The Beginning after the end : Perfect Duo

NOTE

**ARTHUR'S POV**

My brother sat next to me after his incredible display against Kaspian, but I still believe he overdid it to show off.

I wonder who's stronger now, me or him?

"What do you think, Arthur...?" my brother said.

I quickly turned toward him, staring deeply into his eyes.

"I mean Note, Note, what do you think about my display?" he asked again.

"You could have done it without showing off, but it's still good," I said.

"Examiner Note, please proceed to the pitch."

"Good luck, Note," Jasmine said.

"Good luck, Arth..." Lilia was about to say my name until Tom gave her an elbow to the stomach.

"Note," she finished.

"Well, good luck, bro, not like you'll need it or anything," Tom said casually.

"Thanks, Tom, I appreciate it," I said.

I descended the stairs to the pitch, taking a final look at Jasmine, Tom, and Lilia, who were squabbling like children over the last piece of cake.

I wonder sometimes whether he is truly as mature as he says.

The clatters finally stopped, and the eyes were on me now.

---

**TOM'S POV**

The squabble finally ended, and Lilia spoke first:

"Anyways, you were incredible, you know. You went on par with the head of the adventure guild; that's insane, and you beat him on top of that." Lilia sounded very excited, her sparkly eyes looking straight into mine.

"I wonder how I'll do," she sounded pretty stressed.

"You'll do just fine, just remember your training, okay?" I calmed her down.

Even though she wasn't able to gain access to her elemental magic, she'll be good enough with the skills she's got.

"The fight is about to start. Lilia, Tom, you've got to watch Arthur," Jasmine said.

"Sure," we both said.

"Seems like he'll fight the one who was supposed to examine me," I said.

"Seems like it," Lilia confirmed.

Arthur was the one to charge first toward him, swinging his sword at the neck of his opponent.

The latter blocked it with his own. Arthur's immense strength, boosted with his mana, determined the winning side as the block couldn't last long.

The examiner retracted back, surprised by Arthur's strength.

Arthur charged again, and this time it was a quick exchange of blows from one side to the other.

The examiner was ready this time.

Arthur kept going and going until he kicked the ground, shattering it in the process. He used the blocks to fire them off toward the examiner.

Leaving him with no time to react, the blocks mostly reached him, damaging his right side as he was thrown away.

Arthur immediately reached him with the intent of finishing the ranking process.

The examiner shouted that it's over, or that's what it seemed like.

---

**ARTHUR'S POV**

As I stood victorious, the examiner approached to declare my ranking.

"A rank" was all he said.

Well, not an S, but it's not like I went for the S to begin with.

I went back to where I was sitting.

"Good job, man. I liked the way you dealt with it—quick and easy," Tom said.

Coming from you, show off.

"I would have liked facing that Kaspian dude, but he said he's exhausted after a certain person fought against him," I said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, well, at least that person had fun," Tom said.

"Well, what's done is done. I guess it's your turn, Lilia," I declared.

"Lilia, please proceed to the pitch," the same examiner said.

"Just like practice, okay?" Tom told her.

"Okay, thanks, Tom."

"By the way, Arthur, where's Sylvie? I haven't seen her today."

"Ah yes, she's been sleeping. Yes, in this pocket, you see?"

---

**LILIA'S POV**

I headed down the stairs to see my examiner. He is the same person who fought against Arthur, a close-range fighter.

"Lilia, isn't it?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered quickly.

Why would he ask about it? It's pretty obvious, isn't it?

Anyways, focus on the upcoming fight. Don't stress out. Maybe Tom got an S and Arthur an A, but they're anomalies we can't compare ourselves to.

Even a C rank is good for me, and if I’m too lucky, a B rank.

Just focus, just focus.

The examiner cleared the distance between us in a short amount of time. I channeled my mana reserves to my arms and legs, raising a part of the ground with sheer physical power only.

His sword hit the wall I made, and I jumped around to land a clean punch on him.

He was thrown away from the sheer force of it.

It works, it definitely works.

He stood again, and I was the one to rush this time. I punched the ground and got him into the air, where he couldn't move, and I jumped to land a clean hit on him. When he fell down, I was there to kick him to the right, flying until he hit the border.

I was clearly advantageous, but he then sent a wind bullet toward me. I jumped away, and many others started going toward me from all directions. I dodged as many as I could, but the others hit me.

I was in pain, but I still stood up, and the examiner said:

"Your overreliance on physical attacks and the lack of elemental attacks limits you, but if you could finish in the first hit or punch, you're a force to be reckoned with. So, I'll say you're a C."

I mean, C is still good, so I'll just take it.

I got back to my place. No one was really paying much attention. Well, it wasn't really an entertaining battle like the previous ones, but still, I got a C rank with months of preparation. It's all thanks to the duo.

"Nice job, Lilia. We still have two years to get stronger, remember?" Tom said to cheer me up.

"Thanks, Tom. I appreciate it," and I really meant what I said.

He's really a good person, isn't he?

He cheers me up when I'm sad or upset, he accepted my idea to go with them while adventuring, he's the one who allowed me to gain magic, and he's nice to me.