Chapter 289: Third Week [2]

Chapter 288

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Episode 76 - Third Week [2]

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"Begin!"

I was sitting on a bench with my arms crossed, while a katana rested against the wall right beside me.

At that moment, the professor’s shout reached even the Waiting Room.

Shortly after, the sounds of punches, kicks, and weapons clashing against each other began to echo through the area.

It was the second day of the third week, around noon.

So far, ten matches had taken place, and the next one would be mine.

Each cadet had two matches. Even if they lost their first match, they could still come back and win their second.

For that reason, my intention was to win the first match and lose the second.

Today, the winner would be decided among the cadets who weren’t ranked among the top ten.

The first-place winner would receive ten thousand points and a Golden Crown, an award given to the best cadet outside the Top 10.

The Golden Crown wasn’t quite as prestigious as the Golden Star.

Meanwhile, the second- and third-place winners would receive six thousand and three thousand points, respectively.

Those points would be awarded for the following year.

At least ten thousand points were required to advance to the Second Year, while sixty thousand points were needed to advance to the Third Year.

That was one of the reasons there were only around fifteen to twenty cadets in the Third Year, while the Second Year had between thirty and fifty.

The First Year, on the other hand, had around five hundred cadets.

’Ugh, I wonder if I’ll be admitted to the Academy next year.’

On the day of the Second-Year Entrance Ceremony, Director Bernice would give a speech and also reveal that both Veronica and I would be her disciples.

Of course, that was nothing more than a cover to make the bounty on my head disappear and, along with it, the idea that I was a villain.

For the time being, I was still one of the most wanted people on the entire continent.

Therefore, I couldn’t freely show my face. Whenever I went outside, I used Mana to change my appearance or relied on a Potion.

’Heh, I wonder how Astrid reacted when she was adopted.’

Director Bernice had adopted Veronica, Astrid, and me three weeks ago, on the third day after the beginning of the Academic Exchange.

Since then, my official name had been Adel Sylvain D’Aubermont.

However, Astrid was the only one who didn’t know the truth. As far as she knew, Veronica and she were the only ones who had been adopted by Director Bernice.

’Ugh, I wish she’d call me older brother.’

I sighed inwardly, pushed those thoughts aside, and waited for time to pass.

Finally, the professor’s shout echoed once again.

"End of the match."

At the same instant, a voice echoed throughout the Waiting Room.

"First-Year Cadet, Rank 16, Ivan Solaris. It’s your turn."

I stood up from the bench and picked up the katana I had left resting against the wall right beside where I had been sitting.

Then, I walked down a hallway for a few seconds until I reached the edge of the Arena.

I stepped inside and walked toward the center, stopping about three meters away from my opponent.

On the other side stood a girl with long ears similar to those of an elf, with fangs peeking out from the corners of her lips.

Her expression was unmistakably arrogant, and without even needing to perceive her emotions, I knew she was extremely confident.

So far, 60% of the matches had been won by Elvenheims Academy.

’She must be eighteen, yet she’s acting like a complete child.’

In any case, the professor in charge of supervising the matches appeared right in the center of the Arena.

"Begin!"

The moment he shouted the word, the girl lunged at me.

Coincidence or not, she was also wielding a katana.

Feigning a serious expression, I gripped the hilt of my katana and drew it.

Then, a current of lightning covered the blade.

Before infiltrating the Academy, I had equipped myself with a Relic that allowed me to use the Lightning Attribute.

However, since it wasn’t a true Attribute but an artificial one, it was slightly inferior to the genuine Lightning Attribute.

Even so, I could use it simply by channeling my Mana.

It was worth mentioning that Relics of this kind practically didn’t exist, and finding one had been extremely difficult.

Crackle! Slash!

A dozen lines of lightning appeared around the girl.

In an instant, she drew her katana and performed a similar move.

The dozens of razor-thin blades of lightning were blocked.

Once again, I maintained a serious expression before swinging my katana.

Slash!

My body moved at incredible speed, and I appeared behind the girl.

Then, I swung my katana in the shape of an X and slashed across her back.

Boom!

Her body was sent flying instantly, landing several meters away.

Her expression had completely changed from the pain, while a cold sweat ran down her forehead.

Without giving her time to recover, I moved.

Crackle!

Lightning covered my legs as my movement speed suddenly increased.

Appearing in front of the girl, I muttered:

"Extreme Katana Art."

It was the Sword Art I had copied and perfected from the real Ivan Solaris.

Countless slashes appeared as I moved from every angle within a three-meter radius around the girl.

I swung my katana over and over, each movement of my arm leaving afterimages behind.

The girl tried to defend herself by blocking most of my katana’s slashes; however, she couldn’t avoid getting injured.

Blood began to pour from all over her body.

Slash!

Then, I moved once more, this time with my katana sheathed. Using the pommel of the hilt, I struck the back of the girl’s neck.

Crash!

Her head slammed into the ground, kicking up a small cloud of sand.

"End of the match."

The professor appeared right in front of me and raised his arm. At the same time, two men in medical gowns approached and carried the unconscious girl away.

’Oh, right. I should also pretend I’m at my limit.’

With that in mind, I controlled the pores of my body and forced myself to sweat. Drop after drop, sweat fell to the ground.

Then, I changed my breathing to short, labored breaths.

With that, no one should think I hadn’t put in any effort.

So, I turned around and walked back to the Waiting Room.

As soon as I returned, a woman quickly approached and asked:

"Are you injured anywhere, internally or externally?"

I shook my head and replied:

"No, I’m just... exhausted."

"Okay, I’ll get you some water."

I nodded without saying anything.

The woman left and returned shortly afterward with a bottle of water. I took it and drank the entire contents in three gulps.

A short while later, I left the Waiting Room and stepped outside the dome known as ’The Arena.’

Finally, I walked toward a bench where there weren’t any cadets nearby.

My next match would be in five matches, so I’d have to wait for around three hours at most, regardless of how long each match lasted.

I let out a bored sigh.

Honestly, suppressing my physical abilities was more difficult than controlling my Star level.

Physical ability was something I had to keep under control. If I wanted to use my full strength, it was easy; the difficult part was using only the bare minimum necessary.

’I had been suppressing my overall strength for three weeks.’

But tomorrow, after the final match between the Top 10, I would stop suppressing my true strength.

Just then, while I was lost in my thoughts...

"Ah, hello, Older brother."

I snapped out of my thoughts and raised my head to "look" at Veronica, who had suddenly appeared in front of me.

’Ah, right. She’s not participating in the Top 10 matches.’

Honestly, some of the professors must have been quite disappointed, since neither Lumina nor Veronica would be participating in the Top 10 matches.

Both of them had declined to participate.

"You’ve been doing well these past few days."

Veronica blinked, and shortly afterward, her expression changed into a mischievous one.

Then she said:

"Aw, you’re saying I look pretty."

"..."

"I can’t even see you."

I shook my head with a sigh at her joke.

According to what Rinna had told me, Veronica had black hair and deep purple or violet eyes.

On the other hand, I honestly didn’t know what she really looked like.

"Anyway, what are you doing here? You’ve already finished both of your matches."

As for me, I still had one match left, so I was forced to wait. Veronica, on the other hand, had already finished all of hers.

And, by the way, she had deliberately lost both matches.

"What else? Obviously, I want to be with my dear brother."

"...."

I didn’t know what to say to that, since judging by the emotions she was displaying at that moment, she literally meant it.

"Ah, okay. Sit down."

Veronica smiled and took a seat beside me. (Image)

Then, she suddenly said:

"I want to accompany you on your mission to recover your memories."

I turned my head and "looked" at her, slightly surprised and confused.

"Why all of a sudden?"

Veronica shrugged and replied:

"You’ll know once you recover your memories."

I crossed my arms and tilted my head back slightly before shaking it inwardly.

’Now I understand why the protagonists in some stories get frustrated whenever they’re denied an answer to their questions.’

Because I literally felt the exact same way at that moment.

’Still, it seems like she’s back to her old self.’

For some reason I didn’t know, ever since I regained consciousness after nearly dying, Veronica’s emotions had been like a storm.

Not sadness, but a fear I couldn’t understand.

As if she was afraid of disappearing.