.
[Alex]
Age: 18
Gender: M
Race: Human
.
Upon spotting Alex, Soren couldn't help but feel excitement flow through his body.
As a day 1 fan of TKS, it would have been stranger if he wasn't hyped to see the protagonist.
[Duel between Alex and Penny begin!]
The second the TA announced the start of the duel, Alex dashed forward and swung at his opponent without hesitation.
Slash!
The sword cut through the air, threatening to end the duel in an instant if it landed, but…
Clang–
Penny easily blocked the slash, retaliating with her own..
Clatter
As swords clashed, Alex began to get overpowered in terms of strength and leapt back in an attempt to create distance, but his opponent wouldn't allow that, rushing towards him with her sword raised high.
Clang
Slash–!
Penny's sword cut Alex's arm and leg, slowly building up minor wounds; meanwhile, Alex had yet to land even a single blow.
'He's being pushed back.'
Every time Alex and Penny would clash, Alex's fatigue began to build.
His body was unable to keep up.
His breath became rougher, and his movements became more sluggish.
Stagger
Just as Alex was about to attack, he misstepped, causing him to lose his balance.
It was as Penny was about to take advantage of that opening that it happened.
KWAAAAA—!
A torrent of golden light shot out of Alex in all directions.
Everyone's attention shifted to the arena where two low-ranking students were fighting.
The reason for this?
[Divinity]
Alex's unique skill.
And also the proof that the hero has appeared.
– What's that?
– What's going on?
– Wait.. Is that… Is that the goddess's power?
With those words, it was like a floodgate had opened.
– It's the hero!
– He's real!
In the centre of the arena stood Alex, his opponent on the floor in front of him.
Nobody had seen what actions he had performed thanks to the blinding light, but he had somehow managed to win.
Seeing the reactions of the audience, he looked around with an awkward smile while scratching his cheek.
"Oops, ahaha."
He seemed slightly embarrassed by all the attention and quickly left the arena, leaving everyone in shock and awe.
Everyone except one person, that is.
'Is.. that it?'
He felt underwhelmed by what had just played out before his eyes.
In his memories, the awakening event felt so cool.
Alex fought with all he had, even knowing his own weakness.
Still, in the end, he was unable to keep up with Penny and even let his weapon slip away, causing his [Divinity] to fully bloom.
Seeing this, the students were in awe and started shouting, realising he was the Hero spoken of in prophecy.
'…Maybe I expected too much, Alex is also a class F student like me.'
Alex's stat sheet when starting the game was almost as bad as Soren's, with every stat beginning at 0.5.
But unlike Soren, he had [Divinity] and the luck of a protagonist, which meant his growth couldn't even be compared to someone like Soren, who didn't even count as an extra.
'It is a shame, though.'
He looked away from the arena that Alex had just fought in and checked on the other duels taking place.
The first person he saw was someone familiar.
'I was hoping he'd get beaten up a bit but…'
"Has he even been hit?"
On one side of the arena stood Felix with a smug grin plastered on his face.
He seemed to be using a mix of [Gaia] and [Bloom], altogether playing with his opponent.
'What an awful personality.'
He was changing the terrain and restraining his opponent's movements, making it impossible for the spearman to take even a step towards him.
'It's impressive.'
Soren knew that Felix was strong, but seeing it in action was a different experience.
BOOM!
An explosion rang out, catching everyone, including Soren, by surprise.
"Wow…"
When he looked over to where the explosion came from, his mouth fell agape.
'She's a monster.'
Standing there was a beastkin.
.
[Amelia Indras Einhardt]
Age: 18
Gender: F
Race: Beastkin (Wolf)
.
Rank 1 of martial studies.
The second princess of Einhardt.
One of the three main heroines.
She was a woman of many titles.
Currently, she was duelling against Rank 2 of martial studies.
'It's not even a fight.'
[Amelia Einhardt wins.]
It was such a one-sided assault that it left Soren in awe.
Beyond that, there was another reason he couldn't pull his eyes away.
'She's pretty.'
Long silver hair shone in the sunlight.
Narrow, neon-yellow eyes that gave the impression of a predator.
Her toned yet slim body.
The wolf ears and a fluffy tail that goes down to her ankles.
'It looks so soft...' He thought to himself, wishing he could touch it just once.
She was so attractive that there was a part of Soren that even began to lament the fact that he wasn't the protagonist.
If it were only one, it would be one thing, but Alex had two more, both of the same calibre as Amelia, fighting tooth and nail for his affection.
"Sigh… It's unfair."
He had already stated that he didn't want to get involved in the story, but that didn't leave him without regrets; after all, it would be impossible not to have second thoughts when looking at someone like Amelia.
'Speaking of heroines…'
Soren scanned the building, searching for a specific person.
'There she is.'
In another arena, a short yet chubby girl with hazel eyes and brown hair was running around frantically.
.
[Olivia]
Age: 18
Gender: F
Race: Human
.
'I feel sorry for her..'
The woman in question was not only Alex's childhood friend but also one of the main heroines.
The reason Soren felt sorry for her, however, was that she was a priestess.
Unable to properly attack, all she was able to do was run around, hoping her opponent would eventually run out of stamina and forfeit.
After seeing two out of three of the main heroines, a question suddenly came to mind.
'I wonder who he'll choose?'
Unlike when the world of Ivansia was still a part of a game, the devs can no longer control the actions of each and every character, so even though there was never romance in the game, that wouldn't necessarily be the case now.
Soren thought that if, like the game, the three heroines fell for Alex here too, it was highly likely they'd act on it.
'It would be stupid to expect them to stay silent forever.'
He also felt that it would be unrealistic to expect people with crushes to stay still forever.
Above all, Soren had already seen how differently characters can act between game and reality through Lilliana alone.
Soren closed his eyes, lost in thought.
'I remember there being so many arguments about who would win… Personally, I was always team Olivia.'
It wasn't because she was the character he liked best; he actually preferred Crusch, the third and final main heroine.
The reason he supported Olivia, however, was that she was Alex's childhood friend.
Olivia, like many childhood friend tropes, had been in love with Alex since they were very young.
Back before demons invaded their village, Olivia had been bullied frequently for her weight, and the person who stood up for and protected her at that time was Alex.
Ever since then, they had been inseparable, to the point that even when Alex said he would apply to Stellaris Academy, she suddenly announced that she would as well, so they could continue to be together.
In Soren's eyes, it felt wrong to have Alex end up with anyone other than Olivia after she had been with him so long.
'Well, he could always just pick all three… Polygamy and polyandry are legal here…'
Soren disliked that idea, though, as he was a fan of pure-love stories.
'...I wonder what Crusch is up to right now?'
Soren suddenly thought about the third heroine, Crusch Fialova, the third princess of Fialova and his favourite of the heroines.
Born to a concubine, she had no legitimate right to the throne, but unfortunately, none of her siblings cared about that, still believing her to be a threat, leaving her isolated in the royal palace.
This led Crusch to flee to Stellaris Academy when she finally came of age.
'That's not until next year though.'
By the time Crusch enrolled, Alex had already started making a name for himself as a second-year student, which was why she had even got involved with him in the first place, choosing to befriend the hero as a form of protection.
Soren was slightly glum at the fact that he likely wouldn't even be able to talk to Crusch, but his mood changed when he remembered everything Alex went through to have those experiences.
[Rank 96 and 83 of arcane studies, please come down to the arena.]
At the sound of his rank being called, he stood up, stretched, and then made his way to the arena.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
Thanks to the previous duel, Soren had gained a little confidence in his abilities, but he also knew that he still had to be careful.
.
▶ Main Quest: First Steps (1) ◀
[Details: Win all three duels.]
[Difficulty: C]
.
The difficulty displayed on the quest window still said C, which meant that even though his first opponent was that weak, the next two weren't likely to be the same.
[Mock duel between Soren Arden and Eugene begins.]
Unlike in the previous duel, Soren's opponent didn't try to provoke him and instead took on a defensive demeanour, observing his every action.
'He's smarter at least.'
Noticing Soren's lack of movement, however, Eugene decided to take the initiative and raised his hand, casting the spell he had prepared.
"「Shock」"
Zzzaappp——!
Soren moved his body to the left, and a bolt of electricity shot past him.
Seeing the scorched ground where he was previously standing, he broke out into a cold sweat.
'What the hell is that proficiency?'
The spell Eugene had used was a basic-tier spell called [Shock], but his proficiency in it was insane.
Others in this world didn't have the tool called a status window, thus didn't have accurate measurements of their strength or proficiencies; however, to Soren, someone who had memorised the strength of each skill at each individual rank, he could tell.
'That's at least C+...'
Soren knew that his opponent was nothing like his previous one.
Wooonggg–
The yellow magic circle shone brightly, signalling the completion of Eugene's next spell.
His spellcasting process was long, but the power of each spell was more in line with a class D student than a class E.
Crackling!
Lightning was once again shot at Soren, slightly scorching the sleeve of his cloak due to a near miss.
'I need to get this over with.'
With the power of his opponent's spell, Soren had decided he couldn't just stay passive and watch like he had been doing until now.
Eugene also noticed Soren's shift in posture and held his spell instead of casting it, waiting to see what Soren would do.
Soren took one step forward.
Two steps.
Then he broke out into a full sprint.
Eugene's face was filled with bewilderment at the sight of a mage running towards him, and due to that, his response was slower than usual.
With every step he took, the magic circle forming in Soren's hand shone brighter until it was finally complete.
Eugene's eyes were filled with panic, and he hastily cast the spell he had previously prepared.
"「Shield!」"
A transparent grey barrier surrounded Eugene, and he quickly started casting once more, but unfortunately for him, Soren had already reached the barrier, arm pulled back, preparing to punch.
Then.
"「Ignition」"
KWAAA—!
Just as Soren's fist was about to hit the barrier, he cast the spell prepared while running.
Shatter
The barrier crumpled like paper at the harsh flames pouring onto it.
Without stopping for even a second, Soren's fist shot through the newly broken barrier and hit Eugene square in the face.
Thud!
Unlike Eugene's [Shock] proficiency, his [Shield] was laughably bad, so much so that even Soren's low proficiency [Ignition] could easily break through it.
Eugene looked up at Soren, eyes trembling.
It looked as if he had seen something impossible happen.
"H-How did you do that? That doesn't even make sense?"
"Who knows?" He said with a smile on his face, then raised his foot and…
Stomp
"Ack–!"
Stomped on Eugene's stomach, ending the duel instantly.
[Soren Arden wins.]
Soren turned to leave the arena, utterly unaware that he had already caught the eye of a predator…
————「❤︎」————