“Please refrain from Aura outputting while in the Great Hall.”

  Jake read the sign, his magic-reading skills—refined over the past week under Gellius’ training—allowing him to understand it. He stood in one of the multiple queues, scanning the crowd, sizing up potential opponents.

  The Hall teemed with a mixture of different types of participants: mercenary and delinquent groups huddled in tight-knit clusters, Dwarves with axes and spears strapped to their backs, and wannabe mages who looked like pale imitations of Gellius.

  On that topic, where is Gellius?

  Despite the numerous high-ranking Officers—identifiable by their distinctive red and gold armbands—Gellius and Asariel were nowhere to be seen.

  Probably overseeing the trial from somewhere less conspicuous.

  A stray thought crossed his mind.

  Now that I think about it, I’m being trained by the two highest-ranking people in the city. It’ll be beyond embarrassing if I fail.

  He sighed to himself.

  Couldn’t they just… I don’t know, pass me automatically?

  Jake’s eyes, still scouting the competition, fell on a girl in a separate queue. She stood out—long green hair, a billowing teal hooded cape, a white dress underneath, brown boots, and a pointed hat with a yellow tassel. She anxiously gripped her staff.

  “Don’t stare too hard now, you might pierce her,” a voice quipped from behind.

  Jake turned to see a kid who couldn’t be any older than fourteen, half a decade younger than him. Typically not one to make small-talk, Jake remained silent.

  The boy, as if the lack of response encouraged him, continued. “She’s from the city nearby. Noble’s daughter, high education. She’s shaking, but she’s got the aura control on point. Light magic—healing, to be precise. Quite rare. A formidable opponent.”

  It sounded so detailed compared to Jake’s analysis that it felt rehearsed, like a well-practiced speech.

  “I’m Luckie,” the boy said, extending his hand. “Wanna team up?”

  Jake questioned his motive. “Why would you want to team up with someone you haven’t even met yet?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?” Luckie jabbed a thumb at the groups forming around them. “And you don’t seem the type to backstab.”

  “What’s in it for me?”

  “Victory is all,” Luckie responded, grinning wide enough to make it seem suspicious.

  Jake didn’t trust him, but his analysis had been so spot on. Although Gellius had taught him so much during their week of training, there was only so much he could teach Jake and that became apparent as he listened to the kid analyze the girl, to the point of surmising what category of magic she fell into. He meanwhile was barely able to even see a normal mage’s Aura.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Lost in thought and mulling over Luckie’s offer, Jake hadn’t realized the line had stopped moving—because of him.

  “Hey, pal, you blind or somethin’?” snarled a voice.

  Jake turned to face a stern-looking man, one of the delinquents he’d noticed earlier. The man had a scar that ran across his face, screaming “trouble”.

  “I apologize,” Jake said quickly, clearly already hurt and battered, bowing his head slightly to diffuse the situation. Last thing he wanted was to get himself in any trouble, potentially disqualified even.

  The delinquent sneered. “Sorry’s not gonna cut it. How about you hand over that fancy sword of yours? Consider it compensation for wasting my time.”

  Jake instinctively gripped the sheathed blade by his side. It was obviously an unreasonable form of ‘compensation’. Before Jake could open his mouth to protest, a group of the man’s friends surrounded him.

  “As far as I know,” the scarred man said with a chuckle, “only aura outputting is against the rules here. But no one said anything about beating you up the old-fashioned way.”

  He cracked his knuckles, and his gang snickered.

  Great. This is just what I need right now.

  “Oi!” Luckie, who was still behind Jake, addressed the delinquents.

  Please tell me your negotiation skills are just as good as your aura-reading abilities.

  But Luckie had no intention of negotiating. He delivered a kick directly into the leader’s face.

  “I was in the middle of a convo, YOU BASTARD!” Luckie yelled.

  The hall fell silent as the delinquent dropped to the ground, everyone staring at the scene unfolding.

  He lay there, motionless. Jake wondered if he was still alive, and judging by everyone’s reaction, he wasn’t the only one.

  Unspoken rule of manly warfare: don’t strike a helpless, and grounded opponent. Yet, Luckie walked to his body and viciously kicked him again, and again. It took the other delinquents a moment to snap back to reality, tackling Luckie to the ground.

  Jake barely had time to react as the delinquents lunged at him too. One sent a straight punch, with no end result, but just as he dodged it, another calf kicked him, making his legs crumple and fold. As his face fell towards a knee strike, he avoided it by twisting his body and rolling away.

  Jake caught a stray punch, meant for Luckie, straight to the chest. Realizing he couldn’t get out of it unscathed, he grabs Kuroyuki—still sheathed—before blindly swinging it.

  Luckie, meanwhile, had been grabbed by one of the burlier delinquents while another punched away at him. The others surrounded Jake.

  This isn’t like fiction at all…

  He had seriously underestimated how difficult it’d be to fight seven or so men with just the two of them. The surrounding mages—including the ones who wore the red and gold armbands—seemed content to watch, making no move to intervene.

  Alright then.

  He breathed in and adjusted his grip on Kuroyuki.

  Shouldn’t be any different from the wooden duels with Asariel.

  But it was. The coordinated attacks made it close to impossible for him to defend himself. One of the delinquents even began to laugh, seemingly at how ineffective Jake and his sheathed sword were. Jake used the momentary pause as an opening and aimed a straight strike at his esophagus.

  Courtesy of Asariel!

  With the strike catching his breath in his throat, he fell. Jake, taking advantage of the momentum, used his wide strike to poke the eyes of the nearby delinquent using the edge of the sheathed blade, although catching a punch to the jaw while doing so. As a result of the shockwave, his head swung back. He could feel his brain slam into his skull.

  Luckie writhed free, elbowed one captor in the ribs and kicked the other to the ground, and rejoined the fray.

  Four down, three to go.

  Jake easily swatted away an incoming punch with Kuroyuki. The enemy winced before being taken out from the back by Luckie. With most of them incapacitated, the remaining two quickly fell into disarray. Luckie and Jake dispatched them with relative ease.

  When the dust settled, the two stood amidst a pile of groaning bodies. The hall was deathly quiet, all eyes on them.

  “Well, partner,” Luckie grinned, stepping over the fallen bodies. “Looks like we’re public enemy number one and two.”

  Unperturbed, Luckie walked to the registration desk, the line now miraculously cleared.