"I am the Head Prefect of the Martial Class Division," William announced. "I would like to fight a two-on-two battle with the Magic Class Division. Is there anyone who wants to accept my challenge?"
Est turned his head to look at his two retainers. Ian and Isaac averted their gaze and pretended to look at the sky. The twins were not afraid to fight against William. What they were afraid of was fighting against Ella.
They had seen her true form, and both knew that none of them could fight her even if they gave everything they got. They were Est's left and right hand men, and they didn't want to lose in a bad manner in front of the Magic Division Class.
Est understood their concern. He also didn't want Ian and Isaac to fight against William because he felt that there was no chance of winning. The handsome brown-haired boy looked at the other members of the Magic Division who were raring to fight William and sighed inside his heart.
'Ignorance is truly bliss,' Est thought. 'I wonder who I should send?'
While Est was deep in thought, two towering students stepped forward from the back of the Magic Division. They were the tallest and oldest members of the First Years and none of the students dared to provoke them.
"Head Prefect. Allow us the honor of winning this battle for our Division," a sturdy teenager who was almost two meters tall said with a confident smile plastered on his face. "This will be a piece of cake. Isn't that right, bro?"
"More like a piece of pie," a teenager replied with a smirk. "It's not everyday we get to step on a Head Prefect's head. I'm sure that this will make the two of us famous. Hahaha!"
Est used all his willpower not to roll his eyes at the two teenage twins who thought that they could easily beat William.
The names of the twins were Brutus and Bruno. Both of them were eighteen years old and only passed the enrollment test of the Royal Academy after failing repeatedly for three years.
The minimum age to gain entry to the academy was fourteen years old. Anyone who reached this age would be eligible to partake in the trials for enrollment. However, among the thousands of enrollees, only a few managed to pass through the gates of the Royal Academy each year.
Those who failed their tests would come back again next year in order to try their luck. The academy had seen many such students, but they didn't care as long as they didn't exceed the maximum age limit of eighteen years old.
Priscilla and Spencer were fifteen, while Drake was sixteen. There were also a few eighteen-year-olds among the Martial Classes, so Brutus' and Bruno's circumstances were not really that rare in the academy.
Although they were older compared to their peers, the fact that they had managed to enroll at the academy proved that they had potential. Even if they had to attempt to enroll consecutive times before succeeding.
"Go. However, be careful," Est replied. "The Head Prefect of the Martial Class is not a pushover."
"Don't worry, Head Prefect." Brutus smiled. "My brother and I are very experienced in group battles. Have more faith in us."
"That's right." Bruno nodded his head. "When this battle is over, the Martial Class won't be able to raise their heads in front of us again."
The towering twins walked towards the center of the battlefield with arrogant expressions. What they didn't know was that Est, Ian, and Isaac, had already lit incense for their corpses deep inside their hearts.
Brutus and Bruno stopped walking when they were only fifty meters away from William.
They then summoned their staves and declared their names.
"I am Brutus Mac Kaeser!"
"I am Bruno Mac Kaeser!"
""Together we are the twin towers of Kaeser!""
Although the two of them only had average faces, they were by in no means ugly. Their short-gray-hair and sharp features made them look charming in their own way. Both of them released a powerful presence that was quite common among mercenary groups.
William clapped his hands in amusement as he looked at the two cannon fodders who were about to meet his Mama's hoof and horns.
"Amazing! The two of you look so powerful!" William praised. "Are you perhaps the strongest in the Magic Division Class?"
Brutus grinned and looked at the red-headed boy who was pleasing to his eyes. "Well, I wouldn't say that we are the strongest."
"But, we are definitely in the top ten," Bruno finished his brother's sentence. He, too, grinned and eyed William. "Boy, since we are older than you, allow me to give you some advice."
"What does the Senior Brother want to teach this humble shepherd?" William inquired. He looked so refined, elegant, and charismatic, that even the arrogant twin brothers didn't want to humiliate him too much in front of the crowd.
"Admitting defeat at an earlier time is better than suffering from a beating," Bruno said with the 'I am a good person' look on his face. "I hope that Mr. Head Prefect will remember this during our battle."
"I thank senior brother Bruno for his advice," William nodded in acknowledgement. "I will admit defeat when I think that there is no chance of winning."
"That is good," Brutus smirked. "Let's have a friendly fight."
"Yes. Let's." William agreed.
The three people smiled at each other as if they were lifelong friends who were about to have a friendly spar. Ella, who was watching this banter from the side, felt her hoof itch. She was itching to kick the two teenage boys to kingdom come.
"Are all of you ready?" Layla asked. She was quite amused by the pleasantries that both sides shared before starting their battle.
""Yes!""
"Meeeeh!"
"Very well." Layla raised her hand. "Battle Start!"
"Multiple Stone Bullets!"
"Multiple Firebolts!
Although they acted carefree and arrogant, Brutus and Bruno never underestimated William. The position of Head Prefect could not be bought by money or influence. It was a position that could only be obtained through a competition.
Since William was the Head Prefect of the Martial Class, it meant that he had the ability to back it up.
The twins didn't know his capabilities, so they decided to overwhelm him by using the magic combination that they had perfected over the years.
William started to run towards his right to evade the unbelievable display of magic and control from the twins whom he labeled as 'cannon fodders'. If William still had his magic power, he would have been able to counter this attack. However, since it was sealed, he was forced to distance himself from the combined attack of his opponents.
It was right at that moment when Ella made her move. Her hooves and horns glowed in a bluish hue as she charged towards Brutus like an arrow in flight.
The twins had been paying attention to both William and Ella, so the moment she made her move. Brutus immediately constructed consecutive layers of Earth Walls to stop her advance. He thought that this was enough to block a little goat.
It was the biggest mistake he made in his life…
Ella broke each Earth Wall as if it was made of paper and continued her wild charge.
Although she looked like a harmless goat right now, her stats were the same as her War Ibex form. Even if she couldn't use her massive horns to inflict serious damage, her current horns were more than enough to demolish everything that the twins could throw at her.
The jaws of the students of the Martial Class and the Magic Class dropped down in disbelief. Some of them even rubbed their eyes in an attempt to see if they were hallucinating.
"Meeeeeeh!" When Ella tore down the last Earth Wall, Brutus immediately stabbed his staff forward.
"Boulder Crash!"
A two meter tall boulder appeared in front of Brutus and flew in Ella's direction.
Ella stomped her front hooves on the ground and delivered a back kick towards the boulder. Just like a volleyball ball that was hit by a powerful spike, the boulder flew back to where it came from.
"Gwaaaah!" Brutus didn't expect this sudden reversal and was hit squarely in the chest by the boulder he summoned. He flew a few meters backwards, but he didn't die from the impact. However, he wished that he had died because the excruciating pain in his chest was driving him mad.
Several of his ribs had been broken, and it was very painful to breathe. Bruno roared and hurled several fire lances at the goat who was only a few meters away from him.
Ella nimbly dodged this attack and charged in Bruno's direction.
Due to desperation, Bruno spun his staff in front of him which created a firestorm that engulfed the goat in searing flames.
This was his strongest attack and he was saving this as his trump card. He never thought that he would be forced to use this against a little goat that he had treated as mere livestock!
"Meeeeeeh!" Ella's mighty voice rang out within the firestorm.
Bruno didn't know how it happened, but the moment he heard the goat's bleating. His whole body was blown away from where he stood. The firestorm disappeared, and the image of a white and fluffy goat appeared in front of everyone.
Looking at her coat, that was still as white as snow, made everyone realize that the Firestorm practically did nothing to her.
While everyone was looking at her in disbelief. Ella opened her mouth and shot a ball of light, the size of a basketball ball, towards Bruno who had fallen on the ground.
This was Ella's range skill "Benevolent Shot".
This was the move she had used earlier in order to counter the Firestorm that was headed in her direction. Due to its Holy Properties, it prevented the flames from advancing towards Ella.
The energy ball hit Bruno and immediately turned him into particles of light. Ella shot another Benevolent Shot, this time, it was aimed at Brutus. Just like what happened to his twin, Brutus turned into particles of light which meant that the victors of this battle were none other than William and Ella.
"What a hard battle," William declared as he casually walked towards his Mama Ella. "Fortunately, my Mama is very strong. Good job, Mama!"
"Meeeeeh!"
William caresseed his Mama's neck as the latter closed her eyes in satisfaction.
The members of the Magic Class and Martial Class didn't know how to react to the battle that just ended. The one who disposed of both combatants was Ella, while William only ran around to avoid getting hit.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that William didn't even lift a finger to help win the battle.
"Well then, who's next?" William asked with an innocent smile. "The battle ended before I was able to unleash my ultimate move. I feel unsatisfied with this result. Does anyone want to battle us again?"
Est, Ian, and Isaac's faces became stiff when they heard the shameless boy's provocation. They knew that Ella alone was sufficient to end the battle, so they didn't even bother to fight against her.
However, William was forcing the students of the Magic Division into a second round. This was something that Est wouldn't allow because it would just lower his team's morale.
"Since the battle has ended, it is best to let the other students participate," Est replied. "The Head Prefect of the Martial Class shouldn't hog the spotlight."
"That's right!" Ian agreed. "The Head Prefect should let his other members fight. It is bad to keep all the good stuff to yourself."
Williams scratched his cheek because Est and Ian were adamant about preventing him from securing another easy win.
"Meeeeh."
"Okay, Mama. I'll listen to you."
"Meeeeh."
Ella had told William not to bully the kids, so William finally relented. The two walked back towards the Martial Class with calm expressions, as if the battle they had undertaken was not a big deal to them.
This motivated the members of the Martial Class and made them perform their best against the Magic Class Division.
Although the Martial Class Division suffered more losses during the next several matches, none of them took this loss to heart. William had already told them that he would personally train them the very next day in order to become stronger.
Faced with this kind of promise, they were able to fight without any worries and even gave their opponents a headache.
Out of the thirty battles that took place on that day, the Martial Class only won ten. Even so, the Magic Division didn't look down on them. They had experienced firsthand how difficult it was to fight against Martial Experts, and had learned a lot from the experience.
Some of the girls from the Magic Division even snuck glances at William during the break between each battle.
The shepherd smiled and waved at his admirers, which made the girls blush while giggling at each other.
Overall, the battle had been an eye opener for both sides. Due to this, Grent and Layla decided to hold more of these inter-division battles in order to let their students gain some fighting experience.
The instructors hoped that these valuable lessons would help these students survive in the outside world, after they left the protective walls of the Hellan Royal Academy.