Cadmus waited patiently alongside Randall Crawford as Professor Mackenzie drafted a document behind her desk to make their duel official. While it was all well and good that they had a verbal agreement, without this document, their fight would be considered nothing but a spar, and the loser would lose nothing if he backed out of the agreement.

“These are some steep terms…” Professor Mackenzie noted. Then she shrugged, “But who am I to douse the fires of youth?” She slid the parchment towards them, “As written upon this document, if Cadmus Guiles wins this duel, then he will receive 1532 points from the guild Pride. If Randall Crawford wins this duel, then he will receive half of however many points Cadmus Guiles earns throughout the rest of his four years of schooling. Do you both agree to these terms?”

Cadmus and Randall nodded as one.

“Good, sign here then.”

Cadmus and Randall both signed where they were told.

“Alright, it’s official then,” Professor Mackenzie said, taking the document and storing it in a drawer, “The duel will be held two days from today in duelling ground three. If either of you is late, your opponent will automatically be considered the victor. Good luck.”

Cadmus nodded, and stepped out of Professor Mackenzie’s office with Randall.

“Good luck is right,” Randall said, an easy smirk spread across his lips like always, “Because you’ll need it.”

When Cadmus finally got to his dorm room, he let out a large sigh of relief. The day had been tremendously tiring.

Not because it had been mentally taxing, mind you, but because it had strained Cadmus’ admittedly short patience to a near breaking point.

After challenging Randall Crawford at lunch, he had wanted to go and get an official document drafted up right away, however, he had two classes after that, and Alice had forced him to go to both. The next two classes, ‘Beginner Mathematics’ and ‘General History’ had been boring beyond belief, and the whole time Cadmus’ head was stuck only on the large amount of points he was soon about to earn.

It wasn’t that Cadmus was bad at either math or history. On the contrary, his quest to revive the dead had required him to dig through many historical accounts of necromancy, and spell creation, in general, required a high aptitude in mathematics.

And neither did Cadmus have any complaints about the teachers of both classes. The teacher for ‘Beginner Mathematics’, Jon Morae, was a distinguished old man who carried himself proudly, and taught his subject with the utmost seriousness. And the teacher for ‘General History’ was a sweet woman in her fifties, who seemed to be a little too thin than was healthy, and taught her subject with the enthusiasm of a child reading adventure stories.

They were both exceedingly competent, and taught their subject matters well. It was just that Cadmus already knew most of what they were teaching, and his mind was burning in anticipation at finally getting the official document for his duel with Randall Crawford signed. That way, Randall wouldn’t be able to change his mind and back out from the duel.

Someone knocked on Cadmus’ door. He set Alice down on the bed and opened the door.

It was Oliver.

“So? Did you sign the document?” He asked impatiently.

Cadmus nodded, “Yes.”

Oliver groaned and let himself in. He took a seat on Cadmus’ chair, “I told you not to go through with it! Randall Crawford isn’t a genius, but he’s pretty decent at fighting.”

Cadmus closed the door and took a seat on the bed beside Alice, “Indeed?”

“Yeah! There’s a reason he’s Pride’s guild leader!” Oliver exclaimed frustratedly. He groaned again and palmed his forehead, “Well, what’s done is done. Why’d you ask me to meet you here? You want me to try and find out what magic he specializes in?”

Cadmus shook his head, “No, there’s something else I want you to investigate.”

Oliver raised a curious eyebrow.

Randall Crawford couldn’t keep the grin off his face as he entered his guild room. A guild room was just an unused classroom given to a guild to use as they saw fit, and it probably cost the Academy nothing, but it was nice of them to do so all the same.

There was no guild meeting today, so there were only a few guild members lounging about inside, conversing with each other and playing board games. They greeted Randall as they saw him, and Randall nodded back.

However, right now he only intended to speak to one person.

“Jack,” he greeted.

“Hey boss…” Jack Blunt greeted back, his features still as troll-like as ever. Honestly, Randall wondered not for the first time, how could a person be so ugly?

However, Jack was useful and loyal, so Randall didn’t actually care all that much about his physical features.

“Alright, so the duel’s going to happen in two days,” Randall said, “I need you to rally the guild members and tell them to spread the word that ‘the Necromancer is about to face the guild leader of Pride’ in a duel.”

Jack didn’t say anything, but the look on his face clearly asked: ‘why?’

“A lot of the school’s heard of the Necromancer, but they don’t actually know who he is or that he’s never actually fought in combat before,” Randall explained, “When I beat someone as well-known as him, our guild’s prestige is going to go up by a lot, and we’re going to get a ton of new members.”

Jack looked unsure, “Boss… are you sure accepting that duel was the right idea?”

Randall paused for a second. Jack almost never second-guessed his orders.

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“It’s just… Guiles seemed very confident when he challenged you,” Jack said, “That’s kind of suspicious…”

Ah, so it was just that.

“I’m not an idiot, Jack, I noticed that as well. Fortunately, I already know why he’s so confident,” Randall said, “It’s because he knows a lot of powerful spells.”

Jack looked confused.

“Creating the first ever homunculus must have taken a lot of knowledge,” Randall answered before Jack could ask, “I have no doubt that some of that knowledge includes some insanely powerful spells that I’ve never even heard of.”

Jack opened his mouth, and Randall stopped him from speaking by holding up his hand,

“However, Guiles has never fought in actual combat before, so he doesn’t know that his advantage is useless. The more powerful a spell, the more complicated the formula for the magic circle. The more complicated the formula, the longer it takes to draw it out.” He grinned, feeling the anticipation build up inside of him, “I’ll cut him down before he even finishes drawing his first magic circle.”

In the two days leading up to the duel, the news spread like wildfire.

‘The Necromancer is about to face the guild leader of Pride in a duel.’

You couldn’t go anywhere in the campus without hearing this rumour, and Randall was proud of his guildmates for making it so.

By the time the date for the duel arrived, there was a restless anticipation in the air. What would the Necromancer fight like? What kind of spells did he use? And why would Pride foolishly challenge the Necromancer?

Thus, when Randall—the underdog in the eyes of the whole school—won, Pride would become the next new hot guild that everyone wanted to join.

Currently, Randall was waiting in the preparation room (Cadmus Guiles and he had both been directed to separate ones), and he could hear the countless number of people chattering outside.

The door opened, and an Academy staff member walked in,

“You may enter the field.”

Randall didn’t need to be told twice. He walked through the door and out onto the duelling ground.

The duelling ground was essentially a roofless stadium. There was the platform where he and Cadmus would fight, and then there were the thousands of seats surrounding them placed like ascending stairs.

And boy were those seats full. It seemed that a majority of the Academy had come to watch, cheering loudly as he walked out—Randall even spied the famously uncaring Dragon Princess stonily watching them out of the corner of his eye!

Across from him, having walked out at the same time, was the ever unflappable-looking Cadmus Guiles. Rather than focus on the cheers of the students around them, or the opponent in front of him, he was inspecting the ground below.

“It’s enchanted with laurite,” Cadmus mused, “A magic circle to enhance our voices? No, it’s a magic circle to enhance all of the sounds that those who stand on this field make.”

Admittedly, it was a little irritating to see that Cadmus Guiles wasn’t taking him seriously at all, but he suppressed his anger. He would get his revenge soon anyway,

“Yeah, it makes duels more exciting for our audience when they can hear our battle.”

“I see.”

An Academy staff member, dressed in the usual sharp midnight blue uniform, stepped in between them once the cheering died down. He raised his arm,

“Once I lower my arm, the duel will begin,” he said, “You will lose if you are either knocked unconscious or if you announce your surrender.”

He walked away from them, his arm still held high.

Randall tensed his muscles, ready to explode into action, and the mana inside him tingled as he prepared to use it.

Cadmus Guiles, however, still didn’t look too focused. Sure, he had brought up two fingers, ready to draw, but other than that, he didn’t look ready to fight at all. His muscles were relaxed, and he hadn’t even lowered his centre of gravity.

Well, all the easier for him.

The staff member lowered his arm, and at the same time, Randall and Cadmus got to drawing their respective circles.

As expected, Randall finished first, and cast the tremendously basic and easy to draw [fireball] at his opponent.

Cadmus yelped and clumsily dodged out of the way, taking his magic circle along with him. Randall adjusted his aim, but it seemed Cadmus had already finished his own magic circle.

That had been quick, but no matter. A magic circle drawn this fast would only have a simple function that would depend more on the proficiency of the caster.

Still, Randall had to admit that Cadmus Guiles was an incredibly quick drawer. He had drawn a fairly complicated magic circle in approximately the same time as it had taken Randall to draw [fireball]—which was just two circles with a triangle contained within.

Randall fired another [fireball], and once again, Cadmus barely dived out of the way, somehow still managing to keep his magic circle from harm.

While his drawing speed was incredibly fast, Randall could see that Cadmus’ physical abilities were far below average. Despite having dodged [fireball] only twice—and barely by the skin of his teeth at that— he was already looking tired and pained at all this physical exertion.

Well, that was just disappointing.

Randall adjusted his aim again, but this time Cadmus struck first. He pointed his magic circle at the ground in front of him, and his magic circle shined as he pushed mana through it.

The ground Cadmus had aimed his magic circle at rose as though gravity had been inverted, and took the form of a humanoid. Its features quickly morphed into a tall naked male who’s flesh was peeling off, showing off the bones and muscles within.

“A golem?” He asked a little disgustedly.

“No.” Cadmus said.

The hideous… thing opened its rotting mouth, and a rasping, tortured voice left it,

“Do you not recognize me, dear brother?”

Randall’s mind went blank, and his heart skipped a few beats. Almost on instinct, he took a step back.

“O-Oscar? That’s impossible—THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE!” He was gasping wildly now, he knew that, but he couldn’t stop the wave of panic that was flooding in, “HOW DARE YOU? MY BROTHER IS—”

“Dead?” Cadmus guessed, looking unfazed, “It’s true, I’ve never fought before. However, I hope you haven’t forgotten my title.”

No… no—no—no—no—no—NO!

What was he saying? Had he really…?

“I am—the Necromancer.”

A deep fright settled inside of him, chilling him to his very bones. He could feel himself trembling as he tried to take a step back. However, his legs gave out on him, and he ended up falling on his butt.

“You have disappointed me, Randall…” the monster accused. Oscar accused, “You have shamed us…”

“No! That’s not—”

“You have shamed our parents… you have shamed the name of Crawford… You have shamed ME!”

“NO! PLEASE! I was just trying to live up to your legacy!” He was crying now. Ugly, messy tears poured down his face, “I just… I just wanted to be as good as you! That’s why… please…”

Oscar slowly reached for him with a skeletal hand, and Randall was reduced to a mass of bawling of quivering. He wasn’t even sure what Oscar was intending to do with him, but as he reached closer, Randall knew that he had never been more afraid than now.

“I SURRENDER! PLEASE—I’M SORRY!”

Oscar froze. And then he collapsed into a pile of dust.

The stadium was deathly silent. Everyone was just staring, with wide, fearful looks on their faces.

“Sir.”

Cadmus’ voice seemed to echo louder than anything Randall had ever heard in this silence.

“R-right. Victor: Cadmus Guiles…”

There were no cheers or claps. Everyone was still too shocked to speak.

“O-Oscar…?” Randall asked hopefully, looking at the pile of dust in front of him.

He had wanted to ask what had happened to Oscar. He had wanted to ask if he could speak to him later, when he was ready and of sound mind. When the panic of the dead coming back to life had faded.

He had to explain himself to Oscar. If his brother hated him in death, then…

“It was a fake.” Cadmus said. Randall looked up at him, confused, “If I could revive a dead person’s soul to that extent without any laurite, then I wouldn’t have needed to come to this Academy. I simply used my title to my advantage.”

Only now that he wasn’t looking down on Cadmus Guiles, could Randall see. There, in his narrow green eyes that seemed to glow under the shadow of the sun and his own unhealthily pale face, there was not an ounce of care or worry. To Cadmus Guiles, Randall had just been an annoyance and a roadblock.

Cadmus turned to leave,

“Sorry, but this is the only way I know how to fight.”

Cadmus reunited with Oliver—who had held on to Alice for the duration of the fight—in the great hall after the match. Unfortunately, his points still hadn’t been updated on the board.

Oliver had been silent for some time now, and Alice was the same, having quietly settled back into his breast pocket with a complicated expression on her face.

“That was… terrible to watch,” Oliver finally said, “Don’t get me wrong, I bet Pride will leave us alone from now on, and I’m thankful for that, but… that was just really painful to watch.”

Cadmus wasn’t sure how to respond. Mainly because he didn’t really care, and he would readily do something like that again if it would help him get closer to his goal. However, he didn’t want to be impolite, so he just nodded.

Oliver shook his head with a sigh, “Anyway, how did you create that fake-Oscar thing? Was it a golem?”

“Correct,” Cadmus said, “Remember when you asked me about Alice’s creation?”

“‘I could create a human-like golem and even fill it with voice lines right now if I wanted to,’ you said,” Oliver remembered, “So that’s what you did…”

“Yes, and since the golem was only designed to broadcast voice lines, walk forward, and raise an arm—the magic circle was really simple to draw,” Cadmus said, “Also, those voice lines were prerecorded. Thank you for investigating Oscar Crawford for me by the way. It looks like your information was correct—Randall Crawford really was desperately trying to chase after his virtuous brother.”

“How did you even know Randall had a brother?” Oliver asked, “You were the one who told me to investigate Oscar Crawford after all. And if you hadn’t given me his name and years of schooling, investigating him would have taken far longer.”

Cadmus grinned, “It was just a series of lucky guesses.”

Oliver glared at him, “Oi.”

Cadmus chuckled in amusement, “Alright, fine.”

He pointed at a plaque on the wall. Oliver took a look.

Class of 219 C.E.

1st: Ember Guiles (200 C.E.—221 C.E.)

Guild (Prosperity)

Points Earned—9718

2nd: Oscar Crawford (200 C.E.—222 C.E.)

Guild (Virtuous Heart)

Points Earned—2565

3rd: Rey Tozer (200 C.E.—Current)

Guild (Three Heads)

Points Earned—750

Guild Victor: Prosperity (Points Earned—12,453)

“Woah… your sister got first place?” Oliver asked with an impressed whistle, “And this amount of points is insanely high!”

Cadmus nodded, “Yes, but take a look at second place.”

Oliver did, “Oscar Crawford…”

“I was shown this plaque when I first arrived at this Academy because my sister is on it,” Cadmus explained, “And when I heard Randall Crawford’s name, I was reminded of this plaque. With Oscar having been in a guild called Virtuous Heart, I figured there must have been some conflict to exploit with him and his decidedly non-virtuous younger brother.”

Of course, even if there wasn’t a conflict to exploit, Cadmus would have used Oscar anyway. He wasn’t a master at understanding people, but at the very least, he understood well how the ghost of an elder sibling could haunt someone.

“So… you bet everything on a family name?” Oliver asked, “That sounds very risky.”

“Of course, their shared family names could have been a coincidence,” Cadmus shrugged, “In which case, I would have figured something else out. In any case, my risk paid off.”

Professor Sellae walked into the main hall, and using a strange silver rod, updated the board.

50th: Cadmus Guiles—1532 points

Cadmus couldn’t help but laugh a bit, remembering Randall Crawford’s boast.

“‘Ranked among the top fifty’ indeed…”