Ambush in the Mountains
The fields used in the Academy Tournament are chosen at random from several options on the day of the match, fitting for their nature as virtual worlds. There are mountainous regions thick with lush trees, cliff and waterfall zones with raging currents carving through valleys, vast coastal areas stretching along endless beaches, volcanic zones filled with scalding hot springs and choking sulfur fumes, and more. Any landscape the human imagination could conjure could become a battlefield. The mock arena Professor Karlsen had created inside his Inner World was modeled after the rocky mountain field that had once been used in a real captain-hunting match.
"......"
The moment the match began, Togun separated from his teammates and leaped high into the air on the spot. Using his massively swollen leg muscles like springs, he shot straight up toward the sky. With a single bound, he landed atop an enormous boulder several times his own height. He pressed his body flat against the rock's surface and quietly steadied his breathing.
He hid his presence as much as possible. Since Togun couldn't manipulate mana, he had no way to detect or evade the search magic his opponents might have cast in advance. Charging forward recklessly without a plan would be the worst possible move. That was why he had to account for them noticing him and strike all at once.
Where are you?
From the highest vantage point, he scanned for their locations. Togun moved only his eyes, carefully observing his surroundings. The instant he slightly turned his head to shift his gaze elsewhere—
Bang!
A single mana bullet came flying, aiming for the tiny gap where he'd poked his head out from behind the boulder. Togun reflexively twisted his head and dodged the attack. The bullet that sliced through the air grazed his earlobe, and crimson droplets of blood pattered onto the rock.
"......They’re aiming for the head right from the start?"
He was sure Professor Karlsen had told them to take it easy since someone could get hurt. It seemed the upperclassmen had no intention of holding back at all. Or perhaps their idea of "holding back" had an extremely high threshold.
With a bitter smile tugging at his lips, Togun turned his body toward the direction the bullet had come from. A blessing in disguise. He had nearly been in serious danger, but thanks to that, he now had a rough idea of which direction his opponents were in.
Crunch.
He dug the front of his foot into the boulder by putting strength into his big toe. When he lifted his hips in that position, his body's center of gravity shifted dangerously forward. It was the crouching position, typically used in short-distance sprints to maximize initial acceleration. Among those, this was the bunch start stance—with narrow spacing between the legs and the body leaning even farther forward. It was a high-difficulty technique that beginners or young children would struggle to use compared to the more widely spaced elongated start, but the Masao family's genetically accumulated strength in their fingers and upper bodies allowed Togun to hold the excessively forward-leaning balance.
Thud!
The explosive leg power released from his contracting muscles shoved the spot where his feet were planted violently backward. It was less a run and more like being fired forward—a blistering sprint. At the same time, Togun gripped the handle of the sword at his waist with his right hand and drew it from its sheath at high speed toward the front.
Kwaaaang!
There was none of the refined precision one would expect from a martial artist who had trained in martial arts for years. This was a strike better described as brutally smashing rather than elegantly slicing. With nothing but raw power, he shattered the boulder, but the sword Professor Karlsen had given him—withstood the impact without a single nick on its blade, as expected of a magic tool enchanted with durability-enhancing magic.
"Hng."
Sand and gravel burst in every direction. From within that cloud, a woman appeared, watching Togun as he approached with sword in hand, an amused look on her face.
It was Silvia Cristel, a 3-star mage said to be on the verge of reaching 4-star rank. A powerhouse clearly ranked above even Arina Grant and Jeon Raydel—the ones known as the strongest first-years—pointed her finger at Togun.
"Bang."
The playful sound that left her lips. At the same time, something invisible shot straight toward Togun's forehead.
"Hup!"
He held his breath for a split second. His muscles contracted rapidly in an oxygen-deprived state. His core muscles snapped tight, bending his upper body backward like a bow. Moving faster than the opponent's attack, Togun dodged it, then spun his body and swung his sword using the rotational force.
Swoosh!
Whatever invisible thing it was made contact with the blade and was sliced cleanly in two. The "bang" had been only once. But two attacks had been fired. Thinking it was such an obvious feint, Togun was about to charge at Silvia again when—
Wooooong!
The magic that had been cut in two by Togun's slash vibrated lightly in the air. The small fluctuation of mana seemed to say that what she had fired wasn't magic, but an explosive trigger. The two split masses of wind linked together and each drew a magic circle in the air on either side of Togun.
Kuuuung!
The atmospheric pressure changed drastically. Feeling a heavy impact as if he'd been struck by a warhammer, Togun was slammed straight into the ground. Blood trickled from under his nose—perhaps his internals had been damaged by the sudden pressure shift.
"Ugh!"
Subjectively, the gravity felt at least twice as strong. Breathing had become difficult, as if the air had solidified into glue. Perhaps because the rising pressure had lowered the temperature, a chilling cold enveloped Togun's skin between the crushing forces.
"You're pretty tough. Most people wouldn't even be able to move properly. Do you usually train quite hard?"
Watching Togun rush toward her—slower than before, but still fast enough to be impressive—Silvia reached out her hand. A sound like a balloon popping erupted behind her, and a massive boulder came crashing down toward Togun. The rock had been launched high into the sky by the sudden expansion of air. As he watched the boulder hurtling down with an effect similar to a magical catapult, Togun's eyes narrowed sharply.
Swish!
His left hand slashed horizontally. At some point, a glowing sword had appeared in his grip. It sliced through the mana wrapped around him, instantly restoring the strangely distorted atmospheric pressure to normal. With all restrictions gone, his physical abilities returned to their original state. Before the trajectory of the sword swung with his left hand could even disappear, the sword in his right hand drew a perfectly vertical line, crossing it at a right angle.
Masao Sword Style — Single Blade Severance.
The powerfully swung sword shattered the boulder flying in from the front. For roughly one second—a true instant—the family heirloom had been summoned, and he seized that fleeting opportunity. An unexpected surprise attack that took advantage of the opponent's carelessness. Stepping on the shattered fragments of the boulder, Togun charged rapidly toward Silvia and thrust his sword with all his might.
I’ve won!
In that moment, Togun was certain of victory. Far too prematurely. By the time he realized something was wrong, it was after he noticed that even though she saw the incoming blade, not a trace of alarm appeared on Silvia's face.
"Did you think I wouldn't know?"
She already knew about the Masao family's heirloom sword. She had clearly witnessed it during the Mana Up app incident, when it had pierced through the mana of a 5-star dark mage and charged forward. A near-cheat ability that could cut even the power of an expert-level mage. There was no way she wouldn't be wary of it.
Woooong!
Silvia lightly stomped her foot where she stood. At the same time, the air above her head began to distort. The refraction of light caused by compressing a large amount of air. The distorted visual information returned to normal, revealing someone who had been there from the very beginning but had been invisible—waiting for this exact moment to launch a surprise attack on Togun.
"......!"
Togun reflexively stabbed his sword into the ground. Using the flat of the blade as a brake by twisting it, he brought his forward-charging body to an abrupt halt, then desperately leaped in the opposite direction. Someone plummeted like a meteor toward the spot where Togun had just been. Dust billowed up, and the attacker's face still wasn't clearly visible.
Kwaaaaduduk!
But Togun wasn't given time to identify who it was. A faint vibration rose from beneath the ground. The moment Togun looked down, tentacles of unknown origin burst through the earth, shattering the surface as they surged upward.
Beast Imitation Footwork — 'Monkey'. The footwork that had been charging forward like a ferocious beast locking onto prey completely reversed. Like a monkey nimbly climbing and swinging through trees, Togun moved fluidly along the tentacles rising from the ground. And just as fluidly, the sword in his hand moved freely, slicing through the unknown tentacles surrounding him.
Is that even human movement?
Silvia couldn't help but inwardly admire the sight. The way he performed movements that ordinary martial artists could only achieve by using mana—relying solely on pure muscle power—was so incredible that it was hard to believe he was truly a powerless individual.
"......"
Togun, who had barely escaped the trap his opponents had set, retreated backward in a big leap to create distance. Only after buying himself a moment to catch his breath did he finally have the chance to see who had attacked him. The moment he identified the person, his eyes widened uncontrollably.
"I never imagined you'd dodge everything."
What first emerged from the dust cloud was his trademark massive physique. What writhed around him like roots planted in the earth were tentacles formed through transformation magic that had altered his body. More precisely, he had stretched his body like rubber bands and swung them. The attack that had come at Togun from underground had been the ten fingers on his hands. Licking the tips of the fingers that had been severed by Togun's final counterattack, Baraki Nepiri grinned.
"I thought you'd be nothing special if it weren't for that special sword or whatever it is. But you're more interesting than you look, huh?"
Silvia Cristel and Baraki Nepiri. Seeing the two mages standing before him, Togun's face hardened completely. More precisely, because of the invisible character bracelets on both of their wrists.
The captain... isn't here?
When he had first encountered Silvia, Togun had assumed she was the one tasked with attacking their captain. He thought she had set out to target the opposing team's captain just like he had, and they'd run into each other by chance. But seeing Baraki Nepiri appear as if he'd been waiting for him made Togun realize that wasn't the case.
Then where is the student council president?
Had they left the attacking to these two and hidden the president in another hiding spot? In a way, it was an irregular tactic that deviated from the standard Jeon had mentioned. And in this mock match between just two teams—rather than a chaotic brawl between multiple teams—it was arguably a more efficient method. If Togun were captured by these two here, his team would inevitably be at a numerical disadvantage.
No, that's not it.
But Togun's instincts were somehow completely rejecting that possibility. For some reason, the feeling was bad. A chill slithered down his spine. The ominous feeling he'd gotten earlier when dodging Silvia Cristel's sniper shot from atop the giant boulder was the same as the one he felt three hours before training with Jealousy. The ominous feeling he had now was on par with what he felt one hour before training.
"......Huu."
He had to go back. But it didn't seem like they would let him leave so easily. Just as Silvia Cristel had mentioned earlier, they seemed to have already designated him as a high-priority target. It looked like they wanted to eliminate any "what if" variables in advance.
Srrrrng.
In that case, he would go all out and take them down first. Tossing aside the sword Professor Karlsen had given him, Togun reached his hand into the air. The Masao family heirloom that had briefly appeared earlier now manifested in its complete form. Without the slightest hesitation, Togun reached out toward it.
"I don't have time, so I'll be going first, seniors."
Togun's eyes burned with determination. At the same time, he took one step forward and charged ahead with the fierce momentum of a tiger that had spotted its prey.