NOVEL NEXT Chapter 266
Although Aidan was hit in the head right from the start, the spear tip didn’t split his skull.
The match wasn’t over yet. Therefore, regardless of his opponent, Aidan swung his sword without giving up.
A sharp blade, wrapped in a fierce aura, sliced through the air.
Even he judged that his trajectory was far more advanced than before.
If his opponent had been the Aidan at the time of enrollment, there would have been a gap wide enough to split him in two with a single strike.
Contrary to his somewhat careless appearance, Aidan was the diligent type. He had never slacked off during his academy days, and after enrolling in Shio-ram, he hadn’t been lazy either.
He didn’t know why he got into Shio-ram… especially on a recommendation, but he thought of it as a stroke of luck and took full advantage of the blessing of growth.
Thanks to that, Aidan continuously experienced explosive growth, and now he had settled into a position slightly above the middle ranks.
– Clash!
But he was helplessly pierced.
Biting his teeth, the spear tip wormed its way through the gaps in the force he had tightly surrounded himself with.
He had already been caught off guard by that outrageous trajectory several times. He pulled his sword back in shock, but the spear tip had already stabbed at his solar plexus.
The thick aura he had built in advance blocked the spear, but it didn’t absorb all the shock.
Boom! The impact that pierced his chest cut off his breath. Broken aura swirled around. Aidan gritted his teeth.
‘Damn it… respond…’
In that brief moment when his breath stopped, Aidan saw the spinning spear in his wavering vision.
– Clash!
“Guh!”
Immediately after, the impact that struck his jaw. Aidan’s body flew upwards after being hit by the spear pole. His head tilted back, revealing a neat ceiling.
‘Huh?’ A long object suddenly shot up through the immaculate ceiling. It was the spear pole from before.
A tall shadow loomed over Aidan’s dazed face.
– Clash!
“Aagh!”
The spear pole that struck down from above hit his face. With a scream, Aidan’s face slammed into the ground.
“Ugh…”
His head, muddled from the consecutive attacks, was the least of his worries as the spear tip grazed the side of his head when he tried to get up.
Thud! The spear tip dug into the ground. The chill tapping on the nape of his neck made Aidan flinch.
At the same time, an announcement echoed from the ceiling.
[Time elapsed, match finished]
[Winner, Ipchun Class Lee Ha-yul]
[Thank you for your hard work]
“…ugh.”
With the announcement ringing in his ears, Aidan let out a groan and slumped his body down.
Realizing it was over, his whole body throbbed. He really did get hit all over during the match, and he felt sore all over…
[Thank you for your hard work]
Lee Ha-yul, standing beside Aidan, extended a hand. Aidan turned his head from the floor and glanced at Lee.
…He looked perfectly fine. His clothes were not disheveled at all, and there was not a single scratch on his fair skin. It was no wonder as he hadn’t even been grazed during the match.
Aidan couldn’t even land a single hit on Lee, let alone give him a scratch.
‘Seriously…’
Aidan’s expression became complex.
‘I tried pretty hard, but not even a graze? Damn, how could I not even brush against his clothes?’
Every swing he made was blocked. Even with his eyes closed, Lee dodged with a hair’s breadth. Before he could even swing an attack that seemed possible to land, the spear would knock it away.
When Aidan tried to exploit the spear’s weakness and slip inside, Lee would just subtly retreat and keep hammering him down. By the end, Aidan was left speechless as he watched Lee effortlessly deflect waves of his chaotic aura like a pro baseball player. At that point, Lee even kindly lifted Aidan’s chin to close his mouth for him…
‘Ugh.’
Besides, Lee had only been a superhuman for less than a year, while Aidan had received early education from the Elementary Academy.
Yet here he was, getting manhandled like this, leaving his heart feeling uneasy.
“Thanks.”
Gathering his thoughts, Aidan took Lee’s hand and rose to his feet.
“Ah, my head… Is my chin broken?”
Standing there, Aidan touched his aching body everywhere. When he slightly rolled up his clothes, he noticed signs of bruising on his skin.
Most importantly, his head and chin hurt… He had been struck three times right under the jaw as if it were a continuous attack…
Seeing Aidan clutching his chin, Lee shrugged his shoulders.
[Don’t worry, considering the assessment, there’s no fracture.]
“…You can sense within someone’s body? What about their resistance… no, I guess you’d probably manage it just fine.”
Taken aback by the sudden thought that he had been thoroughly inspected without his knowledge, Aidan quickly let the question fade regarding how well Lee could handle it.
From the start, he had no real knowledge of sensing abilities, and even if he did, it wouldn’t apply much to Lee.
“What was that, the winding spear technique you used during the fight… is that an extension ability?”
He voiced another question instead. The technique Lee used throughout the match toyed with Aidan like a puppet.
There were various forms, as if dozens of warriors were contained within one body, but the one that stood out in his memory was the spear that traced such bizarre arcs.
[Yes, it’s an extension ability I learned during the last entry exam.]
That answer prompted Aidan to suddenly recall the last tournament.
After reaching the extension ability through relentless effort, his talent had been outright snatched away… It raised the trivial question of what talent truly was, only to be swiftly answered by that shocking memory…
Given that, it wouldn’t be surprising if Lee possessed multiple extension techniques within the various combat categories.
[Aidan’s swordsmanship is standard and textbook-like. If the forms are aligned, powerful strikes are produced, but it struggles against unorthodox attacks. Just like the spear technique I used earlier.]
“Oh.”
Aidan let out a gasp. Indeed, he couldn’t hold up against attacks that dug deep into his openings and kept on getting hit into the ground.
In an actual battle, he wouldn’t have been rolling around on the ground. He’d have been done for by the time those attacks aimed at him connected.
“I remember hearing this from the professors before; it’s definitely a critical weakness.”
[Yes, so how about developing your ability to counter unorthodox attacks instead of sticking strictly to the forms…?]
“Thanks. I’d thought about it before, but it’s clear I need to fix it quickly.”
Guess he had another thing to work on…
Upon seeing Aidan let out a deep sigh, Lee seemed to hesitate to speak. He realized he had perhaps spilled too many negatives.
Gently fiddling the spear pole, he brought up praise.
[Still, your textbook swordsmanship can perform averagely in any situation. Plus, compared to the last tournament, you’ve grown immensely.]
“Honestly, I feel like I’m still moving at a turtle’s pace compared to you…”
[Um… comparing to me feels a bit off…?]
“…Yeah, you’re right.”
A moment of annoyance washed over him, but he also thought it wasn’t entirely a wrong sentiment.
Aidan looked at Lee with fresh eyes.
Despite the fact that this person had just pummeled him, he had such a round and harmless impression.
But in reality, he was a bundle of potential defined by the head of the Tower of Growth. It was uncertain how far he would reach in the future, truly the next generation’s front-runner.
Just that much, numerous people wanted to get closer to Lee…
“Oh.”
[?]
A thought that he had forgotten suddenly resurfaced. Aidan exhaled and opened his mouth.
“Are you free on the day of your birthday?”
[Why do you ask?]
“Besides the official schedule for the birthday, the students gather separately to hang out sometimes. A few of us, the first-year boys, are planning to gather for drinks; I wanted to know if you’d come.”
[Drinks…]
Lee tightly shut his mouth. That word was one that still drew out sudden feelings of repulsion. Suddenly, the scent of the past seemed to fill his nostrils, making him dizzy.
…But that smell soon faded away, washed away by the faint scent of milk lingering on his skin. Lee glanced at himself and shrugged his shoulders.
[It doesn’t feel like a treat on the first or last day of the event. And I’m not really keen on spending too long at such gatherings either…]
“There are plenty who just stop by for a bit, so it should be alright. Plus, it’s from the evening of the fourth day.”
[Then, I’ll think about it. But the odds are high that I won’t go.]
“Yeah, since it’s already scheduled, even if you’re interested, you can just drop by quickly.”
[Thank you for letting me know.]
*
During practical combat majors, the defeated party gets to shift locations.
After repeating that three times, the evaluation concluded.
While the grace period passed, Aidan exited the sparring arena on his own.
Though he had no special injuries, his fatigued body felt rejuvenated as soon as he stepped out of the door.
‘A drinking party… Honestly, I’m not really drawn to it.’
He remained in the same spot of the sparring arena, still stroking the spear pole in his hand, lost in thought.
‘It’s not forced, so I could just ignore it, but I feel like I should at least make an appearance…’
Honestly, a lot of plans he set upon coming to this world had gone awry.
Especially those belonging to sub-quests he had almost all passed.
He had wanted to at least familiarize himself with several promising candidates, yet he had hardly encountered a few.
Though he felt apprehension about the drinking party, it wasn’t to the degree of running away as he once did.
The changes were largely influenced by the drinking party he had attended at the mansion last time.
While he hadn’t drunk himself, that memory was certainly a happy one spent with someone dear to him.
That memory overshadowed the bad ones, so he no longer feared alcohol as he once did.
‘Even if someone causes a ruckus at the drinking party, I could handle it.’
Above all, he was different from the past. He wasn’t the one getting beat anymore; he was now capable of beating down and restraining others.
– Whoosh…
As he pondered for a moment, the next opponent walked into the sparring arena. I had already seen them coming from afar with my observation and gripped the spear firmly.
This would be the last match already. Better wrap it up quickly and head back.
‘?’
Then, he felt an odd dissonance.
“…Gokwoo Class, Rigna Crisis.”
The entering opponent tilted his head slightly.
A sturdy… no, muscular fellow student.
The description didn’t particularly highlight the character from the original work.
‘Who is he?’
He felt as if he’d met him somewhere before. But considering such thoughts, neither the physique nor name stuck in his memory.
‘…Manifestation?’
Swoosh! The pages of the chaotic and disorganized memories unfolded in his mind. A mental book he had organized that lay in ruins. Among those, he searched for memories similar to that student.
Normally, it would take a bit of time and might even give him a headache, but thanks to the power of knowledge, he was able to do it quickly and without any pain.
‘Ah.’
And he discovered the identity of his opponent.
– Tsk.
A sound of tongue clicking he had heard before.
The freshman who bumped into him during the welcome ceremony, then disappeared without an apology.
At that time, he hadn’t been able to immediately recognize him since he had only measured the dimensions of his appearance.
‘…Hmm.’
[Ipchun Class, Lee Ha-yul here.]
After a casual greeting, he fidgeted with the spear pole. The opponent didn’t engage in small talk either.
‘Hmm…’
[The midterm evaluation for the second semester, the third match of the combat major will now begin. Countdown. 10…]
While waiting, the announcement from the ceiling began.
[3… 2… 1…]
[Match Start]
The match began, yet the opponent didn’t charge at him immediately and instead lifted his weapon in a defensive stance.
The weapon was what you’d call a halberd.
‘Hmm…’
After a moment’s thought, Aidan gently stroked the spear pole.
– Swoosh…
The spear tip melted and seeped into the shaft. The spear tip had vanished, turning it into a staff.
Bounce! He tested the staff against the ground and nodded.
And then—
[Revenge?]
– Bang!
“Guh!?”
The now tense opponent was struck hard in the shoulder. The sturdy-built student staggered as if he would fall, reminiscent of someone from a past day.
The series of booming sounds resonated throughout the sparring arena.
.
.
.
“…Junior, did something good happen?”
A little later, after finishing the match, Aidan happenstanced into Choi Ji-yeon, who asked with a strange expression.
She was tilting a straw as she sipped on warm milk from a cup.
[Does it show?]
“Yeah, it kinda looks like something refreshing just happened.”
[Hmm… I had a somewhat similar experience.]
Though it was a grudge forgotten long ago, resolving it felt quite refreshing.
He shrugged his shoulders and took another sip from his straw.
*
[Player Correction System: Affection Level]
Lee Ha-yul → Aidan Reynolds
●●●●●○○○○○(44▷50/100)
“Friend,” “Fool,” “Diligent”
…
Lee Ha-yul → Rigna Crisis
●○○○○○○○○○(19/100)
“Dislike,” “Indifferent,” “Shoulder hit”