Chapter 321
Simon stood in front of the training course.
He took a breath, emptied his mind. Into the space cleared, he filled it with thorough combat logic.
'Alright.'
He opened his eyes, checking the course one more time before setting off.
Between the rails on both sides, a path stretched forward.
From the rails, wooden dummies moved up and down, rotating their torsos, and swinging their attached wooden arms toward the challenger.
The wooden arms could only be disabled if the challenger struck them directly with a fist, foot, or similar. If one failed to block them and took a direct hit, it would hurt quite a bit.
"Simon! You can do it~!"
"Well, do well or not, whatever!"
Before he knew it, Kamibarez and Maelyn had come to watch and cheer.
"Alright, then ready—"
At Hongpeng's signal, Simon slowly bent his knees.
"Go!"
He immediately kicked off the ground and dashed forward. The murmurs of the students buzzed in his ears.
First up, a wooden dummy came from the right rail. Its torso began rotating, and its attached wooden arm became an "enemy offensive".
Simon swung a knifehand and tapped the approaching wooden arm.
Click!
With the impact, the joint folded and the arm snapped against the torso. That click was oddly satisfying.
'This feel. I'll get used to it.'
A wooden arm came from below as well. Lifting his knee to strike it upward, the joint folded again with a click. Simon safely passed the first dummy.
Just as he thought it might be manageable, the difficulty rose immediately. Now, one dummy from each side came at him at the same time.
'Don't overdo it, take it slow.'
Simon's arms moved swiftly. He sent out a straight to deflect one, then tilted his elbow to strike the lower one. Stepping back, he raised his left hand and deflected another.
No clinging to patterns.
No getting mesmerized by rotations.
Simply moving arms and legs honestly, as they came into view.
Click! Click! Click! Click!
Simon's arms struck down the wooden arms at incredible speed, drawing gasps from all around.
"Nice!"
"...That actually looks pretty cool."
More dummies came at him, but once he caught the rhythm, Simon didn't stop.
He leaned back to dodge a head-level strike, or lightly jumped with both legs spread to kick away two arms at once.
"Simon! Watch out!"
Boom! Rumble!
While he was busy striking the dummies, a large ball made of bundled straw suddenly rolled toward him. It seemed weighted, possibly enchanted.
But he had already gauged the timing.
Simon pulled his fist back in advance, then drove it straight forward.
Bang!
His Darkness-wrapped fist slammed into the straw ball.
A large hole opened in the ball, breaking the enchantment. Straw debris floated like hair in the air, and Simon stepping through it looked like a scene from a masterpiece painting.
'Next!'
The wooden dummies coming along the rails sped up, with even more arms attached.
Simon advanced, calmly striking away the rushing arms.
'Tch!'
Even as he moved hard enough to taste metal in his mouth, a tremor ran up from the ground through his feet.
'Front!'
Three skeletons were charging toward him, pushing large shields. Off in the distance, an instructor was controlling them.
'The one who came in before me got knocked out here.'
While he was busy striking away dummy arms, this unavoidable charge came.
It was a setup meant to fluster, but Simon calmly gathered Darkness into his left hand.
There was no rule saying he had to go only forward. He had kept enough distance, so he struck away dummy arms while retreating. The skeletons pushed their shields closer.
Drawing them comfortably into his own zone, Simon drove his fist into the middle shield.
Crash!
When his fist met the shield, it wasn't the shield that warped, but the skeleton holding it that collapsed.
The other two kept advancing with their shields, but Simon ran forward, stepping on the abandoned one.
"You're almost there!"
"Just a little more!"
But the course's difficulty only grew nastier.
Besides the rotating dummies, ropes now hung in front of him.
Simon had to lower his body to pass under the ropes while still striking away dummy arms. His arms accelerated further.
Click! Click! Click! Click! Click!
"Hah!"
"How is he striking them that fast?"
Simon's eyes gleamed with intense focus.
Finally, the last obstacle came into view: scarecrows made of straw.
Five scarecrows stood in a row, each taller than the one before, with the smallest in front and the tallest in back—like a slide. Except, everything but their necks was clad in metal armor.
'In that case…!'
Lowering his stance almost to a kneel to pass under a rope, Darkness coiled around Simon's right hand, its tip honed like a dagger.
"Hhup!"
Calculating the angle and distance, Simon sprang forward and swung his right hand diagonally upward.
Shraaaaak!
The slanted black blade swept from below upward, severing the necks of all five scarecrows.
Thud. Thunk.
The heads rolled to the ground. With clinking metal sounds, the course halted. Simon wiped sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.
Professor Hongpeng called out in satisfaction.
"Simon Follentia! Perfect! Full marks!"
Woooooo!
The excited students erupted in cheers. Kamibarez and Maelyn clapped like seals, while Dick whistled happily.
Meanwhile, Hector, watching from afar with his arms crossed, clicked his tongue.
"Well, if he couldn't pull that off, it wouldn't be any fun."
"Hector."
The instructor said with a smile,
"You know you didn't get full marks because you missed one neck at the end, right?"
"..."
Fwoosh!
Flames flared in Hector's eyes.
"I'll challenge it again."
Meanwhile, Simon returned with a drink prepared by the instructor and a towel around his neck.
As he wiped his sweat, Hongpeng approached.
"Congratulations, Simon."
"Thank you! It's all thanks to your guidance, Professor."
With a smiling face, she moved her fingers.
"Mind coming with me for a moment?"
* * *
Hongpeng led Simon to a quiet house a short distance from the training grounds.
It was an exotic house with a spacious yard, and beside it a small waterfall flowed.
"Is this your house, Professor Hongpeng?"
She shook her head.
"This used to be where Lord Keyzen lived. He was the head professor of Magical Sword Studies."
Simon's eyes widened sharply.
"This is my first time hearing about it! There used to be a subject called Magical Sword Studies?"
"Of course!"
In Keyzen's early days, they taught Magical Sword instead of Magical Combat.
Later, Magical Combat became more developed, and more importantly, necromancers didn't prefer swords. Many didn't even bother with staffs, so putting a sword in their hand made it harder to use other black magic, that was the reason.
"But it didn't disappear entirely. In the end, martial arts are one. It was simply integrated into Magical Combat Studies."
Hongpeng's eyes lit up as she continued.
"In second-year Magical Combat, you can also choose to learn weapons, so you can look forward to it."
"Yes, I will!"
"Alright, enough small talk. Since you showed an amazing performance in this week's task—"
She placed her index finger to her lips, speaking with perfect pronunciation.
"I should give you a reward, right?"
Snap!
She raised one hand, showing the back of it toward Simon in a unique battle stance.
"I'll give you the opportunity to spar with me."
"H-huh?"
Simon blinked, dumbfounded.
Wasn't this a punishment, not a reward?
"…Me, sparring with you, Professor?"
"Yes! Sounds fun, right?"
It was a little daunting, but after calming his head, Simon realized this was a rare opportunity. He quickly took a stance.
"Then I'll be in your care."
"The conditions are the same as the running evaluation, only Magical Combat allowed. Think of it as a real running evaluation and come at me."
A performance evaluation.
Hongpeng seemed to be trying to give him a hint.
Realizing her intent, Simon gratefully gathered Darkness into his right leg.
"Then without holding back, here I come!"
Simon kicked off the ground at once, rushing forward at a terrifying speed. His Darkness-wrapped fist instantly formed a Chwita.
Bwoooom!
Hongpeng lightly tilted her body to the side to dodge. Slamming on the brakes, Simon spun on the spot and extended his leg in a spinning kick.
Thup!
She casually raised her arm to block the kick. A breeze stirred, making her hair flutter.
"Hhup!"
Retracting his leg, Simon pounced like a predator, unleashing a flurry of blows.
Pat! Tatat. Tak! Tak!
With nothing more than light movements of one hand, she deflected them effortlessly.
Simon felt as if he had become one of the wooden dummies he had fought earlier. He cut his punches short and tried a back kick, but even that she avoided with a tilt of her head.
'As expected.'
But she wasn't overpowering him with overwhelming physical specs.
The force she used, the speed she moved at—
She was matching Simon in every way.
Now, the only difference between the two was experience and skill.
'In that case!'
Simon stepped forward with his right foot, diving into her space as though to embrace her. As she brought both arms together in a guard stance, Simon smiled and swung his right fist.
What wrapped around that fist was Sky Calamity, meant to pierce through an enemy's guard.
'That guard was a mistake, Professor!'
The moment Simon's Sky Calamity-laced fist shot out—
Slide.
The space between her arms, which had been holding the guard, opened slightly.
"!"
It happened so fast that he couldn't react. His fist slipped into that gap as if drawn in, and she quickly closed her arms again, gripping his wrist.
With no target to pierce, the Sky Calamity fizzled uselessly in midair.
"Urgh!"
An immense pressure. His right arm ached and tingled as if paralyzed, his mouth falling open.
'M-my wrist feels like it's about to snap off!'
Hongpeng knew exactly what technique Simon would use. That's why she could counter it so perfectly.
Simon struck at her guard repeatedly with his left fist, but it wouldn't break. He couldn't put much power into it either.
Thinking punches wouldn't work, he lifted his right leg to kick her—
"!"
She released his arm, slipped in toward him, and seized his shoulder.
With his leg raised, Simon's balance tilted backward, and in the end—
Thud!
He hit the ground.
"Hm—"
She tilted her head, meeting his eyes.
They were close.
He could feel her breath. Her hair brushed against his face.
"Simon, you just died once."
She smiled sweetly and stepped back. Gritting his teeth, Simon pushed off the floor, springing upward into a kick.
Thump!
She blocked it with her arm.
"That fighting spirit! I like it very, very much!"
Internal Darkness Divergence!!
Simon quickly retracted his leg and spun his body.
'The Professor matched her specs to mine! In that case!'
With his briefly heightened physical prowess, he launched spinning kicks again and again, pressing her hard. At last, he managed to drive her back to a tree.
"Hm~"
With her back against the tree, she glanced behind her.
'The Professor knows all my techniques.'
So he had to mix in feints, no matter what.
'Make it look like I'm going for a spinning kick!'
He showed the flicker of Darkness in his leg, spun once more—
'But the real attack is here!'
Using his right arm as the pivot, the "spinning kick" leg dropped low instead.
< Hongpeng Original – Impalement >
Shraaaak!
The black blade cleaved through the tree in two, but Hongpeng, as if expecting it, leapt into the air.
Simon's movement used his whole waist, leaving him unable to dodge.
Her two legs shot into his chest.
Shraaaak!
Simon slid back, gouging a long mark in the ground.
'Tch, I'm still in Divergence mode! Stay calm!'
Landing, Hongpeng charged again. Just as Simon readied his stance, her arm moved.
"?!"
An impossible curve for a human arm, it bent like a whip.
< Hongpeng Original – Whip Staff >
Thwack!
A jolt of pain struck Simon's face. As she withdrew her fist, his body pitched forward.
'?!'
His balance was twisted. He saw her fist start from her waist.
Simon raised both arms in a guard, but—Tspat!—her fist vanished midair.
< Hongpeng Original – Lift Swing >
Crack! Bang!
Pain exploded in his head and legs simultaneously.
'To hit such distant parts at the same time!'
Even staggering, Simon clenched his teeth and threw a punch.
"!!"
< Hongpeng Original – Serpent Coil >
In the blink of an eye, she was on top of him. Hongpeng's legs wrapped around Simon's neck and face like a snake, pulling down.
Crack. Crackle.
A faint pain in his neck.
Cold sweat broke out on Simon's skin.
If this had been real, his neck would've snapped and he'd be dead.
Tap.
She got off him. As Simon turned his head—
Bwooooooooom!
A colossal fist, the size of a mountain, rushed toward him. Simon felt his thoughts and senses freeze.
The fist stopped just in front of his face, and even that made the ground around them turn to drifting dust, the trees around them shuddering dangerously with a swaaaah.
"I…"
Simon's voice trembled.
"I lost."
He'd died three times.
With a pale face, Simon panted for breath.
"Well done."
She lowered her fist.
Simon was still breathing heavily. His whole body was sticky with sweat, as though he'd taken a shower in it.
"Now, what did you realize from that sparring just now?"
"..."
Even in his daze, Simon chose his words carefully.
Of course you're incredible.
Of course the gap between your skill and mine is like heaven and earth.
But Hongpeng would never want that kind of empty flattery. She wasn't the type to show off her strength, nor the type to seek praise after beating a student.
From start to finish, she had fought Simon with exactly the same specs as his.
From such a one-sided match, the thing to gain was—
"Novelty."
Simon's lips parted.
"I have no novelty."
A crescent-shaped smile spread across her face.