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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Silverriver
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At Iliad Academy, after classes ended, there was a short break before the next class. Since this coincided with lunch, the academy had likely provided extra time.
The training grounds, equipped with various training tools and wooden swords, were also a suitable place for sparring. Several students I’d seen during the entrance exam were already there, honing their skills. Not just from Class A, but also from Classes B and C.
Anyone who had entered Iliad Academy would have been considered a genius elsewhere. Not making it into Class A would have bruised their young egos.
Thwack
The sound of wooden swords clashing. Students paired up for sparring or trained individually, lifting weights. Some gathered mana using unique cultivation techniques.
Those who stood out caught my eye. Even if their mana was still at the beginner level, the fact that they could wield it at their age was impressive.
“Haaaah!”
A resounding shout. A swift strike sent the opponent’s wooden sword flying. The opponent raised both hands in surrender.
“You’ve been at it for over ten minutes. Aren’t you running out of mana?”
“I can still go.”
Class B.
“Impressive, Ruberic.”
Ruberic Caius. The second son of the Caius Earldom. He was a prominent figure in the training grounds. He was so strong that it was hard to understand why he didn’t make it into Class A.
His mana control was nearing the intermediate level, surpassing the beginner stage. Most in the training grounds knew that Ruberic would advance to Class A in the next promotion test.
He let out a ragged breath and calmed his aura. The black mana he’d seen during the entrance exam, the mark of an intermediate mana user, still lingered in his mind.
‘Deron Philasia.’
The eldest son of the Philasia Dukedom, who bowed to no one except the Imperial Family. Known as the disgrace of the nobility, a good-for-nothing with only a pretty face.
Ruberic didn’t outwardly show it, but he felt inferior to Deron. He had only seen him once, at a ball when they were younger.
But it wasn’t just about their families’ ranks. It was a man-to-man comparison.
Deron’s appearance, the epitome of noble grace, his unwavering posture despite his frailty… He had captivated the hearts of numerous young ladies who flocked to his side.
Deron, however, kept everyone at arm’s length.
He hadn’t appeared in social circles since then. Rumors abounded, but few had actually seen him. Injured servants occasionally emerged from the Dukedom, and the stories from nobles who had brief encounters with Deron were less than favorable.
And because the Duke didn’t bother to quell these rumors, whispers spread through the social circles that Deron Philasia had lost his father’s favor.
Around that time, Ruberic had also lost interest in Deron. He had assumed he would never see him again.
If only he hadn’t heard the news of Deron entering Iliad Academy.
He had scoffed when he first heard it. What could a sickly nobleman possibly hope to achieve here?
If Deron hadn’t displayed the mark of an intermediate mana user during the entrance exam, he might have ended up in Class B.
“Next.”
Ruberic caught his breath and looked for his next opponent. But no one caught his eye. Those who were close to his level had already been defeated.
“Hmm, is this the training grounds?”
A familiar voice echoed through the room. Ruberic instinctively turned towards the source of the sound.
His eyes widened.
The object of his resentment and inferiority.
Deron was entering the training grounds. Walking steadily, without a trace of his usual frailty.
Some people commanded attention simply by their presence. Deron was one of them.
The moment he entered, the atmosphere shifted. Everyone’s gaze turned from Ruberic to Deron.
And then, their attention shifted once more.
It was because of the girl Deron had brought with him.
Agnes. A young noblewoman whose family remained undisclosed. Silver hair cascading down to her waist, a chillingly beautiful face, and eyes like diamonds.
If Deron commanded attention with his presence, Agnes captivated with her beauty.
A striking pair.
Ruberic unconsciously gritted his teeth. But oblivious to the attention, Deron led Agnes to the wooden sword rack.
They each selected a suitably sized wooden sword and assumed their stances. They exchanged a few words, but their voices were too low to be heard.
“Haa!”
Agnes lunged at Deron with a shout. Her silver hair whipped around her as frost formed in the air.
The tip of her wooden sword instantly froze.
‘A Magic Swordsman?’
Not an intangible aura, but actual ice. Swordsmen weren’t like mages, capable of manipulating magic power to conjure elements. Nor did they fight from a distance like mages. Ruberic was certain Agnes was a Magic Swordsman.
Clang!
The sound of the frost-covered wooden sword clashing against another was unusually solid. Deron had coated his sword in Aura. A transparent Aura with a subtle black tinge, indicating a beginner-level mana nearing the intermediate stage.
Knowing that Deron was an intermediate mana user, Ruberic assumed he was holding back against the Magic Swordsman. Magic Swordsmen were arrogant fools who tried to master two disciplines at once.
Ruberic wasn’t wrong in his assessment; most people shared his opinion.
The combination of attacks, however, slightly altered Ruberic’s perspective.
Clang! Clang!
The frost gradually coalesced, forming icicles that shot towards Deron. Simultaneously, the ice-covered sword lunged for his waist.
It was as if a mage and a swordsman were attacking simultaneously. But Deron’s expression remained unchanged.
He effortlessly deflected the icicles with his sword and, with his free hand, lightly tapped the flat side of Agnes’s blade, redirecting its trajectory.
Agnes’s wooden sword sliced through the air, missing its target. And in the next instant, Deron’s wooden sword flew towards her neck.
Agnes gulped and dropped her sword, signaling her surrender.
Ruberic unconsciously broke out in a cold sweat as he watched the spar. If Agnes had been attacking him, not Deron… Even if he had been in Deron’s place, could he have defended against that attack so flawlessly?
Impossible. Even if he managed to block the sword, he would have been hit by the icicles.
‘And then the follow-up attack.’
Deron had adjusted his grip in that split second and redirected the swift thrust with his bare hand.
“Incredible…”
It was inhuman. That chilling focus, that dynamic vision.
Was this man truly the Deron he knew? Perhaps the rumors about his illness were false.
That thought dominated Ruberic’s mind. Deron looked far too healthy to be sick.
No one dared to approach the pair. Captivated by Deron’s display and Agnes’s impressive skills, they neglected their own training.
Ruberic gritted his teeth and approached them.
To confirm the truth.
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‘I didn’t expect it, but it’s really Ruberic.’
I had come to the training grounds simply to test my body. To see how far I could push my improved physical abilities after consuming the Ice Essence.
So I brought Agnes, someone I had a bit of familiarity with, to spar.
‘But why is Ruberic here?’
Ruberic Caius. The boss of the first story arc. The second son of the Caius Earldom, consumed by inferiority and resentment towards the protagonist after the entrance exam, leading him to make a deal with the demons.
Perhaps it was worsened by constantly being compared to his older brother.
‘But to make a deal with the demons?’
No matter the circumstances, a villain was a villain. No one could escape the consequences of their actions, regardless of their reasons.
After recognizing Ruberic, my focus shifted entirely to him. I told Agnes to control her power.
Of course, I was fighting seriously.
Agnes followed my instructions and didn’t even hint at using her Icicle Field. She only used a fraction of her simultaneous activation ability.
Through the spar, I confirmed my limitations. Without using lifespan, my mana was only around the upper beginner level.
‘The only unusual thing was the black tinge.’
Strangely, even when using ordinary mana, the Black Dragon’s mana mixed in. It was significantly more powerful than regular mana, and it didn’t seem to drain my lifespan, so it wasn’t a problem…
The question was why it was mixing in.
Thanks to the mixed mana, it was relatively easy to subdue Agnes. I might be physically weak, but my vision was sharp.
Agnes looked slightly frustrated, but she knew I wasn’t using my full strength, so she didn’t complain.
But I couldn’t focus on her. I felt two intense gazes from the moment we began sparring.
One was from Ruberic, and the other from Erina.
I could understand Erina’s stare, given her overactive imagination, but Ruberic… why was he glaring at me like that?
I couldn’t understand it. Ruberic’s gaze held the same resentment and inferiority described when he looked at Lee Han, the protagonist.
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