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The first thought that came to mind was how beautiful it was.

And the next was that if you were enraptured by such splendor, you could die without realizing your neck was cut.

Yuna’s swordsmanship had such an impact that it silenced the previously noisy arena.

While Ingerd’s magic slowly unveiled its beauty through simple, low-circle magic spells, Yuna made an immediate impactful burst of hundreds of blossoming sword streams from the start.

‘She did it on purpose.’

And this was certainly intentional.

‘It’s not something one could think of alone. She must have discussed it with her teacher beforehand.’

In other words, the instructor already knew how the opponent would perform.

Swish!

Choosing the chain whip was also a good choice.

Whenever she swung her sword, transformations occurred, and over ten illusions beautifully unfurled like real swords, rippling.

“Wow…..”

“It’s so pretty…..”

Yuna’s swordsmanship drew admiration from the Magic Department, Swordsmanship Department, and all onlookers.Even the swordsmanship novices in the Magic Department, Yuna’s swordsmanship was both beautiful and dangerous.

Particularly chilling was how it bloomed like a flower before stretching out like a snake.

Just when its wavering made one doubt it was a real sword, it would solidify firmly like a familiar blade.

Seeing Yuna manipulating the chain whip freely, the Magic Department teachers frowned.

“She wasn’t a sacrifice pawn after all…..”

She wasn’t a mistaken opener nor a sacrifice pawn.

Ethan had sent Yuna out to definitively suppress the opener.

Those who had loudly claimed Ethan was mistaken could only silence themselves and focus on Yuna’s swordsmanship.

“Huh…”

Even Ron and Mason, who had been slightly anxious, watched Yuna in admiration. As swordsmen themselves, they were even more impacted.

“What kind of assignment did you give her to allow this?”

“Curious?”

“…I’m curious. Ah, no. I’m not curious.”

Ron shook his head vigorously.

Ethan continued to appreciate Yuna’s swordsmanship, looking completely relaxed as Yuna demonstrated exactly what she had shown him.

Yuna’s swordsmanship swiftly passed the midpoint and entered the latter half.

Ethan had drawn out Yuna’s full potential of her ever-changing swordsmanship.

What she was unveiling now was her limit.

‘She must keep reaching her limit. Only then can she verify and break through it.’

It was one lesson learned from clearing MaPan.

If you don’t challenge your limits, you can’t surpass them.

‘You must keep knocking on your limits to grow.’

Right now, she was continually knocking on her limits.

Even in the moment of unveiling her swordsmanship, she was growing.

Shyaaaak!

Yuna, who had been rapidly swinging her sword, briefly caught her breath. Everyone held their breath in anticipation, knowing she was preparing her final move.

‘Though Miss Ingerd’s magic also exceeded student level, this exceeds even further.’

The evaluator Jeryd was catching every one of Yuna Garnet’s movements, his quill constantly moving to score her.

Scratch scratch scratch.

There was so much to write about her swordsmanship.

Most of them were compliments.

‘Not student level, not something a student could unveil, not something to be viewed as a student.’

Such phrases preceded most of the descriptions. He didn’t mean to write them, but they wrote themselves.

And his gaze naturally turned to Ethan.

It was that relaxed-looking teacher, Ethan Whiskers, who prompted such descriptions.

‘Just how did he teach this student?’

As he thought this, the words of his senior Ghost Sword came to mind.

‘So this is why.’

Ghost Sword’s praise of Ethan Whiskers surfaced – all of his praise.

‘Is this why he told me to evaluate with utmost composure?’

Evaluating with utmost composure ended up giving Ethan Whiskers an even higher evaluation than if Ghost Sword had pushed for a favorable review, or if bonus points were given under the assumption he was Ghost Sword’s protégé.

‘If the Inquisition’s fledglings learn from Teacher Ethan……’

If he could teach students this well, how much better could he teach the Inquisition’s fledglings?

Then Yuna, who had been catching her breath, moved.

Shaaak –

Yuna spun around once, unveiling a sword illusion like a lotus flower.

Yuna planted her feet firmly as she maintained the beautiful lotus flower, appearing to loosely dangle her sword while actually swinging it with extreme speed and stability.

“Insane.”

“That, that! How is she even maintaining that?”

Swordsmanship Department students rose from their seats without realizing it.

Jeryd also accidentally snapped his scoring quill from gripping it too tightly.

‘Ethan Whiskers.’

To raise a student’s level to this extent…

Jeryd stared intently at Ethan.

“Thank you.”

The hall fell silent.

When it had been Ingerd, it was filled with cheers and applause.

Now everyone seemed spellbound by Yuna Garnet’s swordsmanship they had just witnessed.

“That was Miss Yuna’s swordsmanship!”

Only after the vice-principal belatedly announced it did cheers and applause finally erupt.

“Jeryd.”

“Ah, yes, senior. My apologies. I got too focused.”

The flustered Jeryd took back his quill and began the final scoring.

“Didn’t I tell you to manage your expressions a bit?”

The Principal chuckled lightly as he spoke.

“I don’t know how he did it. Is that Ethan Whiskers really a new teacher?”

“Indeed.”

The Principal nodded.

“To be honest, I can hardly believe it myself.”

He then laughed heartily.

Jeryd quickly stood up.

“That was really excellent swordsmanship and magic! As a magic swordsman myself, it’s truly gratifying to see such high-level students. Although the winner isn’t that important, I scored earnestly for the sake of the experience. This is solely my evaluation, so there’s no need to despair too much.”

Jeryd spoke loudly. Everyone tensely awaited his words.

“To my eyes, Miss Yuna Garnet’s swordsmanship was slightly more beautiful.”

With those words, the Swordsmanship Department students cheered raucously.

***

Swordsmanship Department 1 win.

If the Swordsmanship Department secured another win in the second exchange, the Interdepartmental Exchange Event would be over.

‘Damn it, damn it!’

Duty inwardly cursed.

‘Yuna Garnet’s skill was that good? That’s ridiculous! Surely it couldn’t be…’

He didn’t want to admit it. He wanted to say Ingerd’s magic was more impressive.

But Duty had directly witnessed Yuna’s swordsmanship. Even to him, her skill was no less than Ingerd’s.

As a Sky Swordmage proficient in both magic and swordsmanship, he judged that Yuna could definitely win.

‘He really did send Yuna Garnet out as the opener to win. But how? Yuna Garnet had taken a leave for a while.’

Could it be that during that leave, Ethan had assigned her some task?

Duty wanted to quickly settle this situation.

If they lost the next bout, it would be over.

“Vilkas.”

“Yes, sir. Don’t worry. I saw it too. Mason will likely go next. I’ll properly crush him.”

Vilkas, the only male of the golden age and a free wielder of fire magic, stepped forward.

Though Serana was also present, Duty chose Vilkas. The reason was Mason.

The other side would surely send Mason out to finish it.

Between Ron and Mason, Mason was far superior.

Moreover, Mason’s swordsmanship was famous for being reckless.

In contrast, Serana used graceful, beautiful water magic. In terms of impact, Mason’s side would inevitably have more.

Hence, Vilkas.

Vilkas’s fire magic could counter Mason’s reckless swordsmanship with strong impact.

Like the swordsmanship Yuna Garnet had shown, he could start with a big impact.

That way, he could capture Jeryd’s eye and draw him in even further.

“We’ll begin the second exchange bout.”

At the vice-principal’s words, Vilkas stepped forward.

“From the Magic Department, Vilkas Genin.”

Vilkas glared fiercely at Mason, fired up with competitiveness. He would defeat Mason and pass the finale to Serana.

As Duty expected, everyone present assumed Mason would come out. But Mason remained seated with his arms crossed.

“From the Swordsmanship Department, Ron Bears.”

Ethan glanced at Duty’s side with a grin.

It wasn’t Mason. Ron strode into the arena exuding overwhelming presence.

Duty’s expression instantly froze.

Why send out Ron instead of Mason? What was he thinking?

‘What? Why?’

Why Ron Bears?

Duty wasn’t the only one flustered. The representative Vilkas also looked bewildered at the approaching Ron.

Reading the confusion and dismay in Vilkas’s gaze, Ron amusedly smiled.

“Why, were you expecting Mason?”

He drew his sword as he said this.

“Did I seem that harmless?”

Ron exhaled deeply.

“The second exchange bout will start with Ron Bears!”

If he seemed harmless, he intended to dispel that notion in this second bout.

“Mason won’t be coming out. I’ll end it right here.”

Woosh!

Ron swung his sword.

***

All the students had expected Mason to come out.

So when Ron appeared instead, the students’ eyes once again turned to Ethan. Shouldn’t Mason have been sent out here to try and win?

But that bewilderment was short-lived.

As Ron swung his sword, all the students’ attention was drawn to it.

Ron was a rare swordsman at the academy who used a greatsword.

Most of the Swordsmanship Department’s figures preferred regular-sized swords like Mason’s.

Greatswords were less favored as they were quite difficult to wield despite their overwhelming power, and were comparatively slow.

Moreover, it was extremely rare for noble houses to teach greatsword techniques.

The prestigious noble houses no longer used greatswords.

Even if there were greatsword techniques, they were usually excluded from the curriculum as they were considered barbaric.

So everyone was instantly immersed.

Because Ron was wielding that difficult greatsword as if it were a dagger.

Destructive movements emanating from his characteristic brawn.

Ron fully demonstrated his greatest strength – his power.

“Oho, a greatsword! You didn’t have him corrected, senior?”

Since it’s a disfavored weapon, when students enter the academy they’re given a chance to change swords, to grow more efficiently.

“Teacher Ethan is good at bringing out a student’s traits.”

“But is that student really the one who was at the very bottom of the Swordsmanship Department?”

Not only was Yuna Garnet’s skill shocking earlier, but Ron’s skill was even more astonishing.

Rumor had it that Ron was a student who hadn’t shone much in the Swordsmanship Department.

“If he’s a special admission student, isn’t he one of the troubled students you often mentioned, senior?”

“Indeed, Ron was also considering dropping out. To be honest, we at Ivecar can’t teach freely and creatively. We only teach by the curriculum.”

There was a set curriculum, and they could only teach according to that curriculum.

Students also tended to only adapt and learn what they could get from that curriculum.

But the special admission students struggled with that. They failed to properly adapt, and that failure led to dropping out.

As an academy aspiring to be the best, Ivecar should provide excellent education even for such special admission students.

“So he raised a special admission student slated for dropout to this level?”

It surely wasn’t easy.

If teaching was that simple, the Principal wouldn’t have agonized over it.

“That’s right.”

The Principal smiled wryly.

It was one of his long-standing concerns. Moreover, solving it was essential for becoming the top academy.

And the answer was found through Ethan.

“So the senior had no choice but to give him special treatment.”

“Actually, ‘special treatment’ isn’t quite accurate. Compared to Teacher Ethan’s accomplishments in such a short time, I’ve given him less consideration.”

Ethan had achieved so much that for special treatment, the Principal would have to provide several times more advantages than he currently was.

Only then could it barely be called special treatment.

“It’s the first time a teacher has been so difficult to give special treatment to.”

At the Principal’s words, Jeryd couldn’t help but laugh.

Even as he conversed with the Principal, Jeryd couldn’t take his eyes off Ron’s movements.

While the previous two students showed dynamic movements, Ron displayed a static form.

Focusing on power, he unveiled each sword technique move by move, the force palpably reaching even distant students.

“Huh.”

Jeryd suddenly opened his eyes wide as if surprised.

“That…was the Revinade sword technique? And tailored to that student…he even modified it. My, my.”

Shyaaaak!

Finally, the last move.

As Ron’s swordsmanship ended, applause and cheers immediately followed.

“…Right after this, there should be magic that can make one forget what they just saw.”

Jeryd’s eyes gleamed.

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