Lines Crossed
The duel felt wrong. Victor only realized something was off after tumbling across the floor several times. From the moment he had prepared for the match until it began, he had dismissed Kyle Berwen as an easy opponent. He hadn't felt the slightest tension. After all, he had never considered Kyle Berwen a difficult foe.
Kyle Berwen—the notorious troublemaker infamous throughout the Empire and the Academy. The reason no one had dared touch him until now wasn't because Kyle himself was frightening. It was simply because of the Berwen family backing him. But now Kyle Berwen had no backing. More precisely, it was gone. The head of the Berwen family had officially declared him disowned. With that public declaration, the Berwens wouldn't officially retaliate even if something happened to Kyle. Well, they could, but they wouldn't. Breaking his own word would be as good as losing face. Of course, they might still scheme behind the scenes, but Victor wasn't particularly worried. The rumors he'd heard about the Berwen patriarch suggested he wasn't the type for such petty tricks, and even if he were, Victor had someone to rely on.
That was why Victor had boldly set the stage. He had arranged for a professor, prepared the arena, and built a grand spectacle meant to thoroughly humiliate Kyle Berwen. At first, he hadn't planned anything this elaborate. He had only intended to embarrass the now-powerless Kyle a little. But after the incident in the dining hall, Victor's vision had turned red. He wanted to disgrace Kyle so badly that the man wouldn't be able to lift his head again. So he had prepared this lavish stage.
Yet… Why…?
Why was he the one crawling on the floor?
It was clearly Kyle Berwen's doing, but Victor couldn't understand how. Kyle had only been moving his body in small, casual motions, yet somehow Victor kept losing his balance and rolling across the ground. This shouldn't be happening. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. Victor couldn't gather his thoughts.
"Why do you keep doing that? Having a bad day?"
Kyle's voice drifted down from above Victor's prone form, thick with mockery.
"What should I do? Want me to go easy on you?"
"Nah, just a feeling. Apologize now and I'll let it slide. Ah, but you'll still have to crawl on the floor, though."
How dare he…!
Listening to the continued taunts, Victor felt his reason snap. How dare this disowned wretch speak so arrogantly? Hot rage flooded his body, and Victor surrendered to it. He drew up every ounce of his power and sprang to his feet in an instant, thrusting his wooden sword—infused with mana—straight toward Kyle Berwen's lower dantian.
He still didn't know what tricks Kyle had used to break his balance, but—
This time will be different…!
He was certain. Kyle wouldn't be able to react to this attack. Their specs were simply on different levels. Physical ability, mana quantity, the physical enhancement that came with it—everything was vastly different. Kyle was barely average at best, while Victor himself ranked among the upper tier of the Academy's martial artists.
I'll make you regret this…!
Victor's target was Kyle's lower abdomen—his dantian. Attacking the dantian was no trivial matter. It could strip a martial artist of their achievements, or in severe cases, leave them crippled. Normally, the Academy would never overlook such an act. Normally, that is.
Though fury clouded Victor's mind, a sliver of reason remained. If the target was Kyle, it would be fine. Kyle had caused countless incidents since entering the Academy—more than could be counted on one hand—and made plenty of enemies. Plenty of people would be delighted if something happened to him. That included the Academy's upper echelons. Kyle's behavior since enrollment hadn't exactly endeared him to them either. So Victor had judged it acceptable. They would welcome Kyle's misfortune.
The professor's attitude had only reinforced Victor's confidence. If the professor had thought Victor's actions would cause serious problems, he would have already intervened. The fact that he hadn't meant the aftermath could be handled. And even if things went wrong, it wouldn't matter. That person also found Kyle disagreeable, so they would surely protect Victor if the situation escalated.
You brought this on yourself!
Victor smiled as he locked eyes with Kyle. If the man had just crawled and begged, none of this would have happened. Everything was the wretch's own fault.
Regret this for the rest of your life!
With that curse, Victor's wooden sword was about to pierce Kyle's lower abdomen when—
"Hah."
A hollow laugh rang out.
"This bastard really crossed the line."
The low, chilling voice followed.
***
Watching the mana-laden wooden sword, I let out a hollow laugh. I hadn't expected him to go this far.
If he's going to come at me like this, then the story changes.
I had originally planned to play along moderately. Some unknown nobody had picked a blatant fight, so I had intended to roll him around on the floor a few times and teach him a lesson. But this crossed the line. Crossed it by a mile.
Feeling my mood sink, I drew up what little mana I had and extended my wooden sword. Sword met sword—same material, but the power they carried was different. His mana far exceeded mine, and he had packed every drop of it into his blade. Meanwhile, my own mana reserves were so pitiful that you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone in this entire arena with less. Even then, my body was in such poor condition that using all of it was difficult.
I didn't care.
Clang!
A metallic crash echoed as the sword aimed at my dantian was deflected, its trajectory completely altered.
"What…?!"
Ignoring the startled cry, I continued my attack. A full-powered thrust, using not just mana but every ounce of my physical strength. When that thrust was parried, his stance collapsed instantly. His body pitched forward, balance lost. Even in that broken posture, his body had been trained through repeated drills and practice—he wouldn't simply fall over. Given time, he would recover his balance on his own.
But I had no intention of waiting.
I drove my foot into his exposed abdomen, channeling what mana I could muster. The amount was still pitiful, and the strength my wretched body could produce was barely a handful. But power was meant to be used. Even a handful could kill a person—especially when the target was an unguarded abdomen.
Thud!
"Kuh…!"
A single strike was enough to incapacitate him. The impact he hadn't braced for robbed him of any chance to regain his balance. Already leaning forward, his body simply collapsed.
Thud—
He pitched straight onto the ground.
"Ugh…!"
His stomach thoroughly shaken, he groaned in pain, looking as though he might vomit. It was already a miserable sight, but I wasn't finished.
I raised my wooden sword and began swinging it mercilessly at the fallen man.
Crack! Whack!
"Ugh! Ack…!"
I didn't infuse it with mana. Even without it, a wooden sword backed by force hurt plenty. Though dazed, he tried to defend himself, but it was useless. I struck only where his guard was weakest, hitting every exposed spot without mercy. After a while, he seemed to have recovered somewhat from the abdominal blow and tried to signal surrender.
"Urgh…! That's en— Ack…!!"
I aimed for his face to cut off his words. In the end, he never managed to voice his surrender and could only take the beating.
"If you were going to cross the line, you should've been prepared."
Crack! Whack!
He couldn't even pass out. Whenever he seemed about to lose consciousness, I deliberately used mana to jolt his mind awake. How long did this continue?
"Kyle Berwen, that's enough. The match is already decided."
The professor intervened. I ignored him and kept swinging.
"…It seems you won't listen to words."
The professor moved to step in directly, but—
"If you were going to speak nicely, you should've stayed quiet from the start."
I spoke without even looking his way.
"…What?"
The professor frowned, but I paid no attention.
"You knew what he was trying to do and didn't stop him. What right do you have to step in now?"
"…I don't know what you're talking about."
His brow twitched, but he maintained a calm facade. He probably thought there was no evidence. His lie was delivered with perfect composure. Only then did I turn to look at him. Meeting his gaze directly, I spoke.
"So you're going to keep pretending you don't know? Then let's make this bigger. With this many witnesses, the Academy will get quite noisy. Who knows—word might even reach outside the Academy. Maybe even my father's ears."
"……"
The professor fell silent, whatever he felt from my calm threat. I resumed what I had paused.
After swinging the wooden sword for a long while—
"…Haa."
I caught my breath and tossed the sword aside. Victor had long since passed out. Whether from fear or because he had lost control while unconscious, he had wet himself. I glanced at the sight, wiped the sweat from my brow, and descended from the arena.
"…Take Victor to the infirmary."
Only then did the professor give orders to the assistants. They hurriedly carried the unconscious Victor away. Soon the arena was cleared, and the duels resumed, but the restless atmosphere didn't settle until the class finally ended.