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"I heard you're quite good with 4-element magic. What do you think, Davian? It's new, right? This is how you use telekinesis in real combat."
"Yes, it's new."
This time, Davian reached out first.
He was planning to grab Dennis with telekinesis and throw him far away.
"Huh?"
The mana wave Davian sent was canceled out in mid-air.
Dennis was extending one hand towards Davian.
"Ah, you haven't learned what happens when mana waves meet, have you? Sorry. This is what happens."
From Dennis's other hand, a mana acceleration attack began.
Clang!
If the previous mana acceleration attack was one that greatly resonated with the armor, this time a piercing shock was felt.
Davian looked down.
The chest of his armor was dented.
There was thick leather padding inside, so it was only this much of an impact; otherwise, he would have taken a pretty strong hit to the chest.
'Damn it.'
The difference in skill was too great.
Unlike Davian, who still had a lot to think about before manifesting telekinesis, Dennis's telekinesis manifestation speed was too fast.
It was troublesome that he quickly canceled out Davian's carefully prepared attack in the middle.
'But I can't just stand here and take it.'
He was definitely losing in telekinesis.
It was perhaps natural, given he was only at the walking stage.
However.
How could he not overcome even an academy assistant when there were so many mountains to climb in the future?
'But I can't use 4-element magic...'
While he was contemplating, Davian's body floated up again.
Thwack! Crack!
This time, even a large tree in the distance flew and collided.
The tree, which was several adults thick, broke cleanly.
Latia, watching the scene, muttered quietly.
"This isn't a sparring match, is it?"
Roman, hearing Latia's voice, asked.
"It's not sparring? Then what is it?"
"That assistant... I think he has some kind of personal feelings towards Davian right now."
"I guess so? Shouldn't we stop them, then?"
"A little later. We just need to stop them before he dies."
"What are you saying? What if something happens to Davian?"
Latia turned her head and looked at Roman.
Expressionless eyes.
But a confident voice.
"What are you saying? I was talking about that assistant."
"Huh?"
"I said we just need to stop him before that assistant dies. If Davian kills an assistant during class, he might get expelled from the academy."
"What...?"
While Roman was wearing an expression that said he didn't understand what Latia was saying at all, Davian stood up, brushing off his pants.
"Damn. It's not even a quest, and there's no reward, so why is it so tough?"
In the midst of all this, Davian was thinking, 'With this level of difficulty, they should give some mana point rewards.'
Taaht!
Davian began to run towards Dennis.
Dennis reached out again towards Davian.
'I can't move faster than a mana wave. But.'
He was confident he could move faster than that assistant's hand.
Davian focused precisely on Dennis's palm.
Mana waves cannot be seen with the naked eye, but there would definitely be some change when mana was emitted.
'I see it!'
He could see the palm shaking slightly as the muscles in the arm tensed to emit mana.
It was a subtle movement that wouldn't be noticeable from a distance, but it was enough to be captured by Davian, who had raised the 'Eye of the Sword Path' skill level to 30.
'Now!'
He used internal energy to fling his body to the side.
The mana wave Dennis fired passed through the air.
It wasn't that he avoided the incoming mana wave.
It was more accurate to say that he avoided the moment Dennis manifested telekinesis.
Davian immediately stretched out his arm and aimed at Dennis.
Clang!
"Kuagh!"
The front plate of Dennis's armor caved in, and he flew backward.
Dennis rolled on the ground for a while after flying a long distance.
The subsequent development was obvious.
Davian, focusing his mind and watching Dennis's hands, avoided most of his attacks.
It wasn't a chaotic real battle with many people entangled; there was no reason he couldn't avoid the attacks in a situation where he only had to focus on Dennis's two hands.
On the other hand, Dennis had to take a counterattack every time.
Even before confirming that the telekinesis he had just fired had missed, Davian's mana acceleration attack was launched.
'Damn it. You little rat. You're good at dodging.'
But Dennis couldn't accept his defeat.
He was faster at creating mana waves, and he could control mana acceleration much more delicately.
He could freely deploy even mana wave cancellation, which that guy didn't even know how to do.
It didn't make sense to lose in a telekinesis battle.
'I just need to land one hit. I'll flatten him along with his lead armor.'
To do that, he first needed to prevent Davian from dodging the attack.
Dennis brought both hands together near his chest and then spread them out at once.
Seeing that, Davian flung his body to the side.
'It's useless! You novice freshman.'
Thwack!
Davian, hit by mana acceleration, was pushed back.
Crack! Crunch!
All the trees within the range Dennis spread his hands out were broken.
Davian thought only the tree behind him was safe.
Thud!
Davian flew and collided with the unharmed tree.
The tree that Davian collided with broke cleanly.
Startled, Roman turned to Latia.
"C, can mana acceleration be used as an area-of-effect attack?"
"So I've heard. I've only heard about it; it's the first time I've actually seen it."
"That's amazing..."
Mana acceleration spread out in a fan shape.
The power was lower than concentrating it in one place, but it succeeded in hitting Davian, who was dodging this way and that.
Dennis immediately unleashed telekinesis.
Floating.
Davian's body floated high into the sky.
'Unless he has wings, he won't be able to dodge attacks in the air.'
Dennis, who had lifted Davian quite high, released telekinesis.
Davian's body began to fall to the ground.
Dennis aimed at Davian, extending both hands.
It wasn't easy to aim, as he was falling to the ground, but it wasn't impossible.
'I'll turn you into jerky.'
Dennis, who had already lost his reason, began to create powerful mana acceleration in both hands.
It was an attack with power on a different level from the mana acceleration he had unleashed earlier.
Davian looked up as he fell from the sky.
'Danger!'
The heightened senses from increasing internal and external power sent a warning to Davian's brain.
The hair on his body stood on end, his muscles tensed, and his pupils contracted to pinholes.
It was a phenomenon that swordsmen who trained in internal and external energy occasionally experienced on the battlefield, but it was a sensation that mages who only trained in magic power could never feel.
It was the ability to instinctively sense danger.
A fleeting moment.
Unlike other 4-element magic, mana acceleration attacks are invisible.
All he could see was Dennis's two hands extended towards him.
'I have to block it!'
Instinctively extending his hands forward, Davian immediately created a mana wave.
Ripple.
A more powerful mana wave than ever before was created at the tip of Davian's palm.
There was no time to think deeply.
There was no time to think about how much magic power to put in or how far to push it, and even if he did think, he couldn't get an answer now.
Davian pushed magic power into the mana wave as his instincts told him to.
Wooong.
A resonance sound he had never heard before echoed throughout the hill.
For a moment, the space between Davian and Dennis was distorted.
Soon, it spread out like waves as if a stone had been thrown into a calm lake.
No shockwave was created, not even a small breeze.
But the people in that place could clearly see the space rippling with their own eyes.
Roman, startled by the approaching wave of space and covering his head, carefully raised his head.
"S, seriously. Did you see that, Latia?"
"I saw it."
"What the heck just happened? The empty air rippled. I thought we were all going to get caught up in it and fly away... But that's not it?"
"It wasn't the empty air that rippled."
"Then what?"
"Mana. The mana rippled so strongly that it seems to have been visualized. I've never seen anything like this before. Actually, I've never even heard of it."
"Ah... So that's why we can stand still even after being hit by such a huge wave. Because mana passes around objects."
"That's right."
Davian, who landed softly on the ground, shouted at Dennis.
"Assistant. It seems you were trying to kill me?"
Dennis, who had witnessed the incredible phenomenon, was blankly staring at the sky.
"Shall we continue?"
"..."
No response.
Dennis was just staring at the sky like a dimwit.
After a while.
"...Such a thing is possible. What did I just see?"
Dennis's pupils, which had been blankly staring at the sky, lowered towards Davian.
"...What the heck are you? What's your identity? What is this..."
Dennis couldn't come to his senses at the sight he had never seen before.
He had fired off enough mana acceleration to crush the lead armor.
Just after the mana acceleration started, he realized his mistake, but it was already too late.
Soon, that freshman would be crushed to death.
In that moment, as he was blaming himself for being too excited.
The freshman stretched both arms forward.
Then, a huge collision of mana occurred in the air.
The collision was so strong that the collision of mana and the ensuing shockwave were clearly visible.
Fortunately, the mana, which had been completely neutralized, did not cause any damage to the surroundings and spread far away.
This is because pure mana does not affect the surroundings.
If this had happened in a state where the wave was not completely neutralized...
It was difficult to even imagine the aftermath.
Thump.
Davian, who had taken off his lead armor and thrown it on the floor, walked towards Dennis.
"I asked if you were trying to kill me."
A face that was clearly angry.
Latia and Roman, noticing Davian's fierce momentum, began to run over.
Other assistants and staff members also hastily gathered.
Davian, who had arrived in front of Dennis before he knew it.
"I'll ask one last time. Why were you trying to kill me?"
A strong force was put into the word "last".
Dennis felt his knees buckle without realizing it.
'What... What the heck is this guy?'
Davian's intense gaze was pouring into Dennis's pupils as if to swallow them.
"S... Sorry. It was a mistake."
"A mistake?"
Dennis felt like he was about to kneel and collapse on the floor right away.
He was like a wyvern standing in front of an angry dragon.
"Actually... it wasn't a mistake. Yeah. I'm sorry. I was jealous of you. Please forgive..."
"Davian! Stop it!"
Latia's shrill voice.
Davian turned his head towards Latia.
Latia and Davian's eyes met.
As if it had never happened, the fierce momentum from earlier had disappeared.
Only Davian's unique indifferent expression remained.
"What?"
Latia, whose shrill shout had become colorless.
"Huh?"
"What are you talking about, stop what?"
"I wonder?"
Only then did Dennis seem to relax, and he simply collapsed on the floor.
"I was wrong... Davian Naone."
Davian looked down at Dennis.
After all, it was impossible to kill or cripple a 4th-year assistant just because he was angry.
In fact, he had no intention of doing so in the first place.
Because doing so could prevent him from graduating from the academy.
It was a situation where he would have nothing to say even if he was expelled.
'I'm angry, but. If I can't beat him up until my anger is relieved anyway, it's better to use this situation.'
Davian reached out his hand to Dennis, who was sitting down.
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