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"Oh ho. Spirit magic? Then you must be quite precious. Are you Davian's younger sibling? To produce Elton Academy freshmen two years in a row from one family. That's quite the family."
"Ah, they're not from the Naone family. It seems the young master met them by chance while out and about."
Favs approached the shelf where the magic rings were placed.
"I need to roughly know the size of the magic ring. Is it for a male or female student?"
"Ah, they said it's for a female student."
"I understand. A 16-year-old girl... then this size of ring should do."
Favs put several attribute rings in a box and then headed to the shelf with potion ingredients.
"To gift all this to someone you met by chance? The young master is very generous."
"I find it a bit strange too. The young master says they're not in any kind of relationship... but to go this far for them."
"The young master is still young. A young person's heart can ignite anytime, anywhere."
"Is that so? Haha. That could be it. Anyway, please take good care of it. The young master specifically asked me to."
"Understood. Don't worry."
Favs closed the lid of a wooden box filled with various magical ingredients and nailed it shut to secure it.
"I put it in a wooden box because it seems like they're going on a long journey. There's a leather strap here, so it'll be comfortable to carry on your back."
"Thank you. How much do I owe you?"
Favs waved his hand.
"Oh my, no. Davian and Mons the Hero are welcome anytime and will be served for free."
"Isn't all this quite expensive? Our young master isn't that well-off. There's no need for this."
"I know. I know everything. But I've been running this magic ingredient shop for decades now. I may look like this, but I've saved up quite a bit of money. Please accept it without hesitation. You're a lifesaver, and I'd feel uneasy if I couldn't do even this much."
"This is... troublesome."
Favs handed Mons the magic ingredient box and pushed him toward the door.
"Alright, alright. It's okay. Please come by with Davian next time. The store may be small because I got it in a hurry, but I can confidently say that the quality of the items is the best in Elton City."
Mons, pushed to the door, bowed his head lightly in greeting.
"Well, since you're going this far. Thank you. I'll be sure to tell Davian about today's events."
"Yes, yes. Please come again anytime."
A week passed.
While all the students at Elton Academy were diligently preparing for their final exams, Luna and Liber were devoted to their own training, even sacrificing sleep.
Monday, the first day of finals week.
The practical exam for the Swordsmanship Department began.
The practical exam was very simple.
One-on-one sparring.
The sparring partners were determined based on the midterm exam scores.
Davian, who had achieved the top score in the midterm exam, was paired with Bonita, who was second.
Their sparring was the last.
Clang! Clang!
From this exam onward, real swords, not wooden ones, were being used.
Nubes, who was watching the first sparring match, asked,
"Bellum, those two are really intense, aren't they?"
"Of course. Think about it, big guy. Davian and Bonita's sparring is last, so what does it mean that their order is first?"
"What does it mean?"
"Ugh. It means they have the lowest scores. Candidates for expulsion."
"Ah, I see."
"Instead of worrying about others, why don't you worry about yourself? I ended up facing Bellum Amandria."
Bellum and Nubes, who received ranks just above and below each other in the midterm, also became sparring partners.
"I was hoping I wouldn't have to face Bellum... I have to fight you, and Davian has to fight Bonita. How could this happen?"
"Our scores are so similar that I kind of expected it. Anyway, let's do our best. Big guy. No holding back."
"Holding back? You're the one who should be prepared, Bellum."
"Oh, is that so? You better be ready, big guy."
Thwack!
"Kuh!"
A student, whose thigh was pierced by the sword, collapsed on the spot.
Professor Stella shouted.
"Sparring ended. Lumos wins."
"Uwaaaah!"
Lumos raised both arms high and roared.
As Bellum said, being on the verge of expulsion, his mindset when facing this exam was different from other students.
However, winning this sparring match doesn't completely remove him from the expulsion list.
Grades are assessed not only on the outcome of the sparring match but also by considering the academic achievements demonstrated during the sparring process.
If the next two people who spar show a better performance than Lumos, Lumos will be in an insecure position again.
After fourteen sparring matches, it was Bellum and Nubes' turn.
Davian watched them closely.
'Nubes will win. Let's see... how much has he improved? Tanker Nubes Arbo.'
The result of their sparring match is obvious.
At least, that's how it looks to Davian.
They're both taking energy drinks, so their stamina is increasing at the same rate.
And neither of them is prone to trickery or slacking off in training.
Davian, Bonita, Nubes, and Bellum have been gathering in the gym or backyard every day after school to practice swordsmanship.
If their skills were similar until the midterm exam, they should still have comparable skills now.
Of course, there will be a gap due to aptitude, but only two months have passed since the midterm exam, so it's too short a period for the gap to widen significantly.
However.
There is a crucial difference between the two.
'It was April 6th when I obtained the Stone of Enlightenment. It's been over three months already.'
The Stone of Enlightenment, which was obtained two weeks before the midterm exam.
According to the immortal, its original name was supposed to be the 'Way of Enlightenment,' but that's not what's important.
What's important is that since that day, Nubes has been able to absorb twice as much mana in the same amount of time.
Davian, Latia, and Liber as well.
'In this situation, Bellum can't stand up to Nubes anymore.'
Clang!
"Hey! Big guy! Why are you so fast! All you ever do is practice external force!"
"I did a little bit of internal force too."
"No, I mean, you said you did a little bit, so why are you so fast! Aww! Crap!"
Bellum swung his sword diligently, but Nubes calmly parried Bellum's sword.
Moreover, the difference in their strength was so great that Bellum was pushed back every time the swords clashed.
The annoying image of the big guy came into Bellum's view.
A height of nearly 2 meters.
Huge muscles.
A thick and massive two-handed longsword to match.
A fairly stable defensive stance.
'That bastard...'
It felt as if he was standing with a wooden stick, and in front of him was a large and thick old tree.
'Nubes... when did he get so big? No, he was always big. But why does he suddenly feel so much bigger?'
There was no gap to break through.
Then.
Nubes moved his lips in a strange way.
'What is he doing? That bastard.'
He glanced at Professor Stella and then stuck his lips out to the lower left again.
'Ah!'
Bellum swung his sword at Nubes' left side and charged forward.
"Khat!"
Nubes let out a loud shout and turned his sword to the left to block it.
The two swords collided.
But something felt familiar.
'Isn't this the move we practiced last week?'
It was the exact same stance that Bonita had taught him and practiced with Nubes.
One of the ways to respond when the opponent blocks a horizontal slash.
Nubes pushed the sword away with great force.
Bellum did not resist that force but instead used Nubes' force to rotate his body in the opposite direction.
Whoosh!
Bellum's widely swung sword cut across Nubes' right thigh.
Scratch!
'What's this feeling?'
Bellum, who had retreated, tilted his head.
He had clearly cut the guy's thigh shallowly, as Nubes had allowed, but...
He didn't feel the cut on the tip of the sword.
It felt like scraping thick leather with a dull knife.
"Hey! What are you? Are your muscles so tight now that even a sword can't penetrate?"
"Hehe. Didn't I tell you that I didn't make these muscles just to look big? How hard do you think I practiced external force to build this body?"
"You crazy... What's the point of landing an attack if the sword doesn't go in?"
"So, are you giving up or something? Use aura or something."
This time, Nubes' lips pointed up, then down again, and then to the side.
Bellum watched Nubes' face carefully.
It was almost laughable how his eyes automatically followed his lips as they moved.
But apart from that, Bellum knew exactly what Nubes' unsightly lips meant.
'This time, he's talking about the continuous attack combination we practiced the week before last.'
Nubes Arbo.
He's such a kind guy.
Bellum was able to recognize the difference in skill between him and Nubes in just a few clashes at the beginning.
At first, he was frustrated.
Clearly, the gap wasn't this big until the midterm exam.
But whenever he saw Nubes standing like a giant tree, he had to admit that the gap had already widened.
At this rate, he would lose without even successfully landing a single proper attack.
But Nubes had made a proposal with his unsightly lips.
Let's move as we've practiced before.
"Taat!"
Bellum and Nubes fought as they had practiced.
Of course, Professor Stella couldn't fail to recognize this.
However, Stella did not stop the sparring.
'Those two are sneakily using tricks, but they're still showing a fairly well-coordinated combination.'
Professor Stella decided to watch their sparring as it was.
Swish!
This time, Nubes' sword cut across Bellum's left shoulder.
Bright red blood splattered everywhere.
"Hey!"
Bellum unconsciously let out a voice of resentment.
Nubes had a look of embarrassment and shook his head slightly.
'Ah. I'm in the middle of sparring.'
Bellum quickly changed his words.
"... You're pretty good, aren't you?"
Then he charged at Nubes again.
After exchanging a few more blows, the sparring ended.
"Sparring ended. Nubes Arbo wins."
It was a natural result.
Although they exchanged attacks according to the combination they had practiced, Bellum's sword did not inflict any wounds on Nubes.
Bellum could not bring himself to swing a sword imbued with aura at his friend, even though Nubes' sword was constantly inflicting wounds on him.
"Nubes, Bellum."
"Yes!"
"Yes."
Stella looked at them alternately.
"This is a warning. But I won't give you demerits or reflect it in your grades. I'm letting it slide because I can see the effort you two have put in, so keep in mind that these kinds of tricks won't work next time."
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
Nubes bumped into Bellum as he went down from the arena.
"Phew, that's a relief. Right, Bellum?"
"Hey, you idiot. Anyway, we got caught. What if we both got demerits and the lowest score on the test?"
"Still, it's better for both of us to get good scores and come down like this."
"Ugh, this big guy. You stupid big guy."
After another ten sparring matches, it was Davian and Bonita's turn.
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