Public Class (4)
The final act of the first day of the public classes.
A massive wyvern occupied the center of the Colosseum.
Edward had summoned the beast beforehand, successfully whipping the crowd's anticipation into a frenzy.
Standing before the wyvern, Edward opened his mouth to speak. His voice, amplified by a magical necklace, echoed loudly across the arena.
"We have finally reached our final act! The cadet who will grace the grand finale of this first day... the cadet who will strike down this hideous wyvern... just who could it be?!"
As Edward delivered his theatrical introduction, the President of the Adventurer's Guild muttered from the VIP section, "I was beginning to wonder if he wouldn't show up... but they saved him for the very end. Principal Juliut, was this dramatic timing intentional?"
"I am not entirely sure myself, haha."
Juliut merely stroked his chin, guessing it was the work of his son, Edward.
"Who do you think it is?"
"Likely a third-year cadet. That wyvern looks significantly larger than the one Cadet Eisel defeated."
"...Among the cadets we observed last year, was there anyone truly superior to Cadet Eisel?"
While the guests in the VIP section speculated on who the final cadet would be, the academy insiders already had a vague idea.
There was still one person who had not yet made an appearance.
The Sword Saint, Chris, who was well aware of his existence, and Jeras Clementine both had the same person in mind.
As Edward deliberately dragged out the suspense, a low murmur began to ripple through the Colosseum.
After letting the tension build just a moment longer, Edward finally spoke.
"...Since this is the finale, I shall dispense with the pleasantries and proceed directly. Please welcome him with a warm round of applause. From the first-year Class A... Cadet Zeto."
Edward's voice carried clearly across the stadium.
"Kyaaaah!"
"Zeto!"
"It's Zeto!"
Even before he had set foot in the arena, the cadets—especially the female cadets—erupted into cheers, chanting his name.
Within the confines of the academy, Zeto was already a household name.
The outsiders, completely ignorant of this, reacted with confusion. Who in the world is Zeto?
Soon, Zeto slowly walked out into the Colosseum, revealing himself to the crowd.
A torrent of applause immediately rained down.
The outsiders, who had joined in the clapping out of courtesy, finally got a clear look at him. In an instant, their confusion morphed into sheer bewilderment.
Wrapped tightly around Zeto's eyes was a pristine white bandage.
"What's with the bandage?"
"Is he blind?"
"And they expect him to defeat a wyvern?"
The outsiders stopped clapping, turning to those beside them as they began to whisper in disbelief.
On one side, enthusiastic applause; on the other, a wave of bewildered murmurs. The contrasting sounds filled the Colosseum.
In the VIP section, Jeras spoke up.
"I heard he was strong, but to think he would face a wyvern."
Jeras shrugged, directing his comment to Maksim, who sat beside him.
"..."
Maksim offered no reply, his eyes fixed intently on Zeto.
Meanwhile, the Vice-Captain of the Silver Wing Knights stared with wide, trembling eyes.
A blind acupuncturist with a bandage over his eyes... Her Holiness did mention the possibility of him being a swordsman... But surely he couldn't be an academy cadet?
The Vice-Captain recalled her conversation with Saintess Bernice.
The Saintess had skipped the public classes entirely to search for the 'blind acupuncturist.' While it felt bizarre that he was a student, the chances of another person possessing such a unique combination of traits were practically zero. She resolved to contact the Saintess the moment this battle concluded.
A blind swordsman... Zeto...
Chris, the Sword Saint, was finally laying eyes on the 'blind swordsman' Kaen had described in her letters.
However, one thing puzzled him...
...As Zeto approached the center of the Colosseum, the faint bloodlust he had been sensing in the air seemed to draw closer with him.
"Hmm..."
Chris let out a low grunt and scratched his head.
Could the source of that bloodlust really be this blind cadet, Zeto? If he was emitting such malice, it implied a deep-seated grudge. Yet, no matter how hard Chris searched his memory, he could not recall ever meeting a blind youth named Zeto.
At that moment, the President of the Adventurer's Guild turned to Juliut with a question. It was a simple, yet perhaps the most fundamental, inquiry.
"Principal Juliut, how is that cadet, Zeto, able to navigate so flawlessly...?"
Hearing the question, Juliut turned his head back slightly and stroked his chin.
"According to the instructors... he possesses a unique sensory ability known as 'Qi Sensing.' Thanks to that, he experiences no significant difficulties in his daily life or in combat."
"Oho..."
Those who overheard the explanation nodded in understanding.
Meanwhile, Zeto, the subject of their discussion, walked toward the center of the arena with a wry thought.
To think they saved only a single wyvern for the final act... This is ridiculous.
Being the grand finale and having to slay a wyvern meant that countless eyes were locked onto him. The pressure was somewhat burdensome.
Edward, the mastermind behind this setup, merely offered Zeto a bright, innocent smile as the cadet approached, acting as if he had done nothing wrong.
The audience, however, was not particularly worried about Zeto.
Having already witnessed Eisel, a fellow first-year, easily bring down a wyvern, they naturally assumed Zeto would do the same. If anything, they were eager to see how he would pull it off.
Edward subtly checked the protective magic cast upon Zeto.
"Shall we begin?"
At Edward's prompt, Zeto gave a single nod. Edward immediately snapped his fingers.
—Kieeeeeeek!
Released from the illusion magic, the wyvern let out an ear-splitting screech that reverberated throughout the Colosseum.
Zeto placed his hand on the hilt of the Demon Blade resting at his waist.
As he tilted his head slightly, Sierra came into his field of vision.
Sierra wore a solemn, resolute expression.
Zeto couldn't tell if she was looking at him or staring at the Sword Saint seated in the VIP section.
Then, Sierra's voice—audible only to Zeto—echoed clearly in his mind.
[ Go and show that man. Show him the swordsmanship that shall defy and strike him down... Show him what Reverse Heaven truly is. ]
With a faint smile playing on his lips, Zeto drew Sierra from her sheath.
Sssring.
While most of the onlookers noted his reverse grip, Zeto was internally debating whether to employ the First Form or the Second Form of Reverse Heaven.
—Kieeeek!
While he was contemplating, the wyvern chose not to charge him. Instead, it beat its massive wings and soared into the air.
Reina's barrier sealed the Colosseum, so escape was impossible.
However, the wyvern had no intention of fleeing. It was simply following its predatory instinct to dive-bomb its prey from a high altitude.
Zeto watched the wyvern ascend further and further away, his fingers gently tracing the flat of his blade.
Reverse Heaven, First Form.
The moment the words crossed his mind, the flow of mana circulating within his body began to twist and distort.
Because of the distance to the spectator stands, the vast majority of the audience noticed nothing. However, the powerhouses gathered in the VIP section did not miss it.
"I'm... I'm not seeing things, am I...?"
Sicily Windless's trembling voice echoed softly in the VIP box.
Despite her question, no one answered. To distort the flow of one's own mana and remain standing as if nothing had happened defied all common sense.
Chris raised an eyebrow, thoroughly intrigued by Zeto's actions.
So, running his fingers down the blade was a focusing gesture to deliberately distort his mana flow...
Let's see what you have to show me.
Zeto tilted his head back, tracking the wyvern hovering high above.
In his vision, a glowing red circle manifested at the joint of the wyvern's wing.
Though a 'weakness' was also visible on its neck, he felt that simply decapitating it from here would be a bit too anticlimactic.
With a swift motion, Zeto thrust his reverse-gripped sword forward.
His action once again left the spectators in confusion. He had swung his sword at empty air, yet no visible sword qi had been unleashed.
Naturally, the first to grasp Zeto's intention was the Sword Saint, Chris.
He cut it.
Chris felt it instinctively. Yet, the question of 'how' remained.
Even for a master of his caliber, this was a style of swordsmanship he had never witnessed in his entire life.
—Kradadak!
Suddenly, the wing of the soaring wyvern severed with a sickening, grinding sound. Having lost its wing, the beast began to plummet helplessly toward the earth.
It wasn't sword qi, yet he severed a distant target... And unlike sword qi, it felt like a direct, physical strike. Fascinating.
In that brief instant, Chris noticed fresh blood suddenly coating Zeto's blade.
Zeto lowered his head and began to walk forward at a leisurely pace, heading directly toward the wyvern's projected landing zone.
Stopping at his calculated spot, Zeto once again ran his fingers down the length of his blade.
—Kieeeeeeek!
The wyvern shrieked as it hurtled downward, directly toward him.
At this rate, he's going to be crushed...!
The Vice-Captain of the Silver Wing Knights was in a state of panic. She wondered if his blindness prevented him from realizing the danger.
She still couldn't comprehend how he had severed the wyvern's wing in the first place.
The massive bulk of the wyvern was mere moments from flattening him.
Whether he was aware of the danger or not, Zeto calmly finished tracing his blade. Then, channeling mana into his legs, he twisted his body and leaped high into the air with a powerful spin.
"It's dangerous...!"
Swept up in the intensity of the moment, the Vice-Captain forgot all about the protective barrier and leaped to her feet, shouting aloud.
This cadet could very well be the person the Saintess was searching for. It would be disastrous if he were to be injured here.
Suspended in mid-air, Zeto's fingers finally left the tip of his blade.
And then...
The Colosseum...
Zeto's entire world ground to a halt.
His body, launched upward with a twisting motion, was spinning at an incredibly high velocity.
Slowly, his reverse-gripped blade made contact with the head of the descending wyvern.
Zeto's mid-air spinning slash began to cleave the wyvern in two.
The beast's flesh parted, and blood erupted in slow motion. Because of the drastically slowed time, not a single drop of blood splattered onto Zeto's body.
Finally, Zeto sliced completely through the wyvern's massive frame.
Just as he had calculated, the entire sequence took a mere ten seconds.
Glancing down briefly, Zeto locked eyes with the Sword Saint seated in the VIP section.
Even within this frozen sliver of time, the Sword Saint had tilted his head up, his eyes tracking Zeto's movements perfectly.
...So this is your speed.
Zeto felt a faint, thrilling chill run down his spine.
***
"It's dangerous...!" the Vice-Captain of the Silver Wing Knights had cried out.
Zeto had suddenly leaped directly toward the falling wyvern.
While the other VIPs knew the protective magic would prevent any fatal injuries, they were equally baffled by his actions.
It didn't even take a few seconds.
In the blink of an eye, something anomalous occurred.
Zeto's rising figure suddenly vanished from their sight.
—Puchak!
First came a thunderous sound, like something violently bursting apart.
"Eh...?"
A soft gasp escaped the Vice-Captain's lips, her mouth hanging open in shock.
When she blinked, the wyvern that had been falling toward Zeto was already cleanly split in half.
—Thud!
The two severed halves of the wyvern crashed heavily onto the Colosseum floor, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.
Sshhh...
A crimson rain of wyvern blood poured down from the sky.
Fortunately, the barrier erected around the arena kept the spectators dry. However, Zeto was nowhere to be seen.
"..."
The Vice-Captain quickly scanned the arena, trying to locate him.
Chris, who had been watching her from the corner of his eye, uncrossed his arms and spoke.
"...He is up there."
Following the direction of Chris's pointing finger, the Vice-Captain immediately spotted Zeto.
For some reason, he was only now descending from the sky.
Thud.
A moment later, Zeto's feet touched the ground.
With a swift flick of his wrist, he cleared the blood from his blade and sheathed it. A crisp, clear click resonated through the quiet arena.
A brief, heavy silence hung over the Colosseum.
—Waaaaaaah!
Then, as the reality of what they had just witnessed sank in, the crowd—cadets and outsiders alike—erupted into a deafening roar.
Thunderous applause and wild cheers shook the very foundations of the Colosseum.
"..."
Zeto turned on his heel and began to walk smoothly out of the arena.
Why is it raining blood like a monsoon?
He had simply moved as fast as possible to avoid getting drenched in the wyvern's blood, but to the onlookers, his leisurely departure only made him look incredibly composed and majestic.
Watching his retreating figure, the occupants of the VIP section were lost in their own thoughts.
How embarrassing... Why did I shout 'it's dangerous' like that...?
The Vice-Captain felt her face flush with heat, deeply mortified by her outburst.
"..."
Jeras silently stroked his beard, now seriously contemplating whether he should secure Zeto as his son-in-law.
And Chris, the Sword Saint, finally stood up from his seat.
He turned to Juliut, who was still stroking his chin, and boomed with a hearty laugh,
"Juliut! Arrange a meeting for me with that cadet, Zeto, at once!"
Grudges and bloodlust aside, Chris wanted nothing more than to have a conversation with him right this instant.