Episode 202
“I might actually be able to win.”
For a moment, Erlich had that thought, but soon her spirit was crushed.
It wasn’t out of fear of her opponent; it was the exact opposite.
She felt pity.
Is it morally right to fight with all your might against someone who can’t see?
She certainly hadn’t heard that they were blind; how did this happen? Did they get injured while fighting Altife?
With all sorts of thoughts swirling in her head, she hesitated.
Erlich’s lips reflected her uncertainty as she worriedly spoke to Vargan.
“Um… Is it really okay to proceed with the match like this?”
Even if she was seeing someone for the first time and knew they were supposed to be her opponent, they were also a student with a dream of becoming a hero, just like her.
As for their eyes… she had no clue how they ended up blind.
Considering they hadn’t replaced them with those of a familiar, it couldn’t have been long since the injury occurred.
Fighting in such an unprepared situation would only lead to greater harm.
Erlich didn’t want an innocent person to get hurt. Especially someone who was already injured.
However, the response she received was,
“What nonsense are you babbling about?”
A cold, bewildered tone.
Erlich was taken aback, her mouth opening as if to respond with a “Huh…?” but she quickly understood.
“Since they’re the top of Academia and from a prestigious family, even if they had an unfortunate accident, they probably can’t let go of their pride.”
In that brief moment, Erlich pieced together her own story.
A talented, arrogant noble enters Academia, living in glory until one day they meet Altife, someone they can barely compete with or even defeat. Just barely managing to survive that encounter.
But unfortunately, they end up losing both eyes due to the incident, completely changing how people around them see them.
Expectations turn into disappointment, and cheers morph into mockery.
Yet, refusing to acknowledge this, the noble tries desperately to claw their way back up.
This final exam was to be the first stage for that comeback.
“What should I do? I feel so sorry for them…”
Erlich quickly wiped away the moisture gathering in her eyes. Vargan, completely baffled by the current situation, urged her on in an exasperated tone.
Zoro urged her on.
“I can’t quite figure out what you’re thinking, but hurry up and get ready. Fighting something without will is just a waste of time. What are you doing? The match is about to start.”
“I see… You really are someone who never backs down in the face of adversity. Understood…”
Erlich, coming to some sort of understanding on her own, picked up her staff.
With her mouth she muttered, “It would be rude to suggest I forfeit any further. I’ll give it my all.”
Bargan noticed the conversation was becoming tangled but decided to let it go since it didn’t seem to hinder the match.
Beeeeep—!
Finally, a high-pitched mechanical sound burst forth.
Gooo—.
The once fragile-looking Erlich’s gaze changed in an instant.
It seemed to contain a rich flow of mana and the vigor of life.
Bargan felt that change.
‘It’s like I’m facing the dual personality of Blurans… No, it’s somewhat different.’
The Spirit Summoner Erlich, a supporting character with some significance, survives until the latter part of the novel.
True to her profession, she handles various spirits and can lend her body, allowing for possession.
When she lends her body, her soul temporarily merges with the spirit’s soul, gaining several times the original power.
In functional terms, it’s a capability similar to enchanting magic.
It’s a power few Spirit Summoners can use, akin to a swordsman’s red aura, yet she has already blossomed at this first-year stage.
‘Well… What to be cautious of with Erlich is not her high level of spirit summoning… but—’
Tap—!
Bargan struck the ground with his staff.
A very thin layer of mana spread out, and around him, dozens of magic circles manifested.
Various familiars appeared above them, and Erlich, who had also summoned spirits, couldn’t help but be astonished.
“Naias and Arcane…?!”
While other familiars were certainly surprising, those two stood out to her as a Spirit Summoner.
Two spirits of the Duke’s lineage.
She had definitely heard he was a magician, so how did he make a contract?
Surely the spirits wouldn’t want to bind themselves…?
Had he actually been a Spirit Summoner?
Just as such questions arose in Erlich’s mind, Naias scanned Erlich and the surroundings with keen eyes.
“Wow, there are many familiar faces here after so long.”
Naias smiled, as if welcoming a reunion, and pointed to Erlich one by one with his finger.
“The Light Spirit Ignis, the Earth Spirit Oriath, the Forest Spirit Dryad. And the other riffraff… Has it really been thousands of years?”
Sealed in a secret dungeon, Naias, this old spirit, couldn’t remember the last time five spirits from the Duke’s lineage gathered in one place.
—Grrr. Crack!
Bargan’s battle-ready familiars seemed ready to pounce at any moment.
Unlike Erlich’s spirits, which were in their original thought forms and appeared like swirling colors or clouds of steam, Naias and Arcane had taken on incarnate forms.
As both forces eyed each other cautiously, Naias took the lead and provoked them first.
As the confrontation unfolded, Naias charged forward, provoking them first.
“Hey, hey, hey. You think those stuck at the Duke level can handle this? Look at me! I devoured the Judgment Weapon and completely recovered—think you can handle it?”
“Naias, stop it. I don’t want to be treated the same as you just because I’m here.”
“Hey, Arcane. Didn’t I tell you not to act all cocky just because you’re a junior? Watch closely, I’ll show you how strong I am. Young Master! Can we fight now?”
Barghan nodded silently, allowing the battle, his attention slightly elsewhere as he planned to observe before issuing further commands.
“Alright! Watch closely! This is the power of the Spirit Duke who obtained the Judgment Weapon…”
Naias twisted her body back, gripping her wrist tightly.
Even at a glance, she gathered a level of magical energy that dwarfed what she had when they first encountered her in the dungeon.
Erlich, sensing it wasn’t an ordinary situation, hurriedly instructed the spirits to intervene, but Barghan’s familiars led by Kry counter-attacked instead.
Zing, zing—.
Naias compressing her power.
Finally, when mana with the essence of water gathered to its maximum…
“Catch this!”
Naias darted forward, launching her fist.
Kwahaaak—!
A swirling vortex of dark energy, saturated with power, threatened to engulf the entire arena…
“Uh…? Ugh, Eku!”
Instead of advancing, she soared into the air like a dragon.
She had tripped over her own foot and fell to the ground.
A spirit that had tripped on its own foot.
A vigorous column of water soared into the sky, veering completely off course.
Barghan unfurled the shadows to block the splatters of ink heading toward him and quietly murmured while gazing at Erlich.
“…Indeed, it’s a force not to be underestimated.”
What he meant wasn’t Naias’ power.
It was the inky tendrils enveloping the arena.
However, it was as if an invisible barrier surrounded her, causing the remnants of the water column not to splash on her.
Did Naias just fall flat on her face?
Well, considering her character and her penchant for ridiculous mistakes, one might think so, but one could not overlook that the attack was directed at Erlich.
Spirit Summoner Erlich—she was the one to be most cautious of, and the reason she was a pain to deal with was because of her ‘Luck.’
Its value was astonishingly high.
* * *
“What’s going on here…? Did she just fall? Hah, seriously.”
Emily sighed as she watched Naias fumbling right from the start.
Liam, sitting next to her watching the match, agreed with her sentiment, but he was much more ‘surprised.’
‘Luck…? What the heck is this? I’ve never seen anything like this before!’
Seated in the audience, Liam scrutinized Erlich’s status as the match unfolded.
As a superb Spirit Summoner, she boasted impressive magical stats, but that wasn’t what caught his eye.
It was a stat that no one else had ever seen before.
Luck: 9.5/12
Luck…? Is that really luck?
“Is it really that luck?”
The number on the left shows her current status.
The number on the right signifies the limit, just like the other abilities.
However, if it’s really the same as the other abilities, the implications of this figure were enormous.
“When I enrolled in the Academia, the average stats of new students were in the high 3s. The limit was at most 10. But this…”
Liam recalled Erlich, whom he had read about in a novel.
Yes, it was true that she had been lucky.
Even during fierce wars, she would end up with only minor wounds or sometimes none at all.
She would even find gold coins while walking down the street, or the second-ranked hero in the Hero Ranking would mistakenly enter her room in Rikeion and end up taking a liking to her and accepting her as a potential mentee…
Still, he never imagined it would be to this extent.
“Is seeing it firsthand making it feel different?”
Liam tried to grasp the situation unfolding in the Arena.
Vargan’s familiars were aggressively on the offensive.
Erlich’s spirits were desperately defending in response.
Clearly, Vargan had the upper hand. Even though he wasn’t participating in the combat, his force was fiercely attacking the spirits.
“…But if you look closely, the damage isn’t that severe.”
For some reason, Vargan’s familiars’ attacks were either missing or not landing heavily.
On the other hand, every strike from Erlich’s spirits, despite their counterattacks, resulted in critical hits.
It was an absurd situation.
The kind of ridiculous odds where one could get struck by lightning five times in a row.
But what made it possible was ‘Luck.’
That was probably what her ‘settings’ officially stated.
Vargan’s elite familiars, rigorously trained, were struggling. It was clearly spelled out in the stats.
There wouldn’t be any need for further evidence.
“Could it be… that having Ignis, the light spirit, against mostly darkness-element Vargan’s familiars, or the fact that the spirit currently possessing her is a light spirit instead of another duke’s spirit, is all because of this?”
It might be an excessive imagination, but that’s what luck is like.
An unknown force that wipes away all plausibility. That’s why it works so terrifyingly well.
“…This is bad.”
Liam swallowed hard.
Vargan, as he was now, was extremely ‘calculative,’ whether it was due to his original character’s personality or the soul that had possessed him was unclear.
He could analyze all possible scenarios and derive the most effective outcome optimally.
That was his way of life, and it was the same in combat.
Had Vargan ever fought while considering the concepts of ‘chance’ or ‘luck’?
No, he wouldn’t have.
Because it’s unpredictable.
Since it’s unpredictable, he doesn’t factor it into his calculations. In other words.
“She is a natural enemy to Vargan.”
Moreover, Vargan was currently limited in vision, and his total mana had been reduced by half.
In such circumstances, could he truly win normally?
For the first time, Liam began to worry about Vargan.
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