12
Chapter 12
The Academy's Back Hill Clearing.
The sunset was burning, staining the sky crimson. The cloudless sky bled red.
The dirt ground, scarred from training, and the scattered puddles glimmered softly in the light.
From the distance, the faint bell sound signaling the start of classes drifted from the Academy.
Before the echo could fade, Enoch spoke.
"Tomorrow is finally the Academic Festival. Today, we'll try sparring in a real-combat format."
Enoch had barely finished speaking when—
"Teacher! Teacher! Who am I sparring with?!"
Benny interrupted, throwing his hand up. He was swinging his wooden sword, which was dangerous.
Edelyn let out a short sigh beside him.
"...Me, obviously. You idiot."
Edelyn pointed at Benny with her index finger. Her voice was flat.
Benny found her expressionless face even more irritating.
"Idiot?! I'm an idiot?!"
"The person who asks the obvious is the idiot. How is that not being an idiot?"
Despite Benny's fierce gaze, Edelyn didn't even blink, staring straight ahead.
"The person who called me an idiot is more of an idiot! Besides, your personality has changed a lot."
"When you get stronger, you gain confidence. It's only natural."
She straightened her back and puffed out her chest. Though she was a head shorter than Benny, her gaze didn't waver. In the past, she was the kind of girl who would have kept her head down, hiding her face behind her bangs.
Enoch looked back and forth between the two, then briefly raised his hand.
"Alright. That's enough. Settle the rest of the conversation through sparring."
The two walked to the center of the clearing.
Benny casually rested his wooden sword on his shoulder and grinned at Edelyn.
He spoke first.
"Can you hear it? My heartbeat? My engine is already warming up."
Crack—the sound of fingers popping. His face showed absolutely no sign of nervousness.
"I'll be honest. One Downward Strike from what Teacher taught me, and you'll be staying in the infirmary for a while."
Benny chuckled, pointing the tip of his wooden sword at Edelyn.
Edelyn watched him in silence.
A long silence followed.
Then, she carefully gripped the hem of her robe and sighed.
"...Your bluffing hasn't changed."
Her voice was low and calm, but there was a definite edge to it.
"Benny... jumping to conclusions before we've even started isn't confidence; it's arrogance."
Edelyn's gaze slowly swept from Benny's toes to the top of his head. Her eyes suggested she had already finished her calculations.
"You're the one who was in the infirmary. I can take you back there if you'd like."
Benny blinked repeatedly.
Then, he let out a smirk.
"Wow, you really have changed. Fine. Show me what you've got."
Enoch raised his hand between them.
"Now—face each other."
The two of them took their stances. Benny bent his knees slightly and angled his wooden sword downward. Edelyn extended both arms naturally in front of her, narrowing her eyes.
He lowered his hand.
"Begin."
In that instant—
Benny was already moving.
"Engine start—!!"
Thump—
His heart began to pound as if it would burst, absorbing mana. The blood vessels throughout his body burned like fire, and a haze flickered above his skin. The heat instantly spread across the clearing.
In a flash, an orange afterimage streaked across the lot.
Right in front of Edelyn.
The wooden sword was thrust vertically upward.
"Downward Strike—!!"
Edelyn had been tracking Benny's trajectory from the very beginning.
'Just as I thought. He's coming in from the right.'
To Edelyn, who had watched Benny's training for several days, that path was already obvious.
The habits of someone who repeats the same motion for hours become engraved in their body. Edelyn remembered that.
Her mana storage surged, and violet mana flooded into her brain.
"Water Ball."
Whoosh—
Three deep blue water droplets rose around Edelyn.
Each was a perfect sphere, twice the size of a slime. Their surfaces were taut, vibrating minutely and refracting the light.
The moment Benny's wooden sword began to fall toward Edelyn's head—
The mana thread was pulled.
One water ball soared rapidly above Benny's head in a smooth arc. The other two moved in straight lines, targeting his flank and right thigh simultaneously.
Triangular encirclement.
"—Ugh?!"
Benny twisted his body reflexively. His wooden sword slantedly sliced through the water ball headed for his head, while the remaining two exploded as they grazed his clothes.
Boom— Splash—!
The dirt ground caved in, and a water spray erupted.
"Hey! Hey, hey! The angle changed?!"
"I told you from the start."
Edelyn quietly raised her hand.
Five new water balls rose, beginning to draw non-linear trajectories centered around her.
Each had a different speed and direction. It was impossible to predict which one would fly first.
"That I've become strong enough to be confident."
Benny fell silent for a moment.
Then, his eyes sparkled.
'This is exhilaratingly fun!'
"Alright! Nice! This is more like it—!!"
Benny poured mana into his heart. The orange afterimage blurred into double and triple layers, and Benny's silhouette fragmented.
His speed as he crossed the clearing became so fast that it was barely trackable by the eye.
His wooden sword spun, relentlessly knocking away the water balls.
Thwack— Boom— Boom— Splash—!
The incoming water balls burst one after another. An impact sound, like a torrential downpour, echoed across the clearing.
The vibration reached all the way to Enoch's feet. The hem of his robe fluttered from the shockwave.
Edelyn narrowed her brow.
'He's much faster than I expected.'
However, her hand did not shake.
She had one strategy in mind from the start.
'A war of attrition. I just have to wait until Benny tires out first.'
Every time a water ball was shattered, Edelyn quietly replaced it. For every one Benny broke, Edelyn created more.
Thirty seconds. One minute.
The air in the clearing began to heat up. Benny's heat and Edelyn's water spray blended together, covering the entire lot in a thick fog.
Their vision blurred, and sweat dripped down.
Benny's breathing grew ragged. His afterimages were gradually fading.
"Edelyn! You're almost out of mana, aren't you?! I know it!!"
"......."
"What's with that look? Seriously, stop it. You're giving me the creeps..."
Benny grumbled, but he was smiling. He claimed to be scared, yet he didn't stop.
He drew up all his remaining mana and stomped hard on the ground.
Boom—!!
Cracks spread as the ground split open. Benny soared into the sky. He raised his wooden sword above his head, concentrating the power of gravity and his engine into a single point.
'This ends it.'
At the same time—
A flash, like fire, surged through Edelyn's brain.
The sensation of scraping the very bottom of her mana storage scorched her mind. If she squeezed any more, she felt like she would collapse instantly.
Edelyn grit her teeth.
Ten water balls erupted around her, rotating rapidly and beginning to merge into one.
The spherical shape collapsed. It transformed into a long, solid high-pressure water pillar that surged toward Benny.
For a moment, their eyes met.
Benny grinned.
The corners of Edelyn's lips curled up ever so slightly.
K-BOOM—!!
The Downward Strike and the water pillar collided head-on. A circular shockwave rippled outward in all directions.
Dust and water spray mixed in the air, blanketing the entire clearing.
The air pressure was enough to make Enoch take a half-step back. His hair was swept backward.
......
The dust slowly settled.
The two lay collapsed where they stood. Benny sprawled out, and Edelyn fell to her knees.
"Haa... haa..."
Benny was the first to speak.
"For now... shall we call it a draw?"
His voice lacked strength, likely from exhaustion, but he was still smiling.
Edelyn looked at Benny's face for a moment. Hair damp and disheveled by sweat. Heaving breaths. And yet, eyes that still shone.
He was no different from when she first met him. No matter what happened, that light in his eyes never went out.
Edelyn exhaled softly.
"...Alright."
Benny stretched out his arm while lying flat on his back.
"We're going to be the stars of the Academic Festival tomorrow too, Edelyn!"
"...If you don't mess up."
"Hey—!!"
Edelyn answered bluntly, but her eyes were smiling.
Benny stretched his body long and shouted about how refreshing it felt.
Edelyn sat quietly, eyes closed, hugging her knees.
An evening breeze blew across the clearing. It felt chilly as the sweat cooled.
Enoch looked down at the scene with his arms crossed.
A calm expression. A poised posture. On the surface, nothing was revealed—
But inside.
'...My calculations were wrong.'
Before his regression, Enoch had seen countless people.
Talent, effort, environment. His method was to synthesize all possible factors to predict a person's limits in his head.
This sparring match had far exceeded Enoch's expectations.
Especially Edelyn.
She controlled ten spells simultaneously, adjusting their trajectories in real-time and even calculating the opponent's mana consumption.
With this, she designed a war of attrition to win the battle. She executed that plan without a single flicker of emotion.
'That is a level of mastery even I didn't possess at her age.'
And then there was Benny.
His actions might seem reckless and impulsive, but that sharp judgment and reaction speed in a crisis weren't something created by training.
Benny was the type to burn hotter as the crisis deepened. Enoch knew all too well that such people are the most terrifying to face.
Enoch slowly looked down at his two disciples.
Benny, lying sprawled on the ground and giving a thumbs-up, asked, "Teacher, I did really well, right?" while Edelyn sat with her eyes closed, quietly recovering her mana.
"Excellent."
He wasn't just flattering them. It was the sincere conclusion Enoch had reached.
"You are no longer mere extras. Tomorrow, show the entire continent your true worth."
Benny sprang up and pumped his fist, cheering loudly.
Edelyn opened her eyes, looked at Enoch, and bowed her head slightly. Though she didn't speak, the gesture carried a lot of meaning.
Enoch turned his back.
He thought of Professor Saphent and Vice-Principal Vincent, wondering if they would be amazed by how much the F Class students they had ignored had grown.
A satisfied smile spread across Enoch's face at his disciples' growth. He wondered if he had ever felt this way even before his regression.
"I can hardly contain my anticipation for tomorrow."