Chapter 178
Chapter Title: The Fifth-Years' Challenge
-----------------------------------------------------------------
‘He endured it with sheer strength?’
The gravity magic Torua used was a spell that manipulated the gravity of the surrounding area, excluding the caster.
It was a high-level spell that exerted influence over a wide area.
The formula was extremely complex, and as such, it was quite difficult to use.
But if successful, it was an incredibly powerful spell.
Of course, this magic had its weaknesses.
In the end, it was still magic, so one could simply dispel the formula or resist it by increasing their magic resistance.
Torua had expected there might be a first-year student who could deal with this spell.
‘But I didn’t expect someone to counter it like this.’
“To withstand it with brute force. That’s not very mage-like, is it?”
“Because I’m an all-classer.”
At Leo’s words, Torua crossed his arms.
As a fifth-year in the magic department.
And as the top student in the magic department, Torua had always found Leo’s potential a bit of a waste.
He had no intention of ignoring Leo’s talents as a knight and a summoner.
But Torua believed that among all of Leo’s strengths, the most powerful was ‘magic’.
At first, it was just simple curiosity.
But the more he got to know Leo, the more convinced he became that no one was better suited to be a mage than him.
‘That fact hasn’t changed, even now.’
The reason Sedzen had arranged this event wasn't just for the first-years.
It was also meant for the graduating fifth-years to teach and advise the first-years, so they would have fewer regrets upon leaving the school.
Of course, leaving the school didn't mean severing ties with Lumerne.
But even so, it was inevitable for the fifth-years to feel a sense of longing.
‘It must be the professor’s way of letting us do one more thing before we go.’
Torua glanced at Sedzen before looking back at Leo.
He, too, was eager to teach and encourage the juniors who would lead Lumerne in the future.
However…
‘What should I even say to this kid?’
Torua had no idea what kind of advice to give Leo.
Tilting his head, Torua casually waved his hand.
*Kugung-!*
“Kehek!”
“Kuhk?”
The other students on Leo’s team let out screams.
The pressure intensified.
Leo’s knees buckled as well.
Cold sweat drenched his entire body, and his limbs trembled.
An unimaginable gravitational force pressed down on him.
But Leo’s knees did not break.
Torua smiled faintly.
“How long can you last?”
*Hwaak-!*
‘It keeps getting stronger.’
Forcibly resisting the magic, Leo grinned and looked at Torua.
At that moment.
*Hwaak-!*
Chloe and Abad shot up from their spots.
Seeing this, Torua’s eyes widened.
‘A Dispel?’
Until now, no one had been able to dispel Torua’s gravity magic.
But Chloe and Abad were the top two students among the first-year magic department.
They had succeeded in dispelling Torua’s magic in a short amount of time.
*Hwaak-!*
Leo also quickly succeeded in dispelling the magic, freeing himself from Torua’s influence.
Following him, Chelsea also dispelled the spell.
“Yah!”
Chelsea instantly closed the distance to Torua.
*Hwaak-!*
Torua dodged Chelsea, moving from his spot.
As he did, the gravity magic affecting the other students was released.
“Just as I thought! Since it’s a spell that dominates the surrounding area, it breaks when the caster moves their feet!”
“To see through that. Not bad. The third-ranked student of the magic department, indeed.”
Torua smiled faintly and beckoned with his finger.
*Splish- Splat-*
Magic circles opened in the air, and eight squishy blue objects fell to the ground.
The students looked on with puzzled expressions.
“What’s that?”
“Looks like a slime.”
“Did Senior Torua use summoning magic too?”
Summoning magic.
It was a technique that fused summoning arts with magic.
Typically, it was a skill used by mages to call forth familiars.
Familiars were generally not mythical beasts or spirits, but creatures enhanced by magic.
The eight slimes wriggled before beginning to take on human forms.
Seeing this, Chelsea was taken aback.
“Me?”
“Ding, ding, ding. Correct.”
Torua grinned.
“This slime is a chimera I created. It has the ability to copy its opponent’s appearance and abilities. Its name is Dito.”
“It can copy appearance and abilities? As amazing as you are, Senior Torua, I didn’t think you specialized in life magic engineering. Is it possible to create such a remarkable chimera?”
As Chloe shook her head and spoke, Torua blinked.
He then walked over to the slime that looked like Chloe, crouched down, and slightly lifted its skirt.
“What are you doing!”
Chloe’s face turned beet red as she protested.
Seeing a slime with her exact appearance being toyed with made her feel embarrassed for some reason.
Torua stood up and blinked.
“You’re a junior. Fifteen is still a fresh age, but isn’t your taste a bit too girly? Bunnies are…”
“Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!”
Chloe shrieked as if having a seizure, cutting off Torua’s words.
She had momentarily used magic to amplify her voice, drowning out Torua’s words in the middle.
Abad and Chelsea, who were particularly sensitive to sound, had to cover their ears.
Torua, with his characteristic deadpan expression, blinked and then looked at Leo, saying.
“At this rate, you’ll never win over Leo…”
“Aaaaaaaah!”
This time, Chloe screamed loud enough to shake the entire training ground.
Everyone present was startled, covering their ears and looking at her.
After a glance at Chloe, whose face was flushed as her shoulders heaved, they all turned to look at the source of the problem, Torua.
“Hey, Torua. Don’t tease the juniors too much.”
At Jamua’s chiding, Torua chuckled.
“Sorry. She’s just too cute.”
“No matter how cute she is, teasing her this much is a nuisance…”
“Haap!”
*Fwoosh-!*
With Celia’s shout, the Bastera ball flew at incredible speed and struck Jamua squarely on the forehead.
*Kwaaang-!*
A tremendous explosion echoed.
It was a powerful attack imbued with the flame aura of Celia, the current top knight student of the first year.
An attack infused with the aura of fire, which had a particularly good affinity with Bastera.
It was an attack that not only first-years but even second and third-years wouldn’t be able to walk away from if they took it head-on.
*Thud- ting- ting- ting-*
But the ball fell futilely to the ground and bounced.
“Hmm.”
Jamua, whose head had snapped back from Celia’s ball, rubbed his neck and grinned.
“That one was a little stiff.”
“Kuh.”
It was already the third attack.
Following Duran and Chen Xia, it was Celia’s attack.
But Jamua had taken all of them head-on.
Despite that, he hadn’t moved an inch from where he first stood.
Before the match began.
Jamua had declared.
“I’ll give you ten first moves.”
“Pardon?”
Celia was taken aback.
“I won’t move a single step from this spot for the ten throws you make. If I move even one step, you win.”
Jamua said with a smile.
“You can use the penalty I’ve set strategically. You can score one goal and run out the clock. Professor Sedzen is the type to give a good score if you beat a fifth-year like me, regardless of the method. I can guarantee that.”
At Jamua’s words, Chen Xia tilted her head.
“Why are you giving us such an advantage?”
“Because you’re the ones who will lead the knight department. I like capable juniors.”
Jamua grinned.
“As a fifth-year senior, I’m giving you a chance to get a good score.”
“We appreciate that.”
*Crackle-!*
Duran snatched the ball from Celia’s hand.
A vein popped on his forehead.
“But we refuse such kindness.”
*Kwagagagagak-!*
A sharp, destructive lightning aura surged.
Everyone was startled by the sight.
‘When did he get that strong?’
The lightning attribute, like fire, possessed powerful offensive capabilities.
But since it also specialized in ‘speed’, Duran had pursued both power and speed.
Because of that, there was a perception that his offensive power was less than Celia’s flame aura.
But as if to deny that, the lightning aura currently swirling in Duran’s hand held an unimaginable power.
*Hwaak-!*
Duran raised the ball.
*Flash-*
With a golden flash, lightning erupted, and the ball struck Jamua directly.
*Pzzzzzt-!*
Sparks flew in all directions.
*Thud-*
But the ball rolled futilely on the ground.
“That’s one.”
Jamua said, the corner of his mouth curling up.
Howl brought the ball over.
He looked at Jamua with a look of utter disbelief.
‘This is Senior Jamua the Iron Wall.’
Lis, Ulta, Torua, and Jamua were called the strongest of the fifth-years.
But unlike Lis, Ulta, and Torua, Jamua’s image was relatively less flashy.
He didn't possess the overwhelming offensive power of Lis, nor could he use a variety of magic like Torua.
He wasn't as flashy as Ulta either.
But in one-on-one combat, Jamua was a more troublesome opponent than anyone else.
The frightening thing about Jamua was his ‘defense’.
Thanks to his monstrous stamina and defense that never allowed him to fall, he had earned the moniker ‘Iron Wall’.
A man who had protected the lives of his party members by enduring until the very end in every crisis.
‘Even for those three, the strongest of the first-year knight department, is it really possible to make Senior Jamua move with Bastera?’
No matter how dangerous and close to a real battle Bastera was, it was still a sport with limitations, unlike a real fight.
The others teamed up with the three had no idea how to defeat Jamua.
“Howl.”
“Huh?”
“Can you give me the ball?”
Howl handed the ball to Celia, who had approached him.
Taking it, Celia smiled faintly.
“Thanks.”
Howl, blushing slightly, cleared his throat.
“Xia, Duran, gather around.”
Celia glanced at Leo, who was playing his match nearby, and then said.
“I have a plan.”
***
“How about it? Aren’t my slimes amazing?”
Torua said proudly with his arms crossed.
“They’re identical in both appearance and ability!”
“They are certainly impressive.”
Abad extended his palm.
“Wind Storm.”
*Kwagagagagak-!*
A massive whirlwind raged.
“Then let’s see if they can handle an attack of this level.”
“Hmm. That might be a bit much for them.”
*Kwagagagak-!*
As Torua spoke, the eight slimes were shredded and scattered in all directions.
But they soon began to squirm and clump back together.
“But even if they can’t handle it, they have excellent durability, so they’ll return to their original form soon. And…”
Torua casually threw the ball he was holding toward the juniors’ goal.
“This is Bastera. Aren’t you paying too much attention to the slimes?”
Despite the casual gesture, the ball was imbued with tremendous acceleration by magic. Just as Abad hurriedly tried to block it.
“Fimbulvetr.”
*C-c-c-c-crack-!*
With a small incantation, an immense cold wave swept through.
The cold created a wall of ice that not only caught the ball but also froze all the slimes that were returning to their original forms.
Chloe, who had cast the spell, lowered her staff with a sigh.
An incredible chill swirled around her.
“Oh? A new unique magic?”
Torua’s eyes gleamed.
*Fwoosh-*
Torua reached his hand into the air.
*Flash-!*
With that, a staff materialized from thin air.
Seeing this, the first-years’ expressions grew tense.
A mage holding a staff meant only one thing.
‘He’s getting serious!’