Episode 15: Table Duel (2)
"Then both sides to your positions... Ready, start!!!"
With Haemeondeu's voice as the signal, the 'Table Duel' began.
However, despite Haemeondeu's loud voice, Jii didn't fire off any magic.
Of course, having finished casting, it wouldn't have been strange for him to hurl a Fireball at any moment, but he merely glared at Sideu with sinister eyes.
"Hey there! Nice to meet you. As I said earlier, I'm the second son of the Firepaw family. Jii Firepaw. And you?"
"Ah, nice to meet you too. I'm called Sideu."
Jii, clutching a vivid magic circle, smiled brightly.
Sideu had wondered if Jii would attack suddenly like Iris, but no such thing happened.
It was merely a tedious exchange of introductions.
But the following words made Sideu doubt his ears.
The boy who had singled out Sideu had other intentions.
"By the way, I happened to see your application form? On it, you hid your family name…... Was there a particular reason you had to hide your house?"
"Huh? Not particularly. Why……"
Sideu trailed off.
The reason he hadn't written a family name was because he had none to attach.
But through this question, Sideu realized why he had been singled out.
'So that was why?'
That was it.
It wasn't uncommon for great houses or royalty to hide their names while active.
So Jii had mistaken Sideu, who hadn't attached a family name, for an anonymous noble.
Not wanting to get tired needlessly from the very first day of class, Sideu let out a sigh.
"Why don't you just shoot that Fireball in your hand? Let's start quickly."
"What?"
Having his prepared spell seen through, Jii looked surprised.
With a sinister smile spreading across his lips, he inflated his own delusion.
"You read my chant? As expected, you must be from a great house! I'll guess! With that dark skin, you're from the south? The Plark family… or the Winterwhisp family? If not that, then Crush! The Crush family?"
'I just read the mana being consumed…….'
Sideu was certain that getting entangled with Jii would be exhausting.
Then Jii dispelled the spell he was holding and prepared another.
As the prepared Fireball vanished, a portion of his mana recovered.
[12,729]
[10,587]
'2,000 coins?'
Sideu swallowed at the massive amount of mana consumed.
He didn't know for sure, but it was clearly a spell far stronger than a Fireball.
Jii moved the magic circle held in his right hand and took a breath.
Soon, a violet-gleaming magic circle spewed out fierce flames.
"Flame Strike!"
BOOM!
Dark red flames with the power of a missile struck directly.
Even students standing far from the table felt the heat, and unlike a typical Fireball, distinct scorch marks spread.
Only the table, protected by magic, remained gleaming smoothly.
KABOOM!
'Oh my goodness. If this had hit directly, I think I would've died?'
Haemeondeu bit his finger.
It was a force that would have caused instant death had the defense failed.
As expected of the second son of the 'Firepaw' family, experts in fire magic.
Just as he was nodding, convinced of his own discerning eye for freshmen, the smoke spreading in all directions settled.
Haemeondeu, wanting to see the results immediately, waved away the smoke, and the result appeared even faster.
"Ooh?"
"Oh!"
And at the revealed scene, the students' mouths fell open.
Sideu, having raised both arms to block the blow.
Although he had been pushed back a step, blocking such tremendous heat was an incredible feat.
Soon, cheers erupted from his classmates.
"One point!"
"Wow! He's pretty good, huh?"
"Flame Strike is an intermediate fire spell! He blocked that?"
It was the reaction that a proper duel had finally begun.
Since the first duel had ended anticlimactically with Iris's surprise attack, the students were captivated by the second duel.
[Details] Withdrawal
[Amount Withdrawn] *103 (Magic Sword)
[Amount Deposited]
[Balance] *3,700 (Eirena Academy)
'Phew.'
Sideu swallowed.
He had deployed Magic Sword on the spur of the moment, but its power wasn't bad.
Although it was a shame he had been pushed back a step, if he had blocked '2,100 coins' with '100 coins', it could truly be called a cost-effective shield.
But there was nothing he could do about his mouth going dry.
The inside of his throat stung from the scorching heat.
'I'll have to hold my breath next time.'
Sideu licked his lips.
He might have endured the power, but the heat that entered with his breath was impossible to block.
Offense and defense switched, and it was Sideu's turn.
Since the magic he could use was limited, speed was important.
Immediately, a tingling flash burst forth.
"Lightning Bolt!"
Crack!
"Ugh!"
Lightning shooting from his fingertips struck Jii's shoulder.
Though the spell burst in an instant without giving time to deploy a defense, Jii didn't budge an inch.
He merely frowned slightly, treating Sideu's magic as a bothersome attack.
"The first attack is a probe, right? You're calculating?"
'No, it's just that I didn't know which attack would work…….'
Jii was misunderstanding each and every one of Sideu's actions.
When the attacking turn came back around, Jii combined the magic circles in both hands.
The mana consumed in an instant gave a clue as to the spell being prepared.
'3,782 coins!'
At least four times the power of a Fireball!
If that spell detonated, the current Sideu had no way to defend.
Sideu, racking his brain for a moment, recalled that fire magic exploded only 'after' a direct hit.
'If that's the case.'
If it explodes after a direct hit, he just had to make it hit faster.
Sideu extended his Magic Sword like when making a lightning rod.
Of course, without forgetting to hold his breath.
"Flame Strike!"
BOOM!
Flames drawn out at maximum output flew in.
The students opened their mouths at the flames rushing like a phoenix spreading its wings.
Some students were so startled by the magnitude of the power that they hid behind their desks.
However, the flames devouring the surrounding air and blazing away exploded futilely in the middle of the table before reaching Sideu.
KABOOM!
The exploded flames faded and disappeared.
Even Jii looked a bit surprised at the perfect defense.
Judging by his expression just now, this 'Flame Strike' seemed to be a spell that even as a Firepaw, he had put considerable effort into.
Sideu blocked it without a single change in his expression.
[That was a good idea.]
'Thank you.'
The boy watched the dying flames right before his nose.
It wasn't anything special; he had merely spread out and thrown his 'Magic Sword' wide.
Though no fancy magic circles or splendid chants had burst forth, as a defense, it was flawless.
Rather, since no one could tell what magic he had used, it could be said to be perfect for a mage.
"Wow! That dark kid is amazing!"
"What? Did you see what magic he used? What?"
"I didn't even hear the spell name! Could it be a chantless spell? He's already mastered a spell?"
In truth, had the table been just a bit narrower, he would have been caught in the aftershock, let alone defend.
But in the eyes of the students who didn't know this fact, Sideu looked like a genius who had intercepted a massive flame.
Soon, eyes gathered on Sideu, who had blocked the spell, rather than Jii, who had cast the splendid magic.
"Tch……!"
Jii's expression twisted slightly as his trump card was blocked.
And not missing this opportunity, the turn for attack came back to Sideu.
An opponent distracted by his failed spell.
It was the perfect opportunity.
"Ice Bolt!"
Thwack!
"Ack!"
The moment the attacking turn came, a fist-sized Ice Bolt struck Jii's forehead.
Jii, who had been left reeling after his trump card was blocked, took a clean hit from a basic spell and fell on his rear.
Thud!
"One point! It's currently one to one!"
Haemeondeu's booming voice announced their scores.
The current score was 1 to 1.
If either side lost 2 more points, they would be defeated.
"Damn……!"
By the time Jii came to his senses, his palm was already touching the table.
He had allowed '1 point' to a basic Bolt spell just now.
To think he'd give up a point to a mere 'Ice Bolt', not even a great spell or strategy!
The pride of Jii, who had proudly introduced himself before the duel began, began to crumble bit by bit.
"Tch! Should I get serious too?"
Jii dusted himself off and took a step back.
Giving up a point or two didn't matter, but wounded pride was intolerable.
Soon, his egg-sized swollen forehead flushed crimson.
Furious at having been knocked on his rear, Jii shouted loudly.
"Flame Strike!"
BOOM!
The red-faced boy fired an even greater spell.
But the fireball exploding in the middle of the table was truly a spectacle.
Between the scattering flames, Jii glared at Sideu, huffing and puffing.
His pale white skin, which had been pallid before the Table Duel, was now flushed with red vigor.
[Details] Balance Inquiry
[Amount Withdrawn]
[Amount Deposited]
[Balance] *2,807 (Eirena Academy)
'What? I've only used about 1,000 coins so far?'
Sideu checked his remaining mana.
One Lightning Bolt, one Ice Bolt just now.
And the mana consumed by the 'Magic Sword Wall' that had performed perfect defense was barely '1,000 coins'.
In contrast, the mana remaining for Jii was a mere '2,732 mana coins'.
The 'fool who wastes mana by only using big spells' that Eirena had spoken of before must have been referring to mages like Jii.
'He probably can't squeeze out any bigger spells with his remaining mana.'
"Lightning Bolt!"
Crack!
"Krrgh!"
The tingling lightning got on Jii's nerves.
By the time Jii deployed a shield-shaped defensive magic, the electric spell had already hit.
Anyway, by the next or the turn after that, Jii would be unable to use magic.
Then Sideu's victory was only natural.
So there was no need to overextend in attacking.
"I'll show you an even bigger spell!"
When the attacking turn came back, Jii huffed and squeezed out mana.
The mana above his head began to be consumed at a rapid pace.
Soon, the magic circles held in both hands glowed crimson.
But Sideu, looking above Jii's head, grinned.
[1]
'It's over.'
He had no mana left.
Seeing the mana that had instantly hit '1', Sideu was certain the next spell would be pathetic.
Like Sideu's Ice Bolt previously used with '75 mana coins', an incomplete spell would clearly scatter into thin air.
If he had rather used a spell with low mana consumption, at least the effect would be intact…….
Students who possessed grand spells but were unskilled in mana management often made such mistakes.
'Should I counterattack right away?'
For the finale, Sideu prepared his hidden trump card.
It was an electric spell he had read about in a magic book last night.
Crackle.
Silver electric currents flowed up his arm.
It was Jii's attacking turn, but he didn't care about that.
The electric magic that had synchronized with the Circle after the battle with Rawork.
He hadn't tested it even once yet, but there was no better spell to adorn his first academy class.
"Flame Strike!!!"
Whether he knew he'd been found out or not, Jii extended both hands.
But Sideu, having gauged the level of the spell, cast his magic without concern.
Pwa-bang!
And as Sideu had predicted, Jii's spell scattered into the air.
Flames burst with only noise and size like a balloon made of fire popping, and between those flames, Sideu's fingers pointed.
He brought his right index and middle fingers together in a gun-firing stance.
A tingling flash flowed up his arm.
"Thunder Strike!"
KABOOM!
A fierce electric strike raged like lightning from the azure heavens.
Along with a sharp scream, Firepaw was engulfed in silver currents and thrown back.
There was no time to deploy a defense.
He merely bounced back helplessly like a salmon swatted by a grizzly bear.
"Graagh!"
"Wh-what is that? Thunder Strike?"
"He could use a spell like that?"
The other students opened their mouths as they watched the boy wracked by the electric shock.
Even Haemeondeu, who had been watching, was left gaping, unable to close his mouth.
It was a high-level fight to be considered a duel between freshmen.
"Oh my god…… What is this?"
- To be continued in Episode 16 -