Chapter 39: ss Representative Ranking Battle (3)


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


    “You… you son of a—”


    “Ah ah, no swearing allowed!”


    Spells flew towards us, stopping just short of our noses.


    I crouched as much as I could, hiding behind her slender back.


    And then, not long after, a deafening sound echoed.


    <em>Crash!</em>


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    <em>Zap!</em>


    “Aaargh!”


    Various magic spells exploded sessively, and there was a faint scream amid them.


    …I’d remember this!


    Mentally sending condolences to my newly made friend, I took advantage of the brief respite to prepare for my next spell.


    “Whirling wind, stay in my hand. Sharpen your de even more.”


    It was the most powerful spell I possessed: Wind Cutter.


    Through an enhanced spell-cast, not a regr one, I injected more magical power than necessary.


    <em>Vrrr!</em>


    As the magic overcharged, the semi-transparent wind de at the tip of my staff began to swell.


    And just when it seemed to reach its limit, it vibrated slightly and dispersed the excess magic into the air.


    The deafening noise that had been ringing in my ears suddenly stopped.


    The spells aimed at me must have hit all of their marks.


    Sneaking a peek, I could see the area was filled with dust, thanks to the powerful spells that were each capable of easily killing a person.


    A faint red light peeked through the dust, probably signaling the defeat of my friend, who had served as my shield.


    As expected, she had some scorch marks, but she didn’t seem seriously injured.


    I leaned forward, preparing to dash out, when Professor Iona came to collect the defeated students.


    The dust in the air seemed to linger for an unusually long time, making someone anxious enough to blurt out something they shouldn’t have.


    “Did I get him…?”


    Pinpointing the direction of the voice, I swung my vibrating staff from left to right, as if it were a sword.


    “Wind Cutter!”


    <em>Ziiing!</em>


    The wind de split the dust in half and revealed a startled young man with a bewildered expression.


    He tried to raise his short wand, probably to prepare some magic, but…


    Wind magic might be weaker in destructive powerpared to other elemental magic, but it excels in projectile speed.


    So he was directly hit by the Wind Cutter before he could evenplete a single incantation.


    Well, maybe he had prepared a shield or something, because the de hesitated in mid-air for a moment. But soon after, a scream echoed alongside the sound of shattering ss.


    <em>ng!</em>


    “Arghhh!”


    The young man grabbed his chest and fell to the ground, his body shimmering with a red light, indicating his defeat.


    Good thing I was fully charged, just in case.


    With a satisfied smile, I dashed towards the nearest bulky man.


    After Professor Iona confirmed the defeat of my human shield and the young man, my opponent shouted,


    “This coward! Not only did he use a fraildy as a shield, but he also hid behind her to do an ambush!”


    “What are you talking about? How is it not cowardly for you guys to gang up on me in a singles match?”


    “Alliances are a part of strategy!”


    “Then what just happened was a part of friendship. To think someone whose name I don’t even know would do so much for me… What a good friend, right?”


    “You bastard…!”


    As he quickly closed the distance, the guy who had been conversing with me channeled his magical power and aimed his staff.


    “Shine! And pierce through!”


    Orbs of light started forming around him.


    Photon magic?


    Photon magic was quite a tricky spell, boasting both speed and considerable power. It uses light with physical force.


    Elemental magic had a different level of difficultypared to light-based magic. But did he think he couldplete it before I could get to him?


    …Now that I look at him more closely, I recognized his face.


    Vilhelm Trikia. His specs were decent, but he had a particr talent for light attributes. He was often arade I’d pick when concept-ying.


    If he were the Vilhelm I knew, he would have more than enough time toplete his photon magic if he timed it right.


    So I should disrupt him.


    I aimed my staff as I ran at full speed.


    “O Light!”


    My staff had an ostentatiously designed golden hue. At its tip, a cluster of white light formed.


    “Light!”


    An explosion of light in all directions followed my incantation.


    <em>sh!</em>


    Thanks to adding even a single verse to my incantation, the luminosity was much stronger than when I just used the trigger word.


    Not only was it strengthened by 10% due to the Blessing of the Sun God attribute, but I also made sure to explode the light sphere, which usually should be maintained like a light source.


    This should be more than enough to blind him from this distance.


    “Ugh!”


    Projectile magic was mostly aimed at sight. Because basing one’s intuition on visual information was the most efficient.


    But what if one couldn’t see?


    Naturally, the aim would be significantly off.


    This was another tip I learned from Ca when fighting mages.


    With every lesson applied, I smiled slyly and increased my speed.


    <em>Tap. Tap.</em>


    Just running wasn’t enough. I should prepare a little surprise for when Vilhelm opens his eyes.


    “O Wind, be a sharp sword for me.”


    <em>Whoosh-</em>


    Wind clustered at the end of my staff.


    Because I didn’t have enough time, it wasn’t possible to charge it like before. Nevertheless, casting magic while running was still something.


    …All thanks to system corrections, of course.


    The distance was closing quickly, and finally, when I was near Vilhelm…


    “What?! How?!”


    Vilhelm, having finally regained his sight, was shocked by my appearance—or rather, by the Wind Cutter I had cast while running toward him.


    Seizing the moment he lost his focus, I swung my staff diagonally.


    “Wind Cutter!”


    I couldn’t help but think this was nothing more than a one-time Wind Cutter, but what could I do? This was the most powerful spell I could cast right now.


    The translucent de of wind, aimed directly at Vilhelm’s neck, soared. There was no time for him to deploy a shield since he had been targeting me from the beginning.


    The n was to slice his neck and take him out. However…


    “Heup!”


    As soon as Vilhelm realized I was closing in, he bent his upper body significantly to dodge.


    He wasn’t able to dodge it entirely. A part of his clothes on his chest got shed, but that was it.


    Right, it wasn’t like I was the only one who could dodge.


    Ca taught me techniques that I could pick up in a sh, ones that weren’t tooplex.


    Of course, those who had been practicing since childhood could also do it.


    In front of me, Vilhelm raised his staff full of confidence, as I felt the aggressive flow of manaing from behind.


    At this rate, either I would be hit by Vilhelm’s counter-attack, or I would be scorched by the magical onughting from the back.


    Still, it was too early to give up.


    <em>Thud!</em>


    The mana core surrounding my heart beat roughly, delivering mana throughout my body.


    “Shock!”


    Small sparks erupted not just from my fingertips but from my entire body. It was far from a million volts—merely enough to shock someone—but it was enough.


    “Ugh!”


    Vilhelm, who was about to use his staff as a blunt weapon like I had earlier, hesitated.


    Seizing the opportunity, I thrust the glowing dagger I was holding in my left hand into Vilhelm’s side.


    <em>“Cough!”</em>


    “Ah, it worked.”


    The squishy sensation I felt at the tip of the de was different from when I killed Pietro, the socialite officer. It felt weird, as if I had stabbed pudding instead of a person.


    Perhaps it was the effect of Iona’s protective magic. Even if I pulled out a dagger now, there would be no wound, just smooth skin.


    …Was it because they made amateur mages fight each other that some ended up defeated by daggers rather than magic?


    In any case, unlike Iona, who said defeating the enemy was all that mattered, Vilhelm seemed furious, ring at me with bulging eyes after being unexpectedly stabbed.


    But that was it.


    He might be sturdier than most mages, but anyone stabbed with a knife freezes.


    Even as Vilhelm tried to resist, I pushed him with my body weight.


    <em>Whirl.</em>


    Our positions switched instantly.


    “Do you want to be my friend?”


    “Shut up!”


    It seemed he didn’t like the idea of a ‘Friend Shield,’ cursing as he did.


    Watching him, I began to worry about my future life in the academy.


    Was this really okay?


    They wouldn’t hold a grudge just because of a ss activity, right?


    But why, no matter how long I waited, did no magic spellse flying at me from the people who were eager to hit me?


    Then, what was that intense magical reaction?


    Peering over Vilhelm’s shoulder, I saw what was going on.


    “Ah! Why Elisha…!”


    “We were just going to take down that coward first… Argh!”


    “Everyone run! We can’t beat him!”


    For some reason, Elisha was bombarding the people who were about to finish me off with magic.


    When our eyes met, she snorted and turned her head.


    Then, she shed a charming smile at the other fleeing students.


    “Excuse me? I thought this was an individual match? That’s what the professor said.”


    What? What? Was she taking my side? I was kind of excited.


    “Most importantly, who gave you the right to touch my opponent? I will personally take Yandel down, so kindly step aside.”


    Ah.


    She wanted to beat me herself.


    Should I start apologizing now in the hopes she will go easy on the spells?