Underdog (1)
'What on earth is the third trial?'
A trial of the Hero Academy, one whose true nature had never been revealed even in Hundred Braves. It had suddenly manifested for me.
For several days after that incident, I spent a considerable amount of time pondering what this trial could possibly be.
'There are probably two clues.'
First, the fact that I had already achieved some level of accomplishment. If so, the clue had to lie among my recent achievements.
If it was a recent achievement...
'Could it be my progress in archery?'
But that didn't align with the second clue—the fact that the trial was linked to the Hero Academy. If that were the case, the trial wouldn't be confined to a narrow concept like Archery.
'In that case...'
Judging by my experiences so far, it might be based on a rather vague concept. After all, even the gods I had encountered up until now held abstract, cloud-like concepts such as regret or reality.
Perhaps my achievement lay not in something specific like archery, but in things I had taken for granted and overlooked.
'Maybe I'll figure it out if I just keep going about my academy life.'
Right now, there was something else that demanded my immediate focus: preparing for our final mock battle against Team 1-A. It was absolutely not an opponent we could afford to take lightly.
Even as I spent days pondering the nature of the trial, I never neglected our preparations. I continuously honed my archery and checked on the progress of my teammates. Fortunately, everyone seemed to be working hard to prepare for the upcoming mock battle.
'They've gained confidence recently.'
When we first met, they were completely devoid of confidence, but that was no longer the case. Through tactics where everyone executed their roles in the right place at the right time, we had turned the impossible into the possible.
Of course, that didn't guarantee we could defeat Team 1-A, who were currently undefeated, but being able to at least see a glimmer of possibility was a massive step forward.
I was currently walking around to do one final check on my teammates.
First was the "tank" combination, consisting of Yoo Seora, Elsie, and Rian. When I first put them together, this was the lineup I had worried about the most.
'Though they seem to be doing much better now.'
For some reason, the bickering between the two had drastically decreased lately. It all started when Elsie, who used to be the one initiating the verbal jabs, changed her attitude. These days, Elsie... for reasons unknown, had become incredibly relaxed. She would even laugh off Yoo Seora's attempts to pick a fight.
Yoo Seora found Elsie's sudden change of heart baffling, but she seemed content with the current state of affairs anyway.
'I suppose things have worked out for the best.'
As I watched the two of them with a warm, satisfied smile, Rian, our support mage, quietly approached my side. For some reason, his complexion had grown noticeably haggard over the past few weeks.
'Did something happen?'
Since he usually didn't cause any trouble, I hadn't been particularly worried, but seeing how pale he looked made me a bit concerned.
"Is there something wrong?" I asked.
"Can't you do something about those two?" Rian pleaded, his voice strained.
He turned his head and stared gloomily in the direction of Elsie and Yoo Seora. The two of them were currently engrossed in a fierce spar. Even though they were training with wooden swords, it was heartening to see them putting their absolute all into it.
"They seem much quieter compared to before. What's the matter?" I asked.
Perhaps he knew something I didn't.
"You think that looks quiet?" Rian asked, incredulous.
"Pardon?"
I looked back at Elsie and Yoo Seora. While they were sparring intensely, I couldn't sense any emotional malice between them.
"They do look quiet to me."
"Sure, they might be quiet! But to my eyes, that quietness looks exactly like the calm before a storm...!"
The calm before a storm. I couldn't see it myself. Was he sensing something through mana because he was a mage? If so, that would make sense. My own mana stats were utterly abysmal, after all.
"So please, just save me from this—"
"In that case, let me know immediately if you notice any strange signs between them."
"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?!"
For some reason, his pale face flushed bright red with frustration. Well, at least he had some color back in his cheeks. Leaving the now-livelier Rian behind, I walked away.
Bell, our offensive mage, seemed to be focusing on shortening the casting time of her Fireball. However, with my absolute lack of magical knowledge, I had no way of telling how her progress was going. In the end, I merely checked in on her and headed elsewhere.
"Hello," I greeted.
"Oh, if it isn't our team leader?"
'Technically, a professor like you should be the leader.' I looked at Freira, who was sitting at the instructor's desk. Although she had many qualities that made her unsuitable as a teacher, there were still aspects of her that I could trust and rely on.
'She does have the skill to back it up, having raised the second-ranked hero.'
Though she didn't possess swordsmanship as profoundly advanced as Libero's, her ability to teach and tailor swordsmanship to individuals was exceptionally outstanding. Even if the process was rather brutal.
"S-Save me..."
"No more..."
"Someone stop this crazy professor..."
In front of her, the trio of idiots was sprawling all over the floor. It seemed their training was proceeding swimmingly.
"It looks like things are going well," I remarked.
"They have clear limitations, but at least they're usable now."
I had brought these three, who wanted to train but didn't know how, to Professor Freira. The core of their practice was refining their basic swordsmanship and aligning their teamwork.
Freira commanded the three groveling on the ground, "Show us what you've got. Let's see if it's enough."
At her words, the trio of idiots sprang to their feet instantly. Just how hard had she driven them to produce such a reaction speed? Then again, to achieve results in such a short period, this level of intensity was necessary.
After performing their coordinated routine under Freira's command, they shrugged and asked proudly, "How was it? We've improved a lot, right?"
They certainly had improved, showing that they had put in the effort. Though, compared to the effort Elsie or I had exerted, it wasn't even a fraction of a fraction.
"Indeed. See? You can do it when you try."
Since it was true that they had grown in their own way, I decided to offer some praise.
"Do you think this is enough?"
That was the crucial question. Ultimately, it had to work against Team 1-A. And as the one who had somehow ended up in the role of leader, it was up to me to make that judgment.
"You've definitely improved, but..."
I looked around at the three of them, whose eyes were sparkling with anticipation. Their gazes practically begged me to rescue them from this hell. However...
"I'm sorry, but I think it's still a bit lacking."
Against Team 1-A, "good enough" would not suffice. That was why not just these three, but all of our teammates were pushing themselves to the limit. We couldn't afford to stop here.
"Thank you for your hard work as always, Professor Freira."
Instantly, the trio's hopeful gazes warped into looks of sheer resentment. It couldn't be helped. I turned away, feeling quite satisfied with their reaction.
"Hmm..."
Sigrid, the instructor of Swordsmanship Class 1, scanned the tactical board. His focus was directed not at the team he personally supervised, but at Team 4-B. They were a team that had recently pulled off a series of upsets to emerge as an unexpected powerhouse—and the very team that would soon clash with his own Team 1-A.
"Unusual, indeed."
Team 4-B's composition was unlike anything he had ever seen. In standard mock battles, teams usually designated a mage—who lacked mobility but possessed the power to turn the tide of battle in an instant—as the "King" and focused on protecting them. But this team was different.
'Intriguingly, Cadet Yoo Seora from the swordsmanship class is fulfilling the traditional role of a mage.'
In fact, she was more like an upgraded version of a traditional mage. Her physical stats granted her excellent mobility, and she completely bypassed a mage's fatal weakness: casting time. Furthermore, because she functioned as their primary magical threat, the team could afford to employ their actual mage in a highly specialized role.
'A Fireball specialist, was it?'
The Magic Tower apparently treated her as a heretic. A mage who could only cast Fireball was practically useless in standard operations. Yet, in this specific team, she fit like a missing puzzle piece.
'While those two seem to be the core pillars of Team 4-B's composition...'
He stared at the piece representing the King on the tactical board. It was neither Yoo Seora nor Bell. It was the final, irreplaceable piece of Team 4-B.
'Sung Yu-rang.'
There was no cadet who could replace him, either. Of course, in terms of pure marksmanship, though he was steadily improving, he fell far short of Cadet Wilhelm. However, he possessed two distinct advantages that set him apart from any other archer cadet.
'The ability to defend against ranged attacks, and point-blank shooting.'
Back when he was in Team 2-A, those two abilities had drawn zero attention. After all, he had no specialized role, and if an enemy approached, he simply had to retreat and widen the gap. But upon joining Team 4-B, his role had undergone a complete 180-degree transformation.
Despite being an archer, he did not run. Instead, leveraging his range advantage, he suppressed enemies from afar. Any who managed to bypass the barrage of arrows and fireballs were neutralized at point-blank range. Even long-range snipes were easily deflected by his defensive capabilities.
Once Yoo Seora tore through the enemy's backline, there was simply no way to break the remaining archer-and-mage combination.
'For any other team, that would be true.'
But his team was different.
Granted, no cadet could withstand Yoo Seora's onslaught. None could tank a fireball head-on. But when it came to Sung Yu-rang, he was a target they could realistically handle.
'Being irreplaceable means that if even one piece is removed, the entire structure collapses.'
His team's target had already been decided. He placed his finger on the opposing King piece.
'Take down the King, and it's over.'
A few days passed, and the day of the mock battle finally arrived. The cadets of Team 1-A and Team 4-B gathered at the Trial grounds. The crowd of spectating cadets also seemed exceptionally large today.
'After all, these are the two teams with the highest win rates recently.'
Team 1-A, in particular, was an undefeated squad that had never tasted loss. Perhaps Team 4-B could be the one to bring them down. Many of the spectating cadets had likely come with that very expectation.
'Can we win?'
Even I couldn't be certain of that. But the one thing I was sure of was that we had prepared to the absolute best of our abilities. Whatever the outcome, there would be no regrets.
'Though winning would obviously be better.'
A victory here would be a massive boost to Yoo Seora and Elsie's academy rankings.
"Let's go," I said.
With my teammates by my side, I took my first step into the Trial.