Book 1 Chapter 410

410.

The first preliminary match before the tournament, part of the first semester's final exams for first-year students.

Anyone could watch the tournament, but there was still time left until the World Summit.

Thus, no outsiders had yet arrived in Lumern.

"Will the kids feel a little less burdened?"

Yura, the professor in charge of the Second Year Summoning Department, tilted her head and asked.

In response, Ain, the professor in charge of the Second Year Knight Department, shook his head.

"It won't make much difference to the first-year students."

"Right."

Yura nodded as if convinced and looked around.

She knew there was always someone lurking around during such events.

"Popcorn! Buttered grilled squid! Roasted corn! Drinks! We have everything!"

Just as Yura expected, Karl appeared.

Seeing him, Yura raised her hand.

"Here, over here!"

"Yes! Yes! Coming right up!"

Karl rushed over, panting.

Then, he looked at Yura and spoke to Ain.

"What do you need?"

"I didn't call you."

Ain replied with his characteristic cold expression, then gestured towards Yura with his chin.

"Give me the buttered squid."

"…It's all sold out."

"Didn't you say you had everything?"

Yura narrowed her eyes, but what could she do when he said it was all sold out?

"Then popcorn."

"…It's all sold out."

"Are you messing with me right now?"

Yura's face turned grim.

Seeing Yura, Karl made a frightened expression.

"B-but… it's all sold out."

Watching Karl answer with difficulty, Yura snapped her fingers.

Summoned beasts then began rummaging through Karl's luggage.

Delicious-smelling snacks poured out of Karl's bags.

"What on earth are these? Are you mocking me?"

As Yura's face grew fierce, Karl looked like he was about to cry.

"There's nothing for Professor Yura."

"Who are you trying to fool now?!"

It was then that Yura's face transformed like a yaksha.

"Heh heh, that's right. There's nothing to sell to Professor Yura. Ah, what a wonderful resonance. You spoke well, Karl."

Thump- Thump-

Ren descended from the spectator stands.

Wrapped in a black wizard's cloak, he held a wine glass in his hand, which seemed out of place.

He swirled the wine in the glass, took a sip, and made a satisfied expression.

"What's that ridiculous act now?"

As Yura crumpled her face and spoke, Ren casually tossed aside the wine glass he was holding.

*Clink.*

With the sound of the wine glass shattering behind him, Ren approached and snapped his fingers.

The goods Karl's summoned beasts were holding returned to his bag by Ren's magic.

"There's no need to blame Karl, Professor Yura. The students of the merchant club, including Karl, have signed a contract with me."

"What kind of nonsense is that?"

As Yura's face tightened in a frown, Karl pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and showed it to her.

It was a contract containing a clause that prevented the merchant club from selling goods to Yura during this tournament period.

"Why are you going this far?"

"Heh heh, it's to punish Professor Yura, who dares to claim Leo Flove belongs to the Summoning Department."

At this point, it was something beyond childishness, closer to madness.

Yura, who had been letting out a hollow laugh, gestured to Karl.

"Give me that contract."

At her words, Karl handed over the contract.

"It's not exactly a poison clause, is it?"

Yura curled the corner of her lips.

"What happens if I pay the penalty instead?"

"Then the contract's validity disappears, right?"

"Good, then change the contract. So you can't sell anything to that guy."

"Alright."

"Karl Thomas! Are you betraying the Magic Department now?!"

As Ren raised his voice, Karl said.

"I'm sorry, Professor. Merchants naturally follow money."

"Credit! Shouldn't merchants pursue credit?!"

"I don't think breaking such an absurd contract would cause problems with my credit."

"Fine! Then this time, we'll strengthen the penalty clause and write a new contract!"

Ain, who had been watching the two juniors bickering, stood up.

"Professor Ain, where are you going?"

"Somewhere else. I can't sit with those kinds of people."

Ain said coldly and left.

***

Thump- Thump-

Following the bright light, as he emerged from the long corridor, his vision opened up.

On the opposite side of the arena stood Rement, and the circular spectator stands surrounding the arena were packed with people.

-Two students have just entered the arena! Please welcome them with a loud cheer!

Runbar Tess, who inevitably took on commentary for large events, spoke to hype up the atmosphere.

At his words, the students cheered.

Amidst the students' enthusiastic cheers, Luke ascended onto the arena with an even more nervous expression.

There, Mell, the first-year Magic Department professor serving as the referee, stood.

Mell gave both students a gentle smile and then spoke.

"I hope this is a time without regrets for you. Any attack is allowed, so fight to your heart's content."

At her words, Rement narrowed his eyes.

"Any attack?"

"Yes. Even fatal attacks that take a life are permitted. Of course, if an attack is truly dangerous, I will intervene."

No matter how great they were, there was no way the faculty couldn't stop an attack made by a first-year student with full intent.

Especially Mell.

At Mell's answer, Rement smiled and nodded, and Luke also nodded with a tense expression.

"Then go to your respective places and wait. It will start as soon as the signal is given."

Mell exited the arena.

Before going to his spot, Rement spoke.

"I commend you for not running away. Well, if you had run, you wouldn't be able to face the student council president."

"……"

Rement narrowed his eyes.

"I didn't like it. Someone like you getting private tutoring from someone like Professor Ren. Did it feel good to be treated specially as the student council president's mentee?"

At those words, Luke recalled his lessons with Ren.

In truth, it was none other than Ren's associate professor, Anna, who taught Luke magic.

Ren was a wizard beyond compare.

His interest was purely in Luke's mana characteristics.

Other than that, as a magician, Luke was rather ordinary.

He hadn't even grasped the basics of magic, making him even more negligible to Ren.

There was only one other time Ren showed interest, besides researching Luke's magic characteristics.

'Associate Professor Anna.'

'Yes, Professor Ren.'

'What do you think about dissecting student Luke?'

'Please shut up.'

Ren claimed it was a joke, but his eyes were deadly serious.

Recalling that moment, Luke shivered and said.

"It wasn't that good."

"Hmph, a fool who doesn't even know how great the glory he's enjoyed is."

Rement snorted and returned to his spot.

Luke, who had returned to his spot, took a deep breath.

'How much of what I've done until now will work?'

The past time came to mind.

After classes, he always trained his physique.

It was literally hellish days.

All Leo had taught Luke was physical conditioning and combat-related training.

He had questioned himself countless times for his lack of progress.

He always instinctively sensed his limits.

Whenever that happened, Leo would say,

'Hitting a wall means you've encountered your limit. To continue means to keep overcoming that limit. Trust yourself, Luke Elda, who has constantly pushed past your limits.'

Luke turned his body, smiling.

'How much I can do, this is a challenge.'

"Smiling?"

Rement's face twisted.

Mell muttered to herself, watching Luke.

'There are occasionally people of that type. People who smile in a crisis.'

Thinking that, Mell snapped her fingers.

*Ting-! Whoosh-!*

A coin began to spin rapidly.

The spinning coin flew and then fell in the middle of the arena.

*Ting-!*

The moment it hit the ground, Rement slammed his palm onto the floor.

"Earth Wave."

He completed the magic in an instant with rapid incantation.

*Rumble-!*

The arena began to undulate.

The arena rippled like water, but this wasn't the solid ground becoming soft.

The moment one was caught in this ripple, it meant colliding with the ground.

Luke summoned his aura.

Silver aura gathered at his fingertips.

*Whoosh-!*

Luke charged rapidly towards Rement.

"Fool. Do you think you can close the distance?"

Rement scoffed.

Luke's eyes followed the undulation of the ground.

He instantly grasped the pattern, lightly stepped on the highly rising edge of the ground, and pushed off.

Rement's eyes twitched.

Luke leaped and jumped, finding safe spots to step on, rapidly closing the distance with Rement.

The moment he closed the distance with Rement, Luke saw the corner of Rement's lips curl up.

*Bang-!*

"Ugh!"

A fist that shot up from the ground struck Luke.

Luke, who barely managed to summon his aura and block the attack, was sent flying backward.

"Not bad. But you didn't think I'd just let you close the distance, did you?"

Magic power rippled around Rement.

"I'd like to play with you as much as possible, but the audience would get bored."

Rement curled the corner of his lips.

"I'll finish you here."

*Hum-!*

As if responding to Rement's magic, the surrounding ground began to shake.

*Bang-!*

Around Rement, rock spikes began to shoot up from the ground at incredible speed.

An indiscriminate attack designed to tear opponents apart.

*Crackle-!*

In an instant, the spikes that shot up from the ground filled the arena.

Thick dust rose.

The only place to escape was the sky.

But even if he jumped, there was no escape.

Anticipating this, Rement had already taken control of the arena's airspace with wind-based magic.

'If I had jumped to avoid it, my body would have been shredded by blades of wind.'

"As expected, how boring."

Rement scoffed and was about to leave the arena when…

*Whoosh-!*

A sharp sound of air being cut was heard.

"What?"

Luke, who had pierced through the spikes, was swinging his sword at Rement.

Rement barely managed to roll on the ground and dodge the attack.

*Slash-!*

Blood spurted from Rement's nape.

*Thud-!*

Luke landed on the ground.

If it had been a little deeper, the match would have ended with Luke's victory.

"You bastard! What trick did you pull?!"

"I dodged it."

Luke said, flicking Rement's blood from the tip of his sword.

"Don't be ridiculous. You dodged that attack?"

Veins bulged on Rement's forehead due to extreme anger.

At that moment, jeers poured from the first-year student stands.

"Are you letting a failure like him attack you?"

"Rement, you're not much either, huh?"

At the snickering, Rement's eyes went wild.

"Good eyes. To think of dodging that."

Chelsea muttered from the second-year student stands.

"He only became Leo's mentee because of his good eyes in the first place."

Celia crossed her arms.

"Of course, he only landed the attack because his opponent was careless. But now that attack failed, it's over."

At her words, Chelsea rested her chin on her hand.

"Won't he show his true strength now?"

"I'll finish you off! You wretched failure!"

*Rumble-!*

The ground began to quake violently.

*Crackle-!*

The ground covered Luke like slime.

*Thump-!*

"Urk?"

The ground, spread out like a palm, struck Luke.

Luke was hit and bounced away.

*Bang-!*

"Guh?!"

A fist made of ground struck Luke's back.

Luke, who was being relentlessly battered by the physical attacks emerging from the ground, collapsed onto the floor.

His whole body screamed.

When the attacks stopped, Luke rose to his feet.

"As expected, it's no good."

"Ha, did you think you'd win?"

Rement snarled contemptuously and kicked the ground.

*Bang-!*

"Urk?"

The ground shot up, launching Luke into the sky.

His mind reeled from the impact.

*Whoooooosh-!*

Luke, who had soared impossibly high, looked at the bracelets on his wrists.

'As expected, this state is my limit.'

He looked down at the arena below.

'The way to break the seal is simple. Just sincerely say "Release" in your mind, and it will break.'

Breaking the seal was easy.

But he had endured.

He had been despised and ignored as a failure throughout the first semester, but he endured.

For this very moment!

'Release.'

The moment he thought that.

*Ting-!*

The bracelets and anklets that bound Luke came undone and flew off.

At that moment.

'My body feels light.'

Luke looked at his palms with a surprised expression.

'If it's this…'

Luke summoned mana throughout his body.

*Hum-!*

Instantly, aura swirled around his fingertips.

Luke used an Aura Step to kick off the air.

***

"He's going to crash into the ground; it'll be over."

"Ah, I thought we'd see a giant-killing."

"Hey! You might as well just insult Rement."

"Oh, was that too much?"

It was then that the first-year students chuckled.

*Flash-! Crash-!*

A silver flash gleamed from the sky and then struck the arena.

"Wh-what?"

"Something just came from the sky…"

The first-year students were bewildered by the thick dust.

"This is… what…"

The moment Rement was also confused.

*Flash-!*

Along with the silver flash, something flew in.

*Thump-!*

"Urk?"

Kicked in the abdomen, Rement tumbled miserably across the floor.

*Thud-!*

Luke landed on the ground, his body enveloped in a silver flash, and said.

"From now on,"

Luke spoke forcefully towards Rement.

"It's for real."