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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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No one tried to stop Eagle’s advance.
Normally, searching for unguarded treasures would be less risky than assaulting a fortified position.
But in this exercise, defeating another team was worth more than just the treasures.
And even using the natural terrain, a base camp built in a day wouldn’t be much of a fortress.
Two warriors led the charge, followed by Eagle, Hau, and their lone Support student.
A warrior guarded the rear as insurance.
Even for them, being ambushed from behind was a serious risk.
Years of ingrained training instilled caution even amidst their arrogance.
As their target came into view, and one of the warriors was about to step forward, Hau Fendevig stopped them.
“Hold it. Stay back.”
The two warriors obeyed without question.
Hau cast Mid-Rank Ice Wall, creating a thick barrier in front of them.
“The ground, Oppa.”
“Hmm?”
Heeding his sister, whose mana sensing and control surpassed his own despite her slower reflexes, he looked at the ground, then fired a Mid-Rank Wind Sphere at it.
The mana-infused air detonated on impact, creating a fiery explosion.
Hau’s barrier protected them from harm, but the two warriors paled at the shockwave.
They imagined what would have happened if they had stepped forward.
“Attribute Stones? And quite a few of them. Someone’s got deep pockets.”
Eagle muttered in disbelief.
He was familiar with the disposable magic tools that replicated spell effects, and they weren’t difficult for him to acquire, but he had never considered burying them.
He had heard of commanders using similar tactics in past wars, but the effectiveness was debatable.
Even Attribute Stones had varying grades depending on the magic stone and formula used.
These were the lowest-grade “Shards,” useless to someone like Eagle who could spam mid-rank formulae.
“There seem to be quite a few more buried. What should we do?”
Hau asked.
“Sweep them all,” Eagle replied without hesitation.
The process repeated.
Eagle blasted the ground and hidden traps with Wind Spheres, while Hau’s Ice Wall shielded them from the explosions.
In less than three minutes, the narrow path was widened enough for four or five people to walk abreast.
“Is that all you’ve got?” he taunted after clearing the minefield.
The answer was a volley of arrows.
One physical arrow with a steel tip and wooden shaft, and two mana arrows.
The two warriors intercepted the projectiles aimed at Eagle.
Their shields deflected the mana arrows, and their swords cut down the physical one.
More arrows followed, but they only slightly slowed their advance.
The hidden archer’s accuracy was impressive, but the arrows lacked power.
Eagle preferred leading from the front, but even he wasn’t going to bother with such weak attacks.
‘At least it was somewhat entertaining dealing with the ground traps. …Hmm?’
He felt a flicker of doubt.
If the archer had attacked while they were dealing with the traps, their chances of hitting would have been higher.
Of course, Eagle didn’t believe he would have been hit, but the archer should have used that opportunity.
‘No way it’s something dumb like missing the timing because they were goofing off somewhere and now scrambling to intercept,’ he thought, shifting his attention to his surroundings.
And that’s when he noticed them—slowly closing in from all directions.
Four figures.
Emerging from a completely different direction, they hurled objects at Eagle’s group.
Seeing the incoming Fire Shards, Eagle realized he had been played.
“Hau!”
Hau instinctively cast Ice Wall, but the hastily erected barrier only blocked one of the four projectiles.
But that was enough for Eagle.
Instead of his usual Mid-Rank Wind Sphere, he conjured three Mid-Rank Wind Blades, prioritizing speed over power.
The wind blades didn’t bisect the Fire Shards, but the collision detonated them mid-air.
Feeling the heat on his skin, Eagle smirked.
It was a decent attempt to exploit their carelessness, but it had failed.
Now that he had them in his sights, his wind magic would reach them before they could throw more Fire Shards.
Another arrow flew towards Eagle, only to be intercepted by his warrior’s sword.
Dismissing it as a futile attempt to stall, Eagle prepared to finish them off—
And then, the “Attribute Crystal” attached to the severed arrow, instead of an arrowhead, detonated its hidden Mid-Rank Wind Sphere.
Unlike the Fire Shards, which caused burns that could be healed with potions or healing magic, the “Fire Crystal,” crafted from a mid-rank magic stone, could be lethal.
That’s why they had opted for a “Wind Crystal” instead, but it was still powerful.
The two warriors closest to the crystal and Eagle were sent flying like ragdolls.
Even Hau and the other two, further away, were momentarily staggered by the blast.
And that was all the opening the Nameless War Ghost needed.
The rearguard warrior was instantly incapacitated.
The Support student was thrown over with a judo-style toss and knocked out cold.
Regret lunged at Hau, but she recovered quickly.
“Don’t underestimate me…!”
Hau’s specialty, ice magic.
High-Rank Freezing Domain froze everything on the ground.
Regret, Chrom, Lavaul, Fiore—everyone’s legs were frozen.
It was a wide-area spell prioritizing range over power, so only their lower legs were affected.
But it was enough to immobilize them.
Eagle Fendevig, thought to be down, was getting up, his face contorted in rage.
“Good job, Hau! And you bastards…!”
Eagle was covered in frost, but not frozen.
Hau, knowing she couldn’t use a wide-area spell without hitting her allies, had carefully excluded Eagle from the area of effect.
Her precise mana control had turned the tables.
Eagle launched a Wind Hammer at the immobilized Chrom, Lavaul, Lotto, and Fiore.
Chrom fired an arrow at Eagle, hitting him with poison.
The lingering damage from the earlier explosion combined with the poison knocked Eagle unconscious, but not before his spell had hit the others.
Hau tried to cast another high-rank spell, but Regret was faster and threw a dagger summoned with Feldhaus’s Summoning Gauntlet.
The dagger pierced Hau’s shoulder, knocking her back and immobilizing her.
Regret winced in pain from the strain on her frozen ankle.
Pino, who had stayed back, watched the chaotic scene, clutching the bundle of potions Chrom had given her.
“…Whether it’s the guy who smashed through all those traps, or the one who came up with a plan assuming they’d all get smashed—”
She concluded that no one remotely competent at this Academy was sane.
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