25
No matter what anyone said, the highlight of the inter-grade competition was the showdown between the 2nd and 3rd years.
The freshmen, who had not been at the school for long, had not yet blossomed with any notable talent, hence there was nothing particularly interesting about them.
But it was different from the 2nd year onwards. They began to develop their own skills in earnest.
If the freshmen were just mediocre buds not blossoming with talent, from the 2nd year onwards, it was said they could create a blue that could surpass even the 3rd years.
Like Yuscal Arciather, who was currently completely overwhelming the 3rd-year students in the arena.
“How many spells can you cast at once?”
“Not just a few, all of those are 3rd circle magic spells.”
“Wow, that’s it?”
Students watching Yuscal’s sparring from the stands exclaimed in admiration.
Yuscal’s magic, with light and flames flying all around, was incredibly mysterious.
The 3rd-year students of the warrior class danced around like puppets under the magical extravaganza resembling a spirit’s masquerade.
They seemed to struggle to block the spells shooting from all directions, flailing their arms and legs as if manipulated by a puppeteer like Yuscal.
Not only did it look flashy on the surface, but the level of his magic was also astonishing.
Handling five 3rd circle spells simultaneously required skills at least above the mid-tier of the 3rd years at Eternity. Hence, the enthusiasm in the stands was fervent.
“Yuscal! Yuscal!”
“Wow!”
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Voices cheering Yuscal echoed from all directions, piercing my ears.
And I couldn’t just stand there in awe.
“His magic skills are amazing.”
Watching Yuscal knock down the 3rd-year student and wave to the stands, I clicked my tongue.
In the original game, although Cheon Woo-jin had lost to Yuuscal and his light had dimmed, Yuuscal was a master of magic to the point of being nicknamed “Magical Tuner.”
He was a monster ranking in the top three of the second year, designed from the start to be strong enough to lift Cheon Woo-jin. I had to defeat such a monster.
It was a situation that made curses almost involuntary, but surprisingly, my heart was calm.
“It doesn’t seem like I’ll lose easily.”
To be honest, the gap between Yuuscal and me was so significant that it was insufficient to express it with words.
If Yuuscal’s magical power was the ocean, my energy was merely a cup of water scooped from that ocean.
Not to mention the skill, even the endurance to sustain it was lacking. Far from a match, I was at the level of needing guidance.
However, this time, the situation was a bit special.
Yuuscal was solely focused on ‘magical tuning,’ making him the polar opposite of me, who used anti-magic.
Ironically, even if I heated up Icarus’s ring, it would become meaningless. The moral of the story was that you had to stick around to understand.
With a lowered head, I watched the following matches.
The matches between the third and second years were so dazzling that they overflowed with spectacle.
And all of this was a preparatory stage to fill the excitement when the protagonist of the original work, Cheon Woo-jin, defeated Yuuscal Arse, the main event stage prepared to enhance the excitement was the Battle of Eungaye and Eun Sobek.
By the way, in the original work, Eungaye was almost toyed with by Eun Sobek and faced a futile defeat.
Eun Sobek had a flawed character, but within the second year, he was a strong contender in the top five.
And as Cheon Woo-jin comforted the frustrated Eungaye after losing to Eun Sobek, Eungaye joined the protagonist’s team.
“It will be completely different this time.”
I found myself looking intently at Eungaye on the battle stage.
***
“You came out without fear.”
Eun Sobek praised Eungaye as they both stood on the battle stage, as if admiring him. Eun Sobek’s expression seemed full of composure.
It was because Eun Sobek had never lost to Eungaye once. And that would likely be the case this time as well.
Hmm.
A magical energy, like water flowing, gathered around Eun Sobek’s sword. The energy rippled through space beyond the sword.
Eungaye’s sword technique, Cheongharyu (清河流), likened to a relentless river flow.
Cheongharyu was a sword technique that could deflect all attacks like water.
And Eun Sobek was a genius who could freely manipulate this Cheongharyu.
“Go ahead and strike as much as you want.”
“You’re amusing.”
Eungaye chuckled. Despite the invitation to strike freely, Eun Sobek maintained a stance ready for a counterattack at any moment.
An individual whose words and actions did not align. That was the essence of Eun Sobek.
“Hoo.”
Eungaye, with a composed expression, raised her sword.
With her sword, a blue aura similar to Eun Sobek’s emerged. However, her aura was rougher and fiercer compared to Eun Sobek’s. Seeing this, Eun Sobek pretended to be surprised.
“Oh, but seeing that your magical power doesn’t burst out like before, you’ve improved a lot. Still pathetic as ever though. hahahaha!”
Without feeling the need to respond, Eungaye dashed forward, pounding the ground.
Casually standing as if to receive it, Eun Sobek lightly deflected Eungaye’s approaching sword, then swiftly aimed for her shoulder with a lightning-fast thrust.
Anticipating this, Eungaye parried Eun Sobek’s sword, and a fierce exchange of blows ensued between them for a while.
“Wow, they’re both serious.”
“Are they completely frozen against Eun Sobek?”
“That’s a first-year student?”
Those who had shown no particular interest in first-year students were starting to buzz with surprise at Eun Ga-ye’s unexpected performance.
It was because, at first glance, Eun Ga-ye seemed to be holding her own against Eun Sobek without falling behind at all. But I knew that wasn’t the case.
Making it look ‘frozen’ was all part of Eun Sobek’s strategy.
‘If they mistakenly think their skills are similar, they would try to settle the match with swordsmanship.’
The sound was that Eun Sobek had intended to engage Eun Ga-ye in combat from start to finish to unsettle her pace.
Eun Ga-ye’s forte was not swordsmanship but her unique intense magic power.
On the other hand, Eun Sobek excelled in swordsmanship utilizing the flow of water, so if it came down to a sword fight, it would be impossible for Eun Ga-ye to defeat Eun Sobek.
Deflecting every attack in close combat with ease. That was the morale the flow of water possessed.
‘That’s why Eun Ga-ye has never beaten Eun Sobek.’
Moreover, while Eun Sobek was conserving energy by deflecting attacks, Eun Ga-ye, who was on the offensive, was becoming more labored.
And at one moment, as Eun Ga-ye relentlessly pressed on, she began to be pushed back. Judging that the time was ripe, Eun Sobek ceased deflecting and went on the offensive.
Eun Ga-ye stood her ground, but she couldn’t advance at all against Eun Sobek’s black water flow.
Eun Sobek sensed victory and relentlessly pressed on against Eun Ga-ye.
“Is this… over?”
“Yeah, it’s a shame. They put up quite a fight.”
“If the opponent is Eun Sobek, this is to be expected.”
The students, as if expecting the outcome, took Eun Sobek’s victory for granted.
Indeed, Eun Ga-ye, caught in Eun Sobek’s pace, had been pushed to the outskirts of the stage. But this, too, had been anticipated.
‘It’s about time.’
As I harbored such thoughts, a faint sound rang out ominously. Then, as Eun Ga-ye pushed on, Eun Sobek, spitting blood, stepped back.
***
“W-What’s… happened…”
Eun Sobek, not even realizing that their uniform was stained with blood, looked down in disbelief at their shattered sword.
Then, with a sudden fierce expression, they glared at Eun Ga-ye.
“What trickery have you done to my sword!”
“You still don’t get it?”
Eun Ga-ye gazed down at Eun Sobek with a sinking look.
“The shock kept building up until it burst.”
“What nonsensical talk is that.”
Eun Ga-ye coldly retorted at Eun Sobek’s continued lack of understanding.
“Your vaunted water flow is not invincible.”
“…”
Eun Ga-ye hadn’t intended to get caught in Eun Sobek’s pace or to engage in a sword fight.
She just kept pounding. Eun Sobek’s ‘sword.’
Eun Sobek firmly believed that their water flow was dissipating that shock, but the water flow wasn’t some kind of all-powerful magic that could ignore physical attacks. It just deflected shocks more lightly than others. That’s why Eun Ga-ye kept using her heavy sword to keep pounding on Eun Sobek’s sword.
Each moment, the explosive force of the magic discharge was too much for the water flow to handle.
Just as throwing a pebble into a pond creates ripples, or tearing paper results in shreds, the water flow shattered in the same way.
“You, this······”
Eun So-baek, who was about to curse, hesitated as Eun Ga-ye’s sword was pointed at his throat.
“If you understood, then get lost. Don’t stand there stupidly with your mouth open. You’re like a fool.”
“······.”
Eun So-baek, trembling with a distorted face, reluctantly stepped back as the sword drew closer to his throat.
─The winner! First-year Class 1 student, Eun Ga-ye!
As the magician watching the match took the microphone and shouted, cheers erupted from the audience. And Eun Ga-ye’s body relaxed.
Although Eun So-baek had put on a strong front, the truth was that she had poured all her strength into breaking Eun So-baek’s sword before stepping back.
If Eun So-baek had realized this, the situation might have turned in a different direction. Anyway.
“I really won.”
The fact that she had defeated Eun So-baek didn’t quite sink in. Frankly, until just before the match, she wasn’t sure she would win. She turned her head to find Yi Hae-sol. Just then, as she looked in this direction, their eyes met. Yi Hae-sol waved her hand. Unexpectedly, Eun Ga-ye waved back with a smile.
***
Meanwhile, Seo Ha-rin, a senior official of the Dawn Guardians who was watching the match from the VIP seat, murmured in amazement as she watched Eun Ga-ye leave the arena unarmed.
“Wow, wielding a greatsword at that age, truly remarkable, isn’t it?”
Given the high level of difficulty due to the need to instantly release magic, wielding a greatsword was a rare skill used by experts in real combat.
She had never dreamed of seeing such advanced skills in a freshman at Eternity Academy.
“Her magic seems quite unique. That’s specialized magic for greatswords.”
“In such cases, it seems fascinating.”
At the words of the grade advisor, Jeong Hae-jun, Seo Ha-rin’s mouth slightly opened.
A constitution specialized for greatswords, she thought, there were unusually many exceptional individuals in this year’s first-year class. Consequently, she was looking forward to the next match as well.
In fact, in her eyes, this match was the most exciting one.
Yuskal Arcei vs. Yi Hae-sol.
It was expected to be a showdown between the top 3 of the second year and the top student of the first year.
Of course, even though she was the top student, there was no possibility that a first-year student like Yi Hae-sol could defeat Yuskal. However, the evaluation of Eternity’s instructor, Jeong Hae-jun, was different.
“Hae-sol, that girl is no ordinary opponent.”
“Is that so?”
“Yuskal is also skilled in handling magic, but Hae-sol is truly unique in applying magic.”
The fact that such a statement came from Jeong Hae-jun, who was an instructor at Eternity, made Seo Ha-rin curious.
“How on earth does she handle magic like that?”
“Her magic is not visible or even felt at all.”
“······Really?”
Seo Ha-rin blinked.
“Such magic exists?”
It had been a while since she heard about magic specialized for greatswords, and now she was hearing about magic that was not visible or felt at all? Seo Ha-rin was hearing about strange and unfamiliar types of magic all in one place today.
And just then, Yi Hae-sol, the protagonist of that invisible magic, was stepping onto the stage with Yuskal.