Ch.30Chapter 30: Entrance Exam (7)

Valt didn’t even move, yet Jerry was roughly thrown back with his posture scattered. Barely managing to stand upright, he shouted.

“Guh! H-how? I didn’t even sense the aura!! What trick did you pull?!”

Hearing this, Valt said one thing.

“Hmm, it’s magic.”

“What?”

Jerry couldn’t understand what nonsense this was.

Magic? He said magic? He blocked a 3rd-tier Aura with just 1st-circle magic? There had never been such bullshit.

But the audience went wild.

It was a perfect performance.

He had subdued his opponent without moving a finger, arms still crossed.

“Woaaaah!! Barbarian! Barbarian! Barbarian!”

The citizens gathered here were all people interested in martial arts.

This meant the audience knew that Prince Jerry’s strike was an Aura Sword.

Moreover, some who had knowledge about barbarians showed off what they knew.

“He took an Aura Sword with his bare body!! Hahaha!! The rumors about barbarians were true!!”

“How can anyone beat that?!”

The front section of Valt’s arena was in complete chaos.

Only then did Valt uncross his arms and slowly approach Jerry.

Thud-

Thud-

Thud-

It felt like a massive mountain approaching.

Jerry couldn’t comprehend if this was really happening.

“D-don’t come near!! Ugh!”

Valt approached until he was right in front of Jerry, then stopped.

Tremendous pressure!

Jerry wildly swung his sword against Valt’s mountain-like presence.

“Hiyaah!!”

An attack with even more aura than before, giving it his all.

Clang!

Inevitably, Jerry’s strike bounced off Valt’s body.

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

After taking a few more attacks, Valt nodded.

“Hmm, I’ve decided.”

As Valt took another step toward Jerry, Jerry was on the verge of having a fit.

“I said don’t come near!!”

Ignoring the wildly swinging sword, Valt grabbed Jerry by the scruff of his neck.

“W-what are you doing! Let go! Let me go!”

Even while dangling in the air, held by his neck, Jerry struggled and thrust his sword in desperation.

Clang!

Clang!

The audience watched Valt’s actions, gulping nervously.

“Is-is he going to rip his head off!? He-he’s not going to kill him, right?”

“S-surely not?! Even a barbarian wouldn’t kill someone in a place like this…!”

The seemingly calm Valt quietly said one thing.

“You’re a prince, aren’t you? It would be troublesome if you died.”

It’s just a test. There’s no need to seriously injure someone who isn’t even an enemy.

Then he lightly threw Jerry out of the arena.

Whoosh-

Thud-

“Jerry Grant! Out of bounds! The winner is Valt Gerungtu!”

Until the preliminaries, there were out-of-bounds rules, making this Valt’s peaceful method of victory.

Jerry, who landed on his backside outside the arena, wore a dumbfounded expression.

He felt a greater sense of powerlessness and emptiness than if he had been defeated by an attack.

Like an adult and a child.

Perhaps because of Valt’s action, it might take Jerry a long time to pick up a sword again.

“What in the world…”

Valt grinned and said.

“Magic is inherently difficult to understand.”

***

The tournament was straightforward.

Valt won 3 matches with his magic “Grab Neck Throwing.”

It was just ordinary grabbing someone by the neck and throwing them, but since the referee kept insisting that announcing technique names was proper etiquette in duels, Valt stubbornly called it magic and gave it a name.

Robin won 3 matches with techniques called Gungsinda (弓身打), striking with a longbow, and Gunghyeontu (弓弦投), throwing opponents using the bowstring.

Both of them completed the first day of preliminaries comfortably, using the most gentlemanly methods that caused the least injury to their opponents.

Robin’s skill was in the late 4th tier, but as expected of the Bow God’s disciple, he was incomparable to ordinary 4th-tier users.

His movements, experience, and performance were all flawless.

Moreover, he shattered the prejudice that archers are weak in close combat.

The most notable figures in Arena 2 on the opposite side were the Sword Saint’s disciple and Solphin.

Swish-

An incredibly fast single strike.

Then the sound of bones breaking.

Crack!

Absolute domination.

No one lasted more than 2 seconds against Airin.

“Aaaaargh!”

The clean strike using the scabbard broke bones, though they would heal quickly with treatment…

It seemed she had provoked the temperaments of all the royal and noble scions.

“You lowborn commoner, aaaagh.”

Nobles with a sense of superiority exist everywhere.

But Airin remained unfazed by such remarks.

‘How boring…’

She couldn’t see Valt, as they were in different groups.

This meant they could properly face each other in the main tournament.

‘Heh, I’m looking forward to it.’

Crack!

“Aaaaargh!”

Even while lost in thought, Airin instantly broke the arm of her third opponent.

Due to her violent temperament, Solphin’s opponents didn’t fare well either.

A healer was stationed right next to Solphin’s arena.

“Kyahaha, Flame Strike!”

Fwoosh!

“Aaaaaaaargh!!”

“Stop!! Stop! The winner is Solphin Drakan! Healer, quickly!!”

“Hmph, weaklings.”

There were many other notable strong contenders as well.

The Spear Master’s disciple, Shukbil Lorang.

“Spiral Cannon!”

Boom!

He silenced all opponents with lightning-fast thrusts in a single strike.

The Tower Master’s disciple, Riduin Brinche.

“Air Burst.”

Boom!

She also subdued all opponents with a single spell.

Though her specialty was said to be ice, a higher attribute of water, she didn’t use ice magic even once.

The Medicine King’s disciple, Gilan Ashul.

The Medicine King was an alchemist.

One might wonder how strong an alchemist could be, but the reality was different.

Of course, in terms of combat ability alone, others might be stronger, but the Medicine King was also a 9th-circle magician with expertise in healing and compounding rather than combat.

That doesn’t mean he was weak by any measure.

The Medicine King’s disciple shouted.

“Hmm, if I had to name this technique, I’d call it Thermal Reaction Three-Dimensional Explosion?”

Boom!

It was the Medicine King’s unique magic that combined alchemy and magic to create an independent system.

Each time, a bizarre magic with unknown effects exploded.

He confused opponents with strange techniques mixing various reagents, materials, and magic.

But an upset occurred.

“Wow… I’ve never seen such magic before.”

A simple-looking face. Disheveled hair.

He didn’t look like a noble scion at all.

“W-what?”

The smiling man bowed his head to Gilan and said.

“Now it’s my turn, right?”

Swoosh!

“W-where are you?!”

“Hmm, if I had to name this technique, I’d call it Hand Blade Strike?”

As Gilan turned his face toward the sound.

Thwack!

“Guh…”

A direct hit to the nape knocked Gilan unconscious.

“Arena 24 winner, Abel!”

The commoner called Abel caught the falling Gilan to prevent injury and said.

“I’m sorry. I was just a little stronger.”

Many nobles also stood out.

Unlike the relatively peaceful southern regions for the past decade, there were areas in the north that never had a peaceful day due to monsters.

The Margrave who protected that area: the Caldrian Count family.

They were the empire’s foremost swordsmanship family, said to rival even the Sword Saint.

“Caldrian Style First Form, Secret Sword Technique: Falling Moon.”

A crescent moon-shaped sword energy fell from the sky.

Boom!!

“Hahaha, this level is nothing! Mountain Crushing Strike!”

The person facing him was Viktor, the Fist King’s disciple.

But Caldrian was strong.

Seirun Caldrian, at mid-5th tier, defeated Viktor, the Fist King’s disciple, and passed the preliminaries.

Viktor, at late 4th tier, couldn’t bridge the gap between a User and a mid-level Expert.

But he performed this well because he was the Fist King’s disciple.

Viktor, lying spread-eagled on the ground, muttered.

“Damn… I can’t face Brother Valt now.”

This was just bad luck for Viktor.

Meeting a strong opponent from the start.

Seirun approached Viktor and said.

“Phew… The Fist King’s disciple lives up to the reputation. You’re well-trained.”

“Damn, even your manners are impeccable, so I can’t make excuses. I lost.”

Seirun smiled slightly and said.

“You are strong. Especially that body. It’s an incredible physique that somewhat narrows the gap between Expert and User.”

“My muscles are nothing. You’d be shocked if you saw Brother Valt.”

“Valt? Valt Gerungtu?”

Being from a high noble family, he seemed to know about Valt.

“He has a body that my martial arts can’t even scratch. He’s the one I call my brother.”

Seirun expressed deep curiosity.

“I’d very much like to meet someone whom a strong person like you calls brother.”

***

Robin spoke with extremely surprised eyes.

“What? Eliminated in the preliminaries?”

“Yeah, that Caldrian family guy was strong… I knew they were famous, but to that extent…”

Robin nodded at Viktor’s words.

“Hmm… If it’s Caldrian, that’s possible. Aren’t they a family that fights monsters year-round?”

“Damn, I’m ashamed, Brother Valt.”

Valt was quite surprised that Viktor had lost in the preliminaries, though it was possible.

“It’s alright. You still made it to the third round, so that’s fine.”

Passing the second round of preliminaries was quite a good result.

And so the first day of preliminaries ended.

***

Second day,

As expected of those who passed the third round of preliminaries, the audience was thrilled by the higher level of competition.

Valt and Robin won easily on the second day as well.

But the protagonist of the second day was someone else.

The Emperor’s youngest daughter, the Imperial Princess, was nowhere to be seen on the first day.

Then she appeared in the arena on the second day.

She must have received a bye in the first round.

“Oho… So that’s the Empire’s Princess…”

Elias von Halkin, with her sparkling golden hair flowing.

The youngest daughter of the absolute power, the Halkin Empire.

Her beauty rivaled even that of the elf Arias.

Though she was rumored to have grown up spoiled with the Emperor’s exclusive love, her talent for swordsmanship was real.

“Waaaaa!!! Princess!!!”

Incredible popularity.

Truly the Princess’s home ground.

Her opponent was the third son of the Lubron Kingdom.

“I am overjoyed to cross swords with Lady Elias. I hope we can have a good match.”

Realizing his opponent was the Empire’s youngest princess, he had just returned from his imagination where he had already had children with Elias.

Elias knew well what was going on in the mind of a man with such a face.

“…Tch, disgusting…”

“What did you say…?”

“A man chattering away… If you won’t come at me, I’ll go to you.”

Slash!

“Huh? Huuuh?”

Like lightning.

Elias’s rapier-like thin sword stopped right in front of the Lubron prince’s neck after her strange movement.

“Want to continue?”

“Ugh, I-I surrender.”

‘Oho… She’s strong.’

Elias had loved swordsmanship since childhood, taking various elixirs and learning from the best sword masters.

She couldn’t help but be strong.

‘Hmph, nothing special.’

Late 5th-tier skill.

Honestly, if monsters like Airin or Solphin weren’t around, she could have aimed for the championship.

With this, all 16 finalists were determined.

Barbarian Prince Valt Gerungtu. (1st circle/Male)

Bow God’s disciple Robin Ash. (4th tier/Male)

Sword Saint’s disciple Airin Silveron. (7th tier/Female)

Spear Master’s disciple Shukbil Lorang. (5th tier/Male)

Tower Master’s disciple Riduin Brinche. (6th circle/Female)

Dragonkin Princess Solphin Drakan. (5th tier, 6th circle/Female)

Beastkin Princess Yuria Lycant. (5th tier/Female)

Dwarf Princess Taryl Jeph. (4th tier/Female)

Imperial Princess Elias von Halkin. (5th tier/Female)

Imperial Chancellor’s son Dwayne Galfon. (4th circle/Male)

Imperial Marquis family’s Juggler Tomwell. (4th circle/Male)

Imperial Margrave Seiron Caldrian. (5th tier/Male)

Western Alliance Litten Duchy’s Jusen Litten. (4th tier/Male)

Eastern Alliance Swen Kingdom’s Marquis family’s Marlon Wenster. (4th tier/Male)

Southern Alliance Lipirin Kingdom’s Viscount family’s Juan Molti. (4th circle/Male)

Imperial commoner Abel. (6th tier/Male)

These 16 talents would clash tomorrow.

To win, one had to win all 4 battles in this grueling tournament.

This also reflected the Academy’s philosophy of practical training, which held that enemies don’t always appear when one is fully prepared.

The highlight of the entrance exam was finally approaching tomorrow.

***

“Come on! Everyone shout!! One, two, three! Go Valt!!”

At Lisa’s instigation, many friends shouted.

“Go Valt!!”