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The morning of the Third World has dawned.

It’s a day for duels.

Although the duel is in the afternoon, the classroom has been noisy since morning.

Just like kids cheerfully chattering about who will win the match, most of the students in the class are discussing it too.

Even without Rabo pressing for it, the classroom is brimming with joy and excitement.

There’s no one uninterested.

Even Victoria is thrilled about the fact that she can watch strong fighters in this school firsthand.

I’m also quite curious about the changes that will happen after the duel, so I guess I can say I’m interested in a broad sense.

But regardless of how excited the students were, the class time passed normally.

Time flew by in an instant, and soon it was time for the afternoon class to end.

In a clearing on one side of the Royal Academy, the duelists and the audience had gathered. This area, once filled with grass, was now nearly a dirt field because of the tournament that had been taking place for days.

The audience surrounded the duelists and formed an arena.

Even though it’s called an arena, they merely piled dirt to create walls and cast various protective spells over them.

To me, it looks like clumping clay, but for everyone else, it probably seems like a pretty spectacular scene with twinkling effects.

This is because the eyes of the Harvesting Machine are facing into empty air. From the movements of some eyes, it seems like a cylindrical or dome-shaped barrier has formed around the duelists.

What’s made of magic is something neither seen nor heard.

Inside are a man and a woman. The verifier is the woman, and the separator is the man.

Kanna typically receives written reports about events like this, so I know about the two.

Both are fourth-year students, and Solindiges is said to want to scout them.

Specifically, Solindiges is looking to pull them into his faction.

The girl is almost ready to join, but it’s amusing how it notes that the guy is not so much.

They seemed to speak words that indicate they know each other well.

From the content of their conversation, it seemed they may have considered each other rivals.

And as the judge next to them declared the start, they charged forward with their weapons in hand.

The man covered himself with a small shield while pointing his sword forward, and the woman swung a hand axe that had a blade on one side.

When the woman brought the axe down from above, the man knocked it aside with his small shield, often referred to as a buckler.

And then he thrust his sword.

But just before the sword touched the woman, an explosion occurred, suddenly bursting toward the man like a reaction glove. Just before the flames spread, ice rose from the man’s body, blocking the heat like armor.

No, it wouldn’t rise from beneath the skin; the ice must be condensing on top of the skin.

Taking advantage of that moment, the woman, now half a step away, swung her axe horizontally. It was a powerful attack aimed at his waist.

But the man turned his body, placing his shield in the path of the incoming axe, and assumed a stance to absorb the impact.

Wait, wouldn’t a slight change in trajectory above or below the shield hit him directly?

Look! The axe blade just caught fire and sparks flew!

Clang!

However, contrary to expectations, the axe stopped atop the small shield. The blade was higher than the shield’s surface.

It had been empty until just a moment ago, but now there’s a massive shield made of ice.

The axe couldn’t break that ice.

I thought it was strange that he was leaning against the small shield for support, and sure enough.

He can switch between the small shield and the large shield as needed. This world with magic is really fun, isn’t it?

The problem is that I’m the only one watching this with my low-end integrated GPU.

So it looks lively to me.

The man left the ice shield stuck in the ground and detached only the small shield. Then with his sword lifted on the opposite side, he dashed toward the woman’s face.

Once again, an explosion occurred in the direction of the man. But it seemed he was prepared, as he used his small shield to protect his face while continuing to charge forward.

Without fearing the blade flying toward his face, the woman moved her axe to hook the blade and push it sideways.

The hooked sword, originally aimed at the face, veered downwards, and taking advantage of the imbalance, the woman raised her flaming fist.

But she couldn’t bring her fist down onto the man’s body.

At the same time, she had no choice but to defend against an incoming icicle. In that moment, the man bent down, swinging his shield to hit the woman’s body.

As she grimaced from the impact, the woman brought her heel down on the hand that held the sword, pulling the axe tangled with it.

As a result, the sword slipped from the man’s hand, flying behind the woman.

And then both stepped back.

A back-and-forth.

The woman had been hit by a piece of metal, and the man had lost his sword.

But the battle continued.

The woman placed her hand on the spot she was hit. With her grimacing expression slowly easing, it seemed she had recovered.

The man created a sword out of ice in his hand. Even if his weapon was lost, he could still fight.

And before the woman’s hand could drop away from his side, he charged at her with the ice sword.

The way he ran looks strange. To be precise, his method of acceleration is unique.

Normally, a person’s body accelerates when it pushes against the ground. Then it decelerates due to air resistance.

But his feet aren’t properly striking the ground.

It’s as if he’s moving rhythmically, accelerating at regular intervals. His feet only serve to maintain balance during those times.

When I search in my mind for terms related to what I see before me, countless memories spark.

I’m picking out similar things from that and interpreting their fights, but I’m not sure if I’m doing it right.

At that moment, a faint electric charge was released from the woman’s skin, and at an odd speed, her body twisted and struck the man’s sword blade with the backside of her axe.

Clang!

The sword made of ice shattered right there.

But the man wasn’t about to just take it. The shield, which had been right behind the sword, moved forward. Then, as she swung her axe, it collided directly with the woman’s unbalanced body.

Bang!

Like before, an explosion halted the shield’s advance, but it was futile to stop the man, who was covering his body with it.

With that, the man’s body crashed into the woman.

Thwack!

But the woman halted his charge with one leg while lifting her axe-wielding arm, grimacing.

It seemed her arm, directly struck by the shield, was bent at a strange angle—had it broken?

Gritting her teeth, the woman switched the axe to her broken arm and brought it down at the man’s head, who was on the offensive.

Thwack!

The ice armor barely blocked the bottom of the axe swinging down toward his head, but it couldn’t be completely stopped, and red blood showed between the cracks in the ice armor.

And perhaps due to that shock, the man’s charge halted.

The woman raised her broken arm high.

Isn’t she just going to hurt herself more by trying to strike with that?

Bright yellow sparks erupted from her arm, and flames rose from her wound, and her twisted arm returned to its original form. Come to think of it, she cast a healing spell earlier.

Then, with her arm looking massive, composed of both flames and electricity, she brought it down forcefully.

Kaboom!

A massive explosion occurred, far beyond what we’d seen before, and the dust and sand from the ground rose, obscuring the view.

But the fight didn’t stop.

Within the cloud of sand and dust, flashes of blue and flames erupted, along with the sounds of solid objects colliding and flesh squashing against flesh.

This is nobility?

No, it is.

Kanna also did something similar against monsters in the North. The origin of nobility in this world was never about authority to command soldiers, but gained through personal strength.

Those who could fight monsters became warriors and thus nobility.

In a faded world, no matter how superhuman someone was, it would be difficult to face multiple opponents. Even if one could, it would be hard for their children or grandchildren to hold the same strength.

But here, it’s different.

As magic is inherited, raw power grows stronger over time.

Ah, I call it magic, but some refer to it as martial arts, others as martial skills, or even sorcery.

The common point is the use of magic power.

When tracing back the origins, it’s not strange for them to fight like beasts.

And they are among the exceptional ones within that category. Their limits of strength are high, hence the different distribution.

In other words, not every noble can fight like what’s unfolding before me.

There are those like glass cannons, those who use poison, and those who spread curses; there are even those who simply swing hammers.

At the very least, a noble’s qualification is being able to handle a powerful monster when it appears.

I glanced over at the spectators, who, regardless of gender, were gripping with sweat as they watched the arena.

Some even wore very aggressive smiles.

They looked like they were eager to fight.

Honestly, seeing this makes me doubt whether it was necessary to protect this place during the riot.

Huh?

Oh. A few memories just sparkled.

The reason they blocked here was partly to protect the nobles from the rioters, but also to protect commoners from the nobles.

Well, when such people retaliate, killing the rioters, it would result in much more bloodshed than what the rioters committed.

And backlash ensues. When rioters do bad things, commoners will later resent them, even if they were once part of those rioters.

It’s easy to deflect responsibility. If guilt takes effect, it’s convenient.

Not simply batting away spears or swords that come at you, but rather having a foresight about the future.

I spent my time watching the fight. The duel that began late in the afternoon ended when night fell.

The man, covered in blood, struggled to maintain his shape with the ice armor, while the woman appeared somewhat better, dripping blood from the holes in her body.

And the first to collapse was the man.

Unlike the woman, who reduced her blood loss while regenerating, the man bled too much despite his high defense. It was the woman who grew stronger as the battle dragged on, slowly recovering.

The verifier had emerged victorious.

As the woman raised her arm, cheers erupted from the audience.

Indeed, most were cheering. Alongside their praise for the victor, words of comfort for the loser could also be heard.

Only a minority groaned in sorrow, throwing their betting slips to the ground.

But overall, it felt like the spectator stand after an important sporting event had concluded.

Huh?

This isn’t the sharp atmosphere I thought it would be…?