Inside the academy auditorium.
Ten academy cadets stood there, each holding a training weapon suited to them.
And standing before them was a woman with black hair and hollow red eyes, gazing at them.
"I'm going to assess your levels now."
She spoke.
At her dignified, beautiful voice, all ten gazes turned to her.
"What I'll teach you is Practical Combat Studies. Not formal swordsmanship or magic, but the instincts and movements used in real battles—that's the content of the lessons I'll be giving you from now on."
Practical Combat Studies.
A class focused purely on real combat, teaching the senses and movements essential for it, rather than rote swordplay or spells.
"What you need to do is simple. I'll only use physical abilities and mana matched to the level I've assessed for each of you. Come at me one by one, counter the killing intent I release, and fight me."
She would adjust her physical abilities and mana to our levels.
At first glance, it might sound like she was underestimating us.
After all, these ten here were the unparalleled top talents among the continent's elite.
So, one might think her words were overly arrogant.
'They're just words from someone who doesn't know Elina...'
Standing there was a monster among monsters.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙She was a powerhouse recognized for her wartime merits by the Empire itself, granted the title of Count Levan in one go, and the strongest in martial prowess among the three mandatory course professors.
"Then, step forward one by one, starting with Markin."
As Elina called his name, a man with black hair covering his face stepped forward.
He was the only commoner student besides me, who had entered S-Class at 10th place this time.
'And Baal's lackey, I think...?'
A character who served as a henchman for Baal, Ixion's quasi-executive, only to be abandoned and killed by him in the end.
'There was definitely some backstory for following Baal...'
He had some reason for following Baal, but...
I couldn't quite remember it.
"Urgh...!!"
As I pondered the character Markin for a moment, a pained groan echoed from the front, followed by a sharp surge of killing intent.
Markin, standing before her, couldn't even resist and dropped to his knees.
Among the remaining nine, three others besides the protagonist and me were also on their knees, unable to stand.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Unique Trait {Defying Heaven} nullifies status abnormality 'Fear.'] [Unique Trait {Defying Heaven} nullifies status abnormality 'Dread.']
'Whoa... even if it's her, isn't this a bit much...'
It was much weaker than the killing intent I'd felt in the chairman's office at the end, but still ferocious enough.
There was no overwhelming pressure, so my Unique Trait Defying Heaven nullified it easily.
For the others, though, it was killing intent potent enough to leave trauma.
"If you can't even stand in the face of this level of killing intent, you're disqualified. Your levels are insufficient."
She said coldly to those on their knees.
"The remaining six, come at me one by one."
At her words, the Imperial Princess moved first.
She approached Elina and thrust her spear.
But the straight thrust sliced through empty air.
Elina seized Aren's wrist, which had lost its path.
Elina hadn't used strength beyond what Aren currently possessed.
Aren simply couldn't perform her usual movements, crushed by the killing intent.
Elina slammed her to the ground by the wrist.
"Urgh—!"
"Cadet Aren, good momentum, but your movements dulled too much under the killing intent. You need to move freely even amidst killing intent to survive critical moments in a crisis."
It was spot on.
If you cower to killing intent, you'd lose your life without resistance the instant crisis struck.
'This is reality, so every little thing like this will help the protagonists.'
As I thought that and watched Arbel Reina tremble as she went next, a familiar translucent window appeared.
📜 NEW QUEST 📜
{Elina's True Heart}
Practical Combat Studies professor Elina is sparring with students at their level.
Don't you want to see Professor Elina's true heart?
Draw out even a single moment of Professor Elina's sincerity in the spar!
📍 Success Condition: Draw out Practical Combat Studies professor Elina's true heart
⏰ Success Reward: Strength +10, Agility +10
🎁 Failure Reward: (-)
'...?'
I couldn't hide my bewilderment at the sudden, unfamiliar quest window.
'Elina's true heart...?'
As Elina herself had said at the start, when facing students, she wasn't serious.
Even so, with her otherworldly combat sense, instincts, and mere killing intent alone, she toyed with them.
'Her true seriousness like that?'
It was only natural that drawing it out in my current state would be difficult.
'Could I do it with Defying Heaven...?'
The thought crossed my mind briefly, but I dismissed it.
Even fighting with Defying Heaven activated wouldn't be enough to draw out her seriousness, and besides, I'd already decided where to use it today.
'Well... might as well try.'
There was no failure penalty.
And it wasn't impossible even without using Defying Heaven.
I just needed to land one strike in a single moment—something threatening that I absolutely couldn't block at my level.
Combat sense via the Pioneer's action assistance,
instincts via Piercing Eyes' Space Domination,
killing intent nullified by Defying Heaven, then counter with Pioneer's action assistance.
Boom—!
'Ooh...'
Just then, Libia was slammed to the ground.
'She lasted the longest, though.'
Even with Elina matching our levels, Libia had exchanged blows with her for three minutes amid that killing intent.
"Ha, everyone's movements are dulling too much in the killing intent. Insufficient levels."
Though even that didn't seem satisfactory in Elina's eyes.
"Finally, only the top entrant remains. Aden, step forward."
Finally called, I gripped my sword and approached Elina.
The moment I stood before her, even stronger killing intent stabbed at my body.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Unique Trait {Defying Heaven} nullifies status abnormality 'Fear.'] [Unique Trait {Defying Heaven} nullifies status abnormality 'Dread.'] [Title {Pioneer} assists your actions.]
"Whoa... what is this..."
As I countered by radiating my own killing intent, a hint of tension crept into Elina's previously impassive tone.
I focused and circulated my mana.
Precise, sharp mana dwelled in me and my sword.
In response—and for the first time this class not drawing her mana—Elina reacted.
Fierce mana wrapped around her sword and body.
It was rough and ferocious, yet precise and sharp at a level matching mine.
Finishing my mana circulation, I kicked off the ground first and swung at her.
Cling—!
The crisp sound of metal clashing echoed through the space.
'Right leg!'
The sensation from Space Domination told me her next move.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Title {Pioneer} assists your actions.]
The Pioneer's action assistance activated again, guiding my body into the optimal motion to block the attack.
Cling—!
This time, her attack met my sword, producing the clash of metal.
Next, my attack swung in a diagonal arc toward her waist.
Cling—!
The third familiar friction sound rang out as I prepared for the next defense.
Cling—!
The fourth from my defense.
Cling—!
The fifth from my attack and her block.
We exchanged blows once each, probing movements.
Gradually immersing in the fight, our exchanges flowed naturally like water.
Amid the fluid back-and-forth, we ceaselessly sought openings.
'Just once, in that single instant.'
Victory is decided in one moment.
The one who finds and exploits the gap first wins.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Cling—!
Cling—!
Cling—!
The crisp metal clashes continued nonstop.
Fluid, natural exchanges.
Aren Reinhardt, the Imperial Princess, couldn't tear her eyes from that breathtaking spar.
"Whoa...! What is..."
"Aden's strong..."
"Those movements amid that killing intent... incredible..."
She wasn't the only one gasping in admiration at the sight.
Isabel Helm, heir to the Magic Tower Lord,
and Libia Clawit, disciple of the Sword Saint, were equally awestruck.
The other S-Class students were no different.
They watched the exchange as if entranced.
Even though it wasn't directed at her now, the killing intent was chillingly ominous.
Yet that student named Aden countered it with even greater killing intent while crossing swords.
'Is that the killing intent a mere student can possess...?'
Those weren't the movements or killing intent a mere student could have.
It was ferocious killing intent that only someone with decades on the battlefield could barely mimic.
Absolutely not something someone her age could harbor.
Aden, the top entrant.
She'd first heard of him during the crisis response evaluation.
Unlike her and the others, who could only barely block attacks amid overwhelming pressure, he'd nearly single-handedly subdued a monster that seemed impossible to defeat,
and proudly claimed the top spot.
That unknown name had piqued her curiosity enough for her to investigate him personally using her influence.
'But nothing came up...'
Clean as could be.
His past was simply that of a brash boy from some rural Empire village who practiced swordsmanship until challenging the academy entrance.
No prowess worthy of top rank, no hidden past to conceal.
But the Aden she'd observed was different.
Eyes like he'd rolled in battlefields for decades,
overwhelmingly precise mana control, and power to match.
'Just what is your true identity...?'
What had happened to give him those eyes,
to let him harbor such killing intent,
to grant him such skill?
A boy with no outstanding traits or hidden history, no famous master whose name rang across the world—and thus, all the more one she desperately wanted to know.