Bell seemed to be quite apprehensive of Merrick, unwilling to spar with him, and even took a jab at Duke.

"Has the Thorn Holy Tower's standards dropped so low now that it can't even sense others' magic power auras? I think it should just shut down early," Merrick casually said.

Bell's expression turned a bit unpleasant, but he seemed unwilling to argue with Merrick, preparing to leave.

Duke suddenly stood up and said, "We can spar, although I'm a second-class wizard apprentice, I think sparring with you shouldn't be a problem."

"What did you say?" Originally, Bell just wanted to provoke Duke under the guise of sparring and hadn't thought Duke would actually accept the challenge.

The gap between a first-class wizard apprentice and a second-class wizard apprentice is quite significant. A first-class wizard apprentice has at least thirty points of spiritual power, while Duke only has a little over twenty.

Spiritual power determines the strength of magic and the amount of magic power within one's body. In battle, the second-class wizard apprentice is completely outmatched and disadvantageous.

In theory, as long as the first-class wizard apprentice isn't too incompetent, losing is practically impossible.

On the surface, it seemed unwise for Duke to take the initiative in issuing a sparring invitation.

"Duke, don't heed him," Vivian also stood up and held Duke back.

"It's alright, I'm confident, trust me," Duke lightly patted Vivian's shoulder as he spoke.

Seeing Duke so calm, Vivian knew Duke wasn't reckless. Since he dared to say so, he must be confident, so she became less worried.

"Alright, we'll spar after this bout ends. I've already paid to cut in line. But don't regret it," Bell stated eagerly, seemingly afraid Duke would back out.

Since Vivian was present today, Bell couldn't wait to show himself in front of her, letting her know that her choice of fiancé was far inferior.

"Don't worry, I'll show up when it's time," Duke replied calmly, seemingly indifferent.

At this moment, Merrick seriously glanced at Duke, walked over, extended his hand, and said, "My name is Merrick. Regardless of whether you win or lose this sparring, we could get to know each other and interact more in the future."

"Duke," Duke extended his hand and shook Merrick's.

Merrick admired Duke's courage and guts; Black Sail's wizards can lose but shouldn't be timid.

Realistically, even if Duke refused, it would be reasonable since this is an unfair challenge.

But Duke still accepted and showed no fear, making Merrick think he's a truly admirable person worth befriending.

Merrick is quite proud and arrogant, generally not acknowledging ordinary people, otherwise, he wouldn't have admitted to killing Uli and done so openly despite being wanted afterwards, strutting openly outside Black Sail territories.

He wasn't born into a pure-blood mage family, thus had no bias towards lineage, instead holding disdain for those from pure-blood mage families.

The previous conflicts with Uli stemmed from this; Uli was unbearably arrogant daily, which Merrick naturally disliked, leading to frequent clashes.

After the assessment, he struck a decisive blow with no mercy, disregarding the consequences.

Today, seeing Bell, a pure-blood mage from Thorn Holy Tower, coming here to bully Black Sail folk, Merrick couldn't sit still and came directly to stir trouble.

He genuinely wanted to fight Bell, preferably signing a life and death contract, so he wouldn't have to hold back.

Sadly, Bell chickened out and avoided Merrick's spar invitation, yet eagerly accepted Duke's challenge.

"Bullying the weak while fearing the strong," Merrick directly remarked, not merely thinking aloud but saying it right in front of Bell.

Bell's face turned instantly ashen, yet he said nothing and instead went to consult with the wizard arena's personnel.

At the wizard arena, bouts can be queued up if you pay, arranged whenever you want, but requires signing a contract.

As the organizer, the arena naturally wants to avoid involving itself in troubles, hence requiring exemption contracts for privately initiated duels.

Especially since Bell is from the Crawford Clan, a very formidable pure-blood mage family, forcing the arena to handle matters cautiously.

Soon, Bell and Duke's spar was arranged, set to begin after the current bout ends.

Inside the arena, a bald man announced to the surroundings, "Ladies and gentlemen, today we have a special program where two youngsters have temporarily decided to spar. They are Duke, a second-class wizard apprentice from Black Sail, and Bell, a first-class wizard apprentice from Thorn Holy Tower!"

No sooner had he spoken, laughter erupted from the audience seats.

"What are these two kids here stirring up!"

"Hey kid, bite off the Thorn Holy Tower guy's ear with your teeth!"

"Haven't seen kids brawling for a while, kinda interesting."

...

In the arena, battles are generally at the official wizard level; wizard apprentice-level duels are rare sights.

Duke and Bell are both in their teens, undeniably kids compared to wizards with lifespans of hundreds of years.

"This isn't fair! Why must our Black Sail's second-class wizard apprentice fight a first-class wizard apprentice from the other side?"

"Exactly, are you intentionally bullying our Black Sail people?"

"How can Thorn Holy Tower people rampage in Harbor City!"

"Let me do it!"

...

Soon, dissatisfaction voices emerged from individuals, mostly wizards from the Black Sail side.

Naturally, they supported Duke and were displeased with this unfair duel; some official wizards even proposed replacing Duke in the bout.

The bald man quickly clarified, "This sparring is merely an exchange between two kids, completely voluntary. Our arena absolutely did not force Duke to participate!"

This being Black Sail's territory, he wouldn't dare attempt such a thing even with a hundred-fold courage.

Duke and Bell then walked into the arena, positioning themselves on respective sides, awaiting the duel's commencement.

This duel naturally involved betting too, with odds wildly fluctuating as betting commenced.

For this unfair duel, the odds aptly reflected everybody's views on it.

Duke's odds were one to three, initially reaching one to six, before gradually settling at one to three.

From the audience seat, Merrick candidly declared, "I'll bet five thousand on Duke winning!"

Having said this, he retrieved numerous magic stones from his space ring, pouring them into the black vortex over the ticket stand, leaving onlookers flabbergasted.

Betting that much at once, especially on Duke who had an ostensibly low win rate, was akin to tossing magic stones into the water.

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