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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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20 meters above ground.
To put that height into perspective, it was roughly equivalent to a 10-story apartment building.
High enough to instill fear in any human.
*Fwoosh!*
But Ed, at this dizzying height, shut off the propulsion unit’s engine.
He deactivated the only thing counteracting the pull of gravity.
His mind was occupied solely with calculations, focused on inflicting maximum damage on the Minotaur King.
*Swoosh!*
With the propulsion unit deactivated, Ed began to plummet.
The tremendous wind pressure battered his body, but it was no match for the accelerating force of gravity.
He descended rapidly.
‘Strengthening Formula’
10 meters above ground.
Ed circulated mana throughout his body, distributing it to the 37 mana stones implanted within him.
He activated the *Gyol* ꇔ (Strengthening) Formula to reinforce his body.
The core mana stone, reminiscent of an Arc Reactor, began to glow.
The *Gyol* Formula, etched onto its surface, activated, sending commands to the 36 other mana stones.
The 36 mana stones carried out their instructions.
They infused his body with strengthening mana, increasing his bone density, reinforcing his muscle fibers, and hardening his skin.
‘All remaining mana to the blade’
5 meters above ground.
Ed channeled the remaining mana into his Form-Transforming Plasma Gauntlets.
The blue, circular magic stone embedded in the wrist guard glowed white-hot, emitting a charging sound.
He was further amplifying the Plasma Lightsaber’s power.
*Kiiiing!*
As the charging whine intensified, the straight, blue blade began to flicker unsteadily, like the flames of a flamethrower.
Converting such a large amount of mana into plasma energy at once had caused a surge in output, straining the magnetic field containing it.
‘Just hold on a little longer’
Ed maintained the output.
He knew that if the magnetic field containing the plasma energy dissipated, the 3500-degree heat would instantly melt him.
But he continued his descent, his eyes fixed on the Minotaur King.
He needed to maintain this high-temperature energy to pierce the monster’s mana-reinforced hide.
‘I can do this!’
2 meters above ground.
It was a race against time.
Would the magnetic field containing the superheated plasma energy collapse first?
Or would he manage to unleash it upon the Minotaur King?
1 meter above ground.
The magnetic field began to waver.
The superconducting material generating the powerful magnetic field started to melt, causing the blue blade to thrash wildly.
But at that moment—
*Fwwoooosh!*
Time was on Ed’s side.
Just before the magnetic field could give way, Ed slammed into the Minotaur King’s head, plunging the blazing blade deep into its skull.
The Minotaur King died instantly.
The superheated Plasma Blade melted through its mana-reinforced skin, pierced its skull, liquefied its internal organs, and exited through its groin.
“……..”
Silence descended upon the auditorium at this magnificent scene.
The Minotaur King, a monster that even a seasoned instructor couldn’t guarantee victory against, had been sliced in half by unimaginable heat.
*Thump!*
The bisected corpse of the Minotaur King toppled to the ground like a felled tree.
The impact made the ground tremble.
The students in the auditorium, hearing the resounding thud, fully grasped the monstrous nature of the creature Ed had just slain.
Their eyes turned to Ed.
They wanted to see the state of the person who had pulled off this insane feat.
[Ugh…]
He was kneeling, one hand on the ground, gasping for breath.
But even then, his eyes were sharp and focused, fixed on the Minotaur King’s corpse, ensuring its demise.
He looked like a scene straight out of a hero movie.
After a moment, as the students stared at the screen in stunned silence, Ed slowly rose to his feet.
He examined his sparking gauntlets, sighed wearily, and muttered,
“Damn it, I have to make another one.”
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Instructor Kaiden was speechless.
The Minotaur King was a monster even he couldn’t guarantee victory against.
He silently observed Ed, who was grumbling as he examined his damaged gauntlets.
One word perfectly described Ed:
“Insane.”
He didn’t mean it as an insult.
It was a compliment, a testament to Ed’s skill.
Kaiden was skilled enough to grasp the intricate details of Ed’s feat.
It might have looked easy, but he understood the meticulous planning that had gone into bisecting the Minotaur King.
‘His strategy was meticulous. Not a single wasted movement’
What impressed Kaiden most was Ed’s intuitive yet precise strategy: luring the Minotaur King out of the cave and enraging it, then targeting its left ankle to restrict its movement.
It wasn’t luck; it was calculated.
‘And it wasn’t reckless courage either.’
Ed’s courage wasn’t foolhardy; it stemmed from confidence, from meticulous planning and self-belief.
Ed clearly understood the Minotaur King’s strengths.
He hadn’t recklessly engaged in close-quarters combat, despite possessing a weapon powerful enough to bisect the creature.
‘He chose the safest and most effective approach.’
The blind spot.
Ed had targeted the Minotaur King’s blind spot, preparing a decisive blow from above.
‘How could he remain so calm?’
Even more impressive was Ed’s composure.
He’d had only two minutes—the time it would take the Minotaur King to fully regenerate.
Within that short timeframe, Ed had flawlessly executed a series of complex actions.
If he’d gone over the two-minute mark, the Minotaur King would have recovered, increasing the chances of the decisive blow missing its mark.
And if that had happened, the tables would have turned.
It would have been Ed, not the Minotaur King, who ended up torn in half.
‘He must have known that. And yet, he went through with it.’
Despite the risks, Ed had acted decisively.
He could have been paralyzed by fear, but he pushed it aside and executed his plan flawlessly.
He had even deactivated the propulsion unit at a considerable height to save time, embracing the fear of falling to ensure the success of his mission.
‘He’s barely injured. A testament to his perfect mana control.’
Ed was practically unscathed, indicating precise mana distribution to mitigate the impact.
He was an undeniably remarkable student.
‘Strategy, tactics, execution, judgment, adaptability. All top-tier. Points are meaningless’
The tournament was meant to assess the students’ abilities.
While the Minotaur King wasn’t assigned a point value, its worth far surpassed that of all the other monsters in the arena combined.
“Commoner”
Isabella called out, descending gracefully from the sky.
She landed softly beside Ed, glanced at the Minotaur King’s corpse, and then turned to him.
“Are you alright? It’s not easy to walk away unscathed after facing something like that.”
“…Fortunately, I am. I got lucky.”
“…I see. Congratulations, anyway. I’ll admit, that was impressive. I could have killed it too, if I’d wanted to, but I have too much to lose.”
Ed nodded.
With her level of mental control, Isabella could indeed have killed the Minotaur King.
However, as she’d implied, it would have been detrimental to her.
Her combat style relied on accumulating and depleting “negativity.”
“Instructor.”
So, Isabella conceded defeat.
She called the instructor and, for the first time in the academy’s history, forfeited the match.
“Instructor, you saw what happened, right? Just give him the win. It’s not in the rules, but you can make that judgment call.”
Isabella urged Instructor Kaiden to declare Ed the winner.
But Kaiden wasn’t pleased with her attitude.
Even if she was the Grand Duchess of the Graham family, within the academy, she was a student, and he was her instructor.
“…Yes, I am in charge of this match. So, step aside. I will make the judgment and the decision. And I will bear the responsibility for it.”
“…..”
“But I do agree with your assessment. Edgar Fix, you are the victor.”
Shrugging, the instructor declared Ed the victor.
Isabella clapped halfheartedly.
The instructor then addressed Ed.
“And I’m assigning you three penalty points. You violated regulations and put yourself in unnecessary danger. Frankly, you’re lucky you survived. You almost died.”
“…I apologize. But it was the only way to win.”
“Hmph. Just so you’re aware. And now, thanks to you, I have to write a report. Sigh…This is my life. I signed up for this thinking it’d be easy…”
Instructor Kaiden gestured for Ed to leave, signaling the end of the match.
He was to return to the auditorium.
As Ed and Isabella stood before the teleportation orb, Isabella smiled and spoke.
“That was fun. You continue to intrigue me. You’ll keep things interesting next time, won’t you?”
“…We’ll see. As long as you don’t get too mischievous, Lady Isabella.”
“Hehehe. As if you’d let me.”
Ed shrugged at her words.
It was an audacious provocation, but Isabella found it all the more appealing.
She felt she could enjoy playing with this commoner for a long time.
“See you later.”
Isabella placed her hand on the orb first, recalling their match.
It was the first defeat she’d ever acknowledged.
Would anyone else, besides this commoner, ever give her such an experience?
It wasn’t a bad feeling.
*Fwoosh!*
With that thought, Isabella vanished, transported back to the auditorium.
“Whew. Mission accomplished,”
Ed said, placing his hand on the orb.
A white light enveloped him, and he was instantly transported back to the auditorium.
But upon his return, he experienced a sense of déjà vu.
*This lighting…This temperature…This humidity…This atmosphere…*
The scene was strangely familiar.
Everyone stared at him in stunned silence.
Ed scratched the back of his head and muttered,
“Haha…The atmosphere is always like this whenever I come here…”
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I really hope the author switches to a “show-not-tell” writing style at some point. Seeing all the characters repetitively and one dimensionally praise the protagonist is getting old quickly. I’d much rather it simply show Ed himself performing the cool feats to us readers without a paragraph long summary of the various nameless students and a one off professors POV, as, in my opinion, that’s much cooler. I’d especially like it if the other main characters didn’t simply fawn over him now are they currently are either; where’s the want for self improvement after seeing Ed, a commoner, do so well? So far there doesn’t appear to be any. They also need areas to shine away from Ed’s influence, such as POV cuts to them doing their own things without thinking about him, rather than simply being around to get all starry eyed over him all the time. It’d give them more depth.