Sparring or Duel (2)
Sparring or Duel (2)
What had started as a conversation on the street had suddenly turned into a major event.
As we headed to the training ground for a sparring match that was basically a duel, the number of students following us grew. They had apparently heard the rumors from somewhere.
I wasn't even sure we'd be able to fight properly with this many people around.
Since it had been declared a duel, the match was now tied to noble honor.
If someone lost a duel in front of so many onlookers, their honor would undoubtedly take a massive hit, even if they didn't die.
It would have been better to settle this somewhere with only a few people involved.
With that thought, I looked back at the cheeky freshman who had challenged me, but the punk didn't seem worried about that at all.
The freshman punk was putting on airs, sticking close to his female classmate.
She was pretty, but not so stunning that the son of a marquis should cling to her like that.
And the mana subtly emanating from the girl was quite unsettling.
Since she wasn't a Physical Enhancement Type, it was hard to gauge her true strength, but a creepy feeling that she'd be troublesome to deal with seemed to drift off her.
Should I say she felt like Balea?
Was she the child of some high noble? Or did she have a wide social circle like Balea?
But from the way she treated the Marquis's son, she didn't seem to have a particularly gentle personality, either.
Still, seeing how people gathered around her, she might be the charismatic Queen type.
No, no.
That unsettling feeling had made me focus unnecessarily on another freshman.
Regardless of the girl, seeing him act like that made me lose any desire to suggest we fight somewhere private.
If it's come to this, it's entirely your fault, you marquis's son.
Even if you get trashed and the Marquis's honor is dragged through the dirt, it's absolutely not my fault.
Besides, I wasn't treated like trash in the Duke's estate anymore, so I didn't need to tremble in fear of the aftermath like I used to.
With so many people in tow, we headed to the nearest training ground.
In the middle of the training ground, where classes had ended, I stood facing the Marquis's son.
This was an educational training ground, complete with spectator stands.
He'd said we should go to a nearby training ground, but had he intended to make a complete spectacle of this from the start?
Any intention of going easy on him vanished completely.
People gathered in the spectator stands overlooking the training ground.
There were freshmen, seniors, and even knights and teachers who had somehow heard the news.
Some students were even eating snacks as they watched, while money changed hands here and there on one side, as if people were betting.
It was a bit strange.
No matter how fast rumors traveled, there was no way this many people could have gathered so quickly.
As I stared at the spectator stands in bewilderment, the Marquis's son spoke proudly.
"I told everyone in advance that I'd be fighting the Strongest Second-Year today."
It was this bastard's doing.
Forget going easy on him; I felt like I should break his bones.
Even so, I couldn't take the greatsword from my artifact pouch here.
I drew the Academy longsword, one of the two swords at my waist.
As I drew my sword, the Marquis's son drew his as well.
That... wasn't the longsword provided by the Academy.
I lightly tapped my waist.
[It is a weapon I have never seen before. It is not a weapon used by the Heroes.]
A blunt reply came from the dagger at my waist.
It seemed the dagger was sulking because I hadn't let it speak lately.
Anyway, as long as it wasn't a Hero's Artifact, it didn't really matter.
Then again, it wasn't as if you could come across a Hero's Artifact that easily.
Still, since it looked old, it did seem to be some kind of artifact.
They'd said his family possessed many artifacts, so they must have equipped the son they sent to the Academy with an artifact weapon.
As the Marquis's son and I raised our swords, the spectator stands fell silent.
There was no referee. Since this had been decided so suddenly, there was no one suitable to act as one.
Instead, a freshman declared the duel on our behalf.
"From now on, the duel between Gael de Pisen and Alex de Gracia begins. Rather than taking the loser's life, the victor shall receive one request from the loser, who stakes their noble honor on it."
The freshman who made the declaration was also a student who had been with the Marquis's son and the girl.
This freshman, too, exuded an extraordinary air of elegance.
I wondered which noble family he belonged to.
I couldn't tell whether this Academy was simply that impressive or whether the group the Marquis's son belonged to was the remarkable one.
In any case, now that the duel had been declared, there was no backing out.
It would have been difficult to call it off anyway after our earlier conversation, but now we had to settle it completely, right here.
The students in the spectator stands buzzed at the word 'duel', but the commotion subsided when they heard that no lives would be taken.
The visiting knights and teachers didn't move, either, and the duel proceeded as planned.
Before we began fighting, I asked the Marquis's son what I was curious about.
"Let me at least know why you challenged me to a duel."
"No, I didn't mean to challenge you to a duel..."
The Marquis's son's confidence had fully returned under the crowd's gaze, but the word 'duel' made his expression darken again.
It felt like I'd landed a mental attack on him before the fight had even begun.
Regardless, I had to hear the reason.
He looked like a fool infatuated with a girl, but a skilled son of a marquis couldn't be a complete idiot.
"If you're the son of Marquis Pisen, you should know that fighting publicly like this will cause a headache afterward, whether you win or lose. And adding my background to the mix will make it even more troublesome."
Losing to the Duke's legitimate son was something that could happen, but losing to the Duke's illegitimate son was a completely different story.
This was a highly publicized duel. No one would die, but it would certainly leave a deep scar on someone's honor.
He probably hadn't thought about losing when he picked a fight, but someone of his status as a marquis's son wouldn't pick one without considering the consequences at all.
Even my Brother Manuel had known that much from a young age.
"I know. But after coming to the Academy, I realized there's something more important. Old customs and systems no longer mean anything to me. Only strength matters, and having someone to lead me is enough."
As he spoke, he glanced toward the spectator stands.
At the very bottom of the stands, the girl and her friends were gathered.
It was obvious at a glance who was leading him.
I couldn't understand it, though...
'It doesn't seem like a mental ability...'
I'd seen a few people who used mental abilities, but they usually made their targets fall in love or feel affection, rather than making them follow someone with such clear-headed respect.
It seemed there was a genuine reason behind it, rather than a mental ability.
But asking for that reason before the duel was asking too much.
My questions had only multiplied instead of being answered, but now it was time to fight.
I examined the Marquis's son standing before me.
He was a freshman, larger than me and possessing knight-level skill.
I cocked my head.
If the Marquis's son possessed that level of skill, there was no way rumors about it wouldn't have spread.
It would have caused a massive stir that a genius had enrolled.
Yet I hadn't heard anything of the sort.
What was going on?
While I was lost in thought, the fellow provoked me.
"Attack first."
The way he spoke with his sword hanging low was clearly the tone of a master addressing an amateur.
It was so absurd that I couldn't even bring myself to get angry anymore.
Still, I felt I needed to teach him a proper lesson.
I could have released my mana to pressure him, but I chose not to.
Instead, I took a step forward and swung my sword.
Whoosh.
"Ugh!"
At the sword cutting through empty air, the Marquis's son hastily retreated.
'His instincts aren't bad.'
The onlookers watching from afar buzzed, and even the Marquis's son wondered why he had retreated. But if he hadn't, he would have been cut somewhere.
To my eyes, it looked like a red lightsaber right now, but a shimmer invisible to others was swaying at the tip of my longsword.
Just a moment ago, the Invisible Sword Aura had sliced through the spot where the Marquis's son had been standing.
"I have attacked."
I'd simply swung my sword through the air in response to his invitation to attack first, but since he'd taken a step back, he couldn't refute my words.
"Tch!"
It seemed he'd found my sword terrifying, too.
No sooner had I finished speaking than the Marquis's son lunged forward.
His footwork was swift, and a sword faster than I'd expected shot toward me.
I swung my sword to block the incoming blade.
Bang!
"Ugh!"
As our swords clashed, I saw the Marquis's son grit his teeth.
'Huh?'
But I was bewildered, too.
His sword was surprisingly heavy.
I'd fully intended to knock his sword away with our first clash, but the Marquis's son had actually withstood my strike.
The speed and power of his sword were definitely beyond my expectations.
In that case, what about his other abilities?
I'd planned to end it immediately, but I changed my mind.
He was a more interesting and curious opponent than I'd thought. I felt I should test him properly.
I drew up more mana and increased the speed of my sword. Instead of simply swinging it, I guided the blade with my Mana Cultivation Technique and swordsmanship.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
As my sword grew faster and more intricate, the Marquis's son's face turned red.
Blood trickled from his mouth, perhaps because he was gritting his teeth too hard, but the Marquis's son endured even that.
He definitely hadn't possessed this level of skill before we started fighting.
Even when he first swung his sword, he hadn't had the skill to withstand my current strikes.
Clang!
I swung my sword with all my might to push him back, then spoke.
"You seem to be getting stronger in real time. Is there an ability like that?"
"Huff, huff... did you see that? No matter how strong you are, I can catch up. This is all the power Ivana gave me."
To spill everything so easily just because I asked—this guy really was a fool.
But could there really be an ability that made someone stronger as they fought?
If that was true, it explained why I hadn't known about him when the Marquis's son first enrolled.
The Marquis's son had grown stronger rapidly after enrolling, just as he was growing stronger while fighting me right now.
Since she'd made him that strong, it was understandable that he'd revere her.
I glanced at the girl sitting in the spectator stands. She was watching the Marquis's son with an indifferent expression.
Looking at her cold eyes, she seemed like a researcher observing a lab rat.
But it didn't make sense.
Could an ability that let someone grow continuously stronger without any penalty really exist?
There was no way such a cheat-like ability could exist.
No, come to think of it, it wasn't as if such absurd abilities didn't exist at all.
My 'Death Regression' was, after all, an even more ridiculous ability, if you thought about it.
Unfortunately, it seemed the Marquis's son's hopes would be difficult to realize.
Clang!
Crack!
Clang!
As we continued to clash swords, I could see the limits of this ability.
First of all, while his strength, speed, and reflexes continued to grow, his Mana Cultivation Technique didn't change, and his swordsmanship didn't improve, either.
If new abilities had been added and his swordsmanship had become proficient, I would have been truly shocked, but it was merely his physical stats and mana that were rising.
That alone was indeed amazing, but it wasn't enough to defeat me.
And unfortunately, it wasn't an ability that allowed for infinite growth.
There was a limit.
At some point, his strength, speed, and reflexes stopped increasing.
He'd grown from knight-level to above Senior Knight-level, but he couldn't get any stronger.
Even then, it looked like he'd struggle to win against an actual Senior Knight. His technique and experience fell far short of those of active-duty knights.
After fighting for a while, I had a rough idea of how he grew stronger in an instant and where the limit lay.
It was truly remarkable, but it was an ability with clear limitations.
Having finished my assessment, I swung my sword and brought the Marquis's son down.
Slammed to the ground, he stared blankly at the girl.
But the girl wasn't looking at him. She was staring intently at me.
But I wasn't interested. It might have been an incredible ability to the other students, but to me, it was meaningless.
To me, the Marquis's son lying on the ground was far more important than she was.
There were many things to extract from this new sucker.