^^Hal

Currently we are on a ten minute break before the next phase of the exam which is the written test.

I have to figure out a way to defeat that teacher.

First, I'm thinking of doing some research on him. It would be idiotic to go into the fight blind. All I know so far is the rumors I've heard of him but that's incredibly unreliable.

Hmm... maybe Finn knows about him though.

"Finn, how much do you about the teacher I'm about to face?" I ask.

"My knowledge on him is pretty limited. I know his name is Hector and that he doesn't have a last name. All I know is that he's the king's chosen magician. Among magicians, most avoid him so there isn't much known about him. I'm sorry I can't be of more help Evee," says Finn.

"That's fine. I really only need to know two key things. How much mana he has and his battle magic. I'm guessing that the library of the school might have that information," I reply.

"Do you have time for that though?" questions Finn.

"If I finish the written test fast enough," I respond.

"GOD, THAT WAS A SHORT NAP!" shouts the teacher groaning, "OKAY CHILDREN! TIME FOR THE WRITTEN EXAM!!!"

A bunch of papers fly out from his desk. And I mean literally fly out with wings.

"Convenient right? It's an enchantment I invented myself. Now the rest of the teachers copy me," remarks the teacher, "You can start as soon as the parchment hits your desk."

A piece of parchment paper lands in front of me. The wings flutter off the paper and join together, transforming into a pen and ink.

What a truly ingenious invention.

Well it doesn't reflect well that he's the guy I need to defeat.

I look through the exam questions. It's actually surprisingly easy. There's a mixture of math, science, language, and history questions. Having already went to high school in my past life, the math and science questions are no problem. For the rest of them, years of intense (and boring) tutoring makes these questions a breeze in comparison.

Alright, if I finish this quickly I can "go to the bathroom" aka locate the library and find information on the opponent I'm supposed to be facing.

I figure though even if I do win against the teacher, I'll still barely have a passing grade for the magic test. That means I need to do really well on this written exam to get into the school.

Of course that does add the risk that I could somehow get into the elite program where all my death flags will be, but I think the danger that comes with that is not as big the danger I would get from being disowned by the Callisto family.

I speed through the exam, trying to answer as many questions correctly as possible. When I'm finished I walk up to the teacher and hand him my exam.

"Done already? You only took thirty minutes. You still have an hour and thirty minutes left. Are you sure?" the teacher asks.

"Yes, I'm sure. Can I go to the bathroom?" I say.

"Whatever, do what you want. I don't get paid enough to care. Hah! I always wanted to say that before!" replies the teacher, "Not as cool as I thought it would be though."

I walk out of the classroom and am met with a hallway with various lacquered wood doors along it. There are large chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, probably worth more than ten times a common person's salary.

I start running through the halls trying to find a library. I can run up to six times the maximum speed of the average person which is 120 mph or 193 kmh so I'm able to find the library much, much quicker than a normal person. I also have a pretty high endurance and can run for about five hours at that speed before collapsing from exhaustion.

After clearing this entire floor, I find its entirely made up of classrooms, bathrooms, and one room that seems to be a greenhouse. The floor above this is similar although there are multiple sparring and training rooms. I go under the floor I took my exam in and find what looks like many rooms where students would live, a swimming pool, and a library!

I walk into the library which has walls filled with books and two levels to it. The tall ceiling is painted with images of cherubs and angels. The floor is made of marble and there are desks to study in rows in the middle of the room.

I quickly peruse the books on the shelf. They seem to be organized alphabetically by title which is much better than by author since it makes it easier for me to search for a topic that could help find research about this guy.

I first look under H, but unfortunately nobody has written a book about Hector, or at least titled it Hector. I then look under M, which is more promising. I pick out a couple books such as, Modern Magicians, Magic History, and Magicians in the Modern Era. I also found books titled Great Magicians Who Influenced the Magical World and Grand Magicians in History. A Grand Magician is a magician that serves the royal family directly and is the highest honor magicians can have. If what Finn says is true about Hector working for the king then I have a good feeling that he might be in that book.

I go to one of the desks and start skimming the books. The Modern Magicians one seems to be about how magicians have changed in the modern era, not about any specific magicians which isn't helpful. Magic History is also useless because it seems to be written a hundred years ago, probably before the teacher was born. Magicians in the Modern Era does mention him and says he is the Head Grand Magician for King Edward the VI. That confirms what Finn says so I flip through the Grand Magicians in History and find an entire chapter about him near the back.

Hector who's last name is unknown is said to have been a commoner that attended Rosewood Academy by receiving high scores on the written exam and an extraordinary stored mana score of 4,486,455 and a daily use mana score of 3,788,455 according to his last recording in the year 3458 so his daily use mana score may have increased since then because magicians work to increase the amount of daily mana they use. His battle magic is also incredibly powerful which he's named Energy Burst. He is able to send blasts, rays, or really any shape of his choosing of energy to attack an opponent. Many have been vaporized immediately upon contact with a direct hit of the energy. To date he is the most powerful magician...

This isn't looking good. Basically he's able to use over three times Finn's daily mana use which means he's able to fight me with three times as much mana as Finn. I think I'm going to vomit.

Finn and I are pretty much tied in power so facing an opponent three times stronger, possibly with the intent to kill me, is a pretty frightening thought.

And this guy's "Energy Burst" power sounds crazy dangerous. Basically it vaporizes whatever it touches.

This isn't going to be an easy fight and a very big part of me is kicking myself for challenging this guy. At least I should have made him agree to the rule that we wouldn't fight to the death or inflict major bodily harm against each other!

Maybe I underestimated this guy. Can I even beat him? I might be able to quickly dodge him but just one touch of those Energy Blasts could be fatal.

"Wow, I haven't seen you sweat about something this much in years," says an extremely irritatingly smug voice.

It can't be.

I look up from my book and in front of me is the world's biggest asshole himself.

Hal.

"What the f*ck are you doing here?" I demand.

"Is that really how you greet an old friend after years of not seeing each other?" he says smirking.

"Cut the bullsh*t, we're not friends. You tried murdering my sister only to murder me and drag me to this hellhole," I reply, "So why are you here?"

"So crass. Why do think I'm here? And if you say to help you with your little duel, do keep in mind that I'm going to start laughing in your face," he pauses and grins, "Although maybe I would if you beg hard enough."

"You can snap out of whatever sick fantasy you have of me begging you for a miracle. I would rather die that do that. You're probably just here for a front row seat to watch me die or some other weird, evil reasoning your sadistic mind has cooked up," I say.

"You're so confident that you're going to die. What happened to the girl that tried to strangle a god upon our first meeting?" he asks.

I eye him suspiciously, "What are you getting at here? Why are you trying to boost my confidence?"

"Just don't give up. Whatever you do don't give up during the fight," he replies avoiding my eyes and looking at some spot on the desk.

I sit there a bit shocked. What's he trying to say here? I can't figure out what his plan is here.

"... Are you... rooting for me?!?" I question dumbfounded.

"Don't be stupid. This isn't some dumb otome romance game with a stupid enemies to lover trope-" he responds.

"Isn't it though?" I cut him off. I grin and lean forward, "And anyway how do know about that trope? Don't tell me you're playing those games."

He glares at me, his cheeks dusting a pinkish color, "You know I've killed mortals for less," he says.

"So you keep saying," I reply back.

"Enough of your silly little fantasies. I just don't want a stupid mortal like him winning," he says in a serious tone.

"Why?" I ask.

"What I hate the most are those who look down on people solely due to their birth and status instead of merit," he responds, his eyes flashing red.

"Seriously? You're a god. Kind of weird you're against the whole hierarchy thing when you're at the top. And aren't you looking down on mortals all the time? Why is that what you hate the most?" I question.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he replies, "Unfortunately for you I'm too busy getting hyped to watch you or that other mortal's ass get kicked and I really don't want to take a walk down memory lane and spoil the mood."

"Ugh, fine I had a feeling you wouldn't answer that question. Now get out of my face, I need to get ready for this match. I don't need you here throwing me off my game," I say, "This one is going to be a difficult fight, that's for sure."

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