Equipment Fanatic (1)
Gungnir had flown straight for Talia, as if it had forgotten that its owner was her.
Its speed was merciless.
“Damn it!”
Talia twisted her body sideways and dodged.
Since the spear came in a straight line, the attack wasn’t hard to avoid.
But after passing Talia, Gungnir didn’t stick into the ground. It continued to hover in the air.
“What the hell is this? This isn’t the Gungnir I knew!”
“Well done dodging. But how about this?”
I flicked my hand toward Talia once. Gungnir turned its direction and flew back at her again.
“Ugh……”
Talia successfully dodged once more.
“You’ve dodged twice now. After learning the basics, it’s time to advance, isn’t it?”
“You’re saying you’ll keep going, huh.”
“I teach one, and you already know ten.”
No more words were needed.
I kept moving my hand, and Talia kept dodging the flying Gungnir in a frenzy.
While Talia sweated profusely and moved without rest, I yawned like I was showing off.
“Student Talia, how much longer will you keep dodging like this?”
“It’s fine to say it while I’m doing it, but…… Uwaa!”
Watching Gungnir dodge for so long showed how great Talia’s stamina and willpower really were.
But her movements were clearly slowing down.
Her breathing grew rough, and her body started to feel sluggish.
“Ugh!”
Finally, Gungnir stabbed into Talia’s thigh as its original owner.
“This isn’t over yet.”
“Wha——?!”
A lightning bolt shot out from Gungnir, electrocuting Talia’s entire body.
I flicked my hand again, and Gungnir that had been stuck in Talia’s thigh flew back into my hand.
Talia, unable to resist, collapsed forward.
“Talia!”
Eirinn tried to rush in, but the mana barrier blocked her.
“Student Eirinn, it’s not your turn yet. Just wait a little longer.”
“No matter what, this is too much! We have to treat her right away…….”
“I clearly said it isn’t over, didn’t I? Right, Talia?”
“That’s what I said.”
Talia trembled as she tried to stand up.
Blood dripping from her thigh, her face twisted in pain, but her lips curved into a smile.
“It’s not over yet.”
“Of course it isn’t. How would I feel satisfied if it ended so easily like this?!”
With a merciless flick of my hand, Gungnir flew straight at Talia again.
This time it aimed for her left chest, the side with a heart.
“Talia!!”
Eirinn couldn’t watch and tightly shut her eyes.
But no explosion sounded.
“This is my spear.”
Gungnir’s tip stopped right in front of Talia’s heart, trembling.
Talia’s hand had caught it.
“Gungnir is my spear…… You shouldn’t be handling something like this however you like!”
Gungnir trembled once more, and powerful lightning began to flow again.
The mana I had poured into it had all been used up when it hit Talia’s body.
So the lightning Gungnir was spewing out now……
Was hers.
“No one in this world handles Gungnir better than me! Here, eat this!”
Talia threw Gungnir at me with all her strength.
It wasn’t hard to block the flying spear.
Since she still didn’t have mana at the 8-Circle level, just blocking the incoming spear once and letting it fall would end it.
That was what I had thought.
Until I noticed that the mana in Gungnir was far from ordinary.
‘This! It’s not something you can just block!’
I threw my body as hard as I could.
I needed to put as much distance between us as possible.
Gungnir flew in its original direction and slammed into the mana barrier.
And then……
An explosion rocked the inside of the mana barrier.
Fortunately, the distance I had put between us meant I didn’t get hit by the shock, but it was a terrifying attack.
“Hehe, the shorty professor can’t do stuff like this……”
Talia laughed with a twisted face, but she couldn’t finish her words and collapsed forward.
It was honestly unexpected.
I knew she could control Gungnir with 8-Circle mana, but I never expected her to deliberately add unstable mana and throw it to cause an explosion.
A method I had never seen even in my previous life.
My eyes went to the mana barrier that had survived the explosion.
A large crack ran across the spot where Gungnir had hit.
“Student Talia, good work.”
I patted Talia’s shoulder who was half-asleep from overexertion.
But I didn’t have a moment to rest.
I called for the medical team to take Talia away and immediately summoned Eirinn onto the stage.
“Honestly, I’m scared.”
“Of what? Are you scared of this shorty professor?”
“I can’t even imagine how you’ll cook me after seeing Talia at my level suffer like that.”
“Cook? If someone heard that they’d misunderstand. But I’m younger than you anyway, right? If Eirinn as the older sister is cooking me, maybe, but I——”
Eirinn let out a light laugh at my teasing.
“I thought the professor was only skilled and not that witty, but you have sense too, professor.”
“I’m not just any professor, you know.”
“Anyway, strength and age have nothing to do with it. You know that yourself, right? You’re a living witness.”
Talia and Eirinn were very different indeed.
While Talia relied on her body more than her head, Eirinn moved her body with a careful, thoughtful mind.
“The rules are the same. Feel free to come at me.”
“Since you said so, I won’t hesitate either!”
The moment Eirinn drew her sword, her eyes changed.
The calm, intellectual gaze was gone. In its place burned the will to win at any cost.
“Rise.”
Eirinn said in a low voice.
Flames raged around Eirinn’s sword, enveloping it.
“That’s no ordinary sword.”
“You’re observant. It’s the sword His Majesty the Emperor personally bestowed upon me.”
The silver metal, stronger than steel——mithril.
Eirinn’s sword was a superb weapon made by mixing mithril with mana stones.
It was not only sturdy, but also a magical sword that showed its true power when infused with mana.
‘That one sword must be worth more than a big house.’
I was unsure whether the emperor’s gift to me would be better than Eirinn’s sword.
The reason Eirinn could receive such a valuable sword from the emperor was twofold.
First, because she was of royal blood. Second, because her skill was genuine.
Eirinn was a talent recognized by the emperor and had grown into one of the main forces of the imperial knight order in my previous life.
Because she had no interest in politics, she had been pulled around by those above her and hadn’t risen to a high position, but——
“I’ll let you feel for yourself just how good this sword is, professor. Here I come!”
Eirinn charged forward without hesitation.
Even if her physical strength might be inferior to Talia’s, her ability to handle technique and mana was superior.
Eirinn’s true talent was being able to handle both magic and sword at the same time.
But her magic rank wasn’t high.
The flames that raged around her sword were thanks to the quality of the blade.
So when facing Eirinn, there were two things I had to do.
Block the physical sword, and endure the heat of the flames she was trying to burn me with.
‘Thinking about it, it’s incredible talent. Without my teacher’s help, I wouldn’t have been able to handle magic and sword at the same time. Who would have taught me to do something like this so well……’
The sword and blade clashed, and Eirinn’s eyes began to show signs of hesitation.
A normal person would either fail to block the sword or collapse under the heat.
But I was calmly receiving Eirinn’s sword.
“Professor, you’re being too relaxed! Even thinking about other things!”
“There’s a reason to be a professor.”
The reason I could afford to think about other things was very simple.
Eirinn could never catch up to me with her sword, and by using the length of the blade to its maximum, she could keep the flames as far from my body as possible.
“Then!”
Eirinn raised her sword high and swung it down with all her strength.
She was using the fact that her sword was better to try and break mine.
But——
‘My sword was made by our teacher.’
As Eirinn swung down, I swung my sword up with all my might too.
The sword and blade collided fully with each other’s bodies.
“Eh? Eh?”
The next moment, Eirinn’s expression went blank.
“My sword…… my sword……”
The middle of her sword was cleanly sliced off.
Eirinn’s face was full of sorrow, like a child who had had her toy taken away.
Tears welled up in her eyes.
“Ugh, ugh…… Professor! My sword! The sword grandfather gave me!”
I was just as surprised.
That calm, intellectual Eirinn could make such an expression.
“My sword broke! Waaaa……”