Chaos (5)

The fact that Baek Yu-Seol received special training became a big issue within the academy.

More than a hundred people came to watch, and even the professors were quietly whispering.

Eisel was also one of the people who came to watch Baek Yu-Seol's duel.

Not alone.

With friends.

"Hey, Eisel, who do you think will win?"

"Um, um?"

Eisel hesitated for a moment in response to Hariren's sudden question.

Another friend picked up her answer.

"Of course, the second-year senior will win. How can the first-year student win against a senior who goes through field practice and even missions?"

"That's true. But you never know, right?"

"Where do you see that?"

Watching her chattering friends, Eisel smiled wryly.

That was right.

Friends.

Eisel was not alone.

Earlier, Hariren approached her and said, "Let's have a meal together."

And when they went out for a meal, there were three more girls. They were honest with her.

"We've heard about you. But recently, we've seen you again. We became curious about who you are."

They asked her various questions, pure curiosities that one could have about a person named Eisel.

Some questions were awkward to answer, and some asked impolite questions even at the first meeting...

On the contrary, since Eisel showed such honesty, they were able to open their hearts to her.

In just a few days, Eisel managed to slip into the group of Hariren's friends.

Most of the girls were commoners or nameless nobles.

The noble-born among them would furrow their brows, saying that commoners should stick together, but those kids didn't care about such things.

Instead, they treated Eisel no differently because she was a commoner.

The child of a traitor? They didn't know, but she was a celebrity, for now!

Among the teenage commoner girls, Eisel's image was generally like that.

And all of this... thanks to Baek Yu-Seol. Because of him, Eisel was able to receive such positive attention by showing extraordinary and remarkable behavior alongside him.

"So, what do you think?"

As the topic came back around to her, Eisel replied, "If we look at it objectively... the senior will probably win."

She gave an ambiguous answer.

It was true that the senior would likely win.

In other words, it could also mean that Baek Yu-Seol had a chance of winning.

However, considering the situation, it would be difficult to win.

If he dared to defeat the senior here, it would cause a tremendous uproar.

That was why Eisel was curious about his decision.

Would he swallow his pride and intentionally lose to the senior by hiding his skills?

Or perhaps, should he just overpower the senior?

"Hmm, well... It's true that Earth-type attributes have particularly strong defenses, but I don't think Baek Yu-Seol's firepower is that strong."

"No, I heard last time that he even broke through a shield with his magic sword."

"Still... Can a magic sword really penetrate a Class 3 Earth-type defense?"

Logically, it was absolutely impossible.

However, Baek Yu-Seol had actually stabbed and killed a Class 5 necromancer. As Eisel, who knew this fact, their doubts felt cute to her.

"Besides, Earth-type specializes in field control. The more they dominate their area, the stronger and more diverse their attacks can become."

No matter how fast and agile Baek Yu-Seol might be, if the opponent seized control of the field, the duel would be over in that moment.

There would be nothing left but he would be on the receiving end.

Perhaps, the other mages sitting elsewhere were also discussing similar matters.

Even though they were just naive teenagers, they were aspiring magic warriors, and it was their instinct to thoroughly analyze and understand such exciting battles.

"Hmm, then what should we do..."

Just as the discussion was about to start with those points.

"Then let's start the duel right away."

Finally, the duel began.

[Flash]

[Flash]

[Flash]

Everyone was taken aback as they saw Baek Yu-Seol continuously blinking and disappearing from the field.

"Uh, yeah. That's the right answer."

The right answer was the right answer. It was just not easy to do it like that.

Showing your back and leaving the position in a duel between mages aligned with the notion that you would become a target and get killed.

Even if you're a Knight-type with the ability to use Hyper Jump, it was the same.

But... Baek Yu-Seol didn't have such concerns.

His ability to freely control the distance and space was sometimes utilized in that manner.

Baek Yu-Seol pursued a combat style that was completely different from common sense, and although everyone thought about it, they couldn't choose a method which couldn't be executed by them, which sometimes left people bewildered.

"Hmm..."

While everyone was having such thoughts, Eisel analyzed his judgment in a different direction.

It was undoubtedly difficult according to common sense to penetrate the defense system of the Earth attribute mage, but judging from Baek Yu-Seol's skills that she had witnessed so far, he should be able to break through without any problem.

"Not wanting to fight head-on... It must mean that he intends to quietly fight without revealing his true abilities..."

So, how should they proceed?

That question was quickly resolved.

Although the duel arena was spacious, the space was limited, and there were also limitations to fleeing.

In other words, if the opponent tried to escape anywhere, a little pursuit would bring them within the range of magic.

While the Earth attribute could control a wide range but had a short range, Kallivan was confident enough in his abilities to cover that gap without hesitation, and headed towards the forest where Baek Yu-Seol had disappeared.

The trees were dense, but within the Stella Dome's empty airspace, spectators could see a multi-angle view of what each participant was doing from their respective perspectives.

However, the camera that was focusing on Baek Yu-Seol kept swiftly moving and changing locations, making it difficult to concentrate properly.

Unable to do anything about it, the students and faculty members focused on Kallivan's perspective.

"Senior is being extremely cautious."

"Yeah, you're right. Seeing those seniors who always flaunt their prestige and casually wield their staff, it's quite refreshing to see something like this."

Ignoring the chatter of the students, Kallivan pressed forward into the forest, where his vision was completely blocked.

"Damn it, where did this bastard hide?"

He never expected that during a sacred duel, Baek Yu-Seol would show his back and simply run away.

According to rumors on campus, he would brag about being a knight with a sword, but perhaps it was all empty talk.

Snap!

"Hm!"

His senses detected a movement. Although it was a forest, there shouldn't be any wild animals in the duel arena, so it must be Baek Yu-Seol.

"Earth Spear!"

Without hesitation, he launched a sharp spear made of stone towards the sound, and something was struck with a thud and fell.

"Good!"

Immediately, he inscribed a magic circle on both hands and quickly approached the spot.

"Huh...?"

There, a monkey doll was hanging from a branch, swaying back and forth with its tail.

Kallivan's gaze shifted to something held in the monkey's hands.

"... Symbols?"

In that instant, the monkey clashed its symbols together, releasing a tremendous shockwave.

Bang! Boom!

"Argh...!"

However, true to his Earth element mage nature, he didn't retreat but instead increased the weight of his body like a rock, withstanding the shockwave.

The impact itself was not powerful enough to be lethal, and he could easily block it with a simple shield of a Class 1 level.

But that wasn't important.

"It's a trick!"

As soon as he realized that, he hastily erected an earth barrier onto his own back.

And as he expected, followed by the sound of wind cutting through the air, Baek Yu-Seol approached from behind and swung his shining sword.

Clang!

The magic sword tore the earth barrier apart, but unfortunately, it couldn't pierce through it.

"Wave Break!"

Gripping his left fist tightly without holding a staff, Kallivan rolled forward, causing the earth barrier to burst and scatter dust in all directions.

While Kallivan skillfully created another barrier and hid behind it, he probably didn't suffer any damage.

However, Baek Yu-Seol, who was nearby, undoubtedly did.

"... Nothing?"

However, at the spot where the rocks exploded, there was no trace left except for a single golden bell swaying lightly.

Mistaking the golden bell for an attack, he quickly defended himself. But... nothing happened.

"Damn it!"

Swiftly turning his gaze, Kallivan saw Baek Yu-Seol sprinting away, several strides ahead.

"How unnecessarily quick!"

However, now that the distance had been narrowed down to this extent, it was well within the range of magic.

Crack!

As Kallivan swung his staff, the ground beneath Baek Yu-Seol suddenly rose, causing his surroundings to collapse.

Fragments of rocks defied gravity and flew towards the sky, while sharp rock slides formed in reverse, pressuring Baek Yu-Seol.

However, with movements so agile that he resembled a monkey, he skillfully evaded them.

He spun his sword to deflect the rock fragments and cleverly slipped away from attacks that were impossible to avoid by hiding within the natural barriers of the terrain, including trees.

As a result, at some point, Baek Yu-Seol had moved beyond Kallivan's magic range.

"Damn it!"

It happened in the blink of an eye. Thanks to the advice from his mates to be cautious of teleportation, Kallivan had kept over half of his attacks reserved, anticipating Baek Yu-Seol's use of teleportation at any moment.

But to deliberately restrain his teleportation, causing the attacks to miss... It was unexpected.

Kallivan swiftly chased after Baek Yu-Seol from behind.

In that moment, along with a sensation of his soles floating, his senses detected magic.