The Troublemaker’s Duel
“W-what the!”
“He dodged a mana bullet that was focused into a single point!?”
“No, can you even see that? It happened in the blink of an eye.”
“Is this… the runner-up? Isn’t she just the top student?”
Man, this is why I love dueling. It’s completely different from the sparring back at the training camp. For one, the cards I can play aren’t limited. That alone gives me the freedom of choice. However, it seemed my opponent hadn’t shown me everything he had, either.
“Hmm. You dodged that? A stroke of luck!”
I kept my distance, aiming to snipe Allen from afar. It was a probing fight. He tried to close the gap by sprinting. In a normal situation, my agility was far superior, so the distance should have widened effortlessly even without me running, but the gap was actually closing. His movements were clearly not those of an ordinary person.
“So you learned physical enhancement, too?”
His body had mana circulating along a fixed path. I guess I don’t need to kidnap anyone from the Knight Academy after all. Even so, kidnapping is still more convenient than trying to coax him.
I raised my staff.
“Casting, Bullet.”
“Casting Shield!”
A white streak of light cut across the arena, and he blocked my mana bullet without much difficulty.
“Casting Bullet, Triple.”
I’ll end it with this.
“Casting Shield, Flat.”
At that moment, his barrier unfolded in a different shape. Unlike the original form that rounded around his body, a flattened shield appeared right in front of his arm. He angled the shield against the trajectory of my mana bullets.
—Clang! Clang! Clang!
“Oh?”
“Ha, did you think Allen couldn’t even block this? That was your miscalculation.”
So there was a way to use it like that. I didn’t even know such an auxiliary spell existed. If it did, you could’ve told me, Karnarof.
He immediately shifted to the offensive.
“Casting Bullet, Penny!”
“Th-that!”
“You can’t block that! You have to dodge!”
A piercing spell saturated with mana. And it was a spell he’d been casting for several seconds. I could just dodge it, but—
“*Sigh*, I should at least get something out of this.”
The beauty of the Mathematician of the Magic Square skill is this:
Mathematician of the Magic Square: Ability to replicate and cast any magic seen once.
Of course, I don’t have any need to deflect it. He has plenty of mana, but the strength of a shield is determined by mana density. In other words, it’s entirely possible to strike down a properly cast piercing spell with my own.
—Clang!
The mana bullet embedded itself into the floor and vanished. The spectators stirred. Allen looked at me and shouted heroically.
“You’re not bad!”
“Is that so?”
I immediately launched a follow-up attack. Five mana bullets. Since I just scattered them without any real power, they were blocked easily. But this next one was the real deal.
“Casting, Bullet, Penny, Octa.”
I whispered the incantation. Gasps of shock erupted.
“Ch-chantless casting! We weren’t taught that!!”
“What kind of monster is she?!”
“Idiots. You should obviously be able to do at least this much…”
“Robert, you can’t even do it properly, though.”
“Shut up.”
While Linia and Robert were chatting, the mana bullets traced agile trajectories. Eight bullets. Each one was a piercing spell capable of punching a nasty hole through a shield. It wasn’t maximum firepower, but I put quite a bit of force into it.
‘There, I fired them at every trajectory you could possibly dodge to, with staggered timing.’
He couldn’t dodge. He had to block.
“You can’t block that!” someone shouted, but a low, thick voice countered with a heavy tone.
“Casting Shield, Flat Triple.”
“Another chantless cast!!”
—CRASH!!
All three shields shattered, and dust kicked up. But other than a few scratches, he was fine. He seemed to have dampened the speed of the mana bullets and deflected them. Even so, he must have been grazed, as blood was flowing from his arm. Doesn’t the protector react to injuries like that? Well, then I can beat him up even more freely.
“What, you can actually fight?”
He seemed to be as good as he was loud.
“Hmm. You’re not bad yourself. Give it your all!”
He raised his staff. If you give it your all, you’re really going to die. The protector won’t be able to save you. Of course, my staff will break, too. Since my staff is worth more than his life, I can’t use Dragon’s Mana.
“I can’t end it here.”
Whether it’s a magic battle or whatever, I’ll win. But Allen is well-versed in magic duels. He knows a lot of things I don’t. That’s a fact. So, if I beat him in a different way, something else will come out, right?
“Casting, Shield.”
I instantly closed the distance. I didn’t even need to use enhancement spells. Unless it’s a special case, a first-year can’t keep up with my speed.
He panicked and shouted.
“Casting, Shield, Bullet!”
A mana shield deployed, and a mana bullet was fired simultaneously. Yeah, the patterns are just popping out now. Dodging at this close range is impossible for others, but with the combination of my Dragon’s Eye and high agility, I can make the impossible possible.
—Whoosh.
The mana bullet grazed past my ear.
“Casting Bullet.”
I continued my offensive, matching Allen’s pace. I kept using a fixed amount of mana, repeating the process of dodging and firing. The only difference was that I was relaxed, while Allen was desperate to block the pouring mana bullets. If I keep pushing, I’ll win.
Just then, Allen’s eyes glowed with a golden light.
“Casting Royal, Completion!”
A strong current of air erupted between me and Allen, and with a sudden feeling of weightlessness, the distance widened. I was sent flying without even realizing I’d been pushed back.
“Hey, wait. That is…”
That’s a spell I haven’t seen before. That means…
“That’s the Baltor family’s unique magic!”
“Wooooah!”
“Baltor!!”
Wait, what do you mean unique magic!
“That’s cheating!”
Golden mana formed a barrier around him. The speed of his own mana operation had also increased.
‘Observation Eye!’
[Royal Casting]: Declares the domain of the Baltor family! Strengthens the mana of allies within the domain and defends against attacks from outside!
An area-of-effect buff. I can’t copy that. You need the circuits for unique magic. “I didn’t think I’d have to use this! I’ll give you credit for that!” he shouted confidently.
“*Sigh*, time to finish this.”
Using unique magic means he’s out of cards.
“Casting Bullet, Explode, Guide, De…”
A Deca-Casting infused with homing and explosion attributes. Firing ten shots that consumed a massive amount of mana was my maximum firepower, excluding Dragon’s Mana.
“Casting Shield, Triple, Flat!”
‘He’ll block this if it’s intermediate-level defense, right?’
I cast it and watched the audience’s reaction.
“D-did you hear the incantation?”
“Isn’t he going to die?”
Guess not. Still, more than ten consecutive shots were impossible. My staff would try to die if I went over eleven. The strain was visible.
I was about to unleash my maximum firepower just like I practiced in the West Forest.
“Take this.”
Just then.
—Snap.
Ah.
“Why is this staff so weak?”
My staff couldn’t withstand the mana and died. I’m going to have to pay for this, too. Allen, who was staring straight at me, sighed.
“Did your staff break? It’s a shame, but let’s settle this next time…”
He tried to lower his staff with a regretful expression, but I had no intention of stopping.
“What are you talking about?”
Do monsters go easy on you just because your staff broke?
The enhancement option in my inventory was used immediately.
“Wind Ride.”
A strong wind blew. I closed the distance in an instant, appearing right above his head.
“This movement skill is pretty good.”
“Wh-what…!”
I kicked him straight into the ground.
“Gah!”
The protector activated immediately. But since he hadn’t anticipated a sudden close-range attack, it seemed the impact was quite severe.
“Winner, Yumia.”
I looked at the spectator stands. Two students in the front row were whispering to each other. Of course, I heard everything. People with high stats have good hearing, you know.
“…Did you see that?”
“What?”
“Did you see it? The runner-up approaching Allen.”
“If I had seen it, would I be standing here like this?”
“The difference in skill between 2nd place and 10th place is…”
“Who on earth are we competing against!?”
Both of them were staring at each other with wide eyes. Hmm. Good reaction.
Karnarof approached Allen with a dry expression. He pulled Allen, whose face was buried in the dirt, out with one hand. He was buried pretty deep, but he just pulled him out like that? He didn’t even use physical enhancement. Let’s see.
‘Observation Eye.’
The gap in power is too large! Information cannot be accessed!
…What? My Observation Eye was able to view Sera’s information just fine. Is it still not working on Karnarof? If this is the case, Adrian won’t work either.
Karnarof confirmed that Allen was looking straight ahead.
“Allen, it’s good to use unique magic, but don’t let your guard down just because you used it.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
“And avoid close-quarters combat against an all-rounder. Don’t think of her as just a mage. Consider an opponent skilled in close-quarters combat to be a knight.”
“Understood.”
“Your proficiency in basic attack magic was lower than your opponent’s, but that doesn’t mean your efforts were lacking. Keep striving.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
Allen looked at me, smiled, and returned to his seat.
“…?”
He seemed to think we’d had a good fight. He’s an interesting guy.
“And Yumia.”
Karnarof looked my way.