Chapter 22
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Elric VS Asuka
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As soon as the sparring matches began, magic spells rained down from all over the place.
Half the pairs were instantly hurling spells at each other, while the other half saw one side strike first.
The remaining half were locked in a standoff, probing for an opening.
Elric and Asuka's match fell into that last category.
'First, let's gauge her spell's power. Then I can adjust from there.'
Elric intended to test Asuka's abilities upfront. Truth be told, ever since arriving at the academy, the only times he'd properly observed the students' skills were during those few recent magic lessons.
But he hadn't focused solely on her, so getting a detailed read was impossible.
And Asuka...
'Wh-what do I do? I'm shaking...! B-but this is my chance to learn magic from Elric Raishion himself...!'
She couldn't pass this up. Sure, she wasn't used to guys and her nerves were shot, but learning magic was crucial too.
"Th-then... here I go!"
"Sure."
'Huh, she's totally different from when she was chatting with Kasis Sirun. Shyer than she looks, maybe.'
She'd seemed utterly relaxed under all those eyes while talking to Kasis, but now that it was just the two of them, she was acting all bashful.
Well, that could happen. People came in all varieties. Elric brushed it off with a light shrug.
"Haaah!"
Mana gathered in Asuka's hand, and whoosh—flames roared to life.
Intense flames that perfectly matched her hair color.
The blaze shot straight at Elric, embodying fire magic's signature speed and raw power.
'Power's about this level...'
As the spell hurtled toward him, Elric calmly sensed its structure. It was clearly superior to most other students overall, but nowhere near his own caliber.
'Dodged a bullet there—I almost misjudged her.'
So, how to handle this? As Elric pondered, he suddenly recalled Professor Asel Hershe's method from their first lesson.
Blocking with pure mana, or slipping his own magic into the enemy's spell chain to sever it.
'First one's too flashy.'
He'd never tried either, but the mana block was way harder. Plus, pulling it off against a peer would bruise her pride hard—getting shut down by a professor was one thing, but by a fellow first-year? Totally different story.
That left one option: find and snap the spell's mana links.
Honestly, it wasn't that tough. Compared to Nihe Pruna's perfected spells or Elric's intricate spatial magic, Asuka's was simple, with a flimsy structure.
Like this.
Tap, flick, tap—pop.
Whoosh...
A few precise touches, and it fizzled out.
"Wh-what...?!"
Asuka stared in shock as her spell—undone not by any real counter-magic, but by a handful of tiny spells.
'Th-this much of a gap...?!'
Truth be told, Asuka had been confident. Her skills stood out among her yearmates, her practical entrance exam scores were top-tier, and back in the Kesan Kingdom, she was one of the best of her age.
So when she'd seen Elric spar Professor Asel Hershe, she'd thought it was impressive how the professor dismantled his spells—cool, even—but she hadn't realized the gap was this wide.
She couldn't exactly peer into others' spell structures or mana reserves anyway—that was genius-level stuff. She'd just taken it at face value.
"Nngh...!"
Her pride ignited, Asuka unleashed another spell. Whoosh—even fiercer flames than before surged toward Elric.
But.
'Just more power, but simpler structure. Easier to dismantle than last time.'
That was fire magic's weakness: strong and fast, but so straightforward that anyone who could see its framework picked it apart effortlessly.
'Here, here, and here.'
He flicked at the core links again. Now that he'd done it once, it was smoother, more efficient.
Asuka's second attack vanished without a trace.
'How... how is this possible?'
She'd poured in max mana for her strongest shot yet. But Elric Raishion had barely lifted a hand—no heavy mana expenditure, just a casual flick to dismantle it.
'Does that even make sense?'
Genius or not, they were both first-years. Their training hours should be comparable.
And yet, she couldn't lay a finger on him?
Asuka's eyes blazed. By now, whether Elric was a guy or not didn't matter—her spell had been so cleanly dismantled.
Elric watched her reaction with interest.
'Her expressions are all over the place.'
Unlike perpetually upbeat Chloe or Maria, deadpan Irene, perpetually slumped Kuina, or those three who turned into bobbleheads around Chloe (stone-faced otherwise)—or everyone else who quailed at him without cause—Asuka's emotions shifted fast and fierce.
'Does the hair color and fire affinity play into that?'
Elric idly wondered as he observed Asuka gathering mana again.
Rough estimate: this next one would be her limit. Mages typically burned through their internal reserves first—safer, better understood, higher power and polish for the same spell.
When those ran dry, they all did the same thing: pull in ambient mana.
Inferior quality, sure, but better than nothing.
Though even that had limits—their mana capacity wasn't infinite.
Judging by the amount Asuka was drawing and her condition...
'...This'll be her all-out final shot.'
She was hauling in more mana than she could handle.
As Asuka drew in the surrounding mana, her hair and clothes whipped wildly—a telltale sign for any mage doing it.
'Whoa.'
Predictably, her skimpy outfit fluttered dramatically. Like, really dramatically.
'If she's gonna flap around like that, shouldn't she have worn something more modest?'
Cultural thing? What girl just didn't care?
Of course, Asuka wasn't ignoring it—she couldn't. Losing without landing a hit would make her explode.
'Gotta... gotta connect somehow...!'
Her eyes burned hotter. Elric actually flinched a bit at the intensity.
'Whoa, what is this, a spar or a deathmatch?'
That glare could've crushed someone else just on intimidation alone.
"Hah!"
Whoosh! Asuka bellowed, unleashing what would be her final attack.
But unfortunately,
'Even sloppier than before. Links are looser.'
No way a hastily gathered ambient mana surge could outdo her best. It was pure desperation—though "desperation" felt oddly fitting for a spar.
"Hmm..."
For a split second, Elric was tempted to erase it with raw mana, but he shook his head. Too showy, bad form.
But Asuka, right in front of him, read that head-shake entirely wrong.
'Why... why's he doing that...?'
She knew it too—this spell was sloppy, incomplete. She could feel it as its caster.
But shaking his head mid-spar...?
'Is... is my magic that subpar?'
Sure, Elric Raishion was a freakish genius. His entrance ceremony bout proved his spells were on another level.
She'd known she fell short.
But this reaction...?
'Am I... disqualified?'
Not worthy in his eyes? Had he seen right through her emotional slip-up?
As if stamping her fears confirmed, Elric flicked his hand again, casually snuffing her spell.
Asuka's final attack vanished into nothing, just like the rest.
"Hah... hah..."
Having burned her own mana dry and then some from the surroundings, Asuka panted heavily. Total exhaustion. She was still standing only through sheer will.
But she held firm. She'd lost miserably already—no way she'd crumple and show more weakness.
"Why..."
"Hm?"
"Why didn't you use real magic? Was I not even worth the effort?"
"Huh???"
What the hell? Elric gawked at her in utter bafflement.
"I get it. You're way better than me. Someone like me doesn't even qualify against you."
"No, that's not..."
"But you could've at least humored me properly! What was that, standing there all high and mighty, flicking your hand like I'm nothing!"
"Well..."
"You're the worst!"
Asuka shouted, face twisted in anguish, then bolted from the training grounds. Elric stood frozen, hand awkwardly outstretched, all alone.
'Hey, at least let me talk...'
She yells that and runs—what was he supposed to do now? Not even two weeks into school, and he'd somehow made two girls cry. (Though he'd never clocked Kuina Rosly's tears as related, they had been.)
"What?"
"Lady Sirun just ran off..."
"What happened over there?"
The students whispered, glancing between lone Elric and Asuka Sirun's exit. The two social isolates had given everyone endless fuel for wild speculation.
"She said he was too much."
"Did she confess or something?"
"During a spar?"
"Must've been love at first sight."
"Said Young Lord Raishion didn't even try."
"Damn, that's cold..."
"Living up to that face, huh..."
The absurd chatter reached Elric's ears inevitably—his superhuman senses picked up everything.
He scanned the training grounds in disbelief at the nonsense swirling around.
'Confess? Face? What the actual hell?'
None of that had happened!
Elric stood there dumbfounded, too floored to respond. The students buzzed louder, fanning the rumors further.
"Hey."
Then, a voice thick with irritation called out to him.