Chapter 95
Chapter 95
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 95
Chapter Title: Sword and Shield (3)
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Belnoa replayed the previous battle in her mind.
"...I have no idea what happened to Professor Lania..."
It had been an intense fight for Belnoa and Rak. Her vision had shaken, and she'd nearly blacked out several times. Her bruised ribs and collarbone still throbbed.
"...My field of view was way too narrow."
In the heat of battle, a person's vision naturally tunnels. You're too busy reading the opponent's moves. You're too occupied thinking about your next action.
But once the fight ends and you retrace your steps from the beginning... surprisingly, a lot more comes into focus.
"Rak."
Belnoa spoke up, leaning against a tree. Rak, who had been sprawled on the ground, slowly lifted his head.
"What."
"Can you move?"
"Give me ten minutes' rest, and I'll be fine. She controlled her power with surprising precision."
Rak rubbed his abdomen as he spoke.
"Then rest well for those ten minutes."
"You have a plan?"
"It won't work just once or twice... but yeah, I do."
Belnoa picked up Rak's hand axe. It was quite heavy. She swung it a few times experimentally, then spoke.
"Mind if I borrow this for a bit?"
"...A weapon is a warrior's body and companion."
"And who was it that kept hurling that companion around?"
Rak pondered for a moment, then nodded.
"Hmm. If it's just for a bit, sure."
Belnoa gripped Rak's axe upside down. Then she began wrapping shadows around the handle. Rak tilted his head.
"What are you doing, Belnoa?"
"To me, weapons are consumables. I can make daggers anytime, so I never hesitated to explode them when I grabbed one."
It was a non sequitur.
Belnoa continued as if mumbling to herself.
"That's why I didn't notice. But watching you fight made it click."
"Click what?"
"Yeah. Think about it—doesn't it seem off? She precisely targeted the handle of your spinning, flying axe. With her dynamic vision and reaction speed, she could do that much."
Rak nodded.
He clearly remembered the professor's eerily precise movements.
"But then, did she really need to slam the axe into the ground?"
"...What are you getting at?"
"Disarming you without letting you hold it again—fair play, right? She could've knocked it far away to make it hard to pick up. Or grabbed it and thrown it aside."
But, Belnoa continued,
"The professor never did that even once. She just dropped it straight to the ground."
"..."
"Think about it. You picked up and reused your axe multiple times during the fight. Wasn't it always right at your feet?"
Rak slowly nodded.
"...Now that you mention it."
"And we fought within about five steps of that stump."
Rak's gaze shifted to the clearing.
The space about five steps from the stump—that's where the battle had taken place. Scars from the axe embedding exactly there remained.
Not just the axe.
The remnants of the daggers Belnoa had exploded were all within that range too.
"That means..."
"Yeah. Anything she grabs drops within that radius. The professor never uses captured weapons. She doesn't throw them anywhere. She just lets them fall to the ground."
That was the fifth restriction.
Rak, having grasped it, asked,
"So, don't fear your weapon being grabbed?"
"Exactly. Plus, you use two axes. Even if she grabs one, it's fine. Swing the other right away."
Belnoa tied off the shadow.
"Then the professor will let go of your axe and reach out again. That's her restriction."
Belnoa hurled the shadow-bound axe at a tree across from them. Crunch. The blade sank into the trunk.
"And then."
Belnoa gripped the shadow connected to the axe and swung hard.
Thwack!
The axe handle yanked free from the tree and returned to Belnoa's hand. Pointing at the shadow line bound to the handle, she said,
"I'll retrieve it for you."
"...I see."
"Shadows extend about ten steps. And I can stock spells on the line too."
Rak took back his axe.
"The plan's simple. No detailed strategy like before. You don't need to think."
Belnoa bound shadows to his remaining axe as she spoke.
"Use that thing you did in our sparring match."
"...That?"
"Yeah, that. When your eyes go bloodshot and you charge."
"If I use it, I lose situational judgment. Instinct overrides reason. You okay with that?"
"Doesn't matter."
Belnoa stood up.
"I'll handle the judgment. You move on instinct. I'll cover the rest."
Rak laboriously rose to his feet.
"It'll take some coordination."
They looked up at the sky.
The sun was still high in the midday heavens. On the first day of the three-day trial, the sun hadn't even set yet.
"We've got time to spare."
"I suppose."
Rak shifted his gaze.
It landed on the center of the clearing. There sat Professor Lania, legs crossed, watching them.
Superhuman movements.
Rapid situational awareness.
A woman whose skill overwhelmed even the seasoned warriors of the North.
She's terrifying.
But fear was meant to be overcome.
Rak steadied his breath and raised his axe before his heart. He aimed the stocked spell on the handle at his chest.
...Northern warriors knew no pause.
They lived hotter than anyone on frozen earth. Their fervor never cooled amid blizzards.
The Northern warrior is a blazing fire.
Rak tapped his chest with the axe handle. The stocked spell glowed.
Eternal, unquenchable iron forged forever.
Heating.
Thud.
Rak's already red eyes burned even redder.
2.
"..."
Lania instinctively sensed something off. Rak approaching the boundary line was in an unnatural state.
His eyes were bloodshot red.
Veins bulged along the arm gripping the hand axe. Each breath he exhaled steamed as if he stood in the heart of a snowy mountain.
That's...
Lania recalled the Northern warriors she'd faced on the battlefield. Their unique physical enhancement technique.
Heating.
A reckless reinforcement method that applied a spell meant to heat weapons to the body. The backlash was obvious.
An ordinary person couldn't endure the recoil.
A body enhancement usable only by a select few Northern warriors born and bred in the snowy mountains. That was clearly what enveloped Rak's body.
"...Ha."
Lania burst out laughing.
She'd recognized his talent early. She'd seen plenty of his innate combat sense. But seeing the body that withstood Heating made laughter spill out involuntarily.
For real.
Clack. She took a step forward.
For the first time, she stepped beyond the boundary line she'd drawn. One step farther from the stump.
And.
The instant she moved, Rak kicked off the ground. The speed was incomparable to before. He closed the distance in a flash.
These kids are all worth raising.
Rak swung his axe. The motion wasn't as clean as before. It was more like a beast flailing its arm—rough rather than sharp.
Clang.
She abandoned the grab. She parried. Clang, clang. The sounds rang out repeatedly. The more she parried, the faster Rak's axe became.
"..."
Lania frowned.
She was intrigued by Rak's talent in using Heating. But she didn't rate the spell itself highly.
Heating pushed the body beyond its limits.
The superhuman physical prowess it granted couldn't be ignored. But heating the body numbed the mind.
A beast driven by instinct.
Northern warriors weren't called berserkers for nothing. Those who charged relentlessly always faced death up close.
Bad habit.
Top-tier warriors controlled their Heating. Rak hadn't reached that level yet. He just thrashed on instinct.
"Hmm."
Lania frowned, parrying the axe while bending her knee from his blind spot. Rak's narrowed vision missed it.
Guess I'll have to tell him to use this only when reading the situation.
As she thought that and aimed her knee at Rak's abdomen—
Thud!
Something yanked Rak's arm. His body spun a full turn. Lania's knee struck empty air.
Whoosh!
Rak, having dodged, switched back to offense.
His eyes remained bloodshot. His vision hadn't widened.
"...Aha."
Lania realized.
Rak's axe in his hand, the shadow connected to it, and Belnoa gripping that shadow.
They're covering for each other like this.
Belnoa assisted Rak's movements with shadows bound to both hands. She ran, stopped, and swung in sync with him.
"Tch."
Lania tried severing the connecting shadow, but Rak's axe interfered every time. Sometimes daggers surged from the shadows; other times, Belnoa hurled them from afar.
Boom!
Intercepting spells with heavy strikes had filled her three-use limit unnoticed. No room to act while fending off the beast-like Rak.
Bit by bit, Rak started pushing her back.
A smile crept across Lania's lips.
A little more.
Belnoa and Rak's movements weren't perfectly synced. Lania exploited a gap in their coordination, stomping down on Rak's axe with her foot. The blade sank into the ground. But only briefly.
Pop!
The axe sprang up, pulled by the shadow.
Lania leaned back. The axe was already back in Rak's hand.
Still not enough.
Lania laughed.
Just a bit more.
She saw potential. The point Rak and Belnoa could reach flickered vaguely in her vision.
Growth potential.
And she could accelerate it. That fact thrilled Lania. It was quite enjoyable watching students grow.
"Focus."
She thrust her fist out briefly.
An attack timed for a stutter in Belnoa and Rak's movements.
"Guh!"
Rak's body floated up, shoved beyond the boundary. The reinforcement on his body unraveled.
Pat pat.
For the first time, dirt clung to Lania's clothes. She brushed it off and gave a look.
"Not much left."
Possibility slipped from her lips.
Rak, sprawled on the ground, grinned and rose. Belnoa wiped cold sweat, binding her shadows tighter.
The midday sun began to tilt.
The trial had only just begun.
3.
The sun dipped. Dusk began to fall. Rak, breathing raggedly, touched his heart again. Vitality surged through his body anew.
First time using it consecutively like this.
Strain weighed on his body.
He'd probably collapse after this Heating. But Rak didn't stop.
The peak is close.
Victory loomed.
Rak kicked off the ground. Belnoa followed suit. They moved in unison.
Step.
No more hitches in Belnoa and Rak's movements. Their actions linked smoothly.
Daggers erupted.
Shadows exploded.
Stocked spells assailed Lania.
Boom!
Three flashes burst. As if playing along with their plan, Lania obliged, expending all three spells.
Rak charged.
His body moved faithfully to instinct. Normally, body-heated Northern warriors spared no thought for their own safety.
But Rak was different.
His combat sense—near-prophetic crisis detection—was instinctual. He dodged instinctively. He intuited the next attack.
Dodge, swing.
Parry, catch the flung axe, swing again.
Clang, clang.
Crisp sounds rang out in succession. His bloodshot eyes gleamed like a beast's. The predator's gaze observed its prey. It sought openings.
Press her.
That thought alone filled his mind.
A little more.
Rak's axe kept accelerating. But Lania was still faster. Lose the flow, and she'd counter. Attacks pierced through.
Thud.
Each time, Belnoa halted his motion. She fired daggers, aided with shamanism. Still, unavoidable strikes landed.
Splat.
A fist burrowed into Rak's abdomen.
But he endured. Teeth gritted, he swung his axe. Even with shaking vision, he targeted her nape precisely.
Clang, clang.
How many exchanges passed?
Lania, stepping back, trod on earth churned by Rak's axe. Her foot slipped. Her body tilted backward.
"...!"
Rak's eyes narrowed.
An opening. When prey exposed its nape, the beast never missed. Rak dove into her guard faster than ever.
His limit-heated body unleashed superhuman motion. The swung axe aimed for Lania's chest.
And that moment.
Thud. Belnoa's shadow yanked Rak's arm. But it couldn't overpower him—the shadow snapped.
The leash controlling the beast broke.
Excited, narrowed vision blinded Rak. He missed Lania regaining balance mid-tilt and swinging her fist.
Whoosh.
Her fist targeted his jaw. A hit would knock him out cold. Her fist outpaced his axe.
"Rak!"
Belnoa shouted.
The cry didn't reach Rak's ears. His bloodshot eyes fixed solely on his axe blade. Nothing else filled them.
Circuit.
And.
Spell.
In stretched subjective time, Rak saw the circuit etched on the axe blade. Seeing it, something flashed through his mind.
—Rak.
A voice mingled in the flash.
—You're a mage first, right?
Mage.
A being who never loses reason, no matter the situation.
Even in his scorching-hot mind, Rak remembered the voice. His eyes widened. Vision expanded instantly.
Body hot, mind cooled.
Like a snowy blizzard sweeping his thoughts. Reason sprouted amid instinct. An uncanny sensation dominated him.
Fist.
Rak saw Lania's fist.
Felt it aimed at his jaw. Reason and instinct aligned in an instant. Unity surged.
Crunch.
Rak abandoned the attack.
Bones grinding, he twisted his head.
Graze.
The fist brushed his cheek.
He dodged the fist, but forcibly twisting cost his balance. Lania didn't miss, raising her knee.
Splat!
Her knee smashed Rak's face.
His head snapped back. Nose blood spurted, trickling down.
Gnash.
But Rak didn't fall.
Teeth clenched, he endured the final blow. Lania, poised for a follow-up, flinched and halted.
"Really now..."
She laughed, standing still.
"Yes."
Lania stepped back.
Stepping away, she pointed at Rak's toe.
"You win."
In the final moment, Rak had abandoned attack—his outstretched foot touched the stump. Rak slowly lowered his head.
"Guh, ugh."
Wiping the trickling nosebleed with his hand, he asked,
"We passed?"
"Yeah."
Lania nodded with a smile.
A proud smile. Only then did Rak's body tilt backward.
Thud.
Rak collapsed to the ground. Belnoa followed suit, flopping down. Sprawled almost simultaneously, they gazed at the sky.
The sun sank beyond the horizon.
But it hadn't fully set.
Dusk on the first day.
Their two students had passed the trial.