“Do you want to get hit if you don’t know?”
Shin Yeon-ho let out a hollow laugh.
“Sure, if you don’t know, you should get hit. But you can dodge, you know.”
However, he couldn’t give up. Yeon-ho gritted his teeth and injected mana into his wand.
“Of course.”
[Cast: Laminar Flow]
[Delayed Cast: Laminar Flow]
Kwahwahwahwah-!
A massive beam of energy erupted.
Barely twisting his body, Yeon-ho broke through the debris and leapt out.
Moving behind Name, Shin Yeon-ho took a breath and finished preparing his casting.
“…!”
Before Name could even turn her head, the magic she had cast was triggered late.
“I haven’t even fired a shot yet.”
She had perfectly read his escape route.
The barrier was not conducive for blocking, and it was too late to dodge.
Even if belatedly, he wrote out the electromagnetic wave dispelling formula he naturally had become accustomed to since high school.
The power of habit.
[Dispelling: Electromagnetic Wave]
Yet again, his instincts warned him.
This could not be blocked.
‘Did I write the dispelling formula incorrectly?’
It shouldn’t be, but he trusted his instincts.
If it couldn’t be blocked, he would cut through it.
Yeon-ho abandoned the dispelling cast and thrust his wand forward.
Chijijijijik-!
The wand and body were connected.
The ferocious, burning crimson aura split the water with a fierce force.
“Water…?”
Cold droplets splashed against his cheek.
The barrier had worn down slightly, but it was still at an acceptable level. Instead, what was concerning was the wand that had taken the high-energy hit directly.
Shin Yeon-ho twitched his eyebrows and said.
“Was that recent spell a fluidity magic?”
“You caught on quickly.”
“That’s insane.”
“That wand, it’s not broken, is it?”
Name pointed at Yeon-ho’s crude wand with a finger.
Was the aim from the start to destroy the wand?
As he gripped his right hand tightly, the overloaded circuit formula began to function normally again.
“This is ridiculous.”
Even if he was born with combat sense, this was a bizarre level.
The saying to always predict the opponent’s movements suddenly popped into Yeon-ho’s mind.
‘Easy to say…’
Just with attack, movement, and defense, that’s already three factors, with countless derivations stemming from each.
Could it be coincidence?
He shook his head.
There could be no coincidence. There is no such thing as coincidence in this world.
His eyes blazed with fire.
Wrapping himself in aura, he lowered his stance.
From now on, Yeon-ho decided he would not give her the initiative.
[Cast: Lance of Laon I]
There were rumors that promising students were marked by major clans before even graduating from university.
Shin Yeon-ho was such an individual.
Pah-!
The long spear, as if propelled by a rocket and cutting through the air, hurtled towards Name.
Name did not block it but repelled it.
However, the unique magic Lance of Laon does not end with one shot.
“Behind…!”
The spear of light, which he thought was stuck in the ground, suddenly disappeared and fiercely shot from behind.
With no hesitation, Name used her right foot as a pivot and tilted her body to the extreme.
Supporting her upper body with her right hand on the ground, her left foot drew a large arc and deflected the spear.
Kwah-!
Before her skirt could flutter, the spear embedded into the wall and exploded.
In awe, Shin Yeon-ho couldn’t help but admire her acrobatic back kick.
“Wow… Did you learn Taekwondo? You deflected that?”
Once cast, the Lance of Laon I emerges infinitely from the opponent’s shadow until it hits.
When Shin Yeon-ho learned this magic from the Laon partner mages, he felt like all his efforts in magic development had turned to foam, due to the exquisite nature of the unique magic.
The dispelling method itself was easy, but the spear suddenly emerging from behind left an opening.
Yet Name, now fully dexterous, perfectly regained her balance and solidified her defensive stance.
“Kaizen martial arts. Or should I say, something like Capoeira.”
Name panted as she replied.
The high-output energy had still somehow endured through that wand.
Name had managed to pass the first step of her planned test reasonably well.
But the wand had another flaw—it was awkwardly thick at the grip.
The thicker grip demanded a firm tensile strength to hold on at all.
Shin Yeon-ho had larger hands, which somewhat offset this drawback, but it was still inadequate in Name’s eyes.
‘Let’s see if you can keep hold of it without dropping it.’
Name wiped the sweat off her brow.
Then, as she clenched her fists tightly, steam began to rise.
“Don’t block. It’s better to dodge.”
*
Squeeeak-!
A fist making a sharp sound flew toward his abdomen.
He had no choice but to block.
Though the fist was only the size of a baby’s, the problem lay in the vast amount of aura it contained.
Instead of Yeon-ho’s arm blocking the fist, golden aura shattered and engulfed his body.
His hand slipped.
He had seen methods of making aura hot or cold, but he had never seen one that made it slippery.
Shin Yeon-ho felt he might lose his wand if he let his guard down even slightly.
As a second fist came flying, he pulled his body back as far as possible.
Then, a kick aimed to chop through his knees came flying toward him.
At first, there were a few squeaks, but now Name showed a perfectly loosened form.
‘Fear’ was the greatest talent of all.
Even when she tried to feign a punch to scare him, she didn’t blink an eye.
She knew very well that if Yeon-ho landed a direct hit on her, he would lose.
The ensuing close combat effectively prohibited magic casting.
Aura-based brawling was Yeon-ho’s most confident area, but the problem was that his opponent was an eight-year-old girl.
As the match dragged on, frustrated voices began to echo from the distance.
“You all need to experience this …! This is just… ugh!”
There was no time to think of anything else.
A torrent of merciless blows poured down on Yeon-ho as he lost his stance.
For a moment, he resisted the movement trying to trip him up, but as she lightly pushed his shoulder, he felt all his strength drain away from his body.
‘This is dangerous…!’
Name’s flexible waist whirled rapidly.
With one hand grabbing her right wrist, she unleashed a punch with all her strength.
The Kaizen Knight Order’s special martial arts were clumsily being replicated.
Pak-!
In an instant, the sound of a bomb exploding rang out from Yeon-ho’s side.
Half of the subatomic barrier was instantly shaved away.
“What power is this!”
Can that kitten punch break steel?
As Yeon-ho fell to the ground, this time, a punch came flying toward his head.
His hair stood on end as he desperately crouched down.
‘I dodged…!’
This was his only chance.
[Cast: Coefficient Adjustment]
The girl’s body wobbled.
Regaining the initiative from Name became a top priority. The bizarre martial movements made his head throb more.
For now, he needed to distance himself and wipe off the slippery aura from his wand before finishing with a single strike.
Yeon-ho gritted his teeth and stood up abruptly.
But maybe it was due to his narrowed field of vision.
Staring only at the ground, Yeon-ho was completely unaware that a large magic circle had been cast above his head.
[Universal Cast: Eye of the Storm]
Except for the center of this site, strong winds swept across the entire arena designated space.
It was a method to disrupt the casting of magic.
“You…”
“You have to play with me. Where are you going?”
Regretting the fact that he had sealed his direct hits more than ever stood heavy on his mind.
Whenever he tried to create distance, she would follow him, and now with magic as well, he couldn’t think of a way to dispel it.
‘How about trying to cast magic at close range?’
He had never attempted it before.
But think of the national martial arts competition.
The blind girl who stubbornly used only aura at the last moment cast a powerful spell on herself.
‘I remember now!’
[Cast: Magnetic Levitation]
Bang-!
He thrust his open palm forward with force.
After a brief delay, Name’s body flew back a few meters.
At the same time, her body had moved into the vicinity of the magic she had cast, and thus the Eye of the Storm would naturally fade.
He thought that…
“I’m getting tired of holding back, so let’s wrap it up.”
Name, hidden within the gray, opaque winds, thrust a sharp blade toward Shin Yeon-ho.
In the sudden situation, his body instinctively shrank back.
The subatomic barrier was once again chunked away.
The sword was Name’s makeshift alchemy creation.
A small magic circle at the tip of her wand produced a blade as tall as she was.
‘What a ridiculous function for a wand!’ Before he could protest, she slashed the sword diagonally.
Swaaaaash-!
Cutting, splitting, and finally stabbing.
Name aimed for Shin Yeon-ho’s wand—the masterpiece created painstakingly over two weeks.
“Don’t!”
That cannot happen!
The aura wrapping around Shin Yeon-ho’s body became as solid as steel.
Ping-!
His desperate effort to defend his wand blocked Name’s blade.
Name immediately reversed summoned the blade and wrapped the remaining aura around her leg, burrowing into his embrace in an instant.
The same fierce punch from earlier lunged toward his chin.
‘I have to block…!’
And as if it were a lie, it changed direction.
The hand that held the fist. Name’s five fingers spread wide, targeting his wrist.
Tap-!
On one wand rested both their hands.
Due to the earlier oiliness, the side Yeon-ho held was relatively slippery.
The ownership of their group project was about to be transferred.
He instinctively swung his left hand to shake her off.
A very minor struggle.
A punch anyone could see coming and block.
However, Name kept her eyes wide open and did not dodge the punch flying toward her face.
Instead, she cast a penetrating spell right toward his abdomen in response.
All the way to the last second, Name’s eyes, still gazing at Shin Yeon-ho, were steadfast.
Her gaze seemed to convey,
“Did you just hit me?”
Kwahwahwahwah-!
The punch swung with all the aura of an adult male was enough to send the girl flying to the corner of the arena.
With her back crashing against the mana barrier, Name’s body slid to the ground.
“N-name!”
Students watching the climactic duel rushed down to the first floor training hall without exception.
“Why… why didn’t you dodge…!”
Startled by his own strike, Shin Yeon-ho faltered and knelt on the spot.
Leaning against the wall, Name coughed a few times before finally cracking a grin.
Then she gestured toward the scoreboard to give Shin Yeon-ho an answer.
[A (Unspecified): 57%, 64%]
[B (Shin Yeon-ho): 21%, 45%]
[B Team: Wand destruction, subatomic barrier breach (current: 21%), Custom rule violation (direct hit)]
Even achieving one of those three conditions guaranteed Name’s victory.
Possibly due to an obsession, it was an undisputed flawless victory.
Additionally, the broadcast exploded.
-Nonameeeeeeeee!
-Did you really hit that? Did you really hit that? Did you really hit that?
-How are you okay? Is this okay?
-It’s the end for you. It’s the end for you. It’s the end for you. It’s the end for you.
-You flew 10m; do you think you’re fine?
-No, you should hold back.
-That clueless drone, hurry up and go to Name!
-You just heard a person get hit; you can’t be serious, right?
-When fighting a kid, you should have some restraint, not just smash their face!
-It’s like an uncle unleashing a serious punch on their nephew during the holidays.
-I don’t know who that is, but it seems that person is screwed, so upvote.
-From over there, I can see a Trinity win angle.
-Name’s physical barrier was new, so she should be fine, right?
-If she’s not okay, there’s one more person who won’t be okay.
