episode_0018

Yes, I thought that Sharon wouldn’t take the initiative. Sharon I’ve seen so far was that kind of person, so it seemed like my thoughts were right, and Sharon quickly cast a protective spell to block my attack. It was the situation I had expected.

“I didn’t think you’d use an attack spell right away.”

“I thought you would cast a protective spell first, so I was just experimenting.”

“Too bad, Astan.”

“If I knew you were going to use an attack spell, I would have used a protective spell first, but since I haven’t seen you use an attack spell yet.”

After my words, Sharon smiled faintly and pointed her staff at me, chanting a spell.

“Oh light, pierce the enemy.”

At that moment, an arrow made of light swiftly flew towards me, and I deployed a protective spell to block Sharon’s attack.

“Sorry, but I also know how to use attack magic.”

“This wasn’t expected, did you learn magic in the meantime?”

“If you gather light and transform its form, the next step is the command, it’s the basics of magic.”

“Envious, talent is a great thing.”

But I hadn’t thought this much. There must be magic learned from Sharon’s family, so I slowly swallowed my saliva and gripped the staff tightly.

“So, now we’re really getting into it, right?”

“Yeah, now we’re starting.”

And at that moment, Sharon chanted a spell. This time too, it would be an attack spell, the spell wasn’t clear. Before I could even start to worry about whether to neutralize it with an attack spell or block it with a protective spell, I aimed the staff at Sharon.

“Oh mana, crush my enemy before me!”

Quickly chanting the spell, Sharon stopped murmuring the spell and dodged the attack, and I once again held the incantation for a shock spell.

“The basics of a duel are offense, after all, what comes after just blocking? Waiting for the opponent’s mana to run out and surrender? That’s foolish, so the basics of a duel are using fast and powerful magic first.”

Astan, you probably don’t understand what I’m saying because your mana is still lacking. One of the most common mistakes made when facing a strong opponent is to memorize long spells. The longer the spell, the more powerful it becomes, but the risk is greater. Experienced mages in combat first cast protective spells before deploying their attacks, but inexperienced mages don’t know this method.

So, what you need to do is to attack the opponent with the number of strikes and concentrate all your power into one spell to bring down your opponent.

It felt like Erica’s voice was echoing in my ears. Erica’s magic attacked from all directions. Since her protective magic had to shield everything rather than a specific area, if any part of it was breached, there was no way to defend against it.

Therefore, I followed suit.

“Sharen.”

I gathered mana in a circular shape around me. As three mana clusters formed around me, Sharen looked at me, and I smiled at Sharen.

“If I drag it out, I’ll probably lose, so I’ll break your shield first.”

“You said you didn’t know how to use magic. That was a lie.”

“I don’t know how to use other magic, and I can only use the magic I already know. Besides, I’m using the magic Erica taught me. I don’t have the talent to create new magic like you do.”

Then, I pointed my staff at Sharen.

“So, block it well. Mana, crush the enemy in front of me!”

As I spoke, the mana clusters quickly transformed into a shock spell and flew towards Sharen, who chanted a spell while looking at the magic.

“Oh light, protect my body!”

At that moment, a shield appeared around Sharen. However, it wasn’t an ordinary shield made of regular mana. The faint yellowish-white shield clashed with the magic and resonated with a crackling sound, and I bit my lip.

What talent. That’s real talent. Even if she learned magic from her family, is it possible to have that level of application already? Sharen first used light magic around the time of the entrance ceremony, and now… I clenched my staff.

I was envious. I was so envious of that talent. The ability to instantly think of what you want, the talent to use that magic, everything about it made me envious, so I aimed my wand at Sharen and cast the attack spell once again.

Once, twice, three times, slowly repeating the attacks, Sharen elegantly defended against them with a shield. Was it because she was a noble, or was it because of the magic of light?

The answer was simple, but there was overwhelming envy coming at me. The protagonist always shines. I wasn’t the protagonist. An extra, or just a character created by the author’s mistake, not even mentioned by name in the novel, a small character that I couldn’t even remember.

I gripped the wand and prepared the spell.

“Mana, crush my enemy before me!”

The magic unfolded from the wand and swiftly flew towards Sharen, but just before reaching her, for some reason, whether due to my excitement or Sharen’s skill, it didn’t fly towards Sharen’s wand, but towards her leg.

I can’t stop that, my lips trembled. No matter how much of a protagonist, no matter how overflowing with talent, I can’t stop that.

I won. I won.

“That’s enough.”

But at that moment, the magic rebounded, and I turned my head to look at Senior Leonar.

“I said, that’s enough.”

“Yes?”

“Look around you.”

At his cautious voice, as I looked around, I saw Sharen aiming her wand at me, the mana gathering at the tip of her wand. Ah.

It was a mutual strike. Even if my magic reached her, Sharen’s magic would have come at me. Then surely, I wouldn’t have been able to avoid it. Overwhelmed by the fact that I got excited, embarrassment flooded over me, and a sigh escaped my lips.

“The wielder of light, put down your wand. If you were hit by the recent attack, your shield must have shattered, and the same goes for you, Astan. I will judge the victory. There is no winner. There is no loser.”

With those words, Senior Leonar snapped his fingers, and at that moment, the shield surrounding us dissipated.

“Even for first-years, they’re quite skilled. A first-year who already handles light magic so well, and another first-year who seems adept at dueling even though they’re just a first-year… I heard there was a student who shouted about having a duel in the cafeteria, it’s quite a sight.”

With those words, Senior Leonar smiled for the first time.

“What should we do after the duel in the no-dueling zone is over?”

In response to that voice, Sharen laughed heartily, put away her staff, and bowed to me.

“Good match, Astan.”

I also bowed my head in response.

“Good match, Sharen.”

“You did well. Since both of you must have used a lot of mana, drink this.”

The senior placed a potion in front of us from his pocket along with his words. I picked up the potion with trembling hands, opened the lid, and drank it.

I tasted a sweet flavor in my mouth. After putting down the empty potion bottle, taking a deep breath, and exhaling, my mind cleared slowly. Before I knew it, Senior Leonar had disappeared from around us, and I cautiously got up from my seat and approached Sharen.

“I lost.”

“If I had been hit by that magic just now, I would have lost, right? No matter how fast light magic is, it would have been slower than your magic reaching me.”

“I had no way to block it. Even if I had hit you with my magic, you wouldn’t have fallen since you had deployed protective magic on yourself.”

“If we keep talking like this, it’ll be endless, you know?”

At that, Sharen and I burst into laughter. It’s better to show confidence in each other rather than anything else. Still, it’s funny. Sharen is definitely Sharen. Even if I lose, I don’t feel that bad.

As I looked at Sharen, I spoke.

“What I definitely feel is that if you and I were to fight again, I could win next time.”

“Is that something I should say?”

“Wanna try one more time?”

“Should we?”

Sharen raised her staff, and I did the same. As we pointed our staffs at each other, we somehow burst into laughter again, then put away our staffs.

“Sharen, should we ask the fairies for something to eat? I’m hungry.”

“Using friendship for that is a bad thing.”

“But you’re hungry too, aren’t you? No?”

“…You can have some bread, right?”

“I was going to visit, but you came to find me.”

Senior Erica looked at me with crossed arms and said so, and I showed her the cane.

“I bought it.”

“If you have a cane, it’s convenient, but it’s better to be able to freely use magic without a cane, you know that, right?”

“When training with you, I will do it without the cane.”

“So I’m curious why you came… Actually, I’m also curious how you found me.”

“Leonard senior heard my story from you, right?”

At my words, Senior Erica smiled brightly.

“Yeah, that’s why I was going to visit. The first duel between first-year students, a duel with no winner or loser, Leonard was talking about it, right? He said one of them would have broken bones or been pierced if he hadn’t stopped it.”

“Did Senior Leonard not say anything else?”

“He scolded me, right? He kept nagging, saying that teaching magic without teaching control and just teaching how to spit was not enough, it was so much nagging that blood was about to come out of my ears. I definitely taught you control. Not being able to control must have been due to excitement. It could be because I bought a cane, or if not, it could be because it was the first duel, or if not that…”

At that moment, Senior Erica appeared in front of me. It was always a difficult moment to adapt to.

“There must be another reason, but I shouldn’t ask.”

“…If you say so, then thank you.”

“You did well, it’s your first duel and nothing broke. Even if Leonard cast a shield, it’s not easy to directly hit with magic, the shield is only strong enough to not die. Well, try to win next time. Among the first-year students, your friend is the only one who uses light magic.”

“I will do my best.”

At my words, Erica smiled and whispered softly to me.

“However, I don’t want to see my disciple lose. Should I start teaching you how to control magic from tomorrow? Be careful, because the next time you get excited and tell your story to Leonar, I will turn your heart into ice.”

And she disappeared before my eyes.

She was someone who never seemed to adapt, no matter when I saw her.