I put my foot on the knife's hilt, keeping the woman's hand pinned to the ground. For the first time, she was looking at me not with anger or resentment, but with genuine fear.

I guess she had decent instincts. She could probably sense that I wanted to kill her.

Fortunately for us both, I have fairly good self-control. I waited until the bounty hunters had her restrained, then pulled my knife out of her hand. After that, I redid her bonds even more thoroughly than before.

They had originally been quite secure, but this woman seemed to be made of rubber. One could call the results of my second attempt to tie her up 'overkill', but I wouldn't. It would be fair to say that she probably wouldn't be going anywhere this time.

As I walked away, she seemingly mustered up her courage.

"If you didn't like me, then why did you help me?" She asked, in a small voice.

Because I hate seeing people act like beasts.

But I didn't feel like explaining myself to someone who just tried to kill me and then sexually harassed me to boot.

"Enjoy your last night of fresh air," I said, "Because you'll probably be spending the next decade in jail."

We arrived at the city the next day.

With the bounty hunter captain vouching for me, I had no issue entering the city.

This city, Sakkan, had one of the most well-known magic universities in the continent. With many people learning the basics of magic from lone mages in rural areas, it was difficult to monitor exactly how they were taught. As such, in addition to admissions from regulated secondary schools, the university also accepted students based on their rankings in publicly available, seasonal exams.

The next exam wasn't for about a month. I used my share of the money I got from the girl's bounty to rent a place in a densely populated area (with very good security), near the university. Several less popular classes didn't care if random people sat in on them, so I chose a few of the more interesting ones to audit while I waited.

My favorite was a course on anti-magic. The method of constructing such fields was fascinating and extremely complex. I experimented a bit, but my skill as a mage was far from enough to create one at anywhere near its full potential.

I spent some time manually learning the local language, too. Somehow, when I arrived, I was able to communicate perfectly with everyone, but it felt more like an auto-translation of my intent than me actually knowing the language. Who knew when this effect would stop working?

I don't like relying on things I don't understand.

Of course, there were the usual kidnapping attempts by agents of the Temple of Light. I knew how to make magic shields by this point, and the rudimentary version of anti-magic came in handy, too.

With these and my instincts, I never had too much trouble getting to an area with lots of guards, at which point the kidnappers would typically leave.

There were also some powerful spells targeting me that seemed to be launched from very far away. There was probably an archmage casually tossing them my way, or something. They had effects like plunging me into nightmares based on my worst memories, making me mindlessly walk in a certain direction. etc.

But they were a lot weaker than spells of that caliber should've been, and I was able to free myself. They were probably targeting me using the bullshit name I gave the priestess, which wasn't a name that had power over me. Eventually, I guess whoever was casting them realized it wasn't working, because they stopped.

Anyway, like this, a month passed without notable incident.

The time for the exam arrived.

In addition to magic, the written portion covered a variety of subjects, such as math, magic history and essay composition. I had read up on the basics in the public library, so these weren't a problem.

The practical portion involved casting modified versions of basic spells. Obviously, that didn't pose any trouble either.

I ended up with the highest score in my group, which is approximately what I wanted. A random woman walked up to me and told me not to get arrogant because she'd 'beat' me next time. I ignored her.

There was an optional combat portion that, after some thought, I had decided to participate in. While the combat courses were the least interesting to me, it would be good to be able to get regular practice.

Unlike the first two parts, which were for admission purposes, the students admitted through their secondary schools could participate in this as well, if they wanted to do related activities. The combat courses had a different system for accepting students.

Watching the matches was Myra Valentine, the Tower Master of the combat department. She was known as the Temple of Iron's strongest mage and it was rumored that one of her ancestors was a phoenix.

She had championed major reforms which smoothed the very rocky path for female mages and revolutionized the way magic was used in combat, greatly reducing the casualty rates of normal soldiers. I actually held some amount of respect for her accomplishments.

That was until she swooped in out of nowhere, grabbed me, flew us some distance, and dumped me in an empty arena.

"I saw your last few fights, kid, and I think you've got a rare talent."

I eyed her warily and waited. If that was all she wanted to say, she wouldn't have taken us to this place.

Sure enough, she continued.

"So, how about we spar? If you can land a hit on me, I'll take you as my direct disciple."

I already knew who I wanted to study under, and it wasn't her.

"I'm sorry, but I'll have to decline. I appreciate the offer, but I'd like to go now," I tried.

She responded by coating one of her fists in fire and swinging it at my head.

"I didn't expect you to be such a coward. Don't worry, I'll beat that out of you!"

I could tell she was holding back but as I defended against her hits, she increased her power and speed. It had barely been months since I had first felt mana. I didn't stand a chance against the strongest mage in one of the strongest countries in the world.

Soon, I felt like coughing up blood, but I managed to get a word in.

"Don't you feel bad using brute power to abuse a student?"

She shook her head.

"Amazing!" She cried, "You're even more talented than I thought. Alright, I've decided! We'll spar like this every day until you land a hit and become my disciple! This will also be fantastic for your growth!"

What the fuck. I had heard a lot of unreasonable statements recently, but this had to be a winner. This psycho wanted to abuse me however she liked every day, with the only exit clause being if I accept her as master? Fuck that.

Looking her in the eyes, I drew my knife and calmly stabbed it into my shoulder, right up to the hilt. Magic could fix it, but I still did my best to avoid hitting anything vital.

"I'm not a coward," I said.

Myra Valentine looked confused, but she nodded.

"And I don't think you have much to teach me about hand to hand combat."

I said that knowing it would provoke her, so I quickly continued before she could protest, "But I'm willing to be proven wrong. Right now, you're beating me easily because you have countless years of mana at your command. Even if you use nothing but brute force, I don't stand a chance.

"If you can defeat me without using any mana, I'll accept that you're the more skilled fighter, and you can do what you said. But if you lose, you have to leave me alone.

"Otherwise, even if you beat the shit out of me every day, I won't cooperate with you."

Valentine looked quite angry, but considering to her behavior, it was a reasonable proposal.

"Fine!" She snapped.

Professor Delaney, the man who taught my anti-magic class, set up a large field where mana couldn't be used for us to fight in. For some reason, he looked quite angry at me. Was it because I was making him waste his time?

That was unfortunate. I'd have to find some way to make it up to him.

News of our bet had spread and there were a fair number of spectators. That was good. I didn't know if Valentine was trustworthy, so it was reassuring to have witnesses.

The healers patched me up and we took our positions. The signal for the start of the match went off. Valentine closed the distance and threw a jab at me.

I could see why she was so confident. It was probably the monster blood, but even without mana, she was significantly stronger than the average male human athlete.

It wouldn't be enough.

The match ended predictably, to me at least. Back on my home world where there was no magic, if there was anything I was truly created to do, it was fight.

I baited her into giving me an opening, kicked her in the face, and then, before she could recover, kept punching her in the head until she fell down and the referee stopped us.

The beauty in Valentine's combat style was in the way she used her mana. Without it, she could only be called 'skilled'.

A hush fell over the crowed. Professor Delaney looked thunderstruck.

Then, the whispers started.

In front of the murmuring crowd, Tower Master Valentine pushed herself into a sitting position and stared at me with empty eyes.

"We will hold the wedding in two weeks," she stated.

"What wedding?" A bad feeling started to creep into my stomach.

"Our wedding," she replied, in a voice devoid of emotion.

Fuck.

What the fuck.

"Have you thought about this? Do you have any idea what a terrible idea it is? I don't even want to marry you!" I was too shocked by this absurd turn of events to say anything eloquent.

"I will marry the one who defeats me in combat. I will keep my vow," she said, with that same vacant stare.

Like hell you will.

She was strong. I couldn't stop her with force. Escape was possible, but it would be a massive inconvenience. With her social position, she could make it very difficult for me to remain in the city. I already had one major world power after me. I didn't need another one.

It would be best if I could somehow talk her out of it.

"Myra," I said gently, "I know you probably have a lot going on that I don't understand. How about we sit down together, have some tea, and we can talk about-"

"No!" She snapped, interrupting me, "I already made my decision. I will not let you tarnish my honor."

"Your honor was tarnished the instant you made such a horrible vow!" I shouted.

Valentine stared at me.

I continued in a lower voice, "Keeping it will only disgrace you further. I know you can be better than this."