[The Outcome of the Match]
After a year, Raul and I were having another match.
We had fought alongside each other, overcoming many difficulties, but it had been a long time since we had crossed swords, so it felt kind of refreshing.
Our first clash ended in a draw.
I wonder how the next one would turn out.
In a life-and-death battle, I’d be more cautious, but this was just an exam. If we continued to stare at each other like this, the time limit would be over before we knew it and if we were to fight too passively, we might not get a passing grade, either. One of us had to take make a move, and soon.
“…In that case.”
I channeled my mana into my Holy Sword.
Seeing my action as a signal, Raul also infused his Demon Sword with mana.
The Holy Sword and the Demon Sword clashed once again, this time with the power of their radiating mana.
The spectators became wary at the sight.
But Raul and I were all smiles.
It made it feel like we were rivals.
Suddenly, the original story flashed through my mind.
The original Barrett saw Raul’s potential as a threat to him, the wielder of the Holy Sword. So, he chose to ‘crush’ Raul.
As a result, Holy Knight Klaus took Raul as his disciple, and later, together with Tayte, he defeated the original Barrett.
–Had the original Barrett acknowledged Raul’s talents and treated him as a friend… the course of the original story would have been drastically different.
But since he did the opposite, Barrett ended up reaping what he had sown.
“Lord Barrett—here I come!”
“Yeah, give me your best! Raul!”
But things were different in this world.
In the original story, Barrett and Raul were enemies—but here we were best friends and rivals, growing stronger by helping and fighting each other.
“Haa!”
“Hmmgh!”
I blocked Raul’s strike head-on.
Earlier, I had simply deflected his slash, but this time we collided head-on—the resulting shockwave was incomparable.
“Uooooooooooo!”
“Haaaaaaaaaaaa!”
Swords locked against each other, neither of us were willing to back down until finally, our mana exploded, and both Raul and I got blown away.
“Uwa!”
“Gh!”
This clash also ended in a draw.
I quickly got back on my feet and regained my fighting stance. Raul was equally swift, already poised to resume the fight by the time I stood up.
““………””
Words were no longer necessary between us.
Staring at each other in the eye, we grinned and closed the distance between us again.
Then, we were about to clash again, when…
“Stop!!!”
A loud voice echoed through the training grounds.
The one who stopped us was—Principal Abigail.
She went on to declare loudly, “I declare the match between Barrett Albers and Raul Lorenz is now over!”
“Huh?! B-but we still have time—”
“If you continue to destroy the training grounds, we won’t be able to hold the next match.”
Principal Abigail interrupted when I tried to protest, and I turned my attention to my surroundings.
Everywhere I looked, there were traces of destruction from my clashes with Raul. It was evident that if we continued, the training grounds would be filled with holes, and the exam wouldn’t be able to proceed.
“Haa… too bad, but seems like we have to end it here.”
“Seems like it.”
Raul also had a disappointed look on his face.
…Yeah.
That’s settled.
I’d try to ask the principal to allow Raul and me to have a full rematch during the practical exam in winter.
And so, the practical exam before the summer break came to an end.
[The Outcome of the Match]
After a year, Raul and I were having another match.
We had fought alongside each other, overcoming many difficulties, but it had been a long time since we had crossed swords, so it felt kind of refreshing.
Our first clash ended in a draw.
I wonder how the next one would turn out.
In a life-and-death battle, I’d be more cautious, but this was just an exam. If we continued to stare at each other like this, the time limit would be over before we knew it and if we were to fight too passively, we might not get a passing grade, either. One of us had to take make a move, and soon.
“…In that case.”
I channeled my mana into my Holy Sword.
Seeing my action as a signal, Raul also infused his Demon Sword with mana.
The Holy Sword and the Demon Sword clashed once again, this time with the power of their radiating mana.
The spectators became wary at the sight.
But Raul and I were all smiles.
It made it feel like we were rivals.
Suddenly, the original story flashed through my mind.
The original Barrett saw Raul’s potential as a threat to him, the wielder of the Holy Sword. So, he chose to ‘crush’ Raul.
As a result, Holy Knight Klaus took Raul as his disciple, and later, together with Tayte, he defeated the original Barrett.
–Had the original Barrett acknowledged Raul’s talents and treated him as a friend… the course of the original story would have been drastically different.
But since he did the opposite, Barrett ended up reaping what he had sown.
“Lord Barrett—here I come!”
“Yeah, give me your best! Raul!”
But things were different in this world.
In the original story, Barrett and Raul were enemies—but here we were best friends and rivals, growing stronger by helping and fighting each other.
“Haa!”
“Hmmgh!”
I blocked Raul’s strike head-on.
Earlier, I had simply deflected his slash, but this time we collided head-on—the resulting shockwave was incomparable.
“Uooooooooooo!”
“Haaaaaaaaaaaa!”
Swords locked against each other, neither of us were willing to back down until finally, our mana exploded, and both Raul and I got blown away.
“Uwa!”
“Gh!”
This clash also ended in a draw.
I quickly got back on my feet and regained my fighting stance. Raul was equally swift, already poised to resume the fight by the time I stood up.
““………””
Words were no longer necessary between us.
Staring at each other in the eye, we grinned and closed the distance between us again.
Then, we were about to clash again, when…
“Stop!!!”
A loud voice echoed through the training grounds.
The one who stopped us was—Principal Abigail.
She went on to declare loudly, “I declare the match between Barrett Albers and Raul Lorenz is now over!”
“Huh?! B-but we still have time—”
“If you continue to destroy the training grounds, we won’t be able to hold the next match.”
Principal Abigail interrupted when I tried to protest, and I turned my attention to my surroundings.
Everywhere I looked, there were traces of destruction from my clashes with Raul. It was evident that if we continued, the training grounds would be filled with holes, and the exam wouldn’t be able to proceed.
“Haa… too bad, but seems like we have to end it here.”
“Seems like it.”
Raul also had a disappointed look on his face.
…Yeah.
That’s settled.
I’d try to ask the principal to allow Raul and me to have a full rematch during the practical exam in winter.
And so, the practical exam before the summer break came to an end.
