'Finally finished the quest…' Ashrosaliera sighed, relieved that she wouldn't have to run errands for Luciana anymore.
"Yes, we've met." The unkempt man, Tanya answered Ash's previous question. "My name is Tanya, you don't have to mind my last name because it's a chore to pronounce."
"Try me!" Ash confidently said, striking the infamous Ash-pose.
"Nrägèjmul." He answered.
"I stand corrected." She immediately sat down.
Luciana rested on his palm, looking at the two—Tanya and Ashrosaliera—with amusement. He smirked all playfully, yet didn't say anything, watching as Ash asked:
"You… Have two elemental attributes? What's with this school and having so many of these supposedly rare people? For the last 18 years, I have never seen even one person with two attributes. And now I saw three students with it, you two, and my beastman roommate. What was her other element again? I vaguely saw a black badge on her blazer…"
"Tarnisha Smithdottir?" Luciana asked with his head tilted.
"Yeah! You know her?" Ash asked.
"You're the only one who doesn't know, Ashrosaliera." Tanya immediately chimed in and answered. "She's the no. 1 candidate for the strongest student in the first year, after that incident 2 years ago."
"Oh yeah? The strongest in the first year?" Ashrosaliera smirked, thinking about the cute, soft-spoken beastman as she cracked her knuckles, "No way, we'll see about that."
Ashrosaliera thought about how Tarnisha was so friendly, cuddly-looking, and non-threatening that Ash couldn't imagine losing to her. The black badge was probably due to Ash not getting a good look; it was perhaps [Wind], which was grayish and could appear black from afar.
"Alright, I'm going to head out, see you again never."
Ash walked away from Luciana and Tanya, but just when she was about to leave, the familiar system sound of a new quest available popped up.
'Geez! Stop giving me quests, I'm already juggling three.' Ash pouted at no one in particular.
===
New Quest Available: Eccentric Circumstances
Details: Entertain Tanya Nrägèjmul
Reward: 0.10
Failure: Removal of [The Long Way] extra reward
Status: Ongoing
===
Ashrosaliera was utterly confused, she gotta entertain this random nerdy looking dude? Sure, he got two attributes, which was a rare thing, but nothing that impressive, right? He was probably a fellow second-year like Luciana Bloodforge, and if Luciana was considered the strongest second-year, then this guy wouldn't even compare.
"What's even is [The Long Way] extra reward?" She asked rhetorically, but the system answered by showing her the ongoing quests section.
===
Ongoing Quest: The Long Way
Details: Defeat a Fourth Year student, an extra reward shall be granted if the user challenges [The Poet]
Reward: 0.30 System Points (0.60 if defeated [The Poet])
Status: Ongoing
===
Her feet froze in place, enraptured in the grip of dawning horror. She slowly turned around to see that Luciana and Tanya were looking at her, sitting beside each other with a book in hand.
She slowly approached them, and memories came pouring in like a waterfall.
Ash remembered how Tarnisha once said…
"And for three consecutive years, the winner has been [The Poet], he is expected to reign victorious this year too… His elemental attributes are..."
"Excuse me," Ashrosaliera asked, looking at Tanya. "What year are you in?"
Luciana smirked in amusement. He looked over at Tanya, staying out of the conversation.
"I'm in the fourth year, why?" Tanya replied.
This sealed the deal for Ash; she pointed at him with shaky hands from excitement.
"You are [The Poet], the strongest student in the academy."
"He is." Luciana chimed in this time.
"I challenge you to an honorary duel."
"What do you wager?" Tanya casually replied.
"If I win, I get to announce it to everyone, and you'll help me convince the principal to place me from F-Class up to A-Class." Ashrosaliera smiled, sweat rolling down her forehead from imaginary stress, "But if you win, I'll call you [big bro] and other admiring names until your graduation. That's a huge feat because I'm the strongest mage alive and will be the [Elemental Empress] after defeating the [Fire Emperor]."
Before Tanya gave her an answer, he fixed his glasses and felt the need to correct Ashrosaliera:
"You know that defeating the [Fire Emperor] meant you'll only become the next [Fire Empress], right? And to be the [Elemental Empress], you must also defeat the other seven? That's hard considering how the [Dark Emperor] is in hiding and no one has stood up to claim the [Light Emperor] title yet."
"Eh? Everyone? But that'll take forever!" Ash exclaimed.
"Sucks to suck." Luciana chimed in to mock Ashrosaliera with a cute giggle, "Giving up on your dreams already?"
"No way! I'll do whatever I can, and when I become the Elemental Empress, I will force everyone to kneel whenever they see me or else!" Ash proudly threw her hands in the air, "What do you think, Tanya? Will you accept my challenge?"
Tanya Nrägèjmul stood up to give Ashrosaliera an answer, but clumsily bumped into the table and knocked his book over, having to bend over to pick it up. But then he bumped his rear into a bookshelf, knocking over a stack of books on his head. He had to reorganize them, taking at least five minutes of everyone's time just watching him. Neither Ash nor Luciana offered a helping hand.
"How… uncoordinated, you must be my dad's illegitimate child," Ash said, genuinely concerned about the similarity of the two.
"Ahem… Anyways. Ashrosaliera, Luciana told me a lot about you. So sure, I'll take on your duel, but here's my offer." Tanya stood looking at Ash, while Luciana stared at them in silence, "I don't need you to wager anything, but you have to go on a date with me tomorrow first, so we can get to know each other better. That is my only offer; otherwise, you can wait until the tournament for another chance."
Ash paused, visibly disgusted at the suggestion, but caved in.
"What the hell is it with strong people and being freaks?" Ash commented, "But yeah, sure, you got a deal."
They shook hands, sealing the offer with Luciana audibly giggling in the corner.
"See you next morning, at eight for our date."