A tense atmosphere filled the training ground of the Second Public Office.
All the officials looked on with anticipation, eyes fixed on the two men.
“Who do you think will win?” “Probably the ‘War Demon.'”
“But you can’t underestimate Harssen, a top-class wizard.”
“True, he did single-handedly take down a powerful beast.”
“But it’s a knight against a wizard. Advantage goes to the knight.”
There was a reason why this duel drew such eager attention.
Cassis Renokhonan, known as the “War Demon” for his ruthless slaughter of the southern barbarians on the frontlines, stood opposite Yohan Harssen, who had defeated a high-level beast alone on his first scouting mission.
The crowd’s excitement was inevitable.
“Before we start,” Cassis raised his hand, stopping the flow of anticipation, “no interference until one of us is either exhausted or down.”
A murmur spread through the training ground.
“What’s this? Does he have a grudge against Harssen, the top-class wizard?”
“It’s the first time I’ve seen Sir Renokhone act this way…”
“I wonder what’s on his mind.”
Ignoring the whispers, Cassis looked up at Fedelian standing on the central platform.
“Interesting. Things were getting a bit dull, after all,” Fedelian said, flashing a sly smile as he spread his palm, granting Cassis’s request.
Yohan observed this exchange with a smirk.
‘They’re really out to test me.’
‘No matter. There’s no way I’ll lose to him, especially when he’s not using his Mana Blade.’
He concentrated, enhancing the strength of his magical threads.
“Shall we begin?” Yohan asked.
“Sure. I’ll let you make the first move.”
“Such generosity; I’m almost at a loss,” Yohan replied, masking his contempt with a smirk.
In the world of magic and martial arts, offering a wizard the first attack was a clear slight, but Cassis seemed unfazed.
“Fine, let’s see what you’ve got.” Yohan pointed his fingers at Cassis and uttered, “Ignite.”
A red aura spread from his fingertips, drawing a magic circle in the air.
“Burn.”
An intense heat radiated outward, distorting the atmosphere.
The air around Yohan crackled with fierce energy.
“Flare.”
The power surged, mana swirling into a fiery vortex as Yohan chanted.
“La Entus, Fire!”
As his voice resonated, the magic circle opened fully, launching a comet-like blaze from his fingertips.
Kwooooom!
Fire erupted, rushing forward like a tidal wave, consuming everything in its path and hurtling toward Cassis.
Though it was a simple fire spell, its power was undeniable.
In a blink, Cassis focused his energy, enhancing his body.
His violet eyes shone coolly as he swung his wooden training sword diagonally.
Shwoosh! The blazing torrent split in two, scattering into the air.
Yohan’s eyes widened.
Though “Fire” was a basic attack spell, he’d poured all his mana into it and fully extended the chant.
But Cassis had cut through it effortlessly—with a wooden training sword, no less!
“You lose focus, and you’re bound to let me get close.”
Before Yohan could react, Cassis closed the distance and swung his sword upward with formidable power.
Yohan heard the threads snap as he twisted his body, barely avoiding the blade by a hair’s breadth.
But Cassis’s assault continued, his arms and wrists moving fluidly in an intricate chain of strikes.
Yohan, channeling mana into his perception, barely dodged each blow, retreating to regain distance.
Cassis raised an eyebrow.
“Not bad, for a wizard.”
“I like to keep fit,” Yohan replied, his gaze steady.
Annoyed yet calm, Cassis held his feelings in check. “Here I come.”
He dashed forward, his sword drawing a horizontal line in the air.
Yohan’s heightened perception allowed him to narrowly dodge once again, but Cassis’s relentless strikes kept him on the defensive.
‘At this rate, I’ll be cornered.’
Cassis’s strikes seemed simple but cut through Yohan’s threads effortlessly.
Not even using his Mana Blade, Cassis was breaking through Yohan’s defenses.
‘No choice, then.’
In the storm of Cassis’s assault, Yohan made up his mind, allowing his mana to surge within.
Power Boost: Iron Fist
A martial skill he’d learned in the academy’s knight classes, it wasn’t particularly strong or refined, but it was enough with his vast mana reserves.
Swish!
Cassis’s wooden sword came rushing in, but Yohan’s arm deflected the blade with a hardened hand.
Clang!
Startled, Cassis’s eyes widened as his sword bounced away.
‘Is this… a martial skill?’
A wizard using knightly martial arts was unheard of.
But Cassis had no time to ponder.
Yohan’s fist shot forward, grazing Cassis’s cheek as he dodged.
“Fire.”
In a flash, a newly drawn magic circle erupted into flames.
Cassis leapt back, swinging his wooden sword vertically to slice through the fire.
Slice!
His strike cut the flames in half, scattering them into the air.
“Evenly matched? Look at Harssen go! He’s fighting like a real knight.”
“A wizard who knows martial arts… incredible.”
The training ground buzzed with excitement, heated like Yohan’s blazing spells.
Cassis’s expression, however, darkened, violet eyes flashing.
His real reason for singling out Yohan was simple: seeing Yohan talk so casually with Francia annoyed him.
He didn’t care if people called it unfair or unsportsmanlike; his own feelings mattered more.
He’d never paid attention to others’ opinions anyway.
“No wonder you’re able to take down high-level beasts alone,” he muttered.
Yohan shrugged, “I’m hardly an ordinary wizard.”
“Indeed…”
Their exchange ended as Cassis took a step forward, his sword swinging toward Yohan’s neck.
Now was the perfect chance for Yohan to strike back.
The wooden sword, which had closed in on Yohan, suddenly halted as if it had been seized by something.
This time, the threads were much thicker, so they didn’t break.
Cassis’s eyes wavered in surprise.
“Ra Entus, Chain.”
As Cassis attempted to retreat, chains wrapped around his ankle.
Yohan twisted his body leisurely, landing a hook punch on Cassis’s face with his full weight behind it.
Crack!
Cassis’s face contorted in pain as he took the punch directly.
“Ugh…!”
Cassis flew through the air, landing on the ground and rolling across it.
“Wow!”
“He got him good!”
The training ground erupted in excitement over the unexpected sight.
Yohan smirked, looking down at Cassis with a cold, mocking gaze.
“Didn’t you hear anything from the hyenas?”
“Or did you just assume you’d win and let your guard down?”
“You…!”
Grinding his teeth, Cassis used his sword as a support to stand.
His gaze carried a deadly intent.
Spit.
He spat, blood from his torn cheek spattering to the ground.
Then…
Vroom!
A violet aura of mana began to vibrate around Cassis’s body.
His muscles tensed as his physical abilities were pushed to their limit.
‘Looks like he’s getting serious.’
Yohan rotated his shoulders and gathered his mana as well.
His entire body was imbued with Mana Enhancement, Martial Spirit, and the sensory effects of Universal Perception heightened further.
The threads of his Realm of Flow technique grew even stronger as they absorbed the surging mana.
“Don’t blame me if you end up with broken bones.”
Thud!
Cassis’s form vanished, leaving only a black blur.
Yohan’s heightened perception detected his position.
‘To the side!’
But the wooden sword was already on a collision course.
Realizing he couldn’t dodge, Yohan instinctively reinforced the threads of his Realm of Flow.
Whoosh!
The wooden sword sliced through the air, but the threads of Realm of Flow ensnared it, bringing it to a halt just as it was about to reach Yohan.
Cassis’s eyes trembled with shock—he hadn’t expected his full-force attack, empowered by his maximum mana, to be stopped.
“Ra Entus, Bolt.”
Anticipating Cassis’s halted attack, Yohan lightly rotated his waist.
His fist, charged with the Bolt spell, emitted a crackling electric current as sparks flickered in the air.
Encased in a surge of lightning, his punch created a trail of blue light.
Cassis tried to pull back, but Yohan’s lightning-infused punch was too quick.
The electrified blow struck with tremendous impact, sending a current racing through Cassis’s body, causing his muscles to spasm in convulsion.
“Ugh!”
Cassis spun three times in the air, finally collapsing and skidding across the ground in a helpless state.
“It seems that’s the end.”
“…Not yet, not yet…”
Watching Cassis get back up despite the Bolt’s electric shock and the punch enhanced by Martial Spirit, Yohan clicked his tongue.
That blow should have finished him off, even if his body was fortified with mana.
‘They don’t call him a Battlefield Ogre for nothing.’
At this rate, the duel might never end, no matter how long they went at it.
“Captain?”
Yohan turned his gaze toward Fedelian.
Initially, Fedelian had looked quite excited about the duel, but his face was now unreadable.
“Shall we continue?”
Fedelian, resting his chin in his hand, lazily waved his other hand.
“We’ll call it a victory for Yohan Harssen, Special-Class Mage. There’s no point in continuing.”
“But there’s a rule against interference!”
“Rules or not, you know as well as I do that the outcome would be the same without the mana blade.”
It was an undeniable truth.
Despite pushing his body’s enhancement to the extreme, Cassis hadn’t managed to break through Yohan’s defenses.
Yohan smirked.
“It’s over, then. Oh, and this suggestion to use all spells was from Cassis Renokhonan, the Special-Class Knight, wasn’t it?”
“So, I doubt you’ll call it unfair now. I’ll take my leave.”
The duel had ended with Yohan’s overwhelming victory.
However, that didn’t necessarily mean Yohan was stronger than Cassis; Cassis had mostly relied on body enhancement rather than his sword skills.
Still, a loss was a loss.
Cassis gritted his teeth, but there was nothing he could say.
“Did he actually win? A mage against a knight?”
“He’s definitely not an ordinary mage…”
“Wasn’t that Realm of Flow just now?”
“Did he really use such a difficult spell?”
The knights and mages, who had been watching the duel breathlessly, couldn’t contain their surprise.
It was unheard of for a mage, without a frontline shield, to defeat a knight.
Fedelian, who had been watching the match with his chin in his hand, raised his arm.
“It seems the atmosphere has become overheated, so let’s conclude the joint training here.”
The joint training ended with news spreading of Yohan’s victory over Cassis.