Princess Violence

[NOTTHISWAY]

Princess Viola de Lens is the royal family's black sheep, the magicless outcast in the house of the world's greatest magicians. As an outcast, she faces scorn and neglect... until one day, she just snaps, punches her honorable twin brother's lights out, and enrolls herself into the Knight Academy with the sole goal of attaining a noble title on her own merit so she can get out of her annoying family's shadow.

But the shadow of enemies unseen lurks all around her, and some more traditional elements might not look so kindly on such a radical princess...

 

[NOTTHISWAY]

Yo! This is the previous episode of this week's Wednesday Poll Winner, you can read the latest one on patreon right now!

Do you like this Story? Would you like to see it updated more often? If you would, then please consider supporting me on Patreon! Once a week, on every Wednesday, there's a poll to vote on which of my ongoing stories will receive an update that week! If you're interested, please follow this link: https://www.patreon.com/NOTTHISWAY and search for the "Wednesday Poll" to vote!


The Kingdom of Lens was a mostly peaceful one, with peace built on the back of its incredible military might and its strict meritocratic magical tradition, a tradition that had been born from the circumstances of the Kingdom's founding.

Two and a half centuries before the present times, a young boy named Lens was vanished from a now lost and forgotten noble family of the Empire of Armis, for he had been born with a weak and frail constituiton, unfit for his family's martial and military tradition, and even more unfit for the Imperial Doctrine of the time, prioritizing the mastery of the sword over all other things for nobility, and ruling through strength.

Escaping from the grasp and grip of his family, the then young and not yet Archmage, accompanied only by the sole ally he'd had in his father's house, the maid who had cared for him since he was but a child, established their lands in a barren and desolate desert, utilizing his great and powerful magic to control the elements to turn the land lush and fertile and set up the capital, eventually joined by his former bethroted and even joining hands with the displaced locals and refugees of the Empire's wars.

It is said that all the noble families of the Kingdom of Lens trace their line back to the Archmage, and each of them possesses a fragment of his magic, allowing control over the elements and the creation and maintenance of magical tools using the principles left behind by the Founder.

The direct line of Lens and his Bethroted, Queen Emanuelle, lives on, proud of their heritage and the incredibly powerful magic they wield, having inherited the bulk of the Archmage's power, and thus, having the ability and talent required to lead the Kingdom that Lens founded.

All of them...

Except one.

Me.

My name is Viola de Lens, I am a Princess of the Kingdom of Lens, and I alone am the sole child born of the royal family who does not wield the powerful magic inherited from the Archmage. I do not wield the elements, I cannot bring my imagination to life, I cannot manipulate or control magical artifacts and I certainly can neither heal nor use support spells to increase mine or another's abilities.

I cannot use magic, none whatsoever. In two hundred and sixty five years of the Kingdom of Lens' existence, I alone am the magic-less noble.

And it sucks.

It sucks so much that for the longest time, I wanted to be anybody else but me. I hated it. Every second of it. I was the disgrace of the royal family. My father, King Lens VII, refused to even acknowledge me as a member of the royal family, and my mother, well, she thought me worth less than the dirt I walked on.

As if to make matters worse, I didn't come alone. Call it a cosmic joke, but my brother, born twenty minutes after I was, was the Crown Prince Leon, a temporary name of course as he would assume the name of Lens when he was crowned King, and nobody doubted that he would, because he was the prodigy to end all prodigies.

Some even said he was the reincarnation of the Archmage, born two hundred and fifty years after the founding of the country to mark his return.

It clearly went to his head, and he never let me forget it.

I put the book I was reading, one of the few surviving copies of the Diary of the Archmage, down on the table. The royal library was attached to the Palace, but it was one of the few places in the country that was open to all, by order of the Archmage and by will of its caretaker, none were to be denied entry should they seek knowledge, be they king or pauper, affluent merchant or destitute beggar.

Sighing and letting the stress out, I pursed my lips and pushed my chair back. At fifteen years old, one was meant to receive their admission to the magical school that all nobles attended, the Royal Academy of Lens, the man not the country.

But that wasn't happening for me. There was nothing I could do. Even though the Archmage had gone out of his way to note down the dozens of ways in which he had trained and improved his magical powers, hadn't discovered a method to foster magical power in those who had none.

"What're you doing?"

I knew that voice. That was Leon, my brother.

I didn't like him, to say the least. He looked much like the founder Lens, having his straight dark hair cut short and slightly messy, dark eyes and a fair complexion. The Archmage's features being so strong in him contrasted with me, who had the golden blonde hair and emerald green eyes of the Imperial nobility, an anomaly in my typically dark haired family.

Certainly didn't help quell the rumors that I was an illegitimate child, even though I was half of a set of twins and nobody doubted my brother's ancestry.

"What's it matter to you," I muttered.

"What was that?"

I felt him grab my shoulder and turn me around. He was short and thin, his skin was more pale than fair, which made sense as he typically spent all his time just studying magic and practicing with it, no matter how talented and how much magic power, a mage who didn't train would be a crap mage after all.

"Nothing," I replied.

Of course; I didn't have the right to talk smack to my brother. He was father's Heir, and I wasn't even a spare, I wasn't even considered an useful political tool, no noble would want a princess that didn't have magic after all, no matter how royal her stock.

"Huh, are you saying my ears are bad and I didn't catch you mouthing off to me?" he taunted me, turning that face that resembled the first King's so much into a smarmy, smug look that made him look a little constipated, he probably thought it made him intimidating, but-

He looked like I could break him like a toothpick- unbidden thoughts that I suppressed swiftly. Royalty didn't use force, royalty didn't dirty their hands, a thousand lessons smacked into me at ruler point from a governess dedicated to 'turning the shame of the royal family into a proper lady', so that I could be married off to foreign nobility, played off of my memory.

"I would never, honored brother," I said, hurriedly, quickly.

"Good, 'cause I've heard you were rejected from the Academy," he said, pulling back and crossing his arms. He was already wearing the uniform, a dark blue blazer adorned with golden epaulettes and fastened with golden buttons, marking him as royalty. Once upon a time, everyone was to be treated equally. That didn't last long.

"... I didn't apply, honored brother," I tried not to show my irritation in my voice, and I probably failed.

"Ho? Correcting me are you?" his eyes narrowed, then he raised his right hand, extending his fingers up while his palm faced the ceiling. Five orbs appeared on each of his fingers. The swirling green of wind magic, the flowing blue of water magic, the blazing red of fire magic, the rumbling brown of earth magic and the crackling yellow of lightning magic, five orbs, five elements, the five basic principles of nature, but even more importantly, over his palm, a colorless bubble the size of his fist formed, glowing a rainbow hue.

He was showing off the mark of the Royal Family, the one thing that set us apart from the rest of the nobility, for the Royal Family was the only ones to be capable of utilizing the Imagination Magic of the Archmage.

The five elemental orbs then began to swirl around the big imagination magic orb like planets around the sun, and I felt the tension increase.

"You see this? You understand what it means doesn't it? That you can't do it," he said, his smirk growing nastier and more openly hostile. "You're wasting your time, you don't have magic, you're a worthless failure, getting an education here is pointless, don't you understand that?"

I clenched my fist. "That doesn't matter..!" I could feel my fingernails stabbing into my palm, I could feel the hot blood squeezed out through the cuts I just made, I could focus on that, try to ignore the pounding in my head as his taunts got to me.

It was constant.

Throughout our entire lives, ever since my inability to use magic and his prodigious talent were discovered, coincidentally shortly after our birth, he has done nothing but make my life impossible... taunting me, insulting me, telling me how worthless I was...

I already had enough with our parents only paying attention to him, I already had enough with everyone reminding me at every step, in every lesson and at every turn just how much better than me he was because he could use magic...

"But it does though! Because since you can't use magic, that means you're going to be sent away!" he leaned over, grinning at me as I put my head on the table and covered the sides of my face with my arms, crossing my wrists over the top of my head, knowing it was futile, he knew that my face was red, he knew that I bit my lip so hard I drew blood, he knew he was getting to me.

He knew he was driving me crazy.

"But don't worry, sis," he said, laughing in a way that was in no way jovial, "because your honorable elder brother is nothing if not merciful! Why, I will even go and ask dad not to send you off to marry some nasty old pervert outside the kingdom!"

As if he would! He'd be the one choosing the dirtiest, nastiest and most disgusting piece of shit noble he could find!

"After all, the best thing you've ever been," I heard a bubble pop and I knew he'd dispelled the bubbles he had summoned, "is a target dummy for me to practice my magic!"

"Eh-"

I raised my head and then felt it, the sensation of magic crashing into me. Water and dirt that formed thick mud, a shocking sting, a painful burn and an aching cut, I could barely raise my hands fast enough to prevent him from getting that all over my face, but even then, the blade of wind cut just beside my left eye.

It hurt. It hurt so badly. It was painful as hell. Even if it was just minor, even if it was just tiny, even if it was just a throwaway word, a careless remark, even if everyone kept telling me to excuse him, to ignore him, kept telling me that he was under a lot of pressure and that I should support him since that was all I could do-

Everyone... everyone!!

Everyone told me all I was good for was just to be a tool for him! To be stress relief for my talented brother! To be his target dummy! To be the ugly duckling that stands next to the elegant swan to make him look better!! That was the only thing anyone ever wanted of me!!

AND I'VE HAD ENOUGH!!!

Something possessed me, I don't know what it was, but it exploded from within, a raging heat far greater than the little fireball that left a red welt on the back of my left hand.

"H-hey!! Watch it, idiot!"

I kicked off the chair and almost hit my honored, esteemed, respectable and venerable prodigy of a brother! The chair landed on the ground with an incredibly noisy crash of wood on wood.

"Stupid idiot, you could've hit me!!" he screamed, taking a step back, his face turning red, he did so little physical work and relied so much on his magic for everything that just the act of raising his voice was making him lose his breath.

This guy, this pathetic, weak little shit, who's smaller than me despite being my twin and a boy while I'm a girl, this guy who hasn't even attended a single one of his swordplay lessons, who refused to learn how to dance or courtly etiquette, who didn't even learn to swim or do his exercises, who skips meals to read books all day..!

This little toothpick that I could break by glaring at it hard enough!!

I stepped up to him and put my hands on his chest, pushing him back, almost throwing him to the ground, he barely caught himself and managed not to trip. "You put hands on me, you thug! I'll show you!!" he raised both hands this time, and already, I saw the glow of his magic activating. "Salamander, heed-"

Before he could finish whatever incantation he was starting to belt out, I stepped back into his personal space, my left hand raised and in front of my face, my left foot forward, using everything I had learned from the Knight Captain whose lessons this little shit had pawned off on me so he could go read his novels, and then I pulled my fist back, twisting my hips and then whipping them back with full strength, pushing off of my backfoot and putting my weight on my front foot, turning my shoulders and putting all of that momentum into my right shoulder, traveling down my arm, all the way to my fist, until the most satisfying sensation I'd ever felt when everything clicked and connected for me all at once.

That very moment when my fist connected with his nose and I heard that incredibly satisfying crack is the moment I knew.

"Fuck magic!!" I screamed, carrying my momentum and putting it into turning my right foot forward, following my brother even as the punch I gave him made him move back, and then when my right foot was forward I repeated the process from before but inverted, this time throwing a left hook that turned his face to his left, "fuck traditions!" I then stepped forward again and did the same, this time punching him with a right hook.

He was stumbling.

For the very first time in this arrogant turd's life, he was facing backlash for his actions. I know I'm not the only victim of his antics. I know he relentlessly bullies other nobility, relying on his position, his station and his genius level magical talent to get away with it, crying to our parents when something doesn't go his way.

His nose was bleeding. His lips were busted. He was crying. He almost looked pitiable. But I've seen his crying face too many times, I've seen him cry to get others into trouble countless times, I've seen him crying when he spilled wine on a lady's dress and getting her punished instead, I've seen him crying to pass blame of his misdeeds onto me and distract suspicion.

It doesn't work on me.

"And fuck YOU!!"

I punched him with the hardest left straight I could muster, right to the chin, and he went down like a sack of potatoes. Well, a very light sack of potatoes at any rate. He crumpled, out like a light, and instantly, I knew I was screwed.

...

But I could get ahead of it.

The Royal Academy of Magic was obviously not for me, there was not much of anything I could do about that, I simply couldn't use magic, so there was no point in me even trying to attend it. No matter how good I was at every other subject, magic was the most important thing in the magic academy.

But the Knight Academy accepted anyone.

And of course, after that, neither of my parents wanted to see neither hide nor hair from me, which suited me just fine. The only thing they care about is their little prodigy, well, they're welcome to dealing with the ego monster of their own creation! I'm done with them, I'm done with magic, I'm done with this whole putrid royalty bullshit!!!

I'll be a Knight, I'll become a noble by my own merit, find some frontier lord to serve somewhere and spend the rest of my life earning my own living, and I'll never look back!

After having been yelled at, confined to my room and stuck with garbage tier meals, finally, at last, I'm out of that wretched Palace!

The Knight Academy, or rather the Eon Academy, named after the first Knight who pledged herself in service of King Lens, and also one of his brides, and still to this day run by the descendants of King Lens and Dame Eon, was a prestigious academy in its own right. Far less so than the Magic Academy of course, but it was an avenue for freedom.

It was a magnificently large building, significantly more so than the Magic Academy. It had everything a Knight could ever need, a three story main building with two story wings on its east and west side and a giant clocktower on the east wing, an attached indoor gymnasium on the west wing with a pool and sauna, not one, not three but five dorm buildings forming part of its external walls, grounds that could fit an entire town within, and a track for Rappids, the primary warbeast ridden by Lensian cavalry that doubled as a coliseum for fighting competitions with its high stands.

"A perfect place for a growing knight!" I hummed, pulling at the straps of my backpack, containing only the barest essentials, because even though I was a disgrace I was still a princess and my parents arranged for all my stuff to be delivered to my dorms.

"I know right?"

I turned to my left to see the voice speaking to me. A young lady wearing the same uniform as I was, the formal uniform that mimicked formalwear for knights, a white double breasted jacket trimmed in the black of commoners in contrast with the gold of my own. She had brown hair, cut just under her chin, straight, and I could tell there was a noticeable tan starting from just below her nose down to where her jacket collar closed up.

Based on the discoloration of her hair as well from under the crown of her head, I'd guess she spent a lot of time under the sun, and typically wore a hat. A farmer, maybe? Her build was solid under the uniform, she had wider shoulders than most girls.

"I can't believe I finally made it! Everyone at the village did their best to come up with the tuition! I won't disappoint them!" she called.

She was also carrying a cheap looking backpack, a bit frayed from use, but clean and well cared for, and her uniform was impeccably pressed, despite being visibly worn and used quite a bit. A hand me down or secondhand uniform.

"Yes, I'm sure," I agreed, nodding. "But we should go in, the academy is very big, and I wouldn't want to get lost before we even get to the admission ceremony!" I spoke, hurriedly.

"Uhm!"

Both of us turned around. A girl with blue hair all the way down to her waist called our attention. Her uniform was the same as ours, except where we wore pants, she had a dark blue skirt instead. Skirt or pants were purely choice of the wearer, and were typically more popular with swordwielders in general.

The girl before us was petite, but she had a bundle on her back that was longer than she was tall, a sword, and from the shape, I could tell it was meant for two hands. Almost pastel blue hair, short, carrying a weapon bigger than herself, a noble...

My knowledge of the registry went through my mind as the brunette turned to our interloper, took both of the small girl's hands in hers, and shook them animatedly.

"I'm Coria!" she called, "nice to meet you! Man I'm so excited!! This academy's bigger than my village even!!" she was almost jumping.

"A-Ah, y-yes, sorry, uhm, forgive me, my name is Ellen," she said, her voice gentle and soft, but not trembling at all after she caught herself, "I heard that you might need some help? It's my first year, but, I've been here before, if you want, I can guide you to the Grand Hall where the admission ceremony will take place."

"You would? Man, Ellen you're the best!" Coria said, clasping Ellen's hands and pulling them up, "you're a lifesaver!"

"N-No, not at all, I, I'm sure you would've found it quickly!" Ellen said, sounding a little uncomfortable.

"Coria, please, our friend is a little uncomfortable," I interrupted, once my mental search finished, trying to give the excitable brunette a smile.

"Oh- Oh sorry, I'm just so excited I can't hold it in! I've been looking forward to this since I first learned how to hold a spear!" she clenched her fist and then took a few steps.

Before us, the gates that opened up into the massive academy grounds, with its many buildings, a cobblestone path that lead to the main building and branched out into spiraling paths that lead to the dorms, that passed through fountains and gardens and gazebos set up for students to mill about and enjoy.

But most importantly, the almost intimidatingly immense building, three stories of six meters each, giving it an imposingly large stature, in white marble, carved and created by the Archmage himself, enchanted to be a fortress that could resist even dragon attacks.

As Coria was losing herself in admiring the scenery like I had moments before, I turned to Ellen.

"Typically nobles boast their surnames," I smiled, getting closer so I could whisper, "but if you're keeping it quiet, then I'll make sure not to let it slip," I got closer to her ear, "miss Eon."

Of course I remembered where I'd seen her. The palace had a registry with every single noble ever born in the country, and more importantly, we required families to send portraits along with their registries for milestones, and reaching fifteen years old and debuting in high society was such a milestone.

Hence why I recognized Ellen de Eon, descendant of Dame Eon.

She blushed a little as I pulled back.

"Now, if you would please lead the way," I half asked, half ordered, smiling at the future Dame with the big sword and gesturing to the school.

"Oh!! I forgot!!" Coria almost shouted, turning back to us. "Sorry, I was being rude, back at the village they keep telling me I need to slow down a little!" she rapped her knuckles against the top of her head, sticking her tongue out and winking at me. "My name's Coria, I'm from Hesche village, a logging town south of the Ernst county!" she introduced herself. "That's how I'm supposed to do it right?"

Not quite, but for a commoner, it would do. We'd be learning and starting to introduce ourselves as knights soon enough anyway. "Nice to meet you Coria," I responded. "I'm Viola. I was born and raised here in the Capital of Lens City."

"Oh that's nice! That means you probably know all the best places in town," she hummed, "maybe we can grab Ellen and check out the capital together, Vi!"

"Vi?" I asked, a bit surprised.

"Oh, sorry - I thought - do you not like nicknames?" Coria asked, shrinking a little.

Well, she was from a small village, probably everyone knew everyone there. "No, it's fine, I like it, you can call me Vi if you want," I responded, "but I won't be much help with touring the capital, I don't really know it all that well."

"Ehh? But how, don't you live here?" she asked, shocked and appalled that I could somehow not know the place where I ostensibly lived.

"Well, that is- it's a bit embarrassing," I admitted, laughing a little nervously. "I never really left the palace, you know!"

"P-Palace?"

Ellen cleared her throat. "Miss Coria, allow me to introduce you to Her Royal Highness, Viola de Lens, First Princess of Lens."

Coria's eyes went wide. She looked at me. Then at Ellen. A wind blew Ellen's long hair in such a way as to make it look like the trail of a comet. Mine was pulled into a tightly bound braid and swung like a pendulum as the wind rushed behind us.

Trembling, the brunette raised a hand. She pointed at me. Then she pointed in the direction of the distant palace, which dominated the skyline towards our south east, the largest building in the city by a significant margin.

I nodded.

And then Coria fainted.

...

I looked at Ellen and she looked at me, and it immediately became obvious neither of us had any idea on how to proceed beyond that point.

Well, I got here by letting go of thoughts and just doing what I felt, and so far this has been great, so why stop now?

"Onward!" I declared, "to the admission ceremony!"

 

[Zarbapha]

Born the weakest in a royal family but was secretly the archmage, flexed on those muscleheads, and established a bunch of noble lines.
Like the sequel to an isekai power fantasy. Neat.

 

[Cimbri]

Ganbatte Violent-Princess-Chan! Lol well lets see how this turns out.

 

[NOTTHISWAY]

Born the weakest in a royal family but was secretly the archmage, flexed on those muscleheads, and established a bunch of noble lines.
Like the sequel to an isekai power fantasy. Neat.

Click to shrink...

Basically, yeah.

It's one of those "I was born with a talent my family didn't understand so they exiled me to some barren wasteland, but my cheat powers allowed me to build a prosperous nation and also a harem gathered" setups, except since this is QQ the MC was 100% fucking his harem, got them all pregnant and produced a massive horde of descendants, hence why there are so many noble families with magical abilities inherited from him. Plus give or take some wild oats sown here and there.

Also yes I am annoyed that so many of these have the mc go out with a shotacon maid while being mentally an adult and he spends all his time defending his virginity instead of banging their hot shotacon maid, unironically the least realistic part of all those isekais is the mc not banging their hot maids

 

[NOTTHISWAY]

Yo! This is the previous episode of this week's Wednesday Poll Winner, you can read the latest one on patreon right now!

Do you like this Story? Would you like to see it updated more often? If you would, then please consider supporting me on Patreon! Once a week, on every Wednesday, there's a poll to vote on which of my ongoing stories will receive an update that week! If you're interested, please follow this link: https://www.patreon.com/NOTTHISWAY and search for the "Wednesday Poll" to vote!

The Knight Academy's hugeness was as impressive as it was annoying, but thanks to our esteemed guide, we made it to the great hall with more than enough time to find ourselves seats near the front but not quite on the front row.

Everyone was mixed, commoners and nobility intermingled as small groups and cliques of acquaintances were formed, people from the same towns had a tendency to drift together, or, in cases where a preexisting rivalry prevented it, they would instead sit as far apart from each other as possible.

The great hall where the ceremony would take place was quite large; I knew it to also double as an amphitheater used for the culture festival held yearly, but knowing it was big and actually seeing it were two entirely separate things. The palatial mansion I was confined to for most of my life was smaller than the Great Hall, which had capacity, from my simple estimation, for at least six thousand people in its seats.

The seats were separated into two decks, an upper and lower one, the upper deck was held up with columns, and each deck was divided in nine sections, split by two horizontal hallways and two vertical hallways, with the four columns that held up the upper deck firmly being on the middle of the intersection of the hallways, they went through the upper deck and to the ceiling.

The floor was mostly concrete covered in a thin cloth carpet that served to dampen the sound of steps, cushioning them just enough that the sound of people walking wouldn't disturb the quiet required to enjoy a play, the carpet was a deep red color and its edges had the design of flowering vines in irregular patterns.

For a moment, I wondered how they'd fit the carpet around the columns as I couldn't see seams, and then I decided to just chalk it up to magic.

The stage at the other end of the hall from the main entrance was raised just enough that it was visible from both decks, its curtains were drawn however, huge red and heavy, sound dampening fabric, and there was just about enough space between the seats that as me and my two new acquaintances walked past the people who had unwisely sat near the hallway we could get through without stepping on their feet if they tucked those feet in.

We didn't really pay too much attention to the people around us, but from what my wandering eyes caught, it seemed like for the most part, the grand majority of the noble students had decided to populate the upper deck, while through a tacit understanding, the commoner corp. remained almost entirely on the lower deck.

From what I could see, most of the students went to the front seats, even we ourselves had simply joined the rest there following the flow.

Slowly but surely the trickle of students increased, and in fact, the side doors to the great hall, which I hadn't noticed until that moment, opened, and the hundreds of upperclassmen from the five years above the first poured in like floodwaters after a dam bursts.

The murmur and din of speaking became a deafening cacophony of disparate conversations, though as everyone took their seats, filling about a fifth of the capacity of the great hall by my guess, it started to die down and people became quiet little by little, eventually quiet enough that conversations became audible whispers and eventually even that was quieted down.

With the sound of screeching metal and the whine of old pulleys being forced to once more perform their duty, the curtains were pulled apart, moving to the sides and then disappearing behind the walls on either side of the stage.

There, on the middle of the stage, was a raised podium, and behind it, there were three rows of thirty seats, for a grand total of ninety, each of them occupied by men and women in outfits that ranged form the robes of scholars to riding suits typically worn by cavalrymen for training as well as more formal military uniforms similar to the clothes we students were wearing.

Three people were standing in front of the seated adults.

Standing proud and tall like an oak tree, wide at the shoulders, with mostly white hair that still had a few strands of blue, dressed in a lightly decorated military uniform, black pants, white jacket, epaulettes and only a single medal hanging from the left breast of the jacket, was the woman I knew to be the Headmistress of the Knight Academy.

Agnes Eon, mother to the current head of the house of Eon, Grand Marshall of the Royal Army. The medal hanging from her jacket was a simple one, a blue ribbon with golden edges from which hung the shape of the sun with a vertical sword, a simple longsword design, inlaid in the middle, its blade made of resplandescent, ever-glowing magical mythril.

I was, as a royal who actually attended her lessons unlike a certain someone I could name, very familiar with Agnes Eon's exploits, and the reason why she and she alone was granted the Mythril Sword. She was one of a precious handful of people who had slain a demon in single combat, and bore the almost mythical rank of Knight Gallant.

The single greatest swordsman the country had seen since her own grandmother.

I could almost feel Ellen tense beside me.

Headmistress Eon stepped forward. She moved with purpose, her steps were heavy, and in the quiet of the hall, they were almost like thunderclaps.

"Greetings, I bid you a warm welcome to the pride and joy of the Eon family; the Eon Academy," her voice was deep, smooth and she projected it well, even in my public speaking lessons my teachers hadn't been able to project their voices that well. I couldn't even sense magic, she wasn't even enhancing her voice.

Raising her arms, her gloved hands opened, almost as if she was spreading her arms in embrace, a gesture that clearly was getting to the students, I could almost sense the tension in the people around me relaxing a little. Since I was mostly surrounded by commoners with the odd lower noble, their nervousness was even greater than normal.

Her lips were thin, but she still smiled grandly, her crow's feet becoming more pronounced, the dimples of her face forming as her eyes closed and she regaled us with an expression more at home in the face of a kindly and elderly grandmother than a muscular retired general who could still break almost everyone in the room like a chopstick.

"From this day onward, each and every one of you new arrivals will join us all and become Knight Cadets," she explained, stepping towards the podium and putting her hands on it, her voice becoming amplified by the magical effect placed into the podium, "and with that, each and every one of you has become one and the same, equals in the pursuit of something greater than ourselves.

"Each and every one of you has become a comrade in arms. Look at your right, look at your left, you may know that person, you may not, you may never have crossed paths before or they could be your best friend, tomorrow they may save your life, or put their own in your hands.

"Tomorrow you might lean on one another's shoulder, fight side by side, back to back, tomorrow, this person you might have never met before will become your sworn brother or sister, forged in the fires of battle, sharing joys and sorrows."

Ellen was to my left and Coria to my right, and both of them were quiet, it was a strange thought, but, I didn't dwell on it too long.

"Be it of the most pure blue or the most common red, blood is blood all the same, and thus, a Knight Cadet is a Knight Cadet. In this academy, the only rank that matters is your rank within it."

I'm relatively aware of this, but, not its intricacies. I knew there was a very insular culture to the Knight Academy, but I wasn't entirely or completely sure how any of it worked. Naturally, I'm aware that the trappings of class systems won't simply disappear because of school rules, but it is an interesting concept nonetheless.

"However, this old retired knight has taken entirely too much of your time, instead, allow me to introduce you to your Student Council President for this year, the First Rank among the Sixth Years, miss Athena Hellas," she spoke, gesturing behind herself.

I almost hadn't registered the student behind her at all, I knew she was there but the entirety of my attention was taken by the Knight Gallant, Dame Agnes, so when Miss Hellas stepped forward, I was surprised by her stunning appearance.

Though she was almost deceptively slim, she walked with firm steps and I could almost sense the certainty of every step, she walked with weight and purpose, she didn't walk as if she was imitating authority, rather, as she stepped forward and took the place of the Headmistress behind the podium when said Headmistress stepped aside, I could tell that her confidence was genuine.

"Thank you for the introduction, Headmistress," she said. She had long dark brown hair that reached the small of her back, the silver of her jacket marked her as a noble and the VI pin on the collar of her jacket I assume was simply an indicator of the year she belonged in.

She had no outwardly supernatural features, but in the Kingdom of Lens that meant little, one could not assume species so easily, and she wore the skirt version of the uniform, though she wore it shorter than the typical down-to-the knees skirts and kilts typically worn by swordsmen.

"My fellow students, as Dame Eon said, I am Athena Hellas, and for this year, I shall be serving as your Student Council President. It is my role, which I accept with pride and honor, to serve as your guide and as your role model, and to aid and help you through your struggles should you ever need it.

"As my predecessors before me, I shall be at your service alongside the Student Council," she explained, raising a hand and placing it in front of her chest, as if she was clutching at something, "to give back to the student body, as my upperclassmen gave to me, I promise to devote my time and my strength. As your guide, as your helper, as your upperclassman and as your friend, should you need it!"

That was a bit of a speech. Still, it doesn't surprise me. Of course, someone who was the Student Council President at an academy like this would certainly be put on the fast track to leadership positions in the 'real' world outside of the academy. She had probably received quite a bit of training in public speaking, enough that she could at least read a room and bolster morale.

The headmistress was smiling, and as Miss Hellas turned to face her, gave the President a small smile and a nod.

Miss Hellas returned that nod before turning back to face us. She leaned forward and put her hands on the podium, leaning forward.

"Now, I shall speak to our first years," she said, looking directly at the students' faces, I even felt for a moment her eyes fall on mine, though she quickly moved, scanning both the upper and lower decks. "I see in many of you the same fire that I feel within me, I see in many of you the inner strength required to face the trials that await us all."

I somehow doubt that, but that felt a bit gauche to say.

"But fear not; you will not be sent into battle ill prepared, the God of Battle Mars guides and blesses us Knights!"

The God of Battle, Mars, was said to be the patron of all who would do just and honorable battle, those who would represent and exemplify bravery. It made sense then, that the Knight Academy opened up and started during the third month of the year, the Month of Mars.

"For this month, you will conduct your orientation and guidance classes, you will be acclimatized and conditioned. You will not learn of battle but instead you will learn of training, you will learn of studying, you will learn of eating and you will learn of playing! These are the principles of the God of Battle!" she raised her hand, then clenched it into a fist.

I was a little confused, this was the first time I heard about something like this.

"You have to work hard! You have to learn a lot! You have to eat well! You have to rest deeply! You have to play to your heart's content!!" she called, sweeping her hand across the student body as if she was projecting it to us. "Work yourselves to the limit, learn from every experience, feed your body everything it needs, allow yourselves to recover, and never neglect your spirit or your mind, a healthy mind, a healthy spirit and a healthy body, these are the three fundamental aspects of a healthy knight!!"

She extended her right arm and flexed it, her jacket sleeve straining a little, letting the muscles' size and shape show through it, and she patted it with her hand.

"A sickly knight, a tired knight, a weak knight, an unstable knight, they cannot protect anybody, if you cannot protect yourself, if you cannot protect your body, then you can protect no one!"

She then clenched both hands into fists, her eyes almost seemed to light on fire as she pumped her fists.

"So give it your all! A great journey starts with the first step, so make the most of that step!" she called. "My fellow students, you can be anything that you work for!! So together, let's aim to be the best we can be!!"

Somehow, it seemed like everyone clocked that the speech was over, as a raucous applause began. Seemed like she was quite well beloved as a Student Council President, and I realized my face had formed into a smile, the passion in her voice, the strength of her shouting, it felt sincere, and a bit contagious.

So I joined everyone else, as the applause became deafening.

"Thank you!"

Striking a bow, the Student Council President, Miss Hellas, stepped back and to the left.

Finally, the third person who had been standing up stepped forward, taking the Podium after Miss Hellas.

He was a somewhat dull looking man compared to the women that came up before him, but that, in itself, was impressive. He was a commoner, his uniform's trim being black made that obvious, he had short well groomed brown hair, square rimmed glasses and a strong jaw. He had three medals and a single golden bar attached to the left breast of his jacket; the single golden bar denoted his rank.

Former Knight Captain, Tobias of Raidel.

The reason for his retirement was immediately obvious if one noticed the limp with which he walked, and the cane that supported his weight held in his right hand.

"Thank you Miss Hellas," he spoke to her, before turning to the student body. "Some of you might recognize me; but most will not. I am Tobias of Raidel, and here at the academy, I am your Deputy Headmaster."

I nodded, I was somewhat vaguely aware of that, kind of, as my Swordsmanship teacher sometimes mentioned his predecessor in the First Order of the Royal Guards.

"Before I release you to your devices so that you may avail yourselves of the academy's amenities," he explained, "allow me to wish each of you great success. Students from second to sixth year," he raised his hand, extending the fingers and almost cutting through the air with a knife hand, which ended in a fingers spread, palm forward pose, level with his chest, "you are dismissed!"

I am genuinely shocked at how quickly people dispersed and disappeared into the doors, it took what felt like only a minute before only the newcomers like myself were left.

"Now..."

I didn't count, but there were definitely more than a hundred students left in the room.

Even the adults, the staff and teachers I suppose, started to leave, until it was only the Deputy Headmaster and seven teachers left.

"Students," he began, "for you first years, this month will perhaps be the most important of your first year," he began, tapping his cane against the wooden flooring of the stage, causing the seven teachers still there to stand up. At least I assumed they were teachers. They were dressed in military uniforms so that's what they looked like at least. "You will be separated into seven divisions."

So we would be split into more manageable numbers, that made sense to me at least.

"Thus, each of you will be classes 1-A through 1-G," he said. "At the end of each month, an Evaluation Test will take place, including this Month of Mars. Do your best, that test will determine your Rank in your year and overall, and thus, the privileges and benefits that you may receive from the Academy."

His smile was hard, his eyes were serious.

"However make no mistake, for even someone who took the first rank once, should they fall asleep on their laurels, may find their position stolen from under them. Each of the teachers who remained behind today will be the teacher in charge of your class, they will be in charge of you.

"Each of the teachers has been given a list, they will call your registration number, form a line before the teacher who calls your registration number. You will then be guided to the class house assigned to your class, which will serve as your living quarters until next year."

The teachers stepped forward, and I could almost feel the excitement in the students around me. Well, except for Ellen, I have an inkling not a single part of any of this was surprising to her in the least, even if the inner workings of the Knight Academy aren't typically publicized, I would imagine she knows them pretty well.

Coria, meanwhile, was positively beaming. Honestly I'm surprised she managed to stay in her seat, she was practically vibrating, her eyes sparkling and her mouth fixed into a huge smile.

Honestly, I can't lie, I'm also kind of excited... it's like everything's about to become real, after all! How could I not be excited? Grand speeches, strong people, honorable, valiant knights, scholars, the enormity of everything, how could I pretend to be calm?

Everything just seemed so grand, that I had almost forgotten to think, like even my thoughts stayed quiet so I could listen.

The seven teachers then stepped off the stage and each of them stood at the front. Four men, three women, four sirs, three dames. From the most severe and stern looking Dame to a relaxed, happy-go-lucky looking sir... I can't wait to learn which one of them is going to be taking me under their wing.

"I hope we're all in the same class," Coria said, sounding giddy. "It'd be great, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah I guess," Ellen seemed less convinced. "It's unlikely but, if I had to choose, I would rather be with people I know."

Did that mean us, or someone else? As for me, well, I find these two rather agreeable and I basically don't know anybody else in person, I wasn't exactly popular as a Princess ought to be.

Facing the teachers, I tried to pretend I totally wasn't just as excited as everyone else and eagerly waiting to get chosen, and I'm pretty sure I wasn't pulling it off.

 

[NOTTHISWAY]

Yo! This is the previous episode of this week's Wednesday Poll Winner, you can read the latest one on patreon right now!

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Now, I would've liked to say that there were no incidents, but, unfortunately, I can't say that. Lots of first year students, lots of arrogant nobles, upstart commoners, lots of idiots in general, and even worse, lots of kids that still hadn't grown up, more children than teens really.

No, maybe children would've been less unruly and more easily managed than my future classmates.

I smell interference from a really nasty dickhead with a ton of privilege... of course I would somehow find my way to the troublemaker class. 1-G. The classes were split somewhat evenly, the smallest being 1-A at 23 students, and the biggest was 1-D at 27. Ellen landed herself in 1-A, and Coria was with me in 1-G.

The makeup as the numbers were called turned out to be rather balanced, half the class possessed some rank of nobility, while the other half was of commoner origin.

Our teacher was a tall man with blond hair the color of wheat cut short into a crew cut, a strong jaw, a prominent scar along his cheek and musculature that was noticeable through the heavy jacket of the military uniform he wore. He had a sword at his right hip, a dagger on his right hip and a single medal pinned onto the lapel of his jacket, a simple silver disk with a sword-wielding fist carved into it.

An infantryman who had performed admirably in live combat. That medal marked him as someone who had at least one confirmed victorious battle, but less than five.

So an experienced officer.

All seven classes slowly separated and began filing off of the room.

"At least we're together!" Coria said, as the final few numbers were rattled off, the final student coming to our class G, a slightly shabby looking nobleman who seemed to have more status than riches.

"Alright everyone," the officer who would be our direct superior spoke, putting his hands behind the small of his back and puffing out your chest. "Gather around! Form a semi circle facing me! Move!"

Almost humorously, it took more than a minute for the students to understand how to do it, and it took a few additional shouted directions. "Arrange yourselves based on height! Shortest go up front!" the teacher called, projecting his voice, shouting in the rapidly emptying hall.

All the other classes had left, as ours was the last in alphabetic order we got the 'privilege' of having the theater to ourselves.

Eventually, we managed to form up. Annoyingly, I counted among the short ones in front. Reach is very useful in a fight, I'm at a disadvantage against my classmates because they're taller than I am.

"I am Lieutenant Delbert," he spoke, "Jules Delbert," he added, scanning his eyes around the class. "You may refer to me as Teacher, Sir, Lieutenant or Mister," he spoke, "as long as you speak respectfully and we are not in a formal setting. In a formal and strict etiquette setting, refer to me strictly as Lieutenant Delbert. Have I made myself clear?"

There was a mixed chorus of responses, mostly in the affirmative.

"Henceforth the first and last word I want to hear out of every one of you is Sir, have I made myself clear?!"

"Sir, yes sir!" the majority replied, though of course, some failed to keep that in mind.

"We can work on that. Today, and today only, you get leniency," he warned. "However starting from tomorrow, failure to follow the procedures of etiquette will result in punishment. Any questions?"

"Sir, yes sir!" a rather mousey looking young man with brown hair and freckles across his nose spoke. He looked ill suited for a knight academy. "What kind of punishment sir?"

"Depending on the severity and frequency of breaches of the student code of conduct, you may be assigned extra training exercises, cleaning duties of the dormitories, you may be docked points in your student ranking, face suspension or even expulsion."

Well, that made sense.

"While each of you has been provided a copy of the Code of Conduct, I shall make it simpler for both you and myself and give you brief advice on how to avoid punishment,

"Be punctual, be cordial and listen to your teachers. Some of you will struggle with a directive even that simple," he said, scanning his eyes across us, "but that's what the punishment is for."

Thankfully, nobody tried the teacher's patience.

"Now, follow me. We are Class 1-G, we are assigned to the G-Division dormitories. I will show you the way, make sure that you memorize which building is yours, it will become your home until you graduate," he explained, gesturing towards an exit, and then stepping forward and starting to walk towards it.

It took a little bumping and rushing and people running into each other again, but we managed to fall into a double file. The exits were big enough for three people to walk through them shoulder to shoulder, so despite our slightly wonky coordination there was no issue walking out.

As we did, people moved around and the 'pairs' shifted as cliqués got together again.

By the time I walked through the doors, somehow, Coria had found her way to me and was walking beside me.

"Wow, that's intense," Coria spoke, her voice light and airy.

"Yeah, I didn't think we'd have a combat veteran as a teacher," I pointed out.

"Really? You can tell?" Coria asked. "Does he have like an aura or something?"

I shook my head. "it's the medal, I've gotten pretty familiar with those since I've handed a few of them out, if the medal's got a fist in it, it's a combat-related one, and since his has a sword wielding fist, it's a medal for infantrymen."

"Ooh, that's-"

The slight tunnel that was the entrance to the hall opened up into wider hallways of resplandescent marble illuminated with magical lights, lamps of a vintage that resembled the Palace's, the very same ones the Archmage himself had made, still working after two hundred years, as radiant as ever. To our left were big, huge windows that showed the inner gardens of the academy, to our right were mostly closed doors, billboards and decorations such as paintings, cases with relics and sculptures.

"Woah!"

Coria was very impressed.

"I see... oh, so then that-"

She gestured to a case with a bunch of medals displayed on it, one of which was a golden medal with a fist wielding a staff reminiscent of a shepherd's cane on it.

"That's for the mage corps., right?" she asked. "Since it has a staff... so honors in combat from a mage?"

"Bingo," I said, smiling at her.

"Wow, so the medals actually make sense huh?" Coria wondered openly. "You're super smart, Vi!"

"I manage," I replied, the real super smart people don't have the problems that I do, they have way worse problems because my family dumps our economic problems on them.

We had to walk all the way through to the end of the hallway and come out on a set of big, reinforced doors, the teacher showing off his enhanced strength by pushing them open with visible ease. The radiant sunlight wasn't quite so strong on this side. The enormity of the academy was still impressive.

And, fittingly, the dorms we were heading towards were similarly huge. Despite being the 'G' and ostensibly lowest ranked academy year, we had a no less impressive dormitory than anybody else.

The main building was three stories of four meters each, a foundation of stones holding up the white-painted masonry, not looking at all like the typical manors or castles of nobility, instead, it was a luxurious and foreign, almost exotic even. It was a square building, and on each side, it had rectangular 'wings' of a single story, connecting the main building to a rear building further towards the east, of two stories.

The roofs were a bit distracting, with their bright blue ceramic tiles and hipped-gabled design that was at first slightly strange but really worked with the overall style.

It was the first time I've ever stayed in a place like that, despite the existence of this style of architecture in the Hot Springs town that the Archmage was so fond of, I've never personally had the opportunity to visit its fabled inns.

I was the one who had to stay home and practice in an effort to make something of myself as I wasn't born with the ability to imagine myself a purpose like that guy.

"Woah!"

Coria was, again, impressed. Honestly I kind of appreciate her reaction to this because in a way, it's my family's legacy. I don't know why but it gave me a nice feeling to know she found my family's work impressive, even if it was ages ago.

"Neat huh?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's amazing! It's huge, and it's been around for two hundred years but there's not even a single crack and the stonework's not even got moss or ivy on it!" she gushed. "Someone must've been putting their all into taking care of it! Look, even the roof tiles are shiny and clean!"

I nodded. "Definitely. Did you even notice there's a garden here?"

There was. Around us and directly surrounding the massive building was a very carefully cared for garden, beds of flowers separated by color in neatly arranged rows as well as bushes that surrounded the stonework that served as the foundation that raised the dorm building.

The path stonework tile path eventually gave way to a set of stairs that we ascended to approach the main gates of the building, once more a pair of doors, except this set was decorated, not reinforced, with patterns of golden vines spreading like wall-crawling ivy, the hinges and knocker made out of solid gold.

I've also, belatedly, realized that the teacher was speaking, I was caught up by the scenery.

"-closing, Dinner is at 19:00, curfew is at 20:00, lights out is at 21:00, and should anybody be found out and about past that time without a proper explanation, it will be considered a breach of the code of conduct and handled appropriately."

Right. That was actually in the handbook.

"I advice you not to test the patience of the prefects patrolling the dorms. Lack of sleep makes even the mildest and gentlest sort into cranky devils," the teacher said, laughing a little and ignoring the few awkward chuckles his bad joke got, as he approached the gate. "If for whatever reason you are outside after curfew, use the knocker," he said, gesturing at the large golden hoop with a hammerhead shaped into it, "and wait for someone to come get you. Do NOT try to force or pick your way in."

He turned around to face us.

"Anybody caught attempting to forcibly enter a dorm, even their own, after curfew will be subjected to severe penalties. You will be made to scrub the bathrooms with a toothbrush, do NOT test this."

Yeah that, that seemed like an absolute pain in the behind.

"Noted," I muttered.

Coria nodded like one of those bobblehead toys that have been becoming popular recently.

"Now, come on in, and welcome to your home as long as you'll have it," he said, pushing the doors open and allowing us into the dorm building.

When the doors opened we went into a foyer. To both the left and right there were rows of wooden boxes with doors on them. Some of them had green marks, but most of them had red marks.

"This is the entrance. The G-Division building is special, from here onward, you must not wear your outdoor shoes. These are the shoeboxes, and they will serve as a combination locker and mailbox for you during your stay here. The boxes lock with magic and are tied to your magical signature. The green ones are open, the red ones have an owner."

He gestured to both sides with his hands.

"Inside each box you will find a fresh new set of indoor slippers. Don't worry, they're one-size-fits-all," he explained. "Wear them. Keep them safe and clean, as you will need to pay out of pocket to replace them if you misplace or destroy them. I also recommend thick socks when it's cold because they're on the thin side."

"Oh, free stuff!" Coria said.

I hummed.

"Choose a box, it'll be your box until you're out of school."

"Wanna choose matching boxes?" Coria asked. There were a few open boxes next to each other.

"Yeah, sounds great to me," I agreed. To be honest it feels convenient. She's kinda sweeping me into her momentum but that's fine. "Those?" I asked, pointing at a pair, near the back, or I suppose, near the entrance? If it's the foyer, which one is the entrance, the one that leads to the outside or the one that leads to the inside? And which one's the exit?

"Yeah!"

Coria rushed towards the lockers I pointed at, and as she did, she almost bumped into a trio of girls who were heading towards that very same area, and almost knocked her over.

I noticed, the bumping and crashing into one another was actually getting really bad, it wasn't even Coria's fault because a group of boys started the mess, and in fact, they were making such a racket that the teacher had to get involved-

But in my distraction, I didn't notice that the trio of girls had cornered Coria against a locker.

Their leader was a blonde with her hair tied into pigtails styled into curls that made it kind of look like corkscrews, the kind used to uncork expensive wine bottles. I remember someone once gifted my father a golden corkscrew, memorable but, pointless.

Reminiscing aside, I had to almost force my way past the blob of idiots as the teacher began breaking that down.

"-do you not know who I am!?"

I stepped in. She had silver trimmings, as did both of the girls behind her.

Now, I am freely going to admit, I actually didn't know who she or her minions were. There were lots of nobles in the Kingdom, they might even be related to me and I still wouldn't know them on sight, much less so their children, and especially not the ones who are attending the Knight Academy.

"Uh... no?" Coria responded. "Should I?"

"Why, I never," Curly Ringlets spoke, glaring. "You speak to the second daughter of Count Montecarlo," she spoke, her voice a little scratch, she put her hands on her hips and stood tall. "You commoners really have no respect for your superiors, huh?"

That was about the time I managed to push through the crowd forming as the rest of the students got into arguments over locker spaces, forcing the teacher to start interfering more.

"Maybe I should teach you some manners," Curly Ringlets said, glaring at my friend.

I stepped beside Coria, a little behind her so I could put a hand on her shoulder. "Is there a problem here?" I asked.

"Tche, more mannerless come to make a mess of things," Curly Ringlets glared at me. "Who'd you think you are?"

"I'm me, that's who I think I am," I responded.

"Ugh, just get lost already so I can take my lockers," she said. "I don't want to have some commoners sharing locker space so- shoo!"

"Interesting," I said, "you talk of manners but you have none," I said. "The Montecarlo family must be even more worthless than I've heard, what, your County so pour they couldn't even afford an etiquette teacher?" I taunted her.

"Why you little-"

One of the other girls tugged at Curly Ringlets's sleeve and whispered something urgently, but Curly Ringlets was obviously too incensed to pay attention.

"I'll show you your place, I'll teach you to talk back to your superiors-" she growled, reaching for a sword that wasn't there.

We weren't allowed to carry weapons at the academy yet. Of course, there were ways to skirt around the rules, but the young lady before me clearly hadn't found a way. She patted at her hips through her pants as if searching for it, and then eventually realized it wasn't there.

"Oh, you wanna go?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. "'cuz I can go, I'll knock your teeth out," I said, raising my hands and cracking my knuckles, then raising them.

She glared at me and did much the same, her stance more practiced than I would've believed.

Then the teacher came in- apparently the rest of the mess was resolved.

"If you wish to duel, the fighting pits are open on every rest day," he explained. "Fighting outside of the pits is strictly forbidden."

"Fine then, we'll take the soonest date we can!" Curly Ringlets said. "You better not chicken out!"

"I can help arrange that," the teacher said. "Duels are a great way for students to understand each other, as nothing is more honest than our blades and our fists," he said, smiling brightly and nodding as if he was dispensing sage advice.

"A-Ah, Vi, you don't-"

I turned to Coria, and shook my head. "I don't have to," I agreed, "but I want to, you're my friend and she insulted you," I said. "Sorry - am I stealing your thunder? I don't mean to."

Coria pouted.

"Don't you dare run out on me! When we win, you'll change lockers!!"

"We could've just..." Coria was ignored, the teacher stepped between us, the matter was settled, there was nothing else to be said or done.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine, I'll beat her and she won't be annoying us anymore," I said, confidently. "I don't wanna be the kind of girl who just stands there watching her friends get insulted!"

I don't want to be the kind of person who just lets assholes with privilege get away with being assholes ever again, I've had to deal with that almost all my life and I'm NOT taking it again!

 

[NOTTHISWAY]

So as it turns out a duel can happen pretty much at any time as long as a teacher was there to expedite the process. In what felt like a whirlwind that took only a few minutes, our chaotic and impromptu challenge became an officially sanctioned duel, taking place in the Arena enclosed by the four buildings that made up the dorm.

Of course, in a knight school, spaces for duels and training would be easily available without needing to go far.

A square arena with wooden fences, roughly ten by ten meters, would serve as our ring. The wooden beams making up the fence were strong and enchanted to be even stronger.

A line from north to south bisected the square right down the middle, and the entrances to the 'arena' were directly on the north and south ends of that line, and beside each of them was a rack with practice weapons.

They were enchanted, after all, even wooden weapons could be fatal in strong hands, so enchanting them to soften blows served the dual purpose of making them more durable and preventing accidents. The teacher had us separated from Curly Ringlets, and myself and Coria were given something of a wide berth besides, but it didn't matter at that point.

Curly Ringlets was getting annoyed looks, that was probably worse than people thinking I'm a little bit violent.

We each went to one of the ends, the lieutenant in charge was directing us and we saw even the older students come out to watch as people started passing the message around, I heard murmuring about crazy firsties and some people even exchanging money.

As we approached the end where I would enter, Coria spoke. "Apparently they were running a bet on how long until the first duel happened..." she said, "some people were saying they exchanged like, tons of money, there's no way right?"

"Probably," I shrugged. "But nobles both wealthy and not love gambling so you never know."

Coria seemed more upset about the money exchanging hands than she did about getting insulted and disrespected earlier. Well, I suppose if you're not rolling in money and actually know its value, it'd be upsetting to know stupid idiots waste so much money on momentary pleasures.

"Alright; choose your weapons, you have two minutes. Think, but think wisely, once you've chosen a weapon, you cannot go back to grab another one," the Lieutenant, Delbert, spoke, his voice projecting as he just vaulted over the fence and moved to the middle of the square, passing it until he was on the eastern bound of the arena and rested his behind against it, leaning and crossing his arms.

With that said, I decided to take my time. I had two minutes to choose, and I would use them.

Each of us had a rack prepared with a dozen weapons, exactly the same ones, in dark, polished and well treated wood, their enchantments were plainly obvious, drawn in colorful runes that I knew would glow brightly when their effects were triggered, signalling hits.

Twelve weapons, nothing too terribly exotic. Four swords, a shortsword, a longsword and a greatsword, all of them straight, and a curved medium length sword that I think was supposed to be a Saber. A simple wooden rod acting as a club. A quarter staff. A half-length spear with a detachable head. A wooden axe. A long whip. A pair of leather gauntlets with wooden knuckle and handguards. A pair of tonfas. A buckler.

The most logical thing to do was to wait and see, look at what my opponent would choose.

"I've chosen my weapon, Teacher!"

I didn't have to wait long. I turned my face to see that my opponent was taking the wooden rod and the buckler. Honestly, I don't think it's a bad choice. We're in relatively close quarters here, with completely flat terrain. The buckler may be small, but it offered great protection in an one on one duel.

I thought about the possibilities. The wooden rod would not be as agile as a short sword, it simply wouldn't cut through the air with the same ease, but on the other hand its rounded shape wouldn't need to worry about edge alignment either, and would have quite a bit of mass to push against me.

"So she chose a shield, huh! I think she knows what she's doing!"

Curly Ringlets probably had quite a bit of training in how to fight, some countries out there were strangely resistant to the idea of women picking up the sword, but in our land, anybody and everybody was expected to be able to defend themselves should the need arise.

We were a young country crafted by people who rose up on their own and fought for everything they ever got, and it was reflected in our traditions.

But that girl probably has had to split her time between learning how to use her magic and how to wield a weapon. I didn't have that disadvantage, I could put my full focus into mastering just the one aspect that I could wield.

That was why I decided to take the Longsword. It didn't have the reach of a Greatsword or Spear, but it had better reach than the rod she was using, being about half again as long as it was. I would've taken a sword and shield typically, but, I have a feeling, she knows how to use a shield better than I do.

She was testing her weapon's weight as I made my final choice, and I could see her shield movements already, she wasn't making the classic and basic mistake of letting her shield drop while she swung her weapon.

I took the longsword in both hands, my hands weren't small but even so the handle was a bit big and my left hand didn't quite reach the pommel on my instinctive grip, so I lowered it a little. The longer handle gave me a bit of a different grip which would give me a little more leverage and which I could sacrifice to increase range.

A few practice swings gave me a feel for the weight, it was actually heavier than the practice longsword I used at home, the wood was thicker and the balance was a bit off, my sword had its balance centered closer to the hilt whereas the heavier wooden blade was a bit closer to the middle, but nothing I couldn't compensate with.

Thrusting was more of an issue due to the weight. I could still hit the imaginary target in my mind's eye, but I could also feel the pull on my body, the momentum the sword gained was far greater due to its weight.

Time was about to be up, so I took the sword by the blade near the hilt and looked towards the teacher.

"Time's up, I see both of you are ready," Lieutenant Delbert spoke, "step at the gates and remain at the ready."

We would start at range, it seemed. Perhaps a spear wouldn't have been a bad call if we would, ten meters of distance wasn't a lot for a spear but it would be bothersome. Still, with the gift of reach, both from my longer weapon and the fact that I could shift my grip, I should be able to take an early advantage.

"I, Jules Delbert, Teacher in charge of Class 1-G, shall serve today as witness for the duel to be held between Students Carlotta de Montecarlo and Viola de Lens-"

Despite knowing my name, it seemed like the lady of Montecarlo had absolutely no intention to back off while she still could. I am almost happy about the fact that for once my family name isn't causing problems for me.

"- the winner shall be granted their request by the loser. You will score a point if you manage to land a strike with enough force for the enchantments to activate. One point for a debilitating blow, three points for a lethal blow. First to three points wins the duel, best of three duels wins the match."

Lieutenant Delbert looked at each of us.

"You may change your weapons once per match," he said.

I nodded.

"If I tell you to stop, you stop. If you do not stop when I tell you to stop, you will immediately be disqualified and the duel will be lost regardless of points scored. Have I made myself clear?" our teacher called.

"Sir, yes sir," I spoke, and was echoed by Curly Ringlets.

We weren't dueling with equal weapons, but we were on equality of conditions otherwise. I'm more than a little bit excited, as much as I want to say that I am dueling exclusively for a friend's honor, the truth is that I can hardly contain myself, I've wielded weapons many times before but never have I fought an equal, trapped around teachers and knights many times my superiors or squires that could not hold a candle to even a journeyman.

"You may enter the arena as soon as the duel begins. You will begin on three," he called, pushing off of the fence. "One! Two! THREE!"

I stepped forward into the arena, and so did Curly Ringlets. She was already in stance. She held her buckler in her left hand and her rod in her right hand. A potential weakness to be exploited, the rod didn't have a hand guard.

Committing too much to an attack would've been a mistake, so as we both stepped into the arena and started gauging each other, I put my thumb on the hilt of my sword, turning its flat side towards the ground, and then thrust at her chest with my right foot forward, extending my range as much as possible to keep myself safe.

She broke my line with a slap of her buckler, stepping into my guard and swinging with a simple diagonal attack, with a straight line, I could thankfully retract my thrust and be clear of the short range attack.

Having had to pull back, however, meant I didn't really have space or leverage to swing, so I had to step back as she came in to get close to me and negate my reach advantage.

But that weakness I noticed earlier came in handy, when she approached, she was ready to block at her body, so I took the chance. I held my sword in low guard near my waist, pointed at her torso, and I baited her into raising her weapon and shield to defend.

Not a lunge this time, it felt a little weird to cut while stepping back, so much of my practice was to cut while stepping forward, but nevertheless, even as I put the weight on my backfoot I managed to bounce into a strong cut that came off explosively, and while she had the presence of mind to bring her buckler up to cover her chest, I wasn't going for her chest.

"Yeowch!"

The edge of my wooden weapon struck her right hand, which held her rod, and forced her to drop it even as the enchantment glowed, certifying a debilitating hit.

Before she could recover, I twisted my wrists and cut inward, striking her at the kidneys before I could do anything else, she did take a blow hard enough to make my weapon glow once more.

That was two hits.

"One debilitating hit, one fatal hit, that is four points, first duel goes to Viola de Lens!"

I let myself breathe, barely realizing I was holding it in that long. My heart was pounding in my ear all of a sudden. My hands were hot, my lungs were burning, my eyes were dry. I could feel my nostrils flare as I inhaled through my nose and filled my lungs with air, and there was a tremble to my movements.

It was exciting.

To finally do something... to finally swing a sword for real against a real opponent, not someone I was just practicing with. A real fight, with something on the line.

It was-

Amazing. Wonderful even.

"So you're not all talk," Curly Ringlets huffed, nearly growling at me as she massaged her right hand's knuckles. "Teacher, I wish to take my weapon swap now!"

"Are you certain?" Lieutenant Delbert spoke. "You can only do it once."

"Sir, yes sir," she responded. "May I?"

"You may change your weapon," our shared teacher spoke. "You may also choose to do so now, but if you don't, you'll have to wait until the end of the next duel," Lieutenant Delbert explained, turning to me.

"I'll hold for now," I spoke, knowing it'd be better for me to wait until she decided on her weapon and see if I needed to change at all, plus it'd be better to decide on another weapon, if any, only once I saw what she chose. Wouldn't do to grab a short sword if she chose a long reach weapon.

Having the longer weapon would be an advantage, the arena was open and big enough to take that advantage.

I watched as Curly Ringlets went through the weapons, and after deliberating for what had to be close to the two minute time limit, she finally grabbed the spear, raising it over her head, spinning it and then planting her feet, spread shoulder width apart with her left forward.

A soldier's stance. She had fought with the rod like a noble lady, but, it seemed I had proven myself enough that she was actually taking me seriously from my first win on. I would no longer enjoy the advantage of reach either, and if I had to hazard a guess.

"Alright, then, we will begin the second duel. Take your places!"

The disadvantage became immediately obvious.

"One! Two! Three!"

We started at a distance. The two meter length of the spear meant that she had a huge advantage over my longsword. I don't know the length exactly but since it's shorter than my practice longsword, I can only assume it's around ninety centimeters long. I have a little better than half her reach.

That said, there's no point in just delaying the inevitable and resign myself to it.

I had an advantage in that, at the edge of her reach was the strong of my blade and the weak of her spear. If she thrust, I would have the advantage as long as I reacted.

I wasn't able to counter, but when I entered her range to test her readiness by stepping into it, she immediately thrust, allowing me to slap her spear away.

A longsword by its construction had handguards, and that meant she couldn't just turn the tip of her spear towards my hands,. However, when I tried to step in by keeping her spear out of the way in the bind, she simply pulled it back until she had her hands around the middle of her spear's length, and then simply turned it into a staff, swinging the butt of her spear at me before I could clear the distance.

I was forced to respond, again, by binding her weapon against mine, and then rapidly stepping away, I was exposed to her simply overwhelming me with fast attacks, stepping forward and attacking me with quick, short thrusts, avoiding my range and keeping me moving back and around.

I was forced to use my sword to guard multiple times, but even so, I couldn't dodge all of her attacks, and the wooden spearhead struck my bicep, scoring a hit that made the weapon glow, it was definitely debilitating.

It hurt real bad too, softened or not, a hit with a weapon is still a hit, and she wasn't holding back.

"I'll return the favor," she roared, stepping forward and, while I was still reeling from the first hit, she struck me with a singular powerful thrust right down the middle that I couldn't dodge nor could I block with my sword, I couldn't move it aside even though I got my weapon ready in time, and it struck me directly in the sternum.

If the weapon was sharp, I'd be dead. Hell if the glowing spell that softened the blow wasn't active, even with the wooden weapon, I'd have a few broken ribs and a pierced lung. Definitely a fatal blow.

Everything went white for a moment as the air was driven out of my chest and I was knocked to the ground.

"One debilitating hit, one fatal hit, the duel is over! Victory to Carlotta de Montecarlo!!" Lieutenant Delbert called.

"Are you okay, Vi!?"

Struggling to regain my breath, I put the tip of my sword on the ground and pushed myself back up to my feet, my legs a little wobbly and unable to support my weight for a second until I could manage to lift myself, gritting my teeth as I finally got my breathing under control.

"This is your last chance to change your weapon;" Lieutenant Delbert called. "Are you changing your weapon?"

I shook my weapon. "No sir," I called, "I'll stay with my longsword," I called.

Her spear was too good for me to swap my weapon now, I couldn't beat her with a spear myself. But I had a plan. I think I have an idea of how to beat her.

"Alright then. Take a minute, and get in position."

We did, Coria didn't speak but she approached me looking worried, and I tried to reassure her, though I wasn't feeling completely sure I could win anymore.

But I had to try. Losing sucks, I hate losing.

"Alright. In position. Standby at the ready. One! Two! Three!"

She had a nasty grin on her face. She thought she was going to win.

We both stepped into the arena. I took a deep breath. Calmed myself and dropped my guard, holding my weapon in only one arm and raising it behind my back, held way up, in an absolutely ridiculous guard, the kind one would see from peasants who picked up their first weapon and had no idea how it worked.

The kind children take when they believe that simply swinging the weapon from farther back would give the slash more strength, before they realized that footwork and knowing how to manipulate their own weight was more important.

Or in other words, I stood like something worse than a rank amateur, I stood like an absolute dumbass.

"Are you mocking me!?" she shouted, putting her spear in position for a thurst, clearly thinking I was trying to draw her into a trap.

In a way, I was.

"You've got a lot of training I can tell, you don't wield your spear like a noble lady at all, you wield it like a common soldier, there's no elegance to your movement," I complimented her, though by the looks of her face, she wasn't thinking that what I was telling her was a compliment.

"This inelegant spear's all I need to beat you," she boasted.

There was an opportunity there. "You know the difference between you and me?"

"I'll show you that a pampered palace lady has no business in the Knight Academy," Curly Ringlets called as she began to move towards me, clearly intending to bring the fight to an end.

And that's when I knew it was my win.

Taking one step forward before she could even tell what was going on, I swung my weapon almost like I was going to hit thin air and then when the swing was at the apex and where I wanted it, I... let go of my weapon.

It flew, cutting through the air so fast it was but a brown blur, and then my thrown weapon hit her right in the middle of the forehead right as her confusion paralyzed her and her shocked expression was wiped off of her face when she fell back and dropped to the ground, knocked out immediately from the impact of the wooden sword's rounded pommel right on the middle of her forehead.

"The difference between you and me is that you were trained to fight, but I was trained to win," I called, even though I knew she couldn't hear me.

The teacher was laughing and didn't immediately declare me the winner, but he didn't have to. Everyone knew what the result of our match was.

 

[readsalot]

"The difference between you and me is that you were trained to fight, but I was trained to win,"

Click to shrink...

Nice
Too bad she did not hear it
Meh hopefully someone will tell her opponent

 

[spectreN7]

Anything can be a projectile weapon if you try hard enough.

 

[NOTTHISWAY]

Alas I couldn't justify her using a bow to fire the sword but I have it on good authority swords make pretty good projectile weapons if you're stubborn enough.

 

[Melmar]

Sometimes winning the psychological battle looks an awful lot like a thrown sword beaning someone in the dome.

 

[RandomWebPasserBy]

Seems like an interesting story. I have a thing for knight story and a lady knight is always nice.

 

[NOTTHISWAY]

Yo! This is the previous episode of this week's Wednesday Poll Winner, you can read the latest one on patreon right now!

Do you like this Story? Would you like to see it updated more often? If you would, then please consider supporting me on Patreon! Once a week, on every Wednesday, there's a poll to vote on which of my ongoing stories will receive an update that week! If you're interested, please follow this link: https://www.patreon.com/NOTTHISWAY and search for the "Wednesday Poll" to vote!

Unfortuantely, there was no great heroic welcome back after I very bravely, and dare I say cleverly, won a duel on my very first day of school. If anything, it seemed like the total opposite.

The teacher called for an older student, who just straight up jumped out a window and approached us. From the third floor mind you. A young man with long green hair tied into a ponytail all the way to his butt and wearing a white poncho over his uniform undershirt came up to us as the teacher gestured for him to get closer.

His face was slightly androgynous, but not so pretty I couldn't tell he was a man, even if when he opened his mouth, he sounded even girlier than I do.

"Yo!" he called. "Whassup, Delbs!"

"I told you I'm Lieutenant Delbert to you," the teacher responded. "Take the kids to their dorm rooms and make sure they know what to do, let them choose their own rooms. I take it you two," he turned to me and Coria, "are rooming together?"

"Yes sir," we replied as a chorus.

"Alright then you'll be in charge of her stuff," the teacher said, gesturing at Coria. "Everyone else, return to your rooms, and remember, being caught sneaking out is against the rules."

"What about me?" I asked.

"Well you and," he turned to Curly Ringlets, "Lady Montecarlo over there, are coming with me."

Curly Ringlets' forehead sported a big red welt that I knew was going to be turning into a huge bump, a big bruise that would make her look like she was one of those legendary triclops, the ones with the four arms and who legend told could split themselves into up to four separate bodies.

Maybe that was just a story I read once though, because it sounded ridiculous even in my own mind.

"Wha- why me, I'm-"

"I'll let the disrespect pass because it's your first day. You did insult royalty, fight a duel with royalty and also more important than that, you lost said duel as well," more Lieutenant than Teacher, Delbert delivered each word with nothing but a deadpan.

Then he sighed.

"Tomorrow you'll be serving punishment for talking back to your teacher as well, but for now, we should move this to my office."

"Alright, pick a good room Coria, I'll see you later," I called, waving at my would be roommate and currently only friend as both myself and the still fuming Curly Ringlets marched behind the teacher, no words exchanged as he took us into the building. The hallways felt boring and since nobody was talking it was made even worse.

There was nothing to distract me from my thoughts as we entered the back building of the dorm, and went to the second floor using the stairs in the stairwell right in the middle, then were taken to the far end of the north wing where the Teacher's office and the general staff living quarters were.

He walked us there himself past all the other doors, which had plaques with names engraved, some of which I even recognized, but eventually, he opened the door with the Lt. Delbert plaque on it and led us into his own office. Curly Ringlets walked in front of me and I closed the door behind myself.

He had a bookcase filled with both books and binders with files, an iron and glass desk and a filing cabinet, a very modern one as it looked like. The only decorations in his office were a series of framed medals and ribbons sitting on top of the filing cabinet, and a single sword sat on a display case resting on top of the bookcase.

An old, slightly beat up, chipped sword, but a very good one nonetheless, it was a rapier made of navy blue steel, likely enchanted with some sort of magic, and bearing the crest of a famous blacksmith family descended from the Archmage. I could imagine it was a treasure beyond measure for a connoisseur, but to me, it looked lonely up there with no one to wield it.

While I was looking at that, Lieutenant Delbert moved and sat behind his desk, while the two of us stood in front of it.

"Do either of you know why I called you over to my office?" he saked, sitting back on his chair.

"No sir," I responded.

"It's because we fought isn't it?" Curly Ringlets interjected. "I thought we were equals here, so-"

"Quiet," the man said, tapping his finger on the glass, "no, I didn't call you here for that reason, how your interpersonal relationships develop is only my business in as much it affects your academic life, but that is not why I called you here today," he said.

"Then if I may ask sir," I said, thinking about how my teachers back at the palace would prefer that I ask for clarification, "why?"

Clear and direct.

"I'll explain something of a... shall we say, not quite secret," he said, raising the finger he had tapped against the glass and then his other hand, meeting them in front of his face as he rested his elbows. "In this academy, we prioritize excellence of groups, rather than individuals. We are the backbone of the Kingdom's military power, and it is absolutely imperative that we don't just create the strongest individuals we can, but that we raise the average level of every graduate to an acceptable minimum."

I felt my brow furrowing before I even thought about asking, and it seemed Curly Ringlets had the same idea, as both of us started at the same time though Lieutenant Delbert forestalled our protests by raising his hand.

"To this end," he began, "it's imperative that we foster safe, healthy and productive learning environments, and of course, one of the ways in which people achieve the peak of their potential is through rivalry, through testing against one another."

Oh. Wait, that was starting to make sense.

"But why us?" Curly Ringlets asked. "I, of course, strive for excellence at all times."

"Quite," the teacher said, clearly well used to it, "after observing your duel, it appears the two of you are at a similar level of strength and technique," he explained, "so I've decided that the two of you are going to be the leading exemplars of your year."

That felt a bit abrupt and hurried. "Sir, isn't it too early?" I asked. I had a massive advantage over my peers because of all the training I've received, and a massive disadvantage because the limits of what I could aspire to were far lesser, without the magic they could use to empower themselves, I would fall short of their potential. "And I-"

"I am well aware of your circumstances, your highness," he reminded me I wasn't exactly low profile with just one cut, "but I also have seen your skills."

"So what's it mean for us?" Curly Ringlets asked. "I don't plan on getting along with some brute that throws her weapon like a barbarian."

"I'm hardly happy with the idea of being friends with someone this relentlessly mean and aggressive all the time," I responded.

"You don't need to be friends, you just need to demonstrate it is possible to work together with someone regardless of whether you like that person or not."

Lieutenant Delbert then leaned forward and put his hands on his desk.

"What this means is that you two will be paired together quite often, but you will also be expected to fight each other regularly as well," he said, tapping his fingers against the glass of his desk rhythmically, "and of course, I'd want you to at least make an attempt at inspiring your classmates to follow in your footsteps as you push each other to greater heights."

I pressed my lips together. "I think I've read something like this... it was in the Archmage's Diaries!"

"That's correct," Lieutenant Delbert spoke. "The Archmage once said that people only truly become their best selves when they have someone else to fight against!"

"The Archmage really said that?" Curly Ringlets asked. "... Ugh, I guess- I guess that makes sense, I mean... Sparring's better than just doing exercises all day..." she muttered, casting her gaze aside. "Okay, fine, I can participate in this."

She then turned to me.

"But don't get me wrong, I'll be the one ahead that you're chasing after," she raised a hand to her forehead, hissing as she tapped her fingers against the bump I had made on it, "you only got lucky this time, you caught me by surprise, but your dirty tricks won't work next time!"

"There's no dirty tricks in battle, there's only winning moves and wrong moves," I responded.

This girl might've had a lot of training in real combat techniques and tactics, but it seemed like she was still a noble's daughter nonetheless. The knights at the palace have thrown dirt in my face, they've kicked me, they've hit me from behind, they've ambushed me, they've lied, deceived, cheated and otherwise utilized all sorts of unorthodox tactics against me, so that I would know as many of them as possible and be ready for them.

"That's what a worthless and pathetic loser would say, I-"

"No, that's what a warrior knows," Lieutenant Delbert interrupted. "And it's something you'd do well to learn. You lost a friendly duel with nothing truly on the line and got a nasty bump on your forehead for it, you're going to be bowing your head to a commoner and apologizing to her later, and you'll be doing punitive duties and exercises for the disrespect later... but you're still alive.

"If you were out in a real fight, you'd be dead right now."

He raised his hand, two fingers outstretched, thumb raised as if he was using it like an aiming marker, and then with a pop and the recoil of his hand pulling back just in time to raise and the little stone he fired at Curly Ringlets with his magic sailed just over her head.

She opened her mouth to speak, and then the stone suddenly changed course and hit the back of her head, making her stumble forward.

Knowing what was coming I was instantly on guard as the rock bounced off the back of her head and floated harmlessly.

And then I was hit in the back of the head by a second stone fired from the teacher's hand.

"Of course, just because you're a little ahead now doesn't mean you should get complacent either. No matter how strong you were before you came to this academy, from now on you're always going to be competing against each other and against yourselves," he clenched his fist, "this is your chance to make something of yourselves, to become someone you can be proud of being."

He stood up and planted his hands on the desk, pushing off of it to get on his feet.

"For now, you are dismissed, go to your dorm, and make sure you two don't have rooms close together. As far as anybody ought to know, nothing has changed."

"Nothing HAS changed," Curly Ringlets sniffed, crossing her arms and turning her face aside and away from me.

"Yeah," I nodded, "I'll give it my all regardless of what happens..." I clenched my hands into fists. "No matter what."

It really was convenient in its own way. Annoying, but, I guess it also meant that the school was supporting me to reach my own potential, whatever it might even be... I have to do my best in order to take advantage of this.

"So are you two agreeing to participate?" he asked, leaning forward with a grin.

"Sir, yes sir," I said, and followed by the simpler 'Yes sir' from Curly Ringlets.

"Good. Excellent. Welcome to the Rivals Program. We expect great things from you."

 

[Zarbapha]

"Nothing HAS changed,"

Click to shrink...

Practically speaking, yes. They will be used as an example of what students should be by being what students should be, which they planned to do. This was just a warning that them being paired up later is in fact by design, not luck, which they will appreciate more when it comes up.