Disciple, rank three.
Adept, rank four.
And Master, rank five.
Those were the most common ranks assigned to the rest of the student body. None of them even came close to my rank of King, which stood at eighth among the fourteen magical classifications.
Although there were certainly exceptions...
Lucius and Celeste had both been placed at Sage and Grandmaster, respectively, ranking seventh and sixth in the entire hierarchy.
Aqua, from earlier, had also reached Sage, the same as Lucius.
As for Trish, she was at the rank of Master. Anna, meanwhile, was said to be somewhere between Master and Grandmaster.
All in all, I couldn’t complain. They weren’t weak, not by a long shot. They were probably stronger than half the student body.
It was just that, in an academy with over tens of thousands of students, there were always a few extreme prodigies. And I happened to be the highest of them all.
"That was the last one...! But no one else reached King!"
Anna said, grabbing my arm and shaking it back and forth.
"That means you have the highest reserves in the entire academy!"
"Impressive... I didn’t expect such incredible magical reserves."
Trish said as well, sounding just as surprised and approving as Anna.
The rest of the student body, however, had been completely stunned by what had just happened. Reyn Brimstone, out of everyone in the entire academy, had the highest mana reserves.
Even Gavian, my brother, the old prodigy who had graduated years ago, only achieved the rank of Sage in his junior years. He didn’t reach ranks beyond that until his senior years.
That meant I had effectively set a record for this academy’s mana reserves test.
"Impossible, Reyn got the highest..."
"Not even Lady Aqua achieved that level."
"Do you think the crystal was mistaken?"
"You idiot, the crystal broke, and Reyn was the first to use it, so it’s even more unlikely..."
The gossip had already begun to spread, but I couldn’t care less about what they said. At least, not until I finished the rest of the academy’s tests and was undoubtedly crowned rank one.
If I wanted to show off and finally prove everyone wrong, it was better to be top one in all the remaining tests than in just one.
"Let’s go. Duels should be next, right?"
I smiled at Anna and Trish, already standing up and offering a hand for Anna to take, which she immediately accepted without hesitation.
And I could already swear I sensed Lucius staring daggers at me from a distance.
But let him stare all he wants.
He already has Celeste with him. No need to feel bad.
✧ ✦ ✧
The dueling arena was a massive stone platform raised several feet off the ground, surrounded by tiered seating that could accommodate the entire student body.
Magical barriers shimmered at its edges, maintained by faculty members stationed at each corner.
The head trainer, a grizzled man with a scar cutting through his left eyebrow, stood at the center with a clipboard that looked like it had survived several wars.
"Duels will be conducted by random pairings! First match: Lord Reyn Brimstone versus Lady Selene Vexworth!"
A murmur rippled through the crowd. Selene Vexworth was a Disciple, nothing exceptional, but what was interesting was that she was apparently one of the original Reyn’s earliest and most outspoken critics.
She had filed a formal complaint against him the year before, after he allegedly made inappropriate comments toward her during a practical exercise.
And from the way she was glaring at me as she stepped onto the platform, it was clear she hadn’t forgotten.
Quite a coincidence we were matched first...
"H-How is this fair!?"
She shouted at the instructor on the side.
"You said you wanted to fight Lord Brimstone first if he qualified, as stipulated in your complaint settlement..."
Selene’s eyes widened, clearly dumbfounded.
Never mind, so it wasn’t a coincidence...
"That was before I realized we have a five-rank gap! How is something I decided a year ago still valid in this scenario!?"
"Enough yelling. You came here expecting a challenge, and just because your opponent has better mana reserves, you immediately panic? Pathetic!"
The head trainer scoffed, already ordering them to start the match. He didn’t seem to care at all about the massive power imbalance.
"Besides, mana reserves are one thing. Actually using them is another."
He added, trying to calm Selene down, though horribly failing. He was right; there really was a difference. The problem was...
That didn’t really apply when the gap was literally five ranks between us.
"L-Lord Reyn..."
Selene looked at me awkwardly as the barriers around us activated. She held up both hands as if offering peace.
"I didn’t know you were so studious..."
"Well, I don’t blame you."
I replied with a smug grin. Honestly, I expected an overconfident woman who would ignore my ranking and keep calling me trash.
But instead, I’d found someone actually logical.
"So, are we doing this or what?"
"Well..."
Selene gulped, then suddenly pointed toward the direction where Anna was seated while shouting something.
"Look, someone is flirting with Lady Rose!"
Seriously... that’s her plan?
I reluctantly turned to see what she was talking about, already knowing she was lying, but deciding to play along for the fun of it.
I glanced at Anna and saw that she was perfectly fine, cheering me on from her seat, with Trish beside her, slightly more restrained, but definitely still approving.
And then...
FWOOSH!
The moment my attention left Selene, I immediately heard the sound of a fireball racing straight toward me.
"Of course..."
Too bad for her, I’d already had a minor ward active the entire time I was here.
All I needed to do was increase its mana output, and...
BOOM!
The fireball crashed harmlessly several meters away from me, the smoke dissipating and revealing that I was completely unharmed.
"W-What...!?"
"My turn."
I snapped my fingers, summoning a huge radiant spear in the sky that used up five times its minimum mana requirement.
And that alone was enough for Selene to drop to her knees in defeat.
"...I yield."