* * *
That comment was directed not only at Dorman but at all the applicants present.
It suggested that if they didn’t accept the results, killing them would be no big deal.
Would their family or relatives really fight Pasadian just because one of them died?
Unless they had multiple lives, they wouldn’t.
In the murderous atmosphere, Anakin did not relax his guard for a moment.
“…”
Dorman stared at Mantis with a look that could not be described, as if possessed by a demon.
Whatever the history was between the two, their relationship was clearly not ordinary.
“Let go of my sister.”
“…”
Mantis, the freckled boy, clutched his painful abdomen and staggered, barely able to speak.
Dorman couldn’t understand why Mantis, who he thought would be beneath him forever, looked so damn big today.
He also couldn’t understand why this insignificant bastard possessed a talent that surpassed his own.
Just a lowly commoner.
An idiotic fool who dreamed of revenge.
“It’s not that hard, is it? You have plenty of time to find someone else… Haa. You never truly liked my sister anyway.”
“…Who do you think you are, dare you.”
As Dorman clung to his pride until the end, Mantis gritted his teeth and painfully took one step after another toward him.
Mantis warned Dorman, who was staring at him with bloodshot eyes, with an icy and murderous gaze.
“If you touch my sister, or my family… I won’t stand by this time.”
“…”
“I will find a way to destroy your family, no matter what it takes.”
“…”
Dorman instantly knew that Mantis’s words were not mere bravado.
The monsters of Pasadian.
If he grew up among them, he would surely become stronger and have connections with the monsters.
Wouldn’t he gain the power to make that threat a reality?
If Mantis had said such a thing yesterday, Dorman would have laughed it off, but now the situation was different.
A situation that forced him to accept reality, even though he didn’t want to… had been created.
“Damn it…”
Dorman bit his molars tight enough to shatter them and lowered his head.
Then he staggered and painstakingly stepped down from the arena one step at a time.
It seemed the humiliation and insult he suffered from Mantis had not yet subsided.
“…”
Anakin, who had been watching them silently, smiled and spoke.
“Mantis. Congratulations.”
In any case, he was the first person to pass this test.
Since no one had expected Mantis to pass the exam, the atmosphere among the applicants was as quiet as if cold water had been thrown over them.
Despite everything, Mantis had become a probationary disciple of Pasadian and had gained the right to proudly boast of being a Pasadian disciple wherever he went.
Thus, there were quite a few earnest applicants who looked at him with envy.
All the applicants stared at Mantis with eyes mixed with admiration and envy.
As Dorman disappeared, Mantis looked at Anakin and gave an awkward smile, as if he had never worn a murderous expression.
He hadn’t gone more than a few steps before his body tilted sharply to the side and he finally collapsed onto the ground with a thump.
Cough.
“A healer here!”
Mantis was carried away by the healers, and the matches continued.
Contrary to the applicants’ expectation that the rest of the successful candidates would follow one after another after the first qualifier, the disciples simply looked down at the arena without moving.
Until it was Anakin’s turn.
It would be a lie to say she wasn’t nervous.
With six official disciples watching and dozens of applicants concentrating… could she really not be nervous?
Anakin slowly closed her eyes and exhaled.
Surprisingly, as soon as she breathed, her pounding heart calmed down a little.
Composure.
The most important factor in combat.
Because there would be countless times more nerve-wracking and stressful moments than this in the future.
Anakin walked through the waiting room and into the arena with firm steps, as if nothing were wrong.
Just then, Hilde, who was following behind Anakin, spoke in a low voice.
“You’ll be chosen. You will.”
At those words, Anakin stopped and turned around, smiling like a cheerful child.
“Good. I’ll go win.”
Her opponent was Wood, who was in the middle ranks in terms of performance.
If she didn’t let her guard down, he was an opponent she could easily defeat.
As she stepped into the arena, the characteristic heavy air weighed down on her shoulders.
Was it the pressure to accomplish something?
Somehow, the gaze of the beasts watching from above felt even sharper.
“The match begins.”
As soon as the match started, Wood immediately began casting a spell, and Anakin quickly spoke to him.
“Wait a moment.”
“…”
Wood narrowed his brow, as if asking what she was talking about in this situation.
Anakin, however, raised the corners of her mouth and made a proposal to him.
“I’ll give you ten seconds. If you can’t break my shield within ten seconds, you forfeit. If you break my shield within ten seconds, I’ll forfeit. How about it?”
“…What?”
Wood’s current stage was 2nd Circle.
It was certainly difficult to defeat Anakin’s 3rd Circle magic, which was presumed to be one stage higher.
Wouldn’t it be better to prove his skills by breaking a stronger opponent’s shield rather than losing meaninglessly?
It was a radical proposal.
One that Wood couldn’t help but be tempted by.
“Alright. I accept.”
The high-ranking disciples with monstrous magical senses had probably also heard the terms of this bet.
Just one time.
He just needed to break through one time.
“Then I’ll start.”
As soon as Anakin spoke, Wood began to draw mana for physical reinforcement.
He poured mana into his right arm and instantly appeared in front of Anakin, gritting his teeth and forcefully striking Anakin’s shield.
Crack.
It didn’t break.
Confronted by the solid shield that didn’t even have a tiny crack, Wood used his remaining mana to cast a powerful explosion-type magic.
It was a top-tier skill even among 2nd Circle spells. It was his ultimate technique, which he had kept hidden, and its power rivaled that of the 3rd Circle.
As his magic was cast in the air, the arena shook, and Anakin also lost her balance and staggered.
Kwakwakwakwakwa.
Anakin hadn’t expected Wood to have a hidden secret technique.
Not missing the chance, Wood, using all his might, tried to smash Anakin’s shield with his physically reinforced right arm.
Sizzle.
The shield began to crack little by little.
Burning pain surged from the tips of his fingers, which were a mess, but if only the shield broke, he could endure a thousand times this pain.
As he excessively drew out mana with the intention of tearing the shield apart, blood rose from inside.
It was almost as if he was consuming his lifespan.
At this rate, his Mana Core would have been damaged.
Creak, creak, crack.
At that moment, Anakin’s shield cracked as if it was about to break completely.
Just a little more.
The Pasadian disciple he had dreamed of was right before his eyes.
If he defeated a stage one Circle higher, they would surely acknowledge him too.
Wood thought so.
At that moment, a calm voice was heard in front of Wood’s eyes.
“Is that all?”
The moment he saw the opponent’s expression, Wood’s face completely hardened.
A composed face that suggested he was not cornered at all.
Her shield was clearly almost shattered, so how could she be so calm?
Had she not been using her full strength?
Wood couldn’t concentrate on the battle at that moment.
“Nothing special.”
Anakin smiled and said that.
“Ten seconds have passed.”
The chains Anakin cast began to bind Wood’s arms and legs.
A flustered Wood shifted his gaze back to Anakin’s shield, which had completely recovered from its shattered state.
“That can’t be…”
The chains restricting Wood gradually tightened around his neck, arms, and legs.
At the same time, his compressed heart, due to the overloaded Mana Core, cried out with extreme pain.
“Cough…”
He had used a secret technique and drawn out an excessive amount of mana that exceeded his limit and caused health problems, so why?
The opponent had only been defending.
“Goodbye.”
Simultaneously with those words, a projectile made of sparking lightning struck down over Wood’s head.
Kwakwakwakwakwa.
Amidst the smoke that filled the arena with a loud roar, what was visible was Anakin, standing unharmed with her clothes only slightly torn, and Wood, lying unconscious.
It was Anakin’s victory.
“…”
Anakin silently stared at Wood.
Then, one of the taciturn high-ranking disciples spoke, projecting his voice into the arena with magic.
“Anakin Descartes. Passed.”
She had clearly won and achieved the qualification she wanted, yet she didn’t feel happy.
She had deceived her opponent to secure an overwhelming victory.
That opponent was now lying unconscious in a pitiful state.
Anakin raised her head and glanced at the disciples who were laughing and chatting amongst themselves above.
Then she shifted her gaze to the rescue magicians who were rushing toward Wood.
An unpleasant sense of incongruity.
And the discomfort of feeling like she had been played by them.
Was Pasadian originally this kind of academic faction?
The Pasadian she had admired while reading the original story was definitely not like this.
She had thought that the bad rumors floating around were surely misunderstandings…
* * *
