Magic Duel
Magic Duel
The Professor in charge said.
"I will explain the rules of the duel. First, magic of 4th Circle or higher is forbidden, and usable magic is··········"
The defensive measures I had imagined, as expected, did not exist. Furthermore, magic of 4th Circle or higher that can cause serious injury to the opponent is prohibited.
If so, magic of 3rd Circle will naturally be used primarily, and naturally, 3rd Circle magic lacks lethality.
Of course, it's not as if any student here would harbor murderous intent and use magic to kill someone.
Anyway, in terms of outcome, the way to win a duel is if the opponent surrenders or is judged to be incapacitated, the Professor-nim acting as referee will immediately intervene in the duel and stop it.
Conversely, if the Professor-nim does not intervene, the duel will continue indefinitely, and even if injured by magic, as long as it's not a serious injury, the duel will not end.
And a few years ago, cleverly deceiving the Professor's eyes, there was even an incident where a student was persistently assaulted, only using impact magic that didn't show external wounds.
'Surely Jerad wouldn't do that··········.'
As soon as the duel begins, I'll observe Jerad's level a bit, and aim to win if I can.
If he's stronger than me, I'll exchange a few spells and then surrender.
In webtoons or novels, the protagonists would be fighting fiercely, trying to show off their ultimate techniques, and the Professors would hastily stop them, leading to scenes of mutual growth.
I hated that.
The biggest reason was that I was afraid of getting hurt, and the second reason was that I didn't want to hurt others with my own hands.
Well, as for killing Mark, it was also because I wondered what would happen to my future, and most of all, he was a criminal who tried to rape me and make me his sex slave··········so I didn't feel guilty for killing him.
However, the fact that I had committed murder with my own hands was the most painful.
"If you are both ready, you may begin at any time."
With the Professor's declaration, we immediately began preparing our casting.
It was Jerad who took the first move.
-Chwa-reureuk!
In front of Jerad's outstretched palm, various Runic Language characters were drawn.
For me, who had already memorized all the Runic Language, I could tell what kind of magic that was.
'Earth Attribute, and····· below!'
-Tadat!
As I quickly moved away from where I was standing, a small stone pillar shot up from the spot I had been on.
If I had stayed still, I would have been pushed by that stone, and fallen either forward or backward.
"Hmph! That won't work."
Since I've been attacked, now it's my turn to attack.
Towards Jerad's hand, which was trying to conjure another Magic Circle, I threw a stone made of the same attribute, Earth Attribute.
If he didn't dodge, his hand would get hurt, and if he did, the flow of Mana inscribed in the Magic Circle would be disrupted.
As I forced him into a dilemma of choice,
-Pajijijik!
Jerad, as expected, seemed unwilling to get hurt directly, and ended up sacrificing the Magic Circle he had just conjured. Then, the completed Magic Circle blurred and dissipated into the air.
"Indeed. I shouldn't underestimate you."
"Hmph."
Did that remark mean he had underestimated me from the start?
Well, I did come in hiding my identity, so he wouldn't know I'm Master-nim's disciple.
Perhaps it was natural for him to underestimate me.
Because an ordinary person like me couldn't possibly have learned such magical knowledge or the flow of Mana professionally.
"Now it's my turn."
Actually, there's no such thing as 'turns' in a duel.
Because you just have to exert your abilities to the fullest and make your opponent surrender.
However, Master-nim had strictly forbidden me from gaining practical experience through duels.
Perhaps that's why I got a little excited.
I channel Mana into both hands.
The attribute I'm using is Water Attribute, and the size is the largest among 3rd Circle spells.
The shape is like a tidal wave, similar to a tsunami.
-Too-woong.
'·····Keueut.'
More than half of my Mana drains away.
At the same time, a feeling of exhaustion followed, but it was only a slight exhaustion.
It wasn't significant enough to exert a negative influence on me.
"It won't hurt if you get hit, but you'll end up looking like a drenched rat."
I inform him beforehand what magic I'm using.
That's quite a deceptive act for an opposing mage.
Because it can also be interpreted as, 'I'm going to use this magic, try to block it.'
But that deception was short-lived, as a Magic Circle was conjured in my hand, and a tsunami immediately surged forward.
-Kwar-reureureuk!
Jerad hastily conjured magic to block the wave, and I don't know what magic he used, hidden by the wave, but-
"·····Pfft."
In the spot where the wave had already swept through, only a thoroughly drenched Jerad remained.
Unable to hold back my laughter at the sight, I burst out for a moment, and Jerad frowned deeply, beginning to glare at me.
Then, as he swept his thoroughly wet hair back with one hand, it turned into a pompadour-like hairstyle-
-Whisper, whisper
Then, gasps began to emanate from the female students around.
-Oh, as expected, personality and looks are separate, aren't they·····!
-He's, he's handsome·····.
'W-what the hell! No matter how handsome he is, that's Jerad·····!'
It seemed the whispering female students were quite faithful to their instincts, as even with the most malicious rumors circulating about him within the school, they would often praise Jerad's appearance.
"W-what is that pathetic attempt at being handsome·····."
"Ah, don't fall too hard for my looks."
"··········"
He's really insufferable.
If it were just an ordinary person acting like that, I wouldn't even bother responding and would ignore them, but the most annoying fact was that even to me, who had lived in a man's body, Jerad was objectively handsome.
If there really was a god in this world, wouldn't they have given that guy his looks and personality in reverse?
Then, is the god of this world the game company that created this game?
I'll have to find that out someday··········hmm.
-Swae-aee-aek!
"Hmph."
I lightly dodged the rock that flew towards me in an instant.
Was I lost in thought for too long? I almost got grazed.
Jerad conjured a Magic Circle in his right hand.
He conjures magic, and re-establishes the Runic Language.
The attribute is Non-attribute, and the Runic Language used is··········Self-Reinforcement?
My intention to crush it if necessary completely vanished.
Self-Reinforcement magic all of a sudden? I heard that kind of magic is mostly used by knights·····.
Usually, for close combat, one would use reinforcement magic on their feet, but Jerad couldn't get close to me right now, and I didn't know what kind of combination he wanted to achieve with just that, so I didn't bother to interfere.
I wonder what kind of combination he's trying to show.
Did he perhaps secretly learn such a method from the knights stationed in his family's domain?
Various thoughts flashed through my mind.
As Master-nim said, I understand what it means to observe and experience the values of many people.
So, the reason Jerad only applied Self-Reinforcement to his right arm.
The reason was-
-Kwajik!
-Hoodoodook!
"·····Eugh?!"
It was to throw stones like that.
Moreover, he wasn't just throwing rocks, he was throwing fragments of stone.
Stone fragments that would have no power or propulsion if thrown haphazardly, met with body reinforcement magic, and each fragment became deadly.
-Hoodoodook!
-Pit!
"·····Keuk!"
The fragments flying in a wide trajectory, as if to embed themselves all over my body, were incredibly sharp.
In the end, even though I dodged here and there, I ended up allowing one or two fragments to hit me, and they grazed my arm and side, causing me to bleed.
Fortunately, since it was just a graze, the bleeding wasn't severe, but even so, pain would naturally accumulate in grazed wounds.
The scratches, which I thought would be just one or two, began to increase in number as if accumulating.
The result of dodging for a long time was-
"·····Eugh, it stings·····."
From my arms to my thighs. Fortunately, only my limbs were covered in wounds, excluding my torso.
Or perhaps he was pretending to miss and deliberately aimed only for my limbs.
'·····He's quite meticulous, isn't he.'
I don't know the details, but whether he deliberately aimed for my limbs or not, Jerad's goal was probably to make me exhaust my strength.
At first, I thought he was simply trying to injure me, but I realized his intention by the third or fourth attack.
"Haa, haa, ·····Tsk."
Even though I had learned knowledge about magic under Master-nim, my Level itself hadn't increased, so my Health and Mana were incredibly weak, like premature ejaculation.
Jerad also seemed to be planning to finish me off with one or two more attacks.
'·····Should I surrender?'
The fact of surrendering to Jerad left quite a scratch on my pride, but no matter how I looked at it, Jerad seemed to have a lot of Mana and Health left.
Since he had only been throwing stones from his spot, his Health consumption was naturally low, and as for Mana, well. Since he's from a noble family, wouldn't he have eaten and grown up with all sorts of things since childhood?
Just as I was thinking it was about time to surrender,
"Try dodging this one too."
Before I knew it, a Magic Circle was held in Jerad's hand.
'W-when!?'
I let my guard down.
To think he had been preparing magic beforehand·····!
An enlarged rock flew towards me.
At least 3rd Circle.
'Dodge it, I can't·····'
No.
"Eugh! Shiiit·····!"
I drain all the Mana I have.
The attribute is Non-attribute. What I create is·····a shield!
-Kugugugung·····!
The shield I created, and the rock Jerad created produced a massive collision.