Jackpot
I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Kiesa stared at me with an expression of utter disbelief. No wonder— the magical power radiating from me was on a completely different level from his own.
'That guy's a freshman?'
The vast amount of mana flowing from me was in an entirely different league. 'This is stronger than most of the professors.'
Kiesa's face turned deathly pale as he unleashed his own magic.
—Whoosh!
He had definitely released his power just like I had. Yet the oppressive pressure remained. And then—
—Vrrrrm.
A bow materialized in my hand. Kiesa's eyes widened at the sight.
'Is that really a bow made of magic?'
He had seen me create a bow with magic before. But that time, it had only taken the shape of one. It hadn't felt like a real bow. This, however, was different. Looking at the bow I had just created, could anyone honestly say it was made from mana? Honestly, it looked so perfect that even a master blacksmith's work might be mistaken for it.
—Vrrrrrm.
In that instant, the mana floating in the atmosphere began to be absorbed into me. Kiesa flinched violently and quickly began drawing a spell formula.
'I can't just stand here. I need to respond.'
I had no idea exactly what kind of power this was. But one thing was certain—it had to have limitations. If he could wield such strength freely, rumors would have spread long ago.
'Hoo. Alright, stay calm.'
He didn't know how long I could maintain it, but it surely couldn't be for very long. So if he could just endure it, victory would be his.
—Vrrrrm.
Kiesa calmly cast a defensive spell that would allow him to deploy his full power. The next moment—
—Whooooosh!
Giant boulders erupted from the ground around him. I was an archer. Archers typically sniped their targets from afar. So by placing obstacles in front like this, he should be safe.
'I won't die in a single strike.'
Just as Kiesa was feeling confident in that belief—
“Even if you do that, the result won’t change.”
A chilling voice rang right beside his ear. Kiesa swallowed dryly. If this had been earlier, he would have snapped back in anger. But after witnessing the mana I had displayed, he felt no rage—only the sensation of receiving a death sentence.
—Crackle!
In an instant, the sound of sparks popping came from beside his ear. He couldn't see past the boulders, but it was obvious something was being prepared.
'Hoo. Yeah, go ahead and act all relaxed.'
Anyway, he had no intention of staying hidden behind these rocks. The boulders were nothing but bait. His real plan was to sneak away and run.
The moment he turned to flee without a shred of hesitation—
—Vrrrrm!
Suddenly, the space around him began to distort. Caught completely off guard, he flinched in shock. And then his instincts screamed at him: Run as far away as possible right now.
But—
“What?!”
A single arrow suddenly appeared right in front of his eyes. He had clearly been hiding behind the boulders. He had even fled as far as possible just in case. So where on earth had the arrow come from? The boulders behind him hadn't been destroyed at all.
The next instant—
—Kwaaaaaaaaang!
A massive explosion roared in his ears. Wondering what had happened, he looked down at his own body. A huge hole had been punched straight through him.
“Guhk!”
Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. An unimaginable pain engulfed him. His entire body burned as if he had been set on fire.
'This is supposed to be an illusion?'
This was completely different from what Dale had told him. He had said that the moment you died in the illusion world, your real body would open its eyes. So why weren't his eyes opening? If there was a hole in his body, shouldn't he be dead?
At that moment—
“Hmm. So you didn't die in one hit.”
I appeared before his eyes. He hadn't even sensed me moving—my speed was that overwhelming.
“As expected of a swordsman, it seems you don't die easily.”
“Krrrrrrgh!”
Only then did Kiesa realize why he hadn't died from a single strike. He never imagined his high physical abilities would cause him this kind of suffering. It made sense now why soldiers on the front lines said that if you were going to die, it was better to die quickly.
“Normally I would have given you a clean death. But considering everything you've done until now, I'll leave you like this.”
With those final words, I turned away without even glancing at Kiesa and began walking off.
At that same moment, the spectators in the stands were watching with wide eyes, completely stunned. To be honest, everyone had thought Kiesa would win. After all, hadn't Kiesa already beaten me senseless earlier?
Yet on the screen projected by the crystal orb, it was Kiesa who now had a massive hole in his body. In contrast, I looked completely unscathed.
“Dale. Did you know Baran had this kind of power?”
“No. I had no idea either. I knew Baran would win, but… wow.”
Even Dale was staring with his eyes wide open in shock. The professors were left speechless by the power I had displayed. Objectively speaking, the strength I had just shown was overwhelmingly superior to their own.
And among them, the one most shocked was the elf Ilya, the archery instructor.
'The power Baran just displayed…'
It was remarkably similar to the power used by the first High Elf, Miroel—something she had only heard about from the elders.
'I knew there was something different about Baran, but to think he possessed this kind of power?'
According to what she had been told, Miroel could breathe in the mana floating in the atmosphere. Using that, she could interfere with space itself and even create arrows. The fact that I was using that power so casually left Ilya staring in astonishment.
“Professor Ilya.”
Dale, who was sitting beside her, called out. Ilya turned her head. Dale continued in a serious tone.
“Did you perhaps teach Baran something special in private?”
At that question, every professor's gaze snapped toward her. Ilya shook her head without hesitation.
“No. All I taught him were the basics. I've never taught him anything like that. In fact, even I…”
I've never seen that kind of power before.
When she trailed off, the professors could only click their tongues. In other words, she was essentially saying that Baran had learned all of that through self-study. While the professors were still reeling from the revelation, the students of Class A were reacting similarly.
“What the hell?!”
“He had that kind of power all along?”
“Then why did he get beaten so badly last time?”
They were all just as shocked as everyone else. And among them, the most surprised was none other than Sherry.
'That power… why does it feel so familiar?'
There was something strangely familiar about the power I had displayed. As she tilted her head in confusion, Risa, who was sitting beside her, quickly explained.
“Ah! That's definitely the power Mr. Baran used last time!”
All eyes immediately turned to Risa. Luden tilted his head.
“Baran used it?”
“Yes. He used it during the practical evaluation when he saved Sherry.”
In that instant, Sherry immediately understood why the power felt so familiar. She then turned her gaze toward Lillia.
“Did you know about this?”
“Well, I knew he got stronger thanks to the elixir I gave him, but I had no idea he had this kind of power too.”
“Elixir?”
The female members of the group stared at her intently. Lillia cupped her cheeks with both hands and spoke.
“Sigh. During the field trip, he saved me while carrying me in a princess hold. So I gave it to him as thanks.”
Sherry's eyes instantly turned fierce. She had never imagined that such a sweet atmosphere had developed between the two of them during the field trip.
“S-Sherry! It's getting hot!”
“Ah, sorry.”
She had gotten so worked up that mana had unconsciously begun leaking from her body. As she took a deep breath to calm herself—
“Huh? It looks like it's over!”
Kanya pointed at Kiesa, who was slowly opening his eyes. At the same time, I slowly opened mine as well.
And so, the match between the two of us ended in my overwhelming victory—completely contrary to what the students had expected.
The match had finally come to an end. Well, it was the expected outcome, so I just accepted it. After all, I had known from the beginning that this result was inevitable.
—It lasted longer than I expected. Well done.
Miroel gently stroked my head as if praising me. Since this was the illusion world, it seemed she didn't need to remain trapped inside the Bow of the Beginning even after I had used Possession.
'Hmm. It looks like I can maintain full condition for about thirty seconds now.'
Thirty seconds might not sound like much, but it was still a huge improvement. If Lillia hadn't given me that elixir, I probably wouldn't have lasted even that long.
'He was the perfect opponent to test it on.'
Just as I was thinking that—
You have successfully cleared the quest: Win the duel against Kiesa!
As a reward, you have received an Elixir Supplement and experience points!
Congratulations! You have leveled up!
You have acquired the new trait: Summoning Subordinates!
A notification sound rang in my ear. I could already guess what it was about. It was obviously a reward message. Since this wasn't a main quest, I didn't expect anything too amazing. Curious about what I had received, I checked the details.
'What?'
My eyes widened involuntarily. Because the rewards were far beyond what I had imagined.
This was a total jackpot.