Chapter 38: ss Representative Ranking Battle (2)


    <em>Kwaang!!</em>


    A powerful explosion engulfed the student, who failed to prepare his equipment in time.


    Magical Detonation.


    Instead of channeling focused magical energy into a spell, it was a technique that triggered a grand explosion by letting the energy run wild.


    Its range was short, there was no protection for the caster, and it consumed a lot of mana—making it a technique rarely used in actualbat.


    However, it was an excellent method for ambushing another mage in closebat.


    Especially if one was hit by a Magical Detonation from Yandel, whose mana level rivaled that of a mid-level mage.


    There probably wasn’t any actual harm due to the protective magic, but getting disqualified was inevitable.


    With a nk expression, the bare-handed student was pulled out by Iona using telekinesis. She hopped in ce, pping her hands.


    “Wow…Fantastic! You understand the strengths of Magical Detonation so well! If you can reliably take down one person, what do the disadvantages matter? Ca, did you teach him this? ording to the entrance exam records, Yandel is remarkably adept at applying magic!”


    “Me? Uh… yes, I did teach him the characteristics and how to use Magical Detonation. But the timing to use it in this situation was his own realization. To begin with, he hasn’t even been learning magic for a full month…”


    Ca responded instinctively to Iona’s sudden question, hurriedly adding more in case it would reflect poorly on Yandel. Her behavior seemed quite loyal, almost ve-like.


    But Iona just smiled, seemingly unconcerned with the drastic change in her former star student, who had now be an obedient ve.


    “A mage should be willing to learn from a ve if necessary. Yep! That’s the way!”


    Perhaps Ca found Iona’s consistent attitude reassuring.


    Just as she started to rx, Iona, who had been closely watching the arena, suddenly eximed in a bewildered tone.


    “Eh? What? What? Why is Yandel fighting so terrifyingly well? Does his pretty face hide a background in mercenary work or something?!”


    Ca also directed her gaze to Yandel in the arena in response, but she could only tilt her head in confusion as well.


    “Uh… I wonder? Why is he so good at fighting?”


    How could a crash course be this effective?


    <hr>


    <em>Kwaang!</em>


    The student engulfed in the explosion turned a vivid shade of red.


    It wasn’t blood. It was likely Iona’s protective magic glowing red as it absorbed a certain level of impact.


    Perhaps that was a sign of disqualification; the enveloped student floated up and flew towards where Iona was standing.


    Yandel took a quick look around him.


    There was a guy widening the distance, surprised by my ruthless first strike, another calmly reciting a shield spell, and one preparing an attack spell amidst the current chaos.


    He decided to target the guy who seemed to have the courage to aim for him.


    “…Therefore, rise. The eternal ember lies within this hand!”


    The opponent was quite eloquent, probably thinking of taking Yandel down in one go. It seemed like a simple Fireball, though.


    Dodging the forming fireball, Yandel got right up to the opponent’s face. Did the mage not expect anyone toe this close?


    “Fire… Ah!”


    The guy gasped in surprise.


    His casting wasn’t interrupted, which showed a level of skill. But that was it.


    The most important thing when facing a mage was to not give them time to prepare their magic. This rule remained the same, even if he were a mage himself.


    Realizing his mistake, the opponent hurried toplete his spell, but Yandel was faster.


    He swung his staff with all his might at the opponent’s head.


    “Be silent!”


    <em>Kaang!</em>


    “Gah!”


    Not so fast with that incantation.


    From the looks of the guy who got caught in the Magical Detonation earlier and whose body was badly charred, Iona’s protective magic must not have prevented the attack itself. Instead, it paid for the damage with life force.


    It was probably from the Blood Magic series, Blood Shift.


    After all, being hit by the same magic in the arm was different from being hit in the head; this was a more rational approach.


    The fact that you could still feel some pain made it closer to realbat.


    It was a type of magic that the Cham Academy would appreciate.


    “Ah, uh…”


    As I had expected, the guy I hit in the head staggered back.


    The spell he was about to cast was also interrupted due to the impact.


    I grabbed his head with my empty hand, neutralizing him with Dispel. Then,


    “Tinder!”


    “Aaah!”


    I unleashed a basic spell that didn’t need any incantations.


    “Tinder! Tinder! Tinder! Tinder!”


    Over and over. Until he was incapacitated.


    Given the low firepower of basic spells, it was difficult to inflict incapacitating damage quickly, as seen during the magical explosion.


    But the pain was different.


    There was no way it wouldn’t hurt when you set someone’s face on fire.


    “Aaaah!”


    In the end, the guy could only scream for the fight to end as he fainted from the pain.


    Normal attacks plus continuous close-range Tinder spells.


    Actually, this was a pretty goodbo, even in H&A, especially in the early stages.


    It actively used the concept of ‘fear,’ which wasn’t disyed like aggro numbers in the status window.


    It was almost a finishing move against low-level mages, who already had long casting times and were easily interrupted. However…


    Trying it out now feels a bit too harsh.


    It was one thing to use it against a real enemy, but another to use it against ssmates I would continue to see.


    As I watched him being pulled away by Iona’s telekinesis, still stunned, I thought that perhaps I should put a seal on this technique for a while.


    Suddenly, I realized that everyone in the arena, including Elisha, was looking at me with shocked expressions.


    “Ah.”


    The moment I saw their gazes, I realized it.


    They had silentlye to a consensus to take me down first.


    “O twisting water.”


    “Rise up.”


    “Sharpen your edge.”


    Chants echoed simultaneously from various corners. The only one not participating in this gruesome dogpile was Elisha.


    She seemed to feel no need to step in, merely fortifying her shield multiple times.


    I had no choice, then.


    Bracing myself, I took out a shining dagger with a lion’s motif from my inventory and gripped it in my empty hand.


    Just holding it activated some clumsy weapon skills, lightening my body.


    Trusting my now agile frame, I charged towards a female student who looked the most vulnerable.


    “Eeek! Water Cannon!”


    Perhaps she had watched closely how I took out my previous opponent.


    Realizing she was my target, she fired off her prepared spell in a panic.


    Then, a high-pressure stream of water shot at my head.


    If this were H&A, I would’ve relied on my defense and evasion stats to charge or used special methods like protective magic or magical parries. But there was no need for that this time.


    I had learned something from Ca yesterday that would be useful in this situation.


    All magic manifested was based on imagination and will, aided by intuition and forms.


    Therefore, for projectile spells, it was crucial to urately see the target and point in the firing direction with a staff or finger.


    This way, you could intuitively visualize how it would fly and collide.


    Of course, once you reach a higher level, you could skip this step or even feign your actions to deceive your opponent. But that wasn’t feasible for a freshman.


    I leaned my body forward, almost falling, to shift my center of gravity.


    And so, just as the staff aimed, the Water Cannon grazed past where my head had been.


    Although it should have been a spine-chilling experience, the corners of my mouth involuntarily twitched into a smile.


    I had sessfully dodged it by observing the direction of the staff, something I had rigorously practiced with Ca.


    “Ah…!”


    The female student’s face darkened dramatically as her attack failed.


    Then she tightly closed her eyes, bracing herself for the imminent blow. However, there was no staff striking her small head.


    “……?”


    When she opened her eyes, puzzled, I had already moved behind her. My arm, holding the dagger, was wrapped around her neck.


    “Kuk!”


    In a moment of panic, with her neck constricted, the female student started to hit my arm furiously and managed to stammer.


    “M-magic… magic duel…”


    “Why wouldn’t a Magic Department student use magic in a duel?”


    I nodded.


    I decided to exin it to her, and she shook her head as if it were unfair. After all, we will be attending the same sses from now on; I might as well rify this.


    “Look over there.”


    “???”


    I extended my staff to point in a direction.


    It was towards the dyed magical attacks that were now clearly visible and aimed at me.


    “Eeek…!”


    Although there were only around sixteen students in ss A, and some, like Elisha, chose not to join in ganging up on me…


    Still, thirty-seven low-level spells were aimed at me.


    Generally, a low-level spell was considered powerful enough to kill a single person.


    That meant there were thirty-seven spells capable of killing me flying at me right now.


    No matter how much my system correction enhanced the speed and stability of spellcasting, I could probably only fend off one or two spells at most.


    If I knew how to use shield magic, that would be another story. But the only low-level magic I could use right now was Wind Cutter.


    “But lo and behold! Here’s a perfect shield for this situation!”


    “…What?”


    Professor Iona’s magic wasn’t something that could be broken by just a few low-level spells.


    While it wouldn’t prevent a faint-inducing level of pain, it should block any pain that was merely shocking. That was what protection magic was for, after all.


    The anonymous female student, realizing I intended to use her as a human shield, gritted her teeth.


    “You… You son of a…”


    “Ah, no foulnguage allowed!”


    Spells that were flying towards me got really close in an instant.


    Then I ducked down as much as I could and hid behind her narrow back.