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Bonita answered with a light shrug.
Before they knew it, there were only 3 minutes left.
Pione attempted her last conversation with Davian.
"Davian, you seem to have low defense, how are you enduring without collapsing?"
"I'm barely holding on."
"I didn't intend to go this far with my younger sibling's friend... Brace yourself, because I'm going to go all out now. You might end up with a completely broken bone."
"Come at me."
Pione's left foot moved diagonally forward with a swish.
In an instant, Pione's figure vanished.
Even with the 'Eyes to See the Sword Path' skill leveled up to 7, it was not easy to follow with the eye.
Clang!
Davian barely managed to block Pione's attack.
The two's wooden swords clashed intensely.
But blocking the first attack meant nothing.
Even when his body was in perfect condition, Davian couldn't block Pione's subsequent attacks.
Moreover, now his legs were not in good condition due to the sustained damage.
'Sorry. Davian Naone. You'll get better quickly if you get treatment in the infirmary. But you looked weak, so why is your mental strength so strong?'
Pione jumped high for her final blow.
'I just need to avoid hitting his head. He should have just collapsed earlier. I didn't want to go this far with my sibling's friend either.'
But she couldn't go easy on him.
If she returned without defeating a first-year student, she would receive a 20-point penalty from the third-year swordsmanship professor.
She had already accumulated a lot of penalties recently from a fight with Lucas and his gang in the city.
"Haaah!"
With a vigorous shout, Pione's wooden sword began to fall vertically.
Whoosh.
A secret sword technique of the Amandria family, created to break the bones of monsters with thick hides that blades couldn't penetrate: Lightning Strike.
As a large merchant family, the Amandria family had developed swordsmanship for dealing with various kinds of monsters.
At that moment.
Davian's two legs began to slide smoothly and move sideways.
'What, what is this? How is he suddenly moving his legs?'
Pione doubted her eyes.
Clearly, his lower body should have been unable to move properly due to accumulated damage.
Davian's body was slipping sideways as if flowing with water.
'Now is not the time to be surprised!'
If she swung as is, Pione's wooden sword would strike the training ground's stone floor.
"Haap!"
Pione twisted her waist in mid-air.
Pione's wooden sword was aimed at Davian, who was moving sideways.
However.
"What, what!"
Davian was not moving sideways to avoid Pione's wooden sword.
Davian's wooden sword flew towards Pione's completely open side.
'It's already too late to block!'
She had been focused on how Davian's legs, which were clearly unable to move, suddenly started moving, so she hadn't been able to check the movement of the wooden sword in time.
She had only thought he was trying to avoid the attack by moving sideways.
She never imagined it was a movement for attacking.
Pione increased the speed of her sword, swinging at Davian.
'I have no choice but to strike first...'
Crack!
"Kkuaaaack!"
Davian's swiftly swung sword struck Pione's side first.
Crunch!
The sound of bones breaking.
Some third-year students were startled and rose from their seats.
All the first-year students had already jumped up from their seats.
Pione, hit by a powerful attack while suspended in the air, flew far and landed at the end of the training ground.
"Uuuuugh."
She had been hit hard, but there was still time.
She had to quickly go back and knock down that freshman.
"Huuup!"
She tried to get up using the wooden sword as a cane, but unbearable pain rushed in.
She couldn't breathe.
"Cough! Keuk!"
Her broken ribs had pierced into her lungs.
Médium, who had been observing Pione's reaction, shouted.
"Staff! Quickly! Get that student to the infirmary!"
Staff members ran towards Pione with a stretcher.
"Kkeuek, keuk."
Pione, struggling to breathe, was carried into the infirmary on a stretcher.
Silence flowed through the training ground for a moment.
Professor Stella's voice broke the silence.
"Match over. Davian Naone wins."
From the first-year camp, a roar erupted that was on a different level than during Nubes' match.
"Uwaaaa!"
"We won! The first-year students finally won!"
"What's up with Davian? What on earth did he do?"
"Wasn't he too beaten up in the thighs to even stand? Did you see his last movement?"
Nubes hugged Bellum without realizing it and jumped up and down in place.
"Ugh, let go! Let go, you big oaf! I can't breathe!"
"Ah, sorry. Hehehe. Davian won. Davian won!"
"I know! You seem to like Davian more than I do?"
"He's my friend! He's my friend! My roommate! Davian Naone!"
A familiar notification sound rang in Davian's ears.
Tring.
=====
[Quest 'Win Against a 4-Star Swordsman' Completed]
―Reward: 9,000 Points (x2)
=====
Professor Stella approached Davian and asked.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
"Your body is a mess. Go get treatment at the infirmary too."
"Yes, Professor."
Stella stared at Davian for a moment, then whispered in a low voice.
"...Well done. I'm proud of you."
A first-year student had defeated a third-year student in the midterm evaluation of the first semester.
This wasn't just an issue for the students.
It was a rare occurrence that happened perhaps once every few decades.
It was a major event that would make Professor Stella, who was in charge of the first-year swordsmanship class, hold her shoulders high.
Davian limped to the infirmary alone.
Davian was the first among the first-year students to head to the infirmary alone.
Médium's voice could be heard from inside the infirmary.
"Wait outside, Davian."
It seemed that Pione's treatment would take quite a while.
After a long time, Pione opened the tent of the infirmary and came out.
"Heok."
When she met Davian's eyes, Pione instinctively grabbed her left side and bent over.
"I'm sorry, Senior. I don't really like losing."
Pione slowly released her hands, which had been protecting her side with an awkward expression, and straightened her back.
"It's okay. It was an interesting experience for me too. I'll get a penalty, though. Well, I can make up for it by earning store points later."
"There's a penalty for losing? I didn't know that."
"It's not just losing. It's not completely defeating a first-year student. I completely lost, so I'll get more penalties? Hahaha."
"I'm sorry."
"It's alright. Let's have a meal together on the weekend with Bellum. This senior will buy you something delicious. Bring your other friends too."
Blood is thicker than water.
That sociability must be a trait of the Amandria family.
'Well, anyway, she doesn't seem like a bad person.'
In fact, although she hadn't particularly gone easy on him during the duel, he could feel that she was subtly holding back her strength each time she struck Davian's body.
Médium's voice was heard from inside the makeshift infirmary tent.
"Davian, what are you doing outside instead of coming in?"
Pione patted Davian on the shoulder and moved away.
"Go in quickly. You're badly hurt too. You suffered from being beaten up."
"Yes, Senior."
Pione took a few steps and suddenly turned back sharply.
"Davian!"
"Yes?"
"If your ribs hadn't pierced your lungs, you would have been dead within the remaining 2 minutes. You know that, right?"
Let's just say so.
"Yes, Senior."
"Hahaha. You were a good kid, Davian. Alright, see you later."
As he entered the infirmary, Médium was waiting.
There seemed to be several assistant infirmary teachers as well, but Médium had already sent them all out of the tent and was sitting alone.
"How's your body? Davian."
"It hurts. I was beaten up that much."
"How about now?"
"It hurts. How long has it been?"
"Liar. Come here."
Médium touched various parts of Davian's body.
Of course, he avoided sensitive areas and only touched his shoulders, sides, arms, and legs.
"It would be a bit much to ask you to take off all your clothes, right?"
"You know it well."
"Then let's talk. Before I tell you to take everything off."
Médium leaned forward, got closer to Davian's face, and whispered.
"How is it? After taking that potion. Do you feel anything different?"
"Yes."
Médium, who had been sitting on the chair, jumped up.
"How?"
"My recovery ability definitely seems to have improved. That's why I won today."
"Your left arm was broken earlier. Right?"
"Yes. In the beginning."
"But you were holding the sword with your left arm later?"
"It seemed like it started moving again after a while."
"Show me your left arm."
Médium placed his palm on Davian's left arm.
"It's healed. The bone."
"Yes."
"Even other people's bones can heal on their own like this. It's not a big injury, just being hit with a wooden stick."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. But it would take at least half a month. And that's assuming you don't use your arm at all and rest. But yours healed in 15 minutes."
Médium's eyes shone brightly.
"I wish it would be 6 months already."
"Will you give me the next medicine?"
"Yes."
"I'm looking forward to it too."
"Davian, you too? You're definitely feeling the effects of that potion too! Right? I knew it! That thesis wasn't wrong!"
At that moment.
"Waaaaaa!"
A loud shout was heard from outside.
"Can I go out if the treatment is done?"
"Treatment? I haven't done anything yet?"
"I'm curious about what's happening outside..."
"Alright. This injury doesn't require observation. Wait a minute. 10 seconds."
A bright light emanated from Médium's hand and enveloped Davian's body.
Wooowoong.
It was an incredible skill.
The bruises and muscle pain all over his body began to heal at the same time.
"Okay, it's all done."
"Thank you."
As soon as Davian came out of the infirmary, he checked the arena.
Bonita was kneeling on one knee with her wooden sword propped up on the ground.
Even from a distance, her shoulders repeatedly rose and fell greatly.
Heavy breathing.
'Who's the opponent?'
He turned his head and looked for the third-year student.
Soon he realized why the third-year senior wasn't immediately visible.
The third-year student was lying on the ground in a starfish position.
Professor Stella shouted.
"First-year Bonita Portis wins!"
"Waaaaaaa!"
A loud roar echoed once again.
The second victory for the first-year students.
"As expected. Impressive, Bonita."
Davian strode up onto the arena.
"You're not going to be carried out on a stretcher, are you? Pathetically."
Bonita raised her head and looked at Davian.
He smirked.
"Nonsense. I don't need your support either."
"Really? Then get up quickly. What are you doing not getting up."
"...Come and grab me for a second."
Friday.
The midterm evaluation of the summoning magic class, which was held last, also ended with Davian and Latia's performance.
While most students failed to summon anything or only managed to summon goblins, Davian and Latia both summoned gargoyles.
Latia had asked Davian in advance what he would summon, and spent two days without sleep mastering the gargoyle summoning magic circle.
"Anyway, you're relentless, Latia."
"You're one to talk, Davian."
After all the classes for individual subjects were over, the weekend arrived.
Next week, the 'Dungeon Exploration', which is the common evaluation, will finally begin.
Saturday.
The largest restaurant in Elton City. Sea-Bure.
"We'll go this way, and this way, and then head to the center."
Davian spread out the dungeon map and explained the entry route.
A brown-haired female student with curious eyes, who had been looking at the map, asked.
Samanda Codis, an archery student who would be exploring the dungeon with Davian and Nubes next week.
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