Chapter 45
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: How to Tame a Brat (4)
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‘She found me...’
I scratched my head.
I thought I’d hidden pretty well, but as expected of an early-game powerhouse, she’d pinpointed my location even in the middle of a fight.
I stood up from my spot and bowed my head to Bianca with a cheeky grin plastered on my face.
“Hello.”
Even if Bianca hadn’t found me, I would’ve had to step out anyway.
In that light, getting caught might actually be for the best—it at least drew her out of her complacency.
“...”
Bianca frowned, clearly displeased by my brazen attitude after hiding and getting busted, but I kept the smile on my face.
Against Bianca, my plan was to be shameless through and through.
“...What’s a first-year doing here? You know this training room is for second-years only.”
She glanced at my necktie color for a moment, then slipped her coat back on and asked.
“Oh, nothing much. I was just hoping to spar with my esteemed senior Bianca. Mind if we have a go?”
“What? You saw that and still want to spar? Wait, is that your thing? You like getting hit? Ugh, gross. Disgusting. Makes me wanna puke.”
“...”
Bianca rejected me with deliberately exaggerated disgust.
But when I kept beaming at her, she dropped the act in an instant, her voice turning icy cold.
“You’re annoying. Get lost, you freak.”
“Hmm... No chance at all?”
“Ha, are you stupid or something? If you’re into that kinda play, find someone else. Not interested.”
With that, she turned on her heel, making it clear she was done with me.
Thud, thud—
“Senior...?”
“...”
“Oh, can’t you hear me?”
“...”
“Aaaaaah!”
I even cupped my hands around my mouth and yelled, but Bianca ignored me completely.
‘Time to use that, then.’
But I had a magic word that was sure to grab her attention.
“...What a shame.”
I muttered it toward her back, just loud enough for her to hear.
“...Vivian talks about her big sis a lot...”
She froze in place.
“Whoa, so you can hear. I was starting to worry you’d gone deaf...”
“...What’s your deal with her?”
Bianca whipped around, her eyes screaming that one wrong word and she’d kill me.
But I pressed on with the same shameless grin.
“Curious? Hmm... Should I tell you? Or not?”
“...You’re not right in the head, are you?”
“Senior, that’s not an answer.”
Crack—
I swear I heard something snap.
A cross-shaped vein bulged on Bianca’s pale, dainty forehead.
“Shut up and answer my question.”
I shrugged.
No way I could tell her the truth right now.
The truth would be something like, ‘I turned Vivian into an exhibitionist slut through taming sessions, took her virginity yesterday, and from now on, we’ll be screwing every day.’ Yeah, not happening.
“Don’t get so mad. We’re just classmates.”
“...”
Bianca furrowed her brow, trying to read between the lines.
I threw in one more line for good measure.
“...For now, anyway.”
“...You... No... Ugh...”
Realizing I was toying with her, Bianca let out a hollow laugh and stomped her foot down.
Boom—!
The floor cracked like it’d been hit by a shell, the sound echoing through the entire training room.
‘Whoa...’
A twinge of regret hit me—maybe I’d pushed too far.
Then...
“...Changed my mind.”
She flung off her coat and crooked a finger at me.
“Come at me. I’ll play with you.”
“...”
Yep, definitely pushed too far.
“Alright then, please go easy on me.”
I bowed lightly and assumed a stance.
The vast training room fell silent.
Bianca Beatrice stretched her wrists while sizing me up.
She’d been erupting like an active volcano just moments ago, but the second the fight started, her face turned utterly cold and composed.
‘Phew...’
...So far, everything was going according to plan.
Bianca’s innate ability was ‘Physical Enhancement.’
To elaborate, it let her gain the physical prowess of a knight after a decade-plus of training—in an instant.
Simple, but insanely powerful.
Especially in the early game scenario like this, where that one ability alone put her in the top ranks of Class 1.
“Don’t worry... I won’t kill you.”
─BOOM!
With those words, Bianca kicked off the ground.
Her speed was unpredictably fast, but my magic was even quicker.
Wind Blade
High-speed wind slash erupts from fingertips
The Wind Blade shot from my fingertips the moment I chanted.
I’d used it so much lately that I was starting to wonder if I was an innate ability user or a mage.
Whoosh—!
Bianca dodged the Wind Blade aimed straight at her by arching her back dramatically.
No surprise there.
I’d expected her to evade something that basic.
Bianca snapped her arched back upright in one fluid motion, using the momentum to accelerate again after her brief pause.
Wind Blade
“Ha, all you know how to shoot is Wind Blade?”
Wind Blade
“...Unfortunately, yeah.”
And another Wind Blade.
Bianca closed the distance to just a few steps away, dodging my spells with minimal movement.
“Ngh...!”
I bit my lip and flung Wind Blades desperately.
Wind Blade
She smashed the blade’s side with her enhanced fist, shattering it into wisps in the air.
“...Hmph!”
Bianca smirked, convinced of her victory...
But it wasn’t over yet.
Wind Blade (Dual Chant)
High-speed chant – point-blank range
Near-dual chant high-speed casting.
I’d been chanting Wind Blades at a steady pace up to now precisely for this.
“...!”
Even Bianca widened her eyes in surprise at the point-blank spell...
But she quickly regained her cool and spun away, dodging it.
Slash—
All I managed with my trump card was to send a few strands of her lavender hair fluttering in the air.
“...That was kinda fun. Done now?”
Bianca said, now right in my face.
A duel with Bianca...
I knew from the start it was impossible.
She was one of the top ten geniuses in second year, while I was, generously speaking, bottom-tier in first-year Class 3.
Defeat was inevitable.
“...Yeah.”
“Then you’d better brace yourself.”
“...Uh... Go easy, please.”
“You won’t die.”
I still had mana left, but Bianca chattered on casually.
She knew.
No matter what I did from here, defeat was certain.
In a mage vs. knight fight, distance maintenance is key, after all.
Professor Loreos had said that against opponents of similar skill, a mage’s win rate multiplies several times for every doubling of distance.
In that sense, handing her close-range where I could feel her breath meant I’d already lost.
“Clench your teeth.”
The moment I followed my kind senior’s advice and gritted my teeth...
BAM!!
My back bent in a sharp V.
“Guhk...!”
Couldn’t breathe.
I’d accepted defeat, but I wasn’t planning to just take it lying down.
From the start, I’d secretly layered a telekinetic barrier between my clothes and skin.
Even so, the impact felt like my guts would spill out.
“...Hmm. Not passing out from that?”
“...Kkh... Bi...anca senior... W-wait a sec.”
“Nope. Don’t talk to weaklings.”
Thwack—
Bianca swung her fist, and sparks exploded before my eyes.
I got beaten within an inch of my life...
Joking aside, she showed zero mercy.
No matter how much I provoked her, just leaving me battered on the floor like trash...
If not for the World Tree’s healing effect, I’d still be groaning on the ground.
‘...Gonna die.’
My joints throbbed, and my whole body was covered in bruises.
Probably gonna suffer for a while.
...But I got the most crucial info I needed.
The real reason I sought out Bianca Beatrice wasn’t masochism or boredom.
To tame her, I had to break her by force first.
That’s why I came to check if her attack patterns differed from the ‘Academy Tamer’ days.
‘...Patterns haven’t changed.’
Figuring that out alone was a huge win.
Of course, knowing the patterns doesn’t mean I can beat her yet.
‘But it’s doable.’
A vague picture of how to counter her was forming in my head.
‘...Think about that later.’
For now, the plan was to crawl back to the dorm and do nothing but sleep.
As I passed through the school gates, a voice called out.
“...Eugene Calliope.”
The moment I heard it, chills ran down my spine.
The man lurking in the shadows wasn’t emitting even a trace of mana, but the terror he exuded made Bianca’s killing intent feel like child’s play.
I forced my trembling body under control and turned toward the voice.
“...Professor Loreos.”
Loreos stepped slowly into the light of the glowstone, his face utterly emotionless as he stared at me.
“Didn’t I say there’d be special training after class?”
“...Professor, I think there’s a misunderstanding. If you just hear me out...”
I desperately racked my brain for an excuse, but...
“...It’ll be a long one.”
He wasn’t having it.
“Huh?”
“...Tonight’s special training will be long.”
Damn.
My cursed special training with Loreos was now locked in.