"Good! Good! Good!" Andy clapped his hands in happiness. "A one on one battle between archers. What a way to end the competition for the Head Prefect!"
Grent, who was sitting beside Andy, had a dumbfounded expression on his face as he looked at the red-headed boy in the viewing crystal. An hour ago, he was still monitoring Conrad, Drake, Spencer, and Priscilla in the viewing crystal.
However, the sudden intrusion of the Beasts had brought the competition to a hasty end. It was just as Andy said, only William and Prsicilla remained inside the Enchanted Forest. The winner of their duel would decide on who the next Head Prefect would be.
Since Grent hadn't been paying attention to William earlier, he didn't see how the boy managed to convince the creatures in the forest to fight for his cause. He tried to ask Andy what had happened earlier, but the annoying Hunter only gave him a smug smile.
Clearly, he had no intention of telling Grent what had happened during the time he was not paying attention to William.
The students outside the House of Heroes had the same thoughts as Grent. They didn't know how and why the competition for the Martial Classes had turned out like this. All they knew was that the handsome red-headed boy and the beautiful black-haired girl had both agreed to a one on one duel.
As expected, the students from the Magic and Spirit Division Classes looked at the last two combatants with interest.
The boys were secretly cheering for Priscillla, while the starry-eyed girls were cheering for William.
The way the young boy sat on top of the Spire was truly a sight to behold. He was like a Prince from a fairy tale who had come to rescue the princess.
Est, Kenneth, Ian, Isaac, and Ella had watched William from the very start. They still couldn't believe that the boy had succeeded in convincing the Apex Beasts inside the forest using "bribes" that they couldn't possibly reject unless there was something wrong in their heads.
"Young Master, should we also use this strategy when the competition for Head Prefect in our dormitory begins?" Ian whispered.
"It's worth a try," Est replied after pondering for a brief moment. "Make sure to call Herman and make the necessary arrangements once William's competition is over."
"By your will, Young Master." Ian bowed.
Kenneth had a complicated expression as he looked at the handsome boy who was sitting on top of the Giant White Deer. Just like Est and the others, he didn't expect this kind of outcome. Part of him wanted to praise William for his quickwittedness and the other part of him wanted to nag at the boy for being too bold and daring.
Even so, deep in his heart, a seed of admiration started to sprout. Although what William did seemed quite easy, not everyone had the ability to do so. Even Kenneth had to admit that he wouldn't be able to do the same even if he was placed in the same situation.
This was also why he couldn't keep himself from being impressed by William's actions.
-----
Two minutes passed and the sound of the wind whistling echoed in the forest. William and Priscilla had started their battle and it was truly a sight to behold. Both combatants were fairly skilled in using the bow that one couldn't tell who was getting the upper hand in their battle.
Priscilla notched a green arrow on her bow and took aim. The moment she released the arrow, a gust of wind made her black hair dance wildly behind her back.
William immediately rolled on the ground to evade the attack and the tree he was using as a shield exploded into pieces.
"Elemental arrow of wind," William muttered. "What a scary lady."
The red-headed boy propped himself off the ground and charged in Priscilla's direction. When he was only twenty meters away from her, he was forced to jump to the side to evade another elemental arrow that the girl had shot in his direction.
Contrary to William's expectations, the arrow exploded in mid-air and sent out a blinding flash of light which caught William by surprise.
His vision was covered in white as he hastily closed his eyes in order to prevent Priscilla from taking advantage of his current situation.
The black-haired girl knew that she had succeeded in her blinding attack and immediately went in for the kill. She fired consecutive shots towards William, and the latter dodged them by rolling on the ground until his head bumped into a tree.
The students who were watching the battle laughed out loud as William held his head in pain.
Even Est and Ian who had a serious expression earlier, were all smiles as they saw the arrogant and narcissistic boy suffering from Priscilla's brutal counter attack.
Ella simply watched with amusement. She was not worried about William getting blinded or anything. After all, they had suffered worse under Oliver's and Celine's hands during their training. How could she not know that William was only putting on an act in order to lower his opponent's guard?
She and her baby would often spend half of the day in eternal darkness and mastered the art of finding their enemy amidst the world that was painted black.
Priscilla was getting annoyed because none of her arrows were landing on her target. She was sure that William was suffering from temporary blindness, but it would only last for a few minutes. Out of desperation, she decided to move to close quarter combat.
She was not only proficient in using the bow, she was also trained to fight using short swords and daggers while she was in the Kingdom of Freesia.
To her surprise, William stood up from the ground with his eyes still closed and nocked an arrow on his bow. He then fired a point blank shot in Priscilla's direction which almost ended the battle.
Fortunately, Priscilla's heightened senses allowed her to dodge to the side as she closed the gap between the red-headed boy.
Sensing that his attack had missed, William twisted the bow in his hand and it miraculously changed its shape. Instead of a bow, the red-headed boy held two curved scimitars in his left and right hands. He then took a step forward and executed a deadly flurry of blows that almost blew Priscilla off her feet.
When William changed the form of his bow, he hurriedly ordered the System to change his Job Class to Fighter. Although he spent only one and a half months in training this Job Class with his Grandpa, it was more than enough for William to enhance his repertoire in close quarter armed combat.
The red-headed boy's series of attacks was like a deadly sword dance. This slashing maneuver was under the Dual Wielding specialties of his Executioner War Art (Basic) from the Fighter Job Class.
Priscilla gritted her teeth as she was forced to defend herself from William's overpowering move.
With a loud shout, she twisted the short swords in her hand and applied half of her full strength in an effort to disarm the shepherd. Her short swords, along with William's scimitars, flew an arc into the air and dropped on the ground behind them.
As a last resort, Priscilla used the disarming skill that she had been taught by her father, that was meant to be used for this exact situation. Using the strength in her legs, she closed the distance and prepared to deliver a straight punch to William's chest in order to turn the tide of battle.
It was at this moment that William opened his eyes and smiled. The effect of the flash arrow had ended and he had regained his vision.
"Crane Wing," William said as he took the Crane Style Stance and moved his body forward. Due to his movements, he dodged Priscilla's full powered strike that was meant to end the battle.
As the girl's body continued to move forward due to momentum. William used nimble body movements to close the distance. Priscilla hurriedly turned her body around to kick the boy, but was met with an open palm strike that hit her squarely in her stomach area.
The blow took Priscilla's breath away as her body bent down through reflex. William then moved behind her back and summoned his bow and adamantium arrow.
"Since you like backstabbing people so much, I'll let you feel what it's like to get backstabbed," William said before firing the arrow at point blank range. The adamantium arrow pierced behind Priscilla's back, and made its way to her heart.
Priscilla, the beautiful girl with black hair, fell down on the ground, and turned into particles of light.
---
"How dreamy!" a girl exclaimed. "Oh! If only he was a prince, I'd definitely marry him!"
"You don't want him? I'll take him then!" her best friend declared from the side.
"You can't!"
"I can!"
Similar conversations were happening between the girls of the Magic and Spirit Class Divisions. They were very impressed with William's performance and all of them were planning to make him their subordinate.
Not to mention, William was a Half-Elf. Although his race wasn't rare, they were blessed with good looks and the red-headed boy was particularly dashing during the fight against the black-haired archer.
Even some of the boys felt like having a subordinate like William would increase their prestige. Some were already thinking of ways on how to bribe William to become part of their entourage.
"I do not wish for dominion, but there are things that I must protect no matter what," William said softly.
He then looked at the moon in the sky and sighed. Spire walked in front of him and lowered its majestic head. William lightly patted its head before telling it to properly distribute the rewards that he had promised to the beasts of the Enchanted Forests.
The girls who saw this scene were star-struck because Spire was a very noble and beautiful creature. Standing beside the boy made him look like a Hero that was just taking a stroll in the wilderness.
Some of the girls even thought of asking William to become their lover. With such a handsome and powerful warrior by their side, they would definitely be the envy of the other girls in the academy.
The red-headed boy was unaware of what the people outside the domain were thinking. He was just glad that the competition was finally over.
He then gave a meaningful glance to the Spire and the latter nodded its head in acknowledgement.
'See you later, Shepherd.'
'Take care, Guardian of the Herd.'
As if waiting for that cue, William's body turned into particles of light and he was ejected from the domain.
The battle for the position of the Head Prefect was over and William had won against all odds. With this, a new era would dawn upon the First Years of the Martial Class Division in the Hellan Royal Academy.
Whether this change would destroy the balance of the hierarchy that had been established inside the academy… would be found out in the not so distant future.