Arcane Heir: History's Strongest Mage-Chapter 190: Slip (2)

"Well, that was a one-sided beating." Bishop Tarley stated, sipping on his cup of water as he sent a sly glance towards to the two men beside him.

Both Beau and Octavius seemed annoyed, clearly upset at Michael’s overwhelming victory. Despite the two being at odds, it seemed that they both wished for the boy to lose miserably.

"It is only early, he’ll soon get his just desserts." Octavius replied, returning to his usual stoic demeanor.

"Yes, Braydon will face him soon—then we’ll get to see a good show."

Instead of replying, Octavius scoffed, causing Lord Marbury’s large chin to tremble slightly. For a moment, the two locked eyes and it seemed like a fight was going to break out.

"Oh, isn’t that your son now?" the Bishop said, pointing to the right-most platform.

"Mmm, there’s my boy." Beau Marbury replied with pride in his tone.

"Why is he on the right platform? I thought all the premium fights were meant to be in the largest one in the center?"

Octavius’s obnoxious voice cooed from beside the rotund man, causing his expression to darken. It appeared as if he was going to ignore the comment, but then the guy spoke again.

"Haha! He’s playing second fiddle to that kid?" Lord Bishop said with amusement, pointing towards the center platform where a plain looking teen was standing.

The guy was average height and had black hair with absolutely no distinguished features. He was the kind of person who one would forget moments after being introduced, or easily get lost in a crowd.

Lord Marbury frowned, clearly disturbed by the sight.

"Who the hell is organizing this shit?" The fat man said with annoyance, "you mean to tell me that kid is better than my Braydon? Bullshit."

"Now now, let’s watch the match and see, maybe he’s some kind of genius mage?" the Bishop mediated, tucking some hair behind his ear, yet there was a small smile that played at his lips.

"Begin!"

As soon as the match started, an orange magic circle sprang to life on the center platform, appearing instantly. It was as if someone had been chanting even before it began.

Before anyone could react, a blinding light flashed, illuminating the arena.

A scream echoed out a moment later, followed by silence.

"Winner, Jakob Aleksander."

Quinn’s voice called out from the center platform a moment later, announcing the end to the match not even two seconds after it started. Discussion promptly broke out within the crowd, leading to many even completely disregarding the other fights happening on the other platforms.

The plain looking teen didn’t linger in the platform, placing his hands in his pockets before walking off and disappearing from view. Yet even as he left, many were still talking about his quick victory.

"To cast lightning spells at his age, he certainly is quite the genius." Bishop Tarley said in a somewhat sing-song tone. He seemed quite happy with the result for some reason.

"Well compared to the other fights going on it was much more impressive..." Octavius said with a wide grin painted on his lips.

He stared directly at the side profile of Lord Marbury, disregarding the other platforms—as if seeing the man’s reaction was far more entertaining than that. Which was probably true, for him at least.

But in an act of surprising will, Lord Marbury was able to ignore the guy’s provocation and focus on his son’s fight, though his chin trembled in agitation because of it.

The man was right, compared to the flashy fight that ended in an instant in the center platform, Braydon appeared to be having a hard time. His opponent was a teen with wide shoulders and a bald head who seemed to excel at defense.

Not only were his shield’s solid, he also had good footwork and was able to either dodge or parry the magic missiles that Braydon was throwing towards him.

By the looks of it, the bald-headed teen seemed to be waiting for something. Perhaps he wanted Braydon to exhaust his mana reserves before moving in for the kill? Or maybe he was waiting for another opening altogether.

Either way, the more the fight dragged on, the worse position Braydon would be in.

Beau Marbury clenched his fists and watched on with visible anger. His face began to grow a shade of red, clearly unhappy with how the fight had been progressing.

"Wow, he’s worse than I thought," Octavius chimed from the side, watching disinterestedly. "How did he even get into the academy?"

"Shut the fuck up!" Beau’s face trembled as he turned and whispered harshly towards the guy beside him. "At least my son is still in the academy, unlike your two idiot sons who tried to kill some kid." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

However, the moment he said this, his once red face began to turn deathly pale.

As an elite noble house, the Bishop family demanded significant respect even from the king himself. It was one thing to engage in banter and sarcastic quips, but Beau Marbury had completely stepped on the man’s face in public.

Despite whispering, his words drew plenty of eyes from the surrounding nobles, making his error even more brazen.

Octavius wore a neutral expression, yet his perfectly maintained mustache twitched, betraying his anger. The atmosphere suddenly turned cold, plunging those in the vicinity into the icy pits of the tundra.

"H-hey it was just a slip of the tongue Octavius." Bishop Tarley stood to his feat, trying to placate the angry man. He who had obviously been enjoying the back and forth between the two had suddenly changed his tone, now doing his best to intervene.

"I cannot overlook this disrespect, Bishop." Octavius stated blandly, no sense of emotion in his tone. It was as if he was just stating a fact.

"What are you going to do..." He replied with narrowed eyes. "We’re in the middle of Arcadius Academy, if you attack now..."

Meanwhile, Beau Marbury had long forgotton about his son’s match and was currently staring at the livid Lord Bishop with fear in his eyes. It was clear that he regretted his actions a lot right now.

But before things could devolve even further, the space shimmered behind the Lord Bishop, revealing a figure dressed in a red robe.

"Is there a problem here?" a feminine voice crooned.

Octavius’s shoulders heaved as he let out a sigh, "Nothing that you need to be concerned about Lady Sylvia," he replied. "Lord Marbury was just leaving."

"I see," Sylvia replied with a nod, turning to the quivering man not far away. "Shall I escort you to your carriage Lord Marbury?" she asked, neither servile nor overbearing.

"Y-yes... Thank you."