༺ Joint Practical Evaluation (4) ༻
Abel was surprised. He hadn’t expected the enemy wizard to close the distance first.
Quite obviously, wizards had an advantage in long-range combat. With their strength concentrated more on magic than physical power, it was suicide for them to fight close-range with a physical type like Abel.
Moreover, Isaac hadn’t used magic.
If he had created a magic circle to use magic, Abel would have instantly realized it and made preparations, but perhaps Isaac even expected that. Unable to sense his mana, Abel had let his guard down.
In Isaac’s right hand was a dagger, and in his left was Zanya’s Staff. Slicing through the frigid air, his dagger left a silver trail.
Whoosh—!
Abel instinctively pulled his head back and avoided the dagger. Several strands of his blue-gray hair scattered into the cold air.
Abel then used his sword to block Isaac’s consecutive attack.
Clang—!
Two pale figures crossed to create sparks. A sharp collision rang through the cold.
Abel was amazed.
‘Isn’t he from the Magic Department? What’s this agility and strength?’
The physical strength the senior in front of him possessed was at a level where he had doubts about whether or not he was a student of the Magic Department. He could very well be in the Knight Department.
There was no time to spare. A pale blue magic circle appeared around Isaac.
When he felt the man’s mana up close, he was reminded that Isaac was indeed in the Magic Department. His mana sent a shiver down Abel’s spine.
“Tch!”
Abel quickly leaped back to retreat and created an orange magic circle. Flames began to glow.
Simultaneously, White, who had returned to her senses, shot the 3-star spell [Wind Sword] from the passageway. The light green blade stormed towards Isaac.
However, the one to cast a spell first was Isaac.
「Frostfire (Ice Element, ★4)」
Fwooooosh——–!
Abel and White’s magic was swallowed up helplessly by the pale blue ice flame.
Abel then reflexively slashed his fire-imbued sword to slice [Frostfire].
Baaaang——!
“Argh!”
The high-temperature flame and low-temperature cold clashed violently and caused a steam explosion, throwing Abel back like a ball.
He expected to have escaped from immediate danger in this way, but he had already fallen into Isaac’s trap the moment he collided blades with Isaac.
Tuk—!
“…?!”
Abel’s body soon came in contact with a cold and hard surface.
The 4-star defense magic, [Ice Wall]. The wall of ice had risen behind him at some point.
When Isaac created a magic circle for [Frostfire] and allowed Abel to track his ice mana.
He had distracted them with [Frostfire] and summoned [Ice Wall] in advance.
A flurry of cold wind. Loud du-du-du- sounds as [Ice Pellets] was shot mercilessly at the icy surroundings.
In the middle of that storm, Abel trembled in fear at the powerful enemy that stood past the hazy frost.
Overwhelming strength.
The only thing he could do in the face of it was cower in fear.
Vwoosh–!
Phuack–!
“Khuack!”
Crashhh—-!
Explosive sounds echoed through the room. Ignoring the sword Abel was holding, a strong kick shot through the fog and connected with his stomach. The feeling was similar to a strike received from a metal bat made of steel plates.
The [Ice Wall] crumbled, and Abel’s body flew through the air. His body tumbled across the ice floor several times before crashing against the wall near the passageway.
D-d-d-d-d-dk——!
At the same time, ice flowing with light brown rock mana, [Fossilized Ice], floated up and encircled his body.
Like a prisoner in a camp who’d been tied up, he was unable to move, coughing up blood. He was amazed by the opponent’s mastery of mana, as even the [Fossilized Ice] surrounding him was intricately controlled.
“Grrgh… Hahah… So damn strong…”
With a dismal laugh, Abel let out a groan. He assumed that he had broken a rib.
It hurt terribly, but it had only been one hit. He was still more than able to move. There was still a chance to strike back. As a student of Marchen Academy’s Knight Department, and with his friend Roanna out of commission, he couldn’t lose like this.
He vowed to land an attack on the silver-blue-haired senior somehow.
This was a matter of his pride and self-esteem.
He created an orange magic circle to summon flames. Though weaker in power than students in the Magic Department of the same grade, he planned to melt that ice with it.
But a chill, cold enough to freeze his entire body spewed out of [Fossilized Ice]. Abel’s flames lacked both the heat and power to melt the ice.
“Uugh…”
In a rush, Abel was unable to muster up miraculous strength.
In the end, Abel’s body slowly froze up from the severe cold, and eventually, his head fell limp. He had lost consciousness.
“S-s-s-senior I-I-I-Isaac…. Kueah!”
Walking through the flurry of cold wind, Isaac slowly approached White.
「Wind Sword (Wind Element, ★3)」
Whish!
With a frightened expression, White took several steps back before using the light green magic circle she had created to shoot out [Wind Sword].
The blade of wind quickly sliced the air. However, Isaac swiftly twisted his body to the side and dodged [Wind Sword].
“Huh?”
White swallowed in shock.
Since Isaac had been wearing Rivela’s Glasses for a while now, he could track mana flow much easier than usual.
In addition, because of his physical abilities and reflexes, it was nearly impossible for White to land a hit on him with magic.
“Huaah!”
White fell backward and landed on her bottom. A short cry escaped her mouth.
At some point, tears had begun to form in her eyes out of fear.
Roanna had fallen unconscious with half of her body trapped in an ice block.
Abel sank into a deep slumber from the frigid cold of [Fossilized Ice].
Isaac, their silver-blue-haired senior, had complete control over the battlefield.
It even felt like her heart was freezing up. That was how cold Isaac’s eyes felt. It was hard to believe he was the same person who had been mentoring her with such a kind smile.
“White.”
Isaac leaned on Zanya’s staff for support and crouched down to meet White at eye level. Even his voice was cold like frost.
His hand extended out to reach at White.
“Hic…!”
Surprised, White clenched her eyes shut.
“…?”
But then, after feeling a pat on her head, White slowly reopened her eyes with uncertainty.
Isaac had been patting her head.
The flurrying ice storm settled. What came into view was similar to that of a frozen cavern.
The ice and frost instantly disappeared into a pale blue dust.
And Isaac’s usual kind smile, the one which White was familiar with, returned.
His expression couldn’t seem any more innocent, making it hard to believe he was the enemy who obliterated her entire team just a moment ago.
“You’ve certainly improved. It was a good plan, trying to pass through the cold with your teammates.”
“…?”
Confusion.
White felt a complicated mixture of emotions. Fear that caused her heart to race and a faint sense of pride swarmed over her at once.
“And you helped raise that friend’s firepower, right? That’s not easy to do. Good job. It was impressive that you continued resisting until the end.”
“Senior Isaac…?”
Isaac continued to pat White’s head gently, and as he did so, her tense mind gradually began to relax.
It was a drastic change of mood. Perhaps it was because of that, but Isaac’s tender touch and compliments felt incredibly pleasant.
As her tension slowly loosened, White’s eyes began watering, tears threatening to fall at any moment.
“Senior Isaac… I like it better when you smile…”
White cried out as she spread her arms, asking for a hug.
Isaac grinned at her behavior, responding with a quiet, “Alright.”
“But first, stay still for a moment.”
“Okaaaaay? W-wait, Senior Isaac?!”
Isaac leaned closer towards White, then gently wrapped his hand around her wrist.
It wasn’t just one wrist. Just a breath away from White, Isaac grabbed hold of both her wrists.
She felt the warm breath of the same man with an ice storm swirling around him just minutes ago. Gazing upon Isaac’s jawline and throat, which could be seen every time he moved his head, White swallowed nervously from a new strange sensation.
She had also admitted that Isaac was quite handsome, so the current view was highly provocative for White, who was in puberty.
To her, who was the only member of the imperial family not to hold much significance over social status, it did not matter that the person in question was a commoner.
“S-s-s-s-s-senior Isaac…? W-w-w-what is this…? Huahh…”
White shook like a broken machine.
Isaac raised both of White’s wrists above her head. As parts too embarrassing to mention became more prominently in her view, their positioning only seemed to become more sensual.
Flustered, White’s entire face turned red.
Up against Senior Isaac, whom she didn’t have the courage to fight against, and with her mood relaxed, the sudden series of events seemed to have prevented her from thinking straight.
“White.”
“Y-y-yes…?”
Gazing down on White up close, they seemed to have forgotten how to breathe entirely.
“You can rest now.”
Rumble–.
With a bright smile, he used [Rock Generation] and cuffed her wrists with rock handcuffs.
“…Ah.”
White’s tension loosened once more.
And when he cuffed White’s ankles soon after, she fell into a daze with her face ashen white.
“You don’t plan on resisting, right?”
“Yes…”
“With this, you’ll be considered as incapacitated… What’s wrong, White?”
“It’s nothing…”
White whipped her watery eyes to the side. A frustrated laugh escaped her mouth. She felt ashamed that she had just felt such sinful desires for her admirable senior, even if it had been just for a moment.
Just then, an object precariously dangling from White’s jacket pocket fell out and dropped on the ground. Both Isaac and White’s eyes turned to look at it.
“Ah…!”
Her small, platinum pocket watch. Colliding with the ground, its lid opened to show the beautiful astral clock face and the unmoving hands.
White flinched in surprise, but she could not pick it back up because her arms and legs were restrained. In a hurry, she asked Isaac for help.
“S-senior Isaac. C-can you put that back in my pocket? It’s something precious to…”
However, Isaac just continued to stare at the pocket watch without replying.
And as if he were shocked by something unexpected, his eyes widened significantly.
“Senior Isaac?”
White realized that Isaac was currently in deep thought.
But because he never revealed his intentions, she did not know what those thoughts were.
However, the time that he took to think was short. He picked up the pocket watch and placed it back in White’s jacket pocket.
“Make sure not to lose it if it’s precious to you.”
“Ah… Okay…”
With those final words, Isaac no longer spoke to White.
This current change puzzled White.
A minute later. A female exam proctor arrived.
Seated in his ice chair, Isaac greeted her with a smile.
With an obligatory, “Good work~.” She carried away White’s group with her wind magic.
“…”
Isaac rubbed his lower lip with his finger and sank into deep thought.
An impossible speculation was forming inside of his mind.
