As soon as my Skill activated, Garta turned away from me to focus on the girl charging him. She was now only focused on him and, given her expression, confidence that she could take him one-on-one. The dean wouldn't let him die here, right?

Garta cast another spell, lightning cracking across the ring. The girl dodged somehow, but the girl in the back was hit again. She screamed this time and then slumped to the side, unconscious. She probably wouldn't wake in time to finish the fight. Good for Garta.

Just as the girl brought her swords down at Garta, he materialized twin short swords and met her blades with his own. They both staggered backward. Garta used another lightning spell, but it barely chained past his hand. I took that to mean he wasn't going to be able to do much more. Those lightning spells must've taken a lot of Energy.

[Notice] Your Skill [7-Times-Returner] has been forcibly deactivated because your Mastery of this Skill is too low. Fifteen seconds is short as shit, isn't it?

I watched both of them to see if either would notice me although [7-Times-Returner] had deactivated. Neither seemed to register me still, instead focusing on each other. I requested a countdown on [Forgotten Son].

[Notice] You have 3 minutes and 55 seconds remaining until [Forgotten Son] will be forcibly deactivated, you little shit. This feels like cheating, Jerome.

I didn't think it was cheating at all. As a matter of fact, Di'at should be happy I was using the System so competently for the first time. I started to circle the outside of the ring, keeping an eye on Garta and the girl's fight.

Garta was rather proficient with the swords; he didn't need to rely on magic to defeat the girl unless she was hiding a trick up her sleeve. For someone so practical, he should really consider ending it with her sooner rather than later, lest give her time to use such tricks.

They jumped apart, both panting and looking agitated. She shifted her stance a little, and the way she was standing now made me think she might be hiding a dagger. Was she planning to stab him or slit his throat? That'd be entertaining.

Who was this girl? She seemed like she had something to prove. Her name had been Rila Rhacot if I was remembering right. Her Stats and Skills hadn't been noteworthy enough for me to retain that particular information. But if she was at a magic academy, that meant she had to know magic as well. Perhaps that was the trick up her sleeve.

Something flashed in her eyes, and her demeanor completely changed. Suddenly, she seemed like a much more seasoned fighter than I'd first taken her for. Garta's eyes widened as well, and he jumped back from their exchange of blades to gain distance. She wouldn't let him have any, though. I asked for a countdown again.

[Notice] You have 3 minutes and 20 seconds remaining until [Forgotten Son] will be forcibly deactivated. What are you planning now?

I was sure Di'at would like to know. Probably Garta would like to know as well, if he hadn't practically forgotten me thanks to the Skill. My plan was vague. Save Garta's ass at the best possible moment so he could then land some finishing blow for all the glory. That he'd then owe all to me. Given that I'd come out of the fight unscathed--even if no one would knew my involvement besides Garta--people would make up their own reasons why I'd been able to join Tespana early.

Rila was good, but she wasn't that much better than Garta. He'd been right to be wary, but she'd pretended to be less competent, so he'd been caught slightly off guard anyway. He could make it up with magic, but he had to know that as soon as he cast another spell, she'd likely have another to cast. If they got into an exchange of magic blows, wouldn't she come out on top?

The blonde was still unconscious. Although maybe it was a bit rude, I rolled her unconscious body off the ring. She thudded to the ground below. It wasn't that far down. She'd be fine. The healer seemed startled but kneeled beside her to provide further first aid anyway. Now we wouldn't need to worry about her at all.

I continued my wide circle of the ring's perimeter. Garta ducked under one of Rila's swords, then jumped back as her other came to slice him in the middle. He had a slight smirk sitting on his lips. Maybe he was enjoying himself. Or perhaps he was playing around.

That smirk seemed to make Rila mad. Big mad. And sometimes big mad meant big stupid. Maybe he'd meant to goad her. She growled and finally went for the concealed dagger I suspected she'd been carrying. Garta parried her jabs, and for a moment, I thought he'd win.

Then suddenly another Rila appeared just a step behind her, then another and another, as if a replica had been created in her after image from the moment she first charged. Must've been illusion magic. Garta barely had time to scoff when one Rila after another reenacted her, one step behind the other, as she continued making swipes at his face with her blade.

[Notice] You have 2 minutes and 30 seconds remaining until [Forgotten Son] will be forcibly deactivated. You're not going to help your poor partner, are you? You sure that'll help you in the long run? When you might need his help?

Hopefully I'd never need his help, but I was planning to give him a hand anyway. It'd be better to end this sooner rather than later. If [Forgotten Son] ran out and for some reason, we weren't able to defeat Rila, then I might have to consider taking the fight a bit more seriously. I didn't want it to get to that.

My circling of the ring finally led to the corner where Rila was pushing Garta back. He was covered in scrapes but didn't look worse for wear or even tired yet. Good for him. Rila, on the other hand, was getting more frustrated that he was keeping up with her hundreds of afterimage illusions. Or perhaps he could see through them and that was irritating her. That probably wasn't an easy spell. Maybe I could learn that one too.

Garta looked ready to release another charge of lightning, so before he could, I gave him a solid push. He tripped sideways, cursing loudly, but he managed to glance at me in accusation. Rila's eyes widened, either because she was just as surprised at him falling over himself or because she saw an opportunity. If she'd been paying more attention to her surroundings, she might've noticed me, too. I hadn't Mastered it well enough for the Skill to be as effective this close.

Disarming her while she was focused on Garta was easy. While she tried to process why she'd lost her twin swords, I located the other two daggers she had hidden in her uniform. Then for good measure, I kicked her in the gut. She fell to her knees. Then she looked up at me as I placed the point of my sword at her neck, though that hadn't been part of my plan.

"You!" she growled but didn't move. The arena was quiet.

"What the fuck?" Garta barked at me. A murmur took over the crowd.

I gestured at him to get up. "She's all yours. I just think it's time to stop playing around."

"Who's the one playing around?" He clicked his tongue at me but got up. "Circling the ring like a fucking vulture then kicking me while I was doing my best not to give you away."

I shrugged. A little annoying he'd known the whole time, but at least that meant he might actually be useful in a fight against a demon. "You asked about my Skill."

"That's why I was letting it go."

"Thanks?"

He rolled his eyes and finally put his sword to her throat. I let mine fall away as cheers erupted around us. Garta looked around as if he'd forgotten there'd been a crowd at all. Rila kept her glare on Garta, having forgotten me again. She must not have had very high Perception.

The cheers only died down when the dean rose from her seat to call the end of the fight. "That's--"

A loud crack like the sound of lightning cut her off. The sky darkened quickly, and above the arena, the sky seemed to be splitting in two. From the tear emerged a person. Or what looked initially like a Dark Elf, but the longer I studied their form, the more I could see another overlapping form. The form of a demon. One that seemed to be looking for something. Or someone.

[Notice] Mastery of [Demeot Eyes] has increased by 1%.