Godric stared at the pink-stained straw, then slowly shifted his gaze back to Raven’s smug, expectant face.
"I think I’ll pass," he said, taking a deliberate step back to lean against the kitchen doorframe.
"Besides, I’m fairly certain breaking and entering doesn’t usually come with complimentary refreshments."
"It’s not breaking and entering if your lovely little sister invites me in," Raven purred, taking a slow sip through that very same straw while maintaining unbroken eye contact. "She was having quite the struggle carrying those heavy boxes up the stairs. Naturally, a good friend stepped in to help. You really should thank me, Godric. Or better yet, buy me dinner as compensation."
"I’ll stick to writing a thank-you note." Godric crossed his arms, doing his best to ignore the faint smell of jasmine tea, which, to his surprise, wasn’t made with sparkling water.
Godric’s gaze momentarily shifted to Raven’s cup, or rather the black orbs floating inside of it.
’Why are there things floating inside?’
Bubble tea.
He was almost certain the girl meant ’bubbly’ and that it was simply a tea made of sparkling water.
But this?
He was at a loss.
Whatever it was, it was almost certainly a rich people’s invention.
’Who would spoil a perfect cup of tea with those floaty things?’
At the same time, noticing where his gaze was, Raven stepped a little closer.
"You sure you don’t want a sip?"
"I’m certain––"
Before Godric could finish his reply, Raven brought the cup closer and basically shoved the straw in his mouth.
Godric stepped out to the side almost immediately, but not before getting a tiniest smudge of Raven’s lipstick across his lower lip.
"How was it?" Raven asked with a proud smile.
"I don’t have time for games, Raven," he replied flatly, wiping his mouth with a sleeve of his uniform. "The bracket was posted earlier today, and I need to do research––"
"Felicia Solvaine. A Master summoner commanding a beast called Ice Wyvern..."
Godric frowned.
The bracket was posted barely an hour ago, and Raven had left the academy a few hours prior, right after their sparring.
How could she know who he was fighting?
Before Godric could draw a concrete conclusion, Raven slowly stepped toward the exit.
"I guess I’ll leave you to it."
"Wait," Godric called before thinking it through.
He paused for a second, then asked: "Tell me what to know about her."
Raven tilted her head slightly and lightly tapped the bottom of her lip with her index finger. "What do I get in return?"
"Food. How about I buy us some food, and you tell me all you know while we eat?"
Raven’s face brightened almost immediately.
"Okay~!"
Godric lingered for a second.
It took him a moment to realise what he’d actually just done.
Getting more information on his opponent was important, naturally. But seeing the smile on Raven’s face, he had a feeling that he was not going to like the price of that information.
***
Moments later, Godric was already sitting in the restaurant, opposite Raven, who looked completely pleased with herself.
The establishment itself was rather interesting, to say the least.
The moment they stepped inside someone tended to his jacket, an act his outskirts-oriented mind mistook for a robbery, while the menu had no prices. Only a list of dishes too difficult to grasp at a single glance.
Naturally, it was Raven who picked this restaurant, calling it good and affordable.
Suddenly, a faint chuckle snapped Godric out of his deep thought.
"Don’t worry, they won’t charge us," Raven said from across the table. "My family owns the place."
Godric looked baffled for a moment, then shook his head.
Of course they own this restaurant, they probably own half of this damn city.
As if right on cue, a waiter came to get their order.
Raven ordered something called truffle pasta, Godric had no idea what it was, but even the name sounded expensive.
He, on the other hand, ordered a simple steak. Or so he hoped. It had words next to it like wagyu and others he couldn’t recognise, but he prayed inwardly to all the gods for a simple, edible meal.
With their orders taken, Godric finally had the time to reach the entire purpose of this ’date’.
"So, what can you tell me about Felicia?"
Raven looked up at him with an overexaggerated pout on her face. "You’re on a date, and you want to talk about another girl?"
Godric blinked. "What?"
Raven let out a soft exhale, then replied: "She commands a beast called Frost Wyvern. As the name suggests, it uses ice element attacks, but be careful," she paused for a second, making sure he was paying attention. "While her offensive abilities are strong, I’ve heard her defences are where her true strength lies."
Godric nodded, then paused at the last part. "Wait... You heard?"
Raven shrugged. "I’ve never seen her fight, but I did read an extensive file my family has on her."
While first-hand information was always superior, Godric trusted the Great Houses to be competent enough to make a good file on someone.
After all, scheming was probably their favourite thing to do.
"Anyways," Raven continued. "Her beast is a Legendary Tier 5 ice elemental summon, so you need to be careful."
"When am I ever not careful..."
Raven’s gaze narrowed. "I’m serious, Godric. If you can’t win, just yield. Or else she can and will kill you."
Despite his mostly unreadable demeanour, Godric’s face darkened slightly.
Of course, over the last few days he had already learnt of the harsh reality of the tournament.
There were only two ways the duels could end. One was for the losing party to yield, while the other was death.
A prodigy belonging to one of the Great Houses, commanding a Legendary Tier 5 beast, two whole tiers above him, in a first round of the tournament where loss meant death.
It no longer felt like the director was simply trying to test him, it seemed as though the man was trying to get him killed!
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