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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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It was difficult due to the pain that felt like my whole body was burning.
But it wasn’t to the extent that I felt like I was dying or that it severely restricted my movements.
So this wasn’t really a penalty.
It acted more like a stimulant that heightened adrenaline.
“Huff…”
How could I defeat Trie without a weapon?
Use ‘Selection and Concentration’ on magical power to overwhelm her with superior formula deployment speed?
That was impossible.
Not at this distance.
The blade would reach my neck before I could even pour magical power into a formula.
The only answer was hand-to-hand combat.
Barehanded, against the future sword saint, the strongest swordswoman.
Ironically, that was the method with the highest chance of winning.
If I activated my internal circuits to the maximum, maybe there would be a way…
‘I can’t see a way to win.’
No.
My opponent was a monster who had toyed with me multiple times even when I faced her with a sword.
Even if I invested ‘Selection and Concentration’ in agility or strength, I’d only be able to dodge and run from her sword at best.
I couldn’t waste my ability on something meaningless.
Still, I decided not to give up.
I had to at least try.
“Start!”
As soon as the signal was given, Trie predictably lunged towards me.
Her first strike would aim for my neck with her sword.
First, I’d strengthen my body with internal circuits and just dodge that…
And then… um…
Oh well, I’ll think about it after I dodge.
“Oh?!”
“…?”
Trie stopped, her eyes wide open.
She wasn’t one to lose her composure just from being surprised.
She must have seen something threatening that made her stop her approach.
Ziiing…
A crackling sound was echoing.
From my right side.
I turned my stiff neck to look down at my right hand.
An unbelievable sight was unfolding below.
‘What is this…?’
A blue flash of light was slowly being drawn out from my palm.
My thoughts froze for a moment, wondering what on earth this was.
The flickering, undulating light looked somewhat like electricity, and somewhat like a beam.
The pillar of light came down almost to my feet, then stopped expanding.
I felt a strong urge.
A strong urge that was difficult to explain with reason or evidence.
That urge was telling me to grasp this light.
It was impossible to resist this instinct-like urge.
Whoosh…!
As I clenched my right fist, the shape of the light pillar changed.
The pillar that had been splitting into multiple streams and scattering light was now converging into one place.
Soon, the light pillar took the form of a long rod grasped in my hand.
No, not a rod.
This was…
“A greatsword?!”
Yes.
It was a longsword.
Although its flickering, undulating form wasn’t clear and smooth, but with a handle that could be grasped by hand.
A guard extended on both sides, and a long blue blade extended out, it could only be called a longsword.
“Ha…”
A smile escaped my lips.
I had finally realized the identity of this bluish lightsaber.
A weapon that transformed into the optimal form for its user.
It was Vafe.
I had wondered why it was so quiet after being absorbed into my right hand.
It seemed Vafe had transformed into a weapon that used mana energy as fuel.
As evidence, even though my internal circuits were busy working, I wasn’t getting nosebleeds, feeling dizzy, or collapsing.
Since it didn’t appear when I was dying from mana energy erosion last time, it probably only used mana energy generated by internal circuits as fuel.
I figured out Vafe’s characteristics as much as possible in the short time, turning my head quickly.
“Wow… I didn’t know you still had surprises left, Teacher.”
“Stop calling me Teacher.”
“Why?”
“Because it would be embarrassing to be called Teacher and then lose.”
“Heh. Are you already making excuses?”
Trie raised her sword again and took her stance.
She seemed to have pretended to be surprised when something crawled out of my hand…
She had apparently waited for me to take out and grasp a weapon.
Thanks to that, a fair fight was established.
I should fight without using my ability too.
After firing off one mana emission in the third match, I had about 30 mana left…
This should be enough to run internal circuits.
“Excuses? Of course not.”
I also raised the light sword high and took my stance.
It was the same upper stance as Trie’s.
A stance that focused only on attack, without regard for defense.
If I tried to halfheartedly defend against Trie’s sword, it would definitely break through.
It was much more hopeful to wish that my sword would be faster.
Trie seemed to have the same thought.
“Come at me, Trie.”
“Kuh!”
Our swords rushed towards each other simultaneously.
The blades flew at exactly the same angle, but in opposite directions.
At this rate, it would end in a draw.
The artifact would raise the hand of the one who was minutely faster, but in a real battle, both our necks would have been cut off.
And a swordswoman who has something to protect would never choose such a match.
Ziing!
The trajectories of the two swords twisted simultaneously and collided between us.
Instead of a clear metallic sound, a crackling noise echoed through the arena.
At the moment of impact.
The sensation transmitted to my fingertips was different from usual.
Usually, the vibration would be transmitted through the handle as the sword shook, but this time I felt nothing.
In other words, this light sword had absorbed all of the shock.
It felt very awkward because it was different from usual, but…
This was certainly not a disadvantage.
“What?! It feels like you’ve gotten faster…!”
I attempted a counterattack with the back of the blade immediately, without any stiffening time.
As a result, Trie was the one pushed onto the defensive.
It was the opposite of the usual situation.
The more our swords clashed, the faster the swords moved, the greater the speed gap between Trie and me became.
I needed to end it when I had the advantage…
“Ah. I see.”
“Ugh!”
Trie instantly read the cause of the speed difference.
She switched from defense to offense and dove into my embrace.
When longswords got this close, it became impossible to swing them widely.
In other words, there was no chance for large impacts to occur.
“You’ve never beaten me in wrestling, have you?”
“Damn it…”
The situation had become quite complicated.
My left hand was on Trie’s right wrist.
Trie’s left hand was on my right wrist.
We were in a position where we were sealing each other’s swords and having a test of strength.
But I knew from having this kind of fight several times.
This wasn’t a problem that could be solved by stubbornly relying on strength.
It meant we would eventually have to abandon our swords.
Clang…!
Trie’s sword rolled on the ground.
At the same time, I opened my right hand and the pillar of light was instantly sucked back into my palm.
I had to end the match quickly.
Without Vafe, I would have to fully endure the mana energy produced by internal circuits with my body.
“Ugh!”
Trie pulled my arm and delivered a knee kick.
There was no way to block it.
All I could do was pull my waist back as much as possible to reduce the impact and launch a counterattack.
Time was really tight.
There was only one way to catch Trie within that time.
To inflict a critical hit to restrict her movement.
Honestly, it was nearly impossible for me to hit Trie’s almost perfectly protected vital points with my skill level.
Even if it wasn’t a vital point, inflicting a strong hit to apply a debuff through pain was the most realistic option.
“Uh, eh?”
And that opportunity came sooner than I thought.
Trie seemed to be conscious of my kick, and her step became tangled.
It was a chance to attack her upper body.
I swung my arm, aiming for the very brief moment when Trie couldn’t move.
This would inevitably force Trie to protect her head, a vital point.
However, my target wasn’t her head, but her shoulder.
Whack!
“Argh!”
My hand blade struck properly, shattering Trie’s shoulder blade.
Done.
I had inflicted a critical hit on Trie first.
From now on, if I just didn’t let my guard down, I could easily win…
“Huh?”
Or so I should have.
At that moment, my body was suddenly lifted.
Trie grabbed my arm as if hugging it, then spun around and carried me on her back.
Wait. This technique looked familiar.
At that moment, my field of vision spun wildly.
Bang!
“Guh!”
I was slammed to the ground, my waist taking the impact.
Damn… a back throw…
I had forgotten.
That Trie had mastered all martial arts.
Getting caught by a judo technique after giving up my arm was as natural as the laws of nature.
Although it didn’t make sense that she could do a back throw with a shattered shoulder…
“I’ve got you, Teacher.”
“Ugh.”
As my waist was whining and refusing to listen, a flick hit my forehead.
Damn. It’s over.
“I surrender.”
“Phew!”
As soon as I declared surrender, the pain that felt like it was burning my entire body disappeared.
However, the pain that made my waist feel like it had turned to powder remained.
I grabbed Trie’s hand and struggled to get up.
Trie’s left arm was dangling, but she didn’t look in pain at all.
Was she even human…?
“Oh no, oh no, what should I do? I won!”
“Yeah. Congratulations.”
“No! That’s not it! Since I won, doesn’t that mean I’m the top student for the first semester?”
I wondered what she was talking about as she suddenly started making a fuss with a trembling voice.
Was she bad at arithmetic?
“Don’t worry. Even considering this, I’m still barely the top student.”
“Oh, really? Wow! That’s a relief. I thought it was going to be a big problem!”
“If you were that worried, you could have let me win. That would have made it certain.”
“Come on. How could I throw a match? That’s not possible.”
If you totaled the scores from the previous tests and surprise exams, even if I came second in this tournament, I would still narrowly take the top spot in the first year, first semester Battle Magic class.
This meant I could rest easy about one of the two majors.
Although it was essentially a final match where winning or losing didn’t matter much, I had no regrets because I had given it my all.
“Why did you two fight so fiercely…? Congratulations, Trie. You’re the winner of the tournament.”
“Thank you, Professor.”
“Go to the medical staff quickly. Get your shoulder treated first.”
“Yes!”
“Don’t you need to get your waist treated?”
“No, I’ll be fine.”
It was still a bit sore, but not to the extent that I couldn’t bear it.
I smiled awkwardly and straightened my back.
Ah, damn. It hurts too much.
Maybe I should get treatment after all.
“Schlus. Your nose is bleeding.”
“Ah… Yes.”
I turned around and quickly wiped the nosebleed, but the way the students were looking at me was unusual.
They were whispering a lot… I couldn’t hear well, maybe because I was tired.
Trie was the winner, so why were they looking at me like that?
Actually, I didn’t have time to think about such things.
The Elemental Magic exam was until tomorrow.
I needed to go back quickly and focus on the exam right away.
“Schlus!”
“Trie. Is your shoulder okay?”
“It’s well attached, hehe. They told me to avoid intense exercise for a while.”
“Right. It would be good to avoid that.”
“So I’ll just do about 200 push-ups today.”
“…”
That was what she called restraint.
Her way of thinking seemed completely different from mine.
“How many do you usually do?”
“500.”
“Is that considered restraint…?”
“Even if I do 200, I can do them in sets instead of all at once!”
She meant to reduce the burden on her shoulder by doing them in sets?
Wait a minute.
In sets?
“Ah.”
“What’s wrong, Schlus?”
“Thank you, Trie! Thank you so much!”
“Huh? I’m all sweaty!”
Thanks to Trie, a brilliant idea came to mind.
An idea to break through the problem I was stuck on.
I was so happy that I ended up hugging Trie tightly.
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She was a big help.
???