LHAHS Chapter 410
After the first-semester final exam for the first-years was announced as a one-on-one tournament, all attention was focused on them.
During a break in the second-year summoning class, Professor Yura tilted her head and asked, "The tournament is open for anyone to watch, but there's still time before the World Summit, right?"
Professor Ain of the second-year knight department shook his head. "It won't make much difference for the first-years."
"I guess." Yura nodded in understanding and looked around. She knew that during events like this, a certain someone would always be lurking nearby.
"Popcorn! Butter-grilled squid! Roasted corn! Drinks! I have everything you need!"
Right on cue, Carl appeared, perfectly fulfilling Yura's expectations.
"Here, here!" Yura raised her hand.
"Yes! Coming right over!" Carl rushed to her, then glanced at Ain. "What do you want?"
"I didn't call you," Ain said coldly, nodding toward Yura instead.
"Buttered squid."
"…Sold out."
"You just said you had everything."
Yura narrowed her eyes, but what could she do? Sold out was sold out.
"Then popcorn."
"…Sold out."
"Are you messing with me?"
Yura's expression darkened as Carl made a fearful face.
"But it really is sold out…" he said hesitantly.
Yura snapped her fingers. Immediately, the small spirit beasts she had summoned rummaged through Carl's bag, pulling out delicious-smelling snacks.
"What are these, then? Are you making a fool of me?" she scolded.
Carl teared up. "Professor Yura, I don't have anything to sell to you."
"Are you kidding me right now?!"
Just as Yura's face turned positively demonic…
"Hoho, that's right. You have nothing to sell to Professor Yura. Ah, what a delightful sound. Well said, Carl."
Step, step.
Len descended from the audience seats. Wearing his signature black mage cloak, he held a wine glass, completely out of place in this setting. He swirled the wine in his glass before taking a sip and showing a satisfied expression.
"What the hell is this clown act now?" Yura grimaced.
Len, still holding his wine glass, casually flicked his wrist to the side.
Clang.
The sound of the glass shattering rang out behind him as he strode forward and snapped his fingers. The spirit beasts holding Carl's goods suddenly lost control as the merchandise floated back into his bag under Len's spell.
"You don't need to blame Carl, Professor Yura," Len said. "The merchant club members, including Carl, have already made a contract with me."
"What kind of bullshit is that?"
Carl pulled out a document from his coat. It was a contract stating that, for the duration of the tournament, the merchant club was prohibited from selling goods to Yura.
"And why the hell would you go this far?" Yura asked.
Len smirked. "Hoho, it's to punish Professor Yura for the outrageous claim that Leo Plov is a summoner."
At this point, this departmental squabble had transcended mere pettiness and entered the realm of pure madness.
Yura let out a hollow laugh before gesturing to Carl. "Give me that contract."
Carl handed it over obediently.
"No sneaky clauses, at least," Yura muttered, curling her lips into a smirk. "What happens if I pay the penalty fee?"
"Then the contract is nullified."
"Alright. Rewrite it so that you can't sell to him instead."
"Understood."
Len raised his voice in protest, "Carl Thomas! Are you betraying the magic department?!"
Carl shrugged. "Sorry, but merchants always follow the money."
"Integrity! A merchant should value integrity above all else!"
"I don't think breaking this contract will damage my reputation."
"Fine! Then I shall draft a new contract with an even stronger penalty clause!"
As his two underclassmen bickered, Ain stood up.
"Professor Ain, where are you going?"
"Somewhere else. I can't sit here with these fools."
With that, Ain walked away without looking back.
Step, step.
As Luke emerged from the long corridor, his eyes slowly adjusted to the bright light.
On the opposite side of the arena stood Lement, and the stands surrounding the circular battlefield were packed with people.
[The two students have just entered the arena! Please welcome them with a big round of applause!]
Runeba Tess, who always handled commentary during major events, raised the excitement in the air, and the students responded with enthusiastic cheers.
Amidst the deafening roar, Luke climbed onto the stage, looking even more nervous. Standing there was Mel, the first-year magic professor and the referee for the match.
Mel gave the two students a gentle smile. "I hope you won't have any regrets. Any form of attack is allowed, so fight with all you've got."
Lement narrowed his eyes. "Any form of attack?"
"Yes. Even deadly attacks that could take a life. Of course, if it gets truly dangerous, I'll intervene."
No matter how skilled a first-year might be, there was no way a professor couldn't stop their attacks—especially if that professor was Mel.
Hearing her response, Lement chuckled and nodded. Luke, still tense, also gave a small nod.
"Now, take your positions and wait. The moment the signal is given, the match will begin."
Mel stepped away from the battlefield.
Before taking his position, Lement smirked. "I'll give you credit for not running away. Then again, if you had, you wouldn't be able to face the student council president, would you?"
"……"
Lement narrowed his eyes. "I never liked it. A guy like you, getting personal lessons from someone like Professor Len. Bet it felt good to get special treatment just because you're the student council president's mentee?"
Luke recalled his lessons with Len.
The truth was, the one who had actually taught him magic was Assistant Professor Anna, not Len.
Len was a born mage. The only reason he paid attention to Luke was his unique mana traits. Aside from that, Luke was just an ordinary magic student.
Since he hadn't even mastered the basics of magic yet, he was of no interest to Len. The only time Len showed any real attention was…
"Assistant Professor Anna."
"Yes, Professor Len?"
"What are your thoughts on dissecting Luke for study?"
"Shut up, please."
Len claimed it was a joke, but his eyes had been dead serious.
Remembering that moment, Luke shuddered. "I didn't like it much."
"Hah, you don't even realize how privileged you were," Lement scoffed before turning back to his position.
Luke took a deep breath.
How much of what I've done will actually work?
Memories of his training surfaced. After every class, he had done physical training. Day after day, it had been pure hell.
Leo had only ever taught Luke two things: physical endurance and combat training.
There had been countless moments when Luke doubted himself, wondering why he wasn't improving. He had constantly felt his limits.
And each time, Leo would say, "Hitting a limit means you've met the edge of your ability. Pushing past it means you're growing. Believe in yourself, Luke Eldar—you've been surpassing your limits all this time."
Turning his body, Luke found himself smiling.
Let's see how far I can go. This is my challenge.
"You're smiling?" Lement scowled.
Watching him, Mel thought to herself, There are people like that sometimes. The ones who smile in the face of crisis.
With that thought, Mel flicked the coin in her hand.
Ting—!
The coin spun through the air, twirling as it flew toward the center of the arena.
Ting—!
The moment it hit the ground, Lement slammed his palm onto the floor.
"Earth Wave."
A high-speed incantation. The spell was completed in an instant.
Rumble—!
The ground of the arena began to ripple.
It undulated like water, but it wasn't actually softening. Anyone caught in those waves would be slammed into the ground with crushing force.
Luke gathered aura around his feet.
Fwoosh—!
Silver aura flickered as he shot forward toward Lement.
"You think you can close the distance?" Lement sneered.
Luke's eyes tracked the undulating earth. In an instant, he analyzed the pattern, stepping onto the rising edges of the terrain and kicking off.
Lement's eyes twitched.
Luke was agilely navigating the safe zones and rapidly closing the distance.
Just as he neared Lement, though, he noticed something—Lement's lips curling into a smirk.
Boom—!
"Argh!"
A massive fist of rock shot up from the ground, slamming into Luke.
He barely managed to reinforce his body with aura before being sent flying.
"Not bad," Lement said. "But did you really think I'd just let you close in?"
Mana surged around Lement.
"I'd love to toy with you a little longer, but the audience might get bored." He smirked. "I'll end this now."
Whirrr—!
The earth trembled in response to Lement's magic.
Boom—!
Giant rock spikes erupted from the ground at terrifying speed, a relentless barrage designed to shred the opponent apart.
Crack—!
Within moments, jagged spires filled the battlefield.
Dust billowed into the air.
The only escape was the sky, but even if Luke jumped, there was nowhere to go.
Lement had already filled the air above with wind magic, ensuring a storm of slicing blades awaited anyone who took to the skies.
If he had jumped, he'd be in pieces by now.
"Pathetic." Lement scoffed and turned to leave the battlefield.
Swish—!
A sharp sound sliced through the air.
"What?"
Luke had pierced through the spires and was slashing at Lement.
Lement barely managed to roll away.
Slice—!
Blood trickled from a shallow cut on Lement's neck.
Tap—!
Luke landed. If the cut had been even slightly deeper, the match would have been over.
"You little… What trick did you pull?!"
"I dodged," Luke replied plainly, flicking the blood off his blade.
"Don't mess with me. You expect me to believe you dodged that?" Lement's veins bulged in fury.
From the first-year seats, jeers erupted.
"You let a bottom-ranker land a hit?"
"Lement, you're not as good as I thought."
Laughter spread, and Lement's expression twisted in rage.
"He's got good eyes," Chelsea murmured from the second-year seats.
"To think he could track all of that," Celia said, crossing her arms. "Of course, he only landed that hit because Lement was careless. But now that he's failed, it's over."
Chelsea rested her chin in her hand. "Now we'll see his real strength, won't we?"
"I'm going to end you, you worthless failure!"
Rumble—!
The ground trembled.
Boom—!
The terrain rippled and lunged at Luke like a massive wave.
Whack—!
"Argh!"
A hand-like formation of earth slammed Luke away.
Crash—!
"Gah?!"
A massive stone fist crushed him into the ground. Blow after blow rained down on him.
When the assault finally stopped, Luke struggled to rise.
"It's no use after all," he muttered.
"You actually thought you could win?" Lement scoffed and stomped the ground.
Boom—!
"Urgh!"
The ground launched Luke into the sky. His vision blurred.
Whoosh—!
Soaring impossibly high, Luke glanced at the bracelets on his wrists.
This is my limit like this, huh?
He looked down at the battlefield below.
Undoing the seal is easy. Just think it genuinely, with all my heart.
"Release!"
Ting—!
The restraints on his wrists and ankles shattered and flew away.
My body… feels light.
Luke looked at his hand in astonishment. Then… mana surged within him.
Whirrr—!
Silver aura flared around Luke's feet as he kicked off the air itself.
"This'll be over if he crashes into the ground."
"Ah… I thought we were about to see a giant killing."
"Hey! Just curse at Lement instead."
"Oh, was that too much?"
As the first-years chuckled…
Flash—! Boom—!
A silver flash streaked through the sky and struck the arena.
"W-What was that?"
"Something just fell from the sky…"
The first-years flinched at the cloud of dust.
"This… what…?"
Lement was just as stunned.
Flash—!
A silver streak shot forward…
Thud—!
"Guh?!"
Lement was sent tumbling across the ground, his stomach struck by a vicious kick.
Tap—!
Luke landed, his entire body cloaked in a silver radiance.
He looked straight at Lement and said firmly, "From here on… This is the real deal."