episode_0047

What flew at me as I stood in the arena was truly diverse.

A fighter, above all, must take what’s necessary and discard what’s not from those diverse things to survive.

Rosalie’s affectionate cheers and lovely aegyo, Professor Isera’s rough but trustworthy and proud support, and Marisa’s concern for us who had been constantly in pain.

These precious things, I melt them without leaving a single speck and fill my heart with them.

On the other hand, Emma’s scornful sneer, Lizley’s sly poker face concealing her true intentions, and Leon’s incredibly dirty and sticky interest.

Things too worthless to even call trash, I deflect with a heart of steel.

“Each team, forward.”

Leonard Dagnes, the first-year head professor serving as the test’s referee, called out to both teams in a solemn and impartial voice.

“Pre-test doping results show no abnormalities. However, another test will be conducted after the exam concludes. This is to ensure fairness, so we ask for your understanding.”

“Understood.”

What I did for my teammates wasn’t something trivial like drug injection, so there was no risk of drug detection to begin with.

My remaining teammates and I readily agreed to Professor Leonard’s words.

“As this is a battle between rather excellent student councils from both the first and second years, first-year students, focus on solid teamwork. Even if you lose, you’ll still receive good scores.”

It was solemn, yet amid it, Professor Leonard’s generous advice for the freshmen.

His voice was imbued with a gentleness that showed concern for the cadets.

The rules of the team battle were simple and brutal.

It was a 5-on-5 full-scale battle where the team with at least one person standing won, and anyone who surrendered or fainted during the battle was immediately out.

Rarely, a draw occurred if both sides were amicably annihilated, but usually, the victory or defeat was clear.

In truth, this confrontation was structured such that my team couldn’t lose to begin with, regardless of my teammates’ condition or skill, because of me.

However, since this was more of an evaluation than a battle, if I swept it all by myself, my good teammates would naturally suffer a disadvantage.

“Take your positions, start!”

Professor Leonard shouted vigorously, then leaped into the air, signaling the start of the test.

*

Academy team battles typically involve front-liners protecting back-line mages, while mages either support the front-liners or cast powerful spells to break the opposing formation.

Since the front-liners’ skills are usually mediocre, it often turns into a so-called ‘Protect the Mage’ battle.

However, Ras’s team only had Fio as a back-liner, making the burden of her acting as a striker alone extremely heavy.

Although Fio was quite excellent for a first-year, she wasn’t at a level to overturn the difference in total mana and firepower that arose from the difference in year and numbers.

“You guys, stick together firmly and link up, just don’t fall. I’ll take care of the offense.”

Thus, what Ras’s team had meticulously prepared was a strategy of ‘one sword and four shields’.

Ras would lure Garett, who could pierce through the other front-liners in one go, towards himself, defeat him one-on-one, and then deal with the rest.

In that process, the more tenaciously the remaining teammates endured, the higher their scores would be, and Ras, in his own way, would be able to attract the Second Princess’s attention.

And so, now.

“Hyaaah!!”

Irha, instead of her usual weapon, a staff, grabbed a large shield perfectly specialized for defense, dedicating all her mana to defense, and activated a complete ‘Block Mode’.

And Eustace and Shasta deployed the most robust defensive formation they could muster in their own ways.

Fio, standing behind the shields, continuously cast buffing spells like Haste and Protection on them, presenting a bizarre sight as she stubbornly held on for dear life.

Even the mages in the opposing back-line charged forward to try and break through, but it wasn’t easy.

“The first-years…! They’re frustrating the second-years…!”

The audience was gripped by an indescribable, strange feeling watching the first-years’ ultimate ‘Block Mode’.

However, the strangeness they felt and their interest in the first-years didn’t last long. This was because the battle between each team’s captains, happening nearby, was quite spectacular.

*

Garett lunged with his spear smoothly and swiftly.

His spear technique, swung and thrust with serious, zealous eyes, without a single word to avoid breaking his breathing, was truly excellent.

Elegant and unpredictable trajectories, combined with offense and defense that extended and retracted remarkably quickly without gaps.

But the greatest strength of that talented senior wasn’t his spear technique itself, but his ‘legs’ and ‘eyes’.

The basic technique for those who wield spears is Lannazha. It sounds grand, but it’s ultimately about deflecting, pressing down, and thrusting, which by itself is nothing special and rather dull.

However, when combined with swift and precise footwork and impeccable range-finding, a spearman can continuously force disadvantages upon an opponent with a shorter reach.

“Hoooh…!”

Conversely, I had enough leisure to casually appraise things like this.

In short, I was fighting while pondering how to win in a way that seemed slightly intense.

Well, Garett also hadn’t used his specialty, wind magic, so it might not be his full power, but even if he did, it wouldn’t change much.

If this were a deathmatch with Leon, I would use the maximum output of Nine Heavens Extinction Flame without hesitation to kill or cripple him, but the opponent was Garett.

He wasn’t an opponent to be completely crushed; rather, he was a good senior with whom I wanted to maintain a good relationship in this life.

Moreover, I didn’t want to give Leon, who was observing my fight with interest from above, even a shred of insight.

Leon was someone who would eventually reach the Mental Realm in a few years, and showing off stimulating sights to a talented guy by displaying power was like unknowingly handing him a knife, which wasn’t right.

Furthermore, I didn’t want him to perfectly consider me a real threat from this point onward.

That guy wasn’t someone who only bothered me; he was a petty person who enjoyed bothering those around me.

So, I should just pretend to exchange a few blows with Garett.

I focused my inner sight on the trajectory of the thrusting spear and accelerated my brain; the next moment, I saw the path of the spear extending even more precisely.

Garett’s pattern, which I had naturally analyzed while evading a few times before, would probably change direction on this path.

He would pretend to thrust towards my chest, then extend downwards, so…

“…!”

I placed my foot on the incoming path and pressed down on the spear shaft with my foot.

A flustered Garett focused on wrapping mana around the spear shaft to prevent it from breaking and immediately retracted his spear, but because of that, the rhythm of his attack was broken.

With his attack rhythm broken, Garett abandoned his offensive, quickly stepped back, and widened the distance.

As expected, he was a promising talent with solid fundamentals, but he was no match for me.

I immediately wrapped mana around my feet, then slammed into the ground as if creating a large explosion, rushing towards Garett.

“Wow…!”

A gasp of admiration erupted from the audience, and Garett’s eyes widened as he unhesitatingly unleashed green wind from his spear.

The Green Wind Spear, a secret magic of his family, Shabrier.

“Green Wind Spear, Fifth Form, Thousand Winds.”

Surprisingly, Garett was the type to announce his technique’s name aloud while fighting…!

But unlike his inefficient habit, his attacks were quite fierce and powerful.

Powerful, high-speed rotating wind currents with strong cutting force shot out from his spear, swinging and thrusting at me like countless spear blades.

I needed to show a slightly intense struggle, so I wouldn’t use Nine Heavens Extinction Flame for this defense.

What I would use now was a man’s brute force, naturally learned by getting cut all over in back alleys.

I wrapped mana only around vital points such as my head, neck, heart, major abdominal organs, and heels, then plunged into the green storm.

The winds with strong cutting force slashed at my arms and legs, and blood burst forth, but this much was tolerable.

After assessing the situation, I crashed my limbs into the ‘core’ of the opponent’s magic, simultaneously snatching ownership of that mana mass towards myself and converting all of it into mana for movement.

Instantly, mana-infused leaping platforms spread out in all directions, and I stepped on them to accelerate, getting behind Garett.

Ras Etgard Style, Butterfly Afterimage.

And getting behind him was a feint. Leaving afterimages with swift motions, I burrowed into his embrace, grabbed Garett by the collar with Golden Hand, and then…

“Overhead throw!”

I slammed the good and upright senior onto the stone floor.

Announcing the technique’s name was an homage to Senior Garett…!

Slam!

…

With an overhead throw powerful enough to crack the floor, Garett, the promising spearman, instantly fainted.

“Golden Hand…! Ras, did you just utilize the Golden Hand I taught you?!!”

Leaving Marisa’s girlishly delighted cry behind him, Professor Leonard calmly declared the fainted Garett out.

“Garett Shabrier, out. Medical team, this way.”

At Professor Leonard’s request, the medical team, including Rosalie, was immediately deployed to the scene. Even as Rosalie rushed to the unconscious Garett, she didn’t forget to give me a wink.

‘Well done♥ I’ll praise you a lot later, okay?’

Her captivating eye-smile sent that message clearly to me.

Meanwhile, the second-years on the other side had an atmosphere like a funeral house.

Surprisingly, despite how well our teammates had endured, our team still had no dropouts.

Irha, who had put up the most strenuous defense, was panting, but true to her excellent physique, she still had energy left even after jumping around with such a heavy shield.

The second-years eventually abandoned minor attacks and seemed to be preparing powerful major spells, but…

“Garett… he was taken out in one hit…?”

The despair of the shocked back-liners didn’t last long.

Even Garett, overwhelmingly the strongest among them, couldn’t match my accelerated speed, so the remaining pathetic front-liners couldn’t possibly catch me.

“Peek-a-boo~♪”

“Hieeeek…!! Stop it…!”

I grabbed the back of an unknown, small, cute senior mage, lifted them, and immediately applied a rear naked choke, taking out one of the back-liners.

Thus, the student council members, with both their front and back lines completely broken, seemed unwilling to face a full-scale assault and immediately raised white flags.

“As expected, my protégé. Truly like my little Ras. Simply excellent!”

Professor Isera, as if she had expected it, clapped robustly with a very satisfied expression.

“Winners, First-Year Team. I declare Ras Etgard and his four companions victorious.”

With Professor Leonard’s declaration, who maintained composure until the end despite the astonishing sight, our team’s victory was confirmed.

“They weren’t guys I particularly wanted to fight again, but in any case, we were completely defeated. This year’s first-years are truly amazing.”

“We learned a lot too.”

Since making fun of and sneering at well-mannered people usually brings divine retribution [a proverb about receiving punishment for misdeeds], I concluded with a very polite bow.

And finally, the true delight.

I raised my head and looked at Emma and Lizley in the audience.

Emma, trembling with a horrified expression, stared at me.

And Lizley, chewing on her lip, her poker face — which had claimed she wouldn’t even care about me — beautifully shattered, as she trembled.

It was… delicious!

What kind of scolding would Emma receive from Lizley now? After being utterly crushed, her fury reaching the top of her head, she would surely crawl into Lergo’s den on her own, right?

And what complex, subtle emotional state would Lizley be in, watching me begin to succeed?

At times like these, it was almost regrettable that I couldn’t use mind-reading.

By the way, Leon was probably sending me a perverse, sly gaze of interest, but I didn’t look because I felt it would be unpleasant.

Because I detested, then as now, a man fixating on me with an obsessive gaze to a terrible degree.