“PRINCE Eric!”
“Master Arius!”
The crowd cheered as Eric and I stepped into the arena for the final match.
In the more than a hundred years since the Academy’s founding, they had never once had a championship match between two first years, so I understood why everyone was so worked up. Eric was popular with everyone, but the reason the crowd was cheering for us about equally was that I’d just crushed Raymond in a match.
“Since we have the opportunity, why don’t we show everyone a little more of your true strength? That way, no one will be able to complain,” Eric offered.
It was Eric’s fault that there were rumors about what I’d done in the dungeon practical. Before the tournament, everyone just thought I was good for a first year. There were a lot of people who doubted I was actually strong.
“I beat Raymond. That should be enough. And I don’t care about what others think anyway. Besides, won’t it damage your reputation to lose to me?”
“My main selling point isn’t my fighting skills. I doubt it’ll harm my image if I lose to you in the final. That’s why I’d like it if you didn’t hold back.”
I knew that Eric was concerned for me. He didn’t like it that people who didn’t know me very well said those baseless things about me.
“All right. I’ll try, a bit. You don’t mind if I get a little carried away and accidentally injure you, do you?”
“You wouldn’t be that clumsy. I trust you.”
“If you insist.”
The signal marking the start of the match rang out. I rushed toward Eric and struck with my sword coated in mana.
I was, of course, holding back a bit. No student in the Academy could dodge that attack, and it was powerful enough to instantly break the Special Barrier.
“I have to try and look good myself as well,” Eric called out as he dodged my attack and countered with a series of fast and precise thrusts of his blade.
I guarded with my sword and attacked with a slash faster than Eric could react, but he cast Short Teleport to avoid getting hit.
People like Keith and Raymond were head and shoulders above the rest of the students in terms of strength, but Eric was of a completely different level, literally, compared to them.
He already had high stats from the beginning, much higher than other people of the same level. But that wasn’t the kind of level I’m talking about. Eric had concealed his hand, defeating Keith easily with a fighting style that wasn’t even his usual one.
“That was close. If I’d cast that spell a little slower, I’d have lost.”
“Sure, Eric. In reality, you’re reading exactly what I’m going to do next.”
After defeating Keith, Eric had no reason to reveal his cards. Even now, fighting me, he wasn’t using his real fighting style.
And yet he was still plenty strong. He was doing a good job of watching my moves. He’d been able to dodge all my attacks so far because he was predicting what I’d do next.
If Eric were an adventurer, I’d probably want to start a party with him.
“Prince Eric! You’re amazing!”
“Master Arius! Good luck!”
The students in the spectator seats cheered loudly. It wasn’t just girls cheering for me either; I could hear some boys.
Did that mean others were acknowledging my strength? Kind of annoying that everything was going according to Eric’s plan, but I figured I’d just play along.
The mana focused on my sword glowed white, and I rushed rapidly toward Eric. He anticipated this and evaded with a Short Teleport. But the moment he teleported, I followed with my own Short Teleport and struck faster than he could react.
The Special Barrier shattered, and Eric was hit with overkill damage. He was unharmed, however. Before my attack landed, I’d cast Impenetrable Defense around him.
“The… The winner is Arius Gilberto!”
The announcement took a second because the teacher was dumbstruck after seeing our fight, which was in no way what you’d expect from students of the Academy. The next moment, the arena burst into a roar of cheers.
“Woooo! Master Arius!”
“Arius!”
“An expected result from you, Arius. I was utterly defeated. Actually, I didn’t make it much of a match for you at all,” Eric said.
“That’s not true. You might not be at a point where you can beat me, but you are honestly strong.” Even I thought I sounded like I was being sarcastic, but it was sincere.
“Thank you. It makes me happy to hear you say that. I know you mean what you say.” Eric smiled happily.
The Combat Tournament was buzzing after the high-level final match between two first years. It was a fight that would go down in history, talked about for ages. That’s the sort of ending it was.
If only that were where it had ended.
“Eric!” Just as I shouted, a mass of mana flew toward him at an incredible speed.