"Arden, huh?"
Invictus jumped from the bleachers, using wind magic to soften his landing to reach the field.
Fixing his hair while he did.
An arrogantly handsome bastard.
"Don’t keep me waiting, Arden."
An A-Rank Son of a Marquis, I swear I could hear faint shouting of women in the background the moment he landed.
He seemed confident he could beat me despite our rank difference; it was likely he thought the crystal’s damage had missed his S-Rank capabilities, ranking him lower than he deserved.
But I couldn’t just let him brag and embarrass me like that.
I was the son of a baron, and in this academy, this is the only chance I get to humble stuck-up brats like that without punishment.
And more importantly... Evelina was watching from the sidelines.
[Dark Step]
"I don’t plan to."
I appear on my own side of the field, adjusting the tightness of my dagger launcher.
"The hell is that—"
Invictus reacted to my new gear, but was abruptly cut by Raven without any hesitation.
"Enough."
Raven tapped his foot once, encasing the field in a rectangular barrier made of translucent darkness, his hair floating slightly from the action, magic flowing through it.
"Fight!"
He barked the moment his barrier fully solidified.
[Wind Crescent]
Invictus moved first, unleashing a gust of wind that was as sharp as a blade.
[Bottomless Daggers (S)]
CLICK!
"You don’t even deserve to get hit by a spell."
I snicker, firing my launcher, the projectile being enhanced by both the machine and my magic at the same time.
FWOOSH!
The dagger and wind crescent met in the middle of the field, and just as expected, the dagger completely penetrated it without much problem.
[Wind Manipulation]
Invictus redirected the dagger before it reached him, flinging it harmlessly to the side as he tried to close the distance.
FWOOSH!
He unleashed a powerful gust of wind aimed to temporarily blind me.
It seemed like in an actual fight, he wasn’t as boastful, completely silent, taking it seriously, even if he thought his opponent was below him.
That was one characteristic of him that was admirable at least...
But he sure as hell would need a tremendous amount of luck if he thinks simple wind would make my aim worse.
CLICK-FWOOSH!
SHLICK!
The dagger managed to graze his left cheek.
"Ah...!"
He grunted, feeling weaker the moment the dagger touched his body.
It wasn’t even my intention; the bottomless daggers just had a passive effect of lowering someone’s strength the moment they wounded them.
"What...? I can’t move my legs..."
And for a mere A-Rank to get hit by one of Beelzebub’s treasures.
That effect was tremendous.
THUD!
A simple knee-kick to the face while he was distracted from the weakening effect.
CRACK!
"Don’t get distracted!"
I yelled out, feeling a bone crack from the impact as he was sent flying.
CRASH!
He landed with as much grace as a fish out of water, rolling on the grassy terrain as he was covered in mud and limbs in various states of disarray.
Just a simple kick, yet he was out cold instantly.
"Victory to Cael Arden!"
Raven declared with more enthusiasm than a professor should have from seeing a student just nearly cripple another with a kick.
"...Isn’t he supposed to be a mage?"
Another professor who was spectating could barely believe it. How the hell could someone adept at using dark magic also be so physically gifted?
"Doesn’t matter."
Raven laughed, removing his barrier and gesturing for me to return to my seat.
The professor looked at Raven with a frown, not sure if he was being pragmatic or if he just loved to see spoiled students get beaten up.
Either way, he couldn’t really argue with him; he was of a higher rank.
"Never seen that bastard smile so much before..." The professor muttered to himself, writing down the results in a book as he nodded to Raven to announce the next matchup.