Week Two Evaluation (2)
The Faction War was scheduled to run over the course of two days.
Though Professor Muniherr had thrown quite the wrench into the proceedings earlier, the core framework remained straightforward enough. Day one was reserved for individual matches, while day two would host the team events.
Ideally, proctors would evaluate opposing contestants simultaneously across multiple rings, but because the instructors themselves were tasked with scoring, personnel distribution had proven a headache. As a result, running several disciplines at once was out of the question, stretching the schedule out by an entire extra day.
"Those two are holding their own surprisingly well, aren't they?"
In the ring, Lana was utilizing wind magic almost exclusively for mobility, giving her opponent zero room to breathe. Demonstrating a textbook sequence of evasive maneuvers and war of attrition, she looked poised to bring down her third opponent in short order.
Crack!
Closing the distance to point-blank range, she released a sharp burst of sparks. Her adversary realized too late that the trailing edge of their spell formula had been severed. Lana didn't let the fleeting window of Mana Down slip past, finishing the bout cleanly.
"Good catch. Her opponent was basically a stationary turret, so I expected her to struggle a bit more."
To overcome such an unfavorable matchup and emerge victorious was no small feat. Had the rules not barred him from stepping onto the field, Junon would have marched right over to give her an enthusiastic thumbs-up.
"In the singles bracket, she won't drop out unless she runs into another bad matchup."
"Tomorrow's the real problem. She's going to run circles around everyone and cause a massive headache."
"Before things get out of hand, we might need to assign two Offense Wizards just to mark her."
Lana's exceptional mobility had clearly caught the eyes of more than a few educators. Across the spectator seats, instructors were already racking their brains over how to counter her.
"Hey! Forget her for a second—look over there!"
"Ugh, seriously? My head's already pounding. What is it now... wait, who the hell is that guy?"
A commotion turned their attention to another student drawing just as much scrutiny.
It was Ethan.
"The whole point of fire magic is raw destructive power... Did he just give up on firepower entirely?"
"Rather than giving up on it..."
"It looks like he's aiming for total suppression at the source."
Where Lana favored agility, prioritizing evasion over offense, Ethan—who had shared the exact same lectures and training drills—took the polar opposite approach. Rather than dodging, he chose to collide with his opponents head-on.
Yet Ethan's spells never exceeded the bare minimum threshold required. By meticulously rationing his mana consumption, he dragged every opponent into a grinding war of attrition. Anyone with half-baked mobility was snared in an instant, suffering the exact same fate as the contestant before them.
That kid, Junon thought with an amused smirk. He really watched what I did and made it his own.
He turned his gaze toward another arena.
"Down! Contestant Ethan wins!"
The proctors broke into applause. Outside of Shirakh, Ethan had just cemented himself as a prime target to watch out for.
Nearby in the spectator gallery, a soft murmur broke out.
"Wow, he's so frugal with his mana."
"Shirakh is really putting up a fight in this Faction War, aren't they?"
"Whoa, holy cow! When did Uncle Jake get here? Are you slacking off again?"
"R-Reni... Someone might hear you and get the wrong idea! Ahem... For the record, I am still a professor at Lebrant Academy, you know. Of course I should be here."
The matches were proving to be quite the spectacle for the audience and judges alike. To Ronelion, who had been watching the two students closely from the start, their tactics were remarkably unconventional.
In individual bouts among Lord School students who can't even manifest a Magic Armament, magic parameters naturally dictate the outcome. Yet they're turning that very reality to their advantage... Anyone can see this isn't standard doctrine.
Ronelion's eyes drifted once again toward Junon.
Still, it looks like it's just those two.
Even if Lana and Ethan managed to rack up individual wins, the rest of Shirakh's roster lagged far behind, leaving the team at a severe overall disadvantage. Tomorrow would only widen the gap. The other instructors were no fools; they would undoubtedly prepare counters for those two breakout stars.
No matter how well they fought in the singles, Shirakh's prospects for the following day remained bleak. In the main events—the team battles, the ace matches, and the group skirmishes—nothing would change unless someone stepped up to overturn the overwhelming difference in sheer martial strength.
Now then. What do you intend to do, Senior?
Renias had showered Junon with passionate praise, but Ronelion had only been able to verify the man's character. Allowing someone lacking verified combat capability to linger at Renias's side was entirely out of the question. In that sense, this duel was Ronelion's personal test of Junon.
"Uncle, you've taught all the current third-years, right? That means you know how every single one of them fights!"
"Hm? Well, not necessarily every detail... but I generally know their signature magic, yes."
"In that case, could you give us a running commentary on this matchup?"
"Eh?"
Renias pointed a finger toward the tournament bracket.
...You're being way too obvious about this, Renias, Ronelion noted inwardly.
Her fingertip was planted squarely on the name 'Junon.'
"Let's see here," Jake muttered, leaning in. "On one side, we have an opponent who condenses mana into solid projectiles. And on the other..."
"And? What about his opponent?"
"..."
Unlike Renias, who bounced on her heels with anticipation, Jake didn't answer immediately. He scratched his head with an awkward grimace.
"The thing is... I don't really know that much about him myself."
"Huh?"
Renias tilted her head in confusion. Beside her, Ronelion was equally baffled.
Jake was a veteran educator who had spent years teaching at Lebrant Academy. For such a man to admit he had no idea what a current third-year's primary magic was seemed incomprehensible. He should have watched the boy for at least three full years.
"His innate magic is Mana Shield, but that isn't an offensive spell."
"Wait, what? Then is Senior Junon fighting with basic elemental magic?"
"...Unfortunately, from what I recall, he can't use that either. His mana efficiency with standard spells is atrocious."
"Whaaaat?!"
Hearing that Junon couldn't even cast foundational spells left Ronelion completely floored.
If he can't cast anything... that means he has no way to incapacitate an opponent. Then how on earth is he supposed to—
Fight with a weapon because he's a vanguard? Even so, the scales of victory would tilt far too steeply against him. Humanity had abandoned bare-handed combat precisely because manipulating mana allowed for vastly superior tactical breadth. Possessing nothing but defense was an insurmountable handicap.
"To be frank, up until the first semester of his second year, he fought with nothing but his bare body," Jake said. "Whenever the evaluation was a mock duel, he took a tremendous beating."
"Then... Senior Junon is..."
"He's just going to turtle behind his shield until he loses, isn't he?" Ronelion concluded.
It was the only logical outcome. Had this been a cooperative beast raid orchestrated inside a Talbrut Ark, pure defensive utility might hold value. But this was an individual bout—a one-on-one duel. There was simply no path to victory.
...What a disappointment.
Renias had finally opened her heart to someone, but without the strength to back it up, he couldn't possibly protect her. Ronelion prepared to write Junon off entirely.
"Ronelion, you seem to have fundamentally misunderstood me," Jake said casually. "I said I didn't know his method, not that he would lose."
"...Pardon?"
"I said he took a beating; I never said he never won. Junon isn't the sort of kid to throw in the towel just because he can't cast a spell." Jake paused, offering a wry grin. "Besides, all that was in the past."
The statement contradicted everything Jake had just explained. If a combatant possessed no magic and therefore had no offensive capability, wouldn't they simply be pummeled into submission?
At best, his only chance would be dragging it into an attrition battle...
Yet no opponent with half a brain would squander their mana carelessly.
"...Does he truly have a viable win condition?"
"Well, the match is starting, so see for yourself. It'll be much easier to understand why I said I don't know."
The instant Jake finished speaking, the duel began.
True to Jake's description, Junon's opponent immediately condensed their mana, firing off a volley of glowing projectiles. Ranged versus melee—at a distance, the matchup presented the worst possible conditions for a frontliner.
Yet Junon didn't budge. He merely stood in place, watching idly as the mana bullets surged straight toward him.
Direct hit.
Plumes of thick dust billowed from the point of impact.
"Senior!"
Renias shot up from her seat. Anyone witnessing that strike would have immediately written off any chance of his victory. But as the haze began to clear, a still silhouette emerged from the center of the ring.
"Whew."
Renias gasped. "Wait... how...?"
He was completely fine. Not a single scratch marked his body where the mana projectiles had cleanly landed.
Ronelion's eyes narrowed as his instincts flared. If I don't focus right now, I'll miss it!
He had no idea what had just transpired. But by pouring every ounce of concentration into mana detection, his senses could faintly reach into that distant ring. He had to read the physical movements, trace the flow of mana, and track the activation of the spell formula.
Having turned away under the assumption that the match was over, the opponent froze, spun back around, and hastily manifested another barrage of mana bullets. The process appeared identical to the first volley.
"Huh? What's happening? Why did the bullets suddenly..."
Just as Renias muttered the words, the projectiles vanished into thin air. The compressed mana simply dissolved, leaving the opposing caster frantically flailing in sheer bewilderment.
"Whoa... I don't understand what's happening at all."
"And that's why I told you I don't know what his primary magic is," Jake chuckled softly. "I saw him pull this off once before, and even then, I couldn't wrap my head around it."
Jake paused, adding with absolute certainty, "One thing I can tell you for sure: when it comes to pure hand-to-hand combat, there's practically no one among the third-years who can stand toe-to-toe with Junon."
In the ring, Junon advanced at a measured pace. If his goal were simply to rush in and subdue the caster with raw physical technique, he could have done so instantly. Instead, his eyes remained locked on his adversary, taking deliberate, unhurried steps forward.
He isn't dropping his guard for a second, anticipating that the opponent might still have a trump card left...
Ronelion swallowed hard. There was no other word for it: the execution was immaculate.
Driven into a corner with no other options, the opposing student resolved to unleash their final resort—a Magic Armament manifested in its translucent Mirage State, ready to be detonated as raw mana.
And in that split second, the duel was decided.
"...Insane."
"Ronelion?"
"Oh? Looks like Ronelion caught something," Jake remarked, raising an eyebrow. "His jaw is practically hitting the floor."
"What is it? What did you see? Tell me, tell me!" Renias demanded, rushing over to shake her twin brother by the shoulders.
Even as his sister jostled him back and forth with impatient whines, Ronelion remained stiff as a board, his gaze pinned to the arena.
Slow down... break it down piece by piece.
What had unfolded in that decisive fraction of a second had to be untangled like a hopelessly knotted ball of yarn.
What Junon had coated over his hands was unmistakably Mizar-type mana. Without ever deploying his innate Mana Shield, he had completely neutralized the incoming spell using nothing but pure mana manipulation. That much, Ronelion could comprehend.
It was essentially a flawless, highly evolved version of the technique Ethan had demonstrated earlier. Parrying mana with mana was a staple Ronelion used frequently himself, so he recognized the principle immediately. In truth, executing it to that degree was already astonishing—cleanly neutralizing an assault using Mizar-type mana, which was notoriously rare and difficult to control, required thousands of repetitions to master.
Yet what followed made Ronelion doubt his own eyes.
"Come on, don't keep it to yourself! Tell me, please?"
"...I'm sorry. I really don't know."
"Huh? You don't know? Liar! If you don't tell me right now, I'm going to keep whining!"
Renias pouted and tugged at his sleeve, but Ronelion genuinely couldn't explain it. He had only a working hypothesis, with no solid proof to articulate.
The opponent had drawn a magic circle to manifest the mana bullets. To advance to the next stage—formula activation—they had channeled mana into that matrix. And right at that crucial juncture, the spell had dissolved before it could even finish coalescing.
What could one possibly deduce from that? There was only one plausible conclusion: Junon had directly interfered with the casting process itself.
If that deduction is correct...
It meant Junon was a preternatural monster capable of terminating any spell before it could even be cast.
"...Uncle Jake. Can I meet Aunt Denise?"
"Hm? My wife? I heard she's been terribly busy lately. Apparently, she discovered an ancient ruin somewhere."
"Do you know which direction she headed?"
"I can't say for certain. I only saw her walking down the path leading from Revrant toward 3rd Street... Wait, Ronelion?!"
"Ah! Ron, how dare you run off without telling me! Hey!"
Ronelion was adept at deciphering almost any magical formula; by flooding his senses with mana, he could typically read every stage of a spell's construction. But this time, he had no certainty.
He needed confirmation—badly enough to seek out the foremost expert in the field right this second.