, and hopefully improve upon their weaknesses later. I hope you don't mind."

"No, of course not." Harrison shook his head. "You should do what is best for your team. I will certainly be doing what I think is optimum for my team as well."

"Thank you for understanding. I just thought I'll inform you, as a courtesy, just to ensure there are no misunderstandings."

Lilith was raising an eyebrow at that, no doubt thinking something along the lines of Paul being some sinister schemer who was looking for an excuse to save face if they lost, even though the reality was clearly different.

"Thank you for telling me. I suppose I'll extend the same courtesy to you as well, and also tell you that I won't be participating. I also want to watch and analyze the abilities and skills of my own team members."

"No problem. That sounds good. I'm glad you share the same view." Paul was nodding in approval. "Our teams can't rely only on their captains alone. It'll be good to see how they perform without us, a good stress test in case we somehow get incapacitated during the tournament."

With that agreed, the two team captains shook hands amicably, and then they headed toward their respective areas.

"So there you have it, Richard. I'll be relying on you."

"…wait, what? Why me?"

"Because if I'm not around, you'll be next in line to lead the team, duh."

"…please don't put such pressure on me. You know I don't have such leadership capabilities, the charisma or the tactical nous to take on such a role."

"Oh, you don't need those. You can just be you." Harrison patted my shoulder and grinned. "I'm counting on you."

In a few minutes, the lineup for Sexton Academy was announced, and they were sending out a single guy and four girls.

"…do they think this is a fashion show instead of a practice match?" Craig muttered. He wasn't alone. All around, the students from the other schools were buzzing.

"Whoa, they certainly score full marks for style!"

"One King and Four Queens…how divine!"

"They look amazing! Those four girls are goddesses!"

"That guy is an Adonis! I want him to marry me!"

I could hear fans screaming in the background.

"Paul really didn't take part," Theodore noted, having heard the conversation earlier. "You're going to stay out of this, Harrison?"

"Yup. There's no need for me to join."

"Are you sure about that?" for some reason, Lilith had followed us back to our team area. "I know they look more like idols than mages, but those girls there are really strong. Their teamwork is impeccable. And that guy, Gray Winters, is a prodigy of the sword. Although he hasn't beaten Kureha Franklin, he's still pretty close to her in terms of sword skills. They call him the second Charles Lacroix, except that he doesn't use lightning magic."

"Even so, Gray Winters is neither Kureha Franklin nor Charles Lacroix. And even if he is, I will still have confidence in my teammates." Harrison turned to us. "Go get them, guys."

Pushing my glasses up my nose, I took a deep breath and nodded. Truth be told, I was looking forward to this match.

"We'll do our best."