Chapter 34:

Chapter 34:

There was actually more to the fight than just 'don't kill your opponent', no doubt Luvia was trying to be dramatic. Really, it was just basic etiquette things, like don't purposely blow up the building, don't hurt spectators blah blah, common sense things.

"This will be an open match, any spells are acceptable as long as the rules are followed." Luvia stated, facing the crowd, hyping it up.

She was really trying to embarrass Rin here, honestly this just went past amusing and fell flatly on annoying. I'm sure in her mind, this Alistair would defeat me then she would gloat and blow it up saying how 'Rin's Friend' was so easily defeated. Basically, just twisting in the knife after she won their earlier spar. Honestly, this is pretty tame for 'plots' go in this place.

"Can we just get on with this? I need to get back to my workshop." Rin replied with detachment, much to Luvia's annoyance. I smiled slightly, realizing that Rin also knew exactly what buttons to push on Luvia.

"Hmph, Lets see how long you can stay so relaxed." Luvia frowned, turning back to the arena. "Let me introduce our fighters! On the left we have Alistair Edelfelt, third son of the second branch family. Even with being the third child of the second branch family with no Crest of his own, he was able to pioneer a new path for his own Thaumaturgy only using the basics of our families' specialty."

Hoh? His own path, maybe that's why he was 'elevated' to the position of Luvia's bodyguard? She's the most talented of her family or did she have a sister? I vaguely recall that she was someone extremely important to their family line, basically one of or the next in line to lead. That's probably why she had several bodyguards following her around.

A branch family member, and not even the first child, no doubt he received very few resources and had to rely purely on his own skills and talent.

My interest was piqued now, a 'new path' I'm curious what he's used their Jewelcraft as a foundation to achieve? The barest of basics was known about Jewelcraft across the magical community, the non-scions would probably have a little bit more than that to work with.

"And how about a welcome to a new member of our prestigious institute, coming from the East, a first-generation magus and a Runecraft Practitioner, Wilhelm!" She exclaimed, intentionally iterating my background.

Well, wasn't that the unholy fucking trifecta of nonsense that the people here look down on. I could hear the laughs and jeers directed toward me and feigned ignorance, but I definitely remembered faces.

I looked around and caught Artoria's eyes. I raised an eyebrow as she looked back at me. Only receiving a small nod, but I could pretty much understand her message. It seems like I have her 'blessing' and I do want to leave a good impression.

Bounded Fields sprang up around us, a defense mechanism that allowed the fighting to not carry over to any bystander. Not something absolute but it was the bare necessary for a type of facility like this. Well, the facilities here were something admire, while not all that impressive on the surface, the ease of use and application was noteworthy.

"Begin!" Luvia shouted as all the mechanisms fell into place.

Well, bonus points to my opponent, he didn't act cocky and immediately acted, Reinforcement covered his body and I mimicked the action, but instead of charging right at me, he dashed to the side and threw a handful of gems into the center of the area.

No that wasn't quite right, they weren't quite 'gemstones' they were pieces, like a few were shattered into dozens of smaller ones, Topaz's if my eyes didn't fail me.

They sunk into the ground as their mysteries actualized, ignoring the tiles and other barriers to their target. It only took a moment for something to rise up. Ñøv€lRapture marked the initial hosting of this chapter on Ñôv€lß¡n.

"Golems, now that's a surprise." I said honestly. "And they even looked above average, curious, I know it takes a bit of effort to makes golems of this quality, and you did so instantly."

Alistair came from my side, every step he took practically dug into the ground as he charged with an overhead fist. I ducked, knocking his fist away and used his own momentum to throw him towards the wall.

Surprisingly, he was able to fold into my own 'attack' and reorganized his fall to catch himself from suffering any damage.

I suppose it has been a while since I've fought someone in hand-to-hand that could move at these kinds of speeds, perhaps I'm rusty? I felt a small smile form on my face as he moved back in ducking close to the ground and trying to sweep my legs by swinging both arms.

With a stomp on the ground I cast an Earth Wall right infront of me as his arms smashed it to pieces. With a wave of my hand, several runes appeared, floating in air infront of me. As the wall crumbled, they actualized, forming into flames and firing off like bullets towards my opponent who nimbly dodged each one.

Once again, I'm impressed. He shouldn't be any more than one or two years ahead of me yet he has a good amount of experience and spellcraft under his belt.

This time he chose to duck behind the pillars holding the ceiling up. Hats off to my opponent, his Golems didn't allow me breathing room as they also moved to surround and attack.

He also didn't reengage, opting to allow his disposable minions to wear me down and gauge my reaction. Say what you will about the Edelfelt, but they sure train theirs well.

***

"Her face! It was priceless!!" Rin laughed heartily as we walked down the halls. "And then you were like 'Excuse me I wouldn't want my Asian Barbarianism to contaminate you any longer' when she tried to apologize after hearing your name!"

"Yeah she was getting on my nerves." I just nodded, I wasn't going to hold Rin's hand all the time and try to meddle with her issues, but some lines needed to be drawn.

"She should keep her head down for a while now, alteast I won't have to hear that bitch's laugh until her family is done punishing her." Rin happily jiggled the bag full of jewels. "And she has to pay me even more gems! I wish I could see the look on her face when she has to go to her family and beg."

"Well, I'm glad you like my present." I just smiled, recalling a few memories of this girl from my last life. It was amusing how she never even considered 'declining' the gift I gave her.

".....are you really Zelretch's grandson? You said you were a first-generation." She looked at me as we turned a corner.

"We have no blood connection, if that's what you're wondering." I said honestly. "But yes, we are related and the best way I chose to address it was being his Grandson, it makes it simpler for all involved."

She just signed. "You have that same 'I know more than you' look that the old man does."

Really? I need to check that out in the mirror and learn how to do it intentionally.

"I wonder if he's home...." I said quietly as we approached his 'room'. It was more like an underground mansion. The place was hard to describe, a lot of the infrastructure was actually underground as it got closer to the tomb with the better atmosphere for experiments. "Lets see if I remember how to do this." I began tapping the door in various places. There was no 'handle' it was magically locked in a very intricate way, but it seemed like it was the same as I recalled. " There we are." I said as the doors disengaged and all the traps and defense turned off.

"I guess you really do know him then." Rin finally acknowledged "I don't think anyone would be brave enough or stupid enough to actually try to break into here."

"You'd be surprised." I said with a small chuckle. 'He' didn't get that mask of a Prankster without good reason. In fact, it all started with some idiot breaking into his(my) workshop and stealing an old prototype for his jeweled sword. You throw one guy into a dimension filled with some very affectionate tentacle monsters and suddenly you're a 'prankster'. "Wonderful, he isn't here yet!"

"Why is that wonderful?" Rin looked at me in confusion and Artoria followed us inside. She seemed relaxed enough, I guess they've both been here long enough to not tip toe around everything. But she also seemed rather relaxed in my presence, not nearly as on guard as I would have imagined.

This was technically Zelretch's 'Workshop' but really only one room was dedicated to that, another was for Rin's own workshop and various other living spaces. Hell, there was a room that was specifically Zelretch's office, the target of my attention. "Because I can now raid his liquor cabinets."

"Will you now?" A voice grabbed all our attention, and I felt a chill run up my spine as my eyes widened. The family face that I saw a thousand times when I peered into the mirror of my memories, the same eyes, the same 'look'.

I didn't even fucking sense him, I didn't feel any speck of his presence as he used the Kaleidoscope to appear here.

"Master." Rin said respectfully.

"Rin, I hear you got into a fight today." He smiled ever so gently, but dear god did it give me anxiety for some reason.

It was like an invisible pressure weighing down on me.

[He's strong] Ddraig spoke up. [Your memories don't really do it justice.]

Yeah, I was really a monster in my previous life.

"It was nothing, just a stupid spar." Rin huffed in annoyance and Zelretch just chuckled, turning towards Artoria.

"What a beautiful flower." He flipped his hand revealing an elegant vase with some water already inside it. "It would make a lovely decoration."

"Thank you, Wizard-Marshall." Artoria said respectfully.

"And my 'Grandson.'" His eyes bore down on me, I felt so insignificant for the briefest of moments before he pulled back, I was moments away from doing something to diminish the pressure myself. "I see." He stroked his chin. "I assume we have quite a bit to discuss."