Skill Assessment Sparring (1)
After that, Cain continued speaking, adding all sorts of additional remarks, but none of his words reached my ears.
Ah… what should I do?
This was the worst possible situation. Getting into S-Class seemed like a basic requirement in the game, but for me it was nothing short of a miracle. The student ranked 500th—dead last—had been chosen as one of the thirty most special people in the entire grade? That was the miracle.
If I could just create a martial art…
I had no idea when the first sparring session would be, but if I managed to make one, I would probably be able to win. The question was whether I could create it in time.
Ah… I feel like I’m going to break.
My heart was the one thing that mattered. It would rather shatter than bend. Haha… I was truly losing my mind.
Just then, a voice cut through my swirling thoughts.
“If you accumulate achievements, you can obtain things like an ‘S-Class Defense Right’ instead of elixirs. Here, achievement means recognition from the majority of the headmaster and instructors.”
S-Class… Defense Right…?
Recognition from the majority of the headmaster and professors?
I wasn’t sure how to earn it, but it felt like a single drop of water falling in the middle of a drought. A spark of hope had appeared.
“Next, during class we will conduct group lessons. Naturally, this isn’t done for no reason—it’s to help us coordinate with one another. Each group consists of the three people sitting at one desk.”
At Cain’s words, I glanced at the two women seated beside me.
…These two are first and second place, aren’t they?
And then there was me, the 500th. Well, my actual skill probably wasn’t that low, but still. I had always hated people who got a free ride, yet it looked like I was about to become one of them.
Whether they were heroines or simply future comrades, I didn’t know. The only thought running through my mind right now was one thing.
Why is life so damn hard?
If a god existed, I felt like asking them a few questions. Before my mind could fully detach, Cain continued.
“Now that I’ve seen all your faces, I’ll return in ten minutes. Until then, talk among your group members, fill out your course registration forms, and remain seated. That is all.”
Once Cain finished speaking and left the classroom, a heavy sigh escaped me.
“Haa…”
With that sigh, I lowered my head and looked at the course registration form lying on the desk. Magic Research, Basics and Understanding of Swordsmanship, Understanding of Martial Arts, The Beginning of Alchemy, Understanding of History, and so on. There were quite a few subjects.
Swordsmanship is definitely out.
I didn’t know how to handle a sword at all. Not even a little. Rather than picking one up at twenty years old, I would train my fists instead. I was a martial artist, not a swordsman.
Then I’ll take Understanding of Martial Arts for now. As for the rest…
It was ambiguous. Perhaps because it was S-Class, but more than half the slots were taken up by class time. In other words, there weren’t that many subjects I needed to register for.
What would be best?
I hadn’t given it much thought and didn’t have much time, so I wasn’t sure.
How about Understanding of History or Exploration of Knowledge?
Since I had been possessed without any prior knowledge, I needed time to build up that foundation. After jotting down several subjects, I finally completed the registration form.
Let’s rest for a bit.
Cain would probably return soon. I gazed out the window, trying to steady my mind and body.
“……”
A strangely piercing gaze made me turn my head. The Helen sisters were staring at me.
“……”
“……”
When our eyes met, Christina spoke first.
“Adel Ifrit, 500th place. Correct?”
It was a painful jab, but since it was an undeniable fact, I had no reason to lie.
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“Hmm, let’s work well together as group members, Adel.”
She answered with a light nasal hum.
“Yeah. Let’s do our best, Christina. Siris.”
I replied appropriately.
Interesting.
She wasn’t ignoring me, nor did she seem disinterested. If anything, she looked curious.
Is she a heroine?
In the game, it seemed so. If the top first-year student wasn’t a heroine, then who would be?
Then what about Siris?
With that thought, I glanced at her.
“……”
She continued to watch me with those unreadable eyes.
She really is beautiful, though.
The Helen sisters. As expected of twins, they resembled each other. Snow-white skin, large blue eyes, straight noses, and lips like cherries—they were the very ideal of beautiful women and then some. The main differences were that Christina had golden hair, smiled often, and gave off a gentle impression, while Siris had silver hair and an enigmatic gaze that made her seem mysterious. That was beautiful in its own way too.
While I was lost in those thoughts, the door opened with a creak and Cain returned.
Standing on the platform, Cain extended his hand forward.
Uuuuung.
The mana that flowed from his hand gathered the course registration forms from every desk. He tapped them into a neat stack and set them beside the platform. The papers then grew blurry and vanished. They had been transported somewhere by magic.
“I’ll assume everyone has completed their course registration forms. As you saw today, the entire day consists of class time. In other words, it’s time spent with me.”
The corners of Cain’s mouth rose faintly, as if he were anticipating something.
“The first lesson is sparring. Take your weapons and follow me.”
“All of you must have awakened between the ages of fifteen and twenty before coming here to Heiden Academy.”
Cain spoke as he walked across the vast meadow with a wooden sword resting on his shoulder.
So that was the kind of world this was. Awakening probably referred to traits and skills.
“We instructors will make you stronger here and help you graduate as complete heroes.”
Cain, who had been circling the thirty seated students, stopped in his tracks.
“Any questions? If not, we’ll begin the lesson immediately.”
Flash!
At his words, a female student raised her hand.
“Banya, you may speak.”
The girl named Banya, who seemed to have been waiting for a chance to ask, spoke right away.
“Instructor Cain. Isn’t this place supposed to be a personal training room?”
The location we had arrived at was one of the eleven doors I had seen earlier. I had assumed it was a personal training room as well, but it was slightly different.
“That’s a reasonable assumption. However, it’s half correct and half incorrect.”
His eyes swept over all thirty students.
“Of the eleven doors, six are dedicated training rooms for class lessons, and the remaining five are personal training rooms for the top five S-Class students.”
I see. So that’s why the rankings from first to eleventh had felt strange.
“Those with sharp senses have probably already realized it, but in this lesson we will select five students. The method is sparring with me. Earn my recognition.”
No one uttered a word.
I had expected reactions like I can’t accept this! but it was surprisingly quiet.
“Then I’ll take your silence as acceptance and begin the S-Class Skill Assessment Sparring. Christina, step forward.”
Before the sparring began, Cain briefly explained the rules.
“I will not use mana, and I will wield a wooden sword. Come at me with any technique you have, with the intent to kill.”
The students did not take his words as an insult. Even with a wooden sword, he could likely slaughter all thirty of them single-handedly. Swordsmanship Instructor Cain was that kind of man.
Having said that, Cain began the sparring matches, but he could not hide his disappointment.
Aside from four of them, they’re all ordinary.
Christina, Siris, Daren, and Banya. Everyone except those four was roughly the same.
Have they simply not discovered their talent yet?
Since the selection hadn’t been made purely by strength, it was possible. These were thirty students carefully chosen by the headmaster, the chairman, and the instructors, yet aside from those four, they fell short of his standards and seemed average.
Cain himself did not realize how high his standards were.
Well, only the chairman knows.
That person had always had good eyes.
“Ugh…”
The twenty-ninth student collapsed. To an ordinary person he would have seemed strong, but he still fell far short of Cain’s unreasonably high criteria.
“Next, Adel Ifrit.”
As the fallen student left the field, a student wearing a black martial arts uniform walked forward.
Adel Ifrit. The chairman had high expectations for him as well.
So did I. After I became the homeroom instructor for S-Class, the chairman had casually mentioned it in passing.
—Adel Ifrit? He’s an interesting child.
That was what he had said before leaving. The chairman’s “interesting” aligned with “intriguing.” In this context, intriguing also meant possessing talent.
Because of those words, I had been watching him closely since the classroom, but so far nothing in particular had stood out.
Come to think of it, the chairman wasn’t present during the meeting.
Did that mean he had already known Adel would enter S-Class? As expected of the chairman.
“Is Eastern-style clothing not uncomfortable?”
I asked a light question before the spar.
Adel thought the uniform would actually be more uncomfortable, but he simply answered.
“It’s manageable.”
“I see.”
The brief exchange ended there. Adel seemed to sense it as well and took his stance.
…It’s stable.
He didn’t appear to be using a weapon, and there were no openings. For someone who had awakened only recently, it was remarkably stable.
But.
This level alone isn’t enough reason to place him in S-Class.
It was something any hero should be capable of doing. Wanting to confirm whether the talent he had witnessed was real, Cain spoke a little impatiently.
“…Let’s begin the spar. I’ll yield the first move.”
Adel gave a slight nod, then stepped forward and charged. A faint trace of heat lingered where his foot had been.
At first, as if offering a greeting, he threw a light punch wrapped in heat.
Ssssss.
Since Cain could not use mana, he simply deflected the attack. Until now, no one had been able to land a clean blow on him. No one had ever won, either.
As if he had already anticipated it, Adel pivoted on his returning foot and launched a kick.
Kaaaaang!
Cain attempted to strike the kick away with his wooden sword.
…Hm. This won’t do.
He had tried to knock it aside, but regardless of technique, the wooden sword seemed unlikely to endure. He naturally twisted his wrist to let the force flow past. The wooden sword did not break and was only lightly scorched.
Adel took one step back.
“…Is that all you have?”
It shouldn’t be. The talent that I, Charles, the headmaster, and the chairman had seen was not this. There had to be something more. A talent that could satisfy him.
As if answering that thought, Adel replied.
“It starts now.”
Hwarrrrrrk.
Flames erupted from his body, different from before, as if they would swallow him whole.
“…Is that a skill?”
“Huh? That’s… uh…”
Adel, who had been about to say it wasn’t, glanced at the surrounding students and corrected himself.
“It’s just a simple haze.”
“It doesn’t look very simple to me.”
“Haha. You think so?”
Hwarrr.
Adel, who had been smiling awkwardly, instantly changed his expression and shot forward. His target was the back of Cain’s head. The moment he arrived, he swung his fist with lethal force. He knew Cain wouldn’t die from an attack of this level, so it was a genuine strike. Had he held back, Cain would have said something about it.
Kwaaaaaang!
Cain did not even turn his body. He simply raised his sword to meet the fist. It was a casual block followed by a wrist twist, yet the wooden sword did not break. Cain had perfectly protected its grain.
Tap.
Adel retreated one step. A sphere of heat formed above his palm. He hurled it forward at the same time his figure vanished.
Obscuring vision and then moving?
Not bad. He knew petty tricks would not work, but the willingness to try was commendable.
However.
“…It’s not bad precisely because it doesn’t work.”
Kaaaaang!
Cain sliced through the heat sphere with his sword and caught the fist of the Adel who had appeared from the side with his bare hand.
“Tricks don’t work on me.”
Cain hurled Adel’s body away.
Thudududu!
Adel’s flying form rolled across the meadow. He immediately stood back up, seemingly deep in thought. Since it didn’t look like he was giving up, Cain spoke.
“Don’t hesitate, Adel. I won’t die.”
It was an arrogant statement, but it was also true that he was not at a level where a student could kill him.
Is he not going to use that technique?
It would be difficult if he didn’t. As Cain recalled the technique from the entrance exam, Adel spoke.
“…Is that so? Then please receive it properly.”
Hwarrrk!
Adel manifested his power while retaining only the minimum amount of heat. The total volume wasn’t that large, but he was now facing the spar in earnest. His eyes had lost their focus.
Before anyone realized, Adel had closed in and thrown a punch. The movement was slightly more refined than before.
Is this enlightenment? Show me your martial arts, Adel.
I’ll take it all.