Chapter Text
‘To finish off this section of the viewing, you will be shown a short story focused on Leona Kingscholar. Here is his profile.’
A low growl escaped Leona at the idea of a weird personal story about him being shown, especially since he didn’t know what the screen would reveal. He could only hope it was something unimportant like the ones Ruggie and Jack had.
‘Leona Kingscholar’s Profile:
Grade/Class: Junior/Class A (No. 13)
Birthday: July 27th (Leo)
Age: 20
Height: 185cm
Dominant Hand: Right
Homeland: Sunset Savanna
Club: Spelldrive
Best Subject: Ancient Magic
Hobby: Chess
Pet Peeve: Dealing with Kids
Favorite Food: Meat
Least Favorite Food: Vegetables
Talent: Falling Asleep in 3 Seconds’
“Your poor nephew, does he know that you dislike him so much?” Vil couldn’t resist the temptation to irritate Leona. “I feel sorry for him.”
“You saw ‘im, he doesn’t care. No matter what I do he’ll still follow me around.” It was annoying, but it wasn’t like Leona had ever put any real effort into driving the kid away.
Ace had to restrain himself from laughing considering he was already on Leona’s bad side. He had made a comment about Jack being a kid because he hated a vegetable but Leona himself hated vegetables as a whole! It was too funny to think about!
The screen lit up to show the Spelldrive Stadium in Savanaclaw. A couple of upperclassmen were training with their underclassmen. Leona sat on the sidelines, half-heartedly cheering them on before swiftly falling asleep.
Vil could only sigh. “Unsurprising.” He wished Leona would take more initiative in being worthy of his title and looks. It was infuriating that someone with so much potential would let it be wasted.
As if he could read Vil’s mind, Rook’s hand landed on the model’s own and squeezed it comfortingly.
A shout woke Leona only a few seconds later, complaining about a hand on his shoulder. Another voice said they wouldn’t move their hand until the person apologized for breaking the rules and casting a spell at an opposing player directly.
“That particular rule seems to have been forgotten in the actual tournament.” Riddle couldn’t help but notice. “That is unless the players found out how to target Savanaclaw without breaking any rules.” He hoped the latter idea was the correct one, despite how he felt about playing dirty.
Jack crossed his arms as he claimed he saw the two upperclassmen target him and not the disc. They had also purposely run into him multiple times.
“Are you serious? They spout off all that nonsense about not losing to the other dorms but then try to sabotage one of their best players? Why?” Ace glared at the offending upperclassmen, doing his best to memorize their faces. “That’s so stupid!”
“Of course they’re playing dirty, I should expect this by now.” Jack mumbled.
One of the upperclassmen didn’t even look slightly guilty as he asked what the problem was, it wasn’t like they were called out on it.
Jack growled at the screen, wishing he was there to defend himself. He turned to look at Leona and Ruggie, neither of whom seemed bothered by the pair’s attitudes.
Jack could only laugh at their weak excuses as he boldly admitted to being better at Spelldrive than the pair. He didn’t care if they were older, he wasn’t going to take orders from guys who couldn’t even play on his level.
“That’s not gonna sit well with those two.” Ruggie leaned back in his seat, wondering how Leona would get involved with the situation.
Epel on the other hand focused on the part where Jack said he was better at Spelldrive than the upperclassmen. “Would you wanna train with me?” He asked. “I wanna join the Spelldrive Club so the practice would be great.” He knew he wouldn’t be picked for his dorm’s team during the tournament so there was no risk of them using strategies against each other.
“Sure.” Jack grinned, happy to have someone to practice with who would hopefully not use any dirty tricks.
His words riled up the duo and a fight would have broken out had it not been for Leona’s interference. One of the upperclassmen tried to claim that Jack was bossing them around but Leona ignored him, barely acknowledging what he had said.
Instead, the housewarden focused on Jack. The man claimed to have heard rumors about Jack’s skills, practically praising the freshman through what he heard other people say.
Hope began to fill Jack when Leona interrupted the conversation and his tail began to wag at the praise from Leona. It might have been secondhand praise but it still made him happy to hear his skills and hard work get acknowledged by a man he respected.
Noticing the tail wagging, Ace snickered at the beastman.
Jack responded that he played fair and the others knew it so they were playing dirty. He called the offenders cowards, his phrasing implying there were more people targeting him than just the pair from before.
Deuce smiled at Jack, punching his fists together. “Look on the bright side! This means you have a bunch of upperclassmen who are jealous of your skills!”
“You’re right.” Jack smiled back at his future clubmate. “If they want to get better then they should train harder, I’m not gonna slack off or give up just to make them feel better about themselves.”
With a smile, Leona explained that he didn’t see a problem. Playing smart to win was just common sense. His words startled Jack, who asked if he was just going to let cheaters off the hook.
In Jack’s own words, the others were “skirting the rules”, which meant they weren’t technically breaking any. There was nothing cowardly about that, it was a legitimate tactic. Rule-wise, they weren’t causing problems, but Jack was since he was being disruptive to the team.
Any hope Jack had was washed away by those words. He didn’t know what he expected when Leona himself skirted rules but he was still disappointed to see it shown.
Jack walked off to go practice more, though it was less of a walk and more of a stomp. This had Leona calling him a yappy little puppy.
The comment had Jack sinking in his bean bag.
The insult emboldened the upperclassmen, who immediately took the chance to add on their own insults towards the freshman. Leona crossed his arms and stared at the pair, telling them not to do anything stupid. Didn’t they have better things to do?
“You know what’ll happen if you lose at the interdorms like we did last year, right?” The pair confirmed as much. “And while I’m at it, don’t get all huffy just ‘cause you’re losing’ to a freshman. It’s embarrassing to watch.”
Dour mood dispelled, Jack smiled at what he counted as Leona defending him.
One of the two tried to defend himself but Leona interrupted, claiming he didn’t care. He warned them against making him clean up after them again.
“They’re not gonna listen.” Ruggie sighed, already sensing the mess that was going to unfold. Was this really the drama going on in the dorm while they were preparing for the tournament?
The pair began to mumble to themselves as Leona went back to his spot to nap. It was clear that they weren’t going to heed the warning.
Leona’s ears twitched as he groaned, annoyed at what he had heard.
More work, great. Leona sighed and rolled over in his bean bag. Maybe he’d be able to avoid the whole mess now that he knew about it. He’d just have to wait and see how it all played out.
In the botanical garden, Ruggie walked up to Leona, who ordered the other not to bother him since he was busy. Ruggie looked over and noticed the chess set, asking what was so fun about single-player chess.
There was nothing wrong with playing chess by yourself in Idia’s opinion. While he had no lack of opponents, Azul being one of them, there was still fun and skill building to be had when practicing on your own. Ortho glanced at his brother, sighing as he could already tell what the other was thinking.
The prince continued staring at the chess board, claiming he could do what he wanted with his own free time. He then asked if Ruggie wanted to play against him instead. The other quickly refused, saying he didn’t fight battles he knew he couldn’t win.
Cater blatantly ignored the stare Ace sent his way when the future Ruggie mentioned only fighting battles he knew he could win. The guilt-trip was unnecessary!
The reason Ruggie went looking for Leona in the first place was because Trein told him that the prince needed to start showing up to class. Leona sighed as he put a hand to his head. He didn’t know what the big deal was since he showed up for test days.
Trey put a supportive hand on Riddle’s shoulder after the shorter boy let out a long sigh.
Ruggie frowned, telling the other to tell Trein himself. He then started to explain that Vargas had a similar talk with him but he was cut off but Leona shushing him. Ruggie tried to complain but Leona stood firm, telling the other to pipe down.
Ruggie crossed his arms at being so rudely shushed. He knew Leona likely heard something but still, he could’ve been nicer about it. The idea was laughable, but he still would have preferred it.
A new voice could be heard, the pair hidden from said voice since Leona’s hiding spot was in the bushes.
Recognizing the voice already, Jack could only groan in annoyance. He didn’t want to hear whatever those two upperclassmen had to say about him.
The scene moved slightly, showing the two students who had been bothering Jack previously. They were unsurprisingly complaining about the freshman once more, upset at being outdone by someone younger.
Leona recognized them, clearly annoyed that they weren’t just going to let the matter drop. Ruggie even knew who they were and recognized them as the sophomores who were jealous of Jack. The jealousy was bad enough on its own but he also noted that Jack’s attitude wasn’t helpful, either.
“My attitude?” Jack huffed. He didn’t think he had done anything wrong. If they were mad that he was better than them then they should practice more instead of complaining about it. Their priorities were lacking and they’d never improve if they kept focusing sabotaging him.
Ruggie stated that the world wasn’t black and white, you couldn’t categorize everything as right and wrong. “Too bad he can’t be more flexible, huh?” His words earned him a laugh from Leona, who wished Jack would be as flexible about rules as Ruggie was.
“Not happening.” Jack crossed his arms. “I refuse.”
A laugh escaped Ruggie as well before they went back to spying on the pair, revealing that they planned to take Jack down a peg. Since he was a freshman, he already wasn’t great at magic, but they also plotted to outnumber him.
Jack glared at the screen, angered by what he now knew was a trap that he knew his future self would fall into. “Those cowards.”
Leona could only sigh; he was tired of morons who couldn’t follow basic instructions. Besides, who hatched schemes in broad daylight for everyone to hear? “Try using your brain for once.”
Jamil couldn’t help but agree with Leona on that. If you wanted to plan something, you had to plan it in private. Having other people involved at all was risky enough since you had to communicate it in some way.
It would have been better if one person planned it all and just told each person individually what their roles were. Obviously not in public like the two shown on the screen, that was just moronic on their part.
His companion simply shrugged, not blaming the two schemers for not taking their enhanced hearing into account. He turned to his housewarden, asking what they would do about the situation. He was in favor of letting the pair do what they wanted to make Jack learn to respect the others in their dorm.
The screen turned dark as Leona hummed thoughtfully.
Jack didn’t have very high hopes after what he had already seen from Leona’s future self, especially considering that Leona was already plotting foul play at that point in time
Back at the Spelldrive Stadium, Jack was cornered by the pair of upperclassmen. They asked him for a favor: Never play Spelldrive for Savanaclaw again. Jack glared at them, revealing that they had asked to talk to him alone and yet there was a whole group of people with them.
The response was judgement for not being skeptical about it. Since he couldn’t do anything against nearly thirty people, they were ready to take him down. The fight began, Jack actually holding his own for a bit until magic was introduced in the fight.
Epel and Deuce were both cheering on Jack during the fight, earning glares from their respective housewardens.
No matter how many people Jack took down, more just kept coming. One person was ready to attack, Jack closing his eyes to brace for the impact.
“They couldn’t win without a whole group of people teaming up against you.” Epel glared at the screen alongside the other freshmen. “This isn’t fair!”
“Seriously? Who closes their eyes in the middle of a throwdown?” Leona’s appearance at the scene shocked everyone, pausing the fight. “You look like you’re having a grand old time. Mind if I tag in?”
A slow clap echoed through the room. The source? Vil. “Well done, so you can do your job properly after all!”
Jack stared in surprise, asking what Leona was doing there. Leona simply walked over to the group, standing in front of Jack. He reminded the others that he had told them not to start any trouble and wondered if his words didn’t carry any weight.
The pair who started it all tried to defend themselves, saying they were just showing Jack the ropes. Leona raised an eyebrow, smiling. “Of course.” He said, clearly sarcastic as he pointed out how rough Jack looked.
Leona had seen the whole thing, there was no talking their way out of it. Ruggie simply put his arms behind his head as he wondered how Leona would handle the situation.
Still trying to salvage the situation, the pair continued on with their lie. They even tried to use Leona’s own words, prompting Jack to glare at them for the blatant lie.
Jack growled once more at the screen. “Just when I think they can’t get any worse.”
Leona held a hand to his head, his growing irritation clear for all to see. He had turned a blind eye while they were playing Spelldrive but using magic in a brawl was a foul. He would have written it off if all they did was rough Jack up a bit.
“But you guys don’t have guts or brains. That’s why you’re goin’ to all this trouble just to take down one lousy pup.”
“Careful, Leona, you might bruise their egos even more.” Ruggie let out a laugh.
There was a pause before Leona cooly replied, “If this is enough to ruffle their feathers then they deserve what’s coming to ‘em.”
Leona continued, ignoring the anger he was causing within the group. They had a wole squad and they had still come out looking like fools. None of them had what it took to lead.
His words clearly struck a nerve and the group’s anger shifted towards Leona. They claimed he didn’t have what it took to lead them, as all he did was slack off during practice. They claimed Leona might not be fit to be their housearden at all.
Leona chuckled as he opened his eyes. “Bold words from a bunch of mice.”
Thirty to two, the group decided to bet their odds. Jack tried to tell Leona that he didn’t need to interfere but the prince simply told him to get back. Once Jack was out of the way, Leona smiled. They thought they had numbers on their side? Thirty mice were still no match for one lion.
“They seriously think they can take you on?” For all his insults, Vil still wouldn’t want to go against Leona in an all-out brawl with magic. He would if necessary but he at least had a fighting chance. Those Savanaclaw students were too full of themselves to realize how outmatched they were.
Magic began flying, Leona redirecting every shot with ease. The display left Jack and the others in shock.
“Magnifique! What a beautiful display of strength from the Roi des Lions himself!” Rook clapped his hands together. “How effortlessly he deflected each spell! I yearn to be on the opposing end of such might.”
“I’m getting bored. Mind if I have some fun, too?”
Ruggie had a bad feeling about what was about to happen.
Orange magic began building in Leona’s palm as he began the incantation for his signature spell.
The memory so fresh in his mind, Ruggie couldn’t help but compare the cracks in the ground to the ones he had seen on his future self’s arm. The cracks had spread up his arm and towards his throat. Would those leave a scar? What were the logistics of turning a person into sand?
Absent-mindedly, his hand raised to rub at his neck. The action didn’t go unnoticed by the trio who was still sitting next to, earning him some false sympathetic expressions.
The ground began to shake and crack. Jack pointed out the fissures in the ground, impressed and shocked by Leona’s magical might.
Seeing it again when he wasn’t worried for Leona’s safety, Jack could agree with his future self’s awe.
Leona continued the incantation but before he could finish it, Ruggie appeared and told him to stop. The sophomores had already passed out from sheer terror! It was overkill.
“Cowards…” Leona mumbled, yawning.
A dramatic sigh left Leona’s lips as he claimed he hadn’t even gotten started. Ruggie let out a sigh of his own at his housewarden’s attitude. It would have been cool to see Leona’s full power but it would have left them all in hot water.
Leona crossed his arms, annoyed by the familiar nagging. Jack turned to his housewarden, confused as to why the man had helped him.
“I must admit, I’m surprised you interfered at all.” Riddle couldn’t help but be skeptical of Leona’s motives, considering he had worse plans in store at the moment being shown.
Kalim tilted his head as he looked over at Riddle. Why wouldn’t Leona interfere? He should want his dorm members to get along!
“Babysitting a pup that ain’t even opened its eyes yet is part of the housewarden description.” The words had Jack rubbing the back of his head, either embarrassed or slightly speechless that he was seen as a puppy.
Yuu couldn’t help but laugh at the image of Jack’s wolf form being a wolf pup. “Jack, how old were you when you discovered your unique magic?”
“I was still a kid, but I was older than Riddle was when he mastered his.”
“Does that mean you turned into a wolf cub when you first transformed?” The prefect asked.
There was a pause before Jack replied, “I’m not answering that.”
While the puppy description was true, Leona still had the decency to somewhat praise Jack as he claimed the other wasn’t dumb enough not to learn anything from the experience. Jack nodded, apologizing for the trouble and thanking Leona for his help.
Ruggie grinned from the side, pointing out how easily Jack accepted the criticism. He had been expecting more backtalk.
“I would never! I know when to admit my mistakes!” Jack frowned, did he really seem the type to backtalk his seniors?
Ruggie simply shrugged. “I don’t know you very well, that version of me only knows you were rude to upperclassmen and constantly confronted them about things.”
Jack’s ears folded against his head. “I guess you’ve got a point.”
Jack claimed to have learned a lot from it all, one of those things being that he was still inexperienced. “And that we have one incredible housewarden.”
Jack stood by his future self’s words. He still couldn’t understand the prince’s thought process or why he specifically hated Malleus despite having had a glimpse into the man’s past, but he still couldn’t get rid of the respect he held for Leona.
A good-natured laugh escaped Leona as he called Jack alright for being able to own up to his mistakes. He asked the freshman to model that behavior for the rest of the dorm.
“Yes, sir!” Jack called out as Leona and Ruggie left the scene. Once they were gone, he called Leona the ‘real deal’ and expressed his desire to one day fight the man at his strongest.
“Maybe if I feel like it.” Leona mumbled before falling asleep once more.
That night, back in Leona’s room, Ruggie teased the man about using magic after scolding the others for doing the same thing. Leona claimed it was legitimate self-defense, as he used his magic to stop a dorm brawl.
“Yeah, sure.” Ruggie’s tone was disbelieving. A grin formed on the younger boy’s face as he revealed that Leona had dealt with some rebellious dorm kids and put a promising freshman in his debt. “Real last resort material right there.”
“I see.” Vil leaned against Rook. “He wished to put the troublemakers in their place while also putting Jack in debt to him.” Not that he appeared to do anything with the latter. Was he lying about his motivations? Vil couldn’t tell.
Not one to deny the allegations, Leona simply claimed he couldn’t ignore a poor little freshman getting bullied by his seniors. It was all part of the housewarden job description.
Ruggie laughed, calling Leona strong and smart. “Savanaclaw couldn’t ask for a better pack leader!”
Ruggie wasn’t surprised by his future self’s words. While he was still mad at Leona for everything that happened during the overblot, he couldn’t exactly say he would want a different housewarden.
Pretending to sleep, Leona assumed that Ruggie was taking back the words his future self said. Who would want to be led by someone who turned on the people they were meant to lead?
‘The Usurper from the Savanna: Complete
Next Up: Section 2: The Merchant from the Depths’
Azul sighed, preparing himself for what was to come. He had no idea what could go wrong and cause him to overblot, so at least the viewing would serve a useful purpose by giving him information about it.
Jade and Floyd made eye contact from above Azul’s head, they were both smiling but there was something else in their eyes as they had a silent conversation between themselves.