At the entrance of the training ground, a long-bearded professor in a dark purple robe entered, followed by a young-looking instructor in a white robe.
“It’s Professor Sharp and Instructor West! They came to watch this sword duel too!”
“Oh, they’re here.”
“Why are you so indifferent? They’re big shots at the academy.”
“What’s there to be surprised about? Don’t they come to watch whenever a Regular Class student challenges the Elite Class?”
“Huh? They do?”
Two students sitting at the top of the spectator stands whispered to each other.
When they saw the two instructors sit down nearby, they immediately shut up.
The purple-robed professor scanned the crowd and sighed.
“Today’s sword duel between the freshmen is really lively. I’ve never seen so many students watching a freshman match.”
He was Griffin Sharp, the Chief Professor of Magic at Thorn Academy, who had recently advanced to Level 9 Grand Archmage.
Sitting to the right of Griffin was Kaelan West, one of the five Sword Saints of the Sorn Empire and the academy’s specially appointed Chief Sword Instructor.
“Yeah.”
Kaelan nodded.
“Kaelan, tell me, we came to Thorn Academy together, so why is the gap so big? I really envy you, reaching the peak of swordsmanship so early and becoming the empire’s Sword Saint, while I only got promoted to Grand Archmage last month. Sigh~”
Griffin shook his head and sighed.
“You’ve said that no less than fifty times. What do you envy me for? I had a teacher to guide me, that’s why I improved so fast.”
“Exactly, I envy that you have Lady Sword Maiden as your teacher. Look at me, when I was young, I desperately tried to become a disciple of our magic department’s Lady Dark Night Witch, but she just wouldn’t take me as a student!”
Griffin grew excited as he spoke.
“There’s nothing I can do about that. Lady Dark Night Witch never takes disciples. But honestly, I admire you. Becoming a Grand Archmage on your own in your thirties—throughout the entire empire’s history, you can’t find another Grand Archmage as young as you.”
“Sigh~ Don’t even mention it. To advance, I buried myself in magical research every day. My hair has nearly turned white, and my beard has grown long. When people see me, they think I’m some old man in his fifties or sixties.”
Griffin pointed to his slightly gray sideburns.
“In contrast, you still look as young as ever.”
“That can’t be helped. We sword users just need to chop, chop, chop. We don’t need to use our brains as much as you magic researchers.”
Kaelan spread his hands.
“If I had known, I would have chosen the sword techniques system back then. Maybe Lady Sword Maiden would have taken me as a disciple too.”
“Hahaha, Griffin, forget it. You can’t even swing a sword without flinging it away. Would the teacher dare take you?”
Kaelan couldn’t help laughing.
“Oh, you weren’t any better back then. Your sword strike was as soft as cutting cotton…”
Griffin wasn’t happy hearing that and immediately started listing Kaelan’s past faults.
Kaelan quickly coughed twice to interrupt him.
“Ahem, watch the duel. What do you think of these two students on the field? Analyze them.”
“I really don’t know about your emp… Huh? Alright, I’ll analyze them.”
The moment Griffin heard about analysis, he instantly switched to a serious expression and stared intently at the two students sparring on the field.
“The student on the left is Viscount Sweet’s son, right? Their family specializes in earth magic, and their sword techniques are also mainly earth-based…”
Kaelan pretended to listen, but in reality, he had already automatically ignored the complicated analysis in the middle.
Once Griffin started analyzing, he would trace back to the origin of magic, but in reality, only the last sentence of the conclusion was useful; the rest was all nonsense.
“…In short, Clarence tends to use absolute power to cause destruction. Taking his attack head-on would be very painful. But this method of attack has a major flaw: if the opponent dodges easily, he leaves a huge opening.”
Griffin stroked his beard and turned his gaze to Xi Ya, who was dodging attacks.
“I know the student on the right. He’s the one who got full marks on the theory exam. The tricky questions I set couldn’t stump him at all. He’s a genius!”
Griffin’s eyes suddenly lit up.
“You have no idea, I deliberately hid several research topics from the magic tower in the exam questions. Even upperclassmen might not answer them correctly, but he got them all right! All right! I really want to hire him as my teaching assistant, but unfortunately he got into the Elite Class…”
“There you go again. You’ve said that thirty times. This is the thirty-first.”
Kaelan glanced at Griffin.
Griffin realized he had gone off-topic and quickly corrected himself.
“Ah, sorry, ahem. Xi Ya’s sword has no technique at all. He’s been struggling to dodge the whole time, with no chance to counterattack. This sword duel is probably going to be a one-sided steamroll by Clarence.”
“It’s a pity that Xi Ya will fall out of the Elite Class, but it’s okay. He can come out and be my teaching assistant.”
He couldn’t help adding that.
Kaelan didn’t listen to Griffin’s analysis of Xi Ya; instead, he kept his eyes on Xi Ya’s dodging steps, frowning slightly.
“This round has no suspense. Want to bet?”
After finishing his analysis, Griffin turned to look at Kaelan, who was watching intently.
“Of course I’ll bet. Same old rules, one silver coin. You choose first, I’ll take the other.”
Kaelan didn’t look at him, just said flatly.
“Alright, I’ll bet on Clarence. He’ll definitely win. This time you’re going to lose.”
“Are you sure?”
“Sure, this time it’s definitely right.”
“Really? We’ve bet a total of two hundred and forty-one times, and you’ve only won ten. Every time you say it’s certain.”
Kaelan glanced at Griffin, his eyes full of doubt.
“Nonsense! Those were all accidents! Look at my analysis—was there ever a problem? My judgment is always accurate!”
Griffin stared, slapping the armrest of his seat hard.
“Shh, place your bet and watch seriously.”
In the field, Clarence swung his sword at Xi Ya.
Xi Ya sidestepped to dodge.
The sword struck the ground heavily, sending up a strong shockwave.
He jumped back two more steps to avoid being caught in it.
‘Damn it, why does Clarence’s attack have AOE? It forces me to dodge an extra distance every time. By the time I waste that much time dodging, Clarence is already charging at me again.’
‘There’s no chance to counterattack at all. How the hell am I supposed to fight this?’
‘Was Clarence always this strong? In the game, I breezed through him.’
‘No, in the game I was controlling Feili. Feili is a monster—she could just tank through it. But I’m Xi Ya, a small fry weaker than an ordinary person. One touch and I shatter, with no room for error.’
“Are you just going to keep dodging? If you’ve got the guts, take one of my strikes!”
Clarence shouted.
‘Take one of his strikes? Does he think I’m an idiot? If I take it head-on, won’t I get crushed into a meat patty?’
Xi Ya saw that Clarence was also panting like him, seeming to have spent a lot of stamina.
“I don’t have that ability. If you’re so capable, then hit me.”
Although he had no opportunity to counterattack with his sword, he could use verbal attacks.
“If you’ve got guts, don’t move!”
Clarence was so angry that he directly raised his sword and began to gather mana.
[Earth Splitting Slash]
Clarence swung his sword, carrying gravel and dust as he charged at Xi Ya.