The Last Apprentice of Magic

CHAPTER 4 — THE FIRST ENEMY

Fred barely made it ten steps out of the spellcraft classroom before Lucian Veyr stepped directly into his path.

"Move."

Fred stopped.

Lucian smiled as several students nearby slowed down to watch. Within seconds, a small crowd had begun gathering around them. Some students pretended they weren't interested and continued walking, although they kept glancing back. Others made no attempt to hide their curiosity.

The corridor suddenly felt much narrower than it had a moment earlier.

Lucian folded his arms across his chest.

"I heard something interesting."

Fred said nothing.

"Apparently, the Foundation student thinks he can improve academy spellcraft."

A few students laughed.

Fred's expression remained unchanged.

"If you came here to repeat something everyone already heard, you're wasting my time."

Lucian's smile disappeared.

"I came to offer you a chance."

"To do what?"

"Prove that yesterday wasn't luck."

Fred stared at him for a moment before glancing toward the training hall.

Lucian noticed.

"One match."

"No."

The answer came immediately.

Lucian raised an eyebrow.

"No?"

"I have classes."

"You don't want to fight."

"I don't need to."

A murmur moved through the students around them.

Lucian stepped closer.

"You're afraid."

Fred looked directly into his eyes.

"No."

"Then fight me."

"No."

Lucian laughed.

"There it is."

He turned toward the students who had gathered around them.

"Everyone heard him. The great written-exam genius doesn't even dare to fight."

Fred's jaw tightened.

He hated that word.

Coward.

He had heard it before, usually from people who assumed that refusing to fight meant weakness.

Fred looked at the crowd before turning his attention back to Lucian.

"Fine."

Lucian's smile returned immediately.

"Good."

"But I choose the conditions."

Lucian laughed again.

"You're in no position to make demands."

"Then don't accept."

The laughter gradually faded.

Lucian's eyes narrowed.

"What conditions?"

"First, no lethal spells."

"Agreed."

"Second, the match ends when someone can no longer continue."

"Fine."

Fred turned toward the training hall.

"And third..."

He looked back over his shoulder.

"If you lose, you stop bothering me."

Lucian's smile vanished completely.

After a moment, he nodded.

"Deal."

---

The training hall filled within minutes.

News traveled quickly through the academy, especially when it involved a student from one of the most influential magical families.

The low-magic student was fighting Lucian Veyr again.

This time, nobody wanted to miss it.

Fred stood on one side of the circular arena while Lucian rolled his shoulders across from him. His confidence had returned, and Fred understood why.

The difference between them was enormous.

Lucian's mana capacity was nearly sixty times greater than Fred's. His magical control was superior, his combat training was more extensive, and his family had employed private instructors for him since childhood.

Fred had books.

That was all.

Professor Vale stood at the edge of the arena and looked from one student to the other.

"Begin."

Lucian disappeared from where he had been standing.

Fred's eyes widened as a burst of fire erupted beneath Lucian's feet, propelling him forward with explosive speed.

Fred immediately jumped sideways.

A flaming fist passed through the space where his head had been only a fraction of a second earlier.

Lucian twisted in mid-step.

His right hand opened, and a blade of compressed flame formed instantly along his arm.

He swung.

Fred ducked beneath the attack and retreated before Lucian could follow up.

The next attack came almost immediately.

Then another.

Fire flashed across the arena as Lucian continued pressing forward, forcing Fred to retreat again and again.

The crowd began laughing.

"He's just running!"

"He's not even fighting!"

"How long can he keep dodging?"

Fred ignored them.

His breathing remained controlled as he watched Lucian.

He wasn't studying the fists.

He wasn't studying the flames.

He was studying the pattern.

Something was happening every time Lucian attacked.

Fred noticed that Lucian's right shoulder moved slightly before every offensive spell. It was subtle, but it happened consistently.

His dominant hand was always involved.

More importantly, whenever Lucian finished an attack, a defensive barrier appeared around his body.

There was a delay between the two actions.

It was tiny, less than a second, and most opponents would never notice it in the middle of a fight.

Fred did.

Lucian attacked again.

A burst of fire erupted from his palm.

Fred stepped backward, allowing the attack to pass harmlessly beside him.

Lucian immediately began forming his defensive barrier.

There.

That tiny delay.

Fred's strange ability activated.

The world seemed to sharpen around him as his attention narrowed entirely onto his opponent.

[Magical Observation activated.]

Information flickered across his vision.

[Target: Lucian Veyr.]

[Primary casting hand: Right.]

[Combat pattern identified.]

[Offensive-to-defensive transition: 0.47 seconds.]

Fred's eyes narrowed.

There was the opening.

Lucian attacked again.

Fred dodged the flames and watched Lucian's movements.

As expected, the defensive spell began forming immediately afterward.

Fred moved forward.

The crowd gasped.

Instead of retreating as everyone expected, Fred slipped toward Lucian before the barrier could fully form.

He passed through the incomplete magical field and drove his fist into Lucian's chest.

The blow wasn't particularly powerful.

It didn't need to be.

Lucian stumbled backward.

The entire arena fell quiet as everyone tried to understand what had just happened.

Fred stepped away.

Lucian stared at him before slowly touching his chest.

"You..."

Fred waited.

Lucian's face reddened.

"You got lucky."

Fred's expression remained calm.

"Once."

A murmur moved through the crowd.

Lucian's eyes hardened.

He raised his hand, and a circle of flames immediately formed around him.

Fred's ability reacted.

[Repeated pattern detected.]

A faint smile touched Fred's lips.

Lucian charged.

Fred stepped to the left, allowing the flame blade to pass beside him.

Lucian's barrier began forming.

Fred moved forward.

He took one step, then another, carefully timing his movement.

There.

The barrier wasn't complete.

Fred struck.

His palm slammed into Lucian's shoulder, sending him spinning sideways. The defensive spell shattered before it could fully form.

The crowd erupted.

Lucian regained his balance and stared at Fred.

Fred simply looked back at him.

"Twice."

Lucian's face twisted with anger.

"You think you've figured me out?"

"I don't think."

Fred raised his hands.

"I know."

Lucian's expression changed.

Then he roared and unleashed his mana.

The temperature inside the arena rose sharply as flames exploded outward from his body. Students near the protective barrier instinctively stepped backward.

Professor Vale's expression changed.

"Lucian!"

But Lucian wasn't listening.

He gathered an enormous amount of fire around his right arm.

The flames compressed tighter and tighter until they formed a massive spear of burning energy.

Fred's stomach tightened.

That wasn't part of their agreement.

Lucian launched the spear.

Fred moved.

The attack tore past him with enough force to make the air tremble.

Fred threw himself into a roll and barely escaped the burning projectile as it slammed into the opposite side of the arena.

The crowd screamed.

Lucian charged behind the attack.

Fred looked up.

For a fraction of a second, Lucian's defensive spell hadn't formed.

Fred saw the opening.

He stepped forward.

Lucian's eyes widened.

"No—"

Fred struck.

His palm, reinforced with a controlled amount of mana, slammed directly beneath Lucian's ribs.

The impact drove the air from Lucian's lungs and lifted him completely off the ground.

He crashed onto the arena floor and slid several feet before coming to a stop.

For several seconds, nobody moved.

Lucian Veyr, the elite student with 1,842 mana units, was lying on his back.

Defeated.

By someone with thirty-one.

Fred stood several steps away, breathing heavily.

He hadn't suddenly become stronger.

He hadn't gained more mana.

He hadn't discovered some overwhelming new spell.

He had simply understood his opponent.

Professor Vale stepped into the arena.

"Match over."

The protective barrier disappeared.

The students remained frozen, struggling to process what they had just witnessed.

Kael stood among them, staring at Fred with an expression Fred couldn't quite read.

It wasn't disbelief.

It was interest.

Fred turned away from Lucian.

Then Lucian spoke.

"Fred."

Fred stopped.

He glanced back.

Lucian slowly pushed himself upright. His pride had clearly been wounded, but something else had appeared in his eyes.

Hatred.

"You think this is over?"

Fred said nothing.

Lucian tightened his fists.

"You'll regret humiliating me."

Fred looked at him for several seconds.

"Then don't give me a reason to do it again."

He turned and walked away.

Fred didn't notice the person standing near the far exit.

Professor Vale did.

A man dressed in a dark academy robe had watched the entire battle without saying a word. He remained near the wall, his eyes following Fred until the boy disappeared through the doors.

Only then did the man turn and leave.

---

That evening, far from the academy, a silver communication crystal illuminated a dark room.

Lucian Veyr's father stood beside a massive window overlooking the city below.

He was a powerful mage, the kind of man whose name alone could make government officials answer their phones.

A report hovered above the crystal.

He read it without speaking.

Most of the document contained combat statistics, magical measurements, and witness accounts from the training hall.

Then one sentence caught his attention.

He read it again.

"Fred possesses an unidentified magical analysis ability."

Lucian's father lowered the report.

"Analysis?"

The crystal continued glowing beside him.

He thought about the strange boy with thirty-one mana.

A boy who had somehow defeated his son twice.

That wasn't supposed to be possible.

He looked toward the darkness beyond the window.

Then he spoke quietly.

"Find out where he got it."

The crystal went dark.

The man remained beside the window.

For the first time in years, something about a young mage had genuinely disturbed him.

It wasn't Fred's strength.

Fred had almost none.

It was the possibility that the boy possessed something far more dangerous than raw power.

Something capable of changing the way magic itself was understood.

And if that possibility proved to be real, Fred Veyr would not be the only person who came looking for him