Gone Quiet? - 55
"Copying magic from just a single glance is nearly impossible for regular mages."
A faint smile appeared on Bell's face as memories from the past returned to him.
"Nearly impossible..."
"Hah."
"Yet there was once a man who could casually copy any high-tier magic with both of his eyes closed and half asleep..."
Bell lightly chuckled to himself as memories continued to pass through his mind.
…
An adventurer staff member then walked toward Juro to explain the process for the next match. He suggested that they could take a ten-minute break before the final match began.
But Juro simply waved his hand dismissively, a casual smile appearing on his face. "Rest? Ahahaha! No need for that. Me and the kids are in perfect shape and condition! Go ahead and tell the next team to come right up to this field. We'll be waiting."
The staff member stood there for a moment, stunned by his confidence. He tried to offer the break again, but Juro continued rejecting it, insisting that the final match be called immediately.
In the end, Juro won the argument, and the staff member left to call the next party.
"Oooo, is the next match gonna immediately start, Teacher Juro????" Marc exclaimed joyfully, still carrying just as much energy as before.
Juro simply smiled. "Yup."
Marc nodded happily before turning around. Noria, Brea, and their mothers were waving at them from the side, and Marc immediately waved back with a grin.
"Good luck to you all!" Brea exclaimed loudly.
A few seconds passed before the next party finally arrived at the field. Bell, Juro, and Marc stood side by side, facing their opponents. Juro leaned slightly toward Marc and spoke quietly.
"Be a bit more on guard. They're probably stronger than the last party we fought."
Marc nodded with a smile, his heartbeat still racing with excitement.
Bell overheard Juro's advice and silently agreed.
"He's right... They're most likely Adept rank. Two ranks higher than Rookie, so they're a lot more experienced than the last party we fought."
Even as Bell thought that, both his and Juro's expressions remained casually calm, as though they had already known what to expect from the very beginning.
Their leader, the woman, walked toward Juro and gave him a look. "Hoh? Quite bold of you to reject the break."
Juro casually shrugged his shoulders with a smile. "Meh, it's too boring waiting. I'd rather win this competition fast."
The woman scoffed at his remark. "Well, let's see if you can still keep that smile on your face."
With that, she turned and walked back toward her party.
Now, for the finale of the competition, both parties stood waiting for the bell to ring.
Marc was practically holding himself back at this point. He was beaming with anticipation and excitement, his body already prepared to move.
Then the bell rang.
Marc immediately sprinted toward the enemy, his legs already reinforced with mana as he shot forward with greater speed.
The moment he reached them, he swung his fist toward the closest person he could reach, a short figure covered in a cloak.
As he drove his fist forward, a loud metallic THUD echoed across the field.
Marc's smile quickly shifted into confusion when one of the enemy team members, the brute-looking tank whom Marc had complimented back at the waiting area, pulled the cloak away.
There wasn't a person underneath it.
It was his metal club.
Marc's eyes widened in realization, but at that exact moment, the woman was already moving.
She lunged forward and threw a punch straight toward his stomach, clearly trying to end the fight there and make him faint as quickly as possible. The punch was fast and powerful, but Marc noticed it just in time. He quickly brought one of his hands over his stomach and reinforced it with mana.
THUD!
The punch slammed into his hand, but the force behind it was still strong enough to travel through the impact and hit his stomach.
Marc was blasted several feet to the side.
"Hoh? That kid's got quite the instinct," the woman remarked.
Marc held his hand as it throbbed slightly from the impact. Then his eyes moved toward the woman's fist.
"Brass knuckles..."
Meanwhile, Bell and Juro had been watching from the side, their expressions remaining as calm as ever.
"I knew it," Bell commented.
The moment those words left his mouth, a dagger swung toward him from behind.
Bell immediately turned, grabbed the enemy's arm, and drove his elbow straight into his face. The enemy stumbled backward, but Bell didn't stop there. He stepped forward and threw two quick punches into his gut before following them with a swift strike to the chin.
The enemy's body went limp as he fell unconscious.
"Hoho, you knew?" Juro commented.
Bell casually dusted off his hands. "Of course I knew. This is probably why they finished their matches quickly. They ambushed their opponents from behind using some kind of stealth magic."
His eyes briefly shifted toward the metal club.
"And that mage of theirs was pouring mana into that metal club so Marc would think there was a person underneath the cloak."
Juro laughed as he listened to Bell's explanation, impressed by how accurately he had figured everything out.
He then turned toward Marc and signaled for him to come back.
Marc noticed Juro's signal and started moving toward them, but his path was suddenly blocked.
The same large tank from earlier stood in front of him, holding the metal club in one hand.
"Not yet, kid. You can't just go and interrupt the adults," he exclaimed.
Behind him, their leader and the mage confidently began walking toward Juro and Bell.
"Oh?" Juro commented as he looked at the tank blocking Marc. "Did you keep that kid out because you were scared of him or something?"
The woman looked slightly irritated by Juro's words, though she maintained her composure and confidence.
"Hah, as if I would be scared of a child. It's just... it would be unfair to go two against one on an old man, wouldn't it?"
Bell lightly chuckled.
Juro's expression clearly showed that those words had gotten to him.
"Anyways, you there, kid. Don't butt in on the adults. If you wanna get involved, then this mage behind me will keep you company," the woman boldly exclaimed.
Bell casually looked at the woman and shrugged his shoulders before stepping a few paces to the side.
"Look at that kid having more manners than you," the woman said.
Juro smirked and let out a yawn. "So, what? Are you gonna keep talking orrr?"
The moment he said that, the woman quickly sprinted toward him.
She threw a jab.
Juro casually redirected it with one hand.
She immediately followed with an uppercut from her other hand, but Juro redirected that one as well.
The woman took a quick step back before launching a consecutive barrage of punches toward him. Every strike was strong and forceful, and with the brass knuckles covering her fists, even a single clean hit would have carried considerable power.
Yet Juro simply kept redirecting them.
He didn't allow her to land a clean strike. Every time she threw a punch, he used her own momentum against her, guiding and redirecting the flow of her attacks. His hands moved just as quickly as her fists, meeting each strike at precisely the right moment.
The woman soon noticed something.
Juro's pupils.
It felt as though he was always one step ahead of her. As if he already knew where every punch was going before she even threw it.
She quickly stepped back.
"Ich Starke! Ich Schnell!"
As she finished the incantation, magic flowed through her body, boosting her strength and speed. She immediately launched herself back toward Juro.
This time, her assault was even more aggressive.
Her punches became stronger, heavier, and faster, and she no longer focused solely on his face. She attacked his face, neck, and chest while mixing in powerful kicks to keep him from predicting her next move.
Juro felt the increase in both her speed and strength.
But he barely reacted.
Instead, he remained focused on redirecting every incoming attack.
As she continued her assault, she commented, "Is this why you were so cocky? Just because you can redirect attacks well?"
"Hm?" Juro casually replied while redirecting another punch. "Oh, no. I was just seeing how much effort I should throw into a punch to take you down in one hit."
That comment clearly pissed her off.
Her speed increased again.
She drove forward and threw a straight punch toward Juro's face.
But this time, Juro moved.
He quickly kicked her right thigh, disrupting her momentum and throwing her balance off for a brief moment.
That was all he needed.
Juro grabbed her punching hand and pulled her closer.
Then he drove a straight punch into her stomach.
BOOM!
The force was so strong that the impact nearly made her spit out her saliva.
However, the mage who had been standing behind her quickly raised his hand.
"Yoki Chiyu!"
Magic immediately flowed toward the woman, healing her before she could get too close to losing consciousness.
As soon as she felt the healing magic take effect, she quickly swung her elbow toward Juro's face.
Juro simply leaned his head back, allowing the attack to pass in front of him.
She then pushed herself away from him and stumbled back several steps, breathing heavily.
Even though her teammate had healed her, she could still feel her stomach throbbing from Juro's punch.
"That punch..."
She instinctively knew that if her teammate hadn't healed her in time, she would have most likely passed out from that single hit.
"Awee, you didn't go out in one punch. Dam," Juro commented with a casual smile.
Then he suddenly turned toward Bell, looking irritated.
"And you! You could've stopped that mage from incanting his magic!"
Bell simply smiled and shrugged his shoulders.
Juro stared at him, clearly annoyed.
Then he sighed.
"...Haa."
A smile returned to his face as he turned back toward the woman.
"Got quiet now, huh?"