“Come on, Meili. Your senpai said it’s okay, so raise your head.”
“B-But it’s the famous Rourke-senpai!?”
“It’s alright, he’s not the type to care about formalities. Look at me, I was quite rude to him before, but now we get along well.”
Since the incident at the ancient ruins, Leia’s attitude towards me had softened, and she had become one of the few – or rather, the only – underclassman I could talk to. Although our relationship was limited to just greeting each other when we met at the academy, it was still a welcome development for someone like me who had been anxious about getting along with underclassmen.
By the way, isn’t Meili’s fear of me a bit excessive? And what’s with this “famous Rourke-senpai” thing? Has another strange rumor about me been circulating without my knowledge?
[The first round of the Ranking battle will begin shortly]
As I was worrying about possible new rumors spreading among the first-years, the announcement for the start of the Ranking battle echoed through the arena, accompanied by the sound of a bell signaling the beginning.
“Rourke-senpai, would you like to watch together?”
“Is it okay if I sit next to you?”
“Yes, the seat next to me is empty. I don’t mind.”
Being able to watch the Ranking battle live from a seat is extremely helpful. I might as well accept my junior’s kindness.
“Thank you. Then, if you don’t mind, I’ll sit here.”
“Please do.”
Slightly shocked by Meili’s subtle “eep” of fear as I sat down, I turned my attention to Gareth’s match.
Gareth and his opponent had already manifested their spirits and were staring each other down, perhaps gauging each other’s moves without taking any further action…
—Is that guy not planning to draw his magic sword?
As for Gareth, there was no sign of him reaching for the magic sword at his waist. Perhaps he intends to fight using only his spirit and spirit arts in this match.
“Huh? Isn’t Gareth-senpai going to draw his sword?”
“Looks like it. Well, I’m sure he has his reasons… Oh, they’re moving.”
The opponent’s student made the first move.
His contracted spirit, resembling a tiger with flames raging on its back, roared at its master’s command and launched a fireball large enough to easily engulf a person towards Gareth.
Of course, Gareth wasn’t about to take that lying down. He and Beowulf nimbly dodged the incoming fireball, leaping to the left and right respectively, and then charged straight at their opponent.
“Go, Beowulf!”
Under Gareth’s command, this time it was Beowulf who let out a roar as he ran. Simultaneously with Beowulf’s roar, several enormous ice pillars sprouted up, obstructing the space between Beowulf and Gareth, and then began creeping along the ground towards their opponent.
“Guh!”
Faced with the approaching mass of ice pillars, the opponent grimaced involuntarily and took evasive action, splitting up with his spirit to the left and right, just as Gareth had done. Their figures were obscured by the ice pillars, temporarily but completely separating the spirit from its master.
And this situation was likely exactly what Gareth had been aiming for.
“Ice Fang Sword!”
Gareth created a one-handed sword of ice through spirit arts, grasped it, and dashed towards his opponent, closing the distance in an instant. In response, his opponent, faced with the approaching Gareth, created a fireball in his palm and prepared to counterattack.
The opponent’s response wasn’t bad. Rather, it was an admirable split-second decision, but unfortunately, he was up against the wrong person. The flames released towards Gareth were sliced in two in an instant. As the melted ice created steam, obscuring visibility, Gareth created a new ice sword and continued his charge without losing momentum, pressing the blade to his opponent’s throat.
When it comes to the physical abilities of spirit users themselves, Gareth probably boasts one of the top one or two highest levels among the second-year students. Once it became a one-on-one battle between spirit users separated from their spirits, the opponent’s chances of winning had already vanished.
Moreover, the opponent’s contracted spirit, although it sensed its master’s crisis, was hindered by the ice pillars and attacked by Beowulf, unable to provide proper support and pinned down by Beowulf in front of the ice pillars.
It was a complete strategic defeat.
“It’s over.”
“…”
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As Gareth announced this to his dumbfounded opponent while dispelling his ice sword, the signal indicating the end of the second-year block match rang out.
The match ended in less than ten minutes from the start, and the students watching in the arena erupted in surprised and admiring voices at the incredibly fast pace of the battle, making the atmosphere even more lively.
“A-Amazing, isn’t it?”
“It really is.”
Can you believe it? In the academy’s rankings, I’m supposedly stronger than him, you know?
Inwardly relieved that Gareth wasn’t my opponent in the Ranking battle, I turned my attention to the other matches.
“Next is Akari-san’s match.”
“G-Good luck!!”
“Hmm…”
Overhearing Leia and Meili’s conversation, I turned my gaze towards Tsukikage Akari.
She was carrying a sword, just like at the welcome party. If I remember correctly, that was a distinctive sword called a katana from the East, with a blade only on one side.
I wonder if she, like Gareth, is the type to take the lead in battle herself rather than relying on her spirit. As I was thinking about this, the time for her match arrived.
[The second round will now begin]
As the starting signal rang out again and students in each field summoned their contracted spirits to prepare for battle, she had already started moving.
“Huh?”
The voice I heard from beside me might have been Leia’s, or maybe Meili’s… I’m not sure, but they probably had similar reactions. I, and likely most of the students and teachers watching her match, must have had bewildered looks on our faces.
Believe it or not, Akari charged towards her opponent without summoning her spirit, only enhancing her body with spirit power.
“What!?”
Faced with this unexpected early move, her opponent, a first-year male student – I think his name was Jil Roxstia – was completely caught off guard. Still, he tried to quickly muster his spirit power to use spirit arts, but…
“Too slow.”
Before the spirit art could be activated, Akari drew her katana from its scabbard and swiftly slashed upwards across Jil’s body in a reverse diagonal cut.
“Guh! Blow away!!”
A perfect strike to the torso. With fresh blood flowing from his abdomen and his face contorted in pain, Jil still managed to activate his spirit art without falling.
The compressed wind he had been gathering in his palm exploded right in front of Akari’s eyes, and the tremendous wind pressure forcefully blew her back to near her starting position.
However, Akari’s body was unscathed, while her opponent now had a red line etched from his shoulder to his torso. In just that instant, it could be said that the outcome of the match had already been decided.
“…Kuh…”
“You’re tough.”
Jil, with a small fairy-like spirit with tiny wings perched on his shoulder, glared at Akari while letting out a pained voice. In contrast, she praised his grit with a seemingly relaxed smile.
Meanwhile, the arena had started to buzz with excitement over her somewhat surprise attack-like move.
However, there’s no rule saying you can’t attack before summoning your spirit, and that first-year boy could have dodged Akari’s single sword strike if he hadn’t let his guard down. At least the top-ranked second-year students, led by Gareth, would have been able to dodge it.
In fact, I had already done similar things several times when I was a first-year student, causing quite a stir.
Since no one other than me had executed this quick attack strategy before, and even I had stopped using it after it was countered a few times, many of the second and third-year students seemed more shocked than angry at seeing this quick attack strategy for the first time in a while.
“If it’s too painful, you can surrender, you know?”
“I don’t want to start with a loss in the first round.”
“I see.”
As Akari muttered as if disappointed, Jil formed five large arrows of wind and released them all at once.
Faced with the group of wind arrows tearing through the air, she started running, moving around the arena with varying speeds, nimbly dodging each approaching wind arrow by twisting her body.
Judging that all his arrows would be avoided by Akari’s movements, Jil immediately activated his next spirit art. He swung his arm widely, sending a crescent-shaped wind slash parallel to the ground, advancing towards Akari while kicking up sand from the ground.
‘Mhmm…’
The last arrow was dodged in a leap, but the wind strike aimed at her landing was perfectly timed, causing Akari’s face to twist slightly. However, in the next instant, she drew her sheathed sword in a flash, slicing through the approaching wind strike and dispersing it into mist.
“Wha—!?”
“Not bad.”
Akari muttered as if she were grading Jil’s technique. She landed gracefully with her sword in hand and brushed the sand off her hair and uniform.
“Ah, Akari, you’re just…”
“Y-yeah…”
“What the hell…?”
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