anwhile, the swordsman had vanished, unable to withstand the flas. The mage, however, ignored him, focusing solely on Mikael. When he saw Mikael rushing at him, he took it as an insult. "You think you can take on, commoner? You'll see!" he sneered. "Fla Arrows!" he shouted, summoning multiple flaming arrows that floated around him. With a hand sign, he sent them all hurtling toward Mikael.
Mikael dodged the first arrow by shifting left, cut through the second, and leaped over the third. At that mont, the mage smirked. "Got you!" he said, as a hidden fourth arrow shot toward Mikael.
Realizing he couldn't dodge in mid-air and that his sword wasn't positioned to block, Mikael quickly focused his aura into his fist and punched the arrow, shattering it with the force of the impact.
Now above the mage, he grasped his sword with both hands and slashed downward with all his strength. The mage desperately raised his staff to block, but the combined force of Mikael's strike, the montum of the fall, and his aura shattered the wooden staff. Mikael's blade grazed the mage's hair before a protective barrier appeared with a loud "Clank!"
Mikael used the recoil from the barrier to flip and land on his feet.
The mage, stunned, muttered, "I... lost?" before disappearing in a flash of light.
At that mont, Mikael's bracelet emitted an artificial voice, "12 Points acquired."
Seeing his haul, Mikael whistled, thinking, 'Nice! With this, I'm at 28. I'm pretty sure that's enough to pass, combined with my double talent type from the first test.'
In that brief mont of calm, he reflected on the girl who had set him up. 'Hmm, that was Alia Mournsky. Honestly, we're about the sa strength, but next ti we fight, she won't escape!'
He acknowledged the risk of challenging a high-ranking noble like Alia, especially if she decided to take offense and have her family send assassins after him. But he wasn't interested in keeping a low profile and trying to avoid offending everyone—eventually, that would fail anyway. He'd earn far more LP by making a na for himself.
'Besides, the idea that a noble could send assassins into the Central Academy under the nose of Principal Silvius Carius—The Mystoria guardian and an SSS mage—is practically impossible. And if I win the second test I'll be in the spotlight, it'll go from nearly impossible to completely impossible.'
Finished with his thoughts, Mikael checked the map on his bracelet. He was surprised to see that in just the one hour since the second test had started, the map had shrunk from several thousand square kiloters to just a thousand.
He made a ntal note of this and continued searching for other examinees to take down. After all, his LP was at stake, so he needed to eliminate as many people as possible to maximize his points.
During the next hour, Mikael continued hunting other examinees. Most often, he managed to surprise them, but he was also ambushed a few tis. However, thanks to his Sixth Sense skill, his instincts were sharp enough to easily evade these sneak attacks and eliminate his attackers.
Within this ti, he took down around ten other people, each worth between 5 to 9 points. He also earned 5 points for surviving this long. His toughest fight was against another swordsman who proved to be quite strong, but Mikael was able to defeat him, though he suffered a cut on his left arm.
Now leaning against a tree, Mikael took a mont to catch his breath, mildly tired from his last fight. After a few minutes of rest, his stamina felt significantly better, and he checked his points.
He saw that he now had 124 points. 'With 124 points, plus my results from the first test, I should be in the top 100 students, right? Probably. Maybe I should stop searching for fights and just find a hiding spot until fewer people are left, to conserve my energy. The battle zone is still huge—200 square kiloters—so there could still be a lot of people out there...'
'Nah, that's not a good idea. I'll need to keep moving anyway, so even if I find a resting place, it won't last. I've already had to keep moving because of this fast-shrinking border. So, I'll just continue to fight occasionally, but I'll prioritize conserving my energy.'
'I'm close to my 100% physically, so I'm fine on that front. But I'm down to about 80% of my aura, and regeneration is slower since I can't ditate without risking an ambush at any mont.'
He began moving again, staying hidden among the trees. Using this stealth strategy, he managed to avoid detection. Suddenly, he heard the distinct "whack-whack" sound of wooden items clashing.
Not being stupid, he suspected a nearby fight and cautiously approached the area. There, he saw two won fighting. One had black hair, and the other brown; both wielded wooden swords and were enveloped in the blue light of aura, reinforcing their bodies and weapons.
The training swords t in rapid succession, producing a clack-clack sound. Mikael watched the fight without intending to interfere, at least for the mont. However, he picked up a small rock from the ground, preparing it for when the fight ended.
The fight continued for several minutes, as the two fighters seed evenly matched. But eventually, exhaustion began to set in, and the black-haired woman tripped over a root she hadn't noticed. The other fighter seized the opportunity and slashed with all her strength toward the black-haired woman's sword-wielding hand.
The black-haired woman realized her mistake but didn't give up, trying to concentrate her aura on her arm. But it wasn't enough. The aura-infused wooden sword of the brown-haired woman pierced her defenses and struck her arm with a loud "thwack." She let out a small, pained cry, "Ahh," but seed ready to keep fighting.
Unfortunately for her, a similar strike with a real sword would have severed her hand—a crippling blow. She was imdiately enveloped in a barrier. Looking frustrated, she muttered, "No, I'm not down; I can keep fighting," but the barrier still teleported her away.
The remaining woman exhaled heavily, leaning on her sword to rest. Seeing an opportunity, Mikael prepared to throw the rock with his aura. But just before he could act—
"Wind Slash!"
A sudden wind slash shot out from a hidden spot a few ters from the exhausted woman. Caught by surprise and still fatigued, she couldn't dodge in ti. The attack hit her, and she disappeared in a flash of light.
The bushes where the attack originated were shredded, revealing a man in dark sports clothes with a serious expression, now visible to Mikael, who was still hidden. The examinee scanned his surroundings, wary of any hidden observers, before leaving the scene.
Mikael quietly trailed him but didn't imdiately strike, knowing the man was still on his guard after exposing himself with his sneak attack. Over the next few minutes, Mikael shadowed him until he stopped near a fight between a fire mage and a water mage.
The man hid himself behind a tree trunk, apparently waiting for the right mont to ambush the winner of the duel.
Mikael focused as much aura as he could—around 5%—into his left hand, concentrating it specifically on the rock to maximize its impact. At the sa ti, he enveloped his entire body in aura, using a greater amount than usual to ensure his surprise attack would take down the wind mage in a single strike.
He turned slightly to the left, pulled his arm back, took a throwing stance, rotated his hips, and launched the rock. The small stone sliced through the air at high speed, striking just at the back of the wind mage's head. The instant before the rock reached it's target the barrier appeared around the wind mage protecting him from fatal damage.
Stunned, the mage turned around and spotted Mikael, but he only had a mont to cast an incredulous look before he was teleported out.
"Who's there?" shouted the fire mage.
Both mages stopped their fight, looking in the direction of the recently eliminated wind mage. The barrier was hard to miss—a flash of blue light in an otherwise dim forest.
Realizing soone else was nearby, the two mages stopped fighting, unwilling to risk giving anyone else an advantage.
However, their caution was unnecessary; Mikael was already gone. He had decided to fight less often and focus on conserving his energy, so he slipped away unnoticed.
This strategy served him well for the rest of the test. Occasionally, he engaged in fights, but he evaded most encounters. This approach worked smoothly—until now.
Mikael stood at the edge of the battle zone, checking his map. 'Only 10 square kiloters left... and it doesn't seem like it will shrink any further. This must be the final battle zone—a small area, approximately 100 ters by 100 ters.'
'I don't know how many people are left, but in a zone this small, there can't be many; otherwise, I'd have seen them by now.'
He remained in his hiding spot, thinking, 'The frustrating part is I don't know exactly how many are left, so I can't plan anything! If it's just two of us, great, but if there are three or even four, that's a problem. I don't want to win a hard one-on-one fight just to be ambushed by soone else afterward.'
'I should try to stay hidden while searching for the other examinees so I can know exactly how many people are left and plan accordingly.'
He moved through the forest quietly, using the dusky darkness to his advantage. He continued to move slowly, thodically scanning the area.
Unfortunately, he wasn't a master at staying hidden and realized he'd been spotted when an aura arrow ca flying his way, he narrowly evaded it. The arrow crashed into a tree, leaving a small crater. He looked in the direction it had co from and saw Alia, her expression focused, already aiming another arrow at him.
They locked gazes for a second before she released the arrow. Mikael shifted his body to the right, dodging it, and shouted, "WAIT!"
Alia was montarily startled to hear him speak and hesitated, but quickly ignored him and nocked another arrow on her bow.
Seeing her reaction, Mikael sighed in exasperation. "Why don't we call a temporary truce? At least until we've searched the whole battle zone to make sure no other examinees are hiding. I don't know about you, but I'm not a fan of having a tough fight only for soone else to benefit from it."
Alia paused, considering his words. 'He has a point,' she thought. 'I hadn't considered that, but he's right. It'd be best to make sure I won't be ambushed after I win this fight.'
After a few seconds of silence, Alia's calm, soothing voice replied, "Alright, I accept your proposal. Let's do a temporary truce until we've searched the area. But I'm warning you—I'll be watching you. Don't try anything funny!"
"I could say the sa to you," Mikael replied, and the two began to thodically search the surrounding area, each keeping a careful eye on the other.
After about 15 minutes, they regrouped in the center of the small zone.
Hearing no sounds of a struggle, Mikael asked, "Nothing on your side either?"
She shook her head. "No, it seems it's just the two of us left."
As she spoke, she tightened her grip on her bow, holding an arrow in her other hand, ready for a fight at any mont.
Seeing her cautious stance, he offered, "I'll move 50 ters away from you. Once I'm at that distance, we start the fight. Sound good?"
Alia was surprised by his proposal, expecting him to use their proximity to launch a surprise attack. After all, as a close-combat fighter, he'd be at an advantage if he ambushed her. But his fair suggestion raised her opinion of him a notch—he seed more honorable than she had thought.
And that was exactly Mikael's intention. He knew there wouldn't be a huge difference between first and second place, but if he tried a surprise attack, he might earn the wrath of Alia Mournsky, heir to a powerful family. By making this 'fair' proposal, he hoped she'd see him in a better light.
It was a small gesture that he figured might help if she respected it, but wouldn't be a big loss if she didn't.
Alia finished considering it and gave him a nod of agreent. Seeing her response, Mikael leaped back, and Alia followed suit. They moved until they were 50 ters apart.
They locked gazes, gave each other a small nod, and the fight began.
Author Note:
If you'd like to support or get access to advanced Chapters, you can find on Patreon—just search for SDASLUMMY.
Of course, if you'd rather not, I totally understand! (I often do the sa when reading novels myself.)
If you want to support without paying, dropping a few Power Stones or leaving a review ans a lot and really helps the story gain visibility.
Thanks a ton for reading—I truly appreciate it!
Reviews
All reviews (0)