Classes ended at exactly 3 PM. Tension vibrated throughout the academy. Only three hours remained until the inevitable confrontation between Dren and Dante.
"Hey, Dren!" a classmate patted his shoulder as they left. "Good luck! I'm sure you'll give that idiot what he deserves."
Before Dren could respond, another student approached with bright eyes.
"I'll be cheering for you this afternoon! Give it your best!"
Dren could only manage a forced smile as he watched them walk away. A stab of guilt pierced his chest.
'These comments are supposed to motivate me, but they only make me feel like a fraud,' he thought, standing motionless at the entrance while the torrent of students flowed around him. 'Everyone trusts that I'm a good magician, but when they discover the truth... when they see how weak I am...'
"Hello, moron!" a cutting voice interrupted his thoughts. "Lucky for you, I had a spare uniform in my locker!"
Dante, taking advantage of his distraction, grabbed him by the neck, rubbing his knuckles hard against his head. The sharp pain mixed with humiliation.
"Enough!" Dren managed to break free with difficulty.
Dante's smile was pure venom.
"Relax... Here you act brave, but inside you were trembling like a frightened mouse."
"What do you want now?" Dren snapped. "You already have what you wanted. I accepted the duel, now leave me alone."
Dante's eyes gleamed with malice.
"Oh, I will. But don't you dare arrive a minute late. I want to tear you to pieces from the very first second."
With that threat hanging in the air, Dante rejoined his friends and left amidst his annoying laughter.
Dren exhaled slowly. 'I guess I'll go home to await my inevitable defeat,' he thought bitterly. There was no escape.
He started walking toward the Valemont compound when a familiar voice called him from the park adjacent to the academy.
"Hey, Dren! Over here!"
It was Alice, accompanied by Gary, Luck, Melissa, and Sarah. They were sitting under the shade of a tree, waiting for him.
'Them again? I already have enough with the duel,' he thought, observing them from afar. 'Although Alice did prevent Dante from hitting me... though if he had, maybe I wouldn't be in this situation now... Is it her fault too? No... she was just trying to help.'
With a sigh of resignation, he approached the group.
"I'm sorry about what happened with Dante," said Alice, her eyes reflecting genuine concern.
"Don't worry," Dren replied, shrugging. "It's nothing."
"Are you sure? You looked terrified when you were arguing with him."
"It was just his intimidating presence, nothing more," Dren lied with a fake smile that didn't reach his eyes.
Alice crossed her arms, her gaze penetrating.
"Dren, don't lie. We all noticed it."
"Noticed what, specifically?"
Dren's eyes fixed on Luck. 'Has he told them something about my orb?'
"You had your orb in your backpack and didn't even think about using it," Alice explained. "You were so paralyzed that it didn't even occur to you to get up from the floor."
Dren's heart raced.
"That's a vague argument," he defended himself. "Even if I had wanted to use it, academy rules forbid it. I would have gotten into trouble."
"So you didn't want to use it?" Alice insisted. "Why do you carry it everywhere if you never use it?"
"That's none of your business."
The words came out sharper than he intended, but Alice didn't back down.
"Is that your answer? Tell me something," her eyes narrowed. "If I hadn't stopped Dante, would you have done anything to defend yourself? Because I'm certain that guy would have destroyed you, and no one would have lifted a finger."
Dren rubbed his eyes in frustration, sick of the conversation.
"Don't you care about anything I'm telling you?" Alice asked, raising her voice. "If I hadn't intervened..."
"If you hadn't intervened, it probably would have just been a beating and none of this would be happening," Dren interrupted her.
Alice's face reddened with anger.
"What nonsense are you saying?! You have no idea!" she exploded. "Today Dante severely injured another student in practice class! All because the poor guy aimed wrong and his spell grazed Dante's back!" her voice trembled. "What happened afterward... was horrible. No one could stop him. That boy ended up in the infirmary, unrecognizable."
Dren turned pale.
"Why didn't the academy do anything?"
Alice let out a bitter laugh.
"Do you really not know? Dante's family is the main financial pillar of the institution. Without them, the academy wouldn't exist."
The words hit Dren like a punch to the stomach.
'Dad told me the Ravenshades are on par with the Valemonts in magical power, but he never mentioned that the academy exists thanks to them. Of course, he only cares about power... just like grandfather, who created the orbs so humans could use magic.'
"It doesn't matter," he finally said. "You were the one who suggested the duel, weren't you? If you're so worried about me, it doesn't seem like it, because according to your logic, that guy could kill me."
"Do you ever think before you speak, you idiot?!" Alice shouted, trembling with rage.
"Miss Alice, you should calm down..." Melissa tried, moving to touch her arm.
Alice pulled away sharply.
"You both should calm down," Gary intervened. "We had agreed this would be a peaceful conversation."
'Agreed conversation?'
"That's right," Luck added. "I wouldn't want to have to separate you two."
'That jerk... I'm sure he said something to Alice. He's only broken our agreement from the beginning.' Dren clenched his teeth, containing the impulse to hit him.
"ENOUGH!" Alice roared, making everyone step back. "I told you to let me do the talking!" she took a deep breath, regaining her composure. "I proposed the duel because that way we could devise a plan to nullify it."
"What are you talking about?" asked Dren, confused.
Alice's eyes shone with determination.
"It's simple. I thought about faking an accident. You can't fight if you're injured, right?"
"Sure, that's true."
"You're absolutely right."
Her friends nodded, supporting the idea.
'Are they idiots or what?' Dren lowered his gaze, unable to believe what he was hearing.
"Didn't it occur to you that that psychopath would insist on fighting later?" he said with an icy voice. "Or that he might attack me at any moment inside the academy?"
"Are you suggesting my plan isn't good?" Alice countered. "Do you have a better one?"
Dren remained silent, struggling to control his temper.
'Calm down... They have no idea what you're going through. They're just trying to help, even if you didn't ask for it.'
"It seems like a good plan to me," Luck intervened, trying to ease the tension. "We could carry it out and then think of another strategy."
Something inside Dren broke.
"Why don't you shut up?" he spat. "Your voice makes me sick."
"Huh?" Luck blinked, surprised.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Alice screamed. "He's just trying to help you, just like me!"
'Now you're worried about him? At the cafeteria you completely ignored him.'
"Your presence makes me nauseous too!" Dren exploded. "Stop getting involved! I didn't ask for your help! I don't even know you! I've only spoken to you today and you already want to meddle in my affairs! And to answer your question... Yes, I have a better idea: face him and that's it!"
SLAP!
A slap cut through the air. Dren's cheek burned like fire.
"Hey! Why did you do that?" Luck protested.
"Alice, that's not right!" Gary added.
"Face him?!" Alice shouted, ignoring them. "What nonsense are you saying?! You can't even use magic!"
Dren's world stopped.
"What... did you say?" he whispered.
"I said you weren't even able to face him when you had the chance!"
Dren breathed in relief. His imagination had played a trick on him.
"Just admit it once and for all!" Alice continued. "Say that you're a weakling who doesn't know how to use magic!"
"Repeat that..." Dren's voice was barely audible.
Alice took a deep breath.
"I said you should admit that you're not the powerful boy everyone expects you to be," she softened her tone. "And that's not a bad thing. Maybe you need more time to learn. You're only 16 years old. Put your pride aside and prioritize your well-being."
Something dark and primitive was unleashed inside Dren.
"You interfere in my life... and on top of that you underestimate me..." he muttered. "That's the last straw."
In an instant, his hands were around Alice's neck. His eyes, two pools of blind fury.
"Stop! You're choking her!"
"That's enough! Let her go!"
The screams seemed to come from another world. Alice struggled to breathe while the others tried to separate them.
"I AM DREN VALEMONT! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" he roared, squeezing harder. "DREN VALEMONT! REMEMBER THAT! I CAN'T LOSE! MY FAMILY IS THE MOST POWERFUL!"
"THAT'S ENOUGH!"
A violent push from Luck separated him from Alice, who fell to the ground, desperately coughing.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Melissa shouted, helping Alice. "You could have killed her, you idiot!"
Rage continued to cloud Dren's judgment.
"This is all your damn fault!" he growled, throwing a punch straight at Luck's face. "It all started with you!"
Luck's eyes darkened.
"I was going to let it slide that you hurt a woman," he said in a cold voice. "But with this you only prove how pathetic you are."
His fist crashed into Dren's jaw with twice the force, sending him to the ground like a rag doll.
"Ungrateful bastard..." Luck muttered, preparing to continue. "We were just trying to help and this is how you repay us."
"Don't do it!" Alice intervened, her voice hoarse from the attack. "You're wasting your time. Let's go... There's no way to reason with him. Let him figure it out on his own."
"We wasted valuable time with that fool," Melissa added, following Alice.
Only Sarah remained, observing Dren in silence, her eyes unreadable.
"What are you looking at?!" Dren spat from the ground. "Get out of here! Your friends already left!"
"Sarah, let's go. Now." Alice ordered.
The girl walked away, but not before fixing her gaze on Dren for a few more seconds.
"You too, get out of here," Dren muttered to the remaining guys. "Leave me alone."
Luck turned away without a word.
"Oh, and one last thing," Dren added. "Just publish that damn photo already. I won't pay you to keep the secret."
Luck stopped in his tracks.
"Is that all you care about?" he whispered, his voice laden with contempt. "You disgust me."
He returned, took out his phone, and deleted the image in front of Dren.
"Satisfied?"
"That doesn't mean anything," Dren replied. "It's still in the trash."
"So what? I don't care. I'm not going to do anything with it," he put his phone away. "I won't get involved in your suicidal wishes to keep your secret. That guy is going to kill you, and I don't want to be investigated for knowing your secret."
He left without another word.
"Well... It seems what we tried was useless," said Gary, the last to leave. "Anyway, good luck with your duel."
Alone in the park, Dren felt a strange emptiness in his chest.
'Why do I feel bad? I didn't even spend that much time with them, plus they only got me into trouble,' he thought, cleaning the blood from his split lip.
'Now my only priority is to win the duel at all costs.'
'Everything depends on it.'
'It's all or nothing.'
The afternoon advanced relentlessly. Three hours until the duel. Three hours to face his destiny.
'And that's the only thought that should be in my head from now on.'