IN the mornings, I did resistance training by applying weight to my body using mana. My training became a daily routine—I hadn’t missed a single day since I was a kid.
Next were sword drills while in mock battles. Before starting that, I cast Perception Block and Invisibility since it’d be annoying if someone saw me moving faster than the speed of sound.
I was imagining myself fighting the monsters in the Citadel of Ancient Gods, surrounded by them in all directions, like they were really there. Speeding up my mental processing speed to match their movements, my attack and dodge moves could be measured to within one-hundredth of a second. Obviously, I also never backed off on my mana manipulation.
After training for an hour, I took a hot shower and went to the cafeteria for breakfast. I still had more than an hour until class started, so I went to my room and changed into my uniform before heading out.
Today, we started training for the tournament, just as I promised Milia and the others. The training sessions would run right up to the day of the tournament.
“Good morning, Arius,” Milia waved to me. “You came, just like you promised.”
“And five minutes early. You’re very punctual,” added Sophia.
The two of them were waiting outside the Academy buildings along with Vern, Zeke, Sasha, and one other.
“U-Um, A-Arius…” stammered a girl with glasses and braids as she arrived just barely on time.
“Noelle, you made it,” I greeted. “Let me introduce you to everyone. Everyone, this is my friend, Noelle Balt.”
“I-It’s a pleasure to, to meet you all. M-My name is Noelle,” she mumbled, nervous and looking down at the ground as she introduced herself. We just happened to meet because we both went to the library a lot. She was my first friend at the Academy.
“Noelle’s a bit shy,” I explained to the others. “Go easy on her.”
After everyone introduced themselves to Noelle, we went to one of the Academy training rooms, where we practiced using magic. The floor of the training room was divided into four squares, each with a magic circle drawn inside. Those magic circles created a Special Barrier that nullified damage and turned it into numbers.
Our hands-on, combined-class magic practices brought together all the students of the same year. The students were then divided into five groups based on ability, from A to E, resulting in five rooms at the Academy like this. It was easy enough to get permission to use the room; it seemed no one else used it outside of class.
“Right, I want to start today by getting an idea of how strong you all are,” I explained. “Get your gear on, and then you’ll take turns fighting me. There are four Special Barriers, so go ahead and practice when you’re not busy. I’ll make the Special Barriers more powerful than they are in class, so feel free to go all-out.”
I’d instructed everyone to come prepared with their combat equipment, like they did for the dungeon practical, since the tournament had the same requirements. I already knew everyone’s level, stats, spells, and skills thanks to Evaluate, but sparring with them helped me fully measure their ability.
“I can go all-out, right, Arius?” Vern tested, standing in front of me. He’d quickly changed into his equipment: a black metallic plate armor, a shield with the crest of the Granbride Empire, and a broadsword. Granbride was an austere and powerful country, which meant every piece of Vern’s equipment was magical but not overly flashy.
I was still in my glasses and school uniform. My weapon was a longsword I bought at the market.
“Yeah. Use whatever magic and skills you want,” I said.
“All right, then, I won’t hold back. Shattering Blade!”
Mana coated Vern’s sword when he activated the skill. Shattering Blade was a mid-level one-handed sword skill and the most powerful of the skills Vern could use. He swung at me again and again, and I dodged using minimal movements. Slowing myself down, I attacked with my sword, and Vern blocked it with his shield.
As I began steadily increasing my speed, Vern started taking damage, visible as numbers in the air within the Special Barrier. Vern was surprisingly good at magic, but it didn’t look like he planned to use it in our match.
“I think I got a feel for how strong you are now,” I stated.
Above Vern’s head, it showed he’d taken more than 500 points of damage. I, of course, had zero.
“I knew I was nowhere near your level, but I’m pretty strong, wouldn’t you say?” he said with confidence. He was among the highest levels of everyone, after all, and he had high base stats as one of Love Academy’s love interests.
“Hey, Vern, do you really want to get stronger?” I asked.
“What kind of question is that, my good friend? Of course I do!”
“Then I’ll be frank. You never try to dodge attacks; you only block them. That fighting style can’t even win against people of similar strength to you.”
Vern was probably confident in his own strength, thinking that the bit of damage he took from blocking was worth not dodging my attacks entirely. Obviously, you should decide between each tactic when needed, but this style of never dodging would only work on people weaker than you.
“Also,” I continued, “you rely too much on your sword. Using only sword attacks gets monotonous, making it easy for your opponent to read your next move. You could bash with your shield or even kick. And you’re good at magic; you should use that too. There’s no point clinging to some nice and fair fighting style if it makes you lose.”
“I suppose…you might be right,” he admitted, sounding less spirited. He seemed like he understood what I was getting at.
The rest of the group had finished changing and were back, their attention focused on Vern and me.
“Let me say something to all of you first,” I directed at them. “It’s about what strength is. Victory or defeat is determined by everything combined: your ability, skills, fighting style, and strategy. And me, I think the person who wins in the end is the strong one. If you want to be strong in that way, then I’ll be honest with you—I won’t hold back. But I also don’t plan on pushing my way of thinking onto you, so if you don’t want me to say anything, I won’t.”
In my mind, I’m not thinking I want to beat any specific person, but the strength I’m after is the strength that can win. There’s no point in strength that can’t win.
“If you really want to get stronger, Vern, then the first thing you need to do is get rid of any obsessions about how you should fight. As you train, think for yourself how you go about winning.”
“All right, Arius. I’ll have a serious think about it.”
“I want to get stronger, too, so don’t hold back on your critique,” piped up Milia.
Guess she was next.
Her equipment was chainmail reinforced with a breast plate, gauntlets, and greaves, along with a slender sword and a buckler fixed to her left arm. She probably used that sort of shield instead of one she had to hold in order to leave her left hand open to use as she wanted.
“I had this thought when I saw you in the dungeon practical, but your armor seems geared toward real-life combat,” I commented. “Did you use to adventure before coming to the Academy?”
“I am registered as an adventurer. I used to take on the dungeon near my hometown to get stronger and save money for when I went to the Academy.”
I was pretty sure Milia in Love Academy hadn’t been an adventurer. Though I guess it wasn’t impossible since she started with a pretty high level in the game too.
“Strengthen! Haste!” Milia cried before she cast Shining Arrow, a tier-two Light spell and the element she was most skilled with.
I dodged the six arrows that appeared, then Milia was coming right at me as if she’d anticipated my movements.
“Flashing Blade!”
Her sword glowed as she activated the mid-level one-handed sword skill that sped up your sword in a flurry of blows. Milia was a balanced-type fighter who could use both sword and sorcery. Since she was good at Light magic, she could even cast healing spells.