I held my smile, making it as genuine as I could, as he quickly left the room after the club activities were over.
After our conversation, I thought that he would try to talk to me.
Thankfully, he was gone.
I sighed inwardly in relief.
Holding my smile, I gently responded to the club members one by one until they were satisfied.
"See you later. Don’t forget to be present on time next week."
With smiles on their faces, they left the room, holding their baked pies in their hands.
"We’ll be early. You don’t need to worry."
"I’ll be here immediately after class is over."
"I can’t wait to try the next recipe. I’ll practice more diligently, so we can also trade wth each other."
Soon, I was one of the few left alone in the club room.
My smile instantly vanished.
It was tiring holding a conversation with people whom you didn’t like and who were not on the same level as you.
Despite trying to keep my mind busy, my thoughts remained focused on one individual.
"I heard that all the other clubs had blocklisted Ezekiel, except only a few who lacked members. I hadn’t expected him to apply for the Bakery Club," Elma arrived beside me and said.
She leaned against the counter table, her hands placed on the table behind to support her weight and looked at me.
"He didn’t seem like the kind of person to be interested in baking. And I hadn’t expected you to accept his application," she added.
"We are also lacking members. If our members don’t reach a total of ten or more required quota before the end of the month, the academy will shut us down, and we’ll have no choice but to join others," I responded.
"Besides, the application was sent by an Instructor, so it wasn’t as though I had the option of disagreeing, unless I wanted to create conflict with him."
Still, I found it hard to believe that the Instructor of Class Three had personally submitted Ezekiel’s application, given the rumours surrounding them.
Elma’s eyes widened in disbelief. "An instructor helped submit his application?" She asked.
Suddenly, a look of realisation appeared on her face.
"Doesn’t that mean that the rumours about them are true?"
"I’m not sure. It can’t be that simple. However, whatever it is, it’s none of our business. That’s a Class Three problem to worry about," I responded.
"Since he’s a member of our Bakery Club, we should try our best to be as accommodating as we can, else he might leave and join another club."
Whatever his title was, I didn’t care.
Whatsoever he had done was none of my concern.
Whomever he had offended was also none of my concern.
Elma gave me a weird look.
I didn’t like it when she did that.
It felt as though I had missed something important.
"What?" I stared at her with a narrowed gaze.
"Don’t you already know?" Elma asked, raising her eyebrows in surprise.
"’Don’t I already know’ what?" I replied, furrowing my brows in confusion.
"You have spent the rest of the day cleaning and preparing the club room for the extracurricular activity, so I guess that it’s understandable that you still aren’t aware of the new information making headlines across the academy," Elma responded.
"Jaran Windcrest challenged Ezekiel Zahara openly for an official duel."
Elma leaned in and said with a solemn expression.
My eyes widened in shock.
The feeling spread to every fibre of my being.
I couldn’t help but doubt what I had just heard.
I attempted to speak, but my eyes displayed all the questions before I could say a word.
As if anticipating my reaction, Elma interpreted them quickly and nodded, "I doubted its authenticity too, since he had just defeated Ivory, their top-ranked Magical Swordsman."
"However, because Jaran had made the challenge during class, and their instructor had approved it, there were several eyewitnesses to the story, and they all said the same thing."
"There’s even a video that was recorded and is currently circulating online. However--"
"Where’s the video?" The words leapt out of my parted lips.
Elma grumbled, "You didn’t even wait for me to complete my words."
She took out her smartphone, unlocked it, and searched for a video.
"Here you go?" She immediately handed it over to me.
I received the smartphone, and instantly hit play.
The video started with Ezekiel and the Jaran standing on opposite sides and exchanging harsh words, then the battle began.
Jaran charged forward.
The outcome was easy to predict.
This was Jaran Windcrest, a descendant of the Windcrest Clan. One of the prestigious Clans of the Magical Swordsman Path.
Jaran had mastered the Azure Skybind Gale Sacred Art, a renowned Windcrest Clan Sacred Art, and with his Dove Sealing Sword, a Rare-ranked magic item, he was nearly unstoppable among his peers.
Only a monster like Ivory, who had awakened a Rank Two Magical Swordsman Trait, or Milas, a descendant of the Segrum Clan with defective Spirit veins.
Yet, Elma had stated that he had lost.
How could such a thing even occur?
It was like hearing that magic items were falling from the skies; Like a dungeon monster has chosen to sign peace treaties with Heroes.
I didn’t dare blink as I watched the ongoing battle on the screen to get my answers and understand what was going on.
Soon, the battle ended.
My eyes remained fixed on the screen even as it returned to the beginning of the video and paused.
It was more shocking than I had anticipated.
It was as though I had just witnessed magic items falling from the sky.
The duel ended within eight minutes.
For the remaining four minutes, Ezekiel had toyed around with Jaran, who lay sprawled on the ground, severely beaten and incapacitated.
I quickly gathered my emotions.
I scrolled through the comments.
’No way! No way... Jaran had lost to Ezekiel!’
Author’s Note:One Chapter per day, -1,500 words or more on slow days. Two Chapters, 1,000 each regularly.
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