Chapter 036
Chapter Title: The First Sparring Match
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Whoooosh-!
Flames gathered at the tip of his sword.
Leo's fire burned even more fiercely.
Wreathed in flames, Leo charged.
'Now!'
Before he was in range, Howl thrust his spear.
Swiiish-!
A thick, green aura erupted from the spear's tip.
The aura stretched out like a living anaconda, aiming for Leo's neck.
Leo tried to parry Howl's attack with his flame aura.
Fwoosh-!
In an instant, Howl's aura changed its trajectory like a live snake.
'I expected this much.'
Leo paid it no mind and charged at the defenseless Howl.
Howl's technique was incredibly tricky to deal with at a distance, but it had the weakness of leaving him defenseless once the gap was closed.
"You took the bait!"
Howl exclaimed with glee.
Zwooop-!
"......!"
Howl's aura continued to lengthen.
"Snake Prison!"
Squeeze-!
Like a snake capturing its prey, the coiling aura instantly constricted tightly around Leo.
Gasps of admiration erupted from all around at the incredibly delicate aura control.
Watching the situation unfold, Ain's lips curled into a smile.
'Flame aura has the advantage of powerful attacks, but its weakness is its vulnerability in defense. It's like a double-edged sword.'
Poison aura exhibited a similar tendency.
That was why it was at a disadvantage, type-wise, against flame aura.
'He must have focused tenaciously on his aura control training to acquire a skill that so perfectly compensates for that weakness.'
Ain looked over at the silent Leo.
'But there's no way Leo Flove would have charged in without a plan.'
'How do you like that, Leo! I'll defeat you with this! And then...'
Howl glanced toward Celia, who wore a surprised expression, and clenched his fist.
'Celia! I'll make you acknowledge that I'm your equal...'
"That's an impressive technique. But the follow-through is sloppy."
"What!"
Fwoooosh! Boom-!
Howl's aura, wrapped around Leo, swelled up and then exploded, scattering in all directions.
Whoooooosh-! Fwoooosh!
The flames of aura enveloping Leo blazed fiercely.
Leo, in the stance of having just swung his sword, stared directly at the frozen Howl.
"You should never let your guard down until the flame is completely out."
"Kuh!"
Howl readjusted his grip on the spear.
Stomp-! Boom-!
In that moment, flames erupted from Leo's feet.
Aura Step.
Fwoosh-! Fwoooosh!
Becoming a bullet of fire, Leo shot forward, the tip of his sword already at Howl's throat.
"......Winner, Leo Flove."
Ain declared calmly.
Woooooah!
Cheers erupted.
"Wow! Wow! Leo won!"
"......He was that skilled in a real fight, too?"
Chelsea jumped up and down in her seat with joy, while Dade muttered in disbelief.
Karl, who was handing popcorn to a customer, also whistled and cheered.
"Who was the one who said that first-year was weak in a real fight?"
"That kid Howl was amazing too, but the matchup was just too bad for him."
"There's definitely a reason this year's first-years are getting so much attention."
The upperclassmen exclaimed in admiration as they assessed the two's duel.
As Leo sheathed his sword, Howl dropped his head and fell to his knees.
"A complete defeat. The skill gap was overwhelming. To let my guard down against someone as skilled as you... How unsightly."
"I don't know. To be honest, I never expected you to have a technique like that either."
The level of aura control, something unattainable without immense effort, was surprising even to Leo.
"If your aura had been just a little stronger, I might have suffocated and passed out. I underestimated you too, so I guess we're even."
Leo smiled and offered his hand.
"It was a great technique."
Howl stared blankly at Leo's hand before taking it and getting to his feet.
After helping Howl up, Leo clapped him on the shoulder and left the arena.
'Leo Flove... So he isn't standing next to Celia for no reason.'
Muttering to himself, Howl trudged out of the arena.
The Knight Department students from Class 1 stood before him.
"Howl! You were so close!"
"Grrr! It was the perfect chance to get revenge for the bathroom cleaning duty!"
"What kind of monster is that guy? A real fight isn't his weakness at all!"
The Class 1 students comforted Howl.
"Elegant! Student Howl! That was a splendid match! If it weren't for the type disadvantage, you could have crushed the likes of Leo Flove! So don't lose heart!"
"Professor Sedzen. Even if he's your student, please refrain from such biased remarks."
Watching the booming Professor Sedzen, Professor Ain pressed his temples and spoke.
At the unexpected welcome, Howl awkwardly scratched his head.
Then, he spotted Celia approaching him and tensed up.
Celia gave Howl a sweet smile.
"That was quite something. You were cool."
"What? Oh! Uh! Y-Yeah! Yeah!"
Howl replied awkwardly, his face flushing red.
'Howl's more innocent than he looks.'
'Celia's surprisingly dense when it comes to that stuff.'
'But shouldn't she have noticed by now?'
Just as the Class 1 students were smiling cryptically,
"Leo, you did great. When did you train your aura so much?"
Celia asked as she walked over to Leo.
Howl clenched his fists.
'Leo Flove! I'll make you my new goal!'
The tenacious boy resolved to catch up to Leo.
Watching the determined Howl, the Class 1 students clicked their tongues and ate their popcorn.
Having decorated his first sparring match with a perfect victory, Leo sat to one side and watched the remaining duels.
"Class 5, Iliana Laden, step forward."
"Hyaaah! Who is it! Who's my opponent!"
"Class 10, Chen Xia, step forward."
"Gasp!"
Iliana, who had stepped forward so boldly, was shocked to be matched with Chen Xia.
"Let's have a good match."
"You too."
Chen Xia and Iliana exchanged greetings.
'I've grown a lot too! I can even take on the top student of the entrance exam!'
Aura shimmered from Iliana's body as she tightly gripped her rapier.
Shhhk-!
As a martial artist, Chen Xia had no weapon.
Instead, a blue aura flickered at her fingertips, and water droplets began to form.
Her aura attribute was water.
The droplets at her fingertips wove together like threads, soon creating a silky wave of water.
As Chen Xia's hands moved as if dancing, the wave settled elegantly at her fingertips.
"Hmph!"
Iliana took a deep breath and aimed her rapier at Chen Xia.
"Haap!"
Her aura exploded, propelling Iliana's body forward.
At the sight of her fierce, high-speed charge, Leo sighed.
"That idiot."
Bam-!
"Gah!"
Clatter! Tumble, tumble, tumble!
Iliana's intense charge was not just futilely blocked by Chen Xia, but her attack was reflected back at her.
Lying on the ground after rolling miserably, Iliana's eyes spun in circles.
"Chen Xia, victorious."
It was a match that clearly highlighted an overwhelming difference in power.
However, since this test was quite disadvantageous for Iliana, a magic swordswoman, no one had held high expectations.
Chen Xia put her hands together, bowed politely, and left the sparring grounds.
Iliana struggled to raise a clenched fist to the sky and shouted.
"S-Still, I had good momentum against Chen Xia! I wasn't outmatched!"
"Could you please shut up? It's embarrassing."
"Yeah, just pretend you're unconscious. Please."
As the Class 5 Knight Department students spoke coldly, Iliana's face crumpled.
"Class Rep! They're saying I'm embarrassing!"
Looking at the complaining Iliana, Leo said.
"Your impulsive personality is the problem. You know how skilled Chen Xia is, don't you?"
"Of course I know! That's why I charged in with so much momentum! I knew I couldn't break through with just swordsmanship, so I had to at least show some spirit!"
"That's something to be proud of."
Leo clicked his tongue as he watched Iliana, who was shouting proudly with her arms crossed.
It was no exaggeration to say that Iliana was skilled enough to be in the top ranks of the entire grade.
'Her opponent was just too much for her. It might have been different if she could use magic, but this is a Knight Department exam. Still, if she had been more careful, she wouldn't have lost so pathetically.'
Shaking his head, Leo's eyes met with Chen Xia, who was sitting with Class 10.
Leo waved back at Chen Xia, who was smiling and waving at him.
'I've thought this before, but Chen Xia really has the best balance among the first-year knight students.'
In Celia and Duran's cases, their aura attributes themselves are specialized for offense.
In contrast, Chen Xia's water attribute was well-balanced between offense and defense.
Leo contemplated Chen Xia's skills while observing the other duels of his peers.
The improvement in the skills of students who had been in the lower ranks at the time of admission was noticeable.
Among them were cases where a student defeated someone who had been far more skilled than them.
Amidst the mix of joy and sorrow, the top students from the entrance exam showed they were on a different level.
Having subdued her opponent in an instant, Celia elegantly swept her hair back and approached Leo.
"How was that?"
"You've improved."
"Of course."
Celia narrowed her eyes.
"Leo, I'll be taking the position of grade representative in this exam."
Leo grinned at Celia's confident declaration.
"Take it, by all means. If you can."
At his words, Celia smiled sweetly before returning to Class 1.
Iliana, who had been watching from the side, spoke up.
"You're popular."
"Jealous?"
"No, I told Nella this too, but I'll pass on that kind of popularity."
***
Midterm exam period.
After the last written exam, Linguistics, ended, the students of Class 5 swarmed Chelsea.
"Hey! Hey! Chelsea! Let me see your answer sheet!"
"I'm looking first!"
"Karl! Your grades are going to be at the bottom anyway, right? So you can look later!"
"Hey, that's not fair!"
The competition to be the first to see the answer sheet of Chelsea, who had the highest written exam scores in Class 5, was fiercer than expected.
Chelsea looked at the classmates crowded before her and fluttered her test paper.
"Who should I show first?"
"Lady Chelsea! Please show me first!"
"Chelsea! Me first!"
"You're looking especially beautiful today, my lady!"
Class 5 fawned over Chelsea, the youngest in their class.
"Ho ho ho."
Watching her classmates, Chelsea covered her mouth with a smug look and burst into laughter.
"The exam's already over, so it's not like doing that will change their scores."
Leo, sitting by the window in the back of the class, said while resting his chin on his hand, and Nella gave a languid smile.
"Hehe. But it's human nature to want to know your test score a little earlier, isn't it?"
At her words, Leo shook his head and put his writing utensils in his bag.
"The only tests I have left are the joint practical exams for Heroics and Combat Studies, but you still have Magic and Summoning, don't you, Leo?"
In the Knight Department's sparring exam, Leo passed with five wins and no losses.
Of the five duels, the toughest was against Howl on the first day.
Besides Leo, Celia, Chen Xia, and Duran also achieved five consecutive wins.
In Nella's case, she had one loss.
"If she hadn't run into that jerk Duran, Nella could have gotten a perfect record too!"
Chelsea, having returned after handing out copies of her test paper to her classmates, said as she hugged Nella.
Nella, who had been a strong candidate for a perfect record, ended up with one loss after facing Duran in her third duel.
"I put up a good fight against Duran, so I'm satisfied."
Nella smiled, stroking Chelsea's hair.
"By the way, Leo, is your Summoning practical practice going well?"
"It's going well."
"But you barely ever come to practice separately, do you?"
Dade, a student of the Summoning Department, asked with a puzzled expression.
The Summoning practical exam was traditionally one of the biggest events of the first semester for Lumerne's first-years.
Leo smiled at Dade's question.
"I've been practicing hard where no one can see."
"That's just like you, Leo. So confident, aren't you? So, what's your target goal?"
Looking at Chelsea, whose eyes were sparkling as she asked, Leo replied as if it were obvious.
"First place, of course."