Martial 12

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Clink. Clink.

‘What an interesting situation this is.’

After receiving the schedule announcement in the auditorium, the first-year students quietly ate their meals in the dining hall, watching each other carefully.

‘It’s completely the calm before the storm.’

Thanks to the words of the training director, Deiker Kodellou, in the auditorium, the students had turned into ticking time bombs.

‘As soon as we return to the dormitory, there will be an uproar, won’t there?’

Just by looking at them, you could tell that some were already itching for a fight.

At that moment.

Murmur. Murmur.

The first-year students, who had been eating quietly, started murmuring as someone entered the dining hall.

“It’s Kylon Dikantel’s granddaughter.”

“Whoa… I’ve never seen her in person before… I missed the entrance ceremony.”

“Wow… The presence she has is no joke.”

“She’s really beautiful… Whether it’s looks or skills, she’s got it all.”

“Ah~ I wish I could at least have a conversation with her.”

All the students were casting many glances at the woman who entered, Sophia Dikantel.

Sophia Dikantel.

She, like Eugene, was a student who had enrolled this year and was known throughout the Seifran region as a genius, being the granddaughter of the Grand Sword Master.

‘Indeed, her energy is the strongest among the students here.’

Though the aura she emanates is not everything, Sophia was definitely exuding the energy of a 2-star knight, a Sword Runner.

Amidst the heavy atmosphere, the first-year students finished their meals and returned to their dormitories after completing their formation training in the afternoon.

Creak.

“Haha, it looks like Lord Arid will be our team leader!”

The members of Team 5, who had returned to the dormitory, were fawning over Arid Sabe as they stood by his side.

“I… I’m not interested in being the team leader…”

When Arid looked at Eugene, who was sitting on the bed in the distance, he trembled and turned his head away.

“Huh? Why… why is that?”

“If Lord Arid doesn’t become the team leader, then who will?”

The other members of Team 5 looked perplexed.

Why was Arid acting like this all of a sudden? Just a day ago, he was always confident and acted as if he could reach the sky, but now he had lost his spirit and had barely spoken all day.

“Are you not feeling well? You hardly ate anything earlier during lunch…”

Flinch.

Arid, who was sitting in the corner of the bed, shuddered at the words of his teammate.

He hadn’t been able to eat. Was it because he had no appetite? No. It was simply because whenever he put food in his mouth, his tongue felt like it was being torn apart, so he couldn’t eat much.

“Shut up and get lost!”

Arid, remembering what Eugene had done to him, snapped at the teammates who were clinging to him.

“Well… then we’ll assume you’re really not interested in being the team leader and decide among ourselves.”

One of the teammates, Aaron Jemed, shrugged with an incredulous expression.

If Arid was truly not interested in being the team leader, then he was the strongest among the people in the dormitory.

Though he was from a minor noble family, and not as strong as Arid, he still possessed the strength of a 1-star, 3rd-grade knight.

“I’ll be the team leader. No objections, right?” Aaron Jemed declared confidently as he looked around at the team members in the dormitory.

“What? If anyone has a problem, want to fight me?” Aaron glared at the team member standing next to him, Feron Horus, who had been one of Arid’s followers.

Feron was only at 1-star, 1st grade.

“N-no, you can be the team leader.”

“Good,” Aaron smirked as Feron waved his hands dismissively and shook his head.

Though he wouldn’t have minded fighting, it was much easier when others conceded.

“Isn’t it better for someone else to be the team leader than someone like you?”

“Who said that?” Aaron scanned the room to see who had spoken up.

Eugene watched as a student rose in front of him.

“Was it you?”

“Yeah. I think someone else would be better suited to be team leader than you.”

“Hah. Are you crazy, you wizard?”

Aaron scowled at the wizard who had stood up from his bed. The student who had criticized Aaron was Rohen Aldron from the Aldron family.

‘He’s about 1st Circle, 2th grade.’

Eugene observed Rohen standing ahead.

“A wizard should just do as they’re told from the back…”

Aaron ground his teeth at Rohen.

It was clear Aaron disliked wizards.

“Why does he hate wizards?” Taeje, who had woken up from his nap on Eugene’s bed, was now watching the standoff between Aaron and Rohen.

“Knights and wizards have never gotten along well.”

“Why?”

The reason was simple. While knights risked their lives fighting at the frontlines, wizards stayed at the back casting spells, which irked the knights. Conversely, wizards thought knights were brutish and lacked refinement.

As a result, knights and wizards could never get along, and to this day, they were like oil and water.

“But in the formation training in the afternoon, aren’t wizards and knights in the same party?”

Taeje tilted his head, puzzled after hearing about the training from Eugene.

In the morning, knights had knight classes and wizards had wizard classes, but in the afternoon, they formed mixed parties for formation training.

“Knowing they don’t get along, the academy still puts them in the same party?”

“That’s the dilemma.”

In short, they couldn’t be separated.

They disliked working together but were indispensable to each other. While knights and wizards could form their own parties for lower-ranked missions, higher-ranked missions required mixed parties of knights and wizards. 

A party of only knights would be wiped out without a wizard to heal them, and a party of only wizards would be overwhelmed without knights to protect them from powerful monsters.

Hence, the academy also had mixed classes in the afternoon, and the first exam was a party-based exam.

“Once you graduate from the academy and step into the real world, you will surely take on high-level missions. It’s amusing how they are like light and shadow.”

Buzz.

Swoosh.

While Eugene was explaining various things to Taeje, Aaron and Rohen, who had been glaring at each other, prepared for battle. Aaron drew his sword from his waist, and Rohen held his magic wand, creating a magic circle.

“You’ll regret picking a fight with me.”

Whoosh!

Aaron, with a grim expression, moved quickly and swung his sword straight down.

Clang!

“So crude.”

Rohen blocked Aaron’s sword with the magic circle formed at the tip of his wand and clicked his tongue. It was a straightforward, linear attack. Yet, Aaron smiled even though his sword was blocked.

“Can you do double casting?”

Whoosh!

Thud!

“Gah…”

Rohen groaned as Aaron’s kick landed in his abdomen. In truth, Rohen was very flustered by Aaron’s sudden charge. Rohen had intended to form a magic circle and immediately cast a spell to keep Aaron at bay. In such a confined space, wizards were at a significant disadvantage. However, Aaron had charged at him before he could attack.

“With your level, one magic circle is all you can manage.”

Thud!

Aaron stomped on the fallen Rohen with a smile.

‘If only I could do double casting…’

Rohen grimaced as he tried to fend off Aaron’s kicks. Double casting involved using two magic circles simultaneously, a skill achievable with exceptional magical calculation abilities, regardless of one’s circle. However, Rohen had not yet reached the level to perform double casting. Knowing this, Aaron had rushed him immediately.

“Besides, in such a confined space, knights have a much greater advantage!”

Whoosh!

Aaron extended his leg toward Rohen’s face as if kicking a ball.

Thunk.

“The fight’s already decided. You should stop now.”

Eugene intercepted Aaron’s kick, preventing the situation from escalating. The force behind Aaron’s kick could have caved in Rohen’s face, not just break his nose. Eugene would have stayed out of it if it were just a broken nose, but Aaron, in his excitement, had lost control of his strength.

“Ha, a mere wizard blocking my kick?”

Seeing his kick easily stopped by Eugene’s foot, Aaron’s anger flared, and veins bulged on his forehead.

“For a simple power struggle, Rohen almost got seriously injured.”

Eugene stared at Aaron with a blank expression.

“Even if he’s young, losing control of his energy due to excitement is reckless.”

Whoosh!

Aaron swiftly moved his sword towards Eugene’s ankle, which was blocking his foot. Though he turned the blade to strike with the flat side, it would surely break Eugene’s ankle if it hit directly.

Whoosh!

Crack.

“Gasp?!”

Aaron swallowed hard as he aimed for Eugene’s ankle. He had expected to break Eugene’s ankle, which had no magical protection, but suddenly Eugene lifted his foot and stepped on the side of Aaron’s sword.

Desperately, Aaron bent over quickly and grabbed the hilt of his sword, trying to free it from Eugene’s foot.

“Damn it!”

Eugene had used a technique called “Thousand-Pound Weight” to pin Aaron’s sword. Although Eugene wasn’t skilled enough to fully utilize the technique, he managed to exert enough weight to prevent Aaron from retrieving his sword.

‘If I use my true strength, I could break the sword, but…’

Doing so would definitely weaken Team 5’s overall strength. Without a sword, a knight’s power is halved. If this weren’t a team-based test, Eugene wouldn’t have hesitated to break Aaron’s sword.

Swoosh.

Thud.

Crash!

Seeing Aaron’s face turning red with effort, Eugene lifted his foot slightly, causing Aaron to tumble backward and crash into the dormitory entrance.

“You… bastard!”

Aaron spat out curses as he got up, having hit his head on the door.

“Are you playing with me using just a simple Strengthen spell?!”

Aaron thought Eugene had used the Strengthen spell, which enhances physical abilities, and was fuming. He had been puzzled since Eugene blocked his foot, but now he was sure Eugene had cast a spell beforehand.

“That trick won’t work anymore.”

Determined to face Eugene properly, Aaron adjusted his stance and gripped his sword tightly.

But.

Whoosh!

Thud!

Eugene, using his superior speed, closed the distance to Aaron and grabbed his cheek firmly.

“What…?”

“You talk too much.”

Sighing, Eugene forced Aaron’s mouth open and grabbed his tongue.

“Tsk, tsk…”

Ken Pelven, watching, clicked his tongue, having expected this outcome, while Arid trembled, recalling his own experience with Eugene.

Sizzle!

“Aaahhh!!”

As Eugene applied a burning technique with his fingers, Aaron screamed in agony, dropping his sword and clutching Eugene’s wrist.

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