Belmiard (3)
'For a commoner, his magic level is quite impressive. So the talk about him being a veteran mercenary wasn't just empty words.'
Pelmier had only half-listened when Jayden, who had mediated the request, praised Derrick. After all, no matter how good a commoner was, their level was bound to be about the same.
Indeed, judging from how he mainly applied only 1-star magic, his limits were clear. However, when it came to his sense for handling the flow of mana, he was the most refined among all the commoners Pelmier had seen.
Sometimes, there were people who might have lived a completely different life if they had been born with a good Bloodline. When you looked at commoners, you could occasionally find such people, but most of them would eventually hit the wall of Bloodline and break before long.
When you saw mages from prestigious families, born with excellent Bloodlines, catch up in an instant to the realm of magic that you had reached after years of blood-grinding hardship, it was not easy to keep your will intact. In mastering magic, the most important thing was first Bloodline, and second was also Bloodline.
Judging by how young that mercenary looked, his will still seemed to be alive. From Ellente's point of view, there could not be a better training partner than this. There was no need to stand on ceremony like with other nobles, they could exchange blows to some extent, and even if they got a little rough and someone got hurt, it would not become a big problem.
Pelmier recalled once again the confident expression Jayden had worn when he recommended this man. As expected, the eyes of a mercenary who had made a name for himself in the Dawn War in his prime were on a different level.
'Did he say the Veldern Mercenary Corps....? His Excellency Belmiard might take an interest in that.'
Thinking that he should remember the name of that mercenary corps, Pelmier looked again at the two who were in the middle of a spar. The spar itself looked almost evenly matched.
"Flames of judgment that punish all things.... "
–Fwoosh!
Reciting the unique incantation of the Discipline School, Ellente widened the distance and once again drew up 1-star magic. This time, with a serious expression, it was her specialty, flame-type magic.
About a dozen small flame arrows formed in midair. Derrick's red eyes flashed once, and in an instant he grasped the flow of mana. Ellente also caught that look in his eyes in an instant.
'He's already starting to guess the direction my magic will go....!'
Ellente quickly changed her way of thinking. If she used magic in her usual way, Derrick would, just like before, find a way to neutralize her magic in an instant.
Mana contains the mage's intent. If you follow the direction of the flow, the way it manifests, and the speed at which it changes, there are cases where you can grasp what intention the user is casting that magic with.
Derrick was already a master in that field. There was no need to say more, he was a master of duels. Ellente could easily tell that he had developed his ability to read the flow of mana to an extreme degree through real combat. She had heard that among monsters there were sometimes mutants that manifested mana, so if you wanted to hunt those, the sense to discern mana was not a choice but a necessity.
If that man called Derrick really was such a veteran, then attacks containing half-baked intent would only end up falling right into his grasp. In that case, magic that was fired in all directions like a barrage would be far more effective in subduing him. There was a protection magic circle outside the platform anyway, so there was no need to worry about destroying the building. Ellente's policy was decided in an instant.
In less than a second of thought, Ellente changed all her plans relying only on her instincts. The dozens of flame arrows that bloomed were not aiming at any single point, but had the intention of seizing control of the entire platform.
'Oh ..?'
Derrick opened his eyes wide in surprise. It was an interesting judgment. He had had quite a few chances to see the magic of nobles directly, but it was rare to see a mage at this age adapt by changing her judgment so quickly. Noble mages easily crushed commoners with sheer firepower or amount of mana, but having lived their whole lives in the position of the strong, they often lacked the ability to quickly change and apply magic according to the situation.
Application and tricks are usually developed in the hands of the weak. That was why it was right to see Ellente's quick judgment as something close to innate talent.
–Hwaak!
Thus, the flow of mana that spread out like a barrage in all directions was hard to predict in its direction. Derrick quickly organized his mana and went all-out on defense.
In a square platform like this, attacks reach the corners relatively less. If there was no regularity visible in the opponent's attacks, it was necessary to first take a position that was statistically more advantageous. Derrick quickly jumped into a corner and wrapped himself in mana. After neutralizing a few mana arrows flying toward him, he was just about to draw up mana for a counterattack.
"I knew you'd be here."
Ellente, who had instantly detected Derrick's position, had already finished the incantation for her next magic. From the start, the barrage of flame arrows had only been a smokescreen to drive Derrick into a corner and land the next magic.
At the point where she used magic of this scale merely as a smokescreen, it was not hard to infer that her amount of mana was considerable.
Derrick was already a bit late in manifesting mana because he had been dealing with the flame arrows.
Taking advantage of that gap, Ellente began to manifest an ice spear to land a decisive blow.
This time, there was a will in it not to be neutralized after hesitating like before.
However, Derrick had already read all of Ellente's intentions.
He closed his eyes briefly and opened them, then raised his hand and pulled 1-star magic 'Light Creation' up to maximum output.
* Hwaaaak!
In an instant, the bursting light blocked the field of vision.
Derrick was not particularly confident when it came to Transformation-type magic. Still, it was quite effective for creating an opening in a duel.
The moment Ellente saw the light burst out, she immediately shut her eyes tight. It was almost an instinctive reaction speed. Even so, she pricked up her ears and wrapped mana around her body, preparing to defend.
'Good response.'
Derrick muttered so to himself as he quickly drew up mana.
Young Lady Ellente, who made the optimal judgment at every moment, was certainly a genius. Even while tightly shutting her eyes, she was trying to respond to Derrick's magic by focusing on her hearing as much as possible.
'If I focus well on the flow of mana and the sounds I hear, I can respond no matter what......! So I just have to aim for the moment the direction becomes clear....!'
–Swoosh!
At that moment, Derrick's mana arrow flew in and struck the wall of mana that Ellente had wrapped around herself. Her reaction was a bit slow, but she was able to block Derrick's attack with the mana she manifested a moment later. The firepower itself was not that great.
Ellente opened her eyes slightly and checked Derrick's position. The light was already gone, and the white-haired mage who was once again manifesting offensive magic came into view.
'I didn't hear any sound at all....!'
She could roughly sense the direction of the mana, but the fact that she could not hear the sound of it flying at all meant.... that he had erased the sound by artificial means.
'Illusion-type magic....! He even took into account the fact that I'm relying on my hearing....!'
Among 1-star basic magic, there was Illusion-type magic that blocked sound. Using multiple types of magic while switching back and forth like this was quite difficult. The reason Derrick's mana arrow had flown in with relatively weak firepower could also be guessed to be because it was hard to focus on just one magic in such an environment.
However, if it had not been 1-star magic but a 2-star or higher magic with sufficient firepower .. the protection magic would have manifested with that last blow and the spar would have ended. The reason this spar had not ended was simply because the opponent was a 1-star mage. Realizing that fact, Ellente grit her teeth and manifested even more mana.
'If he keeps trying to win with technique, I'll just crush him with overwhelming firepower!'
Ellente gathered her mana more strongly and leaped far backward. But Derrick, who had grasped her intention, rushed forward and closed the distance.
'He's trying to force close-quarters combat......? Is he confident in his magic manifestation speed?'
Fast magic manifestation was Ellente's specialty.
She was confident in her firepower, but she did not mind competing in manifestation speed either.
The girl's gaze turned toward Derrick's fingertips. At the moment mana gathered there and he focused, she had just decided that she would instead pierce through his protection magic with her own ice spear.
–Thud!
However, Derrick's magic manifested half a beat faster than Ellente had expected. Like most mages of the Discipline School, she thought the magic would manifest from his fingertips and cover her.... but Derrick's magic was not like that.
As Derrick greatly closed the distance and stomped his foot hard on the ground, power bloomed from there.
1-star magic 'Full Power Manifestation'.
It began blooming from the tip of the foot that had kicked the ground for a running start. Ellente stared with her mouth agape in surprise, but even so, she managed with difficulty to manifest mana and take that attack.
–Whoosh! Bang!
Seeing her somehow manage to respond even to a magic manifestation she had never seen before, Derrick let out a sound of admiration in surprise. He had not expected her to deal with it so perfectly. However, in truth, the one who was more surprised was Ellente. It was her first time seeing someone use magic in such a way.
"Hoo..... "
Ellente steadied her posture, calmed her mind, and once again manifested mana. She would not just take head-on attacks like that. If she wanted to land a decisive blow on that boy, she had to use other attacks as bait and draw out an opening.
Thus several exchanges of magic continued, but the boy avoided the magic here and there with mysterious movements. The way he handled mana was so freeform that, from the systematically organized style of the Discipline School, it was not easy to grasp the flow.
Because the magic of the Discipline School had been almost completely researched in theory, if you just followed and applied it well, you would get the most efficient performance within predictable bounds. However, the boy's way of using mana was playing separately from theory, so it was neither very efficient nor felt like it was bringing out its full performance.
However, that made it all the harder to predict. It was like watching an opponent in a sword duel hold the sword upside down or throw it around. Still, if you just stayed calm, you could break through such tricks easily enough.
When Derrick gathered his mana and took a few steps back, this time Ellente rushed in and closed the distance. When Derrick quickly tried to respond by drawing up mana arrows, Ellente instead smiled faintly and lifted the hem of her skirt.
"So, this is how you do it?"
Then, keeping the hem lifted neatly, she took a big step and stomped, and the blooming power covered Derrick. She had imitated his magic manifestation method after seeing it just once. She was a mage with astonishingly fast learning speed.
She had intentionally tried to catch him off guard, thinking he would never expect to be attacked in the same way he had used. However, trying to compete with Derrick in unconventional mana usage was not a very good move.
–Snap!
Derrick twisted his mana and then took in the lightning Ellente had manifested and bent its direction.
–If you clumsily imitate the mana usage of a Wild School mage, you will only end up being used against yourself.
Not knowing that fact, Ellente looked at Derrick and was utterly shocked. This way of using the opponent's mana and turning it into a counterattack was also something she had never seen before.
–Clang!
–Boom! Crackle!
The power that Derrick had drawn in narrowly missed Ellente as it passed by her ear.
The lightning that struck the empty ground made a chilling sound. If the direction of that last blow had been straight, the match would have been decided on the spot.
Ellente tried to quickly draw up mana again, but when you have just manifested magic, there is inevitably a small gap. And there was no way Derrick would miss that gap. Even as she tried to draw up mana, the certainty that she would not be able to react to the next attack came rushing in.
Just as Derrick was about to deliver the next blow—
–Ding! Ding! Ding!
Mana flowed into the bell that had been prepared at one corner of the platform, and it began to ring by itself.
It was the sound signaling that the sparring time was over. According to the rules, a match that did not reach a conclusion within 10 minutes was treated as a draw.
"Good work."
Derrick greeted her as if he had been waiting for it.
Young Lady Ellente, with her reddish eyes opened wide, quietly stared at Derrick.
*
"You are a fine mage."
Just from matching a few exchanges, Young Lady Ellente had realized that Derrick was quite proficient in magic, and she spoke neatly while arranging the hem of her dress.
Her attitude and posture were quite different from before the spar. She was still basically condescending, but it seemed that even she, who had treated Derrick carelessly, had decided to at least show minimal courtesy.
"If you had been able to use magic with stronger firepower, the match would have been decided more simply than you think."
"That's not the case. Young Lady Ellente, among the nobles I have seen, you have the finest mana usage. As expected, the daughter of the Belmiard Count Family is different."
"Well, is that so?"
After the spar ended, Young Lady Ellente's attendants approached and quickly began to fix her appearance and hair. A noble young lady who must not lose her dignity even for a single moment could not allow even her appearance to be disheveled during such a brief spar.
Young Lady Ellente was sitting in a seat at the corner of the sparring grounds, having her hair brushed. Even so, her expression looked quite satisfied, as if she liked the spar just now.
"I heard you don't have any special Bloodline, but seeing how well-trained you are, you must have put in bone-grinding effort."
"Strictly speaking, it was an environment where I had no choice. If you join a mercenary corps to keep food on the table, most of the time you end up doing things even if you don't want to."
"There's no need to make excuses and be humble. I quite like hard workers."
They said that in each generation, there were a few commoners who rose to 3-star despite not even having the blessing of Bloodline. Surely, such people did not give in to their environment and kept striving until one day they reached 3-star.
Young Lady Ellente could easily infer that Derrick's life had been closer to a path of thorns than a bed of flowers, so she offered him light encouragement.
"However, the old man over there outside the platform, pretending to be stern, isn't very fond of things, so it'd be better not to get too much on his bad side, you know?"
Ellente laughed playfully and gestured with her chin toward Pelmier, who was standing quietly with his hands behind his back beyond the platform.
Derrick did not bother to look that way. If he looked, it would only reveal that they were talking about him. Ellente also quite liked that tact of his, and she had to try to recall once again where she had heard this boy's name before.
"Today's spar was quite a good inspiration. Maybe next magic spar I can get a good result."
"Young Lady Ellente's sparring skills are excellent, so I don't think you need to worry too much."
"Hm? Well. Mediocre mages are all not even worth being my opponent, but I don't even count spars with such people as real spars."
Young Lady Ellente said that while brushing her hair a few times and lowering her gaze.
"There's just one person I really want to beat."
".... Are there that many people who are better than you at sparring, Young Lady Ellente?"
"Of course not. There's just someone I could never beat no matter how many times we fought."
Young Lady Ellente did not bother to name that person. Still, it was not that hard to guess who it was.
The mages of the Rosea Salon that Young Lady Ellente belonged to were mostly not at a higher level than her. In the end, if you spoke of a noble young lady who could compete with her in magic level, it would only be someone from the Beltus or Duplein families.
It was widely rumored that she had already beaten Young Lady Denise of the Beltus family several times, so by elimination, the only one left was Young Lady Aiselin of the Duplein family.
"......"
Whenever Young Lady Ellente thought about her, she had a habit of frowning slightly.
That Young Lady Aiselin, called the lily blooming in the garden of the Duplein family, was someone above Young Lady Ellente in every aspect.
In terms of family background, Belmiard could not compare to Duplein, and it was not easy to surpass Young Lady Aiselin in the elegance and noble dignity that naturally flowed from her.
She was a person who always achieved the best results in all areas of lady's education, and even if you washed your eyes and looked, you could not find anything that could be called a weakness. Even her personality was completely well-formed, so those who had talked with her a few times were busy praising how complete a person she was.
When you see someone who lives so far up in the clouds like that, most people end up feeling awe.
The worship toward an idol that you could never reach no matter how much you stretched your hand, the world called that respect.
However, respect and awe are emotions you feel toward people who are so far away that you cannot reach them at all. Toward someone who seems like you could reach them but just barely cannot, you do not feel such emotions. More often than not, you feel the exact opposite. That is jealousy and envy.
If there was one flaw that Young Lady Ellente, who seemed to have everything, could not get rid of her entire life, it was her envy toward the person who had beaten her and stood at the top.
Derrick saw that she had suddenly gone quiet, and quietly lowered his head and pretended not to notice. She did not easily show it to anyone, but she, who received the awe of many, was in truth the embodiment of jealousy.
If she had lost in family prestige, in lady's refinement, and in dignity.... then at least in magic, the one field she was confident in, shouldn't she win? Even that question felt pointless, because Young Lady Aiselin's magic skill was outstanding, and even her dignity was fully reflected in the way she used mana.
A complete defeat in every aspect.
Even so, that subtle sense of distance that made it feel like, if she ground her teeth and climbed up, she might reach her someday, only pushed the girl further into the abyss. The world called the name of that abyss inferiority.
"If today's spar ends here, then I will be going back now. If later you need any further help, please look for Captain Jayden of the Veldern Mercenary Corps. My magic master should know him well."
"Alright, you've worked hard."
Ellente replied to Derrick rather casually. Every time she thought about Aiselin, an uncalled-for coldness crept into her attitude. Thinking it was a really bad habit, Young Lady Ellente shook her head.
In any case, it seemed she had gotten a new inspiration about mana usage, so she was slowly finishing her preparations and thinking to herself that she should practice some more.
Young Lady Aiselin.
The moment she thought of her, something else suddenly came to mind in a chain reaction. Young Lady Ellente's pupils suddenly widened.
It was a story so long ago that it had been completely buried in distant memories. It was now almost winter with cold creeping in, but when Young Lady Ellente had heard that story, it had been in a time when she was enjoying the warm spring sunlight.
–"Ah, Derrick is the name of that magic instructor. He's a former mercenary who worked at a place called the Veldern Mercenary Corps, and his magic skill is so outstanding, and even the way he uses mana is really unique-."
Derrick.
At a gathering of the Rosea Salon, that was the name of the very magic master that Young Lady Aiselin had praised to no end.
The mercenary-born master who had manifested the mana of the Duplein family's troublemaker, Delia Catherine Duplein, and even taught her up to 1-star magic.
She had heard at the summer gathering that Young Lady Aiselin regretted not being able to keep that mercenary at her family and having to let him go.
– This boy was the wandering magic master that even Young Lady Aiselin of the Duplein family could not hold onto.
–Tap.
Ellente grabbed the fingertip of the maid who had been brushing her hair and pulled it down, then stood up from her seat.
Then she lifted the hem of her dress and half-ran forward, grabbing the collar of Derrick, who was heading toward the exit, tightly.
When Derrick turned around with a slightly surprised expression, Young Lady Ellente lifted her chin, met his eyes, and spoke.
"You are the mercenary who taught magic at the Duplein Ducal House, aren't you?"
The girl's red eyes were shining brilliantly.
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