"M-My name is Martin!" stammered a high human, avoiding eye contact with both me and Alicia.
"I-I am Leire…" added a timid werewolf girl, also avoiding eye contact with me.
"Amael," I said shortly.
"Alicia," Alicia echoed tersely.
Doubt lingered about the necessity of introductions; our names carried a certain level of infamy.
The silence grew increasingly awkward.
"How about we gauge our strengths? I can undoubtedly defeat anyone, regardless of the opponent. What about you?" I asked with honesty.
Martin, still dumbfounded, averted his gaze. "I-I can support you with my earth shield."
Controlling Earth. Not bad.
"What about you?" I turned to Leire.
Blushing, she lowered her gaze. "I-I'm strong in hand-to-hand combat!"
"Strong?" I eyed her petite figure. "In hand-to-hand combat?" I observed her seemingly nonexistent muscles.
"I see, you do seem indeed very strong," I smiled, though Leire appeared on the verge of tears, perhaps having caught wind of my thoughts.
"Calm down, I can count on you, come on…" I awkwardly patted her head.
Leire blushed even more intensely and nodded her head.
She resembled a cute kitten in that moment.
But was I just misunderstanding her or does she have a crush on me?
For beating up elves?
Well, that's an interesting measure of friendship.
After concluding with Martin and Leire, I shifted my attention to Alicia. "What about you?"
"..." Alicia remained silent, appearing to gaze at nothing in particular.
"Oy," I snapped my fingers in front of her face, finally eliciting a response as she slowly redirected her eyes toward me.
Such a peculiar character...
"I'm good with a rapier," she said, her focus on the golden weapon in her hand.
"How about I take a look at your rapier?" I asked, extending my hand.
Alicia swiftly moved her hand, rapier in tow, away from my reach. She looked at me with slightly furrowed brows. "No."
"I don't want to," Alicia replied, hugging her rapier close to her chest, regarding me as if I were a potential thief eyeing her toy.
"How old are you already?" I blurted out.
"Are you sure you're not six?" I asked seriously.
"I'm sixteen," Alicia frowned.
This conversation was going nowhere.
"Alright, alright, stop sulking. I won't touch your rapier, and you're sixteen," I conceded, waving my hand.
"You're definitely not older than twelve."
Does it sound like that?!
"You've got guts, Falkrona."
Interrupting my thoughts with his irritating voice was Adrian Dolphis.
"Oh, for fuck's sake," I sighed loudly and turned around. "What do you want, Dolphin?"
"Pfftt!" Martin nearly burst out laughing behind me, while Leire lowered her face.
Adrian glared murderously at both of them, but I stepped in front of my groupmates. "Will you refrain from harassing my teammates, Dolphin?"
"It's Dolphis!" Adrian glared at me.
I rubbed my ear at his loud voice. "Dolphis, Dolphin, it's the same thing."
"Remember where you are, Falkrona, before opening your mouth," Adrian approached me with a cold face. "In Sancta Vedelia, you are nothing. Christina won't always save your ass here."
"Save my ass from what? You?" I asked with a snort.
Adrian smirked and stepped back. "Pray that you don't end up against me, Falkrona. I won't hold back."
"I'm very scared, sorry," I replied with a scoff.
Adrian ignored me and headed toward Alicia with a smile. "You didn't come to see me this morning, Alicia?" He reached out his hand toward Alicia's face, who wasn't even reacting.
From behind him, I could see Professor Raven observing us, gritting his teeth. He was on the verge of erupting but holding back.
I smirked and caught Adrian's arm. "What are you doing, Dolphin? Are you trying to injure my teammate?"
"She's my fiancée, bastard," Adrian retorted, forcing his hand toward Alicia.
"Is that a reason to flirt during the exam?" I asked with a snort.
"Ahahah. Weren't you flirting with your own fiancée just minutes ago?" Adrian laughed.
"We both consented to it," I threw out a random excuse.
"We're also both consenting, right, Alicia?" Adrian's gaze bore into her coldly.
And predictably, Alicia wouldn't deny it. She was about to nod, and I could sense it.
"Matter over, we need to make a plan," I interrupted, pushing away Adrian and pulling Alicia along with Martin and Leire.
"You...!!!" Adrian was about to rush toward me when...
"Adrian," someone intervened, and it was Victor, glaring coldly at him.
I grinned, ending the ongoing call on my phone.
Once a bit away, I left Alicia and we strolled calmly toward our residence in the Dolphis Kingdom.
"How about you answer with more than a nod to his demands?" I asked Alicia, growing frustrated.
Alicia glanced briefly at me before resuming her expressionless gaze ahead. "Thanks, Senior, but it doesn't concern you."
"How do you maintain this expression? I can't even tell what you're feeling," I said, impressed.
Alicia ignored me, quickening her pace and walking ahead of us all.
"Yeah, you're angry," I mused aloud before turning to Leire. "Go with her."
"Y-Yes!" Leire nodded, hurrying after Alicia.
"I'm a nice Senior, right?" I asked Martin, also a sophomore.
"Sir?" I grimaced. "That's cringe. Stop that."
"Okay!" Martin nodded enthusiastically.
At least it seems he doesn't hate me.
"You're a high human, right? What do others think of me?" I asked curiously.
"I-I don't know about others, but in Zestel, everyone admires you! I was there when you fought that monster in the sky! It was amazing! A-And I heard about how you declared war against the Teraquin House! Even more amazing!"
I don't recall declaring war!
Those gossipers twisted the narrative to suit their story. Is that why the Teraquin Queen wants my head, along with all the Elves? And Mom is supporting that? She's even more extreme than me.
"B-But I think Sir Amael should be careful with Adrian..." Martin added, his voice barely audible.
"Why?" I asked, surprised.
Shouldn't he be encouraging me?
"T-That's because... Sir Adrian is dangerous, and... if... if Senior Cyril intervenes..." Martin's face went completely pale.
In other words, he was advising me not to involve myself further with Alicia because Cyril, who was leaving that matter to Adrian, might intervene.
"Ah..." I sighed, gazing up at the sky.
He was significantly stronger than me, and I knew it. The sensible solution would be to abandon my plan of aiding Alicia to coerce Professor James Raven into teaching me his Raven Style. But the idea of backing down didn't sit well with me.