Chapter 7: Academy Rank 5 vs. C-Class Magic Student
Two students stand in the Fifth Arena of Crawford Magic Academy. Shion Ichinose, a second-year C-class student, faces Eliza Lowred, also a second-year and the academy’s fifth-ranked student.
In the Fifth Arena, open for students’ self-training after school, both wear combat uniforms similar to those used in mock battle classes.
Shion, who hasn’t yet finished the chores assigned by their homeroom teacher Restia, accepted Eliza’s duel challenge earlier, thinking, “If it satisfies Eliza,” to quickly resolve the matter.
Standing a few meters apart, Shion calls out to Eliza.
“How do we determine the winner?”
“Until one of us is incapacitated or surrenders.”
“Just to confirm, what if I surrender right after we start–“
“I’ll kill you.”
“…Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.”
“I’ll beat you to death.”
“…Okay, I heard you clearly that time.”
And so, Shion was forced into a head-on battle with Eliza.
However, this time, Shion had no intention of losing quickly and obviously as he usually does in class mock battles.
His opponent is “Crawford Magic Academy Rank 5.” Her skill is truly first-class.
If Shion were to deliberately lose by taking one of Eliza’s manageable spells, she would easily see through it.
Judging from their earlier exchange in the equipment storage room, if Eliza knew Shion had lost on purpose, she would feel insulted and become even more enraged, making the situation even more unmanageable. With Restia waiting, that must be avoided.
There’s another reason why Shion doesn’t intend to lose this duel quickly.
It’s the situation itself – “a duel with the academy’s fifth-ranked student.”
How many times had he dreamed of “a C-class magic student level, as he’s thought to be, defeating an overwhelmingly superior opponent”?
“A duel with the academy’s fifth-ranked student.” Shion wasn’t about to miss this perfect opportunity that would never occur in normal student life.
–In reality, Shion Ichinose isn’t hiding his true abilities; he is undoubtedly a C-class magic student level.
Yet, he envisioned victory against Eliza Lowred, an overwhelmingly superior opponent who’s top-tier even among the academy’s highest A-class.
“Well then, shall we begin?”
Eliza, facing Shion about twenty meters away, called out. Despite the distance, in the hall-like arena with just the two of them, her voice echoed clearly to Shion’s ears.
Eliza prepared for a coin toss, placing a coin on her bent index finger, held in place by her thumb.
“Is that smug face of yours ready?”
“Anytime.”
“…! This guy, really…”
The C-class student’s nonchalant attitude towards her, a top-class powerhouse of the academy, greatly irritated the proud Eliza.
Frowning and gritting her teeth, Eliza put strength into the finger holding the coin.
“Don’t think I’ll go easy on you just because you’re C-class…!”
Speaking with disdain, Eliza flicked the coin into the air. The moment the spinning coin hits the ground would signal the start of the duel.
–As soon as the coin made a small ‘ting’ sound hitting the ground, Eliza simultaneously deployed a magic circle and quickly chanted.
“Inferno Sphere!”
A magic circle large enough to lightly cover Eliza’s upper body generated a massive fireball over a meter in diameter, emitting a crimson light.
Immediately after, the high-level fire attribute magic “Inferno Sphere” was launched straight at Shion with a roaring sound of raging flames.
The speed of deploying the magic circle and casting the spell, and above all, its power, were on a completely different level from the C-class students Shion usually faces in mock battles.
However, the flames didn’t hit Shion directly, instead creating a huge pillar of fire where Shion had been moments ago. When the explosive sound echoed, Shion was no longer at the impact point.
Just as Eliza had quickly cast her spell, Shion had activated “Physical Enhancement Magic” the moment the coin hit the ground, dashing greatly to the right to avoid Eliza’s initial attack.
In battles between magicians, it’s standard to cast spells head-on, defend against the opponent’s magic, create advantageous situations, and launch attacks.
However, if Shion were to engage in a direct magical battle with Eliza, the academy’s fifth-ranked, he would have no chance of winning.
No matter how advantageous the defensive magic Shion deploys against Eliza’s spells, her attack magic, with its overwhelmingly stronger magical power, would easily blow it away.
Even if Shion were to cast his relatively proficient lightning attribute attack magic with all his might, Eliza would effortlessly defend against it.
Moreover, if Shion were to deploy a magic circle, Eliza could complete hers first and attack unilaterally, even if she started later. In other words, Shion wouldn’t even have a chance to attack.
Such is the absolute difference in ability between Eliza, ranked fifth in the academy, and Shion, a C-class magic student.
The strategy Shion chose to bridge this gap in ability was the activation of physical enhancement magic and his initial dash to the right side.
Instead of engaging in a head-on magical battle, he would continuously dodge Eliza’s attacks while closing the distance.
If he could approach Eliza and get behind her, he might have a chance to neutralize her using physical techniques, regardless of magic. That was Shion’s plan.
Shion’s strategy might seem very simple at first glance.
However…
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“A magician avoiding a magical battle, how pathetic!”
Eliza taunted Shion while continuously casting spells at him as he ran.
But contrary to her provocative words, Eliza felt a strong sense of frustration and irritation internally.
This was because she couldn’t land a single spell on Shion, who was running in a large arc around her.
…Second-year students at Crawford Magic Academy only learn basic magical combat in classes, and most mock battles involve formal magical exchanges.
These are all based on the premise of head-on magical battles and exchanges.
Third-year students and above engage in more practical mock battles, but second-years are still at the stage of refining basics.
In basic magical exchanges, it’s not uncommon to physically dodge when magical defense isn’t quick enough. Depending on the scale of the magic, one might even need to jump back significantly.
However, Shion’s current strategy of continuously circling the field at high speed is extremely unorthodox from the perspective of the theory second-year students learn. The basic magical exchanges taught to second-years don’t account for such a moving target.
Therefore, Shion’s chosen strategy succeeded in completely catching Eliza off guard.
Additionally, Shion’s casual use of physical enhancement magic was also unexpected for Eliza.
This is because, fundamentally, magicians typically can’t use physical enhancement magic.
–Humans are born with a certain predisposition for the types of magic they can learn.
Magic broadly falls into three categories: “Emission-type magic” that releases transformed magical power externally, “Self-effect type magic” that alters one’s body with magical power, and “Bestowal-type magic” that transforms inorganic objects with one’s magical power. Humans are generally born with an aptitude for one of these three types.
Those with an aptitude for emission-type magic can develop as “magicians” using attack magic and such, those with self-effect type magic aptitude can become “warriors” with enhanced physical abilities, and those with bestowal-type magic aptitude can develop abilities as “architects” or “blacksmiths” using magical power.
Generally, one cannot handle magic of a nature that doesn’t suit their innate magical power. It’s as if the nature of the energy required to activate the magic is different.
For example, those born with an aptitude as a “magician” cannot perform physical enhancement like those with a “warrior” aptitude.
Of course, it’s not absolutely impossible to use, but the learning efficiency is extremely poor for magic that doesn’t match one’s aptitude. For instance, even if someone has A-class ability as a magician, it would take years of training to learn physical enhancement magic, and even if learned, their ability as a warrior would be capped at D-class level due to lack of aptitude. Therefore, magicians don’t even bother trying to learn physical enhancement magic.
That’s why a “magician using physical enhancement magic” is an extremely rare existence, and Shion, who can use multiple types of magic at low levels despite having no particular magical aptitude, is a highly unusual case.
Eliza found herself unexpectedly struggling against Shion, as a series of unforeseen events unfolded.
Powerful magic capable of causing widespread explosions took too long to activate, allowing the constantly moving Shion to effortlessly dodge them.
Conversely, even when Eliza cast quick, compact spells, Shion had already moved from his position before they could hit. Despite launching nearly twenty spells since the duel began, varying both the type and timing, Shion’s hit count remained at zero.
“This… damn it!”
Frustration and irritation grew steadily within Eliza.
In a duel against Eliza, who held an overwhelming advantage in magical power, Shion’s chosen strategy was nearly optimal.
However… Shion needed to close the distance enough for hand-to-hand combat to have a chance at attack. Yet, he too had barely managed to reduce the gap between them.
While running in wide arcs, Shion could dodge Eliza’s attacks.
“–Tch!”
But the moment Shion tried to close the distance with Eliza, she immediately thwarted his attempts.
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