<248 - Catch This, Senpai>
The rainbow ball was far more sinister than the fiery dodgeball showcasing its hot flavor or the spicy six-colored ball that sailed in with interval repetitions.
“Wow, you handle advanced control magic as if it’s second nature.”
“Is that really a first-year dodgeball?”
“Amazing transformation magic skills. The completeness of the mana techniques used is extraordinary. They’re truly harnessing the power of nature mana.”
As soon as the professors, who had settled in for the big event, saw the rainbow ball, they were taken aback.
“Of course. Who do you think taught them?”
The professors were surprised for other reasons.
In one corner, a flower-crowned nutcase was on a swing made of vines, creaking as it swung back and forth… no, it was the presence of Professor Weird, who usually skipped such events, that changed the atmosphere.
The empire’s professors, including Professor Raeb, who taught [Basics and Understanding of Imperial Magic Studies], couldn’t hide their discomfort, while professors from the border region easily tossed out questions.
“Do you teach mana control to first-years?”
“Isn’t the pre-study a bit too advanced?”
“I haven’t particularly taught them.”
“Then why is this your credit? It’s just natural talent.”
“Because one of the spells that kid is using is something I taught.”
Vines sprouted vigorously from under Professor Weird’s feet.
Strangely, the vines didn’t grow upwards but sideways.
“Gravitational manipulation, huh?”
“Do you teach this advanced magic to first-years?”
“We’re teaching magic related to survival in nature until the final exam. Like camouflage, poison, and ambush.”
There are animals that hang upside down from ceilings and suddenly pounce, and monsters that use gravity magic to rise and then slam their prey against cliffs.
“Hmm. This year’s first years have some impressive kids. Masugaki and Oknodie, for example.”
A particularly youthful and bright voice rang out among the professors.
It belonged to Professor Pinkberry, a legal loli standing at 144 cm, who stubbornly sported pink twin tails and didn’t get told to act her age.
“But why does it seem like there’s a pesky mosquito around the magic that kid is using?”
Fury began to show on Professor Pinkberry’s youthful face as she grit her teeth.
Even if the six-colored ball performs interval repetitions, the speed slows down after a few physical catches, but the rainbow ball was able to exert almost no-limit power thanks to the constant acceleration from gravitational magic.
A ball falling from 3m is light enough to catch, while one from 30m could frighten novices away. And a ball with gravitational acceleration coming from 300m or 3000m? You can’t even begin to imagine.
When the Deadcat first experienced the rainbow ball’s total assault, they realized its mechanics.
‘The first catch was the easiest. Once missed, catching the next inbound ball becomes even harder.’
As gravitational acceleration continuously added upon itself, the ball was propelled toward them, trying to blast them out of bounds with interval repetitions.
Of course, the rainbow ball came equipped with various spells designed to thwart attempts to catch it.
This was a pure skill contest.
The battle between the skill of deploying spells that troubles the catcher and the catcher’s skill in actual practice.
But once again, Oknodie’s ball was disrupted by the pesky powers of [Transformation] and [Amplification], changing the ball’s characteristics periodically and making tailored defense impossible.
Truly a diverse assault that lacked any feelings of regret or inadequacy.
‘I caught it.’
The Deadcat’s skills weren’t lacking, either.
After sacrificing two life stacks, they could relatively quickly grab the ball.
However, they couldn’t throw it.
“Whoa~! You caught it already! Then this time, a dual rainbow assault~~!”
Not only was Oknodie’s consecutive attack a problem, but this ball had a precision spell inscribed on it that severed the force’s action and space.
Even if they threw it back at Oknodie, the ball would curve back toward them, inclined by gravitational acceleration, initiating an infinite repeat of the severed space.
Throwing it was basically hugging a heat-seeking missile adjusted for their coordinates.
‘They inscribed a truly vicious spell to ensure this ball doesn’t end with just a catch.’
The Deadcat felt a sense of helplessness.
As long as this dodgeball continued, there was no way for the Deadcat to win within the court.
“I forfeit.”
The Deadcat quickly gave up.
It wasn’t worth showing off and becoming a laughingstock in front of the students and professors for the sake of pride after sacrificing precious life stacks.
Their life stacks weren’t some light technique they could casually display multiple times in front of others.
“That’s unfair!”
They ignored Oknodie’s whining.
Next time, they truly planned to knock that arrogant attitude down a peg in a no-rules duel outside the court.
But…
Once they stepped outside the court, they were glad they forfeited as an unexpected sight unfolded.
The balls that had been aimed at them soared by, zooming through the air with a whoosh and swish.
Balls that continued to accelerate as they passed through the severed space began to pick up speed.
“Wow. I wonder who’s going to grab those balls?”
“Look at their speed. You can’t even retrieve them with telekinesis.”
“No one can catch them…?”
Suddenly, three balls on the court were sealed within the space where the Deadcat had been.
“Wow. Deadcat had a tough time, huh?”
“That first-year is incredible.”
“Top students aren’t just anyone; they earn it.”
Students approached, pretending to be friendly, trying to start a conversation.
With their pride as a cat on the line, the Deadcat turned stiffly to ignore them, only to find familiar faces.
That one’s from the upper class. That one too. They were all upper-class students.
There were far too many students who shouldn’t have been outside the court already.
“What took you down?”
In response to the Deadcat’s question, the second-year upper-class students awkwardly pointed fingers at their own reasons for defeat.
“Some dude named Jezel threw some pepper canister disguised as a dodgeball. It burst in my face; my nose tingled, and my eyes watered, so I couldn’t see.”
“I swear Dorothy’s pure evil. That guy Rockbell knocked me out, but she threw a spike-laden ball. I dropped it because it hurt too much.”
“Remember the one wearing the pirate captain hat? While they shot back and forth with magic missiles, an electric ball suddenly discharged from a nearby fallen ball, electrocuting me while I got hit.”
“Didn’t someone get ambushed by a dagger-wielding kid and ended up in the medical building?”
“Dodgeball is really dangerous. There are guns, ambushes, and way too many things to worry about.”
The second-year upper-class students weaved extraordinary tales of how they had been knocked out to the first-year upper-class students, sounding like heroic stories!
“Seriously, you guys are lucky.”
“What about you?”
A second-year student with a gloomy face pointed to the icy pillar soaring straight up high.
“There’s this pillar where you can’t tell if it’s a dodgeball or an ice ball, and it just kept pelting us from above.”
Estimated height: 50m.
Diameter: 5m.
The massive ice pillar’s top was so high up that even raising their heads couldn’t see it.
It created a situation so shocking one could compare it to a war machine in children’s play!
“Wow…”
“That was intense…”
Northern Grand Duchess Irene.
She showcased an incredible presence, picking off every second-year upper-class student aside from those designated as the Four Kings.
Irene felt honestly insulted.
Oknodie?
She could accept that as the top student.
Ishtar?
She had personally experienced the strength of the rookie warrior.
But the other two were different.
Kasia.
A quiet case from Group C that she knew nothing about.
Masugaki.
A person who had seemed too carefree, mocking the academy and acting like a princess.
‘If those brats are considered among the Four Kings, does that mean I’m worse than them?’
She couldn’t accept it.
She would show those who dared judge her inferior to them what she was made of.
One, two, three.
Without discrimination between second-year upper-class or regular students, she hurled ice balls as if raining down bombardments.
Some ice balls stuck, making hands splash and freeze.
Some ice balls burst nearby, sending freezing spikes flying.
Some ice balls collided with the ground, turning the floor into ice.
Students fell helplessly before the random assault packed with sheer force.
Boom! Bam!
A few loud explosions echoed beneath the pillar, but her mastery over ice magic ensured the structure could hold until the ice pillar quickly restored and reinforced itself.
Thanks to that, anyone targeting the pillar and those up top targeting her were on equal ground, wasting their efforts.
Nobody could threaten her unless they had the skill to smash down the pillar to her eye level.
‘After all, most upper-class students are matching up against the first-year upper-class. The ones who could challenge me are…’
Bang!
A powerful impact shook her feet.
At the end of her startled gaze stood a shining senior holding a ball.
White Knight Roe.
The one who took out Masugaki before anyone could blink now had their sights set on her.
‘Didn’t notice at all. That ominous dark mana slipped in and broke me before I even sensed it.’
This was no ordinary senior.
One of the Four Kings of the second year.
And yet, they had been underestimated?
Crunch.
The ice ball gripped tightly in her hand grew even colder.
A force like this, the first she felt since the warrior Ishtar.
Since the day she had been powerless and lost, she wondered just how strong she had become.
“Catch this, Senpai.”
