The Energy Blade
It was grueling. All because of the burning pain that engulfed my entire body. But it wasn't so bad that I felt like I was going to die or that it imposed severe restrictions on my movements. So this wasn't a penalty at all. If anything, it was acting like a stimulant, heightening my adrenaline.
"Haa..."
How should I win against Trie without a weapon?
Using Selection and Concentration on my mana to overwhelm her with superior spell deployment speed? That was impossible. Not at this distance. The blade would reach my neck before I could even pour mana into a spell.
The only answer was a brawl. Against the strongest swordswoman who would become the Sword Deity in the future, with my bare hands.
Ironically, that was the method with the highest chance of victory.
If I maxed out my internal circuit, maybe there was a way.
I can't see a way to win.
No. Even if the opponent fought with a sword, she was a monster who had toyed with me multiple times.
Even if I invested Selection and Concentration into agility or strength, I'd only be able to dodge and run away from her sword. I couldn't waste my ability on something meaningless.
Still, I decided not to give up. I had to at least try.
"Begin!"
As soon as the signal was given, Trie shot toward me as expected. Her first strike would be a swing aimed at my neck. First, I'd reinforce my body with the internal circuit to dodge just that... and then... uh... whatever. I'd dodge first and think later.
"Huh?!"
"...?"
Trie stopped with her eyes wide open. She wasn't the type to lose her composure just from surprise. She must have stopped because she detected something threatening as she approached.
A buzzing sound... a crackling noise was ringing out. From my right side.
I turned my stiff neck and looked down at my right hand. Below, an unbelievable sight was unfolding.
What the hell is this...?
A blue flash was slowly being drawn out from my palm. My thoughts came to a halt for a moment as I wondered what this was. The way the light crackled and flickered, it looked like electricity or perhaps a beam.
The pillar of light reached almost to my toes before it stopped expanding. A strong impulse came over me. A powerful urge that was hard to explain with reason or evidence. That impulse was telling me to grasp this light.
Resisting that instinct-like urge was impossible.
Flash...!
The moment I clenched my right fist, the shape of the light pillar changed. The pillar that had split into several branches and scattered light now gathered back into one place. Soon, the light pillar took the form of a long rod gripped in my hand.
No, not a rod. This was...
"A greatsword?!"
Yes. It was a longsword. Though it crackled and flickered, not having a clear and smooth form. But the handle that could be gripped by hand. The guard extending to both sides. And the long blue blade drawn out. There was no way to call it anything but a longsword.
"Ha..."
A chuckle escaped me. Only now did I finally realize the identity of this bluish lightsaber. A weapon that changes into the optimal form for the user. It was Bappe.
After it was absorbed into my right hand, it had been quiet, and I wondered why. It seemed Bappe had transformed into a weapon that used mana energy as fuel.
As evidence, even though my internal circuit was working busily right now, I wasn't bleeding from the nose, feeling dizzy, or collapsing. Seeing that it didn't appear when I was eroded by mana energy and dying last time, it seemed it only used the mana energy generated from the internal circuit as fuel.
In a short time, I racked my brain to figure out Bappe's characteristics as much as possible.
"Wow... I didn't know there were still things left to surprise me, Professor."
"Stop calling me Professor."
"Why?"
"Because it'll be embarrassing if you call me Professor and then lose."
"Heh. Are you already making excuses?"
Trie raised her sword again and took a stance. It seemed like she was pretending to be surprised when something came out of my hand... She must have waited until I drew and held my weapon. Thanks to that, a fair fight was established. I should fight without using my abilities either.
After using mana discharge once in the third match, I had about thirty mana left... That should be enough to run the internal circuit.
"Excuses? No way."
I also raised the sword of light high and took a stance. It was the same upper stance as Trie. A posture focused solely on attack, without any thought of defense. If I tried to defend against Trie's sword half-heartedly, I'd be pierced one hundred percent of the time. It was much more hopeful to pray that my sword was faster.
It seemed Trie had the same thought.
"Come at me, Trie."
"Kuh!"
Our swords rushed toward each other simultaneously. At exactly the same angle but in opposite directions, the blades flew in. If it continued like this, it would be a draw. The artifact would slightly favor the one who was even a tiny bit faster, but in a real battle, both our necks would fly off.
And a swordsman with something to protect would never choose such an outcome.
Zing!
The trajectories of both swords twisted at the same time and clashed between us. Instead of a clear metallic sound, a crackling noise echoed through the arena.
At the moment of collision, the sensation transmitted to my fingertips was different from usual. Normally, the sword would vibrate and the tremor would travel through the handle, but this time there was no feeling at all. In other words, this sword of light had absorbed all the impact.
It felt quite awkward because it was different from usual... but this was by no means a disadvantage.
"No?! It feels like something got faster...!"
Without any stiffening time, I immediately counterattacked with the back edge. This put Trie on the defensive. It was the complete opposite of usual. The more our swords clashed, the more quickly they moved, the greater the speed difference between me and Trie grew.
I had to end it while I had the advantage...
"Aha. I get it."
"Kuh!"
Trie instantly read the cause of the speed difference. She switched from defense to offense and dug into my embrace. When two longswords got this close, you couldn't swing them widely. In other words, there would be no big impacts at all.
"You've never beaten me in wrestling, have you?"
"Damn it..."
The situation had gotten quite twisted. My left hand was on Trie's right wrist. Trie's left hand was on my right wrist. We were locking each other's swords and engaging in a contest of strength.
But after experiencing this kind of fight several times, I knew. This wasn't something you could win by stubbornly relying on strength. In the end, you'd have to abandon the sword.
Thud...!
Trie's sword rolled on the floor. At the same time, I opened my right hand, and the light pillar was instantly sucked back into my palm. I had to settle the match quickly. Without Bappe, I'd have to take the mana energy produced by the internal circuit with my body fully.
"Ugh!"
Trie pulled my arm and threw a knee kick. There was no way to block it. The only option was to pull my waist back as much as possible to reduce the impact and counterattack. Time was really running out. To catch Trie within that time, there was only one way.
To land a critical hit and impose restrictions on her movements. Honestly, with my skill, hitting Trie's nearly perfectly protected vital points was close to impossible. Even if not a vital point, the most realistic way was to land a strong blow somehow and apply a debuff from the pain.
"Uh, eh?"
And that opportunity came sooner than expected. Whether conscious of my kick, Trie's steps got tangled. It was a chance to attack the upper body. I aimed for the fleeting moment when Trie couldn't move and swung my arm.
Then Trie would have no choice but to protect her head, which was a vital point. However, my target was not the head but the shoulder.
Crack!
"Agh!"
My hand blade struck properly, shattering Trie's shoulder bone. Done. I landed the first critical hit on Trie. From now on, as long as I didn't let my guard down, I could easily win...
"Huh?"
I should have, but at that moment, my body was suddenly lifted. Trie grabbed my arm as if hugging it and spun around, throwing me over her shoulder. Wait. This technique looks familiar.
At that moment, my vision spun wildly.
Bam!
"Keuk!"
I was slammed waist-first into the ground. Fuck... A shoulder throw... I had forgotten. That Trie had mastered all martial arts. The moment I gave her my arm, getting hit by a judo technique was as natural as the laws of nature.
No, come to think of it, doing a shoulder throw with a shattered shoulder doesn't make sense.
"Got you, Professor."
"Ugh."
When my waist was screaming and not listening to me, a flick to my forehead landed. Damn. It's over.
"I surrender."
"Whew!"
The moment I shouted surrender, the pain that felt like it was burning my whole body disappeared. However, the pain as if my waist had been crushed remained. I took Trie's hand and struggled to get up.
Even though Trie's left arm was dangling, she didn't look in pain at all. Was this even human...?
"Uh, what should I do? I won!"
"Yeah. Congratulations."
"No! That's not it! Since I won, doesn't that mean I'm the top of the first semester?"
Her voice suddenly trembled as she made a fuss, so I wondered what she was talking about. Was she bad at math?
"Don't worry. Even taking this into account, I'll barely be the top."
"Oh. Really? Wow! That's a relief. I thought something big happened!"
"If you were that worried, you should have let me win. Then it would have been certain."
"Ehh. How can I throw a match? I can't do that."
If I added up the scores from the previous test and the surprise exam, even if I came in second in this tournament, I would barely get the top spot in first-year first-semester combat magic studies. With this, I could be relieved about one of the two majors.
It was essentially a finals match where it didn't matter if I won or lost, but since I did my best, I had no regrets.
"You guys fight so fiercely... Congratulations, Trie. You are the tournament champion."
"Thank you, Professor."
"Go to the medical team quickly. Get that shoulder treated first."
"Yes!"
"Will you be okay without getting your back treated?"
"Yes. I'll be fine."
It was still a bit sore, but not to the point I couldn't endure it. I smiled awkwardly and straightened my back. Ah, shit. It hurts too much. Maybe I should get treatment.
"Schlus. Your nose is bleeding."
"Ah... Yes."
I turned around and quickly wiped the nosebleed. But the students' gazes toward me were unusual. They were murmuring a lot... Maybe because I was tired, I couldn't hear well. Why were they looking at me like that when Trie was the winner?
Actually, I didn't have time to think about that. The elemental magic exam was until tomorrow, so I had to go back quickly today and focus on the exam.
"Schlus!"
"Trie. Is your shoulder okay?"
"They said it healed well, hehe. I was told to refrain from intense exercise for a while."
"Yeah. That would be good."
"So I'll only do about two hundred push-ups today."
"..."
That was her idea of restraint. Her way of thinking seemed completely different from mine.
"How many do you usually do?"
"Five hundred."
"And that's refraining...?"
"Even if I do two hundred, I can divide them up instead of doing them all at once!"
So she meant to reduce the burden on the shoulder by dividing them. Wait a minute. Divide them?
"Ah."
"What's wrong, Schlus?"
"Thank you, Trie! Really, thank you!"
"Huuuh? I'm all sweaty?!"
Thanks to Trie, a brilliant idea came to mind. A good idea to break through the blocked problem. I was so happy that I ended up hugging Trie tightly.