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[Severing Aura] has leveled up! – Lvl 23 > Lvl 24!
Waving away the notification, Theodore was pulled into the VIP room after he won the match, where he found Julius awaiting peacefully sitting on the sofa.
"You were vicious out there," Julius commented. "He deserved every ounce of it."
"Yep," Theodore said, sitting down on the sofa, relaxing. It was nice that he could sit in this room with Julius without any awkwardness, though that thought was crushed a moment later as he found the man observing him rather rudely through what Theodore could only guess was some kind of skill.
Theodore tilted his head. "What are you doing?"
"Observing," Julius replied simply.
Theodore swatted away the sensation he was feeling due to Julius's "observation", adding a hint of [Severing Aura] as an afterthought. Much to his surprise, however, Julius looked startled for a moment before schooling his expression.
"I did not expect for you to be able to do that."
"Well, thank you." Theodore said dryly.
Julius chuckled. "I apologize. It seems I've offended you. I'll keep my skills to myself."
"Please," Theodore said.
Julius leaned back, steepling his fingers. "You're remarkably guarded for someone who just laid all his viciousness bare in the arena. It makes me wonder which is the real Theodore. The butcher in the dirt, or the paranoid craftsman?"
Theodore frowned. "Paranoid implies there isn't a threat. Given you just tried to dissect my soul the moment my back was turned, I'd say I'm perfectly justified." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, holding Julius's gaze.
"You don't trust easily, huh."
"No," Theodore agreed. "Do you?"
"You're not what I expected, Theodore Lockheart."
"Well, did I exceed your expectations?"
"I haven't decided yet."
"Let me know when you do. I'll try to care."
It was silent for a moment, their eyes on each other, their jaws tensing in silence as the tension rose. Clearing his throat rather audibly, Julius stood up first.
"I shall take my leave." Saying so, his body turned into particles and disappeared.
Theodore sat there for a few moments longer than necessary, pondering on the man's intentions, then promptly left himself. Making his way to home, Theodore shifted his attention to Holden instead. For the next day or so, he was busy with a rather cumbersome task, one he'd been busy with for a while now and the final touch-ups required a lot of [ Basic Magic Script] and [Basic Rune Creation] usage.
[Basic Magic Script] has leveled up! – Lvl 15 > Lvl 17!
[Basic Rune Creation] has leveled up! – Lvl 16 > Lvl 17!
With that done, the product he'd been busy with for the last month or so was finished, and so, he sent it off into the guilds for inspection and registration.
He didn't expect for them to get back to him anytime soon, but when he woke up in the morning and got a letter from the guilds stating that his product had passed the tests and the like and was now a certified invention, Theodore was pleasantly surprised.
That was quick. No, really, that was quick.
Was his reputation increasing that much?
Then again that seemed like an inevitable thing.
Regardless, with production of his newest invention soon to be in place, Theodore was ready to finish up in the capital and focus on his plans for a while.
***
Duchess Ravencroft POV
His fight against Julius was announced without much fanfare, as the organizers couldn't do anything more to hype it than they'd already done so. The anticipation and excitement was at an all time high, and the entire capital was in a frenzy.
Which was good.
The duchess pondered as she gazed at her nephew fondly, as he made his move on the chessboard as they played together. She moved her piece, and he frowned. He was a bright boy. A quick learner. And so smart, so, so smart. She was proud of him. But he could be a bit near-sighted at times.
Just as he was now, risking his King a bit too confidently, thinking he was baiting her into a trap. But the duchess saw the trap coming from a mile away. She didn't fall for it and moved her piece instead, cornering his King.
"Checkmate," she said.
"Ah, I see." Julius frowned, surprised he'd missed such a thing. "I thought you'd fall for it."
"Perhaps next time," the duchess said.
Julius smiled. "Next time, I'll win for sure."
"Sure, sure." She looked at the child who was her son in all but name after his parents' passing, and who was now a strong contender for the title of Duke. She was very happy for him. She'd done the right thing in raising him as her own.
And this recent move of hers to put him on the chessboard, so to speak, had worked out better than she'd hoped.
"So," she began, changing the subject. "Your match with Theodore is tomorrow."
"Indeed."
"Are you ready?"
"Yes." Julius nodded.
"Good." The duchess paused, thinking to herself. "Do you think you'll be able to beat him?" She asked.
"Most likely."
She tilted her head. He was not confident. How curious. "Is that so."
Julius didn't respond, and she didn't pry, though the corner of her lips did curl up ever so slightly.
***
Juliana Lockheart POV
She found Theodore training their younger sister in the training room. He'd been quite busy, and Juliana didn't mind that, though she did feel slightly bad for not being there for her younger siblings as much as she should've, but they'd be going back to Holden soon, and she'd promised herself to spend more time with her family.
She was currently looking for her brother to talk about Jason's answer to their proposal, but as she saw him with Leona, she decided to wait. He was teaching Leona something that seemed to involve a lot of concentration.
The little girl was standing there with a serious expression as a small bird made out of mana fluttered around. Juliana observed the bird with a raised brow. It was so lifelike. Was it Leona--no, it was Theodore who was doing that.
It seemed that little Leona was quite insistent that her big brother teach her something cool.
Sitting down on a chair and watching them, Juliana saw Theodore continue on to teach Leona how to properly form the bird's shape and the like. He was being patient and understanding. He wasn't getting irritated even though Leona kept failing.
How far he'd come. Juliana smiled to herself. Though she wondered how he'd fare against Julius. Ever since he set his foot in the arena, she'd known the cat was out of the bag. So although she'd been doing her own research into the man, she hadn't pried too much. It would be far more entertaining to see it all unfold in the finals.
Once Theodore was done with Leona, she made her presence known to them, and the girl jumped into her arms and hugged her tightly, telling her all about how cool Theodore's magic was and how she wanted to learn it too. Juliana laughed, patting her head.
She was just too adorable a thing.
"You've gotten better at handling her," Juliana said, looking at Theodore after Leona ran off to do whatever she did in her free time beside training. "You're better at dealing with people now too."
"I am trying," Theodore said.
"I see."
"So, what did you want to talk to me about?"
"Oh, yeah. I've talked to Jason. He's agreed to work with us."
"As expected."
"Yep." Juliana said. "Anyway, I've also been doing some research on our opponent."
"Oh?"
"Mhm." She nodded. "His ability is quite odd."
"Ability?"
She nodded. "It is an Innate Ability."
"I'd thought so. Though I wonder which Constellation he contracted, if he has such a skill."
He was right, Constellations could be quite elusive after all.
"As for limitations, as far as I am aware, there appears to only be one."
"Slots."
She was a bit surprised. "How did you know?"
"Well, sister, I've been observing my opponent for quite some time." He said dryly. "I would be quite ashamed of myself had I not figured out something so simple."
She gave him a side-eye. "Well, anyway. He is limited in slots, though I'm unaware how many he can use at once."
"Doesn't matter. I'll find out for myself soon enough."
"Confident are we?" she asked.
"Of course." He said, a small smile playing on his lips. "He won't be able to stop me."