Everyone in the building who was listening to their conversation jolted in surprise.
"Twenty-three? Contributions Points?!"
"Ugh… How come he has so many? Is he not using it?"
"He's probably accumulating it. I think he was planning to get the rare Mystical Item for Necromancers worth 60 contribution points." One of Larkin's classmates suggested.
This seems to be accurate considering Larkin's behavior. He truly wanted to become one of the best Necromancers. This is not just by obtaining strong undead summons but by becoming an unordinary Necromancer that has mastered the Essential Corruption Branch!
If he acquired the Gold Spirit Crown or the mystical item worth 60 Contribution Points, Larkin would certainly get closer to his goal.
'Is he that confident?' Nadine muttered to herself as she knows that Larkin wouldn't think of wasting his Contribution Points.
There was no way he would give it to Vale unless he knows that he'll certainly win against Vale.
Of course, Nadine knows that an undead summoned by a sixth-year student majoring in Necromancy would not be so simple even if it's only an undead with 25-Spirit Strand.
If Larkin equipped it with enough mystical items, it would be extremely tough for Vale to win with his current set of spells.
As a first-year student, it's already amazing if he gets to learn one of the academy-exclusive Dark Spells in just a month or two.
Nadine couldn't think of a way how Vale can win this duel.
Nevertheless, Vale's reply astonished her.
"I accept your duel request. However, to be fair, you have to give me two months to prepare. You also have to tell me what Undead will I be fighting on the date of the duel." Vale answered. He won't accept any negotiation on this.
Although he was confident with his Spell Dispersion. He needs further study to confirm whether it works against an Undead who doesn't use Spells to begin with.
Furthermore, he can also avoid any form of challenges during this time and he can focus on learning things and getting stronger.
"Two months? Very well. I can accept that. I'll be using a Slender Zombie" Larkin replied with a hint of excitement in his eyes.
Soon, gasps can be heard in the surroundings as the students, who were aware of the strength of Slender Zombie, couldn't help but feel that it was too difficult for Vale!
"Ah! That's too unfair."
"That's cheating!"
"But Slender Zombies can be summoned by 8th-Year students, right? Is he already that Advanced?"
"This is too much. He's only fighting a First Year student…"
"Hey, Mad Larkin! You should use Plump Zombie or just a Skeleton Warrior… Heck! Even Skeleton Knight is better. Slender Zombie should be prohibited."
The seniors in the buildings near them started berating Larkin for challenging Vale using a Slender Zombie.
Vale, who doesn't know anything about Slender Zombie looked at the Headmaster to get his opinion.
Headmaster Jean noticed this as Vale heard his voice in his mind.
It was the same thing that had happened before.
'The Slender Zombie can be tricky to deal with… It's very fast. It's completely different from any type of undead. It also has a strong piercing ability… However, it has a weakness, it can't fight for too long or it will slow down and become vulnerable. If you have confidence in catching up in its speed, then you can try. If you can't you have to consider bolstering your defense instead and make yourself a bait. Your advanced realm Ghost Hands can do the rest if you play with it correctly.'
Headmaster Jean explained patiently.
Since Vale can't use this telepathic ability, he can't reply to the Headmaster so the latter just spoke without waiting for his reply.
Vale can only slightly nod to inform the Headmaster that he understands and that he's confident about it.
"A Slender Zombie it is… You're not allowed to change it. If you ever decided to do so, our duel will be moved by another two months." Vale answered after thinking for a while.
Nadine and the others were shocked by Vale's bold response.
He actually dared to fight a sixth-year Student! Furthermore, it was Mad Larkin who can contend against the top 90 to 100 of the Elite Rankings!
Larkin may not have any ranking because he's not participating in this Elite Rankings competition, but everyone knows that he has the chance of getting a spot around 90 to 100.
'This guy!' Nadine wanted to scold him for answering too quickly. He should've informed Larkin that he'll think about it in the next three days or something!
He has to do some research at the very least!
"This guy is courting death…"
"No… I think that first year has some confidence in his eyes when he answered."
"We should watch this match…"
"There will be plenty of people. I wonder if the Academy will make it an official event and earn from selling entrance fees."
"Heh… It's not impossible. The Headmaster might add another event like duels from other year levels or even a performance show against an Evil Creature."
"Haha… That was done by the previous Headmaster to get extra income from his students. I doubt that the current Headmaster would be so stingy."
"Let's hope so…"
As the students around them were gossiping, Headmaster Jean also concluded the arrangement that the two students made.
"We'll see you both in the next two months. Your duel will be on Sunday… That's the 29th of July. Vale will fight against Larkin's Slender Zombie. If Vale wins, he gets three Undead Summoning Scrolls with visible Spell Models. All of Larkin's Contribution Points will also be transferred to Vale at that time. Because of this, Larkin can't use his Contribution Points for the next two months to ensure that he wouldn't use them up before the duel. Anyway, if Vale loses, his body will be handed over to Larkin as he requested." Headmaster Jean said as he looked at Vale.
"Before I conclude this… Vale, are you sure you aren't thinking of claiming his life if you win the match?" Headmaster Jean asked.