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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuzio
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I’m not weak in a head-on fight.
Well, not exactly weak, more like average.
I could hold my own up to a point, but in a straight fight against an experienced adventurer warrior, I’d be cornered and overwhelmed without much of a counterattack.
I kept sparring with Prion at the academy because it was fun. It was entertaining to practice a fighting style I wouldn’t normally use.
He wasn’t second-ranked for nothing.
His weapon skills were impressive, which was why my win rate against him wasn’t great.
It might sound like an excuse, but I didn’t usually rely on this kind of direct approach.
As soon as the bell rang, Prion charged at me, sword in hand, without a word.
He looked like he was fighting for his life.
I, however, had no intention of fighting like I did during our usual sparring matches.
This wide-open space was prepared specifically for our duel, and I had countless experiences scouting in open terrain.
The primary objective of scouting was to remain undetected, but I wasn’t superhuman.
My success rate for returning unnoticed was around 80%.
The remaining 20% involved facing monsters alone, often further ahead than the front lines, until backup arrived.
And I’d survived.
I’d held my own while waiting for my comrades.
Whether it was a single, powerful monster or a horde of them, I’d endured.
I bounced lightly on the balls of my feet, warming up as I recalled those past experiences.
Swish—!
I twisted my body slightly, dodging the sharp thrust aimed at me.
“
”
Prion followed up with magic.
I ducked, avoiding the bright red orb that shot from his staff.
As I lowered my stance, I sensed a sword strike aimed at my neck.
I placed a hand on the ground and propelled myself sideways, escaping the attack.
“…You’ve improved since then.”
“A good stance starts with strong legs.”
I casually parroted Tolman’s words as if they were my own.
Prion continued his assault without a word.
He seemed accustomed to wielding weapons in both hands and multitasking.
He chanted, swung his staff, and somehow managed to wield his sword with the same ferocity he displayed during our sparring sessions.
But I didn’t let a single attack land.
He was fierce, I’ll give him that.
His curved sword strikes were fluid and sharp, their trajectory difficult to predict.
The lethal basic magic spells he launched at me exploded in awkward positions, making them tricky to avoid.
So, I decided to take him a bit more seriously.
I only had a single dagger.
No potions, no ranged weapons.
But that was fine.
Real-life situations were often far more dire.
I parried the sword aimed at my right thigh.
Using the momentum, I twisted my body and swung upwards.
The sharp ice shard that would have struck my head shattered against my dagger.
Maintaining the momentum, I leaned forward, closing the distance between us and moving into a position just out of reach of his sword.
Prion aimed a knee at my solar plexus.
I blocked it with my elbow.
“Damn it… Why won’t you just get hit?!”
He tried to strike my exposed face with his elbow.
I met his attack with my forehead, dispersing the impact.
A sickening thud echoed through the training grounds, but I didn’t feel any pain.
Prion, however, let out a triumphant laugh, as if he’d finally landed a successful blow.
“Are you out of breath yet?”
“What are you talking about?”
“The next one will hurt more.”
Prion took a deep breath, focusing his energy.
I couldn’t bring myself to ruin his concentration by pointing out how poorly he fought in a real brawl.
I twirled my dagger, waiting for him to finish.
When he seemed ready, he aimed his sword at me and resumed his attack.
This time, he focused on close combat, incorporating his staff into his attacks.
He switched to primarily thrusting with his sword and swung his staff in wide arcs, creating a series of difficult-to-counter attacks.
I scraped my feet against the dirt floor, narrowly avoiding each blow.
One thrust grazed my cheek, but that was the extent of the damage.
I’d done well to avoid the rest.
“…Stop dodging…!”
“You know getting worked up won’t help you, right?”
“Shut up… Shut up…”
His staff, now reduced to a blunt weapon, grazed me.
His sharp thrusts also missed their mark.
Prion seemed bewildered by the fact that his attacks were only connecting glancing blows.
He’d probably never experienced this before.
“Right… It’s better to end this quickly than to keep getting annoyed…”
Muttering to himself, Prion began chanting.
I wasn’t an expert on magic, but I recognized the formal incantation he was using.
Scattering Gale.
A wind-based magic spell that unleashed sharp gusts of wind, strong enough to cut skin, within a radius of several dozen meters.
It was a wide-area spell, leaving little room for evasion.
Prion continued chanting, his eyes fixed on me.
He was already thinking about his next move, his sword still pointed at me.
He definitely had the makings of a mage.
I finished my assessment and crouched low, approaching Prion.
I moved silently, leaving no footprints in the dirt.
The hushed murmurs from the crowd suggested they were impressed by my stealth.
Prion was focused on me, but he couldn’t predict my next move.
He probably had three options for me to choose from: attack, disrupt his concentration, or silence him.
He was likely anticipating an attempt to interrupt his spellcasting.
His unstable magical aura exposed his nervousness.
I answered his tension by straightening my spine, pushing off with my thighs and glutes.
Prion finished his chant and drew his sword back, ready to thrust.
I grabbed his wrist and pressed down hard on the bandaged fingers where his fingernails had been ripped out.
AAAAAAGH!!!”
If you see a weakness, exploit it.
It was Prion’s fault for revealing his weakness and not protecting it.
We were wielding real swords.
This was a fight where lives could be lost in an instant.
So, this wasn’t cheating!
“Y-you… Coward…”
Splat— A black, semi-solid lump, the byproduct of a failed spell, landed on the ground.
Prion sputtered indignantly, but as I’d said before, this wasn’t cowardly.
“Haha. This isn’t a sparring match, you know?”
I kicked the lump at his feet.
The pitch-black mud splattered against Prion’s pristine uniform.
Prion grimaced at the sticky, semi-solid mess and growled.
“…Are you kidding me?”
“Huh? Didn’t they teach you this?”
“Teach me what? How to piss someone off by throwing mud?”
I answered Prion’s question by kicking at the dirt floor.
The dry, hardened ground crumbled under my repeated kicks.
The dust and dirt clung to the black lump on Prion’s uniform.
It looked like one of those sticky toys kids played with, covered in glitter.
Prion looked bewildered by my sudden actions, clearly not understanding what I was doing.
“Playtime’s over.”
Prion tried to move, but he couldn’t.
He was probably feeling a bit sluggish.
The byproduct of a failed spell wouldn’t be considered dangerous if it just resulted in a black lump.
The real danger lay in the unstable magical energy contained within.
It reacted to everything.
It exploded when it came into contact with fire magic, became heavier with earth magic, and froze everything around it with ice magic.
Even left alone, it absorbed ambient mana, making its effects unpredictable.
After a while, the concentrated mana would dissipate into the air, rendering it useless.
Despite this, some adventurers and mercenaries found ways to utilize it.
But it didn’t matter.
This was just for show.
“Y-you… Bastard…”
Prion tried to move his arms and legs, but they were heavy, as if weighed down by lead weights.
He’d be vulnerable for the next five seconds or so.
And in a real fight, a five-second opening was a death sentence.
I wasn’t soft enough to let him off the hook.
I could just stab him in the heart.
—I wanted to say that dramatically, but honestly, I wanted to see Prion dancing naked in the plaza.
And if I actually killed him here, it would damage the academy’s reputation.
So,
“Haha! Get ready to strip down to your underwear and dance!”
Even I thought I sounded like a villain as I raised my fist.
For a moment, I had a strange feeling that I was the one about to get beaten, but it was just a fleeting thought.
—Wham!!
My fist connected squarely with Prion’s face, sending him sprawling backwards, blood spurting from his nose.
Even if I lacked physical prowess, I’d lived a hard life.
My punch was strong enough to knock some sense into this academy rookie.
Prion crumpled to the ground, his face a bloody mess.
Those who’d bet on Prion, confident in his title as second-ranked cadet, erupted in a frenzy of curses and insults.
Those who’d bet on me, despite the ridicule, cheered wildly.
I raised my blood-stained fist in the air, basking in the cheers of the crowd, relishing my victory.
Praise me more!
And for those who know me, take the secret of me beating a cadet to your graves!
I refrained from saying, “I can’t wait to see you dance in your underwear!” I simply looked towards where my former comrades were, filled with a sense of satisfaction at having defeated the second-ranked cadet without shedding a drop of my own blood.
The cheers of the crowd and the condemnation of Prion mingled, creating a deafening roar.
Thankfully, my limited vision spared me from the usual wave of self-loathing.
However, the constant barrage of noise was disorienting, momentarily distracting me.
I’d told Prion this wasn’t a sparring match, but I’d been treating it as one.
I was afraid that if I truly considered it a real fight, I might instinctively finish him off.
Because of that, I’d assumed the fight was over when Prion fell.
I’d forgotten about the crowd that had gathered.
I suddenly became aware of Rain, Sola, and Lian’s magical auras, feeling as if their gazes, like piercing eyes, were fixed on me.
My body, momentarily frozen, reacted a beat too late.
Amidst the commotion, I heard the faint sounds of a sword being gripped and a hand hitting the ground.
Instinct screamed danger.
I twisted my body, anticipating an attack from that direction.
But I couldn’t dodge completely.
Thud—
“…Bastard…”
Prion, muttering a curse, plunged his rapier into my shoulder before collapsing.
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[Really really sorry for being absent this week after missing last week, but the whole site going down and other life crises distracted me, i’ll try to not miss any more in the future, it’s really important to me that there’s a steady release schedule]
