It was the Swordsmanship Training Ground where Iria, Ariel, and Sera were present.
You could say that the strongest individuals in the entire academy had gathered in one place.
Because of this, today’s swordsmanship training ground was noisier than usual. This continued even after they left the training ground.
Most students were discussing and evaluating the light duel that Iria and Ariel had just moments ago.
The topic of the discussion was simple.
So, who won?
At first, the duel seemed evenly matched. Iria and Ariel exchanged sword strikes, maintaining a tense standoff.
However, Iria initially took the upper hand. Her leap and speed exceeded the imagination of the spectators.
With her incredible speed, Iria pressured Ariel. She swung her sword from the side and increased the speed of her strikes to unleash a flurry of blows.
Even Ariel seemed to struggle to keep up with her speed at first.
But then Ariel began to adapt to Iria’s pace. He matched Iria’s tempo and accelerated, moving so fast that it became challenging to follow with an ordinary human’s eyes.
The two were engaged in a duel that transcended human speed.
Among the spectators, even those top students couldn’t pinpoint what happened in the end.
Iria’s figure vanished for an instant before a burst of platinum light exploded.
After the starlight settled, Iria was left sitting on the ground while Ariel held his sword until the very end.
“…So does that mean Ariel won?”
“Well, I’m not sure either.”
“But magic usage is prohibited in the swordsmanship training ground. They agreed to settle this with swords only. How can we declare Ariel the victor when Iria is from the Combat Magic Department?”
“Now that you mention it, it’s true. It could be different in the dueling arena.”
Today’s discussion reached no conclusion. In fact, it was closer to saying no one could reach a conclusion.
Gathering in one place, those who were watching the fight returned to their spots.
The atmosphere in the swordsmanship training ground heated up and cooled down in an instant.
*
Several days had passed since the incident in the dueling arena, but Ariel still couldn’t forget that day.
Even now, closing his eyes brought it back vividly.
Iria, the top student of the first year. He had certainly heard the name before; it was just a passing mention here and there.
However, recently it had become distinct in his memory. Starting from the time they coincidentally met in the back mountain, he seemed to keep running into her for some reason.
Until that point, he probably hadn’t thought much about her.
And then there was the fateful day.
He was a bit puzzled when Sera brought Iria along. Were the two that close?
From what she had said, it seemed that Iria wanted to get to know Ariel.
It was completely natural for two individuals dedicated to the sword to clash wooden swords, something he still agrees with even now.
After all, knights communicate more profoundly through sword clashes than through verbal conversation.
“…Iria was strong.”
Iria was much stronger than he had expected.
Perhaps being a first-year led Ariel to subconsciously underestimate her.
The duel they had on that day ended in Ariel’s defeat. There was a significant gap in their abilities that made the term ‘duel’ almost laughable.
Especially, her final strike was something Ariel couldn’t respond to.
Had it not been for the automatic defense of starlight, he would have indeed lost.
“…”
Ariel’s thoughts ran deep.
Ultimately, he recalled his mentor’s words: without the starlight of the hero’s bloodline, he was nothing.
He wasn’t even in a state to fully harness that.
The starlight exploded uncontrollably and injured Iria. The image of a star losing control and hurting someone still vividly replayed whenever he closed his eyes.
He had a long way to go. Earning the title of the strongest in the academy wasn’t due to his own abilities but rather relying on the power of the stars.
In a cycle of endless self-loathing, Ariel swung his sword today to forget himself.
It was a bit longer until he formally went to apologize to Iria.
*
Iria focused on treating the injury on her arm for a while.
Unlike other wounds, she couldn’t regenerate it through normal means, so she attempted other methods.
Fully healing the burn on her arm took about a week. This wasn’t the natural time to heal but rather the time it took to find a method.
The starlight of the hero and magic were structurally completely opposite substances. Therefore, it was possible to neutralize wounds inflicted by starlight with magic.
Perhaps the reverse would also be possible.
If Iria injured the hero Ariel with magic, he could heal the wound with starlight.
At that point, Iria’s thoughts deepened.
She was honestly surprised when Ariel manifested starlight and inflicted injury. She didn’t expect him to hide such a thing.
And for some reason, it seemed particularly lethal to her. For just a moment, Iria had seen the radius of the starlight bursting out.
It was surely starlight that had surrounded not just herself but others as well. Yet, she was the only one injured.
It felt as if the very substance of starlight was uniquely hostile towards her.
“Is it because half of me is a monster?”
Perhaps it was because Iria was the Seed of the Demon King. After all, she bore a fragment of the Demon King’s essence.
But there were still gains.
She learned that starlight could be neutralized using magic, and that the existence of Ariel was far more dangerous than she thought.
His abilities were slightly inferior to the empire’s top knight, but when it came to Iria, he could pose an even greater threat.
Would it be better to eliminate him before he grew into an even more formidable being? It might become impossible to kill him later.
“…”
Iria decided to move the date of Ariel’s elimination a little closer.
For now, she needed to meet him.
Recently, it seemed like Ariel had been actively looking for Iria, but she had avoided meeting him to ensure her injury healed completely.
She didn’t know what might happen if she encountered him while wounded, the owner of the starlight.
Now that her arm had healed, today was the day to meet him again.
*
Just like any other day, she attended a lecture at the academy and came out, spotting a familiar face.
With her striking red hair swirling, she naturally drew attention with her mere presence.
Perhaps it was due to the massive mana pool that felt almost overwhelming.
It was slightly ambiguous to say. While she undoubtedly possessed a tremendous amount of mana, the sight of her chest size, possibly capable of holding that mana, felt a bit daunting.
Sera greeted her cheerfully upon seeing her. Not knowing how to respond, Iria tilted her head slightly.
“Oh, Iria! I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Should I call you senior?”
“You can call me sister more affectionately.”
“I’ll call you senior.”
Sera’s visit to a first-year classroom was an uncommon occurrence. She was the type that devoted herself to training just like Ariel, so her time was limited.
This almost felt like the first time she came to request a duel.
This meant she likely had something else in mind. Trying to decipher her purpose, Iria met her gaze but was met with resistance due to Sera’s immense mana pool.
It was impossible to use magic right in the middle of the academy, so she decided against reading her thoughts.
Of course, there were other ways to find out.
Sera wasn’t someone who would easily lie, so asking her directly would do.
“Why are you here?”
“Nothing much, Ariel wants to apologize to you formally for the last incident. He’s been avoiding you on purpose, is that true?”
“Um.”
She hadn’t been deliberately avoiding him.
She just kept her distance whenever she sensed his presence. Living beings naturally feel fear toward the unknown.
She felt the same way. It might be that her experiences of being injured made her a bit more sensitive.
However, now that she had healed, there was no reason to avoid Ariel anymore. In fact, she planned to meet him soon anyway.
“It’s not true.”
“Really? Then, do you have time after today’s lecture? If it’s inconvenient, you don’t have to come.”
Iria nodded.
“Really? You’re coming?”
She nodded again.
“Then after the lecture, come to the academy’s main gate. I’ll be waiting there.”
