Annihilation Match

There wasn’t anything special to prepare for the next match. After all, I only take my school uniform and the provided artifacts to the Annihilation Match. One was the shock absorption artifact I was familiar with from the exam, and the other was a watch that showed the map, current location, and progress of the match.

The spectators filling the stadium shout out the names of the academies they support.

“The pride of the East! Muzeion, fighting!!!”

“Elassium…! Kyaaaa!”

“Arcadia, please, do your best!”

“Show them who the champion is! Transcendence!!!”

“Transcendence Academy, fighting!!!”

Most of the cheering voices are for Transcendence Academy. Can’t help it. This is our home stadium, after all.

[The long-awaited first Triathalon Annihilation Match… let’s staaaaart right now!]

As I placed my hand on the transparent sphere in front of me, Ellie overlapped her hand on top of mine with a seductive smile.

“Please take care of me, Knight-nim.”

I smiled at Ellie as she whispered that.

As the host’s shout ended, the sphere vibrated with a woong woong- sound and emitted a pure white light, briefly blinding me.

And when my vision returned, what I saw was not the stadium filled with spectators, but a place full of huge trees.

The light on the shock artifact, which had been off, turned on. It signaled the start of the match.

Sseuek- Ellie looked around and said in an indifferent voice.

“Looks like it’s a jungle.”

The tall trees blocked the sunlight, making the surroundings feel dark. I could also hear birdsong and animal sounds from somewhere.

Last year’s Triathalon Annihilation Match took place in a desert terrain. Fortunately, I had practiced in various terrains because the battlefield changes every match, but I already knew that the first match would be in a jungle through calculation.

“Let’s check the map first.”

Understanding the structure of the battlefield is the most basic thing. When I tapped the watch on my left wrist with my finger, a hologram-like illusion popped out, showing the map.

The terrain is an uninhabited island. Judging from the fact that the green color becomes darker as it goes inside, it is indeed a jungle. We are at the southern tip of the island.

While I was figuring out the movement route, a stiff female voice was heard from the sky.

A large circle appeared on the map. After a certain amount of time, the area outside the circle becomes an inactive zone.

Fortunately, we are currently inside the ring. That means we have plenty of time to look around.

Ellie, who checked the map next to me, gave a playful smile.

“Ross likes uninhabited islands, right? Too bad there are no mountains this time.”

“I guess. Did they take measures because they thought I might do that again?”

She’s talking about what happened in the survival exam. Among the spectators in the stadium watching our conversation, there must be combat department classmates who were hit by my fire attack.

Whether they laugh at this light joke or frown is their choice.

I scratched my head and selected a point on the map so that Ellie could see it.

“If we move this way, there’s a farming spot.”

The Annihilation Match was a simple battle royale that started with bare hands, collected weapons, armor, and artifacts on the battlefield, defeated enemies, and became the champion.

The final equipment obtained here becomes the basic equipment in the next match, the labyrinth, so I had to farm hard.

“Let’s go.”

At my words, Ellie subtly tried to reach out her hand, so I turned my body away, pretending not to see it. Fortunately, it seemed natural, and Ellie didn’t say anything.

As I went ahead and cleared the way, I was lucky enough to find a box hidden between the trees in the distance.

I tore off the vines that were wrapped around the box with my hands and opened the lid, and inside were an iron pickaxe and a rope.

“Ehh.”

Ellie makes a disappointed expression. I also stroked my chin with regret and took out what was in the box.

Unfortunately, it was a pickaxe instead of my main weapon, a spear, but it was better than having empty hands. I took the pickaxe, which boasted a heavy weight, and handed the rope to Ellie. Perhaps the rope could be used somewhere.

“Let’s keep moving. It’s just a little further.”

When I said that as if encouraging her, Ellie put the rope over her shoulder and nodded with a pretty smile.

After all, the most important farming item is the staff that Ellie will use. Of course, it is possible to use magic even without a staff, but the existence of a staff alone, to exaggerate, makes a difference of hundreds of times in power.

The staff is not just for show, but a crystallization of magic engineering that allows magic to be used efficiently.

It plays a role in accurately concentrating the magic power scattered in the human body into one place and helping to efficiently distribute the magic power. Just as swordmasters are obsessed with famous swords that easily accept magic power, wizards also tend to be obsessed with good staves.

The price of a staff can vary by thousands of times depending on what material is used. Staves with monster hearts or jewels embedded in them are the most expensive.

Until entering the academy, Ellie used a cheap staff made by carving an oak tree with a few strands of unicorn tail feathers embedded in the center. Even that was an expensive item for a commoner.

Just as tools are not important to a craftsman, Ellie, a pure genius, confidently entered Transcendence Academy even using that cheap staff. Now she has also succeeded in using a staff containing phoenix feathers.

As I continued walking forward, I smelled a fishy odor from somewhere. This is an uninhabited island, but we were moving to the center of the island, which is covered with forests. It is strange to smell a fishy odor.

Feeling a sense of unease, I stopped walking and turned around to explain the situation to Ellie. It’s a match done by two people, not alone. Sufficient exchange of opinions is basic.

But as soon as I turned around, I hurriedly pushed Ellie to the side at what I saw.

“Get out of the way!”

As I pushed the flustered Ellie to the side, a blue, rusted sword that looked like it had been in the sea for a long time passed by Ellie as if grazing her. If she had stayed still, the sword would have been stuck in the back of her neck.

She wouldn’t die thanks to the shock absorption artifact, but that level of fatal wound would mean disqualification.

The enemy that appeared without any sound was not a participant like us. It has the form of a person, but its face and body are full of barnacles. The identity of the fishy smell I felt is this guy.

“W-what is it…!”

Ellie, who was sitting on the floor, checked the enemy’s face and hurriedly got up and hid behind me. She clung to my back as if a ghost had appeared. It’s understandable that Ellie is so surprised. Until now, there had been no enemies other than participants in the Annihilation Match.

This unfamiliar enemy has been newly added to bring about changes to this Triathalon. Perhaps the spectators watching the match are also surprised by the newly appeared enemy.

“Get away and check the surroundings!”

It’s dangerous if we’re surrounded by enemies. When I shouted that after making that judgment, Ellie, who had come to her senses, separated her closely attached body and looked around.

In the meantime, the enemy, whose pure white eyes were glistening as if he had cataracts, suddenly swung his sword.

Kang-!

I raised the pickaxe to block the attack. Whether it has no intelligence, it was a very simple attack. Even with my defense, the enemy continued to swing his sword as if he didn’t care.

Just by holding the pickaxe forward, I could sufficiently block the simple attack. He’s swinging his shoulder so greatly that I can see the trajectory.

The enemy, who had been swinging his sword incessantly, took a step. The moment he got closer to me was the distance where the pickaxe could exert its strongest power. I raised the pickaxe to block the sword that was being swung mindlessly, and then brought down the pickaxe, which had been raised high into the sky, with all my weight.

Peoeok-!

The enemy, whose head had exploded from the fatal blow, staggered and fell. After a while, the corpse disappeared and a small white cube remained in its place.

“What is this…?”

“Isn’t it a reward for catching a monster?”

I answered Ellie, who was looking at the cube as if it were mysterious, pretending not to know.

This is an item that replaces the magic stone that can be obtained from a monster’s corpse. If you collect these, you can exchange the cubes for items in a specific place. Like a spear or a staff with the same color grade.

Ellie carefully reached out her hand and took the cube. Ellie, who was watching it as if it were mysterious, placed it on her palm and muttered that the magic structure was unique.

“Let’s keep moving. We don’t know where the enemy will appear, so always be on guard.”

Ellie nodded with a more serious expression than before at the fact that participants were not the only enemies.

*

Calvin, who retired from the Imperial Knights and is living his second life as a commentator, explained what had just appeared to the spectators watching the match through relay magic.

《Ah, an unexpected variable has appeared for the participants.》

Caster Aien, who was sitting next to him, explained in detail to the audience about the variable that Calvin had mentioned.

《What appeared a little while ago is a minion of the ‘Naga’ tribe, which has been newly added to this Triathalon. It will be a story that runs through the Triathalon, so I hope many of you will focus and watch!》

The audience’s reaction to the caster’s words was hot. Until now, the beginning of the Annihilation Match was quite boring. Everyone was focused on farming, so there were no fights, and most people thought of the first 30 minutes as popcorn-eating time.

But thanks to the newly appeared enemies, battles are taking place everywhere from the beginning, and farming has become difficult. The audience who had been eating popcorn began to immerse themselves from the beginning.

“Still, it’s fortunate that Vice-President found the pickaxe.”

Lakar let out a sigh of relief.

“But he didn’t seem to have any intelligence, so wouldn’t it have been easy for Ross to blow his head off?”

Kane put his hand into the popcorn bucket and stirred it around, saying that, and Aria hit Kane’s back of the hand.

“Aish, that’s dirty! Don’t put your hand inside, scrape it off gently from the top!”

“S-sorry….”

While Kane was shrinking his shoulders, Luna, who was watching the relay magic, was very bothered by the sight of Ellie sticking close to Ross and walking.

She knows that it’s a match where they become a team of two, but why? Ellie had frequent physical contact with Ross to the point where she wanted to ask. As if it were intentional.

When Luna let out a frustrated sigh at the strange feeling she was feeling for the first time, the caster suddenly shouted.

《Ah! It’s the first meeting of the participants. Transcendence Academy and Muzeion Academy are facing off!》

Luna flashed her head up and checked the relay magic. On the opposite side of Ross, who was hiding Ellie behind him and holding a pickaxe, was an enemy holding wooden armor, a sword, and a bow.

《Ah, there is a difference in weapons. If a battle breaks out right now, it’s obvious who will be at a disadvantage. Is this a crisis for Transcendence Academy from the beginning?》

Luna fidgeted with her fingers, feeling nervous at the caster’s fuss, and shouted powerfully without realizing it.

“R-Ross, fighting…!”

Feeling embarrassed by the gazes of the people around her looking at her, she hurriedly shrugged her shoulders, but Luna did not take her eyes off Ross’s face for a moment.

*

I didn’t expect to meet other participants already. It seems that the starting point was near us. The opponent is a team made up of a man and a woman like us. Looking at the clothes under the wooden armor, it’s Muzeion Academy.

The man wearing the wooden armor is already holding an iron sword. Unlike me, he seems to be lucky. The woman next to him has an arrow on the bowstring and is ready to shoot at any time. A tanker and a ranged dealer combination, it’s a difficult situation to deal with alone.

A confrontation at a distance where I can see the opponent’s expression. The opponent checked our equipment status. It’s a situation where the other side is at an advantage, but I don’t feel particularly nervous.

Rather than trusting my skills, it’s a reasonable inference that the other side, which is aiming for a joint victory, won’t take the risk and attack us because it’s the beginning of the match.

As if my prediction was correct, the opponent lowered their weapon, indicating that they had no intention of fighting. However, judging from the fact that they are pointing to the road we are going to with their hands, it seems that they mean they will fight if we follow them.

We also decided to focus on early farming for the next match as a strategy, so there was no reason to fight. There was no need to eliminate them now either.

When I lowered the pickaxe to the ground to show that I had no intention of fighting, the opponent disappeared along the road, wary of us hitting them in the back of the head.

I lost the farming spot. It’s a shame, but I have to go somewhere else. Even if I follow them now, the opponent who arrived first will be waiting for us with better armor and weapons.

Ellie, who is quick-witted, quickly grasped the situation without me having to explain it, and immediately opened the map to search for another farming spot.

“If you turn right, there’s a temple.”

The place Ellie mentioned had a red dot floating on it, as if indicating danger. It’s a place where an enemy with a fishy smell seems to be waiting.

When I raised my head and met Ellie’s eyes, Ellie gave a playful smile. She doesn’t seem to care about enemies at all.

“Let’s go, miner.”

Looking at her smiling brightly like a princess, I slung the pickaxe I had put down over my shoulder.

A knight for the princess.

No, it’s time to become a miner.