Practical Sparring (6)
"It's already been two days, Cain."
"Hmm... Feels like time's dragging more than I expected."
"You've been squeezing every last drop out of each day. The Saintess is exhausted, I'll have you know."
"Yeah."
"I'm serious! Do you have any idea how draining it is to explain energies you can barely even see?"
Hmm... Is it really that bad?
Eve saw my unreadable expression and narrowed her eyes into slits before smacking me on the back a few times.
Shub was still scribbling notes with that hollow, exhausted look on her face, while Alex was catching his breath and gulping down water after our latest spar.
After crossing blades for roughly five days, I'd concluded that Alex would've been a decent enough guy if he hadn't walked the slaughterer route.
Moderately insane, moderately cheerful, and moderately brain-dead.
"C-Cain... It's s-short, but I've managed to diagram the flow of the spirits' mana from our spars..."
"Already? That was fast."
"If the S-Saintess hadn't helped me... I-I probably would've been pulling my hair out until the very end..."
Eve shrugged silently and lifted her chin with a proud tilt.
I had zero intention of praising her, so I naturally pretended not to notice and walked over to Alex instead. Still, without this bastard the story might stall out completely, so I had to keep him in decent shape.
Keep him under my thumb, monitor him closely, and steer him toward the ending I wanted. For now, that was my main objective.
Alex, having caught his breath, stripped off the training gear he'd brought and looked at me.
"So? Did you figure anything out?"
"About the spirits or whatever? Nope. Not a clue."
He shrugged with a grin. Bullshit. I would bet my right hand that he wasn't completely in the dark. He had definitely caught a vague sense of my weakness during our last fight. It made sense—after all, I wasn't using mana but burning through life force instead.
Come to think of it, once these spars were over, the finale of Act 1 would begin. Shub hadn't come into contact with the gate to the Otherworld since obtaining Rhea's Ring.
"The contract condition was... returning the sword after the spars ended, right?"
"Yeah. Your sword's perfectly safe, so don't worry."
"Don't even think about breaking the contract. You know how strict Academy contracts are, don't you?"
"..."
Even the Academy's headmaster formed contracts with students. Most people here moved and were bound by those contracts. In an institution that worshipped strength above all else, the Academy had created this system to control the reckless troublemakers who would otherwise run wild.
The reason the contract documents didn't include phrases like "in the event of violation" was simple: the Academy itself would intervene directly. There was even a dedicated department that handled contract breakers. They assessed the severity of the breach and forwarded the details to the disciplinary committee.
"The contract says it's your sword, but it's still a demonic blade. You really think those people wouldn't notice?"
"Whoa~ Are you already planning to stab me in the back? I thought you hated guys who did that?"
"..."
"Actually, isn't it weirder that you recognized it as a demonic sword? Let's think about this logically."
"You're saying we're at a disadvantage."
"Exactly. Such a smart boy~"
He really knew how to run his mouth when he wanted to. Alex must have sensed that my expression had turned sour, because a triumphant smirk spread across his face.
"If you understood what I said, then hurry up and get lost~ I'm heading back to the dorm to rest."
Alex stood up with a bright, sunny smile that practically screamed I won this round, then whistled cheerfully as he jogged toward the dormitory.
I didn't know exactly what he was plotting, but the only variable in the situation he desired was the fact that Shub now held the demonic sword. Sorry, Alex, but unfortunately that possibility had already been within my calculations.
I kept my heavily crumpled expression in place until he disappeared, then let out a long sigh as it relaxed.
"Haaaa..."
"What did he say?"
"The demonic sword looked too dangerous... so he noticed immediately and started waving the contract in my face."
"Don't worry too much, Shub. I'm a Saintess, remember?"
Eve puffed out her chest and shrugged with exaggerated confidence. The sight was so adorable I couldn't help myself—I reached out and ruffled her hair a few times before walking over to Shub.
The way she kept staring blankly into space from time to time would look ominous to anyone. Even Eve, who usually didn't spare a glance for anyone but me when she was worried, had been keeping an eye on Shub.
"Shub. I'll take responsibility for the contract's penalty, so the sword..."
"Ah, n-no! I-I'm fine..."
She jerked her face up from where it had been buried in her notebook and shook her head frantically. Her eyes were even glistening with tears, as if she was desperately trying to prove her point. I decided to listen quietly to what she had to say.
"F-first of all, I've already bound it with a sealing formation... And if I determine it's dangerous, I'll report it to the professors myself."
"Hmm..."
I nodded with an expression that clearly said I wasn't convinced. Shub's face brightened for a moment. She thanked me several times before showing me the notebook she had been working on.
"H-here. It contains my hypotheses about the spirits' movements and how natural mana acquires attributes. W-would you like to take a look?"
"Hmm... For a hypothesis, it's pretty convincing. Unlike artificially converted magic, the nature itself changes and manifests."
"Y-yes... And strangely enough, magic is composed of mana, so it can be destroyed with spells like Dispel. But spirit magic? Techniques? Um... I'll have to think of the right term later... Anyway, spirit techniques aren't made of mana at all. They're drawing directly from nature in its pure state. This is... this is truly... revolutionary!"
She must have been genuinely excited, because she let out a shout she normally never would have and jumped in place. Her exceptionally gifted chest bounced dramatically with the motion, so I quickly turned my eyes away, coughing awkwardly.
I decided to ignore Eve, who was now glaring at me with an extremely sulky expression. Nice view, though.
"I'm glad the observation was worth it, but always stay vigilant with that sword. If anything feels off, tell me immediately."
"Ah, y-yes... I'm sorry for making you worry..."
After reminding her several more times to be careful, I headed back toward the dormitory. Soon I'd be sparring with Panzy Vlad.
Originally, Alex should have been in my position. Depending on the player's choices, Alex would request spars with the heroines he wanted, but somehow I had ended up as her opponent instead. I wasn't sure whether to feel good or bad about that.
"Sorry about this to Shub, though..."
Having her take the demonic sword had been her clan's desperate measure. It should have been me, but I thought it would be better to use the situation in reverse, so I left the decision to her. As expected, she had taken the sword.
If Dainsleif's original ego was intact, it was probably whispering temptations to her without pause. It would have offered her the knowledge of the Otherworld, knowing how starved she was for information. She must have resisted as best she could and deployed a sealing formation to bind the blade.
Honestly, I was still shocked that she had managed to use a sealing formation at all. Maybe she was a far more outstanding demon than I had given her credit for.
-Cain! You look really worried!
"Even though we haven't known each other that long, I still think of her as one of my few friends. It hurts to have no choice but to put her through something like this."
-We. Are. Here. Always. Tell. Us. If. It's. Hard.
"Thanks. I have to save my friends. So..."
I'd just have to endure it, even if it was painful. The things that would happen to them in the future would hurt far more than the guilt I felt right now.
Another day passed like that, and the day of the practical sparring finally arrived.
"G-good luck..."
"Oh, thanks. You're the very last match, right?"
"Y-yes... Elua Arcana insisted that 'the highlight should be saved for last!' so... haa... I-I really hate being the center of attention..."
Shub muttered with her shoulders slumped. Still, you're the top student versus the runner-up, so you're in the advantageous position. I'm the one facing Class D against Class A. And my opponent is Panzy Vlad, who's evaluated as knight-level.
"I even dragged that son of a bitch Alex along and put on a whole performance. I can only hope it pays off."
"Hahaha..."
"How's the sword? You look even more exhausted than before."
"Um... It's... n-not bad. Like I told you before... I've sealed it..."
"... Right. Got it."
If she had sealed it completely, she wouldn't be reacting like this. Since the game gave almost no detailed information about Shub, judging her based only on limited data was incredibly difficult.
Originally, at this point in the practical sparring, Shub would have already been completely corrupted by the contaminated mana and appeared completely out of her mind. She would continue seeking out the gate to the Otherworld, absorbing more contaminated mana, then go berserk near the end of the semester and become the final boss of Act 1—He Who Gazed Into the Abyss.
The method I was attempting was essentially an exploit. Through Eve and Shub's reactions, I had predicted that Alex's demonic sword wasn't simply a blood-absorbing blade with an ego, and I decided to use that against it instead.
A demonic sword that whispered in the language of the Otherworld and would eventually ravage the world. It was probably a blade that came from the Otherworld itself.
Thinking about it now, the game was ridiculously unfriendly. Of course there were games that didn't explain their worldbuilding in detail, but this was on another level.
Anyway, if Dainsleif really was a sword from the Otherworld, it might at least delay Shub's awakening or weaken her during the boss fight. The total amount of mana pouring from the gate and the amount coming from the sword would definitely be different.
Besides, Eve and I had been staying by her side the whole time to monitor her condition. We had plenty of time to prepare countermeasures. If we were lucky, we might completely succeed in sealing the sword and prevent her from awakening at all.
Let's think positively.
"Cain. So this is where you were."
"Panzy. How's your body?"
"Well... I'm not in perfect condition, but a knight must keep her promises."
Panzy smiled as she approached and lightly tapped my shoulder. I had asked her how she got injured. Someone as strong as her shouldn't have been wounded fighting those third-rate thugs. Panzy laughed awkwardly and scratched her cheek.
"Ahaha. I happened to take on a job clearing out a violent circle. While I was cleaning them up, it seems someone was watching for an opening from behind. I got hit pretty cleanly. My own carelessness."
"..."
She was hiding something. I nodded as if I didn't notice. Panzy was a woman with strong pride. There must be a reason.
We waved goodbye, saying we'd see each other in the match.
"Now then, we will begin the practical sparring!"