Page 18

The mock battle continued.

Some fought to raise their ranks.

Some fought to protect their ranks.

A fierce struggle ensued among the students.

Zerion Academy is a place of meritocracy.

Students with higher rankings receive greater support and benefits.

This place is like a microcosm of the vast global society.

Many children of high-ranking nobles and future heroes who will make their names known spend their childhood here.

Making a name for oneself at Zerion Academy is equivalent to making a name on the world stage.

Thus, the students are even more desperate to raise their ranks.

Even the professors watch the mock battles with caution, as the passion of the students burns excessively during this time.

At this moment,

someone was dashing through the arena.

Smack!

My fist landed squarely on my opponent's chin.

"You... bastard..."

My opponent, knocked out cold with just one punch, collapsed helplessly.

He had been dragging out a stamina battle all day.

Finally, as he became exhausted, I seized the opportunity and struck.

The students' gazes momentarily fixated on me.

"What rank was that guy again?"

"30th."

"......"

The voices of mockery suddenly fell silent.

Instead, their faces began to show signs of wariness.

An unstoppable winning streak.

Seventeen opponents have already fallen to my fists.

And they all fell in the same manner as the first one I faced, Miryzen.

"Is he using martial arts?"

"But he hardly used any actual techniques, right?"

"Most of them lost in stamina battles."

"He's intentionally hiding his abilities."

"He's pretty tough too. He took several direct hits without flinching."

The students were starting to gauge my abilities.

It meant they saw me as a threat.

'I’ve managed to push this far with stamina and dragging out the fight.'

But everyone has their limits.

As my rank increased, so did the skill level of my opponents.

It was getting harder to avoid attacks.

Just a moment ago, I had taken several effective hits.

'Thank goodness for my Steel Skin.'

I would have been in serious trouble if it weren't for that.

'Now it's time to face the mid-tier opponents.'

Only those who wouldn't fall for such tactics remained.

Even Steel Skin has its limits.

There are those who can penetrate it.

Boom!

Suddenly, a deafening noise echoed through the arena.

I turned my head in that direction to see a green-haired man, his hair tied back, sprawled on the ground in front of Isabel.

It was Zelond Vasis, ranked 9th.

"Ugh..."

In front of him stood a girl with flowing honey-blonde hair.

Isabel Luna.

She held a dagger shaped like a crystal in one hand and a long sword in the other.

Unlike her usual self, she looked down at Zelond with cold eyes.

Isabel was known for being ruthless in battle.

While she was usually bright and lovable, once in combat, her focus made her seem like a completely different person.

But today, she seemed even more intense than usual.

"Has Isabel gotten stronger?"

"She’s been training alone in the practice room lately."

"She’s aiming for the top."

The students were surprised by Isabel's improved skills.

Though she had always been a top-ranked student, after Lucas's death, she had lost all motivation and her rank began to drop.

But today, she was showing a clearly different side of herself.

She seemed to be in peak form—perhaps even better than before.

Isabel's head turned.

Her eyes, reminiscent of the sun, met mine directly.

In her gaze, I saw flames of deep-seated anger flicker.

The reason she regained her strength and improved.

I knew exactly what it was.

She wanted to defeat me decisively and make me apologize for disrespecting Lucas.

That was the message her eyes conveyed.

'Oh, she’s burning bright.'

I couldn’t be happier to see her so motivated.

It meant I was becoming the clear focus of her life.

'Keep growing like that, Isabel.'

And as she grows, let her resentment toward me grow even more.

As I caught my breath, I noticed the first-year students also engaged in mock battles.

In the distance, I saw someone wielding a massive greatsword.

It was the iron-wall Aisha.

A student charging at her was struck by the greatsword and sent flying into the air.

He barely managed to land on his feet, looking pale as he stared at Aisha.

But with her dark blue hair fluttering, Aisha had an even more intense look on her face.

She was usually diligent and hard-working, but she turned ferocious once she picked up her greatsword.

'I’ve experienced that firsthand.'

I chuckled bitterly, recalling the day I sparred with Aisha before the mock battle.

Even now, I could feel a dull ache in my side from the memory.

"29th rank, Seron Parmia, and 30th rank, Hannon Irey."

As I watched Aisha finish off her opponent with her greatsword,

I heard the instructor call my name.

Turning my gaze, I saw a girl walking out from the group of girls who always criticized me.

With burgundy ponytail hair tied back with a headband, showing off her forehead,

and an oversized outfit seemingly chosen to emphasize her cuteness, it was one of the four girls who always mocked me.

Seron Parmia.

As soon as she met my eyes, she scoffed.

"What are you looking at, burnt sweet potato?"

Oh?

What kind of insult is "burnt sweet potato"?

She was already stepping onto the arena.

"Seron, teach him a lesson!"

"Make that jerk pay!"

"You're dead against Seron!"

The crowd's cheers were loud and obnoxious.

Buoyed by their support, Seron wore a smug expression.

"Don’t think your stupid stamina tricks will work on me. You might die, sweet potato."

She warned me.

It was a warning that her stamina wouldn’t give out like my previous opponents'.

And I was well aware of the nickname given to her.

'Unlucky Seron.'

She was known for her bad luck.

During every mock battle, she would face some kind of mishap, and her rank suffered as a result.

Bad luck seemed to follow her for some reason, and she often ended up in the infirmary.

Swish!

At that moment, Seron drew two axes from her waist simultaneously.

Her skills with the axes were real.

She definitely didn't belong in the mid-lower ranks.

'Statistically, she was the strongest among the four girls.'

But as I mentioned,

she was unlucky.

"Yeah, I know."

I grabbed a piece of equipment from the weapon rack below the arena.

Seron's eyes widened as she saw it.

It was a single item I took up.

A shield.

I hadn't used a weapon until now.

So when I took up a shield at this moment, Seron's face twisted in confusion.

All the data she had gathered on me so far was now useless.

Her reaction was only natural.

"You think using a shield will make a difference?"

Seeing her bewilderment, I stepped onto the arena.

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"I have no choice."

I casually lifted the shield.

"Your shiny forehead was too blinding, so I needed something to block it."

Veins popped!

I could see a vein bulge on Seron's forehead.

"What did you say about my forehead?"

Seron’s forehead veins bulged visibly.

“What about my forehead, huh?”

True to her penchant for cheap provocations, she fell right into mine.

Predictable.

“Begin.”

Here she comes.

The moment I sensed her movement, my shield reacted instinctively.

Claaaaang!

With a deafening noise, Seron’s axe collided with my shield.

Despite her appearance, Seron’s strength was tremendous, leaving a heavy impact.

“To Belle!”

Calling out Isabel’s nickname, Seron’s eyes flared with rage.

“I didn’t like you from the moment you opened your big mouth!”

Clang!

I blocked her swinging axe with my shield again.

Maintaining her posture from the swing, she twisted her body and followed up with a seamless chain of attacks.

“Now I’m sure of it!”

Hiss!

At that moment, I heard the sound of ignition from the edge of her axe.

Flames flickered beyond my shield.

This was Seron’s unique trait: Ignition Axe.

Boom!

The explosion forced me to step back.

Her Ignition Axe created explosions upon contact.

The faint smell of gunpowder tickled my nose.

My arm tingled from the shockwave of the explosion that had traveled through my shield.

“Burn to a crisp like a roasted sweet potato!”

With a leap, Seron’s agile body executed a relentless barrage of strikes.

Each time, I blocked her axe with my shield.

My body kept getting pushed back.

I realized her intention.

She was trying to push me entirely out of the arena.

‘Since there’s an out-of-bounds rule in sparring matches.’

It wasn’t a bad strategy.

But as I mentioned earlier, Seron’s luck was terrible.

Just before I could be forced out of the arena, my foot moved forward for the first time.

Seron immediately noticed my movement.

As a master of chain attacks, her awareness was sharp.

But it didn’t matter.

At an unexpected timing, my shield thrust forward, clashing with her axe.

Clang!

The forces of her axe and my shield collided head-on, causing both to rebound in opposite directions.

The result was mutual neutralization.

But Seron’s axes weren’t limited to just one.

Her dual-wielding technique was her specialty.

The axe in her other hand hurtled toward my exposed body.

Confidence gleamed in her eyes.

I extended my left arm toward it just before her axe could reach me.

Seron’s eyes widened in shock.

Though the axe was magically treated by the academy to prevent lethal injuries, her Ignition Axe carried its unique trait.

One wrong move could leave my left arm mangled.

Even with top-tier healers on standby, this was reckless.

Crunch!

But a match is a match.

Seron, undeterred, poured all her strength into the axe.

She intended to make me pay dearly this time.

And her axe struck my arm.

Boom!

The explosion echoed through the arena.

A direct hit.

Victory seemed certain in Seron’s eyes.

Whoosh!

Amid the swirling smoke, my hand shot out and grabbed Seron by the collar.

Her eyes widened in disbelief.

“What?!”

Her stunned reaction was understandable.

This was the arm her Ignition Axe had just struck.

Even if it hadn’t been severed, it should have been at least mangled by the explosion.

Yet here it was, perfectly fine, gripping her collar.

Seron’s thoughts momentarily froze.

But her body moved on instinct.

The axe she had swung immediately returned to target my arm.

Boom!

Another explosion erupted as her Ignition Axe activated again.

This time, surely—

Whoosh!

Her body suddenly lifted into the air.

Seron’s eyes filled with astonishment.

My arm was still unharmed.

As I said, Seron was unlucky.

After all, she had encountered me in the early rounds of this sparring match.

The trait I gained from the Steel Empress:

Steel Skin.

Steel Skin came with two effects:

1. Weakening physical and slashing attacks.

2. Immunity to fire.

To penetrate my Steel Skin, one would need more firepower than the dozens of Fire Essences I had used in training.

Seron’s Ignition Axe stood no chance.

The shield had been a decoy all along, meant to mislead Seron into thinking her attacks were effective.

And she fell for it beautifully.

I slammed her down from the air with all my strength.

Boom!

Seron’s body hit the ground, her arms and legs momentarily sticking up in the air before flopping down limply.

Her body trembled slightly.

“Hic, hiccup.”

A feeble sound escaped her lips.

Like a small, frightened animal, she shivered.

I casually shook out my left arm.

Even with Steel Skin, the impact wasn’t completely negligible.

It wasn’t ideal to use such tactics frequently, but this was a worthy opponent.

Step, step.

I approached Seron.

“Ugh, hic, stay away!”

All the bravado she had earlier was gone.

Her voice, trembling with fear, pleaded.

I paused briefly, then smirked.

“I’ll leave you to it.”

Enjoy the taste of burnt sweet potato.

Without mercy, I raised my fist.

“N-nooo!”

My fist struck Seron’s face squarely.

Crunch!

Her body convulsed once before going limp.

Her slender legs folded neatly beneath her, utterly drained of strength.

“30th-ranked Hanon Irey wins.”

The instructor’s curt announcement echoed.

I raised my head.

Shocked by Seron’s humiliating defeat, the spectators were at a loss for words.

The expressions of her three companions, members of her “elite” group, were especially priceless.

I made eye contact with them.

If this wasn’t enough, they should expect worse.

Let them see how terrifying a burnt sweet potato can be.

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