The Weight of Expectation
Her mouth was so dry that she could barely produce any saliva. She couldn't even tell if she was stepping forward with her left foot or her right. Even though Marily was standing right in front of her, Arina couldn't see her friend's face—or anything at all. Just as Kain had predicted, her mind had gone completely blank, bleached white with panic.
Her chest trembled as she tried to breathe, but the rapid hyperventilation only made her tension worse. It was feeding on itself.
"Are you alright?"
Amid the thunderous cheers from the crowd cheering on the students, Marily's worried voice somehow cut through the ringing in Arina's ears. Arina startled like someone waking from a nightmare. A beat later, she noticed Marily turning her head and forced a smile onto her face.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
At those words, Marily realized one thing once again: her friend Arina Grant was absolutely terrible at lying.
Anyone can see you're not fine.
Her complexion was so pale it looked like her blood wasn't circulating properly. She was even paler than Professor Karlsen, which was saying something.
"Well, good luck out there."
But Marily didn't have any clever solution to fix her friend's nerves. All she could do was pat Arina's shoulder and offer a few words of encouragement. Even if Arina was a complete mess from the tension right now, maybe once the match started, she'd calm down. If she could focus on the game, the stares of all those people would probably fade into the background.
"Huuu..."
Receiving Marily's support, Arina let out another deep breath. Thanks to her friend, the pure white fog in her mind had cleared just a little. Her eyes, now slightly sharper than before, turned toward the arena ahead.
From the speakers, the national anthem of the Ellemental Kingdom began to play as the lord of this city, Duke Mendelstone, slowly walked up to the microphone.
So that's Duke Mendelstone.
The only duke in the entire kingdom. In terms of official rank alone, he held the second-highest position in the country, right after the Majoan. He was the sole younger brother of Hounds Mendelstone, who had left the ducal family to become the chancellor of Benedict Academy, and had inherited the title in his stead.
Every title attached to him was impressive. Perhaps it was because of that overwhelming list of accolades, but Arina felt an inexplicable pressure emanating from the man standing at the microphone. Simply facing him was enough to make her feel completely overwhelmed by his presence. Her tension kept rising.
This was one of the weaknesses Kain had casually mentioned about her once—her reed-like mentality that bent so easily to the fame and prestige of others. And right now, that flaw was shining in the worst possible way.
"Hmm. Even though he's the younger brother, he has way more wrinkles than the older one. It's been a while, but those wrinkles have really multiplied."
On the other hand, unlike Arina, Marily wasn't intimidated by anyone's reputation at all. She casually spat out an incredibly rude comment without batting an eye.
"That's only natural. The chancellor is a superhuman, after all."
The one who answered Marily was Togun Masao, standing in front of her. The higher a practitioner's realm, the slower their aging became. Considering Chancellor Hounds Mendelstone's level, Marily's observation was perfectly reasonable. If Duke Mendelstone had looked any younger, he probably would have gained even greater fame for his eternal youth rather than his actual achievements.
"I see."
"Don't talk so loudly about that. People around us can hear."
Jeon cut off their conversation with a low voice.
"I'm not telling you to listen to Duke Mendelstone's speech, but try not to do anything that would make people frown."
At his warning, Marily pouted. If it were up to her personality, she would have snapped back fiercely. The only reason she didn't was because his point was undeniably valid. Getting angry in a situation like this would only make her look like the bad guy.
"Hmph."
She turned her head away in dissatisfaction. Ignoring her completely, Jeon continued to hold the flag with a calm expression, his gaze fixed on Duke Mendelstone.
"Huuu. Huuuu. Huuuuuu."
Even as a small commotion stirred in front of them, Arina's deep breathing continued. Her heart was pounding so violently she worried it might actually burst. Finally unable to take it anymore, Arina squeezed her eyes shut and hung her head.
Tap. Tap.
At that moment, someone lightly tapped her forearm twice. When she opened her eyes, Marily was pointing somewhere with her finger. Following Marily's index finger with a puzzled look, Arina's eyes suddenly widened.
In the highest tier of the spectator seats—the VIP section reserved for sponsors of the Academy Tournament and corporate scouts—a familiar man was sprawled out lazily, letting out a huge yawn.
"Your uncle really is the same no matter where he goes."
Watching Kain sitting there in casual clothes, slouched like he was at home, Marily let out a small laugh and shook her head. She considered herself someone who didn't care much about others' opinions, but even she wouldn't go that far.
"...Yeah, I guess so."
Hearing Marily's words, Arina also let out a small chuckle. It was truly amazing. The moment she saw her uncle's face—looking as carefree as ever, half-reclining like he owned the place—the crushing tension that had been weighing her down vanished in an instant.
Her uncle was watching her. Just knowing that felt like receiving the greatest cheer in the world.
I have to do well.
Since her uncle had gone through the trouble of coming all the way here despite how bothersome he found it, she couldn't show him an embarrassing sight. Feeling her heart race now for an entirely different reason, Arina clenched her fists tightly. Seeing the determined look on her face as she stared at Duke Mendelstone, Marily smiled with relief and nodded in satisfaction.
The Ellemental Kingdom had over thirty magic academies. Although the Mendelstone Indoor Gymnasium was enormous, it was still somewhat insufficient for over thirty teams to engage in magical battles. Yet not a single person among the massive crowd of spectators seemed worried about that problem.
The reason was simple. The Mendelstone Indoor Gymnasium had been built from the ground up specifically for virtual world training.
"Something just occurred to me," Togun said with a serious expression as he loosened up his body in preparation for the first match, which was about to begin right after Duke Mendelstone's speech and the grand opening ceremony. He turned to his friends. "If it's a virtual world, that means it's still magic, right?"
What kind of stupid question is that?
It was the same as asking if one plus one equaled two. Marily narrowed her eyes at him with a look of utter disdain.
Or is this one of those things? Like when scholars who study mathematics professionally debate why one plus one equals two.
She had heard that people who truly understood mathematics disliked answers that were too fixed. They preferred to explore the definition of mathematics in a philosophical and abstract way. If that was the kind of question he was asking, then it might be time to raise Togun's level of knowledge.
Though I doubt that's the case.
Anyway, enough nonsense. Tossing her stray thoughts into the mental trash bin, Marily answered Togun's question.
"Of course it's magic. And not just any magic—it's top-tier compound magic. It uses mental magic to construct an entire world, then manifests that illusory world into reality through spatial magic. That's why this gymnasium receives so much attention. The entire building is engraved with magic circles of a difficulty level that only expert mages of six stars or higher could even attempt."
It was the third building on the continent to incorporate a full-scale virtual reality magic formation, after the Ellemental Royal Palace and the main tower of the capital's Magic Tower. If this indoor gymnasium didn't become famous, that would actually be the strange part.
"Then let me ask you this. What if I draw the Anti-Magic Sword inside there? Wouldn't that be a problem?"
Hmm. This question was much more reasonable than the last one. Marily nodded at Togun's words.
"I suppose that's a valid concern."
Unfortunately, the answer was no. The reason was quite simple.
"It's because the Magic Rejection trait isn't invincible."
The Magic Rejection trait was an incredibly overpowered ability, as expected of a posthumous curse left behind by an eight-star superhuman. But like everything else in the world, it wasn't absolute. For example, while Togun could unconsciously ignore the flow of mana or the power emitted by mana from the negative dimension, if a force exceeding his own stimulus threshold struck him, he would still be affected.
If Professor Karlsen had opened his Inner World with the intent to kill rather than teach, Togun's entire body would have exploded from the pressure of the negative-dimensional mana the professor released in earnest.
"The Masao family's heirloom can be seen as that Magic Rejection trait compressed into the form of a sword. It's an artifact that inherits the posthumous curse of an eight-star superhuman across generations, continuously accumulating and evolving that power. Its strength is certainly great enough to cut through even the concepts of an eight-star superhuman, but in the end, it's still just a sword."
"In other words, the mere existence of the heirloom won't erase the virtual world. If that were possible, you would have been expelled the moment you entered Professor Karlsen's Inner World without even getting a chance to step inside."
"Ah, I see."
"Of course, if you truly set your mind to cutting through the virtual world, then yes, it would be possible."
Just like how he had cut through Professor Karlsen's Inner World back in Vivaldi Territory and broken in from the outside. If Togun, holding the heirloom, swung it with the desire to cut the virtual world, he would certainly be able to sever the mana that composed it.
In short, it wasn't about the existence of the sword, but the existence of the will. As long as Togun didn't wish for it, whether he used the Masao family's heirloom inside the virtual world or not, it wouldn't cause any problems for the match.
"You're not actually going to cut it, are you?"
"Come on, of course not."
At Marily's cautious question, Togun laughed as if the idea was ridiculous and shook his head.
"Still, just in case, keep what I said in mind. Depending on the strategy, there might be times when you need to cut through the virtual world."
"I said I'm not going to cut it!"
"Alright, enough nonsense. It's time for you to head out."
Togun let out a deep sigh, looking flustered as Marily casually ignored him as if his words weren't even worth listening to and pushed him forward.
"In any war, momentum is crucial."
And what determined that momentum was the presence of the vanguard standing at the very front of the battlefield.
"Go show everyone what you're capable of. And try to keep the Anti-Magic Sword, our secret weapon, hidden until the very end."
"You make it sound so easy."
"Our goal is first place."
"Haa..."
She really has no intention of listening to me at all.
Now that he thought about it, Marily had a habit of ignoring everything except what Arina said. Realizing this and finally giving up, Togun hung his head and trudged away. From behind him, Marily's energetic cheers continued to ring out loudly.
"Don't forget! Our goal is first place! If you fail, don't even think about setting foot in the dorm tonight!"
"I get it already!"
Is that even cheering? It sounds more like a threat.
No matter how he looked at it, it was definitely a threat. And knowing Marily, she would actually find some way to make him sleep outside, which was genuinely terrifying. To hear something like that before the very first match, where the points weren't even that high...
He felt a bit pitiful about his situation, but it didn't matter. No matter what Marily said, he had zero intention of losing right from the first match anyway.
"......"
He lightly rolled his neck and shoulders as if loosening his joints. With a deep breath, he shook off the tension that had been stiffening his body. The playful glint that had filled his eyes while talking with Marily disappeared in an instant. In its place was a serious determination to win this match no matter what.
The first event of the Academy Tournament: 'Obstacle Race.'
As the representative for his academy in that event, Togun slowly walked toward where the other academy contestants were gathered, his hand gently resting on the hilt of the sword at his waist as he steeled his resolve.