<193 - 70 Consecutive Wins>
The morale of the Imperial Students was at an all-time high. After experiencing a mysterious raid, the Imperial students were now fuming with anger.
Competent individuals like Dorothy, Sandkooker, and Rosgini managed only a measly 10 victories before falling to the ace of the opposers.
To make matters worse, the remaining 49 students were defeated in quick succession by the opposing ace who toppled Rosgini!
Thanks to that, the Imperial side set an incredible record of 50 consecutive wins.
“That’s the highest record ever for the most knockdowns in the First Year, first semester inter-class competition,” said Professor Raeb smugly.
Even if he should be a little peeved that his students got wrecked, Professor Weird was just nurturing the flower buds on her head.
Wiggle wiggle… PING!
Harnessing the warm afternoon sunshine along with the students’ screams and despair, Professor Weird finally bloomed her flower!
“Hmm? What did you say?”
“…I mean, this match is over now.”
“Same old boring talk as always. The outcome was decided from the start.”
“Have you given up? Well, once a student-to-student ratio of 1 to 70 was established, you must have seen your pupil’s insignificant skills clearly.”
“Insignificant is true, but losing is going to be you!”
“Do you really think you can win? One Oknodie against 70 students?”
“That kid is strong. Stronger than you think.”
“On what basis do you think that?”
“I looked into the source of that kid’s strength.”
It was quite a concerning topic to dismiss as the nonsense of a lunatic with a flower on her head.
“I tested how mana increases by feeding stones to students, and results came out.”
“Stones…?”
“Feeding them mana stones increased their mana.”
“What about the impurities?”
“It digested only mana and excreted everything else in a transformed state. That kid’s mana capacity is out of the ordinary.”
“Are you saying he can handle 70?”
“70? Such a number means nothing to that kid. He could handle 100 alone.”
This was unbelievable news for Professor Raeb, who was inwardly thrilled at the thought of finally getting revenge on Oknodie.
*
Upon arriving at the Duel Arena, an unexpectedly energetic student from the opposing side threw down the gauntlet.
“What a shame. If I could’ve beaten you as my 50th opponent, my name would have become way more famous. Well… beating you as my 51st should still be enough to tarnish your reputation.”
Despite being a bit of a spoiler, the arrival of such a strong fighter appeared simply cute to this veteran’s eyes.
On the contrary, defeating the one who achieved a continuous win streak would earn me the upgraded bonus of Ace of Aces for knocking down 50 opponents.
Thanks to the rewards increasing with skill, the spoilers could even become positive variables.
“Congratulations! For an extra, you did pretty well!”
“…Look down on others while acting all high and mighty, and you won’t get to keep that attitude once this duel is over.”
“What’s your name?”
“I’m Pepe, a follower of the God of Love Atalaxia. I will subdue you with this infinite stamina through the power of faith!”
More than the strange name, I blinked at the title attached to it.
Atalaxia… Atalax/Sia… Sia?
Suddenly, the name of my childhood friend popped into my mind like an arrow lodged in my chest.
“Begin.”
With Professor Raeb’s arrogant grin, the match began.
Pepe was coated in a mischievous pink aura, looking as if wrapped with a glow.
This was the holy magic of Body Reinforcement that previously smashed Rosgini and 49 other students to pieces.
“I wanted to ask since the first time you used it, but is it allowed to use holy magic in Imperial Magic Studies 101?”
“In the Empire, faith is life!”
Charging his mana flow technique to the max and reinforcing his body, Pepe rushed with unbelievable speed, resembling a frontline knight.
Now I understood the secret behind the 50 consecutive wins.
No matter how much stamina and agility training he completed, that was training to dodge a magician’s ranged spells, not to face off against knights.
In short, it was a matter of type matchups.
A light-armored evasive mage can dodge the magic of an Imperial mage; however, a melee-oriented mage can chew through the weak stamina and agility of an evasive mage.
If they piled on physical stats like that, I had to use the powerful firepower of an Imperial mage to suppress them if I wanted to get anywhere.
‘Rosgini and Sandkooker are from the Magic Tower, so there was at least potential with firepower.’
But this isn’t Rock-Paper-Scissors, and there’s no rule saying they have to win with Rock.
If Rock is strong enough, it can break paper like Pepe did to Rosgini.
BAM BAM BAM!
Was that really an ordinary rock? I blocked the incoming fist with my hand, only for my palm to smart.
It hurt pretty good; not as much as a warrior’s, but still quite a sting.
This was clearly not the power of an extra.
There are sometimes people like this, even in the Lower Class.
Why is this a Lower Class?
Why is this an extra?
Most of these students have specs that seem to be at least Upper Class level.
The reason is simple.
They met existing Upper Class students during the Entrance Exam and got blasted because of the spoiler effect.
It’s like a natural disaster.
Assuming they didn’t have a mental breakdown trying to start a fight first.
‘Looks like this guy was a pest every time!’
From the look of him, he seemed like an NPC I’d never seen before, which suggest he likely couldn’t even remain in the Lower Class and practically died.
Given how tough these things can be, he probably became a meal for Sia.
“Upper Class isn’t anything special. Even the Top Student just runs away when faced with someone like me!”
Anyway, since this was a student who could have been a classmate, he probably felt more tormented than comforted by falling to the Lower Class.
Having achieved 50 consecutive wins, I bet he’s also thinking of getting revenge by knocking down Oknodie, his fellow classmate from the Upper Class.
I get it.
I’m not planning on losing, though.
“Dark Side.”
Type – Dark Magic, Alchemical Magic
Activation – Equivalent Exchange
Specialization – Body Assistance, Sustained Projection, Calmness
Penalty – Personality Wear
Dark mana swirls around my body like an aura, transforming into a fighting spirit.
This is the dark mana version of the aura techniques Pepe displayed earlier.
“Without faith, you’ve mastered fighting spirit!?”
“Fighting spirit can be handled without faith at all. It’s just your god taking advantage of it.”
Utilizing dark mana to wrap around my body like a fighting spirit.
It’s only natural that the might of the body parts clad in fighting spirit increases dramatically.
Pepe’s steps were now leading him backward in a panic.
As I chased and dealt damage here and there, Raeb, who had been watching quietly, suddenly chimed in.
“This isn’t a magic duel.”
“Professor Raeb, isn’t that too disgraceful? I held back while you all achieved 50 wins.”
“Urk…!”
The point was that he had built up his reputation first.
While the notion of cowardice was raised first by us, Professor Weird, who appeared to be allowing this due to her lazy nature, became a noose around Raeb and Pepe’s necks.
Did she know?
That my specialty was Body Reinforcement magic.
If the magic was primarily handled by a 2m30cm warrior, it undoubtedly had to be a supportive reinforcement magic.
If she suspected that without knowing, her insight was impressive in its own right.
“Angel Punch!”
White wings unfurled around Pepe’s fist, radiating dazzling light.
Despite the grand claim, it was practically a flash punch.
“That’s so cowardly!”
“You’re just using cheap tricks till the end!”
Even amidst the outpour of criticisms, Pepe boldly declared war, but my palm accurately caught the punch.
“How…!?”
“Dark magic turns into a sun tan if it catches your eyes!”
Even when Io of the Blue Fist was throwing flashy punches, I was fine. How could I get caught off guard by something similar now?
You tend to see a pattern after facing a few spoilers; they usually boil down to the same kinds of tricks, and I blocked it easily.
“Good job, and thank you! Now hand over the points!”
“No way!”
Pepe, unable to accept defeat, fired off magic indiscriminately, and I laughed.
Type – Dark Magic, Enhancement Magic
Activation – Colossal Punch
Specialization – Body Assistance, Rapid Overcharge, Protection
Drawing upon my own formidable 2m30cm frame, I unleashed an unprecedented strike filled with unimaginable power—as noted, this was a basic magic punch.
BOOM!
Like a dimming light struggling against the crumbling wall, Pepe, who squeezed out the pink light of the God of Love, collapsed.
It was a complete triumph.
“Whoa. Whoa…”
“We have to face that…?”
“If you forfeit, you’ll fail…?”
The lost Imperial students, now despondent at their own turn, couldn’t accept defeat, and the stunned Professor Raeb glared at me.
Professor Weird, who had been nurturing flowers and lazing around, spoke in his stead.
“Winner, Oknodie.”
It was a victory proclamation I’d hear 69 more times.
