29
Chapter 29
Estella is visible in the distance.
The first shot is the most important.
She doesn't know the power of an arrow made from an artifact yet.
That's why I need to hit her while she's off guard with the first shot.
An arrow of light forms on the drawn bowstring.
Luna's predicted trajectory is a straight line. The meaning is simple.
It's damn fast.
I guess the amount of compression doesn't matter much for the speed.
Will the current you be able to react to this speed?
My bowstring is released at the Professor's signal to start.
I infused the arrow of light with mana and let it fly.
The arrow became a thin line and struck her shoulder.
The impact of the arrow pushed her shoulder back slightly.
"Well? Got you, didn't I?"
The power of the arrow was incredibly weak. Part of it was because it was a spar, so I didn't put much force into it, but to achieve the power I had the first time, I'd have to use almost all the light stored in the ring.
It's certainly weak compared to what that walking flashbang guy used.
It's a frustratingly weak phenomenon when I use it, but I decided to find meaning in the fact that I hit her.
"Wow, I didn't see that coming. That's damn fast. One for you."
Even if the power was weak, she admitted that it would have been a valid hit if I had fired with full strength.
Her eyes glinted dangerously.
I have a bad feeling about this.
I only need to hit her five more times, but my intuition, which has been sharpening lately, is screaming that something is wrong.
"I can't take it anymore."
She starts to run.
I create distance as well. Her physical abilities are excellent, but my movements, enhanced by the spirit contract and mana, aren't so slow that she can catch me easily.
I drew the bowstring while backing away. Usually, I rely heavily on experience and instinct, but Luna's magic was still pinpointing the exact location.
Target: the legs.
I must stop her as she charges to reduce her approach speed as much as possible.
The moment I released the string, her dagger lunged exactly toward the impact point.
"Ah, just a bit too slow."
To be precise, she almost reached the impact point. The slightly late dagger only succeeded in altering the trajectory, resulting in a mere graze on the calf.
I have a conscience, so I can't call that a valid hit.
"You crazy bitch, did you seriously just block that?"
"Of course."
I predict the position with the arrowhead and time the shot with the movement of the fingers.
I put it into practice as soon as I thought of it and almost succeeded on the first try.
No, in fact, I did succeed. She's using a dagger to go easy on me, but if it were a longer weapon, she would have blocked it.
She smiles as if she's enjoying herself.
I continued to fire arrows without pause.
Whether that crazy girl was adapting to blocking my arrows, she began to find the perfect spot at the perfect timing.
Before I knew it, she had closed the distance—from looking the size of a thumb to the size of a palm.
Maybe it's because she's lost it, but she seems faster than usual. She's already closed half the distance.
"Excuse me? You're being way too intense today, aren't you, Professor?"
"Do you have any idea how rare it is to practice against attacks this fast? I can't pass this up."
Her eyes were no longer those of someone simply sparring.
She had definitely lost it.
"Weak power, but an uncommon speed. Ah, I can't resist. Come here!"
I know it too. Though I fire using light, I'm still inexperienced, so it's not light-speed. However, it's faster than most mid-level mages' speed-focused chants.
The reason I'm terrified isn't because she's charging with a knife. I've seen that often enough.
But.
"Slurp"
"Stop licking your lips, you crazy bastard!"
That battle-hungry, training-obsessed pervert is actually salivating.
"Want to stay up all night with me?"
"Get lost!"
This is a horror movie. I can feel a chill running down my spine.
I'm getting goosebumps.
I managed to come up with a new way to actively utilize the magic I received from Luna.
Numerous lines appear, originating from the arrowhead.
Scatter Shot.
Each one's destination specifically designated.
"That's number two."
I released the bowstring. Countless arrows of light intersect and rush toward her. Unless she uses mana, dodging is impossible, and blocking them all with a single dagger is equally impossible.
Normally, she doesn't last a minute, so shaving a minute off just with attacks is certainly a groundbreaking record.
"Time remaining: one minute and eight seconds."
She came to a stop as she spoke. We'd reached less than half of the time limit.
I can still fire that kind of strike three more times.
"I'll get serious now, okay?"
Simultaneously, something dropped from her body.
Thud-
Thud-
Thud-
What the hell, is this Rocky? Who wears sandbags heavy enough to make a thudding sound during a spar?
Her speed increased noticeably. I prepared and fired the same strike as before.
This time, she produced a greatsword from who-knows-where and swung it toward the sky.
She sent all the fired arrows of light soaring into the air.
She deflected them all with just wind pressure?
"Damn it, you said you weren't using mana!"
"I didn't!"
I could call her a crazy gorilla instead of a crazy bitch, and it would be just as accurate.
"Isn't it about time you showed me something else?"
"Show you what?!"
"You've been practicing close-quarters combat, too. And you've got a proper weapon now!"
She's not wrong. I have practiced. But I'm nowhere near her level. At best, I can block and parry to some extent.
'It's okay! Luna will support you!'
"Sure, come at me, you bitch."
The magic beast I fought back then had tough skin, so I had no choice, but the moment we enter close-quarters combat, it's more efficient to hit with bare hands or the bowstaff rather than insisting on using the bow.
So I th... didn't throw the bow at her, but just set it down. This thing is expensive.
She tossed aside the greatsword she used to block the arrows and approached.
"Why'd you put down a perfectly good greatsword?"
"I saw a pretty interesting penalty during a previous spar. I took a hint from that."
What kind of penalty was that, exactly?
The weapons she held now were the dagger she had from the start and a newly summoned axe.
How brutal.
I created a shield and a spear using the light emanating from the artifact.
They were extremely light.
In close combat, having a shield makes a huge difference. If a shield is too large, it's easier to block but slows movement, but a light yet wide shield is a massive advantage. Some might say a shield that's too light won't defend properly, but since I can roughly predict the timing of attacks through Luna's magic, it's fine as long as I inject mana at the right moment.
Because of this, some people claim shields are only for cowards, but I'd rather live with a shield than die wielding dual swords.
And I ensured my offensive capability with a spear, which is relatively easier to use than other weapons. Since a weapon shouldn't be too light, I injected mana to increase its weight.
Estella, who pursues only efficiency, seemed to find my choice of weapons acceptable, as the corners of her mouth curled further up. She smiles like that every time we spar, and honestly, it's terrifying to face.
No, she's even scarier today. Stop licking your lips!
Numerous lines stretch out from her before my eyes. Those are likely the actions she can take right now. True to her nature as a battle maniac, she always maintains a stance that allows her to use various techniques.
As her arm moves, several lines vanish instantly, leaving mostly lines that descend from the upper left to the bottom.
I moved my shield to the upper left accordingly. Without stopping, I lunged forward with the spear in my other hand. She used the dagger in her non-axe hand to deflect the trajectory of my spear. Next....
'Legs!'
Damn, this is insane.
She immediately let go of the axe blocked by my shield, drew her sword, and attempted a thrust toward my open left side. I foresaw this and used the artifact's light to create a simple plate to endure it. Then, I swung the spear I had recovered....
'Right shoulder!'
Instead of swinging, I blocked the hammer that lunged toward my right shoulder after she discarded the dagger.
'Right leg!'
'Left flank!'
'Right knee!'
'Head!'
'Left calf!'
'Stomach!'
Her halberd, spear, rapier, gauntlet, Zweihänder, gladius, mace, and arming sword rushed me.
At some point, I stopped attacking and could only curl up, enduring the onslaught using the artifact's light. As her attack patterns became too varied, even Luna gave up on the calculations.
I cursed her as she beat me down, laughing as if it were the most fun thing in the world.
Bitch.
***
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, 'Ms. Estella, whom I'm seeing for the first time today'."
"Wait, nobody's even watching us yet. Our spar ended early."
"I don't see how that matters, 'Ms. Estella'."
"Sorry~ You've grown so much all at once that I got curious about your limits. I just wanted to see how much you could block."
Estella said this as she clung to me.
"Get off me, you crazy bitch! Did you forget about your dating rumors again?"
"Ahem. Still, there were 32 seconds left! That's a shocking new record, right?"
It was certainly a sign of growth, considering I used to last less than a minute.
"To begin with, there aren't many in the Close Combat Department who can hold their own against me like this."
"Is that so?"
"Seriously, how did you do it? Before, you were barely dodging and would collapse or get hit after about three attacks. And your accuracy has improved quite a bit too."
"Hehe, it's a gift from Luna."
I pointed to what was floating in front of my left eye.
"Luna calculates the trajectories in real-time. That's why my accuracy went up."
'Luna, want to come out?'
'My head hurts....'
Unfortunately, Luna had been K.O.'d by that flurry of consecutive attacks at the end.
"Oh, really? If you can just increase your firepower, I think you could aim for the top ranks."
My lips kept curling up at the continuous praise. I only realized later that since she hadn't used Star Radiance or mana this time, she usually uses at least one of them when sparring in the Close Combat Department.
"Ah, let's go watch the others."
"Sure."
Because of the significant gap in skill, our spar ended quickly, but that wasn't the case for the other students.
"Then let's go watch Minerva."
"Huh? Who's that?"
"Oh, a new friend?"
I'm not sure if I consider her a friend, but given her personality, she definitely thinks of me as one. She's the type who considers anyone a friend after just a few words.
I'll probably fall victim to that sociability soon enough.
"Hmm, that red-haired girl from before?"
"Yeah, you remember her."
"Hmm~"
"What now?"
"You seem to attract a lot of girls."
"What the...."
Is that so?
I was about to ask what kind of nonsense she was talking about, but thinking about it, it wasn't entirely wrong, so I shut my mouth.
"Are you imagining your own harem life based on some vision of the future?!"
"What kind of nonsense is that?"
Yay, I nailed it this time.
"In the first place, there's nothing as gross as romance in the future I've imagined."
I retorted with a grimace. As if I were crazy enough to do that disgusting thing again.
"Really?"
"Yeah. Stop talking nonsense and let's just go."
"Hmm, so toxic. That's the Lee Seo-ha I know."
After walking a short distance, I saw it.
"Struggle more!"
"Laevateinn! That's enough!"
"Chief of Staff, what nonsense is this! The enemy has not yet surrendered! Warriors, charge! Mages, prepare your spells!"
It was Laevateinn, completely losing control.