The First Clash - Part 2
The training ground that even the failing students in F-Class never set foot in was unbelievably dilapidated.
Yet in a place where nothing but dust had been swirling around, a crowd suddenly bustled. Roughly thirty F-Class students had gathered.
Charlotte and Adrian stood side by side, encircled by the students in a perfect circle that looked exactly like a coliseum.
“Was the ‘teaching with a focus on live combat’ meant to be like this?”
“Well, it’s better than sitting bored in the lecture hall.”
The students paired off here and there whispered among themselves.
“Michelle, why are you here alone?”
Michelle Maynans.
When you heard the name Maynans family, you thought of telekinesis. When you heard telekinesis, you thought of the Maynans family.
Her two-tone hair blending white and green undertones and her green eyes. Those were the things people always pictured when they called her name.
And one more thing.
A proud noble young lady, yet she had been on the brink of death in the recent level test. To her, Isabel asked with sparkling eyes.
“Wouldn’t it be better to go watch from the front?”
“I have no interest.”
Michelle used her telekinesis to adjust the bandage on her arm.
No matter what happened in the F-Class, there was no reason for her to care.
She had fallen into this class after meeting Hamila, a natural disaster, during the level test. After some time, she would naturally advance to the high class.
It was normal not to have interest. It wasn’t even a long-term stay.
But…
After tying the bandage, she turned her gaze to the face of the man standing beside Charlotte.
It was strange. Michelle was carefully examining someone’s face. Even she found it strange.
Since she had no interest in the special class, it was only natural she had no interest in the special-class professor. That was how it should be.
Why?
The man had a strangely captivating presence.
Sharp jawline and piercing eyes?
No, that wasn’t enough reason. Michelle was already an adult; she didn’t judge people by appearance alone.
“The new professor doesn’t seem like he’s anything special, does he?”
“Not at all.”
Michelle cut Isabel’s words off sharply.
I don’t know.
Anyway, I don’t like that professor. And the one who told me to raise my hand to speak earlier…
To begin with, there was no way he was outstanding. If he were truly outstanding, the president wouldn’t have assigned him to the F-Class.
After letting out a deep sigh, Michelle stood up from her seat.
“Huh? You’re not watching?”
“I have no interest. I’m going to the infirmary.”
“Ah, want me to escort you?”
“...... No need.”
And from now on, don’t talk to me. Because you’re different from me.
But she swallowed the last part.
Adrian, the professor, stood beside Charlotte.
“......?”
Wasn’t this supposed to be a push-pull duel? Then we should face each other. But Adrian clearly stood right beside Charlotte.
“The way to decide the match is simple. Charlotte.”
Adrian snapped his fingers, and three scarecrows appeared in the center of the training ground. They were made of pure blue mana.
“Think of these scarecrows as demons, and unleash the most powerful magic you can among the ones you can cast.”
Snap again, the scarecrows’ forms changed.
They took on the specific appearances of demons—Wolfen, vampire, dragonkin, and so on—vividly alive as if they could move at any moment.
“These are just targets, so they won’t counterattack at all. Knocking down even one means your victory.”
Knocking down a non-resisting target. It seemed easier than expected.
From Charlotte’s perspective, who had expected a duel with Adrian, this side felt far easier.
Because in duels between mages, you had to consider far too many things.
There were attack spells, and there were defensive spells. Considering all of them made it complicated and difficult.
...But this was just pouring out attacks, wasn’t it?
Other students also seemed to expect the duel between Charlotte and Adrian. Quite a few had left disappointedly after class.
“Time limit is two hours. After that, I’ll add one condition per hour.”
“Do as you please.”
After all, if I lose, I’ll just drop out of this academy.
“Start.”
Charlotte immediately preheated the mana in her body.
First, aim for the Wolfen. The talent Charlotte inherited from her parents was flame element. Wolfen, who were werewolves, were vulnerable to flame.
Flame Arrow
It was a technique she had absolute confidence in regarding speed. Piercing the vital point with this would mean even a massive Wolfen wouldn’t be able to withstand it.
The strokes for this technique were only five. Draw a line in your head, follow the circuit, and infuse mana.
Now.
When everything aligned and the intuition of a mage settled in, extend index and middle finger—
BOOM—!
A flame arrow shot out at an incredible speed. The blazing arrowhead collided with the left chest and front of the Wolfen scarecrow the moment it was launched.
Ting—!
But it bounced off beautifully.
Charlotte bit her lip at the utterly trivial sight. No matter what, if she had taken a direct hit with that on her bare body, how could it possibly be fine?
“You said to unleash the most powerful one.”
“At this level, it’s sufficiently powerful—”
“It is not sufficient.”
The man’s words were cool and precise.
“Wolfen are said to be vulnerable to flame, but strictly speaking, they are only vulnerable to high-level flame. They have excellent durability by nature.”
Damn, high-level magic... high-level magic....
In fact, she didn’t even know how to handle high-level flame magic yet.
But the hatred that I must kill the demon, the mission to definitely tear it apart, the revenge of my parents that I must accomplish...
I wanted to show that here. I wanted to prove that will.
The most powerful technique. The most powerful technique. The most powerful technique.
She rummaged through her mind again and again, desperately searching for the stroke of the powerful flame magic.
Flame Explosion, Ignite, Flame Sweep... Various names floated up, but suddenly the stroke of the technique wouldn’t come to mind.
Don’t get impatient. Time was given for two hours.
Her head throbbed. Eventually, Charlotte drew a stroke on her palm with the tip of her finger to organize her tangled memories.
Just as she almost remembered the stroke of Ignite.
“After all, when facing demons, it’s you who dies.”
Adrian’s heavy voice struck Charlotte’s ear.
“Are you still going to do that with demons in front of you?”
“...... It’s noisy.”
Perhaps because she had bitten her lip too hard, a bitter taste of blood filled her mouth.
She immediately used Ignite. This time toward the vampire scarecrow.
Whoosh—!
Fierce flames blazed from the scarecrow’s body. But that was it. It didn’t fall.
“Vampires being weak to the sun or flame is just hearsay. The blessing of the vampire queen has compensated for that shortcoming long ago.”
“It’s noisy.”
Her heart pounded as if it would burst at any moment.
The strokes weren’t coming to mind one by one, and the preheated mana was turning cold. Even sending mana through the circuit had small errors, one or two drops.
- Die 100 times facing them.
- Pathetic.
- Superficial.
Damn, now even if Adrian kept his mouth shut, those voices lingered in her ears by themselves.
Focus.
Focus and do it properly again. I can definitely do it.
No, can I?
If I went back to the time when my parents died in this state, could I save them? I had to save them, but with this kind of ability, was it possible?
There was no reason to get impatient, knowing I had to take one step at a time—
I couldn’t.
“Ah...”
Her breathing quickened.
Ironically, the only stroke she remembered in her mind was Flame Extinction.
She couldn’t find the one stroke to adjust the output, but there was no choice. She immediately drew that stroke and poured all the remaining mana into the circuit.
BOOM—!
A huge explosion. After a moment, the smoke cleared.
“Ah...”
The scarecrows were still fine.
Cruelly so.
.
.
.
“Knocked down.”
“What? Boring.”
The number of people watching Charlotte’s match quickly dwindled.
Originally there had been few watching, but after several hours, even that number disappeared.
Even then, Charlotte was repeatedly using Flame Extinction to explode.
Other techniques had failed to inflict any damage. She had shown an incredibly poor power in front of the demon scarecrows.
The only remaining way to knock down the scarecrow was to find that last stroke.
Adrian’s explanation was accurate enough to make her teeth grind.
Charlotte’s Flame Extinction that hadn’t found the last stroke had only tickled the scarecrows.
What stroke was it exactly?
Adding one stroke here, the technique itself failed.
Adding one stroke here, the speed slightly slowed down.
Adding one stroke here, an error occurred in the direction.
Adding one stroke here, the explosion power even decreased.
“Ahhhhh...”
She covered her face. If she hadn’t trimmed her nails, it would have dug into her skin.
Her face, wrapped in her hands, was wet. Charlotte had somehow started crying.
She was furious at her own weakness, exhausted by her own powerlessness.
Suddenly, everything felt terrifying. If it was in front of a demon, wouldn’t she die powerless?
I had wanted to become the one who saved my parents, but I was still searching for them in fragments of memory and relying on them.
“Sob..... Hic...”
At some point, as the moon hung in the sky, Charlotte cried sadly.
How much more would she cry?
How much more time would pass?
When she could no longer grasp all that, Charlotte quietly stood in front of Adrian. Her body was heavy, so standing in front of the professor was not easy.
“I... give up.”
What expression was he making?
It was dark; she couldn’t tell. Maybe he was laughing.
He hadn’t laughed at her at all during this long time.
Adrian drew the stroke of Flame Extinction on the floor without a word.
“Five hours and four minutes. Charlotte.”
The night of Rahal Academy was cool.
Aside from Charlotte’s hiccupping and Adrian drawing the stroke on the floor, there was no sound.
“First, I won’t add five conditions.”
He didn’t look at Charlotte. He simply drew the stroke silently. Charlotte nodded silently.
What condition? I hoped it wasn’t just suspension or expulsion.
Perhaps a terrifying condition that made suspension or expulsion feel better.
Don’t get upset even if he says insulting words to me, listen to the lecture outside the classroom...
“First, attend faithfully from now on.”
Cooler than the night air, but the content far exceeded Charlotte’s expectations.
Charlotte’s body trembled at the extremely unexpected thing.
“Second, return before 10 PM.”
“Third, run away when facing a demon.”
“Fourth, don’t fight with other students.”
I could only listen quietly.
I understood the sentences easily, but the situation didn’t make sense.
While listening to his voice without any malice, Adrian gently grabbed Charlotte’s wrist.
“Finally, the fifth.”
The girl used the tip of her finger like a brush to add a horizontal stroke to the stroke.
It wasn’t a rough action. It was an action filled with warmth and consideration, different from simple sympathy.
When the last stroke was finally drawn through Charlotte’s fingertips.
With a bang, the scarecrows fell.
It was an explosion with double, or more, power. Charlotte’s eyes widened.
“Never forget this one stroke.”
In the man’s face where the flash of the explosion briefly illuminated—
Clearly, a faint smile was on it.