Tale of Discovery

Chapter 144: Training Session (2/2)

"Next," Jean says loudly, "You are to show your skills with the sword."

Sword? I thought this academy taught magic?

Well, I wouldn't be surprised that their pride nobles make them seek mastery in all forms of fighting.

Back when I first arrived in Albion's castle, some nobles had beefed-up bodies.

That most definitely didn't come from constantly casting magic, so they must've been physically training their bodies for years.

Anyway, sword skills, huh? I wonder how they will have the students show them off.

As if reading my mind, Jean begins explaining,

"You may group up and have a friendly duel. Please, choose your opponents carefully."

The moment Jean is done with what he had to say, Guiche pulls out a red rose and throws it toward me while yelling,

"Prince Wales, I challenge you to a duel!"

Before the rose can fall to the ground, I telekinetically pull it into my hand and examine it while saying,

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Unfazed, Guiche resolutely says,

"Of course. Dare you accept?"

Summoning flames using Pyrokinesis, I burn the rose down before looking Guiche in the eyes and saying,

"I refuse."

Several students gasp as Guiche's mouth hangs open out of shock.

"There is nothing in it for me," I simply say.

Hearing my reason, Guiche regains his composure and says in a confident tone,

"If you win against me, I will hand you my family's Grimoire of Truth."

Even louder gasps resound in the area as some students begin whispering among themselves.

Curiously, most of them are describing the thing that Guiche offered, claiming that it has 'truth' spells in it or something along those lines.

From the looks of it, this is something worth investigating. However, I have to first make sure that he can't slither his way out of this,

"Am I supposed to take your words for granted just like that?"

Understanding what I'm implying, Guiche places his hand against his chest and says,

"I, Guiche de Gramont, swear by my family's name and honor that I will hand the Grimoire of Truth to Prince Wales upon my loss."

This again. It seems like nobles really care about the honor of their families in this Platform.

Nevertheless, where is Guiche getting his confidence from? From the way he is acting, I can surmise two things.

He either is extremely confident in beating me, or The Grimoire of Truth is simply not that vital.

For now, I will assume that it's the former, which indicates that Guiche has been up to something for him to get the confidence he has right now.

"The duel will be held now," Jean yells, "Please, everyone, step back."

And so, the students all move back to give us space for the duel.

"I, along with everyone present will act as a witness for this duel," Jean continues, "Magic is allowed. No killing. Anything prepared beforehand will count as an immediate loss."

Magic is allowed? I see. So, I better rile Guiche up a little to see if emotions really affect the effectivity of spells.

Guiche and I both stand on opposing sides with eyes locked. I can see confidence; a lot of it. From the way his heart is beating, he is a little anxious, but that's to be expected.

Taking in a deep breath, Guiche points his sword at the ground before he chants a cheesy invocation.

This results in a magic circle to appear on the ground before a sword slowly floats out of it.

Guiche grabs the sword and slashes the air with it for a few seconds before shifting his focus onto me.

Should I just create a sword? Actually, I better not to do so. I'm already low on energy, so I better conserve as much as I can.

Settling on that idea, I look around the field before setting my eyes on something perfect - a stick.

Before the bewildered eyes of the crowd, I telekinetically pull the stick toward myself and begin examining it.

Good, it's normal wood.

"Alright," I say while looking at the baffled Guiche, "Let's do this."

At this moment, Jean voices doubtfully,

"Your Grace surely jests."

Shaking my head, I serenely say,

"This is the least I can do for our the gap in our strength to be balanced."

Hearing this, the look on Guiche's face shifts from shock and confusion to pure rage as he exclaims,

"Don't underestimate me!"

Ah, these nobles. So easy to push around.

"I'm not," I say with a grin, "You fought me last time, so you should be aware of how you don't stand a chance if I did things normally."

Feeling insulted, Guiche points his finger at me and yells,

"Get a real sword, now!"

Shrugging, I say mockingly,

"And who are you to order me around?"

Seeing him getting so enraged, I realize that it's about time we began the duel.

"Jean?" I voice.

"Ah!" he responds before coughing once and yelling, "The duel will start once both sides are ready."

Moving away from us, he waits for our confirmation before he raises his right arm and yelling,

"Begin!"

Right after he says so, Guiche dashes toward me at a speed that's completely different compared to what he was capable of a few days ago.

Coating my stick in a reflective barrier, I calmly look at Guiche who's approaching me.

What's his plan? I doubt that he believes he can take me down by simply swinging that sword.

I will humor him for a short while to see what he has in mind before swiftly finishing him off.

Once Guiche is close enough, he goes against my expectation by actually swinging his sword.

Naturally, his speed and strength are below mine, so before the sword can hit me, I simply position the stick in front of it.

This leads to all the forces contained in the swing to be returned which results in his grip on the sword to shake.

Not wasting this chance, I directly kick him in the guts while making sure to spread the force out on his body so that he wouldn't die.

Guiche lets go of his sword as he gets launched a few meters.

After rolling on the ground for a few seconds, he gets up with a bloodthirsty look in his eyes.

As I am about to taunt him even further, I hear a conversation between Montmorency and another student,

"Is this certainly going to work?"

"Yes, he told me so himself. I believe in him," Montmorency replies seriously.

"But, why is he not using his magic?"

"I believe he's saving up for a perfect opportunity."

As I thought, he truly is up to something. However, as a noble of this Platform, I doubt that Guiche would resort to cheating. Especially so when doing that will result in a direct loss.

So, what could he be planning?

Observing him, I find nothing out of the norm other than the rage that has been welling up within him.

Hold on That's it!

He knows. He's aware that his emotions affect his spell casting.

Guiche knew may I have known that I would taunt him in one or another, so he resorted to this method.

There is also the fact that he made a deal with Montmorency that he could be using to fuel his emotions.

Interesting. Truly amusing.

Let's see how far can emotions push the limits of a being.

Leaning forward, I dash at a speed that he can't see and stop right beside him.

"I'll be disabling you once again," I say in a low voice, "Then, I will be having fun with Montmorency. I remember her screaming something about marrying her~"

My words seem to be much more effective than I thought as he lets out a loud yell before throwing a punch at me.

Casually dodging the punch, I grab his arm and hurl him toward where his sword is at.

It takes him a moment, but he notices that his sword is nearby, so he grabs it and gets up from the ground with a dark expression on his face.

"Oh, hollow winds, carry me. Gale!" he yells before his figure abruptly launches a dozen meters into the sky before falling toward where I am.

"Spirits of flames and chaos, heed my plea. Grant me strength!" he mutters mid-air without any rose in his hand.

How is he planning to cast his spell? Could it be, he has learned how to do so without one?

The next moment, I get my answer, as Guiche points the tip of his sword at me before exclaiming,

"Explosion!"

The moment he finishes his chant, I see a three colored glow appear at the tip of his sword, indicating that he is using three elements at once.

Shaking my head, I swiftly point my finger at his sword and create an icicle using the water element before telekinetically throwing it toward him.

Guiche seems to realize what I have in mind as his eyes widen, but it's too late.

His spell makes contact with my icicle, resulting in a rather fierce explosion in the air with enough force to launch Guiche backward.

Focusing on his body, I find him spitting out blood as he soars through the sky.

It seems like his internal organs have ruptured

The students who got down on the ground during the explosion get up just in time to witness a hair-raising scene.

A crack has formed some distance away from where Guiche is flying toward, and from within it appears two figures at an extreme speed.

One of them directly impacts Guiche's body and continues to 'ride' his body until it comes into contact with the ground a few meters away from me, as the other one 'lands' right beside them.

There, while standing on Guiche's corpse, Yuno raises her arm and says in a bright tone,

"Victor, I've arrived!"