Chapter 28: Because my ranking is higher than yours.

“Hah~”

Xi Ya yawned as he entered the academy’s training ground.

Last night, Melody had left him hanging after saying her piece, leaving him bored all evening.

“Luckily, he was fine this morning—otherwise, today’s sword duel would have been canceled.”

“Hmm~ Did Xi Ya not sleep well?”

“Yeah, a little… Whoa, you startled me!”

Xi Ya had planned to find a seat first, but he turned a corner and ran into Feili.

She was leaning against the door, smiling at him, as if she had been waiting there for a while.

“Feili, what are you doing here?”

“I’m here to cheer for Xi Ya, of course~”

“Cheer for me? More like you’re here to watch the show, right? Watch me lose.”

Xi Ya said, a bit annoyed.

“Hmm? Does Xi Ya also think he’s going to lose?”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure about the opponent’s strength.”

In his previous life, when he controlled Feili in the game, he would finish off enemies in a few moves.

He didn’t really know how skilled the opponent was with a sword—he only remembered a few sword techniques.

“Is that so? Well, I happen to know what sword techniques he has~ Want me to tell you?”

Feili’s smile was mysterious.

Xi Ya saw Feili’s half-smiling expression and knew she was up to no good.

But unfortunately, he still remembered the opponent’s techniques.

She wanted to sell him a favor?

He’d better forget it.

Still, he wanted to hear it—maybe Feili really had information he didn’t know.

“Oh? Feili has intel? Let’s hear it.”

“I was going to sell Xi Ya a favor~ But since Xi Ya looks so pitiful, I’ll tell you~”

Feili smiled slightly and tapped her chin with a finger.

‘Hmph, says I look pitiful?’

Xi Ya snorted internally.

‘More like she feels guilty about taking a hit for me, right?’

‘Well, at least she has some conscience.’

“Don’t keep me in suspense. Spill it.”

“Clarence Sweet, ranked second in the regular class. He has two earth-element sword techniques: [Earth Splitting Slash] and [Rock Impact].”

Feili held up two fingers.

“The first is a heavy overhead chop that slams into the ground. The latter is a charged thrust with strong impact.”

Xi Ya rolled his eyes internally.

‘Tch~ I thought Feili would say something new. Anyone who’s played the game knows those two moves. I even know [Earth Splitting Slash] shatters the ground and sends debris flying around.’

“However~ I need to warn Xi Ya.”

Feili’s voice suddenly lowered, and a meaningful smile curled at the corner of her mouth, making Xi Ya perk up his ears to listen carefully.

‘Important info coming?’

“If Clarence’s [Earth Splitting Slash] misses, he’ll secretly use magic to create a rock at the tip of his sword and detonate it, faking the effect of the ground being shattered by the sword. The exploding rubble will fly at the opponent. If Xi Ya doesn’t dodge, he’ll end up with a face full of cuts~”

‘That’s it? Isn’t that still what I know… Wait, what does Feili mean by Clarence secretly using magic? Isn’t magic forbidden in a sword duel?’

Xi Ya quickly spotted the flaw.

‘Hah, so that’s how it is?’

‘Then Clarence must be doing other sneaky things. I need to be more careful.’

‘As expected of a reborn person—she noticed such a detail.’

Xi Ya’s eyes darted, and he suddenly wanted to trip Feili up to see what excuse she’d come up with.

“Oh? Feili has intel? Let’s hear it.”

“I’ve seen Clarence use that move before. I happened to catch his little trick.”

Xi Ya remained silent.

‘Hmph, says I look pitiful?’

‘More like she feels guilty about taking a hit for me, right?’

‘Well, at least she has some conscience.’

“…You’re welcome~”

Feili smiled lightly, secretly relieved inside.

‘Phew, I got away with it.’

‘Xi Ya is so easy to fool—he even bought such a flimsy excuse.’

About an hour later, the training ground gradually became lively.

Many students had come to watch—probably all because Clarence had deliberately spread the news to gather them.

“Well, well, if it isn’t the bottom-ranked student of the elite class? How’s it going? Got a firm grip on that sword? Hahahaha!”

Clarence swaggered over with his lackeys.

Xi Ya looked at Clarence’s punchable face, already planning how to deal with his sneaky moves.

“Cat got your tongue? Scared?”

“Nothing to say. Let’s just start the fight.”

“Eager to have me beat you up? Fine, get on stage. Let’s see how many seconds you can last.”

The two stepped onto the training ground, each taking out a training iron sword, and stood ten meters apart.

The crowd around the field grew larger, with murmurs rising and falling.

“That’s Xi Ya? The last place in the first-year elite class? I heard his practical combat score barely passed…”

“Barely passed? How did such a loser get into the elite class?”

“I heard someone was disqualified for cheating, and he filled in as a substitute.”

“Tch, what a lucky break…”

Clarence rested his sword on the ground.

“Hey, bottom-ranked, you hear that?”

He lifted his chin, looking at Xi Ya with contempt.

“No.”

“Oh? You think you really deserve to be in the elite class?”

“Because I ranked higher than you.”

“So what if you ranked higher?”

“But I ranked higher than you.”

“Higher overall score?”

“But I ranked higher than you.”

“You!”

“Pfft…”

“Hahaha!”

“What are you laughing at?!”

He turned back to glare, then faced Xi Ya, gritting his teeth.

“Fine, keep running your mouth. When the fight starts, let’s see if you can still talk.”

“We’ll see.”

Xi Ya gripped the sword handle and assumed a stance.