"You sure do drag your feet a lot, don't you?" Smiled Ariella, slowing down to match my pace.
"I mean, might as well conserve energy whenever I can, so-...," I began, before swiftly sidestepping across to my left as I sensed someone behind me, glancing back to see Trey, who stepped in between me and Ariella.
Asshole, he was definitely trying to bump into me.
"Hey, there, Ariella. You should really stop hanging around this loser, you'd be better off with someone closer to your level. You free tonight? There's a fancy new restaurant that just opened up, so-...," He began with a cocky smirk.
"Yeah, no," She cut him off dryly, giving him a dirty look.
He's been pestering her to go out with him for the last few months now, and despite her rejecting him clearly and in no uncertain terms every time, he kept persisting.
It started shortly after she started hanging out with me, and I doubt the timing of that was a coincidence. I'm guessing he couldn't stand the idea of someone giving me more attention than him.
"Come on, just give me a chance, what do you have to lose? I can assure you that you won't regret it," He responded in an attempt to persuade her.
"I'm sorry, what part of 'no' do you not understand?" She asked him incredulously.
"Also, you always call me a loser, but I've outscored you on every single exam we've taken. So, if I'm a loser, what does that make you?" I chimed in tauntingly.
"Grr, you little shit...I wasn't talking to you, get lost or I'll make you regret it," He growled in response.
"Ohh, I'd like to see you try."
At this point, fuck taking the high road against this piece of shit. He's been antagonizing me for the better part of a year, enough is enough already. I'm more than happy to put him in his place.
While he has gotten stronger, and is more powerful than I am, at least on paper, I'm fairly confident in saying that I can take him.
His current stats, in comparison to what they were when the year began, are:
HP: 83 -> 105
MP: 468
Strength: 81 -> 103
Agility: 71 -> 90
Vitality: 85 -> 107
Perception: 66 -> 83
Mana Level: 468,000
Power Level: 142,300 -> 159,300
Potential: 418,000
While his Spellcasting and mastery over his Magic has improved a lot, and his movements have steadily gotten a bit sharper and more effecient, all of my physical stats are now significantly higher than his, not to mention that I'm a hell of a lot more skilled than he is.
Besides his Spellcasting, he really hasn't improved all that much, the rest of his progress has been pretty minimal, at best.
So, yeah, I'd wager this would be a good match-up in my favor.
I can easily absorb his Spells with Drain, and once I get in close-range, he won't stand a chance against me. And more than anything, his biggest weakness is his own arrogance and overconfidence.
"You wanna go? Let's go, I'm more than happy to put you in your place," He responded threateningly.
You know, what? Fuck it...I've been putting up with this dickhead all year, enough is enough already.
I tried to be mature and ignore him, but that's clearly not working, so yeah, time for a more drastic measure.
"Alright, then. After today's Practical Training, I'll take you on in one of the training rooms. But fair warning, you'll lose," I warned him, giving him a chance to back out while he still could.
But knowing him, there's no way he'll take it.
"Huh? Haha...hahahaha! Man, that's funny, how deluded can you get?! Fine, you're on," He chuckled, a gleam in his eyes as he marched away, finally leaving us alone.
"Deluded, huh? No, that'd be you," I scoffed as he walked away.
"Thanks for that, you took his attention completely off me. I've been thinking about challenging him myself, and brutally humiliating him in the hope that that'd finally get him to leave me the hell alone.
But considering how much stronger I am, I felt like that'd be nothing more than bullying, so I held myself back," Smiled Ariella wryly.
Oh, yeah, she's absolutely destroy him without even needing to try.
"This is a good chance to finally put his oversized ego in check. Oh, I'm going to enjoy this," I replied with a grin, as we entered the hall for our Practical Training session.
Our other classmates streamed into the room, before Glenn arrived shortly afterwards, taking his place at the front of the space as everyone gathered.
"Good afternoon, everyone, how's your day going? It won't be much longer before your days at the Academy come to an end, as I'm sure you're all well-aware of. And in less than a month, you'll be taking your final Practical Training exam, one last raid before you become full-fledged Hunters.
Most of you are on track to pass regardless of how your perform on this final raid, but that's no reason to get complacent. Don't forget, the higher your overall scores, the better your prospects will be once you begin working as Hunters, it can also impact your starting rank after graduation."
Yeah, I know. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.
"Now, since there are only nine of you left, we've decided that you'll all be assigned to the same raid, instead of splitting you up into separate teams. And unlike your previous raids, which were all to Low Level Dungeons, this final raid will be a Mid Level one. It may only be one Threat Level higher than what you've experienced so far, but I can assure you, it will be a lot more difficult," Glenn informed us, a serious look on his face.
"Um, how many Hunters will accompany and supervise us on this raid?" Inquired one of the other students nervously.
"Two, and we'll be sure to assign experienced, high-level Hunters as your escorts. Since you're all not yet used to fighting alongside such a large group, I strongly suggest using the remaining time before the exam to train hard with each other and discuss tactics, that's why I'm announcing the details so much further ahead of time than I did with the previous exams.
Ariella Velle, you've been selected to be the Captain of this raid. You are free to refuse, of course, since it means you'll be subject to a much stricter assessment criteria," Remarked Glenn, as he turned his attention to her.
"No, I won't refuse. I'll take on the challenge," She replied without hesitation.
"Alright, then. Now, I'll pass on a few more words of encouragement and advice, and let's get started with today's session after that."
"Hey," Smiled Ariella, scooting over towards me and adding as Glenn continued, "Finally, we're going to be on our first raid with each other, we always ended up on different parties in our previous three exams. I'm looking forward to it."
"Yeah, likewise," I nodded in agreement, as she lightly and playfully bumped her shoulder against mine.