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▶ Main Quest: First Steps (1) ◀
[Details: Win all 3 duels.]
[Difficulty: C]
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Soren still failed to understand why the system had rated this quest a difficulty rank of C.
'Could the final opponent really be that strong?'
He knew his final duel was against a combat studies student and that magical studies students were usually at a severe disadvantage against them, but he couldn't imagine a single class E student alone being strong enough for a difficulty C quest.
"Hmm…"
"What are you thinking about so hard?"
Felix came up from the arena and sat down next to him.
'This guy should have some idea, right?'
"Hey, how strong are the students in combat studies?"
"Ah, you're thinking about your next match? You're facing Rank 83… Let's see… Usually, even when warriors and magicians of similar ranks are pitted against each other, magicians end up at a huge disadvantage, but given the almost 15 rank difference between the two of you, I'd be surprised if you lasted even 10 seconds…"
Soren nodded his head in understanding, as he was fully aware of the difficulties magicians faced when fighting warriors.
But Soren wasn't like other mages.
"Yeah, but you saw my last duel, didn't you?"
"What about it?"
"Remember the end? When I used [Ignition] to break the barrier, then punch him?"
Felix's expression shifted to one of confusion.
"Wasn't that just a fluke? I've also cast while dodging a couple of times."
He scoffed at Felix's question.
"No? I can do it again. Here, watch closely."
He stood up, a magic circle formed in his palm and flames burst forth, all the while walking back and forth, proving it wasn't just a one-time fluke.
Then he closed his palm, shattering the magic circle and looked up at Felix, smirking at his wide-eyed expression.
"Was that enough?"
"Hey! Soren, how did you do that? We're friends, right? You'll tell me?"
"Hmm… I'll think about it if you're more polite."
Without even a second of hesitation, Felix bowed his head and spoke in the politest tone he possibly could.
"I humbly apologise for everything I have done, Sir Arden. Please teach me your ways."
"Ahh~ It's too bad you know~ I trained soooo hard to be able to do this so I don't think you'd understand~"
Of course, Soren couldn't teach Felix.
'It's a skill after all.'
"...So that's how it is. Well if you can't answer that's fine, but let's see… if you really can cast while moving you may actually stand a chance as long as you can manage their speed, but it'll still be tough, even if you can cast while dodging your opponent will be much more used to fighting at close range, then there's the fact of your body too, no offence but you still look frail. If you went head-to-head with Rank 83, I wouldn't be surprised if he broke you in a single hit."
'So that's why it's a C.'
Soren was finally starting to understand what was going on with the quest.
Even though he gained a skill as powerful as [Concentration], it didn't make him suddenly strong. The only reason he had won the previous two duels so easily was that the skill gave him the ability to fight like a warrior, which magicians naturally struggled against.
'But that advantage disappears against another warrior.'
Soren's fighting style now consisted of both physicality and spells, but that was the problem; using both naturally meant he grew slower in a single field, and with a baseline as bad as his, he still hadn't grown a huge amount.
A good example of this was his previous duel against Eugene.
As a mage, Eugene was overwhelmingly better than Soren; he may have had a relatively slow casting time, but his spell power was so strong that Soren's was incomparable.
If they had fought purely using magic, Soren would have been defeated within a single attack.
So what about his next opponent, Rank 83?
Being a warrior, he would naturally have a physique that wouldn't even compare to Soren's F+ fragile body.
'So what should I do?'
If he were unlucky, he might not even be able to land a blow before being eliminated.
'But I can't lose.'
Not only did his current quest have a penalty, but it was also classified as a [Main Quest].
'There's no way I can fail it.'
Soren was trying to rack his brains over how he could possibly beat a warrior ranked 15 places higher than him, but the idea itself seemed daunting.
'Maybe I could use a weapon?'
Ever since using the rusted dagger back in Rena Forest, it was an idea he had thought about, but there was a glaring problem with that.
He didn't have any experience with one outside of that one incident.
To suddenly go into a duel with a new weapon could be even more dangerous.
'But is there anything else I can do?'
[Rank 96 magic studies and Rank 83 combat studies, please come down to the arena.]
"Shit… I guess it's time."
"Good luck, try not to lose in a single hit."
Ignoring the human garbage beside him, Soren walked town to the arena with a tense expression.
As he was about to pass the weapon rack, he stopped for a moment at the sight of one of the weapons displayed.
'Should I give it a shot?'
He stood there lost in thought for a few seconds before shrugging and picking up something from the rack.
'If it doesn't work out, I can always toss it away.'
Upon reaching the arena, Soren immediately felt that something was off.
The opponent in front of him was glaring at him with eyes full of hostility.
'Why is he looking at me like that?'
"Is something wrong?"
"Why is a magician brat holding a warrior's tool? Stay in your lane."
'What the hell?'
"That's what you're annoyed about? Is there an issue with me trying something new? Is it against the rules or something?"
Soren turned to the TA presiding over the duel and asked him the same question.
[There is no rule against magicians using a weapon, but keep in mind you must take responsibility for your actions.]
Turning back to his opponent, Soren smiled.
"Well, you heard him, didn't you? Any problems?"
"...Put it back and we can fight properly… if you don't, you'll regret it."
'Fight properly? You mean run at a defenceless magician, giving them no opportunity to cast, then win instantly? No thanks.'
"Just shut up and get ready, asshole, I'll win even with this."
Soren stretched his body, then gripped the handaxe in his hands tighter and waited for the teaching assistant to announce the start of the duel, his opponent looking at him with disgust the entire time.
Then—
[Duel between Soren Arden and Yuli Enron begins!]
Dash—!
The very second the duel started, his opponent charged directly towards Soren, not giving him a chance to think.
'He's fast.'
Yuli's sword was right in front of Soren before he could even pull his handaxe up.
Slash
Soren stepped back, just barely avoiding the slash directed at his chest.
'Shit.'
A magic circle formed in Soren's hand as Yuli kept pressing the attack, refusing to give up even a single inch.
Thanks to that, Soren hadn't even had a chance to use the handaxe he had brought and was just being pushed back one-sidedly.
'This is harder than I thought.'
"「Gaia」"
With the spell finally ready, he used the same tactic that he had used back in Rena Forest, changing the ground into thick mud in an attempt to restrict Yuli's movements.
'It worked.'
Seeing Yuli struggle to move, Soren inwardly cheered and started preparing another spell, but…
Leap
After only seconds, Yuli had already freed himself from the mud and ran at Soren once more.
Soren attempted to block the sword using his handaxe, but…
Slice–
"Ow, Fuck–!"
Yuli's strength outclassed Soren's, causing his sword to easily push the handaxe out of the way, which led to Soren's hand being cut.
Blood dripped onto the floor, but Soren paid it no mind.
'This is manageable.'
Thanks to Rena Forest, he had now gained a slightly higher pain tolerance.
"Pathetic."
Yuli muttered.
"Not as easy as you thought, is it?"
"Ugh, just shut it, will you? I've already told you, I'll win. 「Ignition」"
Flames burst forth from his hand, pushing Yuli back for a moment, which gave Soren some breathing room.
Yuli looked at Soren with a confused expression.
"How are you doing that?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
Soren smiled, giving the expression that he was lax, but inwardly, he was still desperately trying to figure out how to win.
'I wish I had more spells…'
Unfortunately, Soren had only learned a total of three spells, and only one of them was useful in his current situation.
'—Wait a second.'
"Did it go like this..?"
A grey magic circle formed in Soren's hand.
"Can you afford to get distracted right now?"
Light started to gather around his blade as he stepped forward.
"It really worked!"
Soren's childish exclamation was heard just as Yuli's glowing sword was brought down upon him.
「Fialova Swordsmanship - Downward Slash」
Whoosh!
"「Shield」"
Kwaaanggg—
The glowing sword hit Soren's barrier, breaking it almost instantly, but fortunately, it had bought just enough time for him to move out of the way of the sword's path.
"Haha! It really worked!"
Soren couldn't stop himself from smiling with a childish expression.
All he had done was copy the magic circle Eugene had used in the previous duel, and it had worked perfectly.
'Thank you [Library of Memories]!'
Now that Soren knew it was possible to copy magic circles, he immediately put it to use once again, this time forming a yellow magic circle.
Just as Yuli was about to reach him, he held his hand out and…
"「Shock!」"
Cracklinggg—!
A bolt of lightning flew from his hand.
It was weak, but right now it was enough.
Due to the proximity when the spell was cast, Yuli was unable to avoid it, so instead he raised his sword in an attempt to block it.
"Keuurrkk–!"
But he had overestimated his strength, causing himself to be stunned by the electricity flowing throughout his body.
Not wasting the gap he had created, Soren rushed in with thoughts of ending the duel here and now.
He raised his handaxe and sliced at Yuli's side, causing his expression to distort from the pain.
Blood flowed from the wound, but Yuli ignored it, glaring at Soren.
Noticing that Yuli had been freed from the electricity, Soren jumped back, creating distance and started casting once again.
Yuli glared at Soren, then closed his eyes, letting out a deep breath.
"Huff…"
Fwoosh–!
"Fine… Maybe you weren't playing around, but I will not lose."
The air around Yuli changed, causing cold sweat to trickle down Soren's back.
'Mana Enhancement…'
It was something far outside of Soren's expectations.
'How?'
Normally, class E students were incapable of even controlling their internal mana to a basic degree, never mind utilising it.
'Even some class C students struggle to activate mana enhancement…'
"..Shit."
Seeing Yuli using mana enhancement, Soren attempted to create distance, even casting [Gaia] in the process, but none of that mattered.
THWACK-!
In an instant, Yuli had appeared before Soren's eyes, slamming the pommel of his sword into Soren's chest.
"Cough–!"
Soren rolled over on the floor a few times before finally coming to a stop.
He tried to raise his body, but Yuli didn't even give him a chance to breathe, striking Soren in the head with the flat side of his sword, sending him flying.
"Cough! Cough! Ptoo!"
Soren spat out the blood pooling in his mouth before attempting to stand up, his legs unsteady.
'Fuck, it hurts..!'
His entire body was in pain from just two blows, but Soren couldn't fall here; he refused to fail the quest given to him.
Finally standing, Soren looked up at Yuli, and Yuli looked back.
Yuli raised his eyebrow, seemingly not expecting Soren to get back up, and spoke.
"You're still getting up? Do you need to be hit again?"
But Soren noticed something was off about his appearance.
From the sweat pouring down his face to his strained smile, and above all…
'Why isn't he moving?'
'Could it be..?
Then something clicked in Soren's head, piecing everything together in an instant.
He felt a wicked grin creep onto his face.
"Heyy~ Why aren't you moving? Is something wrong?~"
"Tsk. You must want to be hit again."
Although Yuli tried to bluff, the truth was already clear to Soren.
"Heh.."
'He's out of mana.'
Upon figuring that out, the ending of the duel was already clear.
Using up all of his mana meant that Yuli was on the verge of passing out from mana exhaustion.
He had been using his sword to stay standing, most likely in an attempt to bluff, but it was too late now.
"Hmm.. how should I end this then?"
He thought about just hitting him and getting it over with, but then Soren remembered the fact that Yuli had struck him in the face, causing him to become spiteful.
'What about that..?'
Soren remembered a specific spell he had hardly used and began forming the dark blue magic circle in his hand.
Upon completion, Soren raised his hand towards Yuli and then spoke the chant.
"「Aqua」"
A glob of water appeared in front of Soren, then, just like back in Rena Forest, he manipulated it and covered his opponent's face with the ball of water.
"Gurgle! Gurgle!"
Yuli flailed his body wildly, and in response, Soren sat on the ground, taking in the sight before him.
"If only you had a drop of mana left, how unfortunate."
The weakness of using [Aqua] in this way was that if someone had any mana in their body, they could easily interrupt the spell, freeing themself from drowning, but for someone like Yuli, who had overexerted himself, this was the perfect way to deal with them.
Of course, there was another reason Soren had used such a cruel spell.
It was because he felt spiteful.
"Was there any need to hit my face?"
If it were anywhere else, Soren could have forgiven him, but to him, his face was unacceptable.
'It's all I have going for me.'
'He could've just swung at my chest or something, if anything that was more likely to knock me out.'
"What an asshole."
Soren muttered as he stood up, watched the TA announce the end of the duel and the healer run over, then walked towards his seat.
Ting-♪
Soren grinned upon hearing a familiar sound.
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▶ Main Quest Complete! [First Steps (1)] ◀
[Reward: Inventory, Hidden Reward]
[Receive Hidden Reward?]
[Yes] [No]
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"Hehe.."
Freeze
Then Soren belatedly noticed his actions.
He was grinning like a fool after almost drowning a student.
"..."
He looked around, hoping that nobody had seen his actions, but unfortunately for him, he had garnered much more attention than expected.
In every direction he looked, he was faced with disgusted expressions, and as if that wasn't enough, he could even hear some people talking about him.
– Creepy.. he almost killed someone and he's grinning like that..
– What a psycho.
– What a waste of that face, ugh.
– Ew
"..."
Soren's face flushed with embarrassment as he sat down next to Felix.
"Someone's popular."
"..."
Unlike usual, though, Soren didn't respond.
He couldn't respond.
"Was it fun?"
"...Please.. Shut up."
Soren spoke in barely a whisper, his face still flushed pink.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
"Strange."
That was her first thought after seeing Rank 96 of magical studies duel against Rank 83 of combat studies.
Rank 96 wasn't strong; if anything, he was weak, almost pathetically so, but his fighting style made him stand out.
When she first saw Rank 96 cast a spell in the middle of punching she, like many others, believed it was just a fluke, but the duel that just ended had proved them all wrong.
At first, she had only glanced over at Rank 96's duel because his face was exactly her type, but when she saw how he fought, she felt as if she needed to keep watching.
Then, when Rank 96 won the most recent duel against Rank 83, he even started grinning and giggling like a madman…
Even though the hero had been revealed earlier, she was more interested in Rank 96.
She had seen that the person everyone was calling the hero was weak, and the only thing he had shown was that bright light, but Rank 96?
He was unique.
The way he fought.
The way he acted.
They both deeply interested her.
It was even to the point that she began to ask herself,
'Should I keep an eye on him?'
But she quickly shook off that thought.
"No. Too soon."
Rank 96 was interesting, but he was still weak.
The way he fought showed his inexperience, and even his strange action of picking up a weapon only in the last duel showed he still hadn't figured out his own fighting style.
One thing was for sure, though, Rank 96 had unknowingly caught the attention of a predator, whether he wanted to or not.
————「❤︎」————