EP.163 Autumn, New Semester (6)
The rules for the duel were simple. The duel ends if one side admits defeat or becomes temporarily incapacitated. Alternatively, the duel can also conclude based on the judgment of the supervisor. Aside from that, there are no other rules.
You may use live ammunition.
You can aim for vital points, and anything can be used except poison. Just do whatever it takes to show everything you’ve got.
That was the duel of the Battle Magic Department.
Due to these outrageous conditions, there were voices of discontent, claiming significant risks were involved… but there had never been a single incident during a duel so far. Thanks to the presence of a competent supervisor.
“This year, Rosel isn’t supervising.”
“Wasn’t he in charge for quite a while?”
“Well, that’s true.”
Aaron looked at his friend sitting beside him.
Rosel van Trias. Having been the supervisor for countless duels until now, he was watching the duel with his arms crossed.
‘… Well, he did serve in the supervisory role for a long time.’
Aaron nodded.
It was all thanks to this seasoned magician that such extreme conditions for the duel could be established.
Most professors might be strong in theory but weak in practice. For them, magic was knowledge, not a weapon for fighting. The professors pursued perfection in magic. However, what is required in actual combat is not perfect magic.
Fast, concise, and effective.
In other words, practical.
And Rosel was a professor who pursued practicality. Unlike other professors, he was a magician standing at the Tower. No one disregarded Rosel’s magical abilities. This was proven by the value indicated by every magician who had been taught by him.
Raniel van Trias.
The educator who nurtured the Ashen Mage spoke.
“And it seems I no longer need to supervise. That child is likely more capable in this regard than I am.”
“… Is that so?”
Rosel had considerable skills himself.
He had made remarkable achievements in the monster subjugation war under the royal family’s leadership… and he was even awarded the title of Sage by the Mage of Ancient Dragons. To say that this twenty-year-old is more capable than Rosel?
‘Isn’t that a bit excessive love for a disciple?’
He honestly looked like a hopeless romantic.
Aaron looked at Rosel with a doubtful gaze. Rosel shrugged at that look.
“He’s not less capable, that’s for sure.”
Declaring that, Rosel glanced towards the audience area.
Following the gaze along the tiered seating… there was a particularly empty area. Two people were sitting there. Looking at the Ashen-Haired Girl among them, Rosel smiled. Aaron shook his head in disapproval.
‘Yes, he is indeed a hopeless romantic.’
Well, if you have such a child as your adopted daughter, you would indeed become a hopeless romantic.
“Chit…”
Feeling envy anew, while Aaron was glancing at Rosel, he pointed to the duel arena and said.
“Let’s stop the small talk and focus on the duel.”
Rosel pointed at the duel stage.
There, two students faced each other. One was the apprentice of the Master of the White Tower, and the other was the apprentice of the Master of the Black Tower.
The Black and White had always viewed each other as rivals. Thus, this was not a mere fight between students. It was a battle over the pride of the Towers.
Black and White.
Top and sub.
A child from the slums and the son of the Duke of the North.
There were many contrasting elements. Because of that, numerous spectators were excited about their duel. They were engaged in debates over who would win.
“Lac, tear that parasite to pieces!”
“Keep your dignity, White! You crazy old man!”
“Old man? I’m a girl, you know? You should be quiet!”
“What kind of shamelessness is that, claiming to be a girl at that age…!”
One side of the audience was in uproar.
As the ruckus reached its peak… Bwoo, bwoo, a trumpet sound resonated through the coliseum. It was a signal marking the start of the match.
Waaaaaa!
Against the backdrop of the audience’s roar, the black and white charged at each other. Belnoa’s black hair fluttered as shadows erupted like explosions following the trajectory of his dagger. In response, Lac’s white hair swayed, and his axe moved.
Kaaang! The shadow and axe collided.
In the past semester, Lac had always been pushed back during the first charge. Therefore, the students predicted it wouldn’t be any different this time.
Ka-kak, ka-ga-ga-k!
But that prediction was shattered.
Breaking everyone’s expectations, Lac’s axe tore the shadow apart. One strike, ripping through the shadow. Another, smashing the shadow dagger.
“…!”
Belnoa condensed the shadow.
As shadows started creeping up from the ground, Lac’s movements suddenly accelerated. Invisible to the students, but visible to Belnoa’s eyes.
‘… Wait a second.’
In surprise from the excessive acceleration, Belnoa bound the axe with shadow. However, as if Lac had anticipated this, he released the axe from his grasp.
Lac Thwack, slammed the ground.
With the hand that released the axe, he grabbed Belnoa’s head.
There was no chance to counter. It was a rapid movement. Incomparable to before. For a moment, Belnoa’s reaction lagged. She looked at Lac’s approaching knee.
There was no way to block it.
Crack!
Belnoa’s head snapped back.
Hurriedly breaking the shadow, she staggered back. As she bent over, Drip, drip.
Her nosebleed erupted. Blood fell.
A red dot marked the floor. The coliseum fell into silence for an instant. The audience stared wide-eyed at Belnoa.
Until now, Belnoa had never allowed even a single strike in any mock duel. And now, that same Belnoa… was bleeding.
Drip, drip.
Looking at the falling drops of blood, confusion crossed Belnoa’s face. She glanced at Lac. Following her gaze, the audience saw Lac standing in the center of the duel stage.
“See? Didn’t I say?”
Receiving everyone’s gaze, Lac flicked his finger.
“If it were the old days, it would be decided quickly.”
Cheers began to pour out late from the stands.
2.
Waaaaaa!
Ignoring the resounding cheers, Belnoa wiped her nosebleed and looked at Lac. Her eyes were shaking. With shock and confusion.
“… What on earth have you been doing?”
He was no longer the same Lac she remembered.
His movements were on a completely different level. Faster and heavier. No, it wasn’t just his movements.
‘Something is different.’
He was different from the Lac she had seen so far.
Though a single attack didn’t clearly define his form… something was definitely there.
“I trained specially.”
Lac responded to Belnoa’s mutterings.
Lac stepped forward. He walked toward Belnoa, Drip, drip, pulling the axe bound by shadows into his hands.
“……”
Belnoa silently flicked her fingers.
While stepping back, shadows surged up from underfoot. An unexpected attack from an unknown shadow. It’s difficult to react to since she couldn’t predict which shadow would launch spikes. Lac was likely to get hit nine out of ten times.
Thwack, thud.
But this time, it was different.
It wasn’t mere luck that allowed that one-in-ten chance to hit beautifully. Lac swung his axe, dispersing the shadows. He took one step forward, dodging the shadows.
His movements were precise.
What showed in that precision was certainty.
As if he already knew where and in what form the shadows would spring out. Lac stepped forward confidently. Belnoa wove daggers from shadows. Lac slammed the ground. He closed the distance in an instant.
Kaang!
The axe struck the dagger. Although the dagger flew away, Belnoa had anticipated Lac. The dagger scattered into shadows, instantly wrapping around Belnoa’s hands.
Snap!
With the hands wrapped in shadow, Belnoa snatched the axe.
Crackle!
But Lac was still advancing, undeterred.
It was too powerful.
What power…
She felt herself losing ground. Despite feeling that she was being pushed back, Belnoa’s gaze remained steady. She sensed a dagger from behind Lac was about to strike.
All she had to do was endure for just a moment.
Then, she’d be able to turn the tide of battle.
Fights in back alleys entail gnawing battles. Belnoa knew how to wear down someone stronger. Just as she aimed to strike Lac’s opening, she felt a sudden unease.
Shudder.
Belnoa once again sensed something odd.
Lac’s body trembled. Because he held the axe, Belnoa noticed that tremor. It was reminiscent of a beast preparing to pounce before a hunt.
The muscles were tensed up.
Strength filled his body.
His eyes moved quickly.
Lac let go of the axe. He sharply turned his head. As if he had anticipated it, he reached out at the shadow dagger that was creeping up from behind.
Smite.
The instant spell struck the dagger, breaking it.
It was just like when Rania had performed.
Intercepting a spell with another spell is never an easy task. You must accurately read its trajectory. It requires calculations that are close to predictions.
And Lac pulled that off.
He didn’t manage to deflect everything. What slipped through the spell, he caught barehanded. Although his skin grazed, blood flowed… it was a lighter injury compared to being hit directly by the spell.
All of that happened in a mere moment.
However, that wasn’t the end.
As Lac turned his back, Belnoa reached out for him. Seemingly aware of that, Lac swiftly turned to look at her. His beast-like red eyes grasped the situation in an instant.
Crack.
He snatched her wrist. He grabbed it. Then, Lac threw Belnoa to the ground.
Guh!
As he hit the ground, Belnoa groaned. Nonetheless, she didn’t forget to counterattack. Once slammed down, the shadows hidden below exploded. Lac stepped back.
Guh…
Belnoa, while recurrently groaning, started regaining her stance.
He realized the unease he had just felt. He redefined that feeling in clear terms.
‘Intuition, combat sense.’
That had been Lac’s original specialty.
But that acute sense now differed from before.
The flow of air.
Subtle mana.
Processing vision.
All those tiny clues combined to deduce a result. Predicting the future. He did that all subconsciously. It was no longer the realm of mere intuition. Belnoa knew what to call it.
‘… Hyper-sensitivity.’
Something that becomes more prominent as one approaches the superhuman realm, something akin to the power of foresight. How on earth does Lac, who hasn’t even entered that realm, possess such a thing?
She couldn’t understand that part.
Belnoa didn’t know that Lac had faced superhumans in the snowy plains. She was also unaware that, during that process, Lac confronted his own limits and stepped forward while deflecting a superhuman blow.
Therefore… it would be impossible for Belnoa to speculate that Lac’s originally keen senses had approached the realm of hyper-sensitivity.
She only knew the result.
Belnoa stared in disbelief, muttering.
“Seriously, this doesn’t make sense.”
“Doesn’t make sense because I trained ridiculously.”
“What on earth did you do?”
“I almost died a few times.”
Chatting leisurely, Lac walked forward. Belnoa, smiling a hollow smile, brushed her hair away. There was a reason they were both at ease.
So far, it had only been a prelude.
Both Belnoa and Lac had not shown their full abilities yet.
Belnoa didn’t use an Offering, nor did Lac apply Heating. They had merely gone through a process of testing each other’s capabilities before the actual battle.
“……”
And now, the prelude was over.
Belnoa raised her arms. Two of her fingers were already bent. It meant that two servings of offerings were loaded. He was showing something unnecessary, but he intentionally revealed it.
Why?
“It means we’re just getting started.”
Understanding that intent, a smile spread across Lac’s face. However, Lac didn’t use Heating. It was as if he thought it was insufficient. It seemed like he was asking: Don’t you think you could do a bit more?
Belnoa couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
“Anyway.”
Belnoa hated duels.
Same now. The resounding cheers and the pouring attention weren’t particularly enjoyable.
But for some reason.
“Heh.”
A laugh escaped her lips.
The one who had always stood beneath her was trying to surpass her. The mere acknowledgment of that fact brought joy to Belnoa.
That was the first emotion Belnoa had felt.
To Belnoa, being surpassed had always signified death. If a stronger individual appeared in the alley, they had to be killed. If not, she would die. To Belnoa, someone stronger than herself was just as good as a noose tightening around her neck.
So why?
Why was she feeling joy now, seeing a rival grow stronger?
The word rivalry.
The term Lac had once casually mentioned echoed in her ears. Belnoa gazed at the rival who had now become so strong, without her noticing.
“This is fun.”
A smile emerged on Belnoa’s face.
He revealed his emotions. Not a sneer, not a forced smile… but an unadulterated smile. He said, laughing.
“Are you confident?”
“If I weren’t, I wouldn’t have thrown down the gauntlet.”
“Right.”
Belnoa extended her hand, breaking her fingers.
Two more offerings were loaded. Shadows surged around Belnoa. They enveloped her body.
“Then, let’s see it.”
The shadows spread on the ground, swirling.
From the shadows, spikes shot upward, spinning in place as they became stakes.
A spell developed by Belnoa.
A spell that can be manifested with a minimal amount of mana.
Yet it devours a massive amount of mana. Several stakes filled the duel arena. It wasn’t only Lac who had grown. Belnoa had also matured during the recent events involving the apostate.
She fought for her life.
She realized how to shape her spells.
She had seen the most brilliant spell up close.
On that day, Belnoa witnessed the perfect form of a balance. She saw the scene where priceless treasures were placed on that scale. The balance wielded by a magician close to the truth brought forth enlightenment just by mere sight.
Now it was time to showcase that enlightenment.
Shadow-Pile.
The spinning stakes were aimed at Lac.
Lac, aimed at by those stakes, smiled and raised his hand as if he had been expecting this moment all along.
“Good.”
Facing the crisis, Lac smiled.
His finger touched his heart.
Heating.
The heart began to thump powerfully.
The battle was about to heat up for real.
3.
The students had long surpassed the average level.
If active knights from the battlefield were brought in, they would be left speechless. Even the Masters of the Tower watched with admiration. From the perspective of the Tower Masters, this was a remarkably high-level fight.
Clang, ka-kang!
The sound of metal clashing echoed.
Sparks flew. Shadows scattered and gathered once again. As one side seemed to be pushed back, it immediately followed up in a counter.
It was a back-and-forth battle.
A battle of sheer rivalry was unfolding.
Most of the audience could not grasp the fight properly. Something flashed, and the sound of clashes rang out. It was already overwhelming to try to read the movements of the two.
How many spells had been used?
Which spell acted at what moment?
How were they colliding with one another?
Since they didn’t know those details… all they could do was exclaim in admiration. However, not everyone was like that. There were those who could see and comprehend it all in their eyes.
“……”
Rania silently observed the duel between the two.
Ready to step in at a moment’s notice, she absorbed every scene through her eyes.
At first glance, it appeared like a stalemate, but in reality, Lac had a slight upper hand. Lac had already dipped his toes into hyper-sensitivity. It was exceedingly difficult to face an opponent who could anticipate even a move ahead.
‘But just a slight edge.’
That didn’t mean Lac had completely seized victory.
Belnoa wasn’t to be underestimated either. He concealed his habits to a minimum. He laid traps upon traps unpredictably. He was like a seasoned hunter.
If Lac pressed the offense relying on his physical abilities and hyper-sensitivity… Belnoa would overcome him using his wealth of experience in one-on-one battles. The gap between them was closing.
It was gradually shifting closer to a stalemate.
Though Belnoa didn’t possess hyper-sensitivity like Lac, he knew better than anyone how to deal with humans. Upon colliding the senses he was born with and the experiences he had accumulated.
“… Ah-ha.”
A smile graced Rania’s lips.
She felt joy. She was proud. Comparing now to the start of the semester… they had achieved remarkable growth in just half a year. She was the one who had made that happen.
The mere fact brought immense delight to Rania.
As she basked in pure joy, someone was watching her laughter closely. Chloe, pausing to watch the match, cast a quick glance at Rania.
Shiver.
Chloe shuddered.
That beautiful smile evoked a sense of eeriness within her. It felt like witnessing a mad magician showcasing their research findings in front of everyone…
‘No, no. It’s just a stereotype.’
It must have been a misunderstanding.
Rania was kind, lovely, and a gentle teacher.
‘Can’t make judgments based on speculation.’
Chloe shook her head and crunched the stick Rania had given her. Unbeknownst to her, the Star was singing a song of despair in her ear.
