Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Best of Three (4)
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It was around lunchtime.
The location was a wide open space behind the smithy.
"Um... so how old is that kid?"
That was what Yuri blurted out the moment he saw the sparring partner Ralph had brought—essentially, a bear cub.
His question was filled with bewilderment.
Ralph answered Yuri's dazed query with a pleased expression.
"Thirteen this year."
Immediate backlash erupted.
"Thirteen my ass! That doesn't look thirteen at all! He looks like he's eaten ten more years than me!"
"Hey now! What kind of rude talk is that about my precious grandson, whom I wouldn't trade for the world in my eyes!"
"Bear grandpa... you'd die if you put something like that in your eye."
Yuri, looking horrified, turned his gaze to Johan this time.
"Old man! Old man, say something! How is that thing thirteen? This has to be a mid-match switcheroo!"
Yuri was genuinely convinced that the bear grandpa had pulled a switcheroo with the fighter midway.
And who could blame him? Look at this supposed thirteen-year-old.
He looked at least 185 cm tall.
Arms as thick as Yuri's calves.
Thighs like logs.
A massive neck circumference.
And the biggest issue: it was all muscle.
A hulking mass of solid muscle that looked like it could deflect a sword blade.
How could that body possibly belong to a thirteen-year-old?!
At Yuri's indignant outburst, Johan burst into loud laughter and slapped Ralph's back.
"Pahaha, blood will tell—they say. Your grandson is the spitting image of you when you were a kid."
"Tch, spitting image my foot. Back when I was his age, I was a full head taller than that. And I had even more muscle on me."
"Hmm... now that you mention it, maybe?"
"The kid takes after his grandma, so he's a picky eater. Eh, but he didn't have to inherit that."
Yuri gave up listening to the back-and-forth between Johan and Ralph.
'We're screwed... totally screwed.'
Johan already believed without a doubt that the muscle monster in front of them was thirteen.
On some level, Yuri could accept it too.
'Well, if he's the grandson of that bear of an old man, it makes sense.'
What you sow is what you reap—beans from beans, red beans from red beans.
So if the grandpa was a muscle-packed bear, wasn't it normal for a muscle-packed baby bear to come out of that lineage?
The moment he unwittingly accepted that logic...
Yuri's face darkened to a murky black.
'So that's my opponent? That meathead... without even using my incarnation, I'm supposed to beat him?!"
If he could use his incarnation, he could win easily. Without it, he'd have to risk his life.
And moreover...
'What the hell is that? An axe? A spear?'
Look at the weapon of that vile meathead who lied about being thirteen.
The spear shaft was as thick as an average adult man's forearm.
And on top of that, a huge blade surface.
Even if it was just a wooden glaive made entirely of wood, the strength with which he gripped it like a tree branch was anything but ordinary.
'This is insane...'
Best of three or whatever nonsense.
His skull was going to get cracked in the first round.
For the first time in a while, Yuri felt the fragility of his own life.
'Fine... no helping it!'
In the end, Yuri steeled himself with a huge resolve and raised his hand.
"Wait!"
"......?"
Facing the puzzled stares directed at him, Yuri declared boldly.
"I forfeit!"
"Huh?"
"Eh?"
Dazed exclamations came from all around, but Yuri ignored them and shouted again.
"I forfeit!"
It was best of three anyway—he'd concede the first match.
His clean declaration of surrender, without a shred of regret, was met with a moment of silence.
A beat later, Johan came to his senses and placed a hand on Yuri's shoulder with a rotten grin.
"Heh heh, where do you get off with that crap, you little punk? Go on! Fight and die a glorious death!"
"Refuse!"
At Yuri's swift and firm rejection, Johan shot him an incredulous look.
"Where'd that guy go who was oozing 'Come at me, world! I'll take you all on!' just a few days ago? Weren't you bragging that you could beat the academy freshmen with your pinky toe?"
"You're exaggerating. I didn't say it quite like that? How does a person fight with their toe anyway?"
"Whatever! Where'd that gutsy little brat go, and why are you left with just a puppy tail between your legs?"
"Forget that me. It was just childish bravado."
Yuri rubbed his nose sheepishly with his index finger.
Johan's exasperation grew at the sheer audacity.
"It's only been a few months, you punk!"
"Kids grow like weeds in just a few days. And I've had an epiphany."
"About what?"
"That reality is harsher than I thought!"
"......"
"There are way more monsters in this world than I imagined. The only reason I've survived my cockiness so far is pure luck. Even a beast can get kicked to death by prey's hind leg when it's just a cub! So until my teeth and claws are fully grown, I'll keep my head down and play it safe!"
"...You're just dressing up 'I'll watch my step and play it safe' all fancy."
"Eheh! Same words, but that sounds way cooler, right? What is it... a wounded beast? A hidden master concealing his power? Oh! That's perfect. A hidden master!"
"What bullshit. Get out there and fight already!"
"No way!"
As Yuri and Johan bickered like they were about to rip each other's hair out, Ralph let out an impressed sigh.
"Wow... you really picked a guy who's got that senior vibe no matter where you go?"
Hearing that, Johan glared daggers.
"What nonsense is that? You saying I'm as spineless as this punk?!"
Yohan screeched like a rooster before barely calming his guts.
A single realization flashed through his mind.
'Wait, why have I been listening to this punk's nonsense this whole time?'
Having gained great enlightenment, Johan suddenly burst into laughter.
"Heh heh heh."
"Huh?"
Yuri's spine chilled at the slightly mad laughter.
He instinctively tried to step back, but Johan's hand was faster.
Whoosh—.
Johan's hand shot out like an arrow and grabbed Yuri by the scruff, hurling him straight to the center of the open space.
Yuri soared through the air.
"Huh?"
Thud—.
"Wha—?!"
As the dazed Yuri sprawled in the center, Johan's cheerful voice reached his ears.
"Alright, begin! Fight!"
At the shout, the grandson looked to Ralph.
His eyes asking if it was really time to start.
Nod—.
Ralph nodded up and down in response, and the thirteen-year-old grandson let out a faint sigh as he raised his wooden spear.
After a moment's hesitation, resolve filled the boy's eyes.
Pop!
The boy moved.
An incredible speed utterly at odds with his bulk, as if the hesitation had never happened.
Boom— boom— boom!
Seeing the massive figure charging like a wild boar, shaking the ground, sent chills down spines.
'Ah, damn it...'
He'd boasted to Johan that he'd crush the bear cub.
But...
'Looks like the one getting crushed is gonna be me.'
Boom— boom!
Seeing the sparring opponent close in in an instant, Yuri yelled out in full grievance.
"Hey, you crazy old geezer! If you're gonna make me fight, at least give me a sword first!"
At that very shout, the wooden glaive came whistling down toward Yuri's head.
Yuri urgently leaped back.
Whoosh—.
The sharp blade grazed perilously past his eyes, accompanied by a fierce wind.
But had he moved too hastily?
His center of gravity shifted slightly, and his balance crumbled.
"Eek!"
In a panic, Yuri flung his collapsing body backward.
Instinctively shifting his weight, he executed two back tumbles to escape the spot.
The movements were so swift and fluid it was like watching an acrobatic performance.
Swoosh— crack!
At the same time, a heavy thud as the wooden spear blade slammed into the ground between his legs.
He'd narrowly escaped not just death, but losing his 'precious parts' too. Yuri groped between his legs.
'I-it's still there?'
Confirming no damage with relief, Yuri shouted with a pale face.
"Hey, as a fellow man, this is too much!"
It had been a hair's breadth—one finger-width deeper and it would've been a squish.
But Ralph's grandson didn't stop at Yuri's scream-like cry, pressing the attack relentlessly.
Whoosh—.
"Eep?!"
Swoosh—.
"Ugh!"
The swiftly swung glaive whipped up fierce winds that tugged at Yuri's clothes.
A barrage of strikes that would cause serious injury even from a graze.
Swish—.
"Kyak!"
His scream was weird, but Yuri dodged every attack with quick footwork.
The most shocked in that moment was Yuri himself.
'My body... feels light?'
He'd pulled off acrobatic evasions like this against Dutz's gang before.
But Dutz's crew and this opponent were on a whole different level.
Even if the kid was much younger, their combat power wasn't even comparable.
Moreover, against Dutz, he'd used his incarnation—now it was sealed.
Yet his surroundings registered crystal clear, and his body moved as intended.
The moment his brain issued a command, his body responded instantly.
There was only one cause for this stark change.
'So this is the power of mana!'
The mana he'd recently acquired.
Without Johan's help to block the spirit blood, he couldn't accumulate more, but the mana he had was steadily exerting its power.
Thanks to it, Yuri truly understood why people craved mana so desperately.
Whoosh— swoosh—.
Thus, Yuri's mana-enhanced evasions continued.
Ralph, watching quietly, stroked his chin.
Then, as if displeased with something, he furrowed his brow slightly.
"What a mess."
Yuri's movements were certainly nimble and flexible.
His evasion instincts seemed almost animalistic.
But in Ralph's eyes, Yuri was just a wild colt with its tail on fire.
His movements were full of wasted effort and utterly inefficient.
A disciple of Johan whom he knew should never show such form.
Especially in terms of 'body control.'
At Ralph's harsh critique, Johan nodded with a grin.
"Yeah, a total mess. Heh heh."
"What the hell did you even teach him?"
"Teach? I haven't taught him jack yet. That's next."
At those words, Ralph's gaze turned to Yuri.
'Hmm......'
Ralph set aside the 'disciple of Johan' label.
He evaluated Yuri purely on his own merits.
'Not bad.'
The fact that he could sustain those evasion moves purely on instinct, without training, meant Yuri had decent talent.
If he had to quantify it, the kind you see once in a hundred.
But by Ralph's standards, having seen all sorts of geniuses, it wasn't quite satisfying.
Johan was probably the same.
No, even stricter with his conditions.
'And yet Senior Johan chose this kid...'
That meant there was something special about this Yuri.
Ralph stroked his chin, his expression turning serious.
After observing Yuri for a long while, his mouth opened.