#036 The Model Student of the One-Eyed Country (3)
Kaspar’s wooden sword sharply lunges toward Chrome’s head.
A technique honed since childhood. The thrust from a body refined by a rich diet possessed power that couldn’t even be compared to some bumbling mercenary.
Smack!
The sound of firm wood clashing reverberates through the air.
It was the sound of Chrome’s wooden sword striking upwards against Kaspar’s sword from below.
Unable to withstand the shock, Kaspar’s upper body is thrown back, leaving him defenseless as Chrome’s kick brutally lands in his gut.
“Gah!”
With a sharp pain coursing through him, Kaspar bends over and stumbles backward, while Chrome looks down at him with a nonchalant expression.
Roto, a rural boy from the Spero Kingdom, pondered.
‘What am I even watching?’
He had never thought of Chrome as weak.
Incredible marksmanship and an unshakeable composure in any situation.
His judgment in effectively utilizing the various tools at his disposal.
But Roto’s perception of Chrome’s strength was that of a clever strategist who capitalizes on limited resources and strikes decisively at an opponent’s weaknesses, not as someone who brawls head-on without any trickeries.
But then, what is happening right in front of my eyes?
“Y-you brat!!”
Kaspar, whose head was larger than Chrome’s, charged at him with all his might, swinging his wooden sword.
And with each strike, Chrome’s sword struck Kaspar’s sword a fraction of a second late, forcing it aside, and Chrome’s counterattack ruthlessly found its mark in the openings left on Kaspar’s body.
This pattern had repeated itself numerous times already.
“Wow. Is that all he’s capable of?”
Crow stroked his chin, seemingly impressed.
To block an opponent’s attack and counter it seems simple enough to say.
However, what Chrome was doing was far beyond that level.
He deliberately allowed his opponent to strike first, then countered with a delayed move to hit the face of the opponent’s sword.
It was only natural he had to be quick enough to hit his target before being hit himself while moving slower than the opponent. And if he aimed to ruin the other’s stance directly, his physical strength had to be nothing short of formidable.
And even more than that…
“……Wow, he is serious about this.”
Pino murmured.
As she mentioned, Chrome had not once moved first since the fight began.
Every time Kaspar attacked, Chrome merely deflected it and retaliated with even more force.
If one looked closely, it seemed Chrome had barely moved from the spot where he started the duel.
Kaspar screamed in outrage.
“Are you insulting me right now?!”
He couldn’t possibly comprehend the situation he was in.
Borrowing the form of a duel merely to be conscious of the surrounding gazes, to Kaspar, this fight was essentially an execution.
He was both the judge and the executioner, while Chrome, facing him, simply trembled under the judgment and begged for mercy.
But why had it turned out like this?
Despite his outcry, Chrome’s expression showed no change.
Filled with rage at Chrome’s unresponsive gaze, he charged again, but his powerful strike was easily deflected, and a fierce counterattack struck Kaspar’s left shin.
“Gah…!”
With a terrible sensation as if his bones were being crushed, Kaspar instinctively wrapped his legs and crouched down.
Despite having trained his body under his father’s scolding since childhood, he still clutched his sword with a trembling right arm, quivering like a aspen.
Even though he hadn’t received a single blow yet, the shock relayed to him every time their swords clashed had pushed him to his limit.
Despite his gaping vulnerabilities, Chrome did not move.
The humiliation of knowing his opponent wasn’t even exerting himself cut deeper into Kaspar than the pains pulsating through his body.
“Fight properly, you punk! How dare you, how dare you!”
Chrome remained unresponsive to Kaspar’s eyes filled with resentment and his vicious cries.
A silent Chrome and a howling Kaspar who couldn’t bring himself to attack.
It was then that some spectators watching the duel realized Chrome’s intent.
“Cruel.”
Though Kaspar would never admit it, the fact that he had lost his initial momentum and could only use words instead of his sword clearly indicated he was shaken.
Kaspar was, at this moment, frightened.
His fully powered attacks were effortlessly countered, each met with a fierce retaliation.
Though those strikes hurt intensely, they weren’t wounds so severe that they would incapacitate him.
Chrome’s intentions were clear.
He didn’t want to give Kaspar the option of “I fought well, but it couldn’t be helped” due to injuries or unconsciousness.
Kaspar could either continue to suffer endlessly from reckless charges or acknowledge his defeat despite still being able to fight.
This wasn’t merely about winning or losing; it was akin to breaking Kaspar’s very will to oppose.
As the confrontation wore on, Chrome’s demeanor remained calm while the volume of Kaspar’s screams gradually diminished.
Kaspar’s eyes flickered wildly.
‘I can’t let this go on like this!’
He hadn’t fully grasped Chrome’s scheme.
However, the murmurs of the audience and the increasingly peculiar gazes clearly indicated that he couldn’t remain like this.
He couldn’t admit defeat.
But if he charged, he’d simply be countered with ease.
Then—
“This is all your fault!”
A faint red aura of magic spilled around Kaspar’s body.
Several students who noticed Kaspar’s transformation widened their eyes in surprise.
“Reinforcement!? Is he out of his mind!?”
Magic was a power imbued with the potential of universality, a stepping stone that allowed humans to surpass their inherent limitations.
A body enhanced by magic could crush a massive tree with just a fist, or move with speeds surpassing that of fierce beasts.
Unlike magic techniques that required creating separate formations externally or healing powers, this was a straightforward ability that could be activated just by gathering or invigorating magic within certain body parts, making it intuitive and simple to use.
However, this was also a double-edged sword. Since it directly applied to the magic user’s body, if it were to go out of control, the repercussions could be severe.
At the academy’s lessons, they had not yet taught the method of reinforcement to the students; the few who had truly mastered it were those who had inherited their family’s vision, and that included Kaspar as well.
And, conversely speaking, using reinforcement against Chrome, who was unlikely to possess such a vision, was as outrageous as wielding a real sword in a duel where only wooden swords were permitted—or even more so.
Even if he were to win that way, no one would acknowledge Kaspar’s victory, but for him, who was already unable to think rationally due to pain and humiliation, that hardly mattered.
“Uooooooh!”
Kaspar’s body shot forward like an arrow.
It was unbelievable speed for someone who had just been trembling in pain, and the sword he swung wildly toward Chrome radiated clear intent to kill.
Several students attempted to jump in front of Kaspar to stop him, while some audience members closed their eyes at the impending disaster about to unfold.
In that chaos—
“Well, of course nothing would end easily in this crazy academy.”
—Chrome’s sword, emanating a green glow from his entire body as if he had anticipated this, crushed Kaspar’s blade.
“What the… Gah!”
Chrome swung with the posture of a baseball bat, striking Kaspar right in the gut, shocking him as if he were witnessing the impossible.
Up to this point, the situation had been similar to before, but this time, the attack didn’t stop at one strike.
Thwack.
“Ugh!”
Thwack!
“Ugh!”
Thwack!
“Gah! W-wait a sec! This is utterly disrespectful—Ahh!!”
The merciless beatdown continued as if those previous attacks had only been appetizers, and even when Kaspar initially tried to retaliate, he soon found himself merely squawking like a chicken, unable to do anything else.
Overwhelmed by unbearable pain, Kaspar began foaming at the mouth and nearly lost consciousness, but Chrome swiftly pulled a potion from his pocket, uncorked it, and shoved it into Kaspar’s mouth, then brought out another bottle to splash all over him.
Splat!
“Gah!”
Awakened by the intense pain on his cheek, Kaspar found himself bewildered by Chrome looking down at him, struggling as he tried to escape, but Chrome remained silent, continuing his onslaught.
“Wait! The match is already—”
“Just as one cannot have someone apologize on their behalf, one cannot surrender on someone else’s behalf either. Don’t worry; I have plenty of potions. Unlike certain individuals, I have no intention of killing my opponent in this duel.”
Kaspar’s friend, who initially tried to intervene, was silenced by Chrome’s words.
As Chrome pointed out, what Kaspar had just attempted was clearly aimed at taking Chrome’s life.
The process of Chrome pummeling Kaspar and healing him repeated three times until Kaspar finally cracked.
“Ha… Habo… I—I give up…”
With broken teeth and a swollen face, his uncertain declaration of surrender slipped out, prompting Chrome to drench him in a higher-grade potion once again.
Despite his now tattered outfit, Kaspar, trembling and looking pristine without a scratch on him, was met with Chrome’s question.
“So, where’s the apology?”
“……………”
Everyone around, including Kaspar, stared at Chrome with shocked expressions.
It was as if a cyclops was the abnormal one in a land full of two-eyed beings.
In a mad academy, a madman was often the model student.
