Chương 31: Maltronian

Ch 31: Maltronian The opening of the fundraising tournament took place in the evening, and we were only expected to give a small skill demonstration to the guests. This meant the actual fighting wouldn't begin until the next day. And since the school administration had decided the weather was good enough to hold the opening ceremony outside, all the students and wealthy guests had been invited to the training area near the main school building.

That would undoubtedly make it harder for the sales team to bring guests to the gambling ring inside the school. Still, the task wasn't impossible, because the stands were already full around us, with people entering and leaving the school all the time. The wealthy guests had been offered seats in the front rows, while some had even brought their own comfortable chairs and people to serve them beverages under the cover of their private tents near the stands.

Judging by all the flattery Principal Dickhead was openly doing, those had to be the people with serious wealth to their names. Most of them were obviously Greys, but I spotted quite a few Driari among them, and even a few Zufi, though not a single Granar. Could it be that the scaled people kept to themselves and didn't pursue positions of power, or was there something else about them that I didn't know?

Well, that was a problem for another time, because right now, Lathara was pressing something against my face as I sat on a chair, forcing me to keep my eyes closed while she applied some kind of powdered makeup. Apparently it would make me more presentable for the rare species introduction event that was about to begin.

"Is this a beauty contest for rare species students or a school competition?" I complained, earning angry looks even from the other Grey teacher who was applying something similar to Sahirah's face. Everyone in our backstage tent stopped for a moment to stare at me, and I had the distinct feeling that I'd said something I shouldn't have. Lathara, however, didn't seem particularly offended by my comment.

She simply replied in her typical neutral tone while the other staff in our tent continued making sure I looked presentable.

"A certain percentage of our guests today are here just to see the rare species," she said, setting aside the makeup and deciding to brush my hair instead.

"Some are researchers, others are simply enthusiasts, and quite a few don't care about the fights between schools and just want to see unusual creatures in person." I exchanged a glance with Sahirah. See unusual creatures in person? There was no way we looked that weird to Greys, was there? They were quite similar to us in their bipedal form, with heads that were only slightly wider above the eyeline. I found them only slightly unusual, so why would they find Sahirah and me weird?

Eventually, I couldn't keep the question inside.

"Do we really look that strange to you?" Lathara replied immediately, "The two of you aren't particularly unsettling in your external forms, but you're forgetting that the other schools are also going to bring their own rare species." Oh. Now that I thought about it, that actually made sense. The makeup process continued, and as the Grey staff finished assembling the details of the main stage, Sahirah decided to join the conversation.

"Miss Lathara, a girl has a question." When Lathara turned around, Sahirah continued.

"You and the teachers were previously so determined to separate us, but why are you doing the opposite now? You're even dressing us in matching uniforms. Isn't this a bit too much of a change?" That was a very accurate observation, and something I'd noticed myself but hadn't bothered asking about.

Sahirah and I had been given a fancier version of the standard school uniform: green-and-white flowing robes that made us stand out from the other students and, when we stood side by side, made us look almost like a couple.

"I don't appreciate the way the two of you think all teachers are evil, especially after what Eric called me following the incident where I saved your lives during the Mimic attack." I smiled awkwardly and refused to comment on the accusation, because I was very much guilty of calling her Lathara "the Relationship Destroyer," and she'd accidentally overheard me say it.

"My argument for separating the two of you was purely logical, because you have the potential to cause harm to others and destroy school property." She paused to give us both a cold glare.

"But the other teachers and I saw how much restraint you showed during the Mimic hunt through the security globe. You didn't use that dangerous spell in a way that caused harm, even when you had a lot to gain from it." She finally stood and stopped brushing my hair, gesturing to the other teachers that they had already done enough to make us presentable.

"So you two can consider our new position regarding your cohabitation neutral," she said.

"And as much as Zorik wants you two to suffer some consequences, none of the teachers has any reason to support him under the current circumstances, despite the fact that many of us don't approve of several of your controversial private decisions." Was that what it felt like to have the privilege of fair treatment? That was all I could think as the Grey teachers left, leaving Sahirah and me alone beneath the open tent.

From there, we could see the entire backstage area and even catch glimpses of the tents where a rare species student from the other school was also being prepared for the introduction. Thankfully, no fighting would take place tonight. Once no one was around us, Sahirah spoke to me.

"A girl would be enjoying this tournament if we weren't going through such a bad moment." Despite hearing her loud and clear, my mouth remained closed at first as I recalled how the previous days had gone. I would wake up every morning with her already gone. We'd meet during lunch, when everything would seem fine because we were surrounded by friends. Then she'd return to our room at night.

And every night we just exchanged a glance, both of us knowing that this annoying feeling that something unresolved existed between us would persist until one of my translation prototypes actually worked. Did we really have to wait for the translation before things could go back to normal between us? No. I stood up, and I saw worry in her eyes the moment I did. She seemed to assume I was about to start an argument again, like when I found out through Elitha that the third stage would lock us together.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Instead of starting another argument, I walked closer to her and gently placed a hand on her head while she remained seated.

"I know I haven't been the best version of myself these past few days, but I don't want to wait for the translation spell for things to go back to normal between us," I said.

"And I already have the answer to one of your questions." A smile covered my face.

"Kids, adoption, or just enjoying our best life alone with each other are questions for the future." I smiled and added, "And even if it turns out our definition of a family is just the two of us, that's totally fine with me." That was just one of several hard questions, I knew that. The only one we didn't need privacy to discuss. At first, she only stared at me, waiting for more and worrying me that this wasn't enough.

Then, instead of demanding anything right then, she placed her hand over mine, accepting my reasoning. I grabbed her hand in a quick motion, urging her to stand up with a light pull.

"Let's check out the backstage. I want to see how the first rare species introductions go so I don't do something stupid when it's my turn." She smirked and rose from her chair.

"One of your rare sound ideas."

From behind the curtains, we could see both the large crowd and the stage, where Principal Zorik was testing the sound-amplification spell. It was the very last step before introducing the first rare species individual to the crowd: a being from a Rift school across the continent who was apparently very famous and had been the whole reason some people in the audience had bothered traveling all the way here to watch the opening of the school event.

"That creature is truly strange." To my surprise, Sahirah was staring across the backstage area at the mysterious student waiting to be called onstage. It took me a single glance to agree with her. To begin with, the being had no legs and wasn't touching the ground, floating with tentacles hanging below the waist and wearing formal-looking robes that covered its upper half. It was hard to tell whether it was male or female, but I could see a kind of aura around it.

It was especially intense near the single red eye in the center of their green face, which was far larger than the little green tentacle attached to the skin beneath their chin, as if it were begging to be mistaken for a worm by some hungry bird. It was fascinating, really.

"Would I have a chance with you if I looked like that?" I almost burst out laughing when I asked the question.

"If you were able to take me flying and agreed to a forever-platonic relationship, then perhaps," she said teasingly. Oh, she wanted to be taken flying? How viable would it be to make a flying spell with my current knowledge? I bet Elitha could give me a copy of a gravity spell if I asked nicely enough... As my mind wandered, Principal Dickhead finally finished testing the sound amplification and began his introduction to the event.

"My friends of tradition, of wealth, of name, of academic background," he began, "I wish we had gathered here during the Harvest Festival like we do every year, but because of the Mimic tragedy that has claimed lives and caused damage to our school, this year's interschool competition will be held earlier."

He continued, thanking the administrations of the Riftstorm schools of the West and the East for agreeing to participate on such short notice, while expressing his understanding that the Southern school couldn't reschedule. But it was only when I noticed Sahirah rolling her eyes at the extremely long list of names Zorik was reciting that I realized the principal might need some lectures on how to write less boring speeches.

Finally, after several minutes of flattering the guests, he announced the rare species everyone had been waiting to see.

"And now, the jewel of the East, and the second-rarest species we have ever had the 'pleasure' of receiving on our world." He gave the word pleasure an ironic inflection, and part of the crowd laughed.

"The fourth Maltronian to ever set foot on Navar!" The strange being Sahirah and I had been observing, the Maltronian, finally glided onto the stage, all its tentacles writhing beneath it. Principal Dickhead stepped aside, making way for the strangest being I'd ever seen to claim the center of the stage and say a few words to the crowd before the skill demonstration.

"It's an honor to represent the Eastern lands at a distant school for the first time, even if such fighting events are considered barbaric back home." Well, disregarding the rather normal-sounding voice, this was definitely not what I or anyone else watching had expected the being to say.

"The leaders of the three schools have requested that I demonstrate my skills as a male Maltronian, and since all of you seem interested in such pointless comparisons involving what you define as rare species individuals, I have decided to comply for the sake of preserving the integrity of the local social norms." Was this really the student they'd chosen as their champion? I had to swallow that thought when his single eye suddenly glowed bright.

Suddenly, every empty chair in front of the stage was lifted from the ground at once, a blue aura of nothing but mana covering them. I couldn't see any runes anywhere, and this was definitely not something this Maltronian had learned on Navar. It had to be some kind of innate telekinesis. The moment the crowd forgot his weirdly formal way of speaking and began to cheer, with a group of Zufi merchants being by far the most enthusiastic, he simply abandoned the performance and let the chairs fall.

Without offering an explanation, he turned his back and returned to the backstage area as if his agreement had been fulfilled and that was the end of it. The crowd was confused. Some even started booing. Really, as weird as the Maltronian looked, stopping a performance halfway through and leaving without even saying his own name was by far the strangest thing he'd done. Zorik acted fast, returning to the front of the stage to prevent the event's mood from being ruined.

"Now," Zorik said, "because the West School was unfortunate enough not to receive a single rare species student this last Riftstorm season, we're moving on to my own school." Zorik turned around, his gaze connecting with Sahirah and me.

"Behold the rarest species to ever set foot on Navar, and the human who happens to be here as well." Sahirah urged me forward with a little elbow poke, but I made sure to glare at the principal the entire way from backstage to the front of the stage. Now that it was convenient for him, Sahirah was a member of the rarest species to set foot on Navar. But on a normal day, she was the mana freak who broke school equipment and annoyed him, wasn't she?

Noticing that I was doing my best to maintain my petty glare, Sahirah took the lead in greeting the crowd. She offered them the shortest introduction I'd ever heard.

"A girl is happy to give you a demonstration of what she can do." It was immediate. Her long black hair floated around her as though she were submerged in invisible water, while the air itself began to glow around her. She closed her eyes and kept pushing mana out of her body. At one point, even parts of her clothes began to show signs of combustion, and the crowd itself started growing tense. But then she stopped, and a deceptively cute smile covered her face.

"I'm Sahirah, and I'll be representing our school in the tournament." The crowd suddenly erupted, and all the Zufi began cheering. Even some of the wealthier-looking Greys rose from their seats to get a closer look at her. Principal Dickhead stared at me with a smile, satisfied that I'd just become a footnote in his little presentation.

I smiled back at him, satisfied that I'd spotted Lili and Zira below, taking note of the specific Greys who seemed interested in Sahirah so they could use that information later to lure them into my gambling ring. But since that still didn't feel like enough to satisfy my petty itch, I decided to take on the challenge of entertaining the crowd myself. I claimed the speaking platform.

"The name is Eric Nevermore, and I can assure every one of you that this will be the year when the most credits ever change hands in this school." Before any of them could get suspicious about what I'd just said, I added, "As for my demonstration, I can copy spells really fast. Check it out." Several skeptical voices spoke at once, some even pointing out that watching me pick up a quill and draw runes would be boring regardless of how fast I did it. I didn't mind them at all.

I simply retrieved a few blank pages that Lathara had brought to the stage and placed on a corner table, then opened a vial of cheap ink. Before anyone else had time to complain, I entered my Mind Library and loaded a simple twenty-rune custom spell that had been designed as a stamp rather than a conventional magic circle. I immediately loaded it into the Casting Assistant, using the remaining brainpower I had available thanks to the spell being only twenty runes long.

Then I guided a filament of mana into the vial, pulling up the ink and covering the entire glowing circle of pure mana with a thick layer of ink.

"What's he doing?"

"That's not how you do inkless casting." I smiled at those comments and started stamping the paper. One spell. Two spells. Three spells. Then I stopped counting. Not even thirty seconds had passed, and I had twenty copies of the same spell spread out in a circle around me. I returned to the speaking platform and asked the crowd with a smile, "Have you ever seen someone create twenty copies of a spell this fast?"

The Greys had invented stamps themselves, but the difference was that I had a versatile stamp that could be redesigned as quickly as I could think. And that was why I decided to show them how I had created this particular spell on the fly, specifically for this moment.

"You can test the spells yourselves if you don't believe they work." I simply started handing them out to the crowd, taking advantage of the fact that several people were still standing nearby. They caught the papers, but since they hadn't recognized the spell I'd crafted, none of them dared to activate it. Until one of the Zufi caught a copy in his furry hands. His mana flowed into the circle, and suddenly, a small shining ball shot upward, exploding into a colorful display of bright mana.

No one needed an explanation. After all, beautiful things rarely needed to be understood. Soon enough, the whole place came alive as harmless mana explosions glowed bright everywhere, the firework spell becoming an instant success. I returned to the speaking platform and said, "I hope you all enjoyed my spell. Just be careful not to develop a taste for glowing lights and spinning wheels by the end of this tournament."

With that, I bowed to the crowd and linked my arm with Sahirah's as we made our exit, refusing to offer a single explanation.