My Disciples Think I’m Strong – Chapter 89

“Oops!”

“!”

Clang! Bam!

As Tina was about to stomp the ground, a Spirit Wind shot in her direction.

Even though she managed to block the incoming attacks with her sword, knowing that Tina’s hands were trembling meant that the longer this standoff continued, the more unfavorable it was for her.

Clang! Clang!

With no time to rest, Tina steadied her breath while fending off the relentless Spirit Winds.

“Phew…”

The sword ki carried by Aura’s blade grew more distinct.

Although it was far from Pasma’s level, considering she was only thirteen, her growth potential was impressive.

Witnessing this, the knights around began to murmur about the birth of the seventh Sword Master.

“A Sword Master at such a young age. Impressive.”

“Ugh!”

An even faster speed than before.

It was movement that I couldn’t follow with my eyes, but Ella managed to respond perfectly.

Clenching her fist as she watched Tina rapidly close the distance, she had knuckles on her hand before I knew it.

“‘Falling Leaf’.”

“‘Sonic Punch’.”

Bam!

Tina’s descending sword was deflected.

“…!”

Caught off guard by the unexpected impact, Tina almost lost her grip on her sword. She barely managed to keep hold of the hilt slipping from her hand.

But Ella wasn’t one to let such an opportunity slip by. She launched another punch.

“‘Sonic Punch’!”

At the moment Ella’s knuckles were about to hit Tina’s body, Tina swung her sword downward. The sword ki flew and struck the ground.

Smash!

The ground Ella was standing on exploded, causing her punch to cut through empty air.

“!”

Seizing the moment of distraction, Tina performed a somersault in mid-air and swung her sword at Ella.

Ella dodged by stepping back, regaining her stance.

Tina, now back on the ground, readied her sword and dashed towards her.

As she entered the range of the sword strike, she swung without hesitation. It was a speed that an average person would have no chance to react to.

But Ella was an S-Class Adventurer, hailed as the strongest after the Heroes in the game.

Clang!

After blocking with her knuckles, she swung her fist next. Tina parried the knuckle strike and blocked the incoming punch.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The two didn’t seem to want to part ways.

Even as the assault continued, both Tina and Ella exchanged blows without a moment’s pause.

It was at that moment.

Ka—clang!

Tina completely deflected Ella’s punch and tensed her grip. Ella tightened her fist as well.

“‘Destruction Strike’!”

“‘Smasher Fist’!”

Bam!

At the moment Tina’s sword clashed with Ella’s knuckles, the air erupted with a deafening sound and the ground beneath them shattered.

With the intense shock, both retreated a step and attempted to strike again.

“‘Phantom Wave Slash.’”

“‘Heavenly Smasher.’”

Tina’s sword and Ella’s knuckles collided once more.

Cling!

As the two weapons met, they pushed each other back once again.

“I guess S-Class really is different.”

Tina muttered as she adjusted her sword grip. Ella began gathering wind energy around her fist. The atmosphere itself seemed to be drawn in.

“You might not be able to control your power, so make sure to block.”

“Same goes for me.”

As both of their spirits rose, the floor of the sparring arena began to tremble.

“Here I go.”

Ella lunged towards Tina. Tina lowered her stance and said softly.

“‘Phantom Wave Slash.’”

“‘Wind Breaker!’”

At the moment Tina’s sword ki collided with Ella’s wind energy, a massive explosion erupted.

Boom!

“Whoa! What the?!”

The sparring arena exploded as if about to be annihilated. Dust shot up, engulfing the surroundings.

If Ariel hadn’t shielded herself at the right time, she would have been completely covered in dirt.

“What happened to the outcome?!”

A knight shouted.

Everyone was on edge, hoping the dust would settle quickly.

As the dust gradually dispersed, two silhouettes became visible.

Just as I was about to breathe a sigh of relief upon seeing they were both standing,

“Tina’s wrist looks strange, Teacher.”

“What?”

Iris’ words piqued my interest, and sure enough, through the dust, I could see Tina holding onto her wrist while having dropped her sword.

Glimpsing the other side, Ella was catching her breath, clutching her shoulder.

As the dust finally settled, I switched my gaze between the two standing on the sparring arena.

Both of them were covered in dirt and stared at one another before regrouping.

“Already at this point? The future really looks scary.”

“S-Class is indeed strong.”

Tina picked up her sword from the ground with her left hand. Her right wrist seemed to have broken.

“Still… you’re not absolute like the Teacher.”

Seeing Tina readying for the attack, Ella withdrew her hand from her shoulder.

Where the Phantom Wave Slash’s ki had struck, the blood flow visibly increased as soon as she let go. It looked like a pretty serious wound.

“Alright. Let’s keep going.”

“Stop!”

Just as Tina was about to stomp the ground, I shouted.

Both Tina and Ella flinched, halting their movements.

“Why, why do you say that, Teacher?”

“Stop.”

“Huh?”

At my words, Tina made a confused sound before justifying herself.

“Teacher, I haven’t lost yet.”

She pleaded with a frown.

Her pride seemed hurt. It was refreshing to see her rebel for the first time, but her glare made me feel somewhat intimidated.

“I know.”

“I’m Lord Praus’ disciple. It’s true that S-Class is strong, but it’s not like I’m going to lose. And if I must lose to someone, it must be you, Teacher.”

“I know you haven’t lost. I just don’t want to see my disciple get seriously injured.”

From the current situation, it was hard to say that she was outmatched by an S-Class, yet continuing the sparring under these circumstances wouldn’t be good.

Ella turned out to be far stronger than I had anticipated.

I indeed had thought she wouldn’t stand a chance against Tina, but she greatly exceeded my expectations.

Was there an unknown variable? Or was it simply that Tina wasn’t good at using Aura?

I would need to find out the reason later, but it was clear that Tina had sustained a critical injury from Ella.

“… Am I… getting badly hurt? Do you think I’m going to lose?”

Suddenly, Tina stepped down from the sparring arena and stood in front of me. Her black eyes filled with fury stared up at me.

“Do you… not trust me?”

“No, that’s not what I mean. I meant don’t push yourself.”

“Push. Push…”

After muttering something, Tina fell silent for a moment before speaking up.

“… Teacher.”

“What is it?”

“This sparring, I must win, right?”

“Indeed.”

“You believed in me, sending me in first for the sparring, didn’t you?”

What exactly she was trying to confirm, I couldn’t grasp.

But there was no wavering in her eyes. I could feel her will to do as she pleased, regardless of what I said.

“…Right.”

“Then I’ll believe and wait. I promise I’ll take down both Ella Todiah and Glair Todiah. After that, you can pat my head and praise me like you always do. That’s all I need.”

“……”

I actually wanted to let her go wild.

Experiencing being cornered would eventually help her take down the Commander or the Demon King.

However, even a Hero couldn’t be invincible.

I wouldn’t want to push her under circumstances where one of her wrists was hanging loosely.

Moreover, she was still just thirteen.

If she had a broken wrist at that age, she should cry, not hold back.

“You’ve already done enough. You defeated Acker and drained a lot of Ella’s stamina. It’s fine to leave the rest to Iris or Maria.”

With Ella sustaining a significant injury and Glair being a stronger version of her, there was no point in continuing with Tina.

“… I don’t want the gap to widen any further.”

Tina mumbled as if to herself.

“What?”

“I want to surpass you, Teacher.”

I felt a shift in the atmosphere around us at Tina’s words.

“Surpass… me?”

“And I don’t want to share the praise I get from you with anyone else.”

Looking over, I could see Iris and Maria watching Tina intently. Their expressions were notably different from usual.

“So please don’t stop me. I will go all the way.”

As I watched the stubborn Tina, I turned my gaze to Ella, who was pressing her wounds on the sparring arena.

“Ella.”

“Yes, Lord Praus.”

“Do you still intend to continue fighting?”

“…Of course. From our family’s standpoint, we can’t let go of the connection with royalty.”

Ella responded with an effortful smile. Her breathing had become irregular due to the blood loss. Despite looking ready to collapse, she remained steadfast.

“You intend to fight in that condition?”

“What choice do I have? Unless I faint like brother Acker, I must keep fighting.”

It seemed she couldn’t see how her father was fidgeting over there.

In response to Ella’s words, Tina turned to head back to the sparring arena.

“Just watch. I’ll definitely win and come back.”

But before she could jump, I grabbed her arm first.

“Uh?”

Pulling her, she stumbled into my embrace, looking startled.

“Teacher?”

She looked up at me with a bewildered expression. Her wide eyes indicated just how surprised she was.

“… I won’t let you fight until you collapse.”

Neither of them faced injuries that would put them in a life-threatening situation, but also taking Tina’s feelings into account, it wouldn’t be wise to continue the sparring.

However, there were other Heroes waiting behind; there was no reason to push Tina alone.

“You know I can still go on, right?”

“Rest, Tina.”

As I firmly spoke, her mouth moved as she lowered her head, resting it on my chest.

“… Alright.”

Finally giving in reluctantly, I gently stroked Tina’s head before turning to Ella.

She looked at Tina with what seemed like envy in her eyes.

“Ella, if you intend to continue fighting, then staunch your bleeding. You can faint from blood loss.”

“… Yes.”

“Bring a potion and hand it to Ella.”

Hearing Glair instruct the knight holding the potion left me perplexed.

I didn’t say to give her a potion; I told him to staunch the bleeding!

“Glair, it’s a sparring match! What do you mean by potion? Taking a potion defeats the purpose of the sparring!”

While potions weren’t incredibly potent and wouldn’t heal all injuries in one go, they could significantly recover stamina and body injuries when used.

So what was the point of having a sparring match if you just healed the injuries? It would only put the losing side at a further disadvantage.

“If you want to heal Ella, then forfeit the sparring.”

“What…?”

As a devoted father, his instinct would be to protect Ella from harm.

I deliberately said that to provoke him.

“I’ll allow only wrapping the wounds. Should anyone use a potion, I’ll take that as a forfeit.”

I pulled out a potion from my bag and offered it to Tina.

I was glad I remembered to bring it, she took it from me, handing her sword to me as she drank it.

“What are you going to do?”

I watched Tina’s wrist then looked at Glair. He was biting his lower lip, appearing to ponder something.

“Ella, how about forfeiting this sparring match? Dad will take care of everything.”

“…Dad, Lord Praus’ disciples are all on par with me. I need to at least defeat two of them to have any chance of winning.”

“Just as Ella said, the next Iris is equal to Tina, and then there’s Maria, a magician who has broken through the seventh tier.”

“What…?”

Murmurs spread among the knights.

With the mention of the Sword Master and a seventh-tier magician, it was indeed surprising.

“Hey, isn’t the Magic Guild Leader at the eighth tier?”

“Come on, that’s nonsense. How could a thirteen-year-old breach the seventh tier?”

They’d likely go crazy if they heard she was close to the eighth tier.

“Whether it’s nonsense or not, you can find out for yourself. However, if Glair forfeits the match, you won’t get that chance.”

“Do you think I’m going to forfeit?”

“If you don’t, Ella will undoubtedly fall. I can guarantee that.”

“Guh.”

At the point where Acker couldn’t even put up a fight against Tina, the outcome of this sparring match was basically decided.

Their best chance of winning was to maintain a one-on-one situation.

“What’s it going to be? Are you going to increase the casualties here, or will you forfeit the sparring match?”

Honestly, this was a choice I could never have proposed if Glair didn’t have that doting father trait.

From the moment Ella became infected by the Magic Beast, every time he saw her struggle and get hurt, it crushed him to the core.

So I figured he would likely choose the latter.

“I—“

After a long contemplation, Glair finally opened his mouth.