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Chapter 17: Counterattack
The mock battle continued.
So fought to raise their ranks.
So fought to protect their ranks.
A fierce struggle ensued among the students.
Zerion Academy is a place of ritocracy.
Students with higher rankings receive greater support and benefits.
This place is like a microcosm of the vast global society.
Many children of high-ranking nobles and future heroes who will make their nas known spend their childhood here.
Making a na for oneself at Zerion Academy is equivalent to making a na on the world stage.
Thus, the students are even more desperate to raise their ranks.
Even the professors watch the mock battles with caution, as the passion of the students burns excessively during this ti.
At this mont,
soone was dashing through the arena.
Smack!
My fist landed squarely on my opponent's chin.
"You... bastard..."
My opponent, knocked out cold with just one punch, collapsed helplessly.
He had been dragging out a stamina battle all day.
Finally, as he beca exhausted, I seized the opportunity and struck.
The students' gazes montarily fixated on .
"What rank was that guy again?"
"30th."
"......"
The voices of mockery suddenly fell silent.
Instead, their faces began to show signs of wariness.
An unstoppable winning streak.
Seventeen opponents have already fallen to my fists.
And they all fell in the sa manner as the first one I faced, Miryzen.
"Is he using martial arts?"
"But he hardly used any actual techniques, right?"
"Most of them lost in stamina battles."
"He's intentionally hiding his abilities."
"He's pretty tough too. He took several direct hits without flinching."
The students were starting to gauge my abilities.
It ant they saw as a threat.
'I’ve managed to push this far with stamina and dragging out the fight.'
But everyone has their limits.
As my rank increased, so did the skill level of my opponents.
It was getting harder to avoid attacks.
Just a mont ago, I had taken several effective hits.
'Thank goodness for my Steel Skin.'
I would have been in serious trouble if it weren't for that.
'Now it's ti to face the mid-tier opponents.'
Only those who wouldn't fall for such tactics remained.
Even Steel Skin has its limits.
There are those who can penetrate it.
Boom!
Suddenly, a deafening noise echoed through the arena.
I turned my head in that direction to see a green-haired man, his hair tied back, sprawled on the ground in front of Isabel.
It was Zelond Vasis, ranked 9th.
"Ugh..."
In front of him stood a girl with flowing honey-blonde hair.
Isabel Luna.
She held a dagger shaped like a crystal in one hand and a long sword in the other.
Unlike her usual self, she looked down at Zelond with cold eyes.
Isabel was known for being ruthless in battle.
While she was usually bright and lovable, once in combat, her focus made her seem like a completely different person.
But today, she seed even more intense than usual.
"Has Isabel gotten stronger?"
"She’s been training alone in the practice room lately."
"She’s aiming for the top."
The students were surprised by Isabel's improved skills.
Though she had always been a top-ranked student, after Lucas's death, she had lost all motivation and her rank began to drop.
But today, she was showing a clearly different side of herself.
She seed to be in peak form—perhaps even better than before.
Isabel's head turned.
Her eyes, reminiscent of the sun, t mine directly.
In her gaze, I saw flas of deep-seated anger flicker.
The reason she regained her strength and improved.
I knew exactly what it was.
She wanted to defeat decisively and make apologize for disrespecting Lucas.
That was the ssage her eyes conveyed.
'Oh, she’s burning bright.'
I couldn’t be happier to see her so motivated.
It ant I was becoming the clear focus of her life.
'Keep growing like that, Isabel.'
And as she grows, let her resentnt toward grow even more.
As I caught my breath, I noticed the first-year students also engaged in mock battles.
In the distance, I saw soone wielding a massive greatsword.
It was the iron-wall Aisha.
A student charging at her was struck by the greatsword and sent flying into the air.
He barely managed to land on his feet, looking pale as he stared at Aisha.
But with her dark blue hair fluttering, Aisha had an even more intense look on her face.
She was usually diligent and hard-working, but she turned ferocious once she picked up her greatsword.
'I’ve experienced that firsthand.'
I chuckled bitterly, recalling the day I sparred with Aisha before the mock battle.
Even now, I could feel a dull ache in my side from the mory.
"29th rank, Seron Parmia, and 30th rank, Hannon Irey."
As I watched Aisha finish off her opponent with her greatsword,
I heard the instructor call my na.
Turning my gaze, I saw a girl walking out from the group of girls who always criticized .
With burgundy ponytail hair tied back with a headband, showing off her forehead,
and an oversized outfit seemingly chosen to emphasize her cuteness, it was one of the four girls who always mocked .
Seron Parmia.
As soon as she t my eyes, she scoffed.
"What are you looking at, burnt sweet potato?"
Oh?
What kind of insult is "burnt sweet potato"?
She was already stepping onto the arena.
"Seron, teach him a lesson!"
"Make that jerk pay!"
"You're dead against Seron!"
The crowd's cheers were loud and obnoxious.
Buoyed by their support, Seron wore a smug expression.
"Don’t think your stupid stamina tricks will work on . You might die, sweet potato."
She warned .
It was a warning that her stamina wouldn’t give out like my previous opponents'.
And I was well aware of the nickna given to her.
'Unlucky Seron.'
She was known for her bad luck.
During every mock battle, she would face so kind of mishap, and her rank suffered as a result.
Bad luck seed to follow her for so reason, and she often ended up in the infirmary.
Swish!
At that mont, Seron drew two axes from her waist simultaneously.
Her skills with the axes were real.
She definitely didn't belong in the mid-lower ranks.
'Statistically, she was the strongest among the four girls.'
But as I ntioned,
she was unlucky.
"Yeah, I know."
I grabbed a piece of equipnt from the weapon rack below the arena.
Seron's eyes widened as she saw it.
It was a single item I took up.
A shield.
I hadn't used a weapon until now.
So when I took up a shield at this mont, Seron's face twisted in confusion.
All the data she had gathered on so far was now useless.
Her reaction was only natural.
"You think using a shield will make a difference?"
Seeing her bewildernt, I stepped onto the arena.
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"I have no choice."
I casually lifted the shield.
"Your shiny forehead was too blinding, so I needed sothing to block it."
Veins popped!
I could see a vein bulge on Seron's forehead.
"What did you say about my forehead?"
Seron’s forehead veins bulged visibly.
“What about my forehead, huh?”
True to her penchant for cheap provocations, she fell right into mine.
Predictable.
“Begin.”
Here she cos.
The mont I sensed her movent, my shield reacted instinctively.
Claaaaang!
With a deafening noise, Seron’s axe collided with my shield.
Despite her appearance, Seron’s strength was trendous, leaving a heavy impact.
“To Belle!”
Calling out Isabel’s nickna, Seron’s eyes flared with rage.
“I didn’t like you from the mont you opened your big mouth!”
Clang!
I blocked her swinging axe with my shield again.
Maintaining her posture from the swing, she twisted her body and followed up with a seamless chain of attacks.
“Now I’m sure of it!”
Hiss!
At that mont, I heard the sound of ignition from the edge of her axe.
Flas flickered beyond my shield.
This was Seron’s unique trait: Ignition Axe.
Boom!
The explosion forced to step back.
Her Ignition Axe created explosions upon contact.
The faint sll of gunpowder tickled my nose.
My arm tingled from the shockwave of the explosion that had traveled through my shield.
“Burn to a crisp like a roasted sweet potato!”
With a leap, Seron’s agile body executed a relentless barrage of strikes.
Each ti, I blocked her axe with my shield.
My body kept getting pushed back.
I realized her intention.
She was trying to push entirely out of the arena.
‘Since there’s an out-of-bounds rule in sparring matches.’
It wasn’t a bad strategy.
But as I ntioned earlier, Seron’s luck was terrible.
Just before I could be forced out of the arena, my foot moved forward for the first ti.
Seron imdiately noticed my movent.
As a master of chain attacks, her awareness was sharp.
But it didn’t matter.
At an unexpected timing, my shield thrust forward, clashing with her axe.
Clang!
The forces of her axe and my shield collided head-on, causing both to rebound in opposite directions.
The result was mutual neutralization.
But Seron’s axes weren’t limited to just one.
Her dual-wielding technique was her specialty.
The axe in her other hand hurtled toward my exposed body.
Confidence glead in her eyes.
I extended my left arm toward it just before her axe could reach .
Seron’s eyes widened in shock.
Though the axe was magically treated by the academy to prevent lethal injuries, her Ignition Axe carried its unique trait.
One wrong move could leave my left arm mangled.
Even with top-tier healers on standby, this was reckless.
Crunch!
But a match is a match.
Seron, undeterred, poured all her strength into the axe.
She intended to make pay dearly this ti.
And her axe struck my arm.
Boom!
The explosion echoed through the arena.
A direct hit.
Victory seed certain in Seron’s eyes.
Whoosh!
Amid the swirling smoke, my hand shot out and grabbed Seron by the collar.
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
“What?!”
Her stunned reaction was understandable.
This was the arm her Ignition Axe had just struck.
Even if it hadn’t been severed, it should have been at least mangled by the explosion.
Yet here it was, perfectly fine, gripping her collar.
Seron’s thoughts montarily froze.
But her body moved on instinct.
The axe she had swung imdiately returned to target my arm.
Boom!
Another explosion erupted as her Ignition Axe activated again.
This ti, surely—
Whoosh!
Her body suddenly lifted into the air.
Seron’s eyes filled with astonishnt.
My arm was still unhard.
As I said, Seron was unlucky.
After all, she had encountered in the early rounds of this sparring match.
The trait I gained from the Steel Empress:
Steel Skin.
Steel Skin ca with two effects:
1. Weakening physical and slashing attacks.
2. Immunity to fire.
To penetrate my Steel Skin, one would need more firepower than the dozens of Fire Essences I had used in training.
Seron’s Ignition Axe stood no chance.
The shield had been a decoy all along, ant to mislead Seron into thinking her attacks were effective.
And she fell for it beautifully.
I slamd her down from the air with all my strength.
Boom!
Seron’s body hit the ground, her arms and legs montarily sticking up in the air before flopping down limply.
Her body trembled slightly.
“Hic, hiccup.”
A feeble sound escaped her lips.
Like a small, frightened animal, she shivered.
I casually shook out my left arm.
Even with Steel Skin, the impact wasn’t completely negligible.
It wasn’t ideal to use such tactics frequently, but this was a worthy opponent.
Step, step.
I approached Seron.
“Ugh, hic, stay away!”
All the bravado she had earlier was gone.
Her voice, trembling with fear, pleaded.
I paused briefly, then smirked.
“I’ll leave you to it.”
Enjoy the taste of burnt sweet potato.
Without rcy, I raised my fist.
“N-nooo!”
My fist struck Seron’s face squarely.
Crunch!
Her body convulsed once before going limp.
Her slender legs folded neatly beneath her, utterly drained of strength.
“30th-ranked Hanon Irey wins.”
The instructor’s curt announcent echoed.
I raised my head.
Shocked by Seron’s humiliating defeat, the spectators were at a loss for words.
The expressions of her three companions, mbers of her “elite” group, were especially priceless.
I made eye contact with them.
If this wasn’t enough, they should expect worse.
Let them see how terrifying a burnt sweet potato can be.
[Translator - Night]
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