Chapter 245

When I thought of nobles, I thought of people who like to throw their weight around. Money talks, and all that…

And watching Alenbia did little to rid me of those prejudices. In spite of her low rank, she had great equipment and could use high-level magic. Courtesy of hiring skilled teachers, I presume.

“Hah!”

Another eight arrows shot towards Levee.

“Hmph…!”

However, Levee hit them out of the air with little effort. She was called ‘Light Dew’ for a reason. Her thrusts had all the precision required to knock the ice arrows out of the air.

“So, it’s no use after all.”

Alenbia said through gritted teeth. She maintained a level of class while also showing a vicious side. The spectators seemed to love it.

She hit her staff against the ground and sent blue magical energy through it. Levee watched this with glee. However, she wasn’t letting her guard down. She was just looking forward to seeing what kind of attack it would be.

“How about this…!”

The energy gathered together at the tip. The mana robbed the heat from the moisture in the air as it formed. It was a block of ice that was at least one meter in diameter.

“Frost Meteor!!”

The finished Frost Meteor went towards Levee in a straight line. I always thought of meteors as things that fell… But this was like a truck running at full speed.

Still, a threat is a threat. It wasn’t something you could just smash with a sword…

“That’s what I like about you. But…”

The Frost Meteor shot toward Levee as she muttered to herself.

“That’s not good enough.”

She raised her sword arm until the blade was level with her face. Her elbows pulled back, she took aim, and thrust. That was all that I saw. A mere thrust. A thrust…

“Are you serious…”

And with that, the block of ice split into two pieces. The ice flew passed her and off the stage. The spectators screamed as it shot towards them. Thankfully, it stopped just in time.

I looked back at the stage. Levee had returned to her normal posture. Alenbia looked on in disbelief.

“No…my strongest spell…”

“I might have lost had I underestimated you, due to your rank. But, well… As I was looking forward to this fight, I did not hold back or underestimate you in any way. Still, you need more in order to beat me. Spamming magic will not do. I would suggest that you think of a strategy next time. You are too predictable. Surprise me. Entertain me.”

There was a silent madness in her speech. A madness for battle. The fact that she was so calm about it somehow made it more unsettling.

“A match lasts fifty minutes. We still have thirty-seven minutes remaining. So, let’s enjoy it until the end.”

“Hhh…!”

Levee smiled gently, while Alenbia took a step back and scowled.

I had thought Alenbia had a short temper, but there was no longer any anger to be seen.

□ □ □ □

The rest of the battle was atrocious. Adlus muttered about it being child’s play, and he was unfortunately right. It was that bad.

She launched dozens of ice arrows into the air, and all of them were struck down. As were her ice boulders that rained from above. She even tried building walls of ice, but they too were smashed. Once, she tried to freeze the ground her opponent stood on, but Levee only had to send the same energy into the ground in order to cancel it. Once Alenbia realized that ranged attacks would not work, she created an ice blade at the tip of her staff. However, her abilities in close-quarters combat were not good enough, and she could never hit her target.

Finally, she shouted angrily and created a blizzard with all of her power. But Levee also canceled it out.

I had been wondering if Alenbia had a trump card. That blizzard was probably it. I would have probably been very shocked by it. But I would have still dodged it. However, Levee didn’t move out of the way. She just annihilated it.

It was a phenomenon that occurred when you hit a spell with the same amount of energy. Levee did it so casually that Alenbia had to admit defeat. She had used everything and still lost. She fell weakly to her knees. At the same time, the referee announced that the fight had ended.

Fifty minutes. Levee had enjoyed every moment of it. She was soon announced as the winner.

Alenbia rose weakly to her feet and walked up to Levee before falling into her arms. She had probably been drained after using so much magic. At least, that’s what it looked like… Alenbia was looking at the ground with eyes that seemed scared. She couldn’t even look Levee in the face.

“Hehe. It was interesting.”

Levee said as she came back to her seat. She was still holding Alenbia and helped her sit down. She looked terribly uncomfortable. Well, it was none of my business.

As for the actual fight… There had been a lot of magic that I’d not seen before. Even something as simple as creating ice boulders to throw was something I had yet to do. I hadn’t even thought of doing it. And the blizzard… Using it to slowly bring the temperature down and dull their movements… It could work.

Levee had been great with the ice rapier as well. She cut down blocks of ice and ice spears as if it were nothing. Seeing both of their styles had been enlightening. I was glad to have watched it. Now, I just needed some time with Jack of all Trades, Master of None.

So, on to the next fight…

“Y-you bastard!!”

Just as I was trying to recall who the next group would be, someone started shouting.

“You insulted Alenbia… A Quingeria lady!!”

It was one of her guards from the preliminaries. I think… The guy who tried to protect her and was pushed out of bounds.

He was now facing Levee. Of course, there were soldiers here to protect the contestant.

“I don’t know who you are, but Miss Alenbia came at me with everything she had. And so I only returned the favor. You have no right to talk to me…”

Levee did not look amused about these accusations. However, she was quickly interrupted.

“Liar! You were not fighting with everything you got!!”

“…”

All expression seemed to withdraw from Levee’s face. It was as if her previous anger had been a lie. Then she stood up silently and gathered magic energy towards her right hand.

“Stop it, Zackus. We were both fighting hard. If you’re going to complain about that fight, then I might have to launch a few complaints of my own.”

“…Lady Alenbia…”

While her shoulders slumped, she looked hard at this man called Zackus. His eyes went from Alenbia to Levee and then back again. Then he hung his head in resignation.

“…I was mistaken. I am sorry.”

“Then you may leave.”

“…Yes.”

While he did not seem satisfied, Zackus withdrew. Alenbia saw him being escorted out and then she opened her mouth weakly.

“I’m sorry about that. I will make sure he doesn’t do anything like that again.”

Then she sat back down. No one said anything.

None of that mattered. My mind was preoccupied with the chilling, deadly energy I had felt from Levee. That seemed incredibly excessive for an Adventurer like…

“…Alenbia saved that man’s life.”

“Yeah…”

Heinrich muttered, and I agreed. Had she not intervened, a certain rapier would have found its way into his head before anyone had the slightest idea about what was happening.

“…”

Levee remained quiet as she sat in her chair… She was strange for a person with an alias. The only thing I was sure of was that she loved to fight and she hated being insulted for it. I would have to be careful… Well, it was true that she hadn’t been fighting at full power. She looked so calm throughout. I didn’t want to think about what someone who was obsessed with battle would look like when pushed to the brink.

“…So, who’s fighting next?”

“Ah…that would be me.”

I turned around and saw a thin man raise his hand. He was holding a staff. Yes, yes. He was the fire user who had pushed that guard guy out of bounds. Newt Erangute. And he was fighting…

“Me!”

A man in a blue bandana stood up. It was Baz Rockwell. He was the lowest ranking of us all and had reached this position by using controversial strategies.

The two of them now headed for the stage.

At a glance, Newt’s fire magic seemed the most dangerous. Baz’s style was mostly effective in a melee. How would he fight in a one on one battle… I was very curious to find out.