SLO Chapter 22

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[Tutorial Battle Part 1]

(In-school Ranked Match)

In-school Ranked Match is a mock battle aimed at improving students’ fighting skills. The rules are as follows:

・Grade rankings are posted on the bulletin board.

・A lower-ranked student may challenge a higher-ranked student to a Ranked Match, but not the other way around.

・Students may only challenge those from the same class. The only exception is the top five of the class; they are allowed to challenge those from the higher class.

・In case a lower-ranked student wins a Ranked Match, they will take the loser’s place. In case a top-ranked student wins a Ranked Match against a student from a higher class, they will be promoted to the higher class, whereas the loser will be demoted to the lower class. In case a challenger loses a Ranked Match, they cannot challenge the same opponent for half a year.

・A challenge to a Ranked Match cannot be refused.

・Students may only participate in up to two Ranked Matches a day: one one-on-one match and one team match.

・In case the one being challenged is unable to fight due to injury, illness, or other causes, they may nominate a proxy to fight for them. In case no proxy is nominated, they will lose by default.

・In case a student loses to the same opponent five times in Ranked Match, their right to challenge will be revoked.

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[Dan Side]

My name is Dan.

My father whom I was proud of was the honorary knight Dunkirk.

My goal in coming to Alecidus Royal Academy was to become a knight.

Students at Alecidus Royal Academy might become a knight by winning the yearly Sword Emperor Cup.

I would study and train hard at the academy to win the cup, then once I was formally knighted, I would repay my debts of gratitude to the Marshall House. That was my number one goal.

It was just that, I’d been feeling annoyed since I’d come to the royal capital.

The royal capital was too peaceful.

It was a direct contrast to Marshall Duchy, which was under constant threat from monsters all year round.

There you might lose your life to some monster anytime. You had to train every day to get a better chance at survival.

Everyone helped each other to survive, we were connected by a bond.

In the royal capital, however… people lived peacefully without any sense of danger.

Monsters did exist outside the boundary of the royal capital, mind you.

But its residents spent their days without a care in the world as if they didn’t exist.

And despite the peace, I couldn’t feel any bonds between them.

The royal capital’s nobles were all about power struggles. Instead of cooperating with each other, they focused only on sabotaging and taking down each other.

That I didn’t mind, they could have all the petty squabbles they wanted. But what I did mind was the fact they looked down on us living in the Marshall Duchy, calling us ‘barbarians’. I couldn’t forgive them.

We in the Marshall Duchy acted as a breakwater to protect the rest of Alecidus Kingdom from monsters. We lived such a harsh life for the sake of the peace of the kingdom!

Those ingrates and their leader, Duke Deskustos, could go and become monster feed for all I care.

“Dan. That guy is Duke Deskustos’s son, our enemy. We can’t afford to lose to him.”

Of course, Lady Lyncean also viewed Duke Deskustos as a blight.

The Marshall Duchy was located in the northern part of the kingdom, where monsters abound.

Whereas the Deskustos Duchy was located in the southern end of the kingdom, where the climate was mild, and where monsters were rarely seen.

While the Marshall House focused on martial might, the Deskustos House focused on politics.

The two houses were opposites on almost all fronts.

The irreconcilable feud between them was nothing new. It had been ongoing for generations.

Even a commoner like me knew it.

So, on her behalf, I was going to triumph over the Duke’s son who enrolled in the same year as us.

During the entrance ceremony, I directed my gaze to Duke’s son, curious to see what kind of person he was.

But the moment I laid my eyes on him, anger boiled inside me.

His hair was long like a girl’s and his face was beautiful like he never knew hardships.

He was talking frivolously with a girl next to him.

If his laidback attitude was anything to go by, he definitely lacked fighting experience.

He truly fitted the image of a useless noble scion.

Everything about him disgusted me.

In the middle of the first princess’ speech, he even had the gall to take out a cushion and start sleeping.

How disrespectful must you be to sleep during the entrance ceremony of the glorious Alecidus Royal Academy?

“I’m going to beat some manners into you.”

It was because of nobles like him that a lot of people were suffering.

“Okay, okay. I’ll deal with you in one minute.”

Covered by the uniform, his body was thin and seemed untrained.

He might have scored the highest on the magic exam, but I had been fighting monsters since I was a child with Lady Lyncean. Defeating him would be a piece of cake.

Further, I’d made it to level 5, buffing my overall physical abilities.

“What is your level?”

I asked so that I knew how much I should hold back.

“1.”

1?! He was a damn noble! Had he never fought even a single monster?!?!

I thought he’d at least be at level 3. Way to shoot down my already low expectation.

The Deskustos Duchy might be relatively safe, but there was no way there wasn’t even a single monster there.

Given that he was still level 1, that meant he had never fought a monster before.

If that was anything to go by, Duke Deskustos treasured him so much that he wouldn’t let him risk his life.

Hmph, the more I knew about him, the more I hated him.

Even Lady Lyncean, a girl, had fought so many monsters it was beyond count… Just remembering those harsh days she had to go through made my heart ache for her… I couldn’t forgive him.

“We will now begin the Ranked Match between the rank 20 Dan and the rank 2 Luc Hugaro Deskustos. Combatants, step forward.”

In the arena, Professor Gloren Research acted as the referee whereas our classmates served as witnesses.

“Hope you can put up a good fight.” The bastard said. And here I was trying to hold back. I felt like a fool.

You want me to put up a good fight?

Like you can put up a fight against me!

Blood rushed to my head.

I was going to finish him in an instant.

“Begin!”

No sooner had the professor shout than I activated body strengthening magic with all my might.

It was my forte. Even Duke Marshall praised me for it.

“Haa!”

But just as I finished casting it and strengthening my body, his fist arrived before me.

“Wha-!”

I promptly jumped back, but he wasn’t letting me get away.

He pursued me and stuck close to me with a speed that didn’t lose to mine.

I couldn’t swing my sword because he was too close.

“Gh!”

With such refined movements, he attacked only with his bare hands, and I ended up taking in several strong hits.

Had I not worn armor under my uniform, I might have been down for the count.

I had let my guard down. Just because he excelled in magic didn’t mean he was bad at martial arts.

“Don’t underestimate me!!!”

I forcibly swung my sword sideways, trying to make him back away.

But he dodged the sword by bending his body backward so low he almost touched the ground!

I froze, almost unable to believe my eyes.

Because of the big swing I just made, I was full of openings, and he used the recoil from bending his body to headbutt me.

I saw flashing lights, and my vision went white.

Then he followed up with two or three punches to my face, and I felt like I was going to pass out.

“Gh!”

He grabbed him by the collar and lifted me up.

“L-let go!”

I struggled and tried to swing my sword at him, but he knocked my sword off my hand with a kick.

“Fwoo, has it been a minute?”

He suddenly uttered something incomprehensible and looked up at me.

“Well, ‘checkmate’, I guess.”

Was I going to lose without even putting a scratch on him? No!

“Boost!”

I used my trump card, my attribute magic.

“As if I’ll let you. Sleep.”

Gh! I tried to boost my physical abilities to escape from his grasp, but… the next thing I knew, I passed out.

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