‘Duel.’
It was a word that did not exist at the Magic Academy.
But every Warrior Academy in the Empire had such a system.
Think about it. If you gathered a crowd of hot-blooded aspiring warriors and made them live together, fights were bound to break out sooner or later.
At the same time, an educational institution could hardly condone students simply brawling whenever they pleased.
And so, the system known as the ‘Duel’ was created.
It was, in essence, a legalized one-on-one fight in which the participants staked nothing but their own skill in a Sparring Match.
What made the system interesting was that anyone could issue a challenge regardless of social status, and unless there was an overwhelming difference in ability, anyone who refused would be branded a coward.
Perhaps because of the weight carried by the word itself, cadets began gathering around Pan and me in an instant.
“A duel···? You little brat, do you really want to die?”
He looked bewildered by my sudden escalation.
I gave him an exaggerated scoff right to his face.
The murmurs of the cadets gathering around us filled the air.
With things having gone this far, there was no way someone as prideful as Pan would refuse the challenge.
I did not know exactly why, but he had been the one to pick a fight with me first.
Was he testing the nerve of the noble heirs who had entered this year?
It was a predictable method of establishing his position within the Academy.
Find a suitably impressive-looking weakling and knock him down.
He must have decided that someone from the Seirin family was both weak enough to bully and important enough to make a statement.
It was the sort of thing petty scum often did, and people like that existed everywhere.
But every action came with consequences and responsibility.
“If you lack confidence, you may refuse. Pan Slipel of House Slipel. Ruben Seirin of House Seirin is willing to show you that much mercy.”
Ah—
Even I had to admit that line sounded rather impressive.
By now, he was probably asking himself over and over, ‘What gives someone with C-grade physical ability the confidence to challenge me?’
But with that dull brain of his, there was no way he could see through my intentions.
The reason I could defeat him was simple.
‘Physical Enhancement.’
I had already learned from my Sparring Match with Tyr that if I used Physical Enhancement against an opponent who had lowered their guard, someone at the level of an Academy cadet could neither block nor evade it.
Moreover, my physical abilities were far stronger now than they had been back then.
I should be able to keep beating him for considerably longer.
“Fine! I accept on my honor as a noble. Don’t regret this, Ruben Seirin.”
I knew it.
If he was still an idiot even after growing into an adult, there was no chance he had possessed sound judgment at sixteen.
A victorious smile formed inside me.
“We have free time anyway. Let’s settle this immediately.”
“Fine. Hey! Where’s the nearest sparring arena?!”
He even spoke rudely to a passing senior cadet.
As expected, his character was rotten to the core.
It had been a while(?), Pan Slipel.
Today, I was going to teach you a proper lesson.
Perhaps intimidated by Pan’s enormous build and the crest of a count’s family on his uniform, the senior cadet he had singled out obediently told us where the sparring arena was.
Before long, we began walking toward it.
Perhaps they wanted to watch a fight between the sons of noble families.
Or perhaps they simply wanted to see the fearless freshmen who had challenged each other to a Duel before class assignments had even been completed.
Whatever the reason, a large crowd of cadets began following behind Pan and me.
For my part, the more spectators there were, the better.
Pan Slipel was unquestionably one of the most prominent students in this year’s class.
If I put him in his place now, there should not be anyone foolish enough to disturb my peaceful Academy life for a while.
“Young Master. Your opponent is from House Slipel. Are you certain this is all right?”
“You worry too much. Just watch.”
Of course, Tyr’s concern was not entirely unfounded.
House Slipel boasted the finest Spear Arts among all the Empire’s martial families.
Just as the Seirin family had historically produced numerous exceptional mages, House Slipel had produced countless outstanding knights.
If history had proceeded as before, this ill-mannered piece of trash would eventually have become a magnificent knight known as the Empire’s Greatest Spear.
But today, I intended to help him become an even better knight.
A knight ought to have things like chivalry and proper character, shouldn’t he?
You are finished today.
I will carve the lesson into your bones.
“What? A duel?!”
Ribart, the Head Professor of swordsmanship, stared blankly at his assistant after hearing the news while reviewing the entrance examination results.
The class assignments had not even been completed yet, and two freshmen were already challenging each other to a Duel?
More importantly, was that even allowed?
Had anything like this ever happened before?
The news was utterly absurd.
“Yes, Professor. I’m told they’re heading toward the sparring arena near the auditorium right now.”
“First, check the Academy regulations. Find out whether freshmen who haven’t even been assigned to classes yet are permitted to Duel. I’ll head over there for now.”
“Understood, Professor.”
After giving his assistant several instructions, Ribart practically flew out of his office in the main building and headed toward the auditorium.
The Wisteria Park beside the auditorium, which should normally have been crowded with freshmen, was completely deserted.
Something was clearly happening.
‘What in the world is that lunatic doing now?’
Ribart had already suspected that Ruben was not normal.
After seeing the boy’s appearance yesterday, it had been difficult to regard him as a normal human being.
Moreover, according to today’s test results, Ruben Seirin’s abilities placed him somewhere in the lower-middle ranks of the entire Academy.
His scores made it difficult to understand how he had finished first in yesterday’s test.
Ribart had actually been somewhat disappointed.
‘And now he’s challenging Pan Slipel?’
Pan Slipel had received an S in every physical attribute.
As expected of someone born into a martial family, he possessed an exceptional natural Martial Constitution.
And considering Ruben Seirin’s family background, the probability of him winning this Sparring Match should have been less than one percent.
Taken as a whole, the obvious conclusion was that Ruben Seirin was attempting something reckless.
And yet a single doubt had begun to grow in Ribart’s mind.
‘Ruben Seirin is not an idiot.’
According to what Ribart had heard, Ruben possessed the greatest magical talent in the history of the Seirin family.
There were many different forms of magical talent, but intelligence was the most fundamental requirement of all.
If Ruben was that intelligent, then why would he make such a foolish decision?
Ribart realized that it was actually more reasonable to assume that Ruben had not recklessly challenged Pan at all.
Perhaps he had deliberately drawn Pan into a fight he knew he could not lose.
Whichever possibility was correct, Ribart needed to witness this Duel with his own eyes.
“Oh, Professor.”
“That’s Professor Ribart.”
When Ribart arrived at the sparring arena, several students recognized him and moved aside.
Thanks to them, he was easily able to approach the arena where Ruben and Pan were facing one another.
As expected, Pan held a Wooden Spear while Ruben wielded a wooden sword.
If there was anything noteworthy, it was that Ruben’s stance looked remarkably crude to anyone with even a little experience.
Pan, by contrast, stood with the sharpness of a honed blade.
There was not a single obvious opening in his stance.
As expected of the legitimate heir of House Slipel.
“Shall we begin?”
Ruben announced the beginning of the Sparring Match with a bright smile.
It felt as though I were pointing my sword at a mountain.
That was my candid impression as I faced Pan Slipel.
The bastard was tremendously tall, and his entire body was packed with dense muscle.
His hands held the Wooden Spear in an Underhand Grip without the slightest tremor, and his overall stance showed no obvious opening.
I had no idea where I should attack.
But that did not matter.
If you were overwhelmingly faster and stronger than your opponent, you could defeat anyone.
“Shall we begin?”
I forced myself to smile as broadly as possible to provoke him.
Sure enough, Pan’s face twisted fiercely as he leveled his spear directly at me.
He looked ready to attack at any moment.
I immediately drew upon the mana of nature and infused it throughout my entire body, excluding my Mana Core.
Physical Enhancement.
With this, my body became roughly ten times stronger than its normal physical capabilities.
The only problem was that I could not maintain it for long.
“I’ll fold you in half!”
Pan struck first.
His movements were on an entirely different level from Tyr’s.
The tip of his spear shot viciously toward my solar plexus.
I hurriedly moved the hand holding my sword and tried to knock the spear aside.
Or rather, I tried to.
Until the spearhead suddenly seemed to split into several afterimages and engulf my body.
THUD!
“Guh!”
The spear that had clearly been aimed at my chest suddenly changed its trajectory and struck my shoulder.
The impact forced me to stumble backward gracelessly, and the pain shot all the way down to my knees, causing one leg to buckle.
Had this been a real battle, that strike might have taken my arm off entirely.
This was unquestionably different from my Sparring Match with Tyr.
“You’re all talk for someone with nothing to back it up!”
Pan Slipel looked at me with a malicious grin.
Fine.
So that is how you want to play this?
Then this time, I will attack.
I barely shook off the pain in my shoulder and properly readjusted my grip on the wooden sword with both hands.
Then I tensed my entire body, which was seething with the mana of nature—
And charged.
WHOOSH!
I was moving so quickly that even I could barely control myself.
In an instant, I swept past Pan’s side and barely managed to time my wooden sword correctly as I slashed his ribs.
“Urgh!”
It worked.
Perhaps he had little experience facing an opponent who could suddenly charge at this speed.
Pan moved his spear to defend against my attack, but he was already far too late.
He looked at me with pain written across his face, apparently having taken some damage to his internal organs.
Seeing that expression, I could not resist saying something.
“···Slow.”
WHOOSH!
WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
WHOOSH!
Every attack placed more strain on my body.
But compared to when I had defeated Tyr using my ‘trump card,’ there was no question that my physical abilities had improved dramatically.
Thanks to that, I could strike Pan over and over again.
My dashes and changes in direction were so fast that, to anyone watching, it probably looked as though afterimages of me were attacking him from every direction.
“Bleurgh!”
Eventually, after taking a deep thrust to the abdomen, Pan stumbled backward and began vomiting.
I could still make out the chunks of duck he had eaten for lunch, making the sight even more disgusting.
You bastard.
You should chew your food properly.
“Haa··· haa···.”
Of course, I was not in good condition either.
The moment I stopped moving, the sensation of every muscle in my body twisting painfully sent horrific signals through my nerves.
Even so, I could not lower my sword.
Pan Slipel might have been vomiting like an idiot, but he had not fallen yet.
What a monster.
“Urgh···. Fine. I take back what I said about you being nothing special, Ruben Seirin.”
Pan straightened his back and glared at me with blazing eyes.
Ugh, disgusting.
Wipe your mouth, you bastard.
You have saliva dripping everywhere.
“I was only going to teach you a lesson, but now I’m really going to kill you.”
This time, he shifted his spear into an Overhand Grip.
Then, to my surprise, sharp, concentrated mana began gathering around the tip of his spear.
A blue energy resembling smoke swirled around the weapon.
Sword Mana.
I knew that power extremely well.
It was a noble energy that strengthened both a warrior’s weapon and techniques using the mana contained within the user’s Mana Core.
Fundamentally, the mana used by mages and Sword Mana were not different substances.
However, Sword Mana was shaped by a warrior’s will and the degree of mastery they had achieved in martial arts.
Without considerable training, it could not be used at all.
Considering that most Academy cadets aimed merely to become warriors capable of using Sword Mana before graduation—in other words, 1st-Class warriors—it was obvious just how talented the opponent before me truly was.
“Rapid Star (Rapid Star)!”
Pan shouted the embarrassingly old-fashioned name of the technique and hurled his Wooden Spear, now infused with mana.
The thrown spear scattered glittering motes of light as it hurtled toward me like a flash.
BOOOOM!