180 – Doubt (10)
The bell rang, signaling the start of sparring.
The noise from the audience surrounding the circular stadium suddenly quieted down.
It was the usual sparring, but Hayley clenched her fists as she put herself in Damien’s position.
In fact, Hayley couldn’t guarantee that Damian would definitely win. Objectively, Ruscus had the upper hand, but I just had a vague intuition that I believed he would do well.
Ruscus prepared to attack first, chanting a spell softly as if he was talking to himself.
In a sparring match between a wizard and a swordsman, the closer the distance is, the more disadvantageous the wizard is. Therefore, adjusting the gap between each other determines victory or defeat.
The wizard will catch his breath and try to secure time and space to cast magic, and the swordsman will do his best to drag him into close combat and distract him.
The problem is that Ruskus is skilled in two fields: swordsmanship and magic.
If you widen the distance, you will be showered with magic from a distance, and if you enter into close combat, you will be greeted with high-level swordsmanship.
When Ruscus cast a spell, dozens of ice spheres made by condensing water vapor appeared in the air.
Everyone exclaimed in exclamation at the strange sight of a combat club student skillfully casting magic.
The ice sphere started flying straight at Damian without giving him time to prepare.
Damian approached cautiously, as if testing his opponent’s strength, and twisted his body to avoid attacks and swat away some with his sword.
“Are you avoiding that with your bare body without any armor? “Well, that’s too much.”
The number of ice spheres was quite large. Although it seemed reckless to try to avoid the hail rain with his senses, Damian was unexpectedly good at dodging.
The speed was so severe that fist-sized ice was firmly embedded in the ground. One hit was enough to break a bone.
When she showed off her unexpectedly good movements, Neria sheepishly rubbed her chin.
“Hmm….”
It wasn’t just about quick reaction speed. His movements were concise, as if he read the opponent’s attack intention from the trajectory.
But he couldn’t fully grasp his capabilities in just a short movement.
When Damian tried to get close to Ruskus, an ice sphere was created again in the air and started pouring down like a shower. Thanks to that, Damian couldn’t get close easily.
Ruscus did not move a single step from where he was standing. And he continued to recite the spell without stopping.
Haley said after seeing this.
“It looks like Ruscus is preparing something big.”
Neria nodded her head in agreement.
“It’s a magic trap. “It’s intermediate level magic, so I guess I sharpened my sword during vacation.”
It was a magic that took time to complete casting and required concentration. In that case, I had to get close and cut off his magic, but Damian didn’t seem to notice.
“It looks like your junior is busy dealing with the ice sphere.”
According to Ruscus’ magic, the air was condensing, moisture was gradually entering the ground, and the color of the dirt was changing.
Once casting is complete, it will solidify immediately.
If Damian, who had no other options other than swordsmanship, fell into the magic trap, it was obvious that the sparring would end just like that.
And Damian didn’t do anything, perhaps because he didn’t notice this.
Haley chewed her lip as if she was nervous.
“Newbie….”
Neria shook her head as if she had already seen the ending.
Damian seemed to have difficulty taking any action other than avoiding the attack.
Even after several minutes, Damian showed no clear moves and was only toyed with by his ice sphere.
The fact that Ruscus did not move even a single step seemed to clearly show the difference in power.
As if the casting of the magic trap was finally over, Ruth Kurth kept his mouth shut and raised one corner of his mouth.
Then he spoke to Damian as if provoking him.
“I wonder how you gained Princess Vivi’s approval with those skills.”
Ruth Kurth sticks his palm out in the air. Then he took a deep breath and clenched his fists.
Then, the floor that Damien had soaked while he was distracted began to freeze in an instant.
In addition, Damian’s feet, which were avoiding the ice sphere, also froze along with his ground.
“… !”
Damian glared at Ruskus with embarrassed eyes.
Ruth Kurth looked at him and shook his head with a sad face.
“Think of working in the principality as a brief dream.”
Immediately, a wall of ice erupted from the ground and surrounded Damian layer after layer.
Damian was completely sealed like an animal trapped in a cage.
Haley sighed.
“Ah….”
The ice is so hard and thick that it is impossible to pierce with a sword. In fact, it has become incapable of combat. It was a complete Ruskers victory.
And the students in the audience who saw this were filled with admiration.
“Wow!”
Lucus’ face was pale, perhaps due to the high consumption of his magic power, but he waved his hand at the cheering crowd without losing a smile on his face.
And he did not forget to lightly greet the Ambassador of the Principality of Yulicia, who was sitting in the observer’s seat.
Convinced that the battle was over, he walked towards the waiting room tent. Then he felt a strange sense of discomfort and turned around again.
From Noble mtl dot com
No one in the audience stands up. And the teaching assistant doesn’t even come out and clean up after me.
This is because there was no bell to signal the end of the sparring.
Rus Kus sensed his strangeness and looked back at the ice prison he had created.
Even so, light was leaking from within the wall of ice.
Like a magic lamp made of crystal, the red light beautifully illuminated the surrounding area.
“…… ?”
With doubts in mind, I approached the ice prison again. And the moment he touched the wall for a moment.
The red-hot blade broke through the ice wall and protruded right in front of Ruskus’s eyebrows.
“Ugh, ugh!”
Startled, he hurriedly took a step back and pulled out his sword.
The sword that broke through the wall went back in, and flames spewed out fiercely through the hole.
Lucus, sensing a crisis, memorized more of his spells and cast his reinforcement magic.
Sheets of ice rose from the ground and began to surround the prison on all sides.
However, the speed of layering could not keep up with the speed of melting. Ruscus is
“What the hell is this?”
Soon after, Damien stuck his knife into the thick wall of ice and cut through it as easily as butter. Then he kicked away the broken ice wall and came out.
Damian held up the red-hot sword and brushed back his drenched hair.
A surprised murmur filled the audience. Hailey, who was watching this, clenched his fists and stood up and shouted.
“Yes! This is it! “Screw you all, newbies!”
Neria, who was next to her, endured her embarrassment and pulled down Hayley’s clothes to make her sit down and said,
“It’s not over yet. Even if Rus Cus’s magic power runs out, it is of no use if he cannot be subdued with swordsmanship.”
Now that we had defended against Ruskus’ special move, it was time to fight head-on.
Damian lunged straight at Ruth Kurth and swung his sword.
Kang!
The two swords clashed with each other.
Neria watched closely to see how Damian would turn out. However, she did not get a chance to properly observe his swordsmanship.
Kang! Kang! Kang!
This is because Ruscus’s sword flew away due to the force in just three strikes.
Neria couldn’t believe her own eyes for a moment.
Even though her body was exhausted due to her excessive magic, she overpowered Ruskus too easily.
Lucus quickly created snow powder in his hand and sprinkled it on Damian, then widened the distance and grabbed the knife.
Damian stretched out his arms and flicked his hands as if giving a signal.
Soon a fist-sized bird hiding inside the ice prison suddenly jumped out.
“Beep!!”
The bird seemed excited and flapped its wings wildly, spreading flames everywhere. The sparring hall became hot with heat, and the ice balls everywhere melted, spewing out white steam.
The students in the audience who saw this started talking here and there.
“Spirit? Was it a spiritist?”
“You were Professor Silverine’s student. “Of course there was something.”
Neria took out her notebook and looked again at the list of first-year candidates for the exchange program. Damian’s name was clearly not there.
After thinking about it for a while, Neria crossed out all of her other names except Sion and Gale and added Damien’s name.
She then looked down at the stadium again.
Because the steam was trapped in the magic barrier surrounding her sparring room, she instantly became foggy.
Although the type of magic swordsman was rare, a swordsman with her elemental skills was even rarer.
Unlike magic that requires a long time to cast, spirit magic was much more valuable in that elemental magic could be used without any preparation.
The lead in the game had now passed to Damian. However, I could not understand the intention behind creating fog that was disadvantageous in close combat.
Ruscus saw an opportunity and immediately jumped into a place filled with steam and disappeared.
***
Ruscus hid himself. Because he was in an unreasonable situation for intermediate level magic, he could not engage in a head-on confrontation right away.
His wrist had been throbbing terribly since he and Damian crossed swords.
“This… Crazy guy.”
That guy had monstrous strength that didn’t match his size. This was something Olivia had never heard of, so her embarrassment was indescribable.
He came to his senses and caught his breath. The plan was to take advantage of the gap where each other’s line of sight was blocked to gather as much of the remaining magical power as possible.
While I was busy chanting spells, I heard Damian’s voice.
“Ah, the princess’s trust was not gained for free.”
“… “You’re taking your time as if everything is over.”
Ruscus summoned an ice pick in the air and sent it flying toward the place where Damian’s voice was heard.
But there was no sign of anything.
And the moment I was about to place an order again.
Whoosh!
Like a counterattack, something flew out and struck the heart of Ruscus.
“Ugh!!”
Ruscus was so shocked that he fell over. He was exhausted and reflexively touched his chest.
A dagger was stuck in the leather armor. When I pulled it out and checked, it turned out to be a wooden sword with a blunt tip.
“Ha, ha, ha.”
My heart was pounding like it was going to explode. Damian hit the vital spot precisely in a situation where his vision was blocked. This was not an ordinary human sensation.
Lucus jumped up, clenched his sword and shouted.
“Come out! Pick up your sword and fight head on!”
Then Damian came out of the steam and punched him in the face.
Ruscus was unable to resist and fell to the floor.
Damian suddenly jumped on his body and struck him with his fists one after another.
The sound of merciless strikes rang out over and over again.
He shouted, flailing his arms.
“Stop it!”
Then Damian grabbed Ruth Kurth, who was bleeding from his nose, by the collar and said,
“Do you covet my achievements?”
“….”
He spoke as if he knew that Ruscus wanted to steal his achievements.
“If you prove that you are worthy of protecting the princess, I can hand over all of my roles to you.”
“….”
“On the other hand, if you are not qualified, don’t go near the princess again. Do you understand?”
“Cough, I am a born ‘child of the stars.’ With your recognition… Regardless, I am fully qualified. “You bastard.”
In the meantime, Lucus cast his magic and made the surroundings cold.
At that moment, Ruth Cuss felt a tightness in his heart.
“Wow!”
Immediately, the air began to weigh down his body as if it had become heavy.
A frightening amount of magical pressure suddenly erupted around Damian. It definitely didn’t come from Damian. In the air, something intangible was emitting a powerful presence.
“Heh, heo, heo, heo, what did you do…”
The moment when his body was twisted back and forth in pain and he felt like he was about to lose his breath.
The bell rang, signaling the end of sparring. And that enormous magical pressure disappeared in an instant.
Damian looked at Ruth Kurth, shook his head, and stood up.
“The star child is a mess.”
***
Trisha and her art club seniors came down to the sparring hall and were making a fuss and congratulating Damien as if he had won some kind of tournament.
Luna, who stuck her head out from the sparring evaluation waiting tent and watched the entire battle, cheered quietly after confirming that Damian had won. She wanted to go and celebrate with her, but she was secretly disappointed that she couldn’t because there were too many eyes on her.
While appreciating Damian’s appearance, I noticed a person in the waiting tent on the other side looking at Damian with happy eyes.
“… ?”
Gray blue hair.
She was the woman who faced Suho in front of him.
Her eyes that seemed filled with affection came across as a feeling of rejection to Luna. What does it have to do with Damian? She was a woman with many doubts, including her connection to Piyak.
Before Damian left the sparring hall led by the people around him, he glanced around at the waiting tent where Luna was.
And she waved her hand at Luna without anyone noticing. Startled, she hid her body.
After taking a moment to compose herself, she revealed herself again and timidly waved her hand.
Damian left the sparring hall after confirming Luna’s greeting.
When I checked the tent on the other side again, there was no sign of a woman with pale blue hair.
Is Ruscus’ ice still remaining somewhere? A cool wind blew inside the tent.