〈 Episode 75 〉 Mock Battle (2)
*
Whoosh!
The sound of wind came through.
It was the moment Yoo-sera turned her head.
An arrow narrowly missed her and embedded itself nearby.
“An archer?”
She hurriedly checked her surroundings, but there was no sight of the archer.
It seemed like they were hidden a fair distance away.
If it were up to her, she’d rush over to silence them immediately, but she had a more important mission.
“First, I need to smash these guys.”
Right in front of her were a spearman and two magicians.
She had no clue what spells the magicians were using.
However, anyone who had entered the Hero Academy’s Combat Magic class shouldn’t be underestimated.
The competition in the Magic Department’s Combat Magic classes was just as fierce as that in the Martial Arts Department.
“I need to finish this quickly.”
There’s something called ‘casting’ in magic.
Casting is the act of materializing the contract with a god assigned to one’s mana, which can be considered their lifeblood.
The methods vary depending on the contracted god and the magic tower, but one thing is certain: it requires considerable focus and time.
“That’s a weakness even Stella, ranked 3rd among heroes, can’t evade.”
Unless one could wield God’s Power directly, magicians are typically finished off before they can complete their casting.
To do that, she needed to break through the spearman defending them.
Of course, there was another obstacle besides the spearman…
Ping!
The second arrow also missed her and hit a tree instead.
This confirmed her suspicions.
She didn’t know how far away the archer was, but it was clear she was out of the guaranteed hit range.
“Overload.”
In that case, there was no reason to hesitate.
A dark aura began swirling around her sword.
She didn’t know how long the battle would last, so she adjusted the intensity of the overload to prevent it from breaking in one go.
At the same time, a third arrow flew.
This one had a pretty accurate trajectory, but by the time it reached where she was standing, she was already gone.
If the archer couldn’t hit her even when she was still, it would be nearly impossible to hit a moving target.
So, there was no need for the archer to worry.
“Urgh!”
The spearman grunted as he parried her sword with his spear.
Her sword, enveloped in dark energy, was heavy to a whole new level.
It wasn’t without penalties, but…
“Maybe nine more strikes?”
After nine strikes, her sword would likely not withstand the overload and break.
She had to decide the match within that timeframe.
Carefully, she swung her sword.
Each powerful swing mattered, and wasting one would be a disaster.
Fortunately, perhaps due to the difference in strength, she had the initiative in the attack.
Two strikes, three strikes, four strikes… five strikes.
Finally, she created the decisive position she had wanted.
She raised her sword to deliver the final blow.
*
“Damn it.”
I tried to snipe with pure skill while fully focusing the Wind’s Power on defense.
However, my proficiency wasn’t quite there yet.
Moreover, the fact that the first two arrows missed practically decided the outcome.
No matter how close I got, I lacked the skill to accurately snipe one out of two entangled fighters.
But even so, I couldn’t withdraw Wind’s Power; Wilhelm’s vigilance was still present.
I wasn’t talented in rapid firing, and if I lowered Wind’s Power just to shoot, an arrow would probably pierce my neck.
It seemed necessary to find alternatives instead of just pulling the bow.
“Shooting my sword out of nowhere would be insane.”
I had to resolve this without resorting to swordsmanship.
Just then, an arrow flew and lodged itself in the tree beside me.
“Huh?”
That one wasn’t curved by my Wind’s Power.
That meant it had missed me initially.
“So it can’t hit every time?”
Even though Wilhelm’s Stigma boosts shooting accuracy to the extremes, he’s still human and can make mistakes.
“Maybe…”
The next shot could miss as well.
That was a judgment close to provoking fate.
But at the same time, it was the only method available.
I had no time to lose.
The next arrow might fly at any moment, and Yoo-sera was already overwhelming the spearman.
If I hesitated any longer, the opportunity would slip away.
“Overload.”
I infused an arrow drawn back with a powerful overload.
Dark energy began swirling around the arrow.
I had to think of this as my one chance.
I carefully aimed for Yoo-sera.
“Wind’s Power.”
The wind coiled around the arrow.
In this moment, I wasn’t putting any energy into defense.
With a single-minded focus, I shoved all my Wind’s Power into hitting Yoo-sera directly.
“Please hit.”
And then it happened.
“Urgh!”
This time, his arrow didn’t miss.
The precisely arcing arrow struck my neck.
Fortunately, perhaps due to the mock battle considerations, I didn’t feel pain.
But the outcome was the same.
It was a kill shot.
The moment the arrow pierced my neck, I was declared dead.
I felt my consciousness fade and was being transported somewhere.
Still, it was fine.
I felt a bit regretful, but at least I finished what I aimed for.
I had already nearly completed my judgments of Team A and Team B.
And I had also finished evaluating one individual.
Before Wilhelm’s arrow pierced my neck, I had already released my grip on the bowstring.
The arrow was already aimed at Yoo-sera.
“The rest is up to them.”
*
“Now!”
The decisive position created from the back-and-forth exchanges.
If I struck now, I would undoubtedly eliminate the spearman.
But there was an uneasy feeling lingering.
“What is it?”
Yet I couldn’t quite grasp the reason for my unease.
Neither could I afford to hesitate any longer.
If I missed this chance, I didn’t know when I would get another one within the next four strikes.
“Overload.”
Her sword darkened further.
And it was the moment she was about to swing it.
The sound of wind cutting through the air echoed.
It was the arrow shot by the archer I had known about but had been ignoring because it didn’t seem threatening.
But this time felt different.
“Faster?”
Earlier, the arrow flew with a whistling sound before it lodged itself moments later. This time was different.
Of course, it was already too late when I realized.
“Ugh!”
The rapidly flying arrow struck her neck.
The wind swirled around the arrow, and dark energy flitted about like feathers.
She understood what that meant.
“What’s this?”
Her consciousness faded in an instant.
*
“I hoped everything would work out.”
The first mock battle ended in B Team’s defeat, the team I was with.
The reason was that the swordsman team had clustered together and ultimately got wiped by a single magician.
Of course, the win or loss didn’t mean much.
This was just a mock battle that wouldn’t count towards evaluations; and besides, such a simple team deathmatch didn’t hold much significance.
However, seeing my team’s swordsmen made me feel a bit frustrated.
“Thank goodness for Sung Yoo-rang’s memories.”
Had I not remembered my past in team battles, I might have started politicking immediately.
I held back because I knew politics have negative effects that could divide the team.
Moreover, there was no guarantee we would remain a team.
“There was a significant gap in power.”
Just placing Yoo-sera and Wilhelm on the same team made Team A extraordinarily powerful.
Fortunately, it seemed the professors of the Tactics Class shared the same opinion.
“We will switch Wilhelm Schultzmond from Team A with Sung Yoo-rang from Team B.”
Wilhelm accepted this decision without a word.
However, he seemed to have something he wanted to say to me for some reason.
“If you have something to say, just say it.”
A few other team members were switched as well, and now the real Team 2-A was born.
Of course, evaluations could lead to further team changes, but it was reasonable to assume we’d be together for most of the first semester.
We would have to compete against the other seven teams over the next semester.
“Now it gets important.”
Of course, that didn’t mean I was putting my life on the line for evaluations.
From the moment I enrolled in school using archery, evaluations were merely secondary to me.
But even though obtaining the hero position quickly and easily was my initial goal, I didn’t want to lounge around for an entire year.
“Growth through practical experience.”
Nowhere in the world was there a place like this that could freely use a virtual reality called “trial.”
The only place where I could accumulate experience that was extremely close to actual combat was the Hero Academy.
I wasn’t about to waltz through the practical training I’d undertake here for a year.
“Let’s try various things.”
I had no particular attachment to grades anyway.
*
After a few more mock battles ended, the league for evaluations finally began.
Through the mock battles, I had a rough grasp of Team 2-A’s members.
With the overload trait, Yoo-sera didn’t need further explanation.
The other three from the swordsmanship class were Dalton, a tank-type who wielded sword and shield; Rick, the standard swordsman type; and Jake, a trickster-type swordsman who specialized in dual-wielding.
Among the spear class, one member might not be exceptionally outstanding, but he complemented Dalton well since they both wielded swords.
All of them were at a significantly better level compared to me before the second trial.
And as for the two from the Magic Department…
Honestly, there was hardly anything I could figure out about them.
There were playable heroes who were magicians, but the game never provided specific information on magic.
Plus, I had so little mana that I’d never thought about learning magic.
Thanks to that, the only magic I’d learned as a skill, Optical Modulation, was limited to the head area.
However, since magicians were a key part of our strategy, it was crucial to figure them out as well.
“So the only attack spell you can use is Fireball? No others?”
Hearing that, the combat magician was thoroughly enraged at me.
It seemed that Fireball was, in fact, a challenging spell to implement.
From my perspective, having not encountered many magicians, I didn’t know better.
“No, I thought the high-ranking magicians dropped meteors from the sky every day; isn’t that what a magician does?”
However, after a few mock battles, I learned that Fireball was indeed a powerful spell. Although it did require a relatively long casting time.
I also roughly understood the support magician’s capabilities.
In terms of support magic, they provided two basics: Magic Guard and Heal, and could cast various hindrance spells depending on the situation.
I thought they were quite versatile.
…It was just as the strategy meeting for the upcoming first evaluation wrapped up the next day.
“Sung Yoo-rang.”
As I was about to exit the multipurpose meeting room called the community room, someone called for me.
It was Yoo-sera.
“What’s up?”
*
