Chapter 78: Graduation Duel: Susanna

Susanna

A week after the final exams for underclassmen were completed, Susanna was among the first wave of fourth-year students to compete in graduation duels. The graduation duels took place in the same arena as the Academy War had. Mostly because Fire Kite still hadn’t replaced its dean, and Green Book didn’t have a proper arena. Normally, Fire Kite would host either the Academy War or Graduation Duels. This year, Bright Sail had the honor of hosting both. 

The audience was well and truly warmed up after a few particularly bloody and explosive previous rounds. Neither of which was something she’d be able to live up to in her current state. If she were being honest, she was fortunate her rank hadn’t dropped already. But that was in large part because nobody could challenge her to a duel unless they managed to beat Girch and Sen. A new rule was always put into place in the weeks before graduation duels. From rank ten onward, you could only challenge the person directly above you. 

Hers was the fifth and final battle of the day. Of course it was; she was from the Tower family. She’d spent every free moment lost in her notes. Desperately trying to master new spells, spells that had held no relevance to her in the past. It was like telling a bird to train for a marathon. Why practice running when she could fly? 

She’d had only a few weeks to develop magic capable of taking on someone who had honed their techniques over a lifetime. 

It turned out that her knowledge of Golden Creation magic didn’t transfer well to other magic. It had always been the only magic she needed. Of course it was; it was as versatile as the wind or water itself. It flowed around obstacles and took on any form she desired. It was her sword and her shield. Golden Creation magic was a bow. It was armor. The potential of it was endless, and now, without it, her own felt finite. As she waited on the side of the arena, she resigned herself to the fact that this was the end of the road for her. She wouldn’t graduate, and her family would disown her completely. In the best of cases, she’d be permitted to remain in the family estate as a servant. If she were kicked out completely, she’d likely not last long at all. Her only skills were magical in nature, and those had been literally ripped out of her chest. Wandering off to die somewhere quiet would be her most optimistic fate at that point. 

The thought was proof of how far she’d fallen. 

Part of her still wanted to hold on to the slim chance that she could get lucky. A miraculous strike with a spell equivalent to something a first-year wouldn’t even consider impressive. But Susanna was a realist. She knew how low the chances of something like that were. If she were a lucky person, her construct would still be nestled firmly around her beating heart. No, she’d made up her mind. 

She walked up to the attendant. “I’d like to speak with my opponent,” she said calmly.

It was a right all students had before graduation duels. Sometimes it was to insult or taunt them, a last-minute attempt to get into the heads of their opposition. Sometimes it was to negotiate, or to set terms for the duel outside of the usual ones. Susanna had a different reason entirely. 

The attendant nodded and raised a flag. Across the square arena, which had been manipulated into a size more fitting for a one-on-one duel as opposed to the massive brawl that was Academy War, the other attendant raised one in response. 

“Follow me,” her attendant said. She did so. She wore her leather armor. It was comfortable and provided a sensible amount of added protection that a member of the Tower family should never need. Why wear thick plate armor when you can conjure weightless golden creations two or three times as protective? Her boots echoed across the stone arena, and she did her best not to look up at her grandmother watching from the stands. The Queen of Golden Creations herself. Matriarch of the Tower family. If Susanna looked at her, she might second guess herself, and she refused to do that now. This was the right choice.

Across from her was the second-ranked Fire Kite student, Dasai River. That hadn’t been his rank until recently. Apparently, following the events at Harpis Castle, he’d grown significantly. Though she didn’t know how, only that this was considered an appropriate match for her by those who had orchestrated the duel. She wasn’t sure if she should be offended or wary. 

I guess neither considering what I have to tell him.

Unlike her, Dasai did look out into the audience, and he looked like a mouse in a den of lions. He wasn’t the type to revel in attention like this. He’d probably resent her for making him spend more time on stage than he already had to. But only until he heard what she had to say. His hair hung low, and he brushed it out of his face several times. Part out of necessity, and part an act of obvious nerves. He chewed on a blade of grass he’d gotten from who knows where. He wore simple clothing, and for a moment she wondered if he was taking this seriously at all. A tunic and pants? For graduation duels? Had Fire Kite abandoned all sense of pride? He was their number two student; surely they could give him finer clothes than these if he didn’t have some?

He noticed her looking and nodded. “Hey Susanna. What, uh, what did you want to talk about?”

She eyed the attendants for a moment. They got the message and walked away several paces. She breathed in relief. She wasn’t sure she’d have the privacy to say what she needed to. There was no point in drawing this out. Just spit it out, Susanna, she thought to herself. “Dasai, when the match starts, I want you to kill me.” 

Dasai blinked. His lips parted, and the blade of grass fell from his mouth. “What?” he asked, a dumbfounded expression on his face. 

“I’m going to refuse resurrection ahead of time. When the match starts, kill me,” she said again, as if it was the most casual thing in the world.

“I heard you…but why?” 

“I…I lost my golden creation artifact. My family won’t replace it. If I survive the day, I’ll become a servant or be married off for political reasons. Those terms aren’t acceptable to me. If I fall here, it will be with my dignity at least. They’ll think I’m weak, that you caught me off guard. It will certainly shame my family name, but not nearly as much as losing and serving as a permanent reminder of my failure,” Susanna said. Over the last week she’d practiced this speech a hundred times already. She’d cried. She’d gotten angry. She’d stumbled over her own words. But today, she spoke with perfect clarity. This wasn’t a last-minute decision. This wasn’t impulsive. It was rational, logical, and gave her peace of mind. That was enough.

Dasai frowned. “I see…and you’re sure about this?” he asked her.

She nodded. 

He thought for a moment. “Well, at the start of the match, I’ll attack. I’ll aim right for your heart. If that’s what you want, I’ll do it,” he said. “But you’ve got to look me in my eyes the whole time. If you look away, or I sense any doubt in you, I’ll stop. If this is what you want, show me your conviction, Susanna.” His tone and mannerisms had shifted in an instant. A moment ago he’d been the perfect image of stage fright; now he seemed…serious. Almost a little angry. But he’d respect her request, and that was what mattered. She turned, and the attendants fell in line beside each of them. The walk back to her side of the arena felt as if it took an eternity. She stared at her boots as she moved and made a game of avoiding the cracks. Subtly, of course, she wanted to take her mind off things, not look like an idiot. 

“Susanna,” a familiar voice called out. “Looks like I made it in time.”

She looked up, shocked to see Sen of all people here. “Sen?” she said, more surprised than she meant to. She hadn’t talked to him since the ball. She knew she hadn’t acted fairly to him. He’d saved her life. No matter how much she wanted to blame him for her circumstances at first, she’d played that night over and over in her head a hundred times. She’d been on the verge of death. Sen made the right call, even if it still was too difficult for her to admit out loud. 

She processed all of what he said. “In time for what?” she asked. If he was trying to apologize or something, the timing was…really odd. Perhaps he knew she’d be expelled soon and he wouldn’t have another chance. Or maybe he just wanted to wish her luck. 

Sen held out a closed fist. He’d clearly intended to give her something. She raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing?”

“Two minutes,” the attendant warned her. Her match would begin soon. 

“You’re going to want this,” Sen said, poking his hand out a bit further to emphasize it.

Reluctantly she held out her hand, and he dropped a silver ring into her palm. Her eyes widened. It radiated magical power. A lot of it. Without a doubt in her mind, she knew it was a high-grade magic artifact. As far as apologies went, it was amazing, but unwarranted. “I can’t accept—”

The attendant stepped forward and inspected the ring. “Is this a gift or a loan?” he asked Sen. “Students are only allowed to take their own possessions within the area. If this is something for her to borrow, I’ll have to refuse and insist you take it back. If you lie and we find out later you’ve taken the item back, she’ll lose the duel retroactively.” 

“It’s a gift,” Sen assured the attendant.

The man nodded and backed away. 

“Sen, what happened…it wasn’t your fault. I can’t accept something like this from you.” Her curiosity was overwhelming, though. So at the very least she wanted to ask what it did. Had he brought this because he thought it would give her a chance in her graduation duel? Was this an attempt to make up for the loss of her golden creation artifact? She knew she couldn’t accept this. She’d already accepted that she was about to die. Now she resented the fact that such a tiny artifact full of power could give her something as fragile as hope. If this were a chance, should she really turn it down? Of course she should. She knew that much. It wasn’t right to take advantage of the person she owed her life to. “I can’t take this. Even if I did, there’s no time to learn how to use it. I’d be going in there blind.”

Sen stared at her. “Susanna, it’s a silver creation artifact.”

Susanna froze. The attendant behind her choked. She knew her family couldn’t hear, but her head whipped around and searched for the private section where she knew they would be watching. She took a step towards him and grabbed his shoulders, careful not to drop the ring. “Sen…” she whispered. “Did you try to replicate my family’s artifact?” Her pulse quickened. That was the kind of thing that got Tower family assassins sent after you. As strong as Sen was, he didn’t need Prince and King Class Golden Creation mages coming after him for the rest of his life. Which would be short in that case. 

Sen shrugged. “When you win, tell them to go easy on me. It’s the only copy I made, and I swore an oath upon it not to create anymore without your family’s explicit permission.” 

The attendant was visibly sweating. “Uhm…it’s almost time. We uh—” 

“Susanna, just so you know, this artifact isn’t from me. I modified it into an artifact of silver creation, but Girch was the one who chose the ring itself and brought it to me. It was his ranking reward prize. A ring designed to help mages shape illusions. I altered its properties to shape creations instead, using what knowledge I could, uh…accumulate about your artifact.”

He’d said that rather strangely. If what he said was true, and this creation actually worked, she wanted to ask how exactly he’d managed to pull it off. It wasn’t as if there were tomes lying around with knowledge of how her family’s power worked. Their techniques were some of the most closely guarded secrets in history. 

That aside, a horrified expression crossed her face when she caught on to what he’d said. She took a step toward him and placed her arms on his shoulders. “Girch didn’t take the gauntlets?” she demanded. Her heart sank. 

“Miss…” the attendant called out. She ignored him. If she’d been anyone besides a Tower, she’d probably have been disqualified already. But this was too important. She’d lean on the power of her family legacy for this. Even if for the last time. Behind her, the man sighed. 

Sen took a step back. “I don’t know anything about gauntlets…”

She shook her head. “Girch and I met on a tour of the school. The professors allowed us to see the high-grade artifact collection, and Girch immediately fell in love with a pair of gauntlets. He’d been dreaming of them ever since. Every semester he’d go and make sure none of the top-ranking students had chosen them. It’s been practically all he talked about this year. It was the reason he worked so hard to reach the top ten. You’re telling me he picked this instead? Why?” she asked.

Sen was quiet. He turned and looked over his shoulder. “I think you should ask him that.”

She heard someone groan. Sen waved a hand, and Girch appeared out of thin air. An invisibility spell. That was just like Sen to do.

Tears poured down her face. She accepted his appearance in stride. “Why Girch?” she asked him.

His own eyes were watery. “You’re my best friend, Susanna. You’re all I got.” He scratched the back of his head. 

She ran up and threw her arms around him. He froze. But slowly she felt those big tree-trunk arms wrap around her. “That was dumb.” She sobbed into his chest. “You deserved those gauntlets.”

He held her. “I’ll find new ones,” he whispered. 

“Miss, I don’t think we can wait anymore,” the attendant pleaded. 

She turned, pulling away from the embrace. “Okay…” She looked up at Girch and reached for him. 

“What uh—” Girch started to ask. 

She grabbed his face and gently guided it down. She planted a kiss on his cheek and smiled through the tears. “Thank you,” she said. Then, before she could grapple with what she’d just done, she slipped on the ring and turned around. She ran past the attendant and toward the stairs onto the arena.

As she passed Sen, he nodded at her. “Good luck, Susanna. You’ve got this,” he told her. 

She took a deep breath and stepped inside. Dasai stared at her, and their eyes met.

The referee looked at each of them, and then he called the start of the match.

“Begin!”

Dasai’s arm reached out toward her, and a black diamond emerged from his hands despite the fact he hadn’t cast anything. She stared into his eyes unflinchingly. He grimaced when he saw her resolve. But he didn’t know the resolve he expected had bloomed into something else. She wasn’t going to die here; she was going to win.

She drew on the power of the Artifact of Silver Creation, and it felt like trying on a new dress. One perfectly tailored to her, but not quite the brand she was used to. Oddly enough, she thought she could adjust fairly quickly. 

A large hand of silver appeared in front of her and caught Dasai’s attack in its palm. 

The crowd fell into a state of stunned silence. 

Sen had risked his life to give her this opportunity. She would not waste it.