The web between his thumb and forefinger had already begun to throb with pain.
Faint traces of blood were even seeping out.
Even so, Philip’s hand did not loosen its grip on the sword hilt; instead, he gripped it even harder. With his current strength, it was already difficult for him to continue blocking Roland’s attacks. Instead, he deflected the incoming force, his body collapsing uncontrollably to the ground in the process.
Philip sat there, propping himself up on the ground with both hands.
He gasped heavily for air.
Seeing that Roland didn't continue attacking and instead lay sprawled out on the ground, Philip's blurry vision gradually cleared. Looking out of the corner of his eye at Roland, who wasn't red-faced or winded in the slightest, he said, "Whew... I'm done, I'm done. You're a total monster, man. Thinking back on those rumors makes me want to laugh."
Roland twirled the spear and casually tossed it.
The handle landed precisely in the distant weapon rack.
Watching this scene, Philip gasped again.
Whether in strength or technique, he had been utterly defeated. However, thinking of Thomas earlier and Roland's overwhelming power back then, he felt much better. He then asked, "Hey, if you were to fight Her Imperial Highness the Princess, who do you think would win?"
"Me."
Without any hesitation,
Roland blurted it out without a second thought.
"For real?"
Philip said in disbelief. Although Roland had displayed overwhelming strength, and while a Warrior was stronger than a Mage in a 1v1 duel within the same rank, that was only true within the same rank. When crossing ranks, not even a First-Rank Warrior could compare to a Second-Rank Mage.
"Believe it or not, it's up to you,"
Roland said indifferently; he didn't care whether Philip believed him or not.
Besides, he wasn't First-Rank—both his Mage and Warrior classes had reached Fifth-Rank.
Forget Sylvia alone; even a hundred of her wouldn't stand a chance against him.
"Alright then."
Philip remained lying on the ground, showing no signs of getting up at all.
...
Clang—
"Your backhand lacks force, your forehand lacks precision, and your footwork is sloppy," Roland said as he fought. In an instant, with a twist of his hilt, he disrupted the other's attack entirely. Retracting his blade, he dodged Philip's downward cleave by stepping aside, then flipped his blade into a reverse grip, flashing forward to rest the edge against Philip's neck. "Although not a single movement was proper, your reaction speed isn't bad."
Philip swallowed hard, looking at the bare blade right in front of him.
"What should I do if the more I practice, the more inferior I feel?"
"Feeling inferior in front of me is only normal." Roland patted Philip's shoulder encouragingly and said, "If you're facing someone of the same rank, as long as their technical proficiency hasn't reached the 'Ordinary' level, your chances of winning are quite high. Your reaction speed and agility are in the upper tier among your peers, so passing a test shouldn't be a problem."
"Really?"
"Really."
Roland nodded.
"Then what level are your swordsmanship and spear technique at?"
Philip couldn't help feeling curious.
"..."
After a long silence, seeing that Roland wasn't speaking, Philip dropped the subject. He could understand why Roland would want to keep his trump cards hidden, after all; nobody wanted to expose their secrets. He could only sigh inwardly—as expected of Roland, he truly was unfathomable. It was one thing to be amazing as a Mage, but even his Warrior abilities were this strong.
Moreover, whether it was swordsmanship or spear technique,
he had crushed Philip once with each.
As for Roland, the reason he hadn't spoken was that both his swordsmanship and spear technique had reached the [Specialization] tier. Saying it out loud would probably scare Philip to death. Before the entrance test even started, Philip would likely end up retiring to his hometown early due to heart problems.
The exact strength could be gauged by his previous duel with Butler Scott.
A technical proficiency at the [Specialization] tier corresponded to the Seventh-Rank.
Even within the ratings of the Book of Truth, it was a red trait.
Without a path paved in blood and arduous cultivation, it was extremely difficult to reach this stage.
Even more crucial among those factors were talent and genius.
The blazing sun hung high in the sky as time ticked away minute by minute.
It was already noon.
"No more practice, let's take a break."
Philip stretched his arms with a series of loud pops before putting his weapon back. Throughout a morning of hellish special training, no matter what tricks he pulled, the monster of a guy in front of him had effortlessly parried every single one. He was beginning to doubt whether Roland was even First-Rank at all.
During that time, he had even fought against the Mage version of Roland.
It was an effortless crush, even faster than the fight against Thomas.
When countless ice spikes surged toward him from every angle with zero blind spots, Philip admitted he was utterly bewildered. As it turned out, during that fight with Thomas, this guy hadn't used his real strength either. The whole battle took less than ten seconds to end, making him even more terrifying than the Warrior version of Roland, against whom Philip could at least exchange a couple of moves.
The reason this happened
was that Roland could instruct Philip in swordsmanship by sparring and feeding him moves. But when it came to magic—or more accurately, how to deal with a Mage—it was difficult to teach Philip. Normally, Warriors countered Mages, but in Roland's case, it was a one-sided slaughter.
"By the way, are you really just First-Rank?"
"You can think of me as Second-Rank if you want."
Hearing this, Philip froze for a moment, looking completely baffled.
What the heck did "you can think of me as Second-Rank if you want" even mean?!
"What are you standing there for? Go wash your hands and eat."
Philip stood dazed and distracted. Combining what Roland had said earlier—claiming he was stronger than Her Imperial Highness the Princess—with his half-admission just now of having advanced to Second-Rank, although Philip didn't know which specific class it was, thinking deeply about it was terrifying. Was there a possibility that both his Mage and Warrior classes had reached Second-Rank...?
—Philip shook the terrifying thought out of his head.
"Haha, I must be overthinking it. If that were true, would he even be human?" Philip gave a couple of laughs, though he sounded lacking in confidence. He flicked the water off his hands, walked toward the dining room, and looked at Roland, who had already started eating. "So, which of your classes reached Second-Rank?"
Roland raised his eyes slightly, glancing at Philip.
He then said, "Both of them have. Believe me?"
"No."
"Mage."
"I see, no wonder..."
Philip spoke thoughtfully.
Then it didn't seem strange at all that Roland could completely defeat Thomas as a Mage and crush him as well. Even so, hearing Roland confirm it himself still felt unbelievable. If that was the case, Roland was very likely one of only two super geniuses who had stepped into Second-Rank before entering the academy.
Philip thought to himself as he shoved food into his mouth.
However, there was one thing he was mistaken about.
That was, in this intake at the Imperial Academy,
it wasn't just geniuses coming, but also some incomprehensible monsters.
...
Aboard the magic-guided train traveling from the Western Territory,
a young girl quietly looked out the window, clutching a long sword to her chest.
This was her first time embarking on a journey. When she left, her master had warned her to keep her blade sheathed until the right moment. At the same time, to solve the hidden danger within her body, she needed to meet one of the legendary Three Sages—the principal of St. Romanvia Imperial Academy. Aside from that, she was to crush all those arrogant fools who considered themselves geniuses.
A true monster was about to arrive.
Rate on N.U.
