༺ Joint Practical Evaluation (3) ༻
46 times.
That was the number of times my bones had suffered a fracture during the winter break.
It made me realize the greatness of healing magic once again. It could mend broken bones perfectly within a day or two.
During the winter break, I often visited Stone Turtle – Gormos. Fighting against the golem minions he created was very helpful in honing my practical skills.
I suffered countless defeats at the hands of his minions. I seized dozens of victories, then faced the next level of minions, only to confront them over and over.
Before the end of the winter break, I was able to battle with the compressed golem, which had been my goal.
It was a 2-meter-tall golem. It was smaller compared to the dinosaur-sized regular golem minions.
Its rock fists were incredibly fast, and each hit felt like my insides would burst.
It was agile. Its attacks were skillful and the power of its magic was the strongest I had ever faced, making it quite challenging.
That excited me. I was certain that defeating it would elevate me to a new level.
So I fought with the thought of wrecking my body.
No matter how many times my bones broke, no matter how much blood and sweat I shed, I poured out all my strength into defeating Gormos’ minion.
Finally, the day before the end of winter break, I defeated the compressed golem.
I was so thrilled that I forgot all about the pain, I shouted in jubilation until my throat was hoarse.
Lv: 110
Gender: Male
Year: (2nd)
Title: Skilled Second Year
Mana: 30000/30000
– Mana Recovery Speed (A-)
The light from the lamp shined down.
There were three enemies in front of me now. Originally, there were four, but the paladin Shera, who was part of their group, was acting independently. I knew this from observing them with [Clairvoyance].
The first opponent was Snow White, level 39. Her element was wind. She was an opponent who required moderate caution.
Next was Abel Carnedes, a first-year from the Knight Department, class B, rank 1, level 90. His elements were water and fire. A swordsman with great talent. He prided himself on his agile movements and excellent reflexes, reminiscent of the top predator of the food chain.
He knew how to harmoniously combine sharp sword strikes with powerful elemental magic. Indeed, he possessed skills befitting an aspiring magic knight.
By the way, he played a significant supporting role in the second year of ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱.
Lastly, Roanna Shelton, she was in the upper ranks of class B, level 87. Her element was wind. Anyone she targets must forget about evading any of her arrows. Even if you tried to, she’d subtly adjust their trajectory with her wind to ensure a hit. She even amplified the power of her arrows with wind magic.
Her vision was naturally excellent befitting her status as an archer, Her ability to track the flow of mana was also exceptionally outstanding. Additionally, she was the girl who became Abel’s lover.
In ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱, there definitely was no such team.
The entrance of the four paladins certainly had a significant impact on the composition of teams in the joint practical evaluation.
Anyway, my task remained the same.
My objective was to hold my ground and not give way until the Abyssal Sea Monster appeared.
I had to prevent anyone’s mana from being absorbed into the Ring of the Abyssal Queen, held by the mid-boss of the Abyssal Sea Monster section.
I obtained the unique trait [Rapid growth] by maxing out the potential ‘Growth Rate’.
The effect was simple. It doubles the stat points gained with each level increase.
As a result, from level 106, where I had maxed out my growth rate, to level 110, I gained a total of 16 new stat points.
I invested them all in [vs. Human Combat Power ].
The effect of ‘Vs. Race Combat Power’ was the same for all. For every 10 stats points invested, one’s level against the selected race would increase by 5 and amplify the magic you used against it.
And when you hit the MAX of 100 stats, you gain a new unique trait, the effect of which inflates the increase in level and abilities.
The effect of my unique trait [Hunter] doubled the effects of [vs. Demon Combat Power]. The same could be assumed for others.
Currently, my [vs. Human Combat power] was 20.
Thus, my level temporarily increased by 10.
Lv: (120)
White might have noticed that my mana had increased, but this level of increase could reasonably be passed off as a buff from Zhonya’s Staff, a 2nd-tier magic weapon.
I had already laid the groundwork in case of such a situation.
Two weeks ago, I had explained what Zhonya’s Staff was during a discussion about magic weapons, mentioning that it enhances the power of my magic and increases the density of my mana.
And there was one more thing I had prepared in advance for today.
The glasses I took off were Ribella’s Glasses’, a magic tool with useful effects. The longer one wore them, the greater the buff to tracking mana one received when they took the glasses off. Of course, there are limits to this effect.
It was similar to the feeling of one’s legs becoming incredibly light as if they could fly away, after taking off sandbags that one had been wearing.
I rapidly circulated my mana, exhaling cold air.
I prepared for battle and looked at White and her group with a sneer.
These juniors were the eighth group I was going to take down.
* * *
Isaac’s chill dominated the space.
The surroundings began to freeze over in a fearsome manner, turning eerily pale.
The shallow seawater pooled on the ground quickly turned into a sheet of ice.
Splash—!
A flash of light poured from Abel’s scabbard, etching his form into the air.
Drawing his sword, a strike wrapped in water mana plunged into the ground.
A wall of water rose, momentarily blocking the cold.
“Roanna!”
Whooooosh──!
Roanna’s light green wind, as if waiting for the right moment, surged forth. The mana wind lifted White and her companions.
Lifting bodies with wind magic consumed a significant amount of mana, causing Roanna to squint one eye, feeling an intense strain, as if her body was twisting.
Even the water wall raised by Abel froze solidly.
As Isaac’s chill enveloped the area, turning the ground into an ice sheet, Roanna retracted her wind, allowing everyone to firmly plant their feet on the ground.
“Ha, we almost got wiped out right from the start…”
Abel let out a chuckle mixed with white breath.
The water pooled on the ground from the beginning must have been prepared by Isaac, probably using a water element scroll.
The fact that water remained despite many students already being eliminated by the senior with the ice element allowed Abel and Roanna to discern Isaac’s strategy.
Simply spreading cold air could quickly freeze their feet. That must have been his plan to create vulnerabilities.
Abel and Roanna were certain. The moment they showed even a brief gap against Isaac, their defeat would be sealed.
In a defensive stance, Abel adjusted his posture with his sword, Roanna drew her bowstring aiming at Isaac, and behind them, White deployed a light green magic circle.
The fiercely blowing cold wind was bone-chilling.
Coldness numbs the body. Abel ignited fierce flames on his blade, seeking warmth as if in front of a campfire in the cold.
There was no time for conversation. They needed to quickly gather information about the enemy.
Abel shouted.
“Princess White, do you know who that senior is?!”
“Yes, he’s my mentor! Senior Isaac…! This is the first time I’ve seen him handling ice magic…!”
White focused her sight on her mentor beyond the frigid chill.
Isaac. His primary element was ice, and his secondary element was rock, as she had heard.
“We need information! Anything! About that senior!”
“Information…? Huh…?”
Suddenly, a sense of incongruity struck her.
White realized she had no useful information to aid the battle.
She had never seen Isaac use ice magic before. Hadn’t he only ever used simple rock magic in her presence?
Why hadn’t she ever questioned this before?
She reflected on their almost daily mentoring sessions.
It seemed as if Isaac had deliberately hidden his power, never once showing or talking about his full capabilities.
“I’m, I’m sorry! I don’t have anything! Ahh!”
Whooooooosh───!!
Isaac’s chill turned into a whitish mist, obscuring their vision and building up an intensity that made even breathing seem distant.
The cold wind was imbued with the the two-star spell, [Snow Pellets]. [Snow Pellets] bounced wildly in the space that had turned into an ice rink, creating a chaotic noise.
Before Isaac disappeared from sight, Roanna shot an arrow imbued with wind magic,
As if it had been anticipated, an ice wall sprang up at the perfect moment to intercept the arrow, which bounced off with a thud.
The flames blazing on the blade of Abel’s sword finally succumbed to the chill. Then, he shouted.
“Roanna! Support!”
“Got it!”
“I’ll join in too!”
Fwoosh──!
Whooosh──!
Abel unleashed the flames of the sword, cleaving through the chill as he charged. White augmented the power of the flames by stirring up wind around Abel.
Roanna drew her bowstring. While Abel cleaved through the white coldness with his flaming sword, her eyes tracked Isaac, hidden within the cold wind.
The dense cold air, formed from ice mana, swirled savagely. Even with her mana perception and ability to track the flow of mana, it was difficult to locate Isaac.
Tracking by sound? Useless. The noise created by [Snow Pellets] drowned out all other sounds.
Securing visibility in the pale coldness was difficult,
But Roanna only needed to wait for a moment of vulnerability. The moment Isaac exposed himself to confront Abel was when she planned to release her arrow.
Or, she had to wait for when Isaac would use magic.
Whether he attacked or defended, as long as he used magic, she could swiftly identify the source of the magic and aim her arrow in that direction.
Roanna was confident. The thought of Isaac trying to hide from her seemed almost laughable.
“Go ahead and use your ice walls or whatever, Senior! Or are you scared?!”
Abel swung his flaming sword repeatedly, boldly taunting.
He was confident in his mana perception.
No matter how chaotically the ice mana swirled, making it difficult to track Isaac, he could pinpoint Isaac’s location by sensing the intense mana when he was about to use magic.
A cold sensation.
Abel felt dense mana behind his head.
“…!”
Abel halted and urgently turned around.
His eyes widened. With a startled expression, he shouted.
“Everyone, dodge!!”
Roanna and White also had their eyes wide open in shock.
Because they felt Isaac’s mana, somehow, from beneath their feet.
Tracking the source of mana was the fundamental basics of battling a wizard. So, they had arrogantly followed this principle.
But there was no way Isaac wouldn’t have anticipated that.
Time seemed to stop. As a pale blue radiance burst from the ice beneath their feet, Roanna instinctively raised the wind to push White back.
Whoooosh!
“Aaah!”
White was pushed away, screaming.
At the same time, Roanna also tried to retreat, but…
Boom─────!!
A pale blue mana explosion erupted from the ground.
Shards of ice flew in all directions. Within the mass of ice that appeared in a flash, half of Roanna’s body was engulfed in it.
Roanna’s body, lifted by the force of the magical explosion, was caught by the rising mass of ice.
None of White’s group understood what had just happened.
They wouldn’t have known that beneath the ice laid the Sheath of Disaster, imbued with just enough mana for use in human combat.
Abel bit his lip, regretting that had he been there, he could have either avoided the [Frost Explosion] with Roanna or blocked it with his fiery sword strike. He was confident he could have countered a [Frost Explosion] of that magnitude.
Suddenly, a question arose.
Why hadn’t Isaac activated that magic tool from the beginning?
It was as if he had been waiting for Abel to be separated from his group. It was as if he knew the extent of Abel’s skills.
At that moment.
Whoosh─!
“…!”
A man with silver-blue hair burst through the pale cold wind.
It was Isaac.
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