Chapter 35
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Translator: Xrecker
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: Men Become Friends Through Fighting (6)
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To attend the practical sparring class, Pamela and I went to a classroom in the combat school area.
Because it was a place for sparring classes, it was called a classroom, but the class was held in a building that was structured like a gymnasium.
The only difference was that there were several square sparring rings prepared at regular intervals inside the building.
"Everyone has gathered. You all already know me, right? I'm Delt, and I'll be in charge of this class."
"It's Professor Delt, who was the supervisor of the entrance exam...."
"His face is still a bit scary."
"I guess it's because of the scar on his eye."
"Hey, that scar is cool, you know?"
"Quiet!"
After silencing the murmuring students, Delt continued to speak.
"The content of this class is very simple. Find a partner and spar with each other to improve your skills. It doesn't matter if it's one-on-one or a group-on-group. If you want, I can be your opponent myself.
I know that you who have taken this class are not the type to be able to sit still and develop or support from the back because you get antsy. So... show off your skills to your heart's content! That is all!"
As soon as Delt's explanation was over, the other students looked around, not finding partners and sparring right away.
And for good reason. It was the event that was supposed to happen first in sparring class.
It was to watch the duel between me and Arsvald.
"Ishihan!"
And just as everyone had expected, Arsvald stepped forward and called my name.
"Come out!"
"M-Mr. Shih-han...."
"I'll be right back."
Like Arsvald, I stepped forward and said to Delt.
"Professor Delt, so that everyone can get more heated up for their duels, Arsvald Zenedict and I will demonstrate first."
"Yes, that's fine. Watching someone else's duel is also helpful for growth."
As Arsvald and I stepped onto the sparring ring, we faced each other.
Delt and the other students surrounded the sparring ring, preparing to watch.
When I glanced around, I saw Shu Yeon-hwa, smiling sweetly and looking at me.
"You'll see an orb in the center of the sparring ring! Place your hands on the orb, infuse a little of your magic power, and then begin the duel!"
As Delt said, in the center of each sparring ring was a raised pillar with an orb on top of it.
As Arsvald and I approached the orb and gently infused our magic power, the orb emitted a faint light, and with a whir, it sank into the floor of the sparring ring.
The next moment, a translucent barrier was created at the boundary of the sparring ring.
'Ah, this is similar to the space that appeared during the duel event.'
There was no pvp content in Lucadia Fantasm.
But there were often event stories where you would have a tournament with a gacha character NPC or an extra NPC.
And every time there was such an event, you would be moved to a space with a translucent barrier on a square ring, and this sparring ring felt exactly like that.
I immediately looked up.
There was no translucent barrier on the ceiling.
I was a little worried that a barrier might appear at a low height, but it seemed there was no need to worry.
If there had been one, it would have been difficult to bring out Severing Spear.
I could pierce through the barrier surrounding the sparring ring with the Penetration skill, but if the device that created this barrier were to have a problem because of that, it could become a headache.
I created some distance again and took out the Crescent Moon Spear from my inventory.
"Let's begin."
"Alright. You'll feel the reward of your practice..."
Crackle! Crackle! A current of electricity sparked in Arsvald's hands.
"I'll show you my power!"
Arsvald Zenedict's weapon was a thin, short magic wand, not a large staff like Pamela's.
But that was only in the equipment window.
When Arsvald's actual basic attack motion or skill motion began, the wand would disappear completely.
Here, it seemed that what the player actually saw was more important than the game's equipment settings, so Arsvald did not take out his wand and showed his first basic attack motion.
"Hah!"
With a shout, Arsvald swung his arm, and a blue ball of electricity flew forward.
With the knowledge of the basic attack motion that I had seen to the point of being sick of it while playing as Arsvald, and with Spearmanship Mastery, I lightly dodged Arsvald's attack and closed the distance.
"Hap!"
Then, with his swung arm raised, a second basic attack motion and a current of electricity flew at me.
Of course, I dodged this lightly as well.
"Take this!"
As expected, after the second basic attack motion, Arsvald showed the last basic attack motion of swinging his raised arm down.
What came out with the last basic attack motion was not an electric ball.
Crackle!
A blue lightning bolt that struck down from above the enemy.
Thump!
I immediately kicked off the ground and moved back.
There was also the option of getting into Arsvald's range and attacking, but if I won that easily, it would be difficult to recruit Arsvald.
'Since the basic attack motion is over, is it a skill next? Or a strong attack?'
"Hmph!"
Suddenly, Arsvald raised his arm up again.
"Huh?"
"Take this!"
And then, he performed the third basic attack motion again.
Of course, since it was an attack I already knew, I dodged it to the side this time.
Since skills could be used consecutively, it was only natural that basic attacks could too.
'Alright, I've created a decent distance, so this time it has to be a strong attack or a skill....'
"Take this!"
'What?'
Contrary to my expectations, Arsvald used the third basic attack motion again.
"Hahaha! What's wrong! A spearman like you can't show your skills if you can't get close!"
Arsvald was laughing triumphantly as he watched me dodge the attack again.
"I guess you can't approach my magic so easily!"
But Arsvald's confident voice didn't register properly in my ears.
The only thing that came to mind was a question.
Why was Arsvald only using basic attacks?
'You're a character who deals damage by stacking stocks!'
Arsvald Zenedict had a special trait.
In other words, a unique passive skill.
The Mark of Lightning.
You could stack up to 12 stocks, and the way to stack them was to use strong attacks and skills.
With each stock stacked, the damage dealt by Arsvald increased.
Since the Mark of Lightning had a time limit, the standard way to use it was to stack as many stocks as possible within the given time, then continuously use strong attacks and skills to stack new stocks and extend the duration, and then deal massive damage with the ultimate skill.
And while the Mark of Lightning was active, it would deal lightning attribute damage and apply a damage-over-time effect.
Arsvald's ultimate skill, Thunder of Judgment, also had a design where the damage ratio would increase explosively if 6 or more stocks were stacked, and as a unique effect, the damage multiplier would increase depending on the size of the enemy.
Thanks to this trait, I had also included Arsvald in my team for the Demon King of Chaos battle, who was also a giant boss.
With the damage from the accumulated stocks and the unique effect of Arsvald's ultimate skill, which was a special attack against giant enemies.
Thanks to this effect, you could see a spectacular scene where most giant field bosses or event bosses would be sent flying in one shot if you applied buffs and debuffs, stacked stocks, and used Thunder of Judgment.
[Behold.]
-†Thunder of Judgment†!
(Arsvald Zenedict gameplay video)
ㄴ Chuunibyou freak, tsk tsk
ㄴ But it was cool, right?
ㄴ Why is this guy making a high-quality movie again, lol
ㄴ Unpopular opinion. It was honestly cool.
ㄴ Arsvald has something that's cringey but also stimulates your heart.
ㄴ Why doesn't this guy wear an eyepatch?
ㄴ If he did that, he'd really be a rip-off.
ㄴ (Be swallowed by darkness! pic)
ㄴ So nostalgic, lol
While briefly reminiscing about my pleasant memories, I focused my consciousness on the incomprehensible scene.
'Why isn't he using any skills? At least use a strong attack.'
"Hahahaha! Even though you annihilated a bandit gang, it seems you're no match for me! Where did that confident attitude go! I haven't even!"
Arsvald covered his mouth with his palm.
"Used a single skill properly yet!"
'Ah.'
I knew why Arsvald wasn't using any skills.
It was for the sake of 'coolness.'
It wouldn't be cool to use his powerful skills right away.
So, he first wanted to create a 'cool self' who would subdue or toy with the opponent using only basic attacks.
Conclusion.
'I'll have to give him a bit of a sense of crisis.'
It was true that if I just kept dodging without attacking, I might be looked down upon.
In that case, I just had to create a situation where he would use his skills.
But I couldn't just rush in blindly.
Let's play along with Arsvald's rhythm to some extent.
"Hmph."
"What? Why are you laughing?"
"I've figured out your attack patterns with that. Ordinary attacks won't work on me anymore."
After a brief pause, I pointed my spear at Arsvald.
"Get ready."
The corners of Arsvald's lips twitched and went up.
"Hah! Is that so? You were just observing? Well, you should! You, who annihilated a bandit gang! You couldn't be just this level! Show me your skills! I'll overwhelm you!"
Arsvald was very excited, getting caught up in the mood.
Yes, I knew you'd like this kind of conversation.
I pulled my spear back, lowered my body, and gently placed my left hand on the blade of the spear.
There was no special meaning to the stance.
Among the stances of the spearmen that appeared in subcultures, I had just taken a plausible stance that Arsvald would like.
Thanks to Spearmanship Mastery, I could still show appropriate movements even in this stance.
Thump!
Maintaining my stance, I kicked off the ground and closed the distance with Arsvald in an instant.
"Ugh...!"
I could see Arsvald's flustered face as he saw me suddenly approaching.
I extended the spear that I had pulled back at Arsvald's face.
If I were to thrust it according to the trajectory, the spear would pierce right through Arsvald's head.
So, I adjusted my speed just enough so that Arsvald could dodge it.
Arsvald dodged the extended spear by tilting his head back just in time.
"Hmph! Thunder Dance of Punishment!"
Arsvald spread his arms wide and used a range skill that attacked the surrounding enemies, centering on himself.
I quickly moved back and dodged the multiple lightning bolts that struck down from right above my head.
With a kwa-rung! the lightning bolts that struck down spun and spread out as if they were dancing.
"Haa, haa."
Arsvald looked at me with a slightly tense expression.
The spear attack aimed at his face must have been quite a stimulus.
Of course, it was also my role to get rid of that tension, or fear.
"I was planning to stop if you couldn't dodge it... but as expected, you can dodge that kind of attack."
My opponent was Arsvald, who lived for coolness and self-display.
So if I said it like this.
"O-of course. You thought such a slow attack would work on me? Hah! Don't underestimate me!"
He would bluff like that.
I had made Arsvald use his skill.
From now on, Arsvald would probably actively use his skills.
Otherwise, he would be exposed to a close call like the one just now.
So, from now on, it was the real deal.
'The Arsvald-recruitment-reception-duel.'
In exchange for putting on a cool duel, you have to join my group, Arsvald.
And I'll beat the standard damage cycle from the game into your body.
Brrr!
"Wh-what? Why am I suddenly getting the chills...."
"Here I come, Arsvald Zenedict."
"Y-yes! Bring it on!"
This is the black-and-white version