Episode 21: Sometimes Beating Them Up Yourself Is the Answer (3)
“Hey, you idiot! Get up! I bet on you!”
“The name Firepow is a waste! Boo!”
“Damn it...!”
Vicious jeers flew over his head as he knelt.
Recalling the fall on his rear he had taken two months ago, Jii gritted his teeth.
The brother he had thought was on his side had told him to prepare to die, and he couldn’t bear to make a fool of himself in the same way again.
Moreover, when he saw Iris frowning, the boy’s pride crumbled.
“Uwaaaah!!! Flame Strike!”
Boom!
An intense heatwave exploded along with crimson flames.
Dark red flames engulfed the surroundings, and the feat he had shown at the Table Duel displayed his unreserved skill.
Though he had given up a hollow preemptive strike, cheers erupted at Jii’s splendid counterattack.
“Waaah!”
“That’s it!”
Crack!
Sid appeared, breaking through the massive inferno.
The robe draped over his shoulders fluttered stylishly, and the necklace hanging around his neck was intact as well.
Sid, having escaped through the flames, scraped against the ground as he slid.
“The scholarship student is pretty good too!”
“Wow, both of them are good!”
The upperclassmen’s cheers erupted.
The two glared at each other and prepared their next spells.
Jii, who began emitting steam like his older brother Ri, was wrapped in fierce flames.
“Flame Wheel!”
[15,712]
‘Two Flame Wheels and one Flame Strike, and it’s only 600 coins?’
Watching the amount of mana Jii was consuming, Sid swallowed hard.
Unlike the mana he had used wastefully during the Table Duel, today’s magic was truly efficient.
Could it be that Sid wasn’t the only one who had grown during these two months?
Firepow, wrapped in fierce flames like a ‘burning wagon wheel,’ rushed at Sid, and Sid, drawing out his Magic Sword long, deflected it.
Clang!
Red flames and blue mana clashed, revealing a blinding flash.
From a spectator’s point of view, there was no greater spectacle than this.
“The first-years this year are pretty good, huh?”
“That friend called the scholarship student. He is worth the headmaster’s attention. His skills are convincing.”
The academy teachers also focused on the fight between the two.
Some who had harbored doubts about Sid being a scholarship student were ready to discard their suspicions with this fight.
[Details] Withdrawal
[Amount Withdrawn] *183 (Magic Sword)
[Amount Deposited]
[Balance] *31,780 (Eirena Academy)
“Hoo, alright, let’s keep going!”
Checking his consumed mana and remaining mana, Sid focused on the battle.
Fierce flames flew without restraint, and diving into the blaze brought the wyvern from his memories to mind.
Zee pressuring from long range and Sid aiming for vitals up close.
Their back-and-forth, as different in fighting style as they were in personality, continued.
But in the midst of such a fight, the Passbook’s voice leaked out.
[Customer. Please pay attention to the inside of Firepow’s robe.]
Wondering what this meant, he raised his head and saw the fluttering robe.
A robe that protects the body from light attacks.
Inside Jii’s robe, thin strips of paper were densely attached.
In a brief moment, seeing him tear the paper while spewing flames, Sid was sure of its identity.
“No way, are those all scrolls?”
[That is correct. Currently, the only magic Firepow is using by his own power is Flame Wheel.]
Occasionally a Fire Bolt used by his own power flew in.
But the scrolls torn when using heavy magic couldn’t be hidden.
Sid narrowed his eyes.
“Fine. You want to win this badly, huh?”
Since it was an unlimited duel permitting the use of magic tools, Jii had come with quite impressive preparations.
So excluding the ‘Flame Wheel’ wrapped around his body, the occasional flying flames and ‘Flame Strike’ were all scrolls.
The first Flame Strike that had burst out abnormally was also not a display of abilities grown over two months, but a secretly used scroll.
Of course, Sid, who relied on the magic tool called the ‘Passbook,’ couldn’t criticize others for using magic tools.
“Alright!”
Sid closed the distance with quick steps.
What he had to target now was sealing Firepow’s ‘tricks.’
Zee reached for his waist while Sid extended his Magic Sword; their movements overlapped.
“Flame Strike!”
As the scroll tore, a magic circle whirled into completion.
And the moment flames burst from that magic circle, the sharply thrust Magic Sword sliced through the robe.
For a brief moment, Jii’s expression hardened.
Slash!
“Damn...!”
Boom!
The two were pushed back by the exploding flames.
The robe torn horizontally from the waist became entangled in flames and turned to ash.
Jii, having lost the large quantity of scrolls he had prepared, opened his eyes wide.
“Fire Bolt!”
“Lightning Bolt!”
Searing lightning and blazing flames burst forth.
Both rolled aside, shoulder to shoulder.
However, there was no telling how many scrolls remained in the upper part of the robe that hadn’t been cut off or inside his clothes.
Sid immediately grasped the next spell.
“Thunder…”
Jii’s attention turned to the incantation preparing the next spell.
The elemental affinity between lightning and flame meant nothing to each other.
In a fight like this, a contest of raw power was what mattered.
And Jii, taking out a scroll strapped to his forearm, tore it with deliberate intent.
It was a spell that felt a bit like overkill.
“Explosion!”
Fiyuuung…
A flashing light soared into the sky.
The fireball rising into the air distorted the surrounding air and explosively swelled.
The secret technique of flame magic that even a 5th-circle magician would struggle to use.
At the unbelievable magic that a first-year had cast, every spectator’s mouth fell open.
Of course, with the appearance of this magic, some spectators must have realized that Jii was using scrolls.
[Warning. That Explosion is extremely dangerous.]
“I can see that!”
At the Passbook’s warning, Sid dispelled the magic he was preparing.
Even if he focused all his nerves and mana on defense, it would be difficult to block that enormous fireball.
“I prepared for this day! Drop dead!”
“You crazy bastard…!”
Even madness could be felt in the eyes of the one shouting so loudly.
But Ruel, Ri, and Hammond, who were watching the flames, showed no signs of intervening.
Sid had to defend against the magic with his own power.
Kugugug…
A brilliant flash spread as if a giant sun were falling.
It was difficult even to breathe in the blazing flames that devoured the surrounding air.
If that flame fell, it would be hard for both of them to be safe.
That wasn’t a magic used while caring about such things.
“Alright, alright. How do I deal with that?”
[Details] Balance Inquiry
[Amount Withdrawn]
[Amount Deposited]
[Balance] *31,347 (Eirena Academy)
Sid gathered his mana.
Should he use ice magic, the antithesis of flame magic, though he wasn’t familiar with it?
Or flip the earth and hide inside it?
Before he could even finish such thoughts, crimson flames erupted above his head.
“N-noona! Health Insurance! Start the Health Insurance treatment!!!”
Kwa-baaang!!!
A crimson explosion burst in the center of the arena.
At the tremendous force, spectators screamed.
“Gaaack!”
“This is insane!”
The tremendous shockwave and air pressure felt like they would burst eardrums.
Some magicians skillfully deployed protective magic, but the majority, unfamiliar with such situations, were caught in the blast.
Heat in terms of heat, sound in terms of sound, power in terms of power.
It was a magic as loud as its name.
Gogogog…
The remaining heat from the dissipated giant fireball lingered around the area.
The impact of the ground being overturned left parts of the arena cracked.
Soon, faintly rising black smoke concealed the two boys’ fate.
“…….”
“…….”
Ruel and Ri, standing at opposite ends of the arena, stared at the black smoke.
Soon, red flames bloomed again within the thinning smoke.
It was Jii, his robe completely burned away with only a protective necklace dangling.
“Uwaaaah! Flame Strike!!!”
Flames that were like screams exploded.
Amid the dense smoke, only Firepow, blazing like a torch, captured the spectators’ eyes.
Then Sid, in a completely intact state, also revealed himself between those flames.
At Sid’s appearance, Leir clenched his fist, and Reiya let out a sigh of relief.
[Details] Withdrawal
[Amount Withdrawn] *25,364 (Health Insurance, Magic Sword)
[Amount Deposited]
[Balance] *5,983 (Eirena Academy)
“Hoo!”
The boy whose robe had burned away just like Jii’s, leaving only the necklace.
Sid squeezed out his remaining mana and held out with ‘Magic Sword’ and ‘Health Insurance.’
His face and arms were covered in burn marks from the tremendous heat, and the Passbook’s Health Insurance at least kept the boy from collapsing.
[We recommend preparing more effective defensive measures from now on.]
“You should have told me beforehand if you had something like that!”
Sid shouted at the Passbook’s nagging.
It truly was nothing but a crude method.
If not for holding out with healing magic, he had essentially endured it bare-bodied.
Even so, his unwavering gaze was fixed solely on Jii.
“Thunder…!”
An explosion that resembled a battlefield settled, and Sid ran toward Jii.
Jii, also running, took out a scroll from his sleeve.
“Flame Strike!”
“Thunder Strike!”
Two spells that could be called similar burst forth.
Tingling mana wrapped around his heart, stimulating and raising one distinct circle and a faint second circle.
Soon, clear lightning climbed up Sid’s forearm, blood vessels, and fingertips, making them tingle.
Jii’s flames and Sid’s flash.
But the magic that always reaches the target first is lightning magic.
Ka-boom!
“Kuaaaack!”
Jii’s body, struck by Thunder Strike, was flung back.
Recalling the experience of being hit once before, Jii gritted his teeth.
Cracks in the necklace multiplied along the blue current, but it was still okay.
Wham!
Soon, Sid appeared, breaking through the Flame Strike.
The blazing flames scattered into yellow light.
“Hup!”
Breaking through the wall of flames, Sid clenched his fist.
Though his entire upper garment burned away, revealing a copper-colored upper body, Sid’s necklace was also fine.
Thinking of his remaining mana, Sid returned to his previous strategy.
It was the close-quarters combat specialty of a priest.
He didn’t give him a chance to tear scrolls.
“Damn it!”
Even while suffering from the electric shock, Jii didn’t give up.
Seeing Sid’s burning fist, his stomach throbbed from the blow he had just taken.
Leaping up in one breath, Sid pulled back his fist, while Jii triggered a protection spell and reached out his hand.
“Locasta!”
Thud!
Transparent space stretched along with the fist.
It looked as if an invisible rubber had blocked the fist.
Sid immediately pulled back his fist and extended his Magic Sword to strike down, and in retaliation, Jii’s protection spell also rose.
Thud! Thud-thud! Thud! Thump, thud!
Fists soaring through the air and protection spells deflecting them.
Heart-thumping sounds like the beating of a giant drum filled the arena.
Soon, thick beads of sweat streamed down Sid’s forehead.
Jii, blocking them, also had sweat flowing down beside his sharp gaze.
“Wow… Is that the level of first-years?”
“The scholarship student is amazing, but Firepow is pretty good too, huh?”
The spectators were captivated by the sight of them exchanging fierce offensive and defensive moves.
Jii unfolding protection magic as fast as the fists Sid threw.
And the tough Sid who grabbed and tore apart such protection spells with his bare hands.
It was all an unbelievably splendid scene.
Even Jii, who had been far from diligent until now, seemed to show some growth while fighting Sid.
“Jii….”
Ri, watching from afar, opened his mouth.
He hadn’t known his younger brother, who had relied on tricks and his family while being lazy, could show such a magnificent sight.
Soon, a small smile spread across Ri’s lips.
The man who had resolved to completely crush his younger brother regardless of victory or defeat.
He decided to praise his younger brother’s growth rather than give him a harsh lecture.
Of course, while making sure to correct what was wrong.
- To be continued in Episode 22 -