Chloe watched as Ethan practiced using a grappling hook that he had acquired from Luna’s Club.
The shy girl with short, reddish pink hair, was also watching the blue-haired boy as he swung the grappling hook around like a sling before throwing it towards the tree branch in the distance.
Ethan’s aim was good and the grappling hook properly coiled itself around the tree branch until it secured itself in a firm hold.
Giving the grappling hook a tug, Ethan confirmed that it was very stable and safe to use.
“Felis,” Ethan said as he held the rope that bound the grappling hook tight.
A moment later, he found himself being pulled towards the grappling hook as the length of the rope decreased.
The blue-haired boy then tugged on the grappling hook a second time, making it detach from the tree branch.
(E/N: I suddenly feel transported into LoZ Ocarina of Time)
Suddenly, the second spell that was imbued in the grappling hook activated, creating an invisible platform under Ethan’s feet, allowing him to hover in the air for a brief moment, giving him enough time to step towards the tree branch safely.
“If the second spell can remain active for at least five to ten seconds, this grappling hook will be safer to use,” Ethan muttered as he looked at the magical tool in his hand. “But, overall it is a good item. Since I no longer need to pull myself up, it saves a lot of time because the trigger spell does it automatically.”
After testing nearly thirty magical tools, only a fifth of them were barely usable. Ethan had even suffered minor injuries because some of them were truly faulty.
Luna wasn’t joking when she said that some of them were really dangerous, but overall, the experience taught the blue-haired boy many things.
He even thought that, although the other Magical Tools were faulty, he could find a good use for them if the right circumstances presented themselves.
Still, Ethan wrote down some notes, giving suggestions about how to make the other gadgets safer and passed this to Luna, who was very happy to have Ethan’s personal opinion.
Unlike the blue-haired boy, most Wizards and Witches weren’t that athletic, with the exception of those that were training to become Magical Knights and Battle Mages.
They had tried to ask for volunteers to test their products in the past, but after these volunteers were injured, the Headmaster told Cassandra that any dangerous inventions must pass safety regulatory measures before they could be sold in their Club’s store.
Right now, they were in dire need of a Guinea Pig to test their inventions, and Ethan was the perfect person for the job.
“Thank you for your hard work, Ethan,” Luna said as he handed the blue-haired boy a face towel, so that he could wipe the sweat off his face.
“Thank you as well, Luna,” Ethan replied. “I’ll write a report about the grappling hook that you can send to Cassandra later. Even extending the floating spell for a second or two will greatly improve its effectiveness.
“Understood.” Luna smiled. “I’ll hand your report to the President.”
Chloe, who was watching this interaction between her “cousin” and the angelic beauty, pouted.
‘It hasn’t even been a month and you’re already attracting the bees,’ Chloe thought grumpily. ‘Maybe him studying here in the Academy isn’t a good thing after all.’
Chloe couldn’t help but feel that Ethan was good at getting close to the beautiful ladies in the Academy.
Nicole and Luna.
These were the two ladies that Chloe felt to be the closest to Ethan aside from her. Both were beautiful in their own right, and any boy would definitely jump at the opportunity to become their lover.
‘Fortunately, I already asked him to become my partner for the Practical Exams and Missions,’ Chloe thought. ‘Nicole is too proud to form a team with anyone, so she is bound to go Solo. As for Luna… she has had a team since her First Year days, so I’m also safe in that department.’
The angelic lady was already a Second Year, and had formed many connections with other people. Because of this, Luna didn’t lack friends who could help her clear hard missions when they let her tag along with them. 𝑂𝒱𝗅xt.𝒸𝑶𝓂
Just as Chloe was about to walk up to the two teenagers who were exchanging views about the ways the Magical Grappling Hook could be modified, the Head Prefect of Dud Manor appeared.
“Ethan, I was looking for you,” Henry said with a smile. “Since you are still new to the Academy, I’m sure that you don’t know about the upcoming exhibition matches between the different Manors…”
“Actually, I already know about it, Head Prefect,” Ethan replied. “The President of the Magical Trinket Club told me yesterday.”
Although Henry had insisted that Ethan just called him Henry, the blue-haired boy found this disrespectful and reverted to calling him Head Prefect instead.
Seeing that Ethan had no intention of changing his mind, Henry no longer insisted and allowed the newest member of their Manor to refer to him in any way that he liked.
“Oh? That makes this simple then,” Henry said. “Two weeks from now, the Exhibition Match will start. Since you are the only First Year in our residence, that automatically makes you our candidate for the First Year Division.
“Luna, it seems that they are moving the battle near the day of the full moon, so there’s a possibility that you will be able to participate. However, I’m not raising my hopes up. Last year, they were very curious about what you could do and the Professors decided to start the match on the day of the Full Moon. We all know what happened next.”
Henry gave Luna a smirk, which made the shy girl turn beet red due to embarrassment.
“Ah, before I forget, there is one more thing that I need to tell you,” Henry stated. “Your opponents will probably be the other Pillars of the First Years. Know that our chances of winning the exhibition match are very low, so don’t feel bad if you lose your match, okay?”
Ethan nodded because he had already come to terms with this fact. There was really a huge gap between an ordinary person, and someone who could use magic.
As long as you don’t set your expectations too high, you can accept your loss with grace.
Just as Henry was about to leave, the handsome guy with short silver hair, Noah, who was a second year like Luna, arrived at the training grounds of the Dud Manor with some interesting news.
“Did you hear the latest news?” Noah asked as soon as he saw everyone in the training grounds. “It seems that the representative for the Eques Manor is being contested. Nicole Asta has been challenged by Alice Quinn.
“The two of them will battle it out for the position of the candidate who will represent the First Year Division of the Eques Manor. According to my friends, the two of them will fight in the Arena two hours from now. We should all watch it, especially you, Ethan. You will be facing one of them, so knowing what they are capable of will certainly be helpful to your preparation.”
Ethan frowned after hearing Noah’s words.
Aside from Professor Ophelia and Alice, no one else knew that the silver-haired lady, who wielded the power of ice should be one of the Pillars of the First Years instead of Ethan.
But, since the incident happened, this secret had remained hidden, forcing Alice to keep her silence as well.
However, the silver-haired beauty had her pride as well.
So, when their Head Prefect announced that Nicole would represent the First Years of the Eques Manor in the exhibition match, she immediately issued a challenge to Nicole, which caused an uproar in Eques Manor.
Originally, the Head Prefect of the Manor, Arthur, wouldn’t have agreed for the duel. However, there had been a growing rift between Nicole and the other First Years, making them side with Alice, which forced Arthur to accept the duel.
“Are you going to watch?” Chloe asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“Yes.” Ethan nodded. “Both of them are tough opponents, and I want to know which one of them is stronger.”
Ethan had not seen Alice’s and Nicole’s full powers, so he thought that this was a perfect opportunity to see how powerful the two Witches were.
Luna, who had been silent until now, lightly pulled on Ethan’s robe, catching his attention.
“Who do you think will win?” Luna asked.
Ethan pondered for a bit before giving an answer.
“It will be a tough fight, but I’m leaning more towards Nicole on this one,” Ethan replied.
Chloe arched an eyebrow. “Your reason?”
“Because she’s a friend,” Ethan replied. “Shouldn’t we support our friends?”
Chloe had no words to refute Ethan’s words, so she decided to just reluctantly nod her head.
In the end, the one who decided who would win was not them, or any of the spectators that would go to the arena.
Only one could represent the First Years of Eques Manor, and that position would be reserved for whoever won the match between the two beautiful and talented Witches.