Two visible circles of students had formed in the large gymnasium. The larger crowd watched the duel of the imperial sisters with jaws dropped. Fredrik stood at the very front, seemingly just waiting for the two to take a break.
So far, they hadn't done so, and it didn't look like they would end their duel anytime soon.
The other, smaller crowd had gathered around two other figures. On one side stood the young lord of House Jradan. He was tall with broad shoulders and a sharp face, his blond hair tied into a knot.
In his hand, he held an imposing metallic Spellspear. He had assumed a fighting stance and regarded his opponent patiently and coolly.
His opponent was a boy with a gruesome scar on his cheek. He had close-cropped black hair, just like a soldier would. A dreadful grin played on his lips.
Some knew him as the Pervert.
In his right hand, Croy held his newly acquired Spellblade. Even though he didn't know how to handle it, he wouldn't shy away from the duel.
No, he was excited.
Adrenaline shot through his body. The duel, the competition, heightened his senses to new levels, as if he were in a life-and-death situation.
He felt so alive.
"You may set the rules," Jradan said calmly.
Although earlier he had visibly felt excitement for the duel, the grin had now faded from his face. All that remained was a focused gaze.
"Then there are none," said Croy.
A murmur went through the crowd — some apparently mistook Croy's statement for absolute self-confidence on his part.
Unfortunately, they were wrong. If he relied only on his skill with the sword, as the twins did, he would undoubtedly lose immediately.
But if he could also cast a few spells, things might look different.
He had no intention of simply losing.
With a silent nod from Jradan, the young lord began to shoot forward.
He immediately launched the first spell of the duel.
"Stone Shackles!"
Suddenly, the ground beside Croy's feet split open, and a hand of stone grabbed his ankle, gripping tightly.
'He wants to immobilize me.'
Jradan was already swinging the spear to finish off his immobilized opponent. Damn, the guy was fast.
Croy concentrated his mana. His timing was perfect.
"Discharge!"
A surge of mana burst from his entire body. The stone hand was shattered and blown away, and Jradan raised his hands protectively before his face as the shockwave hit him. He stumbled back a step and regained his balance.
But his attack was stopped.
Discharge was a creation spell. One released accumulated mana in a spherical impulse around oneself, creating a small shockwave. Unfortunately, it wasn't very effective because Croy's mana wasn't suited for the actual force of a possible shockwave.
Bunny had blown away entire buildings with it.
Croy seized the opportunity to launch his own attack. He could have cast a ranged spell, but only moments after using Discharge, it would have taken too long — and he wanted to test his Spellsword.
Croy's blade swooped down from above. He aimed for the young lord's chest. But Jradan was already prepared again.
With a twist of his wrist, he struck Croy's sword with the shaft of his spear. Sparks flew, and Croy was even pushed back, despite having the momentum on his side.
He had gripped his sword too tightly, preventing him from reacting in time when the young lord immediately launched a counterattack.
The spear tip shot forward, ready to pierce his throat. Croy's barrier spell activated, stopped the blade but shattered into a rain of violet mana sparks.
And before Croy could react, Jradan landed a hard kick to his stomach. He was thrown backward.
"Pwah," he gasped, landing painfully on his back.
He needed half a second to shake off the pain — but by then, it was already too late.
At least he thought so, because when he quickly got back up, he saw Jradan standing a few steps away, merely looking at him.
"You have no idea how to fight with a sword," Jradan said.
"Shut up and kill me."
Jradan shook his head. He even looked a bit disappointed.
"Then you will lose now. Swing, Thistlethorn!"
Suddenly, the many Spellrunes on Jradan's spear began to glow intensely yellow. It almost looked as if the entire spear was vibrating, blurring before Croy's eyes.
The pain subsided as he squinted.
'He's activated the runes of his Spellweapon... now it's serious.'
It seemed the young lord had lost interest in their duel. He wanted to end it after just one exchange.
Croy hadn't been able to reactivate his barrier spell yet. He was unprotected — and Jradan knew it.
He shot forward with such speed that it would have been unthinkable earlier.
Croy could only dodge to the side thanks to his reflexes as the spear tip whizzed past his shoulder by a hair.
Then he twisted his body around and struck with the Spellsword. Again, the young lord's reactions were inhuman, and he parried.
But this time, when the weapons clashed, Croy's entire being shuddered. Not because of the impact but because...
'Mana! That's his mana!'
The yellow runes of the vibrating Spellspear lit up, and another shock ran through Croy. He cursed himself for knowing so few spells, and then the shaft of the spear struck him across the face.
Again, he was slammed to the ground. He blinked, face down while on all fours.
Blood dripped from his mouth, and everything tasted of it. Jradan had hit him directly in the face.
His vision began to blur. He was still trembling inside.
'His Spellweapon transmits the vibrations of his mana... Thank goodness he has yellow mana. At higher frequencies, my skin would have peeled off.'
But that was only a small consolation. Because he was clearly losing the duel.
'It's not over yet!'
He got up again — this time a bit shakier. He raised his Spellsword once more, even though he hadn't achieved anything with it so far.
But when he tried to focus on his opponent again, he saw that Jradan had lowered his spear.
"I expected more. You acted so eagerly, I thought you were strong," Jradan said coolly... but there was definitely disappointment in his voice.
Croy spat blood on the ground. He wanted to say something but only coughed. Jradan had hit him quite hard.
"You see," Jradan continued, "you can't fight anymore. The duel is over. It was a mistake to challenge you."
"I swear I'll knock that damn chin off your face," Croy wheezed, which didn't make his threat particularly impressive.
Suddenly, the young lord looked angry.
"Why aren't you fighting properly, Belmont?"
His face twisted into a grimace.
"You're insulting me with that effort."
Now Croy was getting angry too. So far, he had remained quite cool, calm, as expected of a soldier. But something about the young Jradan's condescending manner just irked him.
"What makes you think I'm not fighting properly, you jerk?"
Jradan pointed with the vibrating spear tip to the spot where the ground had been torn open by his Stone Shackles spell.
"Your 'Discharge' earlier was well-timed. I thought I would finish you off immediately, but you surprised me with the quick and precise activation of the spell. I never saw you activate a barrier spell, which means you've learned to maintain it passively. You don't learn that if you can't fight — if you don't have to fight."
Croy almost mistook Jradan's words for a compliment — if it weren't for the anger in his voice.
"But you're holding that Spellsword like a baby holds a gun! I won't be your test subject while you play with new toys."
The runes on Jradan's spear stopped glowing, and the spear ceased vibrating. Jradan straightened up and looked down at Croy.
"You're an idiot if you think you could ever defeat me like this. Isn't that what you wanted, Belmont? To defeat me? So far, all I see is your pathetic back on the ground!"
A burning anger flared up in Croy. Not hatred, like he had felt against the rebels. His jaw burned, and blood flowed down his chin. This guy was looking down on him.
Rage seized him.
Before he fully realized it, his free hand twitched, his fingers forming into a pistol shape on their own. A swirl of violet mana began to gather at his fingertip, pulsing and flickering.
Jradan's eyes widened, his muscles tensed. He raised the spear defensively, his gaze fixed on Croy's hand.
But then Croy flinched, relaxed his fingers, and the violet mana vanished as if it had never been there.
He laughed softly, almost mockingly, and loosened his shoulders.
'Almost did it again.'
He had almost fired a mana bullet — a spell designed to kill, a relic from his time as a soldier.
He doubted the spell would have defeated Jradan, but it would have gone against everything he was at the Academy for. No, Jradan had made him angry, but that didn't mean he would let his anger control him.
A strange calm settled over him, the coolness of a soldier confident in himself took over. He lifted his head, and a bloody smile played on his lips.
'No mana bullets...' he swore to himself.
"...So you really want to know how I fight?"
He began to circle Jradan slowly, his eyes fixed on him, each step deliberate and precise.
The pain in his face and jaw throbbed on, but his thoughts were clear. He had lost himself in the competition, gotten too worked up. He wouldn't make that mistake again.
Jradan sensed the change and seemed to regard him now with growing vigilance. He too began to circle Croy steadily, holding the spear lightly but ready for any attack.
Croy's thoughts raced. So far, Jradan had only cast two spells: Stone Shackles and the activation of his spear "Thistlethorn." The range he achieved with it was considerable, and his physical size gave him an additional advantage. With the sword alone, Croy wouldn't defeat him.
No, he had to rely on something else.
'So be it.'
With a determined step, he shot forward. This time, Jradan didn't come toward him but waited calmly, the spear ready to fend him off.
'He'll use his reach.'
"Swing, Thisltethorn!" Jradan called, letting the spear vibrate again with his yellow mana.
Exactly what Croy wanted.
Most Spellcasters could only activate one spell at a time.
Passively active spells like the barrier spell could only be maintained simultaneously after years of training — and only if it was a spell that reacted through elements of a sensor spell.
Jradan had just activated his one spell. Sixty seconds ago, he had pierced Croy's barrier spell... so he wouldn't expect a new one.
Every spell had a certain complexity — a mana explosion was far less complex than altering space-time. A barrier spell was nothing more than the creation of a mana shield — it combined sensor spells with creation spells to generate a shield of mana at the right moment.
This required both a certain sensitivity, the understanding and concentration to shape the mana densely and stably enough to create protection against an attack.
Most spellcasters who could uphold a barrier spell passively managed this in five minutes. Advanced ones, like Spider, in about half the time.
Croy's violet mana did it in sixty seconds.
Jradan thrust the spear confidently at the onrushing Croy. Jradan must have known that Croy couldn't parry with the sword; otherwise, the Spellspear would finish him off. It was also too late for a spell like Discharge as before, since the weapon had almost reached its target.
Jradan's eyes widened as the spear tip, millimeters away from Croy's chest, struck a wall of violet mana. It shattered, but it gave Croy a chance.
He ducked under the shaft of the spear, coming face to face with Jradan. They looked directly at each other, but Jradan was a second slower than Croy.
'I win.'
The sword tip shot toward Jradan's head. Croy's plan was to stop the Spellsword just before impact...
But he didn't have to. Instead, his own sword struck a barrier of yellow mana.
'What?'
His arm was thrown back as the barrier shattered.
'But earlier he didn't have a barrier spell active when I hit him with Discharge...' That was the last thought that went through his mind.
Jradan recovered, swung, and knocked the Spellsword out of Croy's hand. With a clatter, it landed on the floor of the silent hall.
Croy looked at the young lord with wide eyes. Both were panting heavily. The spear tip was pointed at Croy's chest.
It wasn't vibrating or glowing anymore.
'He doesn't have a passive barrier spell. Otherwise, it would have activated during Discharge. That means...'
A shiver ran through Croy. The young lord had deactivated the spell on his spear and cast a barrier spell out of pure reflex at the last moment — without even using the vocal component. Since he possessed yellow mana, the strength of the barrier was still strong enough to stop Croy's untrained attack with the Spellsword.
Which meant the young Lord's reflexes and battle instinct were out of this world.
'If I could strike better with the sword or knew hot to activate a rune spell, I would have won...'
Would have.
But he didn't.
The duel was over. He had lost...
The Academy was truly full of monsters.