After the harsh and difficult conversation with those students who had called themselves his friends, which ended in a fight, Dren walked home with firm steps but a turbulent mind. His split lip throbbed painfully with each beat of his heart.
It was exactly 4:00 PM. Only two hours until the duel.
"Mr. Valemont, good afternoon," the formal and warm voice of Dorian, the Valemont family's head butler, greeted him as soon as he crossed the threshold.
"Oh, hello Dorian. How are you?" Dren replied, trying to sound casual while slightly lowering his face.
Dorian approached with an alarmed expression, studying the young man's wounds.
"My lord, what has happened to your face? Your cheek is swollen and your lip is split," he exclaimed with genuine concern, moving closer to better examine the injuries.
"I'm fine, Dorian, I just had some problems at the academy, that's all," Dren tried to downplay it, though the tension in his jaw betrayed him.
"On your first day, my lord?" Dorian frowned. "That doesn't seem like something that should be taken lightly. Don't you think your father or mother should know about this?"
"Don't worry, I don't think it's necessary," Dren murmured.
'I'm sure they'll find out sooner or later. Most likely those photos and videos they took are already circulating online. That's why I need to quickly figure out what to do to win that duel and make everyone forget what happened.'
"If you say so..." Dorian yielded, though not entirely convinced. "Even so, if you find yourself in trouble or anything of the sort, you know you can trust me. I will support and advise you in any way I can."
Dren's face softened at the butler's sincerity.
"Thank you, Dorian. And yes, it wouldn't hurt to chat a bit," he responded with a slight smile, his first genuine one of the day.
"Excellent. Tell me sir, would you like something to eat? I'd be happy to prepare it for you," Dorian offered as they walked toward the interior of the house.
The Valemont residence was impressive; each step resonated in the wide marble hallways, flanked by ornate columns and large windows that allowed the afternoon light to pass through, creating golden patterns on the walls.
"I'm not hungry at the moment, but one of your teas would be nice..."
"Right away, sir!" Dorian nodded enthusiastically and headed toward the kitchen with a light step.
Dren paused in front of the training hall, drawn by the bluish flashes filtering under the half-open door. Inside, his younger sister was training with impressive intensity.
The Valemont family had an advanced simulation system for dimensional rift monsters; holograms with tangible physical bodies, perfect for magical training at home.
Roxanne, barely 14 years old, represented everything Dren was not. Despite being two years younger, she manipulated the magic of her orb with the skill of a true prodigy.
She moved with feline agility among the virtual monsters, conjuring spells without hesitation, as if each enchantment had always been a part of her.
"Sharp Spark!" she exclaimed with a clear, powerful voice.
An electric ray emerged from her floating orb and cleanly pierced a considerable-sized spider, making it burst into fragments of light that dissipated in the air.
Without warning, a grotesquely proportioned slug emerged behind her and spat a viscous glob at her, in complete silence.
Roxanne, however, seemed to perceive it. She turned her head with superhuman naturalness and formed a gun with her hand, closing her eyes in deep concentration.
'What is she doing? If she doesn't react soon, that spit is going to reach her,' thought Dren, watching as the distance between his sister and the attack inexorably shortened.
"Lightning Finger..." Roxanne murmured.
Her fingers lit up with an intense electric blue.
'Impossible! It can't be that she's already conjuring spells of that type.'
A fulgent electric line emerged from the young girl's fingers, thin as a laser but bright as lightning. The ray passed through the slug's spit, instantly disintegrating it before directly impacting the slug itself. The creature exploded into viscous fragments that splattered the floor and walls.
'She's progressing too fast... It's amazing.'
After the attack, Roxanne was left panting, her face contorted in a grimace of pain. The fingers from which she had launched such power were now bleeding, the skin visibly burned by the intensity of the spell.
'Since there are many types of spells among mages, they are classified into different categories,' Dren reflected as he watched. 'There are direct type, which come directly from the orb. Then, terrain type, which emerge from the environment. Third, invocation type, capable of giving form to elemental beings. Next, body type, where magic is channeled from the user's own body. And finally, fusion type, considered the most dangerous: very few mages manage to reach them without serious consequences, as they could completely destroy the body. It's evident that even from body-type spells, physical damage already begins.'
Suddenly, a horde of goblins emerged from the walls, converging toward Roxanne in a coordinated attack. The distance between them and the young girl was so small that it seemed impossible to conjure in time.
"Pulsating Discharge..." she pronounced with deadly calm.
An arcane circle of luminescent symbols materialized on the ground beneath the goblins' feet. Serpentine lightning bolts sprang from it, immobilizing the creatures, turning them into convulsing statues.
"Here we go again..." Roxanne murmured, with a look that would have frozen blood.
"Electric Shot!"
Raising her injured fingers again, she fired multiple electric projectiles that decapitated some goblins and pierced the chests of others.
'She used a body-type attack again...,' observed Dren. 'It's surprising considering her age, but anyone can see she's exhausted and suffering. Those types of attacks gradually destroy your body.'
Roxanne was breathing raggedly, her trembling legs threatening to give way at any moment. Sweat beaded on her forehead as she struggled to maintain her composure.
"Damn it!"
A cloud of flying insects suddenly surrounded her, forcing her to run to dodge the rain of stingers that seemed to constantly regenerate.
"AGH!" a scream escaped her lips when one of the stingers deeply embedded itself in her leg.
Seeing another wave of attacks approaching, she turned with fierce determination. Her orb floated by her side, pulsing with contained energy.
"Electromagnetic Echo!"
A zigzagging ray emerged from the orb, bouncing from insect to insect, making them burst in cascade until none remained.
The victory was ephemeral. A colossal spider descended from the ceiling and trapped her with a jet of viscous silk, immobilizing her legs.
It seemed that Roxanne's strength was completely depleted.
Or so it seemed...
With superhuman effort, she raised her arm and formed the gun with her hand again. Her fingers, once snow-white and perfect, were now blackened and bleeding.
"Shot..."
"That's enough... Air Shard!"
The male voice interrupted the training. A cutting air projectile instantly pulverized the spider, leaving no trace.
'Oh heavens... What is that guy doing here?', thought Dren, immediately recognizing the owner of that voice.
"Why did you interfere? I had explicitly told you not to do that," Roxanne's voice cut the air like an ice knife.
"What? Did you expect me to stand still watching how you were hurting your fragile and beautiful body?" replied the newcomer with a sugary tone that contrasted with the tense atmosphere.
"What are you saying?" Roxanne looked at him with evident discomfort.
"I'm just complimenting my beautiful girlfriend. Can't I do that?" The boy winked at her with forced complicity.
'That guy makes me nauseous...', thought Dren, observing the scene from the door.
"Whatever you say, Finn," she replied with glacial indifference.
"Hey, but look who's there. Isn't that Dren? Hello, brother-in-law!" Finn greeted with exaggerated enthusiasm upon noticing Dren's presence, who tried in vain to hide.
'Damn... That stupid idiot. Why did he have to expose me?', lamented Dren, slapping his forehead with the palm of his hand.
"Come on, brother-in-law! Don't be shy! Come in here right now and say hello!" insisted Finn with a smile that didn't reach his calculating eyes.
Dren entered the room with a faltering step. Roxanne didn't even deign to look at him, as if her older brother were part of the furniture.
"Hello..." greeted Dren, uncomfortably scratching his neck.
"You look good! I haven't seen you in a long time, brother-in-law!" exclaimed Finn.
"Thanks, I guess..." replied Dren, aware of the obvious marks of blows on his face. "By the way, it seems you got out of school much earlier than usual to be home at this hour, right?" he tried to break the tension that saturated the environment.
"And why should that matter to you?" Roxanne's response was a whiplash of absolute coldness.
"Hey, what's with that response?" intervened Finn, feigning bewilderment.
"D-don't worry, it was my mistake," stammered Dren. "I-I shouldn't have asked something that was none of my business." He nervously scratched his head. "I'll go now, okay? I'll leave you alone."
He turned to leave, but Roxanne's words stopped him in his tracks.
"Everything you're going through now is your own fault. If you had done what I advised you months ago, you wouldn't have to be living in a lie and you wouldn't be a headache for mom and dad either."
Dren turned slowly, his face an indecipherable mask.
"You don't understand... the advice you gave me back then wasn't viable."
"That's what you think... but it was actually the best for everyone," she replied, her eyes cold as icicles.
"You're my younger sister, the real prodigy of the family," Dren's voice gradually rose. "You should give me advice to help me improve, but instead it seems like you just want mom and dad to hate me! To throw me out of the house! For everyone to take me as the failure of the family and for me to lose practically everything! That was the damn advice you gave me then!"
The final shout resonated on the walls, leaving a tense silence.
"Dren," Roxanne's voice was methodical, almost clinical, "you can't conjure magic. You can't even make your orb rise and follow you. Even Finn knows that perfectly."
She looked at her boyfriend, who nodded with an expression of false compassion.
"Sorry, brother-in-law... but yes, it's true."
"And then," she continued mercilessly, "knowing that's your situation, what other options do you expect to have? What I told you then, you should have taken into account. You should have simply admitted your reality, told everyone you can't use magic. Maybe you'd be living much more peacefully and at ease than now."
"It would have only been a focus of public humiliation!" Dren exploded. "I wouldn't have been able to enter any school without being reminded how pathetic I am. I wouldn't have gotten any job either. My life would have gone to hell if I had done what you said!"
"And tell me... isn't that what you're going through now?" Roxanne's smile was cruel. "Thousands have already seen the video of you being humiliated by that boy... What's his name? Dante, yes, Dante! And everyone is thinking the same thing: if the boy is so powerful and comes from such a prestigious family, why then didn't he defend himself?"
"That's obvious, because in that place you can't have magic combat..."
"Yes... you're right," she conceded with malice. "But still, you didn't even have the intention to defend yourself. You just stayed there trembling on the floor, static like a weakling. And on top of that, he picked you up like it was nothing. What do you think dad will think when he sees that? Although most likely he has already seen it, since that video is becoming very popular... In the end, you're going to go through the same thing you would have gone through if you had at least had the intention of being honest about yourself."
"Enough... I won't continue talking about this," Dren turned to leave the room, his face reddened by humiliation.
"How pathetic..." Roxanne's voice pursued him. "Asking your younger sister for advice and when she gives it to you, getting offended and feeling hurt because you know what she's telling you is reality. But don't worry, you can no longer escape what's coming... In your duel with that boy, everyone will see that you're a fraud. It's only a matter of time."
'I must not allow that to happen!'
'It cannot happen!'
'I have to do whatever is necessary!'
'Whatever is necessary so that no one knows the truth!'
Dren ran out of the house, though without a defined destination. His mind was a chaotic whirlwind without clear solutions.
"Sir... Where are you going? The tea is ready, I was waiting for you," Dorian's voice reached him when he already had his hand on the knob of the main door.
"I... I'm very sorry, Dorian," he replied hastily. "I won't be able to have tea with you. I'm very scattered and unfocused considering I'm in a problem, okay? In a problem too big that if I don't solve it, everything will come crashing down! I need to quickly find a way to solve it!"
He had already crossed half his body through the door when the butler's words stopped him.
"Perhaps I can help you, sir..."
Dren stood motionless.
"What do you mean that you can help me?" he asked, confused but with a glimmer of hope.
"Just to clarify," Dorian lowered his voice, "it's because you'll have a duel with that boy named Dante, isn't it? And you're afraid of losing? I say this because I heard part of the conversation with Miss Roxanne. And no, I wasn't spying if that's what you think," he quickly added. "I was just passing by with the tea and overheard by chance."
Dren hesitated a moment before responding.
"Well, you know I can't use magic," he admitted in a barely audible voice. "And now a very strong boy using magic has challenged me to a duel. I had no choice but to accept, and I know I don't stand a chance against him. But everyone will be there watching, and I don't want them to know the truth," he ran his hands through his hair, disheveling himself from anxiety.
"I see..." Dorian nodded thoughtfully. "What if I told you that maybe you do have a chance?"
"What are you talking about?" Dren's eyes opened in surprise.
"Follow me..."
The butler led him to the basement of the house, where he opened a small door that Dren had never noticed.
"I've never been here... In fact, I didn't even know this existed," he commented in amazement.
"That's because this is my secret place..." replied Dorian with a hint of pride.
Upon entering, Dren was left open-mouthed. What appeared to be a simple broom closet from the outside was actually a laboratory full of cutting-edge technological artifacts, totally unexpected behind that old dust-covered door.
"Did you make all this?" asked Dren, marveling at the sophistication of the equipment.
"Come on! How can you ask me that?" Dorian laughed. "You know perfectly well that I was the one who helped create the hologram training system in this house!"
"Sorry, yes, you're right," Dren smiled embarrassed. "I had forgotten."
"Well, look," Dorian rummaged through a pile of objects until he extracted a surprisingly thin and elegant metal gauntlet. "Here, put it on."
"Okay... but what is it?" he asked as he slid the glove over his right hand.
The metal adapted perfectly to his contours, as if it had been manufactured specifically for him.
"It's an object that allows you to emulate the control of an orb," explained Dorian with a gleam of enthusiasm in his gaze. "Basically it will be as if you could control your orb and manipulate magic like anyone else would, without the real need for magical talent. Go ahead, try it. Press the power button."
With a trembling finger, Dren obeyed. Instantly, his orb emerged from his backpack and began to float gently around him. The young man turned pale; he had never seen his own orb behave like this.
"You see?" Dorian smiled with satisfaction.
"Dorian, why do you have something like this and haven't shown it to the world?" asked Dren, unable to take his eyes off the dancing orb. "You could become a millionaire!"
"A millionaire? What would I need that for?" the butler let out a genuine laugh. "I'm happy working here. Besides, I only used it to defend myself in case rifts appeared and the sealers didn't arrive in time."
His expression turned more serious.
"But I must warn you to be careful. It may have little charge left and stop working at any moment. If you use it, do so with awareness. Don't exaggerate with spells or it could explode and hurt you," he paused. "I should also mention that it is charged with fire magic. I hope that's not a problem, since the Valemonts are recognized for their electric magic."
Dren contemplated the gauntlet with renewed determination.
"Don't worry, Dorian. The type of magic doesn't matter," his eyes reflected an unshakable resolution. "At this point I would do whatever necessary to win."
With the orb floating in front of him for the first time in his life, Dren felt a mixture of shame and determination.
'I won't lose everything over a stupid duel.'
'If I have to cheat to win, I will.'