CHAPTER 154: CHAPTER 154 PACT

The night was quiet.

Roman lay alone on the academy’s training ground, his eyes fixed on the stars above as his body rubbed the sand.

The moon hung high, bright and round, casting a soft glow over the field. A cool breeze blew through, rustling his clothes.

He let out a slow breath.

Everything from earlier kept playing in his mind—Ava frozen in fear, Aurelia thrown to the ground, the demon’s roar, the blood, if it wasn’t for him, then Ava would have been killed.

"If I were just a second late..." he muttered.

His hands were in his pockets, and his face was calm, but inside he felt heavy.

He knew Ava was powerful; there was no doubt about that. She was far stronger than he currently was, but in the face of danger, she couldn’t move.

Roman wasn’t sure if he would be the same, he couldn’t rule that out since he wasn’t the one in front of the demon, but Aurelia was definitely fearless.

"I need to be better... stronger," he whispered, clenching his fists.

’Demons haven’t attacked like this in ten years, what if they start launching attacks now, with Victoria and Evelyn here, I’m sure the capital would be alright, and if he capital is under attack the mages on the Frontlines would come back’

’But what if the demon lord launched the attack himself, would Evelyn and Victoria be able to stop him, or her...I have no idea if the demon lord is male or female’

Roman closed his eyes as the cold breeze brushed his skin, then he sat upright and brought out the paper from his pocket, he still had the spell circle for the spell, conceal.

This was a good time to test because earlier he was able to learn the spell [Flame Arrow], he still remembers the spell circle, and his system already recorded the spell.

’System,’ Roman muttered, and the screen came up.

[Name: Roman Quinn]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 2]

[Encounters to level up: 35]

[Ability(s): Arcane Supremacy, Dual Cultivation, Null Effect]

[Curse: Lustbound limit]

[Spell(s): Fireball, Flame Arrow, Light Rune, Self Mirage, Blood Bind, Arcane Spark, Summon, Minor Enchant]

[Skill(s): Hawk Eyes, Vision Enhancement]

[Mana: 200/200]

[Strength: 35]

[Agility: 35]

[Stamina: 82]

[Vitality: 102]

[Spell power: 65]

[Charm: 400]

’The spell is already recorded, I can cast this spell at the end of the week, so I should be able to learn this new spell’

Roman took a deep breath, placing the paper in front of him, then once again he took off his top, even though it was cold outside, Roman wasn’t too worried.

He held his clothes with one hand, and with his other hand, he infused Mana as the spell circle began to form.

The paper was on the ground in front of him, and he was laser-focused.

The glowing lines of the spell circle began to take shape in front of him, hovering just above his hand. His fingers trembled slightly as he pushed more mana into it, trying to copy exactly what he was seeing.

The lines flickered. Then they broke apart.

The circle vanished.

Roman let out a breath and leaned back, resting his weight on his hands with his shirt on his legs.

"Tsk," he clicked his tongue. "Why does it feel harder"

He looked down at the paper again.

This wasn’t like [Flame Arrow]. That one came a little easier. Maybe because it was a basic attack spell. But [Conceal] felt different—more delicate, more detailed.

He tried again.

This time, he drew the spell in the air slowly, using just a thin stream of mana; he didn’t infuse much but instead focused on creating the circle.

The spell circle started to take shape, and for a second it looked perfect.

Then suddenly, the middle part warped, and the spell fizzled out.

"Ugh..." he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "What am I doing wrong?"

He stared at the spell diagram again.

’Maybe I’m pushing too much mana?’

Roman sat cross-legged, placing the paper on his lap. He rested his arms on his knees and stared into the night sky.

The stars were still there, blinking quietly.

Just yesterday, he was thinking about the demon lord, and today, Avalon was attacked.

’Maybe I should learn how to use a sword, it’ll go well with my style of magic since I have enchantment, I can’t wait for this week to be over’

Roman picked the paper back up, rolled it carefully, and slipped it into his pocket.

He stood, dusted off his pants, and grabbed his shirt but before he put it on, a hand touched him from behind.

Roman flinched and turned around to see Victoria behind him, unlike the first time, he wasn’t surprised by her abilities, but he was more surprised by why she was here.

"I heard a demon attacked the academy, and some students went after it, I thought you would be among them?" Victoria muttered.

"You heard? More importantly, where were you when the academy was attacked? There was a demon that was different from the rest, and it created some kind of spell that broke the barrier." Roman spoke, but Victoria didn’t answer. Instead, she stared at him.

"What’s wrong?" Roman asked.

"When the demon attacked, where were you?" Victoria asked in a stern voice.

As soon as she asked, Roman knew he had made a mess. If he were in the academy, then how did he know she was late, or about the demon?

There was no way for him to know since the academy wouldn’t tell students anything about what happened. They did know about Ava and Aurelia, but nothing about the attack on the capital, so there was no way he was supposed to know.

"I asked you a question, when the demons attacked, where were you? Think very well before you answer this question because it could determine what I would do next." Victoria spoke, and Roman instinctively took a step back.

"I was in the academy the whole time, ask Ava, or Reina, or the princess," Roman replied.

"Alright, so how did you know about the demon, and the fact that I was late if you were in the academy, don’t even think about lying, cause there’s no way you would have known," Victoria spoke.

Roman couldn’t speak; he couldn’t possibly tell her he was a summoner, that would mean he had two types of magic, which isn’t something possible, at least for him. Only the founder was able to use all types of magic.

’Wait...can I convince her that I can be as powerful as the founder of magic, I mean I don’t know but it should be possible to convince her’

"I’m growing impatient each second, you know I can get someone that would force you to answer me with a spell," Victoria said.

"It won’t work, same as how you tried to peek into me to see how much potential or how powerful I am, it just won’t work," Roman answered too calmly, even Victoria knew something was up.

"You know something, don’t you? Spill... if you don’t, I’ll get it out of..."

"Then I’ll make a pact with you," Roman cut her off, "What I tell you here can’t be shared with anyone else," Roman spoke, bringing his hand forward to shake her.

Victoria looked at the seriousness in his face and brought her hands forward, as soon as both of them shook hands, Roman cast a spell.

[Blood Bind]

Victoria watched in shock as blood wrapped around her hand and then Roman pulled his hand away as the blood hardened.

"Break it," Roman said to her, and Victoria broke the spell.

"Alright, if you tell anyone what I’m about to say, your own blood would attack you; there’s no way to stop it unless I break the pact," Roman spoke.

Of course, there was nothing like that but Victoria didn’t know.

Roman couldn’t afford to let the whole world know, even if it might be good for him, for instance, he might be allowed to stay in he academy even if he loses the tournament because of his potential.

But the whole world might be counting on him to defeat demons, and he might not reach a fraction of the founder’s powers.

"You can use blood magic, how is that possible?" Victoria asked.

[Self Mirage]

[Light Rune]

[Arcane Spark]

Victoria could see two Romans in front of her, then a tiny ball of light appeared in front of him, and finally Roman pointed towards one of the magic dummies and shot his [Arcane Spark] towards it.

"I can use all kinds of magic" Roman replied.

Victoria’s jaw dropped; she couldn’t believe any of this. What had only happened once in history, which no one currently alive has ever seen with their eyes, was happening in front of her.

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A/N

Hey guys, I’d love to write Roman’s entire learning process, but I just think it’ll be too long with lots of info dumps, and writing every day for the entire month till the tournament would take too long.

Instead of writing 30 or 40 Chapters about daily training and classes, I’m planning a time skip. But don’t worry, I’ll still summarize everything important that happened before the tournament.

What do you think of this, write your thoughts in the comments section.

Thanks for reading my work.