Academy – Awakening

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The training room was packed with students, buzzing with news of the duel between Jade and Doran.

In the center of it all, in the dueling arena, Jade stood facing Doran.

“Hoo…”

Countless people were watching him. His sword-gripping hand trembled, and his palm was already damp with sweat.

‘I have to focus.’

If he lost to Doran today, everything would be over. He would become Doran’s slave forever, and his life would be as good as over.

Jade had only won a handful of duels in his life. That was why he had been constantly thinking about how to overcome the difference in talent.

But today, he had to end his worries, find the answer, and win.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you coming in?”

Doran was waving his Wand up and down in a sloppy posture. “I need to finish this quickly and spend a hot night with Lena.”

He provoked Jade, who was just standing there staring at him.

‘…’

Nevertheless, Jade just glared at Doran in the same posture. He had been through too much to fall for such cheap tricks.

‘Don’t get caught up in petty tricks.’

Jade recalled Doran’s magic spamming in their last duel.

When he explained the details of the last duel to Boris, he said that Doran was not just a newly ascended 5-Star Wizard, but a skilled one.

He was that strong even with a broken Wand. Now that he had the support of his Wand, he would be able to use even more terrifying magic.

He might even have a lot of practical experience from Rain Academy.

‘If I make even one mistake, it’s over.’

“Are you going to keep being so cautious?”

When Jade didn’t take the bait and just kept watching the situation, Doran couldn’t stand it and began casting magic.

“Let’s end this quickly since it’s annoying. And I’ll make you beg me to let you die.”

-Fwoosh.

Several Lightning Arrows instantly appeared around Doran. First, half of them quickly flew towards Jade.

-Whoosh!

Jade calmly thought about his escape route.

It was true that the amount of mana he could handle had increased thanks to the unknown power within him.

But it had only increased compared to the past, and the absolute amount he could handle was still small. That was why he had to conserve mana as much as possible.

It would be best to avoid the magic rather than blocking it or deflecting it ambiguously using mana.

“Hmph!”

Having made his decision, he rolled to the side to avoid the magic.

But as if Doran had predicted his movement, the remaining arrows flew in succession to the location where Jade had moved.

‘I can’t dodge this.’

Jade had no choice but to infuse mana into his sword to block the magic. Sparks flew as the magic collided with the blade.

-Chiiik!

“Kuh!”

Jade’s arm tingled from the impact traveling down the sword. Even if he blocked the magic, the impact was transmitted directly to his body unless he deflected it perfectly.

‘I need to move more carefully.’

Jade blamed himself for his mistake and regained his stance.

With this first exchange as a signal flare, a fierce battle ensued between the two.

-Whoosh!

Jade ducked to avoid the incoming magic and ran towards Doran.

But Doran was smiling as he watched him charge.

‘Could it be?’

Jade instinctively stopped, feeling a sense of crisis for some reason.

-Crack.

“!!”

Magic that had been hidden above struck down right in front of Jade’s eyes.

“Jade, you have to pay attention to the top too. Is this all you’ve got?”

Doran seemed to have already grasped Jade’s level and began to deal with him with ease.

Despite the disadvantage, Jade tried his best to find an opening.

Jade was gradually adapting to Doran’s attack patterns.

‘The casting speed of the magic is definitely fast, but it’s manageable.’

-Sreung!

Jade finally succeeded in perfectly deflecting Doran’s magic. And he managed to get close to Doran for the first time.

“Wow. Your swordsmanship and movements are pretty impressive?”

Jade ignored Doran’s sarcastic words and quickly swung his sword at Doran’s side.

-Whoosh!

But.

-Squeak, squeak.

The attack was futilely blocked by the Shield that Doran had prepared.

“Damn it!”

“Did you think it would break through with such a weak attack?”

Once again, Jade’s movements had been predicted.

‘Is this not enough after all?’

With the level of attack Jade had just attempted, he couldn’t break through the Shield that Doran had cast with the help of his Wand.

The difference in experience and skill between Doran and Jade was clearly evident.

As Jade continued to walk a precarious tightrope.

“You’re holding out better than I thought. But isn’t it too advantageous for me if you just keep testing the waters from so far away?”

Doran raised his Wand high.

“It’s too easy to prepare powerful magic!”

A large dark cloud formed below the ceiling of the training room.

-Krrrr.

“Wow… it’s as good as the magic the professors cast.”

“Aren’t we in danger too?”

The students who were watching were buzzing about the enormous scale of the magic.

Soon, countless lightning bolts poured out of the clouds.

-Kwajijijijik!

A storm of lightning began to rage around the dueling arena, centered on Jade.

“Jade, be careful!”

Annie, who had been holding her breath and watching the duel, was startled and shouted at the seemingly desperate situation.

Jade recalled Boris’s words as he watched the approaching magic.

‘You’ve mastered how to deal with or avoid magic now, right? And you seem to be handling Aura skillfully already. You’re the first person to be able to use Aura like this overnight. You didn’t make a contract with a Demon or anything, did you?’

‘I was in the mood to go find a Demon and borrow power. But no one came to me.’

‘Hahaha! Is that so? Then here’s the last thing to keep in mind.’

The way he said to beat Doran was simple.

‘The way to beat someone stronger than you is simple. Induce carelessness and strike an unexpected blow. It’s a simple method, but it has the highest probability of success. Make them underestimate you as much as possible.’

‘Excuse me?’

Jade frowned unconsciously. He was disappointed by the overly textbook answer.

‘Ahahahaha!’

Boris seemed to have expected that reaction, and he burst into laughter without showing any displeasure at Jade’s attitude.

‘I know how you feel. But the reason why this method usually can’t be used is because you can’t strike an unexpected blow against an opponent stronger than you. But no one knows that you can use Aura. You know how powerful Aura is.’

‘…That’s true.’

‘Keep in mind. You can only use it properly once. You have to stab that one dagger perfectly to win. There won’t be a second chance.’

-Kwajijijijik!

The storm of lightning completely surrounded Jade.

Jade slowly assessed the situation even in the face of imminent danger.

Doran wouldn’t be able to properly assess my condition in the storm. Besides, he wouldn’t think I could easily break through the storm.

‘Now is the moment.’

Minimize the sound of my footsteps as much as possible. I mustn’t give Doran a chance to notice anything strange.

Jade focused his mind in the middle of the lightning storm.

-Woooong.

Then, mana gathered on the sword and the shape of Aura began to form.

He raised the sword, which had turned blue, and recalled Lena’s figure as she broke through the net of electricity in their last duel.

The way she cut only the necessary places with beautiful and clean movements to destroy the magic.

“Hoo…”

He slightly relaxed the strength in his tense arm. And he calmly stared at the lightning.

‘I don’t need to deal with all the magic.’

He carefully distinguished between the lightning that was heading towards him and the lightning that wasn’t.

-Swish.

Jade cut down and dealt with only the lightning bolts that were rushing towards him one by one.

The lightning bolts that were not in his path naturally passed by. He felt a slight tingling sensation as the hair on his arm stood on end from the magic that brushed past his arm.

Eventually, a path gradually opened up in front of Jade. As the storm of lightning gradually subsided, Doran’s figure could be seen faintly through the gaps.

If he dragged this out any longer, Doran might notice. Jade decided to break through at once and aim for Doran.

‘Let’s do it.’

At that moment, Jade contracted the muscles in his legs as much as possible and poured all the remaining mana into his legs. More power than ever before overflowed from below Jade.

He put all the hardships, pain, humiliation, and sorrow he had experienced into this one move.

To return those feelings to Doran as they were.

Thud. Kwaaaang-!

Jade leaped explosively towards the path in front of him. Then, his figure shot out at a speed comparable to an arrow.

“Lena, how is it? How does it feel to see your hope disappear?”

Doran was sneering at Lena, thinking that Jade would surely fall in the lightning storm, and was off guard.

-Swaeeeeek!

“…?”

Then Doran discovered Jade rushing towards him.

“What? How…?”

Jade’s sword was surrounded by a blue blade that he could never have imagined.

“A, Aura?!”

Doran hurriedly cast the Shield he had prepared in advance.

-Wooong, Kwajijijijik-

For a moment, the Shield seemed to block Jade’s sword… but in the end, it was torn apart like paper in front of the perfectly formed Aura.

-Clang!

“Doraaaan!”

Jade’s sword touched Doran’s face.

-Swish.