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Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
37

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
37

Anton had roamed many
battlefields as a knight and now served as the combat professor at
Soul Academy.

He was currently watching the
sparring match unfold with a smile.

The battle was one-sided.

Lady Meryl of the Baines
Family was the one attacking.

Receiving those attacks was
Lady Lucy of the Allen Family.

Usually, the party that takes
the initiative by attacking holds the advantage in combat.

However, this common sense did
not apply to this match.

Lucy Allen, without making a
single attack, was toying with Meryl Baines as if she were a mere
plaything.

This was an outcome no one had
expected.

After all, Meryl Baines was
someone who had proven her martial talents in many official arenas.

While she might have fallen
short when compared to the geniuses of her time, she had enough
talent to be considered a high achiever.

Moreover, her strong desire
for self-improvement made her a promising prospect for the future.

In contrast, what could be
said about Lucy Allen?

The stories circulating about
her were nothing but damaging.

Be it her character or her
martial abilities, the assessments were uniformly negative.

So much so that rumours spread
among the nobles questioning if Lady Lucy could really be the
daughter of Iron-Blooded Knight Benedict.

Although Benedict Allen
cherished his daughter dearly, and people held their tongues as a
result, everyone entertained the possibility whenever Lucy acted out.

It was not easy to believe
that the girl, who struggled even to climb a flight of stairs, was
indeed the child of the fearsome Iron-Blooded Knight who once
instilled terror across the continent.

For that reason, when Anton
heard about yesterday evening’s incident, where Meryl Baines had
picked a fight with Lucy Allen only to be defeated, he assumed that
some external factor must have been involved.

Otherwise, there was no reason
for Meryl to lose.

However, Luka, another
professor in his department who had witnessed the scene personally,
spoke passionately during the faculty meeting.

“Everyone! Let’s have
Lucy Allen and Meryl Baines face off in a sparring match tomorrow. By
pitting the two against each other, we can undoubtedly gauge each
other’s skills!

They harbour mutual animosity,
so there will be no hesitation in harming each other. While Lucy
Allen has superior talent, Meryl Baines has more experience, making
it a worthwhile match to watch!”

Other professors, including
Anton, were sceptical of his proposal.

Even if they conceded that
Lucy Allen had talent and had recently improved her skills.

How could someone who has been
wielding a sword since taking their first steps and has practised in
countless combat experiences, compete against someone who has just
now started handling weapons?

Such a match would turn into
one-sided bullying rather than a proper evaluation.

“I will take full
responsibility! So please, trust my judgement!”

Luka assured that if his
assessment were wrong, not only would he accept any disciplinary
actions, but he would also find new opponents for both Meryl and
Lucy. His firm stance eventually convinced the other professors.

Professor Luka, who had been
proving his keen insight for the past few years, was not someone they
could easily dismiss.

And now, Anton was witnessing
that Luka was right.

No, to be precise, even Luka
was wrong.

He had said that Lucy and
Meryl would be on par in skill.

The talent that Lucy
possessed, the talent engraved in the bloodline of the Allen Family,
was beyond what the ordinary understanding of the professors could
measure.

As Meryl swung her sword, Lucy
moved her shield in sync. The strike from a lifelong swordsman was
never light.

Nevertheless, Lucy’s shield
held firm. Once again, Lucy blocked Meryl’s sword, a smile forming on
her lips.

“Amazing.”

Professor Luka broke the
silence that had settled among the examiners.

The elation on his face was
evident to anyone watching the duel.

“Look at that, everyone.
Observe the movement of that shield! Usually, those unskilled in
combat think of shields as mere defensive tools to block attacks
blindly.

But Lady Allen is different.
She knows how to move the shield actively.

She disrupts the sword’s
trajectory to reduce its power, uses the opponent’s strength against
them, and sometimes even parries to create openings.

That is not something one can
simply learn; that is true talent!”

“Calm down, Professor
Luka. We all think the same as you,” another professor
intervened, trying to cut short Luka’s excited speech.

“How can I stay calm
after witnessing that?”

“I understand you’re
thrilled to discover a shining gem, but remember, this is an
examination. We must not show partiality.”

“…Ah, I apologise. I
forgot my role.”

After being reproached,
Professor Luka closed his mouth.

However, that was all.

Though his excitement was
curbed, no one refuted his opinion.

Everyone empathised with his
feelings.

Only last year, Lucy Allen had
made her debut in society as a young lady with pristine, unblemished
white hands.

Those hands indicated that she
had never been in actual combat or even practised once.

Yet, in just one year, Lucy
Allen had attained such remarkable skill.

She demonstrated an
overwhelming prowess capable of surpassing Meryl Baines’s experience!

Just how extraordinary were
her talents?

How brilliantly did she shine
as a raw gem?

How extraordinary must the
Allen lineage be to cause such a transformation?

“In contrast, Meryl
Baines is quite disappointing today.”

When one of the examiners said
this, everyone nodded in agreement.

“No matter how deep the
enmity runs, she is far too emotional.”

“She doesn’t even seem to
realise she’s being played with by her opponent.”

“She is not thinking
while wielding her sword; she’s just attacking blindly.”

One by one, the examiners
began to voice their opinions.

Though their remarks varied,
they all pinpointed the same issue—a lack of emotional control.

Someone who becomes so easily
emotional creates bad variables in real combat.

Especially in a dungeon, where
a single mistake could lead to the party’s annihilation.

“Is there any need to
watch further?”

Professor Luka spoke on behalf
of everyone’s opinions, and all agreed.

After confirming the
consensus, Anton stood up and walked to the centre of the sparring
ground.

“Weakling, are you
already exhausted? Even dogs have better stamina. You’re worse than
that!”

“Sh… Shut up!”

“Is that all you can say?
You have a big head but a small brain. Like a dog! Fascinating!”

“Shut uupppp!”

Despite her talent, that
temper of hers hasn’t changed.

It’s dizzying to hear it up
close, although it was expected ever since she started toying with an
opponent she could have defeated long ago.

“As an examiner, I hereby
end this spar.”

At Anton’s voice, both
fighters looked at him.

Meryl Baines was the first to
react.

“No! I can keep going!”

“Lady Baines. I said the
match is over.”

“But that damned girl—”

“Meryl Baines, if you
don’t want to be disqualified for cheating, lower your sword.”

Meryl bit her lip and breathed
heavily, but she didn’t have the courage to defy the examiner’s
order, so she lowered her sword.

Seeing this, Lucy on the
opposite side also lowered her shield.

At that moment, Meryl rushed
at Lucy, catching her off guard.

It seemed like her previous
surrender was just a ploy to lure Lucy into dropping her guard.

But Meryl had forgotten one
thing—Anton, standing beside Lucy, was a formidable foe she
couldn’t hope to handle.

He twisted Meryl’s wrist,
causing her sword to fall, and let out a sigh.

“Meryl Baines, I’ll say
this one more time. If you don’t stop here, I will have no choice but
to disqualify you.”

“I’m… sorry.”

‘…Yes. You’re right. This
was clearly my fault.’

Grandpa was right.

Just now, I got carried away
with the exhilaration* that the Mesugaki Skill gives, provoking her
excessively. (*Exhilaration refers to the rush of power.)

No matter the animosity from
yesterday, there was no need to torment the lady to that extent.

If I wanted to humiliate her,
a reasonable defeat would have sufficed.

When facing goblins or orcs
before, indulging in this exhilaration wasn’t an issue.

They are monsters, enemies of
humanity. Whatever fate befalls them isn’t a moral concern.

But this time it’s different.

When dealing with ordinary
people, I must not get intoxicated by this exhilaration.

Repeatedly acting more extreme
than usual due to my excitement, I’m like a ticking time bomb bound
to cause trouble eventually.

Just today, for instance, my
excessive provocation almost brought misfortune upon the nameless
lady.

What if my opponent had been
another high-ranking noble?

Or someone far stronger than I
could handle? The outcome could lead to the worst possible scenario
in many ways.

‘Indeed.’

Although I need a method to
cope with the exhilaration from the skill, I can’t find one
immediately.

Mental-based skills aren’t
available early in the game.

The few I could find are just
lower-grade versions of [Overcoming Fear] or [Unyielding Will], and
there’s no point in spending time and resources on them.

For now, the only option is to
exercise maximum restraint.

Sigh.
Anyway, I handled the first practical exam quite well.

According to Grandpa, the lady
I just faced wasn’t weak, so by confronting her effortlessly, I must
have demonstrated my talent to the examiners effectively.

Now only the final hurdle
remains.

Clearing the dungeon created
by Soul Academy.

Originally, I thought I’d have
to risk my life for this dungeon, but now it doesn’t seem that way.

Thanks to Grandpa’s help, I
fared fairly well in the exams.

I also likely scored high in
the first practical exam, the sparring match.

Even without aiming for
special admission, I might still get accepted into Soul Academy.

Of course, that doesn’t mean
I’ll take the dungeon lightly.

After all, I’m well-versed
with the intricacies of Soul Academy.

I’m not the type to tolerate
falling behind in records compared to others.

I hope I get good teammates.

The Academy’s entrance exam
dungeon challenge involves three randomly selected individuals
tackling the dungeon together.

So, to achieve a good record
in dungeon clearing, I need to be paired with competent party
members.

Since I’ll be the one taking
the lead, it would be great to have someone providing fire support
from the rear.

Ideally, a versatile mage
would be perfect.

That way, we can speed up our
progress.

Heaven answered my prayers.

I was given a versatile mage
to join my party, someone who could handle various tasks from the
rear.

“Airhead Lady, it seems
our unlucky ties run quite deep.”

The problem was that this
versatile mage happened to be the Airhead Lady who had bet against
me.

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