Having said that, she wasn’t undergoing any special combat training. Her stance was amateur, and the distribution of her consciousness was a far cry from a battle mentality.
But the amount of magic energy she had and the technique with which she used it was quite impressive.
“She’s very comfortable with expending a lot of magic energy. I bet she used quite a bit of it in her daily life growing up,” I said.
Her magic was so strong and so stable that it made me believe she had to have used it quite a lot since she was a little girl.
“Are you saying she did the sort of training we’ve been doing lately?” Colette asked.
“No, I doubt she trained with combat in mind. It’s not the result of continuous magic use, but of having used a large amount of magic.”
“So that’s why she’s neglected her stance, even though her magic is so high. That tracks.”
Colette was well versed in combat techniques, so she had also noticed that something was amiss about Melissa.
“Well, what do you think, Mylene?”
“About what, Princess?”
“About Albert and Melissa—who will win?” With her arms still folded, she shot a sideways smile, daring me.
She already knew the answer, I’m sure. I thought the whole exercise was stupid, but I replied, “A ninety percent chance of Prince Albert winning, I’d say. While Melissa is superior in magic levels and technique, magic attacks are prohibited in this exercise. Meaning Prince Albert’s mediocre-yet-capable swordsmanship will prevail. It’s not set in stone, but I’d say Melissa’s chances of emerging victorious are next to nothing.”
“An exemplary answer. Now, what if this were a real battle?”
I answered promptly. “There are too many unknown variables, but I still think Prince Albert would win. I believe Melissa is better suited to multi-combat than one-on-one.”
Melissa’s command of her magic was quite impressive. I surmised that her technique had been pounded into her over many long years of physical reflex conditioning. I was still superior to her in magic, but when it came to actually wielding it, Melissa had the upper hand because she’d been using it all her life.
But that was all she had. In a one-on-one battle, everything came down to experience and how you used your body. That was an arena where even a magicless mercenary like my former self could gain notoriety.
There still weren’t many people in this era who realized that, though.
“Let’s begin. Come at me with everything you’ve got,” Albert said.
“As you wish, Your Highness…”
Okay, let’s see how things play out in reality.
Even though Albert yielded the first attack to Melissa, she was still cautious. Her great skill in magic use meant that she was also adept at measuring up her opponent’s magic technique.
Melissa surely noticed that her magic technique bested Albert’s, but the way she refrained from carelessly swinging at him implied that her mind was sharper than his as well.
Then there was Albert. He yielded the first strike to Melissa while tracing lines in the empty air with his thin practice sword modeled after a rapier. By moving continuously, he didn’t telegraph his target and kept his muscles warm—it was a perfect defensive tactic. He played the part of a gentleman while luring his opponent into his favored fighting style. He wasn’t making it easy for her, and I liked it.
Good. Keep at it, I murmured to myself. This was nothing more than a game, but if this were a real fight, just surviving it would be bliss—ya had to use all tools ya had to win. When I saw Albert putting into practice the sort of techniques most noblemen hated, I caught myself feeling uncharacteristically proud.
In spite of everything, I guess I do have a soft spot for Albert as my apprentice.
I wasn’t sure why, but I liked watching him diligently apply the lessons I’d taught him.
Okay, what’s going to happen now…?
Albert was poised for a counterattack and Melissa was on guard. She seemed to only have a vague sense that he was having a difficult time attacking her, and she lacked the experience and attention allocation to understand what his stance really meant.
“Yah!”
In the end, Melissa lost patience and went on the attack. In an instant, she unleashed a burst of magic energy and made a tremendous lunge. It was impressive that she had made it that far. It was clear she had used up a fair amount of magic.
However—
“Now I see why you are a priestess. You have incredible magic…however!”
“Mmf!”
Albert took the attack with his sword and snapped it away. If this were a contest of blades, he would be far superior. If you took his combat experience into account, he had a crushing advantage.
In a way, this was closer to the essence of real battle. Magic levels significantly influenced the outcome of a fight, but the deciding factor lay somewhere else.
Melissa’s attack, imbued with large amounts of magic, gave her wooden practice sword the power of a war hammer. But if you knew an attack was coming, you could easily dodge it, and if you had the right amount of magic, it wouldn’t be difficult to block either.
To time your response to a blow just right, you needed a good eye—one conditioned for combat.
Melissa’s stance faltered greatly as she took a breath. She collected magic at her legs so she could jump and right herself again.
In the string of minuscule moments we call a battle, she had the ability to achieve what she wanted in an instant. The way she used magic to move her body was admirable.
“Ah…!”
However, Albert had read her evasive maneuver. Melissa had the advantage in speed, but because he had predicted her move before she made it, he didn’t allow her the time to regain her footing.
As Albert swung at her, she blocked with her practice sword. But—
“Ah! Nngh…!”
Since her footing was unstable, her guard faltered, and she fell on her bottom.
“You put up a worthy fight,” Albert said, declaring his victory.
“I yield… Well done, Prince…Albert.”
In a daze, Melissa took Albert’s hand and stood up. The students watching the match erupted in a frenzied murmur.
I didn’t blame them. The bout had consisted of only a few attacks, but for a competition between two students, it was quite high-level.
Fledglings like them who were only beginning to learn the basics of combat could barely follow the fight with their eyes.
The teacher cut in with some words of praise. “That was splendid, Prince Albert. You had a keen eye there.”
“Thank you, sir,” Albert said, the epitome of calm.
I always thought of Albert as a rookie…but looking at him now, the guy’s kinda badass.
In my eyes, he was still unripe, but he would be a fine swordsman when he grew up. The necessity of basic knowledge aside, I wasn’t sure if a prince needed to be proficient in combat, but let’s not dwell on that.