Chapter 12
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Episode 3 - The duel of the strongest [1]
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Whisper! Whisper! Whisper!
The cadets in the classroom whispered to each other; Professor Franklin's words implied that they would all face off in a duel.
Naturally, it was a good opportunity to move up in rank.
Since the top ten first-year cadets had already been selected at the entrance ceremony, if others took advantage of this opportunity, they could more or less gauge the strength of their opponents at the next evaluation in three months.
Since the duel at the entrance ceremony was against a four-star professor, no one knows exactly how strong the cadets are when fighting each other.
'For example, I know I'm the second strongest.'
Lumina, if she had given it her all or fought seriously, could have defeated that professor at the entrance ceremony.
'Although I could barely match him, objectively speaking, beating that professor would have been a battle of attrition.'
If it was a battle of attrition for me, it would have lasted less than a minute for Lumina.
Besides, she's a four-star, so she's naturally stronger than me statistically.
"Very well, everyone move towards building A-6."
The cadets then proceeded to leave the classroom; naturally, I was the last to leave.
***
Upon entering Building A-6, I took a seat and looked toward the platform where the cadet duels would take place, while some looked for someone to sit with.
I, on the other hand, kept my distance from them all, even though I could hear them as if they were right next to me.
It was better than being stuck with kids as rude as they were.
'Well, this is the life of a Dark attribute user.'
Ostracism is something many cannot bear; however, since I don't feel emotions, I don't think about it.
After a minute, Professor Franklin climbed onto the platform, crossed his arms, and looked at everyone.
"To decide the duels, we will use random numbers."
When Professor Franklin finished speaking, a burly man entered the room carrying a box.
"This box will be passed around. Just put your hand in and take out the paper inside; the paper will have a number. Whoever has the same number will be their opponent."
The cadets nodded. Then, Professor Franklin's assistant went from cadet to cadet so they could draw their respective numbers.
This reminded me of a lottery from my past life; I always had the bad luck of getting the worst prize.
In any case, the assistant finally reached me.
"Put your hand in and take out the paper."
With a voice annoyed at having to walk over to where I was sitting, he said.
Without responding to his words, I reached in and pulled out the slip of paper. At that very moment,
"Excuse me, what number is it?"
Before he could turn around, I asked the assistant.
"Number 8."
Without looking at me, he turned around and left. I looked at him briefly, but then shrugged.
〖Even if the Dark attribute is so looked down upon these days, isn't this going a bit too far?〗
Alice's voice sounded clearly annoyed.
"It doesn't matter. Anyway, I have no emotions, so I don't feel anything no matter what anyone tells me."
Actually, I haven't mentioned this to Alice until now.
I told her about some of my traits to help her plan a training program.
Alice said nothing more and remained silent. Soon, the professor's voice reached my ears.
"Very well, before we start, we're going to handle these duels as if it were a tournament. In short, after you finish your first match, my assistant will come by once more so you can find out who your next opponent is."
The cadets couldn't help but be surprised.
"Uh, professor, does that mean we'll have to fight the whole class?"
By the way, Professor Franklin's class today is five hours long.
Professor Franklin nodded.
"That's right. Any objections?"
"Well… then, what about lunch?"
Professor Franklin understood the concerns of some cadets.
It was likely that some of them hadn't even had breakfast and were starving at that moment.
"Don't worry. You can go to the cafeteria at the usual time. Nothing will change."
With a sigh, the cadets who had been waiting for a response finally relaxed.
Then, as he stepped down from the platform, the professor said:
"Then, let the duels begin."
***
There are a total of 32 cadets in Room B-1.
Due to this, the duels took on the form of a tournament. In short, the cadets will be classified in three phases.
First, everyone in the 16th place will advance to the next round. Then, the top eight will advance to the final round, which will consist of three total matches.
Of the four who compete, only two will remain, and of those two, one will be chosen for the final match.
There will be a total of three fights for the spectators and two for the combatants.
The first duel took place between the number 15s; they were two cadets who seemed to dislike each other.
After the match, the winner mocked his opponent, and we moved on to the next duel.
While the next duel was in progress, Alice suddenly said.
〖Right now, there's no one who can defeat you, so it'll be easy〗
I shook my head at his words and said:
"Actually, no. There are only three people I need to watch out for."
〖And who are they?〗
Naturally, these three people were...
"First is Rinna. She has the Light attribute and, naturally, she is my natural enemy. The second is Princess Clana, who also has the Light attribute."
The Ordeal family and the Holy Church, both factions, have only members who have awakened the Light attribute.
In fact, they are the only two factions on the entire continent that have users of this attribute.
〖Well, it's true, but knowing your strengths, you're still stronger than the two of them. Besides, from what I can tell, almost everyone is a three-star, and you said that at the entrance ceremony you tied with a four-star, right?〗
"Yes."
〖Then, who is the third person?〗
Naturally, my gaze shifted to the figure drawn in white lines, sitting on the other side of the room.
"It's the one in second place: Lumina Moonlight. She is stronger than I am. She could have easily defeated the professor during the entrance ceremony, but she held back."
Since she only wanted to secure first place, she didn't go so far as to defeat the professor.
〖Well, she's a four-star fighter, so I suppose you're right.〗
By the way, unless Alice "sees" a person in combat, she can't tell how strong they are.
Also, since she can't see, she barely uses the power of her soul in the sword to estimate the amount of mana people have.
"If she were alive, she probably would have read and understood Lumina's sword technique just by looking at her."
Thinking about it, I remembered that it's a special ability of the ten-star users.
The so-called
"However, since the Five Swords have reached the rank of demigods, they can see beyond what the Divine Eye allows them to."
Sighing, I wonder how the Five Swords see the world.
"In any case, my opponent seems to be an outsider."
The number 8 was held by an unknown girl, so I classified her as an extra.
I couldn't guess what she looked like because her design doesn't appear in the game.
I simply didn't think much of it; the most important thing was to know who my next opponent would be after the first one.
'If there are 16 in total, I'll probably face one of the main characters.'
I didn't give it too much thought; of course, all the main characters have sword techniques passed down from their families.
They are still unable to reach their full potential.
After a few more rounds of duels, it was finally my turn.
When I stepped onto the platform, a deafening silence filled the room.
Ignoring the crowd, I looked at my opponent.
She was a short girl with short hair, probably a bob, and her weapon was a katana.
'It's rare for characters to use a katana.'
Not only is it not popular, but there are also very few sword arts that maximize its use.
'Well, there's also the scythe; it's a rare weapon and difficult to master.'
While I was lost in thought, the voice of the assistant pretending to be the referee said:
"Greet each other."
I placed my hand on my chest and leaned forward slightly.
Since it was a duel, the formal greeting was only natural.
"I'm Veronica, rank 11."
Even after she said her name, I still didn't know who she was.
Besides, she's a commoner because she doesn't have a last name.
"I'm Adel, rank 1."
After the formal greeting, the referee raised and then lowered his hand.
"Let the fight begin."
Instantly, I gripped my sword by the hilt. I had no intention of using Inverted Heaven.
First, I had barely learned it, and to use it in combat right now, I need to advance from Mastery to Expert.
'In any case, displaying a strange sword technique would attract unnecessary attention...'
However, I couldn't continue my train of thought, because...
"..."
'What...?'
Countless red lines forming a web filled my vision.
At the same time, I looked at the cadet's hand, which slowly pulled the katana out of its sheath without touching the katana's hilt.
'Impossible…! That's…'
I knew exactly whose sword art this was.
It was a sword art that the audience would only see when the user wanted them to, and would barely draw the sword from its sheath.
However, it cut at an absurd speed.
'The sword art Ten Thousand Cuts That Split the Sky, the sword art of one of the Five Swords.'
I had encountered the successor to the Ten Thousand Cuts That Split the Sky sword technique of the King of the Ten Thousand Men.