Ch. 76.1 - Chaos (5)
The fact that Baek Yu-Seol received special training became a big issue within the academy.

More than a hundred people came to watch, and even the professors were quietly whispering.

Eisel was also one of the people who came to watch Baek Yu-Seol's duel.

Not alone.

With friends.

"Hey, Eisel, who do you think will win?"

"Um, um?"

Eisel hesitated for a moment in response to Hariren's sudden question.

Another friend picked up her answer.

"Of course, the second-year senior will win. How can the first-year student win against a senior who goes through field practice and even missions?"

"That's true. But you never know, right?"

"Where do you see that?"

Watching her chattering friends, Eisel smiled wryly.

That was right.

Friends.

Eisel was not alone.

Earlier, Hariren approached her and said, "Let's have a meal together."

And when they went out for a meal, there were three more girls. They were honest with her.

"We've heard about you. But recently, we've seen you again. We became curious about who you are."

They asked her various questions, pure curiosities that one could have about a person named Eisel.

Some questions were awkward to answer, and some asked impolite questions even at the first meeting...

On the contrary, since Eisel showed such honesty, they were able to open their hearts to her.

In just a few days, Eisel managed to slip into the group of Hariren’s friends.

Most of the girls were commoners or nameless nobles.

The noble-born among them would furrow their brows, saying that commoners should stick together, but those kids didn't care about such things.

Instead, they treated Eisel no differently because she was a commoner.

The child of a traitor? They didn’t know, but she was a celebrity, for now!

Among the teenage commoner girls, Eisel’s image was generally like that.

And all of this... thanks to Baek Yu-Seol. Because of him, Eisel was able to receive such positive attention by showing extraordinary and remarkable behavior alongside him.

"So, what do you think?"

As the topic came back around to her, Eisel replied, "If we look at it objectively... the senior will probably win."

She gave an ambiguous answer.

It was true that the senior would likely win.

In other words, it could also mean that Baek Yu-Seol had a chance of winning.

However, considering the situation, it would be difficult to win.

If he dared to defeat the senior here, it would cause a tremendous uproar.

That was why Eisel was curious about his decision.

Would he swallow his pride and intentionally lose to the senior by hiding his skills?

Or perhaps, should he just overpower the senior?

"Hmm, well... It's true that Earth-type attributes have particularly strong defenses, but I don't think Baek Yu-Seol’s firepower is that strong."

"No, I heard last time that he even broke through a shield with his magic sword."

"Still... Can a magic sword really penetrate a Class 3 Earth-type defense?"

Logically, it was absolutely impossible.

However, Baek Yu-Seol had actually stabbed and killed a Class 5 necromancer. As Eisel, who knew this fact, their doubts felt cute to her.

"Besides, Earth-type specializes in field control. The more they dominate their area, the stronger and more diverse their attacks can become."

No matter how fast and agile Baek Yu-Seol might be, if the opponent seized control of the field, the duel would be over in that moment.

There would be nothing left but he would be on the receiving end.

Perhaps, the other mages sitting elsewhere were also discussing similar matters.

Even though they were just naive teenagers, they were aspiring magic warriors, and it was their instinct to thoroughly analyze and understand such exciting battles.

"Hmm, then what should we do..."

Just as the discussion was about to start with those points.

"Then let's start the duel right away."

Finally, the duel began.

[Flash]

[Flash]

[Flash]

Everyone was taken aback as they saw Baek Yu-Seol continuously blinking and disappearing from the field.

"Uh, yeah. That's the right answer."

The right answer was the right answer. It was just not easy to do it like that.

Showing your back and leaving the position in a duel between mages aligned with the notion that you would become a target and get killed.

Even if you're a Knight-type with the ability to use Hyper Jump, it was the same.

But... Baek Yu-Seol didn't have such concerns.

His ability to freely control the distance and space was sometimes utilized in that manner.

Baek Yu-Seol pursued a combat style that was completely different from common sense, and although everyone thought about it, they couldn't choose a method which couldn’t be executed by them, which sometimes left people bewildered.

"Hmm..."

While everyone was having such thoughts, Eisel analyzed his judgment in a different direction.

It was undoubtedly difficult according to common sense to penetrate the defense system of the Earth attribute mage, but judging from Baek Yu-Seol’s skills that she had witnessed so far, he should be able to break through without any problem.

"Not wanting to fight head-on... It must mean that he intends to quietly fight without revealing his true abilities..."

So, how should they proceed?

That question was quickly resolved.

Although the duel arena was spacious, the space was limited, and there were also limitations to fleeing.

In other words, if the opponent tried to escape anywhere, a little pursuit would bring them within the range of magic.

While the Earth attribute could control a wide range but had a short range, Kallivan was confident enough in his abilities to cover that gap without hesitation, and headed towards the forest where Baek Yu-Seol had disappeared.

The trees were dense, but within the Stella Dome's empty airspace, spectators could see a multi-angle view of what each participant was doing from their respective perspectives.

However, the camera that was focusing on Baek Yu-Seol kept swiftly moving and changing locations, making it difficult to concentrate properly.

Unable to do anything about it, the students and faculty members focused on Kallivan's perspective.

"Senior is being extremely cautious."

"Yeah, you're right. Seeing those seniors who always flaunt their prestige and casually wield their staff, it's quite refreshing to see something like this."

Ignoring the chatter of the students, Kallivan pressed forward into the forest, where his vision was completely blocked.

"Damn it, where did this bastard hide?"

He never expected that during a sacred duel, Baek Yu-Seol would show his back and simply run away.

According to rumors on campus, he would brag about being a knight with a sword, but perhaps it was all empty talk.

Snap!

"Hm!"

His senses detected a movement. Although it was a forest, there shouldn't be any wild animals in the duel arena, so it must be Baek Yu-Seol.

"Earth Spear!"

Without hesitation, he launched a sharp spear made of stone towards the sound, and something was struck with a thud and fell.

"Good!"

Immediately, he inscribed a magic circle on both hands and quickly approached the spot.

"Huh...?"

There, a monkey doll was hanging from a branch, swaying back and forth with its tail.

Kallivan's gaze shifted to something held in the monkey's hands.

"... Symbols?"

In that instant, the monkey clashed its symbols together, releasing a tremendous shockwave.

Bang! Boom!

"Argh...!"

However, true to his Earth element mage nature, he didn't retreat but instead increased the weight of his body like a rock, withstanding the shockwave.

The impact itself was not powerful enough to be lethal, and he could easily block it with a simple shield of a Class 1 level.

But that wasn't important.

"It's a trick!"

As soon as he realized that, he hastily erected an earth barrier onto his own back.

And as he expected, followed by the sound of wind cutting through the air, Baek Yu-Seol approached from behind and swung his shining sword.

Clang!

The magic sword tore the earth barrier apart, but unfortunately, it couldn't pierce through it.

"Wave Break!"

Gripping his left fist tightly without holding a staff, Kallivan rolled forward, causing the earth barrier to burst and scatter dust in all directions.

While Kallivan skillfully created another barrier and hid behind it, he probably didn't suffer any damage.

However, Baek Yu-Seol, who was nearby, undoubtedly did.

"... Nothing?"

However, at the spot where the rocks exploded, there was no trace left except for a single golden bell swaying lightly.

Mistaking the golden bell for an attack, he quickly defended himself. But... nothing happened.

"Damn it!"

Swiftly turning his gaze, Kallivan saw Baek Yu-Seol sprinting away, several strides ahead.

"How unnecessarily quick!"

However, now that the distance had been narrowed down to this extent, it was well within the range of magic.

Crack!

As Kallivan swung his staff, the ground beneath Baek Yu-Seol suddenly rose, causing his surroundings to collapse.

Fragments of rocks defied gravity and flew towards the sky, while sharp rock slides formed in reverse, pressuring Baek Yu-Seol.

However, with movements so agile that he resembled a monkey, he skillfully evaded them.

He spun his sword to deflect the rock fragments and cleverly slipped away from attacks that were impossible to avoid by hiding within the natural barriers of the terrain, including trees.

As a result, at some point, Baek Yu-Seol had moved beyond Kallivan's magic range.

"Damn it!"

It happened in the blink of an eye. Thanks to the advice from his mates to be cautious of teleportation, Kallivan had kept over half of his attacks reserved, anticipating Baek Yu-Seol’s use of teleportation at any moment.

But to deliberately restrain his teleportation, causing the attacks to miss... It was unexpected.

Kallivan swiftly chased after Baek Yu-Seol from behind.

In that moment, along with a sensation of his soles floating, his senses detected magic.

Ch. 76.2
Kallivan swiftly chased after Baek Yu-Seol from behind.

In that moment, along with a sensation of his soles floating, his senses detected magic.

‘... No, this is alchemy!’

As befitting of a Stella's student, the analysis of this alchemy quickly concluded in his mind.

Crack!

The correct answer was the leaf he stepped on with his right foot. It was hard to believe, but that leaf lifted the person who stepped on it into the air.

"Is this... a product of alchemy?"

Although it was his first encounter with alchemy, he calmly arranged mana throughout his body.

"Weight Amplification!"

Instantly, his body became heavier, countering the levitation magic, and he quickly landed on the ground. He swung his staff towards the empty space, launching several volleys of rock fragments.

Pew! Pew! Pew!

The attacks scattered in the air, including the trees, but he believed it was enough to suppress Baek Yu-Seol... or so he thought.

Baek Yu-Seol had already moved backward and was throwing something.

Clang!

‘Poison gas...?’

As Kallivan recognized its nature, he prepared a spell to block the air, but Baek Yu-Seol drank it faster than he expected.

Kallivan had no choice but to quickly use a detoxification spell due to the wind blowing it away.

In the modern era, biochemical poison-related magic was almost meaningless because magic capable of instantly analyzing and detoxifying any magic-infused poison had been developed.

However, there were cases where alchemists used toxins from animals or demons, and in those instances, detoxification was quite bothersome.

Kallivan assumed that Baek Yu-Seol had used that type of magic and hastily proceeded with detoxification, but...

"Gulp, cough...!"

For some reason, the detoxification spell didn't work at all, and water just dribbled from his eyes, nose, and mouth, while an excruciatingly stinging sensation dominated his head.

"CS gas...!"

It was sharp, stinging, and suffocating. A gas created not for the purpose of killing people, but solely to cause pain and suffering.

He had to concentrate. No matter how agonizing and strenuous it was, if his defense weakened for even a moment, he could be struck from behind.

However, since he couldn't secure any visibility and couldn't detect Baek Yu-Seol’s position, he could only raise rocks in a square shape in all directions.

This spell, which consumed mana excessively, was the worst method, but now he needed a means to defend himself while detoxifying this gas.

"Purification!"

Fortunately, the feeble trickery didn't have much effect on Kallivan, who had accumulated experience, and he was able to complete the detoxification in a matter of seconds.

Now he thought he would never fall for such tricks again as he released the earth barrier.

But just as he thought it was nothing before, the timer of the golden bell that he considered insignificant earlier expired.

Flash!

An enormous flash scattered around.

"Cough...!"

His vision was instantly paralyzed.

… Thud!

Something flew and hit his face, and he quickly erected an earth barrier behind him while deploying a neutral shield in front, but something suddenly surged from the ground and struck Kallivan's waist, nullifying everything.

It was as if an unseen mage knew exactly how to deal with it, and came up with an attack pattern.

Thunk, bang!

"Cough, groan...!"

True to his earth magic specialization, he managed to mitigate most of the damage by placing rocks and shields around his waist, but the mental impact was severe.

"Damn it, you dog...!"

As he forced himself to lift his kneeled leg, his hand touched the ground, and he almost screamed at the sharp sensation.

"Guhhh..."

Sharp traps were bouncing around in all directions. Before questioning how a trap could move like that, he had to grit his teeth and endure the pain which made him feel like tears would burst forth.

Splat!

However, without missing that opening, there was a sense of approach from behind once again.

He quickly turned around and swung his staff, but the approaching object was not Baek Yu-Seol, but a black sphere.

Wham!

The shield successfully blocked it, but he couldn't prevent the gas seeping out from within.

"Another, another trick...!"

He hurriedly prepared for detoxification, but...

This time, it wasn't the CS gas from before, nor was it poison gas. It was just smoke to obstruct vision.

However, the smoke remained tightly around his body, revealing Kallivan's position clearly to the outside.

Swish!

In that moment, Baek Yu-Seol, who had swiftly approached using teleportation, swung his magic sword and stabbed into Kallivan's back.

Crack!

"Ugh...!"

Despite suffering significant mana loss, Kallivan clad himself in earth armor to defend himself by any means necessary.

Surprisingly, Baek Yu-Seol’s magic sword had torn through most of his rock armor.

"... Damn it, explode!"

Crash!

Kallivan launched a barrage of rock fragments backward, but Baek Yu-Seol once again retreated.

"Ugh, huff, hoo...."

Kallivan wiped off the saliva that dripped as he struggled to catch his breath. His entire body was stinging, and the spiciness of the CS gas he had inhaled earlier lingered in his eyes, nose, and mouth.

It felt like he kept getting hit by something and was left with bruises.

However...

There was not a single fatal injury. After this duel, with just a simple treatment, he would be completely fine without needing to go to the infirmary.

But...

Somehow...

Anger surged through him from head to toe. This was supposed to be a moment to discipline his arrogant junior.

Even if it meant bringing shame upon himself by overwhelmingly defeating his opponent, it was not acceptable to be tossed around by his junior like this.

There was no greater disgrace.

Sss...

The mist cleared completely, and Baek Yu-Seol stood at a certain distance.

Kallivan approached him, his lips curling into a sneer.

Alchemy tools and magical devices available in the arena were limited.

Baek Yu-Seol’s magical devices were undoubtedly impressive and remarkable, but as a novice in alchemy, he had long surpassed the level of tools he could use.

Now he truly had to fight bare-handed. And he had already realized that his sword couldn't properly pierce her armor.

From now on, he would use all his power, employing every magic at his disposal to chase him down. There was no use in running away with fancy footwork anymore.

With that in mind, Kallivan aimed his staff at him.

"Don't even think about leaving gracefully."

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The ground trembled, and massive earth barriers blocked every direction. Baek Yu-Seol’s advantage lay in skillfully utilizing the terrain and manipulating distances according to his preference.

But, if the terrain was modified to prevent him from escaping or moving freely, then he would be rendered helpless.

Crack!

Spears and fragments of rocks descended through the air.

Expending every remaining ounce of mana, he unleashed his created magic: Meteor Shower.

Even in the midst of completing the spell, Baek Yu-Seol extended his sword without any intention of stopping it and stared calmly into the empty space.

More precisely... he was observing the timer that was still running.

[14:47]

Finally, Kallivan's magic circle began to emit light.

"Alright, the spell is complete!"

[14:50]

He briefly wondered why he didn't disrupt the formation of the Stone Field, why he didn't negate the magic, but it didn't matter.

[14:53]

"Kneel on the ground and beg for forgiveness until you're beaten to a pulp!"

All the magic converged in the direction where Baek Yu-Seol stood. If he were hit by that, it wouldn't just be a simple injury, but a potentially fatal situation.

Until then, Baek Yu-Seol continued to focus solely on the timer in the empty space.

"You're finished! Meteor Shower!"

Finally, at the moment when Kallivan's magic surged toward Baek Yu-Seol...

[15:00]

"I surrender."

Baek Yu-Seol declared his defeat.

Thud!

All the magic came to a halt under the compulsion of Stella Dome. The sharp blades and arrows of rock that had stopped right in front of Baek Yu-Seol trembled, unable to move any further.

"What...?"

What did he say?

Momentarily unable to comprehend the meaning of those words, Kallivan gritted his teeth and infused mana.

"Move! Move!"

However, no matter what he tried, his magic wouldn't move as he willed.

After a moment, when the field dissipated and all the magic reconciled into a blur of mana, they were finally able to properly assess the situation.

"This, this is..."

"The duel has ended. The winner is Kallivan from Class C of the second year."

Just as the assistant professor intervened and announced the complete end of the duel, Kallivan's face turned pale.

"Oh, it's not over yet! The duel hasn't ended!"

Then the assistant professor, clearly displaying annoyance, spoke to Kallivan as if he were pitiful.

"You're already in your second year, and you still don't understand the rules? Baek Yu-Seol declared his surrender. The duel is over."

"But..."

"Just be quiet, will you?"

As Kallivan tried to argue back, he had no choice but to quickly close his mouth when the assistant professor spoke in a cold tone.

"I'm already annoyed by your petty squabbling. Don't make things more troublesome."

"...!"

Kallivan couldn't say anything further. It occasionally happened with those who were once students of Stella, going through the professorial process at Stella.

The assistant professor was likely a former student of Stella as well, which made the situation of him having to control the absurdity of his juniors appear quite absurd itself.

Baek Yu-Seol, hiding behind the assistant professor, spoke softly.

"Thank you for your hard work, senior. I've learned a lot from you."

Baek Yu-Seol politely bowed and quickly exited, leaving Kallivan standing there in a daze, gazing into the empty space.

He had won.

Clearly, he had won.

… But he felt no joy. Instead, a deep frustration welled up from deep within his heart.

Why was he feeling this way?

However, the duel had ended, and now there was nothing more he could do.