Chapter 58: Revenge Match

I was targeted by a dragon.

A rather troublesome dragon at that.

Throwing students into a strange place to test their skills.

And arbitrarily giving trials as gifts. What should I do with Lumine?

I understood. Dragons were like that.

All of this was just a game to her.

Like a child playing with ants.

To Lumine, the dragon, I, a human, was just like that.

But if her interest in me continued.

Things like this might keep happening.

I had to shake Lumine off quickly.

But how could I shake off a dragon?

“Should I ask Lisa?”

Could Magic Eyes hypnotize even a dragon?

The thought briefly crossed my mind.

But I immediately dismissed it.

The risk was too great.

I wasn’t even sure if hypnosis would work on a dragon.

And even if it did, if the hypnosis broke in the worst-case scenario, an unimaginable disaster would follow.

That was too dangerous.

For now, I had to pray that Lumine would lose interest in me while I gradually searched for a solution.

So I decided to think about that later.

Beep

[Simulation starting. Please set the stage.]

I had to test what I’d gained.

“Stage 4.”

[Virtual combat simulation starting soon]

I entered the special training room and activated the simulation.

With a guiding sound, an illusory Orc appeared before me.

First, the technique the Doppelganger used.

I looked at the Orc, drooling realistically, and thought.

Until now, I’d been using my ability by literally shooting electricity.

Lightning Strike.

And Lightning Shock.

I had tried compressing the electricity recently.

But those were all special situations.

What I needed now was a wide-area attack.

Fortunately, most of my battles so far were one-on-one.

But if I ever faced a chaotic battle, I couldn’t ignore the necessity of a wide-area attack.

And I’d recently witnessed something suitable.

The technique the Doppelganger used, where lightning struck from the sky.

Although lacking accuracy, the threatening, randomly falling lightning seemed sufficient for wide-area damage.

I imagined the scene, looking at the Orc standing foolishly in front of me.

Imagining lightning striking from the sky, I gathered my mana.

And shot the electricity high above my head.

“Lightning Fall!”

With the sound of tearing air, lightning struck right next to where the Orc stood.

I missed. I stared at the smoke rising from the ground, lost in thought.

This wasn’t easy.

I succeeded in creating lightning.

But the problem was accuracy.

It wasn’t simply designating a target and making the lightning strike.

It was a strange sensation, like aiming from the sky.

It would take some time to get used to.

But for now, I had to be satisfied with gaining a new technique.

I decided to move on, holding onto the lingering disappointment.

That wasn’t the only thing I gained from the battle with the Doppelganger.

The intangible energy still wriggling within me.

I carefully examined the energy that flowed into me after defeating the Doppelganger.

I channeled my mana, drew the energy out, and wrapped it around my hand.

My hand turned bright yellow, as if coated with something.

“Hmm….”

As I activated the ability, I started to get a sense of how to use it.

So I should think of my body as having become like a magnet?

The ability I gained after overcoming Lumine’s trial.

It was the ability to generate magnetic force in my body.

“…But what do I use this for?”

The problem was I couldn’t think of a way to utilize this ability.

I looked around.

It was certain that my body had become magnetic.

And when it came to magnets, iron naturally came to mind.

Perhaps this was an ability that used iron.

I looked up at the walls of the special training room, which appeared to be made of solid metal.

And this time, I activated the ability towards the wall.

The energy completely permeated the wall.

I confirmed that I could imbue magnetism into any metal, even without touching it.

Hum

I lowered my arm after confirming the energy permeating the wall, feeling the air vibrate.

“…Did it work?”

But just as I was wondering why there was no change.

“Uh…uhhh?”

My body suddenly started floating in the air.

“Waaaah!!!”

Then, at an incredible speed, my body started flying towards the wall.

Startled, I shouted desperately.

“Cancel! Cancel the ability!!”

No matter how much I shouted, the speed didn’t decrease.

At this rate, I would crash into the wall.

Seeing the rapidly approaching wall, I quickly cut off all my mana.

As my mana was cut off, the yellow energy enveloping my body instantly disappeared.

And.

“Ugh…!”

My flight stopped, and I plummeted to the floor.

A sharp pain shot through me from the high fall.

But my eyes shone instead.

If I used this well, I could definitely create some unexpected variables.

The ability to imbue magnetic force.

I started thinking about various situations in my mind.

After a brief moment of thought.

I imbued my body with magnetism once again.

Seeing my body float in the air, I reached out my hand.

The next day, at the gymnasium.

“So why did you call me out?”

I glared at the man standing before me with a disgruntled look.

“I’ve been hearing rumors about you among the professors lately.”

A handsome man with the same hair color as me.

Julian was looking at me with his arms crossed.

“What rumors?”

“That you’re immersed in training? And quite intensely at that.”

Did he hear it from Lycan?

I still spoke with a defiant tone.

“So what?”

The swelling on my face from our previous fight hadn’t subsided yet.

Julian smiled at me, seeing my slightly resentful gaze.

“I was worried, you see. I wondered if our youngest had become arrogant, consumed by some trivial power.”

“…What?”

I stared at Julian with a dumbfounded look.

Julian was worried about me?

Worried my ass.

He just wanted to pick a fight.

I frowned, remembering Louis’ childhood memories of Julian constantly beating him under the guise of sparring.

“So what are you trying to say?”

“Let’s have a brotherly sparring match after a long time.”

“We sparred just recently.”

“So you’re not going to do it?”

There was no reason to spar with him now.

There was a clear difference in skill between Julian and me.

But seeing Julian’s mocking face, I couldn’t ignore him.

“There’s no reason not to.”

“Ahaha. You’ve become fearless after your awakening.”

We stepped onto the training grounds, holding blunt practice swords.

I had no intention of avoiding the fight Julian initiated.

I had a plan.

The moment Julian raised his sword, I quickly charged towards him.

Whoosh!

Just as Julian swung his sword at me.

Now.

Hum

I imbued Julian’s sword with magnetic force.

“…!”

Julian’s sword was strongly repelled in the opposite direction of the magnetic force flowing through my body.

Julian’s eyes widened in surprise as he noticed the subtle change in his sword’s trajectory.

But the sword, already veering off course, missed me before it could even touch me.

Seizing the opportunity as Julian’s posture faltered from the unexpected result, I thrust my sword towards his chest.

Seeing the sword coming at him, Julian quickly jumped back.

Then he started looking at me with a strange expression.

“Why? You told me to give it my all.”

“…You’ve learned a new trick.”

“This is also an ability…!!”

I continued swinging my sword, channeling energy into Julian’s sword.

Julian, flustered by the unexpected situation, was busy dodging my attacks.

I swung my sword at Julian from an unavoidable angle.

He raised his sword to block the attack, but his arm holding the sword trembled greatly due to the strong magnetic force emanating from my body.

I seized the opportunity, swung my sword, and knocked Julian’s sword away.

And.

Thwack!

“…….”

My fist landed squarely on Julian’s unguarded face.

My fist throbbed.

Seeing Julian’s face twisted in pain, I sensed victory.

But my joy at punching Julian’s smug face was short-lived.

“Did you really think you won just because you landed one attack?”

“…Huh?”

With those words, I was suddenly flying through the air.

And when I opened my eyes again, I was sprawled on the floor.

The result was defeat.

But I smiled brightly.

Originally, there was a clear difference in skill between Julian and me, a mere Sword User.

No matter how hard I tried, I shouldn’t have been able to even graze his clothes.

An insurmountable difference in skill.

But I managed to punch Julian in the face.

Although only once, I managed to injure someone considered to be at the peak of Sword Expert.

Feeling a strange thrill, I smiled despite the pain in my back.