44 – Leviah
To be evaluated as excellent in magic, one must maximize efficiency with minimal mana usage. Therefore, it was natural that Macdolas neither liked nor highly evaluated the inefficient use of mana for show. In battle, magic is merely a tool for killing the opponent, and what matters more than how flashy it is, is how sharp it is.
Macdolas has always used magic to kill someone. And even around him, he has improved magic only for the efficient killing of humans and creatures.
But what about these people?
“Summoned beings with multiple randomly mixed attributes.”
There were about seven summoned beings. However, the summoned beings were all designed with a focus on the visual completeness as if they were fulfilling a promise, rather than the cohesion of mana. Their designs only showed how they were modified to utilize as many attributes as possible, rather than the efficiency of the mana used.
Macdolas steps forward. And soon, the voice of instructor Arnius is heard.
“The summoned being battle will begin soon. Owners of the summoned beings, activate them in automatic attack mode. Kael can fight as he wishes.”
Laughter seemed to come from beyond the screen.
They say things like, “Even a lowly inspector can’t summon a familiar,” or “There’s nothing they can do besides swinging their sword.”
I didn’t care. They would soon find out for themselves. That they were nothing more than frogs in a well, so to speak.
MacDerris drew his sword and headed towards the location of the familiars.
And as soon as the signal for the start from Instructor Arnius came, he charged straight at the familiars.
The first familiar was a creature resembling a golem based on wind and fire magic. It came crashing down with its hefty body, but MacDerris easily dodged and crawled underneath it.
The fatal weakness of the golem-type familiar was its lower body. MacDerris sliced through the golem’s legs with his sword, specifically targeting the joints. The creature stumbled and spewed flames. At the same time, it tried to strengthen the flames by exhaling wind from its hands.
“Futile.”
MacDerris immediately kicked off the golem’s arm, redirecting the direction of the flames. The golem, then, supported itself with fire, and the fire grew even larger thanks to the wind blowing out from its opposite arm.
Not long after, MacDerris plunged his sword into the charred head of the golem. Within 30 seconds, he had taken care of one familiar.
Following that, the other familiars started falling one by one using similar methods. When they shot ice-based magic, MacDerris swiftly avoided the slippery ground through a backflip and attacked quickly. And when attacks like lightning bolts came flying at him, he defended himself by pushing the corpse of the golem familiar he had killed earlier.
MacDerris made full use of the scattered familiars on the battlefield, even their remnants. The bodies, with various properties and flaws, were more useful in death than when they were alive.
After about three minutes, MacDerris was the only one left on the field.
“Instructor Arnius, is it over?”
Instructor Arnius, who had been staring blankly at the familiars that were either dead or returned to nature, finally responded after hearing Kael’s question.
“Familiar mock battle… First place goes to Kael.”
—
When MacDerris returned to the E-class area after leaving the combat area, the students’ eyes were noticeably different. If before they had sent him dismissive glances, now they were looking at him with suspicion.
As if answering their questions, Instructor Arnius spoke to MacDerris.
“Kael… You didn’t happen to use any artifacts, did you?”
Artifacts. They refer to magical tools that can be used even by non-magicians. In modern society, they are objects that have the power equivalent to firearms. Expensive artifacts could even perform the duties of a magician. Of course, using artifacts in a mock battle would be considered cheating.
“I didn’t use it. Don’t you know if you search my body?”
“Hmm…”
Arnius carefully examined Kael before stepping back. To him, nothing existed except for the sword.
“Well… congratulations.”
Kael accepted the awkward congratulations from the instructor and returned to his seat. But there was no one clapping. Instead, they sent him wary glances.
Sure enough, Tekas’ voice could be heard.
“What did you do?”
“What do you mean?”
Nonchalantly responding, Tekas’ face began to contort in an instant.
“What kind of nonsense did you do to destroy my summon with your bare hands? You inferior scum.”
“It was just that your summon was pathetic. Pathetic enough to be destroyed by an inferior weakling.”
Tekas was about to shout something, but soon burst into laughter and bowed his head. The guy whispered to me.
“Well, you’ll say it eventually. I guarantee you won’t escape this time. You have to take the same hit you took last time, right?”
I ignored him. There was no need to indulge in childish provocation.
Even after witnessing Kael’s exceptional performance, the people around him refused to acknowledge the sight. They could only think that there must have been some trick or cheating involved, or that there must have been something wrong with the summons.
Their defensive attitude was probably not simply because they disliked Kael. These guys couldn’t accept it. The fact that their own summons were destroyed by an inferior inspector who couldn’t even use magic.
MacDeras didn’t care. As time went on, he would inevitably move away from magical omnipotence. After all, he had always intended to deny magic head-on with his swordsmanship.
“Now that the summoning practice is over, I will give Kael the appropriate reward. And as I mentioned before, today we will change seats, so move according to what you see on the screen.”
Arnius displayed the pre-arranged seating plan on the blackboard, and the students began to move one by one. I also naturally changed seats.
At that moment, someone approached hesitantly. I glanced to the side and it was Levias. I thought he came to say something, but it wasn’t that. According to the seating plan, Levias was my partner.
“Of all the seats, why is he sitting right next to me?”
According to the posts on the online forum, Levya seems to be uncomfortable with Kael. In other words, she is uncomfortable with the current situation with McDullas. He has no intention of forcing emotions on her or forcing a friendship. Therefore, McDullas simply looked ahead, regardless of whether she sat down or spoke.
“Um…”
Levya spoke first. When I looked into her eyes, I felt a strong sense of curiosity.
“Tell me.”
“How did you do it in the summoning match just now? How did you kill all the summons without using any magic?”
“I was simply stronger than those summons.”
That’s not a lie. Even if you use magic, you still have to make effective hits. Since he focused on showing off flashy magic, there were not enough spells to bind or coordinate the opponent, so magic could not produce effective hits, and he could easily parry with just his swordsmanship.
But all of this is a story for when you have enough practical experience and combat knowledge. In short, it was because the summons created by the students here were overwhelmingly weaker than McDullas.
Levya hesitated for a moment as if she wanted to say something, and then spoke softly.
“My younger brother can’t use magic like you.”
“So?”
“He seems to be bullied at school… There is a culture of ostracizing people who can’t use magic.”
From Noble mtl dot com
“I see.”
“He came home yesterday with a lot of bruises. I tried to go to the school he attends to find out, but it was no use… And it turns out there is a noble child among the group that bullies him… Even if I told the instructors, nothing changed.”
“If you care about your brother, shouldn’t you use a stronger method regardless of whether there is a noble child or not? Or ask your parents for help.”
“It’s impossible… I… My parents are not here. I wanted to resolve it verbally as much as possible… but no matter how hard I try…”
“Bullying doesn’t disappear just because a third party intervenes. If those guys weren’t the type to listen even when told not to do it in the first place, they wouldn’t have done such things in the first place.”
Listening to the girl’s words, McDullas finally understood a little. What the girl said before
—That’s true, but… we made a promise… If you gather the courage… I’ll help you too.
The story of her saying that she would help Kael to escape from torment if he gathered the courage. MacDermott had no idea in what kind of atmosphere the conversation took place. It was a strange story. A guy with no emotional affinity confessing and posting a message on a malicious forum about feeling uncomfortable, and then saying that he would cooperate to escape from torment? Why? That was my thought.
I doubted if she was naturally a kind person, but now my doubts were resolved. The girl’s younger sister was in the same situation as Kael, and the girl must have seen Kael as her own brother.
Levia looked at me with hopeful eyes.
“Kael… If you have the swordsmanship skills like yours, my sister won’t be tormented… Or at least she won’t be ignored by those kids if she can imitate half of it.”
“Under one condition.”
When MacDermott interrupted the conversation, Levia looked at him with a bewildered expression and then spoke.
“By any chance… can you teach my sister a little swordsmanship…? I know it’s a selfish request. But you’re the only person I can talk to around here…”
MacDermott looked at Levia.
Kael liked Levia until the end, but he was ultimately rejected. On the other hand, Levia called Kael a good friend, but said she didn’t feel any romantic feelings towards him. She even said she was a little uncomfortable with his repeated confessions lately.
What was their relationship like? If I had talked about these worries, would Kael have listened to them one by one?
Perhaps Kael and Levia had a deeper relationship. The fact that Kael had multiple opportunities to confess to her was evidence that they had talked a lot.
“What answer did Kael give to Levia’s request?”
MacDermott only knew a fragmentary part about Kael. A combination of posts and comments on the community, as well as short entries in his diary.
However, MacDermott was certain. If Kael had been in this situation, he would have gladly accepted her proposal with joy. Perhaps he even had a foolish dream of becoming closer and confessing again.
This kind of relationship was not right. Kael would have just been dragged along like this. From an overwhelming position of power, he would have endlessly yearned for love.
Kael might think it’s absurd if he saw it, but MacDermott acted according to his own conviction. He looked at Levia and spoke clearly.
“Why should I help you? You were uncomfortable with me from the beginning.”