Knight Class vs. Magic Class (1)

The day of the midterm exams dawned.

Irina sat up in bed, her upper body alone raised, staring blankly at the wall.

I'm going to lose anyway.

Irina had never once in her life lost confidence in herself. Her talent had always been so brilliant that she felt no one stood above her — save for the imperial family.

Born into a mage household, she had nonetheless possessed outstanding talent as a knight. Upon entering the Academy, everyone had fallen short of her.

Her failure to grow taller had been a regret, but even so, she had never resigned herself to defeat in advance. She was short, yes — but that was all.

Then she met the two from the magic class, and she learned in her bones that there were opponents she simply could not beat.

Frey Katram, supposedly a cadet branch of House Katram. She had heard rumors of his magical prowess and tried to recruit him. The man she met in person far exceeded those rumors.

Not a single drop of mana leaked from him — something even a living person should emit, however faintly. Irina had never seen anyone like that, not even among the imperial family. It meant he possessed absurd mana control, and that a mere first-year already held skill beyond that of a professor.

Above all, every spell he used defied common sense. Irina still could not forget the magic circle that had resolved the Academy golem incident in a single stroke.

Officially, a magic-class student named Karl Laupen had cast it — but the one who guided him into using it had been Frey. How could mere advice produce a magic circle like that? Irina could not even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠begin to guess the limits of Frey's talent.

And then there was the other one: Iren von Valencia. Of course, she was imperial blood.

The problem was that the imperial bloodline came with exceptional physical ability as well.

As far as Irina knew, members of the imperial family possessed outstanding talent — but it was almost always skewed to one side.

Gifted in magic, and the body was frail. Physically formidable, and magic talent was absent.

In practice, the First Prince Arthur was called the empire's finest knight, yet his magical skill was pathetic. The Second Princess Morgan had earned the title of Five-Colored Mage for her brilliance in magic, yet she was so frail she struggled to walk even an hour a day.

In other words, no member of the imperial family possessed both talents at once.

And yet Iren excelled at both.

Magical skill ranked first in the magic class if you excluded Frey. Physical ability strong enough to carve through an Adamantium wall with her bare hands.

Anyone who held both was supposed to be lacking somewhere — but Iren had no such weakness. Versatile, learned, accomplished in both letters and arms. Every one of those words seemed coined for her alone.

Irina in particular had been shaken for days after witnessing Iren's physical power. She herself could crumple steel, but Iren had gouged out Adamantium. Considering the dozens of times difference in hardness between steel and Adamantium…

In the end, Irina would face one of the two. Given that pairings followed academic ranking, she would almost certainly draw Frey.

Even if she lucked into facing Iren instead, her chances of winning were zero. Irina was a genius — but Frey and Iren possessed talent that no word could define.

"But I still have to try. Even if defeat is already decided."

In Irina's view, what you ultimately needed to live in this world was not the ability to defeat others, but the ability to defeat yourself. Think about it. The one who grows is always you. Today you must beat yesterday's self; tomorrow you must beat today's. That was what growth meant.

Set an insurmountable wall as your goal, and you were liable to fall and die. A person had to know their place.

Most importantly, failing to overcome an unbeatable opponent did not ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mean your life was over.

That was simply how life worked. Compare yourself to others and you became miserable; temper only yourself, and you could live in peace.

"Even if I lose, that doesn't mean I haven't grown."

Light returned to Irina's eyes. Right. Defeat could simply be used as fertilizer for growth. In fact, the more overwhelming the loss, the clearer her own shortcomings would become — which was a good thing.

Though scoring poorly on the midterms was still going to sting.

She rose slowly and changed into her uniform. As she pulled it on, Irina let out a wry little laugh.

I never thought I'd actually wear this uniform.

It was a uniform tailored precisely to her true height of 125 centimeters. She had originally planned to attend the Academy permanently in her transformation-magic form, so she had only intended to order the larger size.

But her father, Marquis Varian, had insisted she prepare one just in case something unexpected arose. She was newly reminded of how important it was to heed the words of adults.

"Thank you, Father."

Offering that small gratitude, Irina looked in the mirror. Good. Time to go take the midterms.

"Everyone in the knight class except Amed and me will win. I'll take comfort in that."

The knight class had to win. Irina and Amed would lose — but the others had to come out on top.

Professor Durham had threatened that any student who lost would have all their sparring lectures converted into monster-hunting lectures. Spending eighty percent of one's Academy time drenched in monster blood was hardly appealing.

The sparring grounds prepared for the midterms thrummed with tension. It was the right kind of tension, though — exactly the amount suited to an exam.

The knight-class students looked restless, itching to smash through the magic class's tricks. A strange fire seemed to burn in the eyes of the magic-class students as well.

Once every student had gathered, the two magic-class professors and two knight-class professors overseeing the midterms took their seats. Department Head Alketo snapped his fingers.

"The matchups are as follows."

With a sharp shhk, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠golden letters embroidered themselves across the empty air, spreading the beautiful bracket of magic class versus knight class.

Frey, of course.

Irina's opponent was Frey. First in the magic class and first in the knight class — it was only natural. Amed's opponent was Iren.

Once the students had confirmed the brackets, Alketo continued.

"We begin with the lowest-ranked students. Allow me to state the evaluation criteria. For the magic class, the standards are how well the traps were laid and how effectively the opponent was neutralized. For the knight class, we will assess trap dismantling and breakthrough power. Naturally, fewer traps and faster breakthroughs yield higher scores. There will be winners and losers, but winners receive only bonus points — losers suffer no penalty, so rest easy. First pair, step forward!"

The two lowest-ranked students came out. Objectively speaking, though, the label was almost misleading.

Simply entering the Academy already marked one as an honor student, and even the lowest-ranked possessed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠more than basic skill.

Those students were not lacking. The others were simply exceptional.

The knight-class student covered his eyes and sat in a chair. Then the magic-class student began setting traps.

A short time passed, and the magic-class student signaled that the trap installation was complete.

Ryu will still win, though.

Irina predicted a knight-class victory for the first match. The floor for knights was far higher than for mages, after all.

Ryu might rank last in the knight class, but he was a powerhouse who could move freely even with two hundred kilos of weights strapped to his body. A first-year magic-class magic trap would fall to a simple body check.

"Midterm examination — begin!"

At Department Head Durham's call, Ryu charged toward the traps. His voice brimmed with confidence.

"Dozens of traps, huh! I'll smash every last one!"

A flash. Mana coated the sword Ryu drew. Knights did not cast magic; instead, they could coat objects with raw mana itself to reinforce them.

It was called Aura. A skilled Aura user was said to be able to cut steel with a tree branch.

Clang! Ryu's blade came down on the first trap.

It's over.

To Irina's eye, those traps were organically linked magic circles. Shatter one from the start, and cracks would spread through the rest; incomplete magic traps could never stop a knight-class student.

Or so she thought.

Tang!

"?!"

"What?"

Ryu's sword failed to break the magic circle and bounced off. At the same instant, the shocked circle activated. Astonishingly, ten of them triggered simultaneously.

"Ghk! What is this?"

Ryu staggered backward, then suddenly stared at his own hands. He swung his sword a few times.

"All my senses got sharper? Haha! You idiots! You just gave me a physical enhancement!"

Ryu roared with laughter and charged the magic circles again. And Irina wanted to scream.

Stop! Ryu, you moron!

But this was a midterm, so she could not shout. The moment she did, it would be no different from cheating.

In the end, Irina could only watch as Ryu hurled himself at the traps. With a sword stroke made even stronger, he tried to cleave through the magic circles.

Just before impact, twenty magic circles blazed to life and activated.

What activated was magic that unleashed a thunderous roar.

"……!!!!!"

Ryu, mid-charge, stopped as if struck by lightning. Then he slowly toppled.

"Th-this is ridiculous… the sound…"

Thud.

Ryu collapsed, unconscious. Silence swallowed the knight-class students. Only Department Head Alketo's cold voice carried across the sparring grounds.

"Wooooaaaah!"

Cheers erupted from the magic class. Irina stared at the fallen Ryu with disbelieving eyes, then whipped her head around.

Frey was smiling. A chill ran down Irina's spine.

What I saw when I was spying last time… that wasn't illusion magic?