Chapter 23

Episode 23: Alphonse Fried

In the First Practice Room at Crawford Magic Academy, the second-year Class A students were engaged in a mock battle.

Among the eight practice fields prepared for mock battles, two students stood out, clearly on a different level from the rest.

One was Yufia Queensroad, the top-ranked S-class magic student in the second year at Crawford Magic Academy.

The other was a male student named Alphonse Fried, ranked second in the second year and, like Yufia, one of only three S-class magic students in the academy’s history.

Currently, the only two S-class magic students in the academy, their mock battle was on a completely different level from the rest of Class A.

“Brutal Azure Water Dragon!”

Within the field, Yufia Queensroad, a silver-haired female student, unleashed a massive water magic spell shaped like a dragon.

“Giant’s Thunder Fist!”

Facing Yufia, Alphonse Fried, a blond male student, chanted simultaneously and launched a thunder magic spell shaped like a giant fist from his magic circle.

The water dragon and thunder fist collided violently at the midpoint, creating a shockwave that sent their hair and combat uniforms fluttering and shook the ground with a deafening roar.

“Haaah!!”

At first, Yufia’s “Brutal Azure Water Dragon” seemed to have the upper hand, but with Alphonse’s shout, the “Giant’s Thunder Fist,” infused with even more magical power, pushed back the water dragon with a fierce plasma sound.

In response, Yufia poured more magic into her “Brutal Azure Water Dragon,” pushing back the thunder fist, and the two spells reached a stalemate at the midpoint again.

As both continued to pour magic into their spells to overpower the other, their spells reached maximum power simultaneously.

Unable to withstand the immense magical power continuously poured in by the casters and the pressure from the opposing spells, the water dragon and thunder fist lost their forms, scattering into a massive amount of water and powerful lightning with a thunderous explosion.

The explosion of the two spells created a blast strong enough to easily blow away an ordinary person, but Alphonse and Yufia, unfazed, continued to unleash spells one after another.

“Thousand Blades of the Storm!”

“Annihilation Lance of the Whirlwind!”

Yufia unleashed countless wind blades, each powerful enough to easily slice through steel, while Alphonse launched a massive lance created from a fierce whirlwind.

Alphonse’s wind lance advanced toward Yufia, but its momentum was halted by the barrage of countless wind arrows striking its blade.

With each strike from the “Thousand Blades of the Storm,” the surface of the “Annihilation Lance of the Whirlwind” was gradually chipped away, and after a series of explosive sounds, the wind lance shattered.

“Impenetrable Steel Rock Wall!!”

Immediately after his spell was destroyed, Alphonse created a wall of polished steel from the ground in front of him, blocking the remaining wind blades that his “Annihilation Lance of the Whirlwind” couldn’t fully counter.

Though the surface of the “Impenetrable Steel Rock Wall” was slightly chipped, Alphonse, having blocked all of the “Thousand Blades of the Storm,” launched his next move while maintaining the wall.

“Steel Rock Strike!”

With a chant, Alphonse launched a giant fist from the center of the “Impenetrable Steel Rock Wall.”

“Crimson Strike!”

In response, Yufia deployed a magic circle that lightly covered her entire body and launched a scorching rock shaped like a burning red fist.

When the two giant fists collided, they scattered simultaneously with an ear-splitting explosion.

Amid the extraordinary heatwave generated by the explosion of the two spells, both prepared to deploy their magic circles again. But just then…

A series of high-pitched metallic sounds echoed through the field, signaling the end of their earth-shaking battle.

The metallic sound came from a mechanical device that rang a bell powered by magic, designed to sound when the sand in a five-minute hourglass ran out.

It was used to signal the end of the five-minute mock battle.

Hearing the bell, both extinguished their magic circles, relaxed their combat stances, and approached each other.

“Haa, haa… Thank you very much…”

“Thank you very much.”

While Alphonse, drenched in sweat and panting, exchanged post-battle greetings, Yufia, as expressionless as ever, simply gave a calm greeting and left the field.

After catching his breath and wiping the sweat from his forehead to his chin with his sleeve, Alphonse also left the field.

◆

After the mock battle class ended, Alphonse Fried was changing into his uniform in the locker room when he overheard a conversation among the second-year Class A male students also changing.

“Did you see Alphonse and the Queen’s match today?”

“Of course I did. No matter how you look at it, that was just too much, right?”

“Yeah, it was brutal! The Queen still had plenty of energy left, but Alphonse was just too desperate!”

“After the match, the Queen was cool as a cucumber, but Alphonse was completely wiped out while greeting her. I couldn’t help but laugh!”

“Every spell he used was either beaten or just barely tied. What a pathetic guy.”

“Totally. With all that lineage, to end up like that? The descendants of the great hero would be shocked!”

“The savior hero must be sighing in the afterlife… To have such a pitiful descendant.”

“Ha ha ha ha ha!” The male students’ mocking laughter echoed in the locker room.

“…”

It wasn’t by chance that Alphonse heard them—they were deliberately speaking loud enough for him to hear.

“(Yeah, they’re absolutely right…)”

Hearing their conversation, Alphonse didn’t get angry or retort. Instead, he just smiled bitterly, mocking himself, as he continued changing into his uniform.

“…”

Finished changing, Alphonse left the locker room, his heart shadowed, while the male students continued their jeers.

Seeing Alphonse leave the locker room with a clearly dark expression, the male students smirked with contemptuous smiles.

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