Chapter 57 - 56: SLAP

Chapter 57: Chapter 56: SLAP

Beside Aegon, Aria frowned slightly and leaned closer to whisper, "Aegon, were you tricked by that old clerk? If he sold you a dead specimen without explaining properly, I can ask Instructor Bella to get your credits back."

?"There is no need. The clerk was very honest. That stone did everything I needed it to do." he said nonchalantly.

?"Still pretending to be calm after throwing away fifty hard-earned credits?" Julian sneered from across the floor.

"I suppose someone from a rural kingdom has never seen the inside of a real treasure vault before. Next time you want to buy garbage, Noiré, just ask me. I have plenty of pebbles in my courtyard you can eat for free."

?Another wave of laughter echoed from the noble heirs gathered behind Julian.

?Click. Clack. Click. Clack.

?Before the laughter could die down, the side doors of the colosseum swung open.

Instructor Bella strolled onto the elevated basalt dueling stage, her heels elegant and crisp.

?Instantly, the noisy freshmen straightened their backs and fell silent.

?"You all seem very energetic this afternoon," Bella said with a teasing smile. "That is good, because today is your first practical combat evaluation. Just a moment ago at noon, the Academy distributed the initial monthly stipend to your badges. Those in the top ten received one hundred Academic Credits, while ranks eleven through thirty received fifty."

?Aegon glanced down at the Golden Griffin Badge pinned to his coat. Sure enough, the runic counter on the back now glowed with the number [ 100 ].

?"The rules for this afternoon’s class are very simple. Anyone may step onto the stage and challenge a classmate to a one-on-one duel. However, to teach you the weight of real combat, every match requires a minimum wager of twenty Academic Credits from each side, with no upper limit. Now, who would like to warm up the stage first?"

?Before the final word had even finished echoing off the basalt walls, Aegon stepped forward and walked calmly up the stone stairs onto the center of the dueling ring.

?Turning around on the elevated platform, Aegon rested his hands loosely at his sides and looked straight down at Derrick Vane.

?"Since you were laughing so hard about my empty pockets a moment ago, Derrick Vane, why don’t you come up here first?

We both just received our one-hundred-credit monthly stipend. Let us wager all one hundred credits on a single match."

Aegon’s clear voice carried across the quiet arena.

?All eyes in the hall snapped toward Derrick.

?For a split second, Derrick hesitated, remembering the water-mirror broadcast from yesterday where Aegon had beaten fifteen boys by the creek.

?Seeing his hesitation, Julian Von Draken leaned in and spoke in an encouraging voice.

"What are you waiting for, Derrick? Yesterday in the Ironwood Expanse, the array suppressed seventy percent of our mana, turning mages into crippled targets for his physical ambushes. Inside this arena, there is no mana suppression! With your A-Rank Iron Bastion Grimoire at full power, a First-Circle spell is more than enough to block his scabbard and blast him off the stage."

?Derrick’s eyes lit up with realization.

?Julian was right!

In the forest, none of the mages could cast a proper defensive barrier because of the suppression array.

Here in the Combat Arena, he had access to one hundred percent of his mana! Moreover, Derrick was ranked ninth in the entire freshman class, far stronger than weaklings like Bramwell Morlan.

?"Bastard! Don’t blame me for bullying you when you end up penniless again!" Derrick scowled.

?Down below, Instructor Bella stepped back to the edge of the platform and tapped her silver wand against the floor, raising a translucent protective barrier around the stage so stray magic wouldn’t hit the spectators.

?"Wager locked at one hundred Academic Credits each. Lethal strikes are forbidden, and the match ends when one party is knocked unconscious, thrown out of the ring, or surrenders. Begin!"

?The instant Bella’s voice fell, Derrick didn’t dare hold back.

?Whoosh!

?A heavy, bronze-colored Grimoire materialized in front of Derrick’s chest, its pages flipping rapidly as a dense yellow-brown earthen aura erupted from his body.

?"Try breaking through my full-power magic without a suppression array helping you, country bumpkin!" Derrick roared, slamming both palms together.

"First-Circle Earth Magic: Triple Granite Carapace!

First-Circle Offensive Magic: Iron Boulder Barrage!"

?Rumble!

?Three thick slabs of rune-carved granite rose around Derrick’s body like an impenetrable fortress, while six spinning boulders coated in sharp iron spikes condensed in the air above his head, hurtling toward Aegon like cannonballs!

?Down by the stage, the noble students cheered aloud.

?"Oh damn! Look at the density of that Triple Granite Carapace! Without drawing a high-grade runic weapon, even a Second-Circle warrior couldn’t scratch that defense!"

?"And hmph Aegon Noiré hasn’t even summoned his Grimoire or touched the hilt of his sword yet! He’s too slow!"

?On the stage, Aegon watched the six iron boulders screaming toward his face.

?To his current 60 Speed and 22 Soul Power, the flying projectiles looked as slow and clumsy as falling autumn leaves.

?He didn’t summon a Grimoire. He didn’t even reach for the Flame Sword at his waist.

?Step.

?With a faint boom that cracked the black basalt tile beneath his boot, Aegon vanished from his spot like a wisp of black smoke!

?CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!

?The six iron boulders slammed into the empty stone where Aegon had been standing a microsecond earlier, blasting craters into the stage.

?"What?!" Derrick’s pupils shrank.

?His eyes couldn’t even track Aegon’s movement! Before his mind could register where his opponent had gone, a dark shadow loomed directly in front of his Triple Granite Carapace.

?"You talk too much," Aegon said flatly.

?Instead of throwing a punch or drawing his scabbard, Aegon simply raised his bare right hand and swung an open-palm backhand straight into the front of Derrick’s three-layered stone barrier.

?With 62 Strength forged by the Nine-Cloud Flawless Dragon-Marrow Pill, the sheer physical force behind Aegon’s casual swing carried the weight of a rampaging behemoth!

?BOOM!

?The first layer of granite armor exploded into gravel on contact.

?CRACK!

?The second and third layers shattered like cheap window glass a millisecond later, offering no more resistance than wet paper!

?Then, before the horrified gazes of all 29 elite freshmen, Aegon’s open palm passed straight through the exploding stone shards and struck Derrick Vane squarely across the left cheek.

?SLAP!