Chapter 43: Thunder Water Order
Outside the earthen walls, the crowd of spectators was abuzz with chatter.
“Look, the dust is clearing…”
“Peilo and Mr. Rect are over there…”
“They’re not fighting anymore? What’s going on, is it over…”
“Hey, hey, hey, did you see? Mr. Rect… is he…?”
“He’s holding his nose…”
“Looks like he’s got a nosebleed…”
“So that means…”
“Peilo…”
“Crushed his nose bridge…”
“……”
Gradually, the students seemed to figure out what was happening.
To most of them, this battle was simply summarized as: Peilo charged in! She kicked the famous Mr. Rect aside with one kick! Then they started fighting again! The smoke was so thick; it was impossible to see anything… Whoa, Peilo came out! Whoa, how is she this strong?! Whoa, Mr. Rect tried to sneak attack! They fell down again! The smoke was huge… Wait? Why aren’t they fighting anymore?
But as soon as anyone saw the moment Mr. Rect was bleeding, they immediately understood what had transpired in those last seconds before they fell into the smoke—this was the consequence of some clueless guy in the academy crossing paths with Peilo.
Mr. Rect had his nose bridge smashed.
This seemed to imply…
Peilo, the little fairy goddess in their hearts, had actually defeated one of the strongest in Royal City, the captain of the Sword of Kanli.
She actually won?!
As the flood of reality hit them, the students’ emotions spiraled out of control.
“I can’t believe it! Impossible! Peilo won—”
“Mr. Rect’s nose bridge is gone!”
“Peilo, I love you—”
“Peilo! Peilo! Peilo—”
The enthusiastic cheers roared in my ears, drowning out whatever Mr. Rect was mumbling on the other side.
But that didn’t dampen my happiness.
“Hehe.”
I giggled as I walked over to the Forgiveness Head, untied the handkerchief from my wrist, and handed it over.
“Nosebleed, wipe it.”
Only after handing it over did I suddenly remember I had been sitting on it for a while… My face heated up, and I wanted to take it back, but Mr. Rect had already reached out and grabbed it.
The man was still bleeding from his nose. He took the handkerchief, shook off the dust on it, and hurriedly pressed it to his nose, muttering, “That was harsh; I feel like my nose is going to break… Hey, how does it look? I’m not disfigured, right… hmm? Why is your face red?”
“N-no, it’s nothing.”
It’s just a handkerchief…
I turned my gaze away, trying hard not to think about it.
“We… are not fighting anymore, right?”
Actually, I still felt a bit unsatisfied. I wanted Mr. Rect to try and assassinate me once more. Not using any wide-range techniques, just relying on his senses and awareness, to see how far he could go… but in the academy, it wouldn’t work. It’s too inconvenient, and the feeling of being watched by a crowd is weird… Anyway, I had already vented my frustration; there was no need to make myself a mud dog.
“No more fighting… if we get the chance, let’s go out to the plains someday for a proper match.”
Huh? This guy is thinking along the same lines as me…
“Yeah.”
I nodded and exchanged a smile with Mr. Rect.
“Give me back the handkerchief.”
This playful duel ended just like that.
However, the students were still caught up in their excitement for a long time.
“Can’t believe Peilo is this strong… she truly is our little fairy by the shores of Ceylan Lake! Oh my gosh, I’m so excited…”
“She really is strong… I suddenly remember what Buggy said before…”
“What…”
“Sixteen years old, Frost Order, black hair… so strong. Don’t you think…”
“No way…”
“Now that you mention it… it’s kind of…”
“Miss Silvya!”
“Oh my gosh…”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Miss Silvya is a great hero… how could she be Peilo…”
“You’ve all seen the illustration from Yanbao, haven’t you? They look so similar! How can it be such a coincidence? Peilo is strong! You all saw it! She’s super strong! That kind of affinity… she’s not even in our league! She defeated Mr. Rect!”
“What if it’s true…”
“Why doesn’t the academy say anything…”
“I don’t know… Principal Bersa probably has her reasons… maybe Peilo doesn’t want people to know…”
“I think… it’s not impossible…”
“I think it’s not… just a coincidence…”
Until I returned to my seat, similar discussions and speculations kept flowing in from all directions.
But it didn’t matter.
No matter what they said, as long as neither I nor the academy acknowledged it, anything about Pope Knight Silvya would stay in the realm of speculation forever.
And honestly, the only ones I cared about were Sarah and the others. I was worried they might react badly after finding out… but it turned out fine. Since they knew, what did it matter what those strangers said or thought? As long as it didn’t interfere with my eating and drinking, they could say whatever they wanted…
If anyone dared to bother me, I’d break their nose.
That thought crossed my mind.
Once I stepped out from the earthen walls, I realized the sun in the sky was glaring, and my hat was left on the open ground—not like I could go back to pick it up now. Mr. Rect said he’d wash the handkerchief and return it to me, so I sat down on the ground, raising my hand to shield my eyes.
Even though the sun was scorching, the training ground wasn’t too hot; it was almost a bit cool. After all, so many ice balls had just bombarded down… Those ice balls weren’t extreme ice; they were just ordinary ice cubes at a slightly lower temperature, and there were a ton—at least 200 or 300… I couldn’t count them all. Anyway, they were all in the earthen wall, and Teacher Melville was having them cleaned up, organizing all the ice balls into a corner for cooling purposes.
“… Peilo’s talent ability is comparable to that of Queen Elizabeth herself. What you all just witnessed was the true pinnacle of affinity between humans and order… Of course, due to the limitations of the venue, neither side was able to showcase their full strength, but that’s not important. What’s important is the astonishing awareness they displayed in this battle. Especially Miss Peilo; she’s younger than all of you, so please think seriously—if she didn’t have the Power of Order, do you geniuses really believe you could defeat her? Think about this question for three days, five days, if necessary. In the next class, everyone has to share their reflections on this duel…”
Teacher Melville stood before the line with a steady tone.
“The next duel is between Beiyard and Lucia. Before that, I have one more thing to say about talent.”
“Many years ago… about five or six hundred years back, back then, there were warriors among humans who possessed dual Powers of Order. The most well-known among you is the original Pope Knight, Fairy Iris Angelica, who possessed the Thunder Fire Order… That wasn’t a new rule created from the fusion of source powers; her strength, as the name suggests, is the simultaneous possession of both Thunder and Fire Powers of Order.”
“Having two Powers of Order is undoubtedly powerful, and their offensive means are much more varied. People with dual Powers of Order were traditionally selected for training by the Church, as they were destined to become Pope Knights in time. This was the custom until several hundred years later when people with dual Powers of Order became increasingly rare and almost impossible to find… but not impossible to appear.”
When the old man got to this point, the students started shouting one name in unison.
“Beiyard, Beiyard, Beiyard—!”
“Yes, you’ve got it. So… please observe the battle closely.”
With that, the elder stepped back.
Dual Powers of Order…
The ash ice debris on my uniform clumped together, and under the sun, it turned into mud, making it incredibly dirty. I rubbed at some obvious spots while watching Beiyard slowly enter, a warm smile on his face reminiscent of the sunlight, and out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the freckled girl sneaking glances at me.
Not just her; many people were looking at me. I could feel countless pairs of eyes on my back, and it was starting to annoy me.
So, I looked up, turned around, and shot them a glare… and saw everyone quickly redirect their gaze, like startled little rabbits, pretending to be serious and looking straight ahead into the arena, not daring to make eye contact.
Hmph…
Stop staring at me.
Finally satisfied, I lowered my head and continued rubbing my clothes.
… Perhaps after today, the number of people daring to bother me will actually decrease.
Before long, the duel began.
The two people in the arena seemed to be skilled with swords, so someone brought wooden swords for both of them. After Teacher Melville said “start,” seconds into their standoff, the battle erupted.
It immediately escalated into a white-hot frenzy.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom—
In an instant, lightning flashed inside the earthen walls, thunder roaring. Beiyard was using lightning, and Lucia was using it too, countless bright blue arcs splitting the air, blasting the earthen wall, scorching the ground black by inches. Both moved like swift winds, intertwining amidst the electric flashes and thunder, Beiyard has the upper hand with his talent; the lightning he condensed was thicker and brighter, cracking like whips towards Lucia. However, Lucia remained much calmer than he was, easily maneuvering through the lightning while occasionally striking back, pushing him on the defensive.
Of course, their reckless fighting style was possible mainly because it was hard to truly hurt each other. Just like when I practiced in Shanter Castle, my Frost Order power hadn’t been able to hurt my father—this principle works similarly. People with the same Power of Order couldn’t affect each other’s characteristics unless their affinities vastly differed.
Frost can be condensed into balls, ice spikes, or even sickles, but lightning doesn’t have that versatility; its attack mainly relies on the “characteristic,” much like magical attacks.
As I rubbed my clothes, I didn’t pay too much attention to the details of the battle; I was just curious about Beiyard’s “dual Orders,” so I raised my head to sneak a look now and then.
A change likely appeared after about three minutes.
Beiyard seemed to get struck by three consecutive sword strikes, one of which hit him on the head. If this were a real fight, he would have been dead long ago, but luckily it was class. After taking those three hits, he became even more energized. Lucia, too, seemed to be drawn into the fun and started taking it more seriously. At that moment, Beiyard raised his arm, his body instantly coating in water. With a wave of his arm, the water surged upward, twisting into a stream in the air towards Lucia.
Water Order…
When paired with lightning, it seemed quite formidable…
I thought to myself.
Meanwhile, Lucia, after dodging two attacks, finally couldn’t avoid the third one. The water flow wrapped around her upper body instantly.
The crowd gasped again.
After being enveloped by the water, Lucia didn’t show any panic. After attempting to use electric currents to evaporate the water to no avail, unable to breathe, and struggling to break free, she decided to dash straight at Beiyard, dodging two bolts of lightning, and slashed at him three times. Beiyard, clearly lacking in physical training compared to her, found himself in a panic, and the water burst apart with a “whoosh.”
He tried to gather the water again, but Lucia wasn’t giving him another chance.
She pressed forward, consecutively striking out with several sword moves, her techniques vaguely reminiscent of Carlos and Victoria, but even more varied than Victoria’s. Beiyard quickly fell behind, and as Lucia swung her sword towards his head, his wooden sword gave a faint vibration, glowing with a purple aura.
Bam—
Lucia’s wooden sword was split in two.
