Chapter 16
Chapter 16
Episode 16
I knew Gerard would come at me. After all, I was the one who poured oil on the burning fire. But I hadn't activated [Contemplation] just to gauge his mood. If I focused while activating [Contemplation], I could perceive the world as if time was slowing down. I could react.
"Hah!"
Huh? He was fast. I barely managed to block Gerard's punch with my guard. A sharp pain shot through my arm. It hurt so much that I wondered if blocking it even made a difference. He must have been holding back. Otherwise, I would have been sent flying even with my guard up.
"Ugh...?!"
I saw Gerard's face between my raised arms. The moment our eyes met, his expression turned to bewilderment. Damn it. It was the effect of [Contemplation]. This gaze was intimidating. He might have perceived it as me having a hidden card up my sleeve. I had to be prepared. Gerard would get more serious.
Thwang!
I bent backward to dodge Gerard's other fist before it reached me, but it wasn't enough. However, I managed to deflect the attack by striking his wrist with my palm. Even though I disrupted his attack midway, the palm that struck his wrist stung. Was this really a technique executed with pure physical ability, without using any skills? He was a monster.
So, what was next? How was he planning to continue his attack?
I focused. In this slowed-down world, I watched as Gerard's right arm extended towards me. My current posture was bad. Because I had dodged backward and struck Gerard's arm, I had completely lost my balance. Yes, I was falling.
Then it was highly likely that his attack would be a downward strike. Since Gerard's center of gravity was also shifted, he wouldn't be able to deliver a proper blow. I raised my guard again and crouched as low as possible. I couldn't avoid this attack either. Then I had to endure some damage and prepare for the next move.
"Hah!"
"What...?!"
But it was different. Gerard didn't strike my guard. On the contrary, he grabbed my raised arm.
"Huh...?"
And I flew. No, I was thrown.
I realized at that moment. I couldn't block Gerard's attacks no matter what I did in my current state. It was a checkmate. But Gerard didn't follow up with another attack.
The match was already over. Gerard, I, and everyone present knew that.
Such humiliation in a public setting. I would normally avoid this, but it couldn't be helped for the sake of the strategy.
"Phew... As expected of a genius."
Gerard approached me with a friendly smile as I landed precariously. His steps were relaxed, and he still wore a friendly smile, but I could tell he was flustered, even without [Contemplation].
"...Thank you for your time. I apologize for my rudeness earlier."
"Huh? No. If that incident ignited your passion, then it's a good thing."
"Thank you."
I hadn't intended to underestimate him from the beginning. I just wanted to assess his abilities. The result was a clear indication that I couldn't beat Gerard in my current state. So, I needed to prepare if I wanted to win.
"Professor Gerard, would it be alright if I asked for a spar like this occasionally in the future?"
"Yes?"
By sparring with him, I could observe his habits and preferred techniques. Of course, it might not be that helpful in actual combat. Even if I knew his habits, he, who had trained for years, would also know them. He would have prepared countermeasures. Moreover, he was a combat instructor. My clumsy techniques, learned in a short period, would be meaningless.
"My current situation is more precarious than you think. Could you please train me, even if it's just a little?"
"Ah! Yes, no problem. Hahaha! There are sparring sessions in the curriculum anyway. Since Oz's physical abilities are surprisingly high, I'll be your opponent myself."
So, I would do the opposite. I would persistently, inexplicably, expose the same weakness. I would repeat the same mistakes. A trap I could prepare in advance because I knew about Gerard from the beginning. That was the minimum requirement, the dagger that would bring him down.
"Thank you, Professor Gerard. Shall we start with some warm-up exercises?"
"Hahaha! I'm glad you understand, Oz. Warming up is important!"
I'm sorry, but... I was planning to show Gerard the most fatal lies. The day he understood me would never come.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Just as Tuesday's Daily Dungeon was fire attribute, Wednesday's Daily Dungeon was, naturally, water attribute. The only problem was that the entrance to the dungeon, leading underground, was filled with water.
"No, this..."
Was this really okay? Tuesday's Daily Dungeon was a lava zone, but it wasn't hot. So, this would be the same. Even if it was filled with water, movement and breathing wouldn't be a problem.
"Hah!"
I took a deep breath and entered the dungeon. Even though the background was underwater, there was no resistance to movement. I could probably breathe, but I couldn't help but feel repulsed.
"Pwah!"
I held my breath until I reached my limit and then came back out. I wasn't mentally prepared yet. The pain of getting water in my nose was more concerning than the unknown fear of being stabbed by a sword or hit by magic, which I had never actually experienced. I learned something new.
"Huff... Huff..."
I caught my breath and checked my clothes. They weren't even damp, let alone wet. So, the water in the dungeon was practically an illusion. I knew that, but...
"Alright, let's go again."
I stared blankly at the dungeon entrance for a while and then made up my mind. I didn't even take a breath this time. I was prepared. The pain of getting water in my nose was something I could endure for a short time. I would just cough a few times like I choked, and my nose would sting for a while.
"Huh...?"
But despite my resolve, I couldn't enter. It wasn't that my feet wouldn't move. I couldn't enter the dungeon, as if something was blocking me. It felt like an invisible wall was blocking the entrance.
[Contemplation - Activated]
I immediately activated [Contemplation] and examined the dungeon entrance. This was an anomaly. But I had a guess. If my guess was correct, it was natural that [Contemplation] wouldn't work.
"...As expected, I can't see it."
As expected, I couldn't analyze the unknown barrier with [Contemplation], which could see through principles. There wasn't even a hint of analysis. The things I couldn't even basically analyze with [Contemplation] had one thing in common. They were implemented as in-game systems. Just like how I couldn't understand the principles behind [Mana Dominator] or [Spatial Barrier], it was the same this time.
"A daily limit?"
As with most games, Daily Dungeons had a daily limit. In the game, you could attempt each floor once per day. Since I had cleared all the floors on Tuesday, I thought there was no limit. But I was wrong. The limit applied to entering the dungeon itself.
"It's even worse now."
In the original game, you didn't lose an attempt if you failed to clear a dungeon. This was harsh. Anyway, today's Daily Dungeon was blocked.
Basic Magic:
[Static Ball]
Crackle-
I tried casting a basic magic spell as a test, but as expected, it didn't penetrate or destroy the wall.
[Mana Dominator Lv. 1]
If I couldn't pass through the wall with normal magic, what about a skill using [Mana Dominator]?
"Hmm..."
I still wasn't used to the chunks of mana disappearing when I used [Mana Dominator]. The amount of mana Oz possessed was beyond imagination. He could spam basic magic all day. The mana consumption would increase as the difficulty of the magic increased, but it wouldn't disappear at such a rapid pace. If other magic was like turning on a faucet and filling a container with paint, [Mana Dominator] was like scooping groundwater directly with a bucket. Anyway, the magic generated in this manner was used by N-rank mages...
[Dig]
"Damn it, please!"
Even in this ridiculous situation? Give me an attack spell!
Well, I didn't want to waste the generated magic, so I decided to conduct another experiment. I tried digging near the dungeon entrance with the generated [Dig]. It didn't dig, as if something was interfering.
After that, I repeated [Mana Dominator] until I got an SR-rank or higher skill. But even high-powered skills couldn't break the wall. It felt like it was protected by some kind of law. And the closest thing to that law was probably...
"'Outside'?"
There was some connection between the dungeon entrance, protected by law, and the shattered sky. And probably also with my game-like abilities.
About a week passed. I couldn't confirm what dropped from Wednesday's Daily Dungeon, but it was probably {Undine's Droplet}, a material for potions. Various types of wood and metal, needed for crafting equipment, dropped from Thursday and Friday's Daily Dungeons, and {Moon Shard}, a material for enhancing equipment, dropped on Monday.
Since most of these were unusable for now, I decided to focus on classes, reducing the time I spent in the Daily Dungeons. The most important class was, of course, Intermediate Magic.
"S-So... the formula for [Firewall] is..."
[Contemplation - Activated]
"H-Here, by combining the 'fixation' and 'rise' formulas..."
Intermediate Magic, taught by Professor Aira, was an important subject for me, so I hadn't missed a single class since the first day. Unfortunately, unlike basic magic, I couldn't use intermediate-level magic just by seeing it once or twice. The problem was that I hadn't yet integrated Oz's knowledge. To be precise, I couldn't draw the formulas.
"By inserting the 'ignition' formula in between..."
Even though I had the knowledge from Oz and understood the formulas that comprised magic, I was the one who had to actually draw them. Magic was used in a complex way. The magic in games and manga often had mathematical aspects, but in the world of Broken Sky, it was closer to art.
"A formula like this is completed..."
Constructing a magic formula was like painting a sentence. If basic magic was like drawing intersecting lines within a simple circle, intermediate magic started incorporating flowing curves. Moreover, advanced magic entered the realm of three dimensions, and magic beyond that could be considered an art form.
"Hmm..."
"Eek! O-Oz? I-Is something wrong?"
"No, it's fine. Please continue. Aren't the other students waiting?"
"Ugh..."
Naturally, you couldn't be good at magic just because you were good at art. This was because others started by refining mana itself when drawing formulas with mana. It was like adjusting a faucet to get the desired amount of paint. Of course, thanks to [Contemplation], it was as if I already had a pencil in hand. The problem was that I was terrible at drawing. I tried to draw a straight line, but it kept curving. Strange... why was this happening?
"Professor Aira, could you show me again?"
"Oz... if I made a mistake, please just tell me."
"It's fine."
"I-I can do it! I just made a mistake because I wasn't feeling well earlier. I earned my Advanced Mage rank legitimately! I took the exam properly!"
"I know."
Professor Aira was more troublesome than her in-game impression. In the game, she was a beautiful woman with a mysterious aura, but now she was always anxious, like a puppy caught in the rain. Of course, I understood her reaction, considering my situation. It must feel like she was working, and a division commander came in and stared at her intently. Of course, I wasn't a division commander, and I didn't have that authority since I was practically exiled. Professor Aira probably knew that, but... she seemed uncomfortable with the fact that Oz was far above her. But didn't she think such an exaggerated reaction would make her look suspicious? No, considering the characteristics of [Contemplation], was this a normal reaction? Of course, I wouldn't deactivate [Contemplation] since I couldn't properly use magic without it.
"Th-The next spell is [Pharma Shield], an intermediate Phenomenal Magic formula..."
[Pharma Shield] was an intermediate-level magic spell, but it didn't exist as a skill in the game. It was a skill that created a small circular barrier, but it seemed useless because of its small area of effect. Still, it was a spell I was seeing for the first time. I should at least take notes.
"What did you just write?!"
"Professor Aira, please ignore me and continue with the class. The other students are getting anxious."
"I'm more anxious about Oz staring at me with those scary eyes... No! It's nothing! I have no complaints! J-Just please erase what you just wrote..."
"..."
She was truly tiring. In the end, I put away my writing utensils and memorized the Intermediate Magic lesson in my head. Fortunately, Oz's body had excellent memory when it came to magic, so it wasn't a problem.
Besides Intermediate Magic, there was only one other subject I needed to focus on. Basic Combat, taught by Gerard. I had been thinking about how to deal with the incident between him and Eleanor. At first, I considered telling Tia. But I currently had no proof, only suspicion. She would pay attention if I mentioned a mana oath, but that wouldn't work either. The most important thing was that Tia didn't know Eleanor's true identity yet. She was a dragon with overwhelming power, so she didn't investigate the students attending the academy. But if I mentioned a mana oath, she would definitely become suspicious of Eleanor. She would question what happened between Gerard and me. I couldn't reveal Eleanor's identity yet. No, even if I didn't reveal her identity, I had to hide the fact that she was a Key Person. The sky's cracking phenomenon was still a mystery. She might have clues about the phenomenon, and at the same time, she was a Key Person, just like Tia. If that fact was revealed early on, the main story would become too convoluted. I wasn't planning to follow the main story exactly, but there were a few exceptions. One was the relationships between the Key Persons. If their relationships changed too early, the difficulty of the main story might suddenly increase.
"Hah!"
"Ugh!"
That's why I had to handle this myself. To do so, I repeatedly sparred with Gerard and fabricated a habit.
"...You have a habit of extending your left arm when you're flustered. You're probably subconsciously trying to stop your opponent, but it could become a fatal weakness later."
"It feels like it's already a fatal weakness..."
I always extended my left arm when I was cornered. The reason I chose that method was simple. On the first day of Basic Combat class, his finishing move was a throw.
"If your opponent is a swordsman, your arm will be cut off, and if it's a martial artist like me, your joints will be shattered, or you'll be thrown."
"I know that intellectually... but it's difficult."
"I understand. Habits formed in urgent situations are hard to break."
"Yes..."
He preferred throwing his opponent into the air and attacking them while they were defenseless, rather than using joint locks. So, I was offering my arm for him to grab and throw. Sometimes, I failed to land properly and sprained my ankle, but the plan was steadily progressing.
"Professor Gerard, do you think I can break this habit within a week?"
"A week? Hmm... Come to think of it, the first-year practical training is coming up soon."
"Yes, it would be nice if I could break it by then, but..."
I pointed to the students watching Gerard and me, implying that my weakness was already known to many people. He scratched his head and said,
"A week seems difficult. It would be best to avoid getting into that situation in the first place."
"I see..."
With this, the first part of the plan was complete. He believed that I couldn't break this habit within a week. Then it would be the same in actual combat. The first-year practical training was a week away. A dagger, meant to pierce through Gerard's opening when he directed his rage towards Eleanor, was now complete.
"One more time, please."
"Anything for a passionate student."
And I was thrown again, just like before, after having my left arm gra
bbed.
"Pfft."
The people around me started snickering, watching me being thrown repeatedly in the same manner. Yes, laugh. Make me the laughingstock. Instill the prejudice that I'll never succeed. Your ridicule will only sharpen my dagger.