People.
“Are you ready, Senior El?”
Vita checked her protective gear, the Sword Spirit possessing the wooden sword in her hand, burning with a cyan glow.
Her ashen hair fluttered in the breeze, sapphire blue eyes full of resolve. The confident smile on her face made her look like a completely different person from just a week ago.
“Hiss—my body hasn’t moved for so long, I’m a bit out of practice.”
El felt the wooden sword in his hand was heavy, holding it with one hand felt a bit forced, still searching for a comfortable balance.
To replicate real combat conditions, the training ground’s wooden swords were made with exceptional care in material selection, and even had Rune of Gravity carved into them to simulate the effect of the standard-issue steel swords used by the Knight Order.
His skills were actually decent. Although mages have lower physical requirements, they couldn’t afford to completely lag behind melee professionals.
For fitness, El had trained a bit of Combat Aura too, though it wasn’t worth mentioning.
He just rarely sparred in the training ground, which made his technique rusty.
“Vita, you’re the challenger. You attack first.”
Once El was ready, he spoke.
Without any hesitation, Vita dashed forward like an arrow, her sword rising with her body, gathering momentum as if she would strike at El in the next instant.
Magic power flowed, and a low-rank spell quickly formed in El’s hand.
Ice Bind—as the name implied, he used ice elements to slow down Vita’s movements, especially the sword in her hand.
But that wasn’t enough; “Ice Bind” was just a setup for his next spell.
El retreated, doing his best to keep his distance from Vita. Of course, she wouldn’t be held back by a mere low-rank spell.
***
In the next moment, the ground beneath Vita’s feet seemed to come alive, wriggling, turning moist and powerful, clinging firmly to her feet.
Mud Swamp, also a low-rank spell, but after El’s improvements, could reach the level of a mid-rank spell when used against melee professions.
Multi-casting was a basic skill for mages in real combat; while casting ice magic, El was also manipulating earth elements.
Vita, eager to attack, focused her strength too much and would soon sink into the mud swamp, losing her mobility and turning into a natural, stationary target.
For a mage, that was more than enough to secure victory.
Let this be a lesson for her… El thought.
Just when El thought he had it in the bag, Combat Aura burst out around Vita, and she suddenly leaped out of the trap El had set.
How could this be…just now, was that…a feint?
El immediately realized; to think that in the very first round, he was the one who suffered a loss.
“So annoying, Senior El, that look on your face is way too dismissive of me.”
Vita was angry. “I’ve studied magic too. I memorized all the principles in the textbook about duels between melee professionals and mages word for word.”
In one-on-one duels, if the warrior’s opponent is a mage, then the core tactic is always to stall. As time passes, the mage’s chance of victory drops sharply.
A mage’s strategy, on the other hand, is to seize on the opponent’s opening and try to finish them off decisively in a single combo—in other words, to go for a One Turn Kill, or OTK.
Of course, Vita wouldn’t be so reckless. She knew that El’s greatest weakness was his magic power. That feint just now had tricked El into casting two spells, already swinging the situation in her favor.
“I underestimated you, Vita. I owe you an apology.”
El took a deep breath, “From here on, I’m getting serious.”
In El’s view, evaluating a person’s combat prowess on paper usually considered three aspects.
The first is stats. For example, magical energy, Combat Aura strength, or a body honed through countless battles.
The best example of this was a dragon.
Every adult dragon could reach a master level in both physique and magical energy, which was one of the reasons why the Aesoria Dragon Court held such a lofty position.
The second is skill. Swordsmanship, magical attainment, and so on—all directly affect a person’s strength.
In Cielsa’s way of thinking, stats were a character’s base numbers, while skill was a character’s skill multiplier.
Multiplying the two, skill actually carried even more weight than stats.
If your base numbers were lacking, you could make up for it with potions, Buffs, and so on. But if your skill multiplier wasn’t up to par, there was no saving you.
The third is mechanics. On the continent, nearly everyone was born with a natural talent, though most could never awaken it.
For example, El’s talent—Arcane Eye—which allowed him to precisely adjust the spell units when casting magic.
This gave him extreme control over his spells.
For example, “Ice Bind” was actually a low-accuracy, not particularly effective, borderline useless ice spell. But thanks to El’s control, he could apply “Ice Bind” exactly to Vita’s hands, slowing her attack.
El raised his left hand, magic power surging violently.
Behind him appeared a magic circle glowing with purple light. Three missiles arced with long trails, the air around them shrieking with explosive force, streaking toward Vita like comets.
Mid-rank spell, Arcane Missile, the signature spell of a mage—one you could keep using all the way to graduation.
A standard Arcane Missile could destroy a house with a single shot, but El had sacrificed some of the destructive power to reduce magic consumption, speed up casting, and improve precision.
Vita wanted to dodge, but realized her feet were rooted to the spot, frozen so badly they were almost numb.
The approaching missiles radiated a blinding purple light—so dazzling in Vita’s eyes.
That’s Senior El’s magic. It’s so cool… she thought.
The reason I wield my sword is just for this—to protect Senior El, and his magic. So it’s time to prove myself.
A cyan glow spread along the sword’s blade; the Sword Spirit responded to her resolve.
Vita drew a deep breath, grasped the sword with both hands, and slashed a beautiful arc.
Time seemed to stand still. The resolute sword-light destroyed the incoming missiles, and also shattered the ice magic at her feet.
Vita didn’t let the opportunity slip by.
She moved at top speed, using the footwork she’d stolen from the Sword Saint just last night, leaving the explosion of Arcane Missiles in her wake as she charged straight for El.
“Senior El, looks like I’ve won.”
She held her wooden sword to El’s neck as she spoke.
Vita was excited. She had proven her strength, but more importantly, she had proven herself worthy of being “Senior El’s sword.”
El stared blankly, as if too shocked by Vita’s move to speak.
“Senior El?”
Vita finally realized something was off, but it was already too late—a wooden sword rested against her own neck, and El’s voice sounded from behind.
“Let this be a lesson, Vita. Never be arrogant, and never underestimate your enemy.”
The “El” in front of Vita suddenly collapsed, turning into a puddle of water that splashed on the training ground.
Phew—at least I managed to keep my dignity as a senior.
El let out a sigh of relief. Vita had put more pressure on him than expected.
His tactical thinking was clear, but who would’ve thought Vita’s silver-tier swordsmanship could slice through Arcane Missiles like they were carrots? Terrifying.
Good thing he had a Plan B, or he’d have been the one embarrassed.
“So in the end, I still lost…”
Vita’s voice dragged out, sounding rather downcast.
El lowered his sword: “Vita, you already did great. Your swordsmanship is outstanding, and your strategy wasn’t wrong. All in all, you gave me plenty of surprises—I’m very satisfied.”
Just a single day—such terrifying talent that even El felt a little lost.
“So, Senior El, do you acknowledge me now?”
El countered, “Why are you so obsessed with my recognition? You’re already so outstanding……”
Halfway through, El suddenly realized—this girl, the reason she learned swordsmanship, it was for me.
He changed his words: “Yes, I really do like it. I’m happy to have such an excellent sword as you.”
Seeing the pure smile on Vita’s face, a pang of guilt welled up in El’s heart.
Is this…really alright?