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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 60
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After David and Gerard's duel concluded, an odd silence hung in the air.
As Cheon-seong's resolve ignited, Kali looked at Gerard and formally announced that a ten-minute grace period was required.
A series of consecutive duels between students.
Even if Gerard was fine, it was clearly stated in the academy regulations.
At that, students who had left after watching the duel, and those who had finished their duels, began to return to their seats one by one, showing curiosity.
Duels held under the supervision of an instructor.
As hardly any students engaged in real combat intending to inflict fatal injuries from the start, the news of Han Cheon-seong and Gerard's duel was enough to reignite the students' interest.
While most of the departed students returned, their eyes filled with curiosity, Kali maintained her position with a complex expression.
'This isn't good.'
David and Gerard's duel could hardly be considered a duel in its true sense.
One typically considers various factors: the compatibility of traits, how the duel unfolds, and crucially, whether the duel benefits the participating student. But it was clear that the burden on Student David was immense.
And yet. I couldn't stop the duel.
Because the student participating, David, hadn't given up.
The student's gaze remained unchanged compared to the beginning of the duel.
If anything, he seemed to approach the duel with an even stronger will. Seeing that… how could I stop the duel?
Willpower is considered the greatest factor in trait evolution. If Student David's will grew stronger, that alone could be seen as the student's growth.
However…
'The opposing student was simply too malicious.'
Nobles and commoners. In an academy where all social statuses coexisted, an unspoken, strange undercurrent was bound to flow.
Even if the regulations themselves proclaimed no discrimination, how could there be no friction between the individuals involved?
A noble with a sense of entitlement and ill will. Furthermore, he wouldn't end the duel despite being clearly superior to his opponent.
Gerard ranked among the most malicious students I had ever encountered. It was clear he intentionally prolonged duels to humiliate or toy with the opposing student.
And he even added provocation.
To the point where I, watching, felt a surge of anger myself.
If Student David had shown any signs of severe humiliation or self-abasement, I would have immediately stopped the duel.
But.
That wasn't… the case.
Student David's eyes, as I observed them, were filled with resolve. He wouldn't give up, trying to push forward even when he knew it was futile.
As the student's gaze continued to burn with will, I couldn't stop the duel.
"..."
Even as I let out a faint breath, my eyes fell on Han Cheon-seong, who was now waiting for his duel.
I knew he was Student David's closest friend. I couldn't have missed it, as they were always together during last week's lectures.
And a friend so close had endured such a terrible duel. It would be strange if Han Cheon-seong wasn't angry.
It was obvious how difficult it must be for him to control his emotions and how troubled he was throughout the duel.
I also felt his resentful gaze… all of it.
'Right now… he must hate me.'
My heart almost wavered for a moment under Han Cheon-seong's cold stare, but as an instructor, I had to acknowledge that Student David had gained something from this duel.
Even if he struggled and lost the duel, if he himself could ignite his will, it was right for an instructor to watch that unfold.
For a moment, I felt a surge of anger at Student Gerard's attack, which seemed aimed at the head, but then I realized he had controlled his strength, which was infuriatingly absurd.
Student Gerard was cunning and meticulous.
It was an amount of force that would warrant severe disciplinary action if it weren't for an instructor supervising the duel. But Gerard subtly avoided violating the regulations while demonstrating his power.
As if he knew I, as the instructor, would protect the student to that extent…
…
The appointed time arrived.
*Shhhk.*
Watching Han Cheon-seong and Gerard rise, I calmed my own mind.
While conducting the lecture, I had to set aside personal feelings and view them solely as instructor and student.
…No matter how much I disliked Student Gerard's malicious attitude, and no matter if I favored Student Han Cheon-seong, I had to view the situation dispassionately.
"Both students, to your positions."
I spoke calmly, soothing my mind.
***
*Shhhk.*
As I took the spear from my back, had the cold touch of iron ever felt so welcoming?
No. I could definitively say it had not.
Even when I achieved the unbelievable evolution to Trait Level 4 during my duel with Leonhardt, I hadn't felt as happy to hold my spear as I did now.
"A spear, huh."
My gaze fell on Gerard, who spoke from a certain distance away from me.
The surging heat within me was suppressed even more deeply than before.
—The ten-minute waiting period.
During that time, the emotions that had boiled endlessly were now suppressed, like tempered steel.
Not erasing my emotions, but hardening them even colder.
I was belatedly thankful to Kali for mentioning the regulation… I had completely managed my emotions.
And now, that felt like a relief.
'I almost….'
I had almost ended my duel with Gerard meaninglessly.
I had almost let that trash, who had hurt David so much, off too easily.
That wouldn't do…
Just as David had suffered, that trash needed to pay a price.
"A spear isn't bad. Even if it's considered an unfortunate trait, being only Common, the spear itself is a good weapon."
"Indeed…"
"But what can you do? It's Common. Shouldn't something Common act like something Common, with certain limitations?"
Watching the trash openly swagger, an involuntary scoff escaped me.
'Something Common acting like something Common…'
Gerard's own trait was merely Rare. Not even Unique.
Even Leonhardt, who possessed a Legendary trait, didn't underestimate me like that, yet this guy with a mere Rare trait dared to mock and belittle me…
For someone who looked down on spear-wielding and tried to impose limitations because of its Common rank, his own trait wasn't even that high.
Yet, the sincere feeling of him looking down on me, treating me as inferior, paradoxically made me feel a touch of gratitude towards this trash.
I could clearly see him as trash. That way, I wouldn't feel even a shred of guilt for what I was about to do.
A genuine laugh escaped me.
"…Laughing? What's so funny right now?"
"Oh, nothing, I'm just quite looking forward to our duel…"
I didn't want to outwardly express the deep-seated emotions I had suppressed.
Just as that trash had conducted such a duel against David, I would simply make him pay the price.
For that, I needed to properly convey that I wasn't acting emotionally.
I needed to appear rational in this duel, and whatever I did to this trash, it had to seem like I was in a serious state of mind.
"Duel start."
As Kali's voice rang out, I didn't quickly leap forward and thrust my spear.
Instead, I activated mana throughout my entire body.
A faint blue light imbued my arms, legs, and even my eyes, covering my entire form.
Feeling my senses instantly expand, I slowly took Gerard into my sight.
Gerard, just as he had faced David, calmly held his ground and watched me.
"You going to come at me like David did?"
As he openly provoked me, an involuntary laugh escaped me again.
'Truly…'
He seemed purely innocent in an entirely different sense.
Malice. Could someone possess such unadulterated malice and try to trample an opponent?
Unconsciously, I recalled the moment David first leaped forward.
The humiliation David suffered because he couldn't reach his goal at the end of that leap—I wanted to show that trash the exact reverse of that movement.
—!
At the same time as the thought, I reenacted David's action.
I powerfully pushed off the ground, leaping rapidly towards Gerard.
The only difference between David and me was the spear I held, and nothing else.
As our eyes met, Gerard's hand subtly moved, and a fierce gust of wind swirled.
—!
Amidst my hair wildly fluttering in the strong wind, I hesitated for a moment, just as David had… then quickly leaped again.
And then, I anticipated the sudden wind pressure that would follow.
—!
I instantly felt the wind, like a strong force pressing down on my body suspended in the air, enveloping me.
Still, it didn't matter.
My spear wouldn't move freely in the strong wind. But even so, it felt truly sufficient.
*Whoosh!*
As my hand, gripping the spear, rotated furiously, tearing through the strong wind that rushed towards me and creating another gust, the intensity of the wind restricting me significantly weakened.
"What the hell…."
Unlike David, who had been greatly pushed back by Gerard's surprised voice, I managed to reach a considerably close distance to Gerard.
And without hesitation, I swung the shaft of my spear.
—!
As a huge gust of wind instantly generated in the direction of the spear shaft, trying to suppress the power contained within it, I couldn't help but smile.
*Bang!*
Despite the wind, the spear continued its path.
Though the force of my spear swing was weakened by the strong wind, my spear still directly struck Gerard's side.
"Ugh!"
Watching Gerard tumble miserably on the ground from the direct hit of the spear shaft, I unconsciously tightened my grip on the spear, then relaxed it.
Striking the guy who had toyed with David so thoroughly left an oddly refreshing feeling.
And at the same time, not yet.
Not yet. This was far from enough.
This was just a mere strike. The damage would be nothing more than a light bruise.
As Gerard, who had rolled on the ground, quickly recovered, I felt a sense of anticipation.
"You trash, how dare you…!"
Gerard cursed harshly and, without even gathering himself, leaped from the ground again.
I changed my grip on the spear, holding the shaft wider.
Not with the blade. I would strike that trash with the shaft. My spear's blade would never be aimed at this trash in this duel.
Again, a massive gust of wind surged towards me, and as I met it, I began to understand.
"…"
For David, who hadn't properly awakened his trait…
How great a wall must Gerard's wind have felt?
The intensity of the wind would have felt different for me, who could endure it and push forward, and for David, who couldn't.
Yet… David didn't lose his will.
He had tried to recover his body and painstakingly participate in the duel until he lost consciousness.
…That made me realize again.
Why Kali hadn't tried to stop the duel with Gerard. How emotionally I had been viewing it.
Perhaps I hadn't been able to see reality clearly because my friend was being hurt.
How strong David's will had been, to try and stand against this trash.
*Shhhk….*
My hand, swinging the spear, naturally shifted, not resisting the wind.
Instead, as if riding the wind, I rotated the spear even more intensely, flowing with the strong gusts.
*Thump.*
*Thump.*
The distance narrowed with each passing moment.
And watching Gerard's face gradually harden, my resolve didn't waver in the slightest.
The intense desire to avenge David remained.
To toy with an opposing student even when one could easily win the duel was clearly a malicious mindset.
Just as Gerard, that trash, had done.
'I'll pay him back in kind.'
I wasn't a 'good person' like Leonhardt.
Therefore, right now, I felt no hesitation in paying back what my friend had suffered, exactly as it was given.
*Whoosh!*
Watching the spear shaft powerfully advance, tearing through the wind, I had no intention of ending this duel easily.