The Golden Armor and the First Lesson

The morning after that day. I used ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Goldie to wash Elena's clothes as well.

"Whoa! It can even do this?"

Maybe it was because her clothes came out so fluffy and fresh, but Elena's expression seemed just a little brighter. Anyway, Goldie really is surprisingly useful.

Leaving Elena behind as she munched on meat while wearing her freshly cleaned clothes, I examined the Goldie I'd obtained yesterday.

'It can transform into any form whatsoever.'

Right now, Goldie had taken the shape of a ring. It was probably mimicking the rune ring I'd originally been wearing. If that's the case, then could it do something like this too?

"Goldie, change form."

"Kyu?"

When I described the shape I wanted, Goldie let out a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cheerful kyu as if it understood. Then it began to swell massively. It crawled up my body.

'This feels a bit strange.'

It was an indescribable, peculiar sensation. Maybe this was what it would feel like to dive into a slime ocean without a life vest. Regardless, Goldie soon covered every part of me except my head.

It slowly began to take shape. Not in that soft, slime-like squishy form, but something more angular. Goldie carved away at its own body layer by layer, and soon its texture began to change, becoming like steel.

"Kyuuu!"

Finally, Goldie sent a signal that it was done. Since there were no mirrors on this island, I headed to the riverside to check my reflection in the water.

Every part of me except my head and both hands was covered in golden armor. A complete full-plate suit. If it had been made of real gold instead of Goldie, it would probably be worth several houses.

But.

"It's way too flashy."

Maybe because Goldie had increased its density, nothing showed through. The problem was that it was far too shiny. It reflected every ray of sunlight pouring down on me, making me look like a living disco ball.

Still, its performance was better than I expected. I didn't know exactly where the tolerance limit was, but even temporary physical immunity was still physical immunity. Even so, I shouldn't wear this too often. It was way too attention-seeking fashion.

I switched Goldie back into ring form.

**

"More people have been eliminated than I thought."

When I pressed the Magic Tool on my left wrist, the number of remaining students appeared. It was a function that only activated after more than half the students had been eliminated.

Fifty people. So more than half had already been eliminated? The real problem started now. Surviving this long was proof of strength. The teams left at this point fell into two categories: those who had hidden so well that no one had found them, or insane team-fight maniacs who hunted down everyone they saw.

'Well, we're the former, I guess.'

It wasn't like we'd hidden on purpose, but anyway.

"Elena, let's get moving."

"Where to?"

"Hunting."

It was about time we started. Just as I was preparing to hunt down the remaining students—

"Hey, is this the spot?"

"I told you it is! Earlier a crazy bright light shot out from right here."

Someone burst out from between the dense bushes. They spotted me at the exact same moment I spotted them.

There were three of them. Their clothes were stained with blood, but they themselves weren't injured. In other words, these guys were the hunters. Which meant—

"Elena!"

"Y-yeah!"

"Remember what I told you? That you wanted to get stronger?"

"Yes, I want to get stronger."

Good. Excellent mindset.

I grabbed Elena by the scruff of her neck and hurled her straight toward the opponents. They seemed to have caught on to my intention and immediately took combat stances.

"Class is in session, Elena. You take on two of them."

"...What? Wait—"

Elena looked like she wanted to protest, but I ignored her and grabbed the remaining one by the scruff of his neck.

"I'll take you."

"!!"

The red-haired male student thrashed around, but I tightened my grip and, bending my knees, kicked off the ground and leaped high into the air, landing by the riverside.

"Alright then. Try to entertain me a little."

When I released his neck, the student immediately put distance between us. He pulled a small wand from the inner pocket of his coat.

A mage, huh? 'Then taking out the Goldie armor would be awkward.'

Couldn't be helped.

"Looks like your big moment will have to wait a bit."

"Kyuuu..."

Goldie looked disappointed, but now wasn't the time to comfort it. The opponent was holding his wand in one ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hand and muttering something under his breath.

'He's even using a full chant.'

These days, the trend was to skip the chant before casting magic. It was too much of a hassle. Who in their right mind would just stand there waiting while their enemy mumbled nonsense in front of them? You'd just leap in and slit their throat.

But.

"It seems you know I'm the challenger. Good! Give it everything you've got!"

I wasn't the type to slit someone's throat mid-chant. Besides, I didn't like sneak attacks. There was no need for them. Sneak attacks were only for cowards and trash who lacked confidence in a fair fight.

Finally, the long chant ended.

"Here it comes!! Mana Wave!"

As he thrust his wand toward me, an enormous amount of mana began gathering at its tip. It slowly compressed into a spherical shape before shooting toward me like a laser beam.

"So it's a skill that compresses mana to its limit and then releases it all at once."

Not bad. Too bad you met the wrong opponent.

I pulled an incredibly massive wand out of the ring. Weapons like that bulky mana cannon had one weakness. Because they focused only on increasing visible size, their durability wasn't that great.

'If he'd fired it in a smaller, more concentrated form like a real laser, I might have actually lost.'

I activated my mana circuits and began gathering mana as well. Then I focused all of it into a single blade. I made its size about the same as that mana cannon, but kept the thickness thin. This should do it.

"Fire."

Right before the mana cannon reached me, I fired my wind blade as well. Not multiple ones—just a single blade. Its intensity and destructive power had increased accordingly.

The blade collided head-on with the mana cannon, slicing straight through it diagonally before hurtling toward the male student.

"What? You cut through my mana cannon?!"

The student panicked as he watched his mana cannon split in two in real time, but he didn't dodge. It seemed the caster couldn't move while firing the cannon.

'It looked decent enough that I was thinking of copying it.'

Good thing I didn't. I would've just wasted a skill slot.

Anyway. The moment the wind blade touched the student's body, I immediately canceled the spell.

'This part is really inconvenient during sparring.'

I couldn't kill him, so I had to control my strength. If I'd left it as-is, it would've sliced his body in half, so I had no choice but to cancel it. I walked over to the collapsed student, adjusted his Magic Tool, and sent him back to the academy.

Alright, one down.

'I wonder how Elena's doing.'

Judging by their skill level, these guys seemed pretty decent. The moment I confirmed the redhead had returned, I leaped back toward Elena's location.

"You okay?"

"Does it look like I'm okay right now?"

Oh, there she is. The real Elena. Yeah, that sharp tongue is exactly what I know her for.

Anyway.

'She doesn't look okay at all.'

I wasn't familiar with one-versus-many fights, but even at a glance I could tell Elena was at a disadvantage. She was surrounded from both front and back. If she used a sword, she could close the distance and force close-quarters combat, but a mage couldn't do that. If she focused on the front, an attack would come from behind. The same if she watched her back.

"Then if you know that, help me already!"

"...I refuse."

"What?!"

I actually wanted this kind of situation. Elena, you said you wanted to get stronger, right?

"Let's see how you get out of this one. I'm looking forward to it."

With that, I climbed onto a nearby tree and sat on a suitably sturdy branch. The enemies kept glancing at me.

"Don't mind me. I have no intention of intervening."

They still kept checking on me.

"If you want me to join, I'll gladly participate."

When I said that and drew my sword, they finally stopped looking. Good.

Now then. Let's see how Elena overcomes this.

I lay down ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on the branch in the most comfortable position for spectating. It'd be perfect if I had some popcorn, though. Too bad.

As soon as I thought that, Squishy took the form of popcorn.

"...It can even do this."

"Kyu!"

But it didn't taste like anything. No matter how much I chewed, it was like eating unmelted jelly popcorn, so I just spat it out.

Anyway. Elena was surrounded from front and back. She glanced at me once, then pulled out her wand. At that moment—

'Oh, jackpot.'

It'd be nice if she could push Wind Blade all the way to S-rank while we're at it. By the way, it even updates when skills get patched? In the end, Elena's growth is directly tied to my own growth.

If that's the case...

'There's no reason not to push Elena even harder, is there?'

With that thought, I turned my gaze back toward Elena.