Episode 46. Special Mission Professor (3)

“Ha.”

A hollow laugh escaped Professor Elisha’s lips.

“What on earth are you so confident about?”

At this point, she was more curious about the identity of that candidate than angry.

‘He doesn’t seem special on the outside.’

Even after scanning Dale’s entire body with her ‘X-ray vision,’ she found nothing particularly noteworthy.

If she had to point out one thing, it was that the amount of magic power emanating from his Holy Mark was only about half that of the other candidates.

‘Having less magic power can’t be an advantage.’

While there’s a saying that too much of anything is bad, when it comes to magic power, more is generally better.

‘What is it?’

Seeing how confidently he carried himself, it seemed like he had something hidden, but she couldn’t figure out what it was.

“…Instructor Vincent.”

“Yes, Professor.”

“Don’t let your guard down.”

She couldn’t tell what he was relying on to act so boldly, but Lucas Cain, whom she had known since his candidate days, wasn’t the type to show such confidence without reason.

There must be something hidden.

Until that was revealed, letting her guard down was out of the question.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Vincent nodded respectfully and, without drawing his sword, shifted his stance, lowering his hips.

“…….”

Vincent’s sharp gaze scrutinized Dale.

Dale, looking at Instructor Vincent who was examining him, let out a soft chuckle.

“You’ll bore a hole through me if you keep staring like that.”

“…….”

“Wow, you’re quite the quiet instructor, aren’t you?”

“You’re the one who talks too much.”

Vincent coldly retorted.

I shrugged and continued.

“I don’t care if I talk a lot or not, but with your lack of conversational skills, can you really take over Professor Lucas’s lectures?”

“Combat Tactics Training doesn’t require conversational skills.”

“Ah, right. That’s true.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“Combat Tactics Training was the name used before the curriculum was reorganized five years ago. It’s now called Combat Training.”

“What does that have to do with….”

“What does it have to do with?”

It has a lot to do with it.

“If you graduated as a candidate five years ago, you’ve been active as a hero for at least five years, but I don’t see many small scars on your arms or hands.”

The fact that a hero who has been active for five years doesn’t have many small scars implies two things.

Either he’s overwhelmingly strong to the point of not getting even minor injuries.

Or his fighting style is such that he doesn’t get injured.

“Even after being told not to let your guard down, you didn’t draw your sword early, and your stance with your hips pulled back excessively compared to a normal swordsman….”

I glanced at the sword sheath on Vincent’s left hip and nodded.

“Your specialty is quick, decisive battles using Iaijutsu, right?”

“…….”

Perhaps hit the nail on the head.

Instructor Vincent’s expression stiffened.

“Hmph.”

As if he had no intention of continuing the conversation, Instructor Vincent took a short breath and gripped his sword hilt.

Light emanated from his Holy Mark, and silver magic power enveloped his entire body.

‘He’s definitely skilled at handling magic power.’

Just by seeing how evenly he distributed his magic power throughout his body without focusing on any one part, it was clear that Instructor Vincent’s magic control was top-notch.

‘But still, so what?’

I relaxed my body and concentrated all my magic power into my Holy Mark.

“…….”

Instructor Vincent, who had been sharply observing my movements, frowned.

Concentrating magic power into the Holy Mark before a battle was like a track athlete standing still without even taking a starting position before a race.

Dale’s demeanor, as if saying, ‘I can beat you even like this,’ made a vein pop on Instructor Vincent’s forehead.

“Let’s see how long you can keep up that arrogance.”

Thud!

With a sound like a drumbeat, Instructor Vincent charged.

In the blink of an eye, he closed the distance and drew his sword.

Whoosh!

A terrifyingly fast silver flash.

I kept my eyes fixed on the direction of Instructor Vincent’s sword and distributed the magic power within my Holy Mark to my left leg, right arm, and sword.

Clang!

Using my left leg as a pivot, I blocked the silver flash head-on.

Given the difference in our magic power, it should have been impossible to block his sword head-on, but by distributing my magic power only to the necessary parts rather than throughout my body, I managed to withstand the attack.

“What…!”

Professor Elisha, who was watching the battle, widened her eyes.

To release the magic power within the Holy Mark at the most necessary moment, in the most necessary place, and in the most necessary amount.

‘And against Vincent’s Iaijutsu?’

This was a level of magic control that would be difficult even if they had prearranged when and where to attack.

“Tsk!”

Instructor Vincent, whose first strike was blocked, swallowed his frustration and created distance.

His specialty was Iaijutsu, which exploited momentary gaps.

After one attack, he needed a brief moment to reset.

But.

“You shouldn’t fix your gaze too much on your opponent when creating distance.”

Because that leaves your lower body vulnerable.

“Huff!”

Berald Martial Arts.

Earth Shaker.

Rumble!

As I stomped my foot with all my might, the Training Grounds floor where Instructor Vincent was trying to create distance cracked.

It wasn’t as powerful as when I drank the Holy Mark Amplifier, shaking the entire ground.

‘But this is enough for now.’

I added more magic power to the hand gripping my sword.

“Tsk!”

Instructor Vincent, who stepped on the cracked floor, momentarily lost his balance and swayed.

But being a veteran hero, he quickly regained his balance without falling.

“But it’s already too late.”

I focused magic power on both legs and kicked off.

Wind Step.

My body shot forward as if running through the air.

“Haa.”

I exhaled a low breath and gripped my sword.

The magic power concentrated in my legs naturally flowed up through my meridians and gathered in my sword.

A gray aura burning along the blade.

Compared to the silver aura on Instructor Vincent’s sword, its size and brightness were lacking.

‘But this is enough.’

In battle, what matters isn’t who has the stronger power.

Just as a human dies whether a hole the size of their head or the size of a finger is pierced.

As long as you have the minimum power to injure your opponent, how you wield that power becomes more important.

Whoosh!

A flashing gray light.

“Ugh!”

Instructor Vincent clutched his bleeding arm and stepped back.

Clang.

The sword in his hand fell to the ground with a clear metallic sound.

“…I lost.”

Instructor Vincent gritted his teeth and lowered his head.

“…….”


“…….”

Silence fell over the Training Grounds.

I could feel the astonished gazes focused on me.

“What on earth….”

Professor Elisha trailed off, unable to believe it.

She turned on the Hero Watch and repeatedly checked my information in the candidate list.

“…Professor Lucas, what on earth is going on?”

She shot a questioning look at Professor Lucas.

“Ah… well. Ahem! Didn’t I tell you? His rank is lower than his actual ability.”

“Do you think this situation can be brushed off with that?”

“Umm….”

Professor Lucas swallowed hard under Professor Elisha’s sharp criticism.

Honestly, he was just as surprised by the current situation.

‘I knew Dale would win, but….’

Dale had a track record of making him use the ‘Blood Warrior’s Blessing’ even when his magic power was much lower than it is now.

With his magic power having increased significantly since then, he expected Dale to be able to defeat Instructor Vincent.

‘But I didn’t expect him to win so overwhelmingly.’

Honestly, even if he were to fight Dale now, he wasn’t confident of winning.

‘How can he grow this much in just a month?’

As he frowned in confusion.

“…Professor Lucas? Did you not hear what I said?”

“Ah, yes. Sorry, Senior.”

“Sigh, never mind. Judging by your expression, it seems you don’t know either.”

Professor Elisha sighed deeply and shook her head.

Professor Lucas approached her cautiously and asked.

“By the way, about the resignation you mentioned earlier….”

“That was just a joke.”

“Huh?”

“Isn’t it obvious? While a Special Mission Professor has more authority than regular professors, they don’t have the authority to dismiss a professor.”

“…….”

“I just wanted to see you flustered for once, but I didn’t expect things to turn out like this….”

Professor Elisha lit a cigarette with a smirk.

“Wait, you were really joking, Senior?”

Professor Lucas looked at her in disbelief.

Who in the world makes a joke with such a serious expression?

“Of course, there was also a meaning to make you more vigilant. The candidates’ level was indeed lacking.”

“That’s….”

Unable to find a rebuttal, Professor Lucas trailed off.

Indeed, excluding outliers like Dale and Yuren Helios, the current third-year candidates’ level was below average.

‘Especially since last year’s third-year candidates were at an all-time high level, making the comparison even more stark.’

Anyway.

Realizing it was all a misunderstanding, he felt embarrassed for getting so worked up.

“But… honestly, I didn’t expect this outcome either.”

Professor Elisha clicked her tongue as she looked at Instructor Vincent, who was clutching his bleeding arm and hanging his head.

Vincent wasn’t a hero ranked within the top 100 of the Three Kingdoms Hero Rankings, the so-called ‘Rankers.’

But even so, as a veteran hero with double-digit real combat experience against Mains, to be defeated so helplessly.

“Is he perhaps Yuren Helios in disguise?”

“Yuren Helios is in Class A of Combat Training. We’re in Class C. And look at his appearance. Does he look like the continent-shaking, peerless handsome man?”

“Hmm. Personally, I find Candidate Dale more to my taste.”

“Huh?”

“Anyway. If a bottom-ranked candidate really has this much power….”

Professor Elisha’s purple eyes gleamed ominously.

“We’ll need a more detailed check.”

“A detailed check, you mean….”

“You know what my Blessing is, don’t you?”

“W-wait, surely not…!”

Before the flustered Professor Lucas could stop her.

Professor Elisha strode towards me.

“Candidate Dale.”

“Ah, yes, Professor.”

“There’s something I want to check. Come closer.”

“……?”

I tilted my head and approached Professor Elisha.

Whoosh!

“……!”

Before I could react, Professor Elisha’s hand roughly grabbed my collar.

And then.

“Huh?!”

Our lips met.

Professor Elisha’s tongue greedily explored my mouth.