Ch. 76 - Absurdity (5)

Chapter 76: Absurdity (5)

The fact that Baek Yu-Seol was getting the special training for underclassmen 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.

She was not alone.

She was with her friends.

"Huh?"

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

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

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

"No way."

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 come to see you differently.”

“We've become curious about who you are.”

They asked her various questions, purely curious about the person named Eisel.

Some questions were awkward to answer, while others were even impolite.

However, it was because of their honest approach that Eisel could open up to them.

In just a few days, Eisel managed to integrate into the group.

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.

Rather, being commoners themselves, they did not treat Eisel as anything special.

A traitor's child? They didn't care. She was famous!

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

And all of this was 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, given the situation, it would be troublesome if he won. 

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, would he just overpower the senior?

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

"No, I heard 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. Eisel, who knew this fact, felt their doubts were cute.

"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.

All that would remain would be to take a one-sided beating.

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, what would be the best way to handle this...?"

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 dashing and disappearing from the field.

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

The right answer was the right answer. However, doing it that way wasn't easy.

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 a knight-type with the ability to use power jump would be 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 suitable counter.

"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.

'Deciding not to fight head-on... means he intends to keep his abilities hidden and fight quietly, I suppose...?'

Then how?

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, no matter where the opponent ran, a little pursuit would bring them within the range of magic.

While earth-attribute could control a wide area but had a short range, Kalivan was confident enough in his abilities to cover that gap. Without hesitation, he headed toward the forest where Baek Yu-Seol disappeared.

The trees were dense, but within 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 Kalivan's perspective.

"The senior seems very 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, Kalivan pressed forward into the forest, where his vision was completely blocked.

'Damn it, where did that 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 bragged about being a knight with a sword, but perhaps it was all empty talk.

Snap!

'Hmm!'

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

"Stone Pierce!"

Without hesitation, he launched a sharp spear made of stone towards the sound, and something was struck and sent tumbling.

'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.

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

'...Cymbals?'

The monkey clashed its cymbals, 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 Class 1 shield.

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.

Crack!!!

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

'Stone Break!'

Clenching his left fist, which wasn't holding his staff, Kalivan rolled forward, causing the earth barrier to burst and scatter dust in all directions.

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

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

'...He's not there?'

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!'

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

'How annoyingly fast!'

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

Thud. Thud. Thud!

As Kalivan 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 Kalivan's magic range.

'Damn it...!'

It happened in the blink of an eye. Kalivan, who had taken the advice to beware of Baek Yu-Seol's teleportation, had kept more than half of his attacks ready in reserve.

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

Kalivan swiftly chased after Baek Yu-Seol from behind.

At that moment, along with the sensation of his soles floating, his senses detected magic.

‘No, this is alchemy!’

As befitting a Stella student, he quickly concluded that it was alchemy.

Bang!

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

'Is this... an alchemical creation?'

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

'Weight of the Earth!'

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 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...?’

Realizing what it was, Kalivan hurriedly prepared an air-blocking spell, but he inhaled it quicker than he expected, forcing him to use an antidote spell.

Biochemical poison-related magic was almost meaningless because magic capable of instantly analyzing and detoxifying any magic-infused poison had been developed.

However, when alchemists used poisons from animals or monsters, neutralizing them became quite troublesome.

Kalivan 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 not designed to kill but to cause pain and discomfort.

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 the visibility was low and he 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.

'Purify!'

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

He believed 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!

A blast of light scattered around.

"Gah…!"

His vision instantly turned white.

Thud!

Something flew and hit his face. He hurriedly raised a stone barrier behind him and deployed a non-attribute shield in front, but something sprang from the ground and struck his waist, nullifying all his defenses.

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

Thunk, bang!

"Cough, ugh…!"

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 bastard…"

As he forced himself to rise from his knees, he placed his hand on the ground and almost screamed from the stinging pain.

"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 that put him on the verge of tears.

Whoosh!

However, without missing that opening, he sensed something approaching from behind once again.

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

Wham!

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

'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 tightly stuck around his body, revealing Kalivan's position clearly to the outside.

Swish!

At that moment, Baek Yu-Seol, who had swiftly approached using Flash, swung his magic sword and stabbed into Kalivan's back.

Crack!

"Ugh...!"

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

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

"... Damn it, explode!"

Crash!

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

"Ugh, huff, hoo...."

Kalivan panted heavily and wiped the drool from his mouth. His whole body stung, his eyes, nose, and mouth still burned from the CS gas, and he felt bruised from repeated hits.

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.

Kalivan 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 his 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.

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

"Don't think you'll get away easily."

Rumble!

The very earth 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!

Spikes and fragments of rock flew into the air.

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

Even as he completed his 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.

[14:45]

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

'Good, the spell is complete!'

[14:50]

He briefly wondered why Baek Yu-Seol didn't disrupt the formation of the magic, why he didn't negate the magic, but it didn't matter.

[14:53]

"Kneel on the ground and beg for forgiveness as 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.

"Die! Stone Shower!"

Finally, just as Kalivan'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 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, Kalivan 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 dissipated into a blur of mana, the spectators were finally able to properly assess the situation.

"This..."

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

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

"No, it's not over yet! The duel hasn't ended!"

Then the assistant professor, clearly displaying annoyance, said to Kalivan, "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?"

Kalivan tried to argue back, but he had no choice but to quickly close his mouth when the assistant professor spoke coldly.

"I'm already annoyed to death for having to step in because of your ridiculous hazing. Don't make it worse."

"...!"

Kalivan couldn't say anything further. There were occasional cases where former Stella students became professors.

The assistant professor was likely a former student of Stella as well. Having to participate in this farce was absurd enough to him.

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 Kalivan 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 within his heart.

Why was he feeling this way?

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

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