Chapter 305: Specially Invited Coach!
Kyomon Academy's training camp was held in a large, comprehensive training facility built in the mountains.
At the center of the training ground, inside a battle ring designed specifically for mock battles, crimson flames and golden lightning shone against each other.
Stella was locked in an intense battle with Touka, swinging Laevateinn as flames coiled around its blade.
Although Stella was an A-rank knight and, in theory, should be stronger than Touka, who was B-rank, the actual battle was the complete opposite.
Touka, who had joined the training camp as an assistant, was completely pressuring Stella.
In terms of raw strength, Stella was indeed superior, but strength was not the only factor that decided the outcome of a battle.
There was a huge gap in "experience" between the two of them.
Of course, the situation had also turned out this way because neither Stella nor Touka was using their trump cards.
After all, this was only regular sparring. Winning or losing a single round was not important.
Touka was not using any techniques that placed too much strain on her body, and Stella had no intention of exposing the new power she had only just begun to grasp.
Luke shifted his gaze away from the two girls and looked toward another battle ring nearby.
There were three people there: Kurogane Ikki, Hagure Kikyo, and Hagure Botan.
Between the Hagure sisters, the older sister, Kikyo, was a representative contestant, while the younger sister, Botan, had joined this training camp as an assistant.
Speaking of which, it was also something of a coincidence. Since Luke had taken away Ikki's original opponent, the one Ikki faced in his final selection match had been Hagure Botan.
If not for that, Botan might have become a representative just like her older sister.
The Hagure sisters were definitely not weak. Or rather, among contestants who could maintain a nineteen or twenty-match winning streak, there was no such thing as a weakling.
That being said, compared to Ikki, the sisters were still quite a bit behind.
Even in a two-on-one, Ikki held an absolute advantage… no, at this point, it could not even be called an advantage anymore. It was basically Ikki giving the Hagure sisters one-sided guidance.
After watching for a moment, Luke lost interest.
His gaze shifted again, sweeping past the Student Council members who were also training in the distance, then over Shizuku, who was studying something alone in a corner.
In the end, Luke's eyes returned to the sky once more.
"Ah… this is really…"
"My, it's rare to hear you sigh."
Just as Luke sighed, Arisuin walked over from behind him.
He was carrying several bottles of sports drinks. After placing them one by one on the table in front of Luke, Arisuin straightened his slightly wrinkled clothes and sat down beside him.
"Alice, you really don't have the slightest interest in the Seven Star Sword Art Festival, do you?"
"Did you only come to this training camp because you wanted to stay with your friends?"
Luke glanced at the drinks in front of him, counted them, then took one without holding back.
There were already three empty bottles beside his feet.
"I told you from the very beginning, didn't I?"
"I only became a representative because I got lucky."
"Heh. Sure, I totally believe that nonsense."
Luke took a sip of his drink and glanced at Arisuin, who was putting on an act.
"You can fool Ikki, Stella, and Shizuku with that, but if you think you can fool me, you're dreaming."
"You think I can't tell? Your true strength should be A-rank, right?"
"…Come to think of it, the two of us haven't fought before. We're both free right now, so how about a mock battle?"
Arisuin had tensed up a little when Luke exposed his true strength, but after hearing the invitation to fight, he could only shake his head helplessly.
"Please spare me."
"I have no interest in fighting a monster who took only two days to crush all the coaches. I'd like to live a little longer, thank you."
Just as Arisuin said, this was the reason Luke had been "ostracized."
This training ground had been borrowed from Kyomon Academy, while the coaches were provided by Hagun Academy in return.
They were active professional Mage-Knights whom Hagun Academy had hired at great expense.
That level of teaching staff could already be considered excellent.
And yet…
Before even a full day had passed, those poor professional Mage-Knight coaches had been beaten black and blue by Luke during sparring.
The gap was simply too large.
There was even one coach who could not accept being "bullied" by a student and fainted on the spot.
In the end, after Luke mercilessly defeated the second batch of professional Mage-Knight coaches that Kyomon Academy urgently transferred over on the second day, he was "ostracized."
More accurately, the coaches unanimously decided to exclude Luke from the training.
There was nothing they could do.
After all, how were they supposed to teach a student who could crush the coaches themselves?
Even during free sparring outside the scheduled lessons, Luke could not find a suitable opponent.
After the massive growth he gained from his battle with Edelweiss, even Ikki and Stella were somewhat lacking as opponents for him now.
More importantly, take Stella for example. If she seriously fought Luke, this training ground they had finally managed to borrow probably would not survive until the second day.
On top of that, Arisuin knew that Luke had fought Twin-Wings before.
Fight someone like that?
What kind of joke was that? Arisuin had no hobby of self-abuse.
"Tch. I'm actually pretty curious about your fighting style…"
Hearing the regret in Luke's voice, Arisuin immediately felt a chill run down his back.
To prevent Luke from forcing him into a fight, Arisuin quickly shifted the topic away from himself and told Luke a piece of news.
"Just take a proper rest today."
"The fact that you crushed every instructor has made Kyomon Academy, which provided the venue and even gathered extra coaches, lose quite a bit of face."
"I heard that Kyomon's higher-ups contacted Hagun, and the two academies invited a special coach together. The purpose is specifically to 'deal with' a problem student like you."
"You won't be bored for too long."
"Oh? If that's true, then things might actually get interesting."
It had to be said that Arisuin understood Luke's personality quite accurately.
The new topic he threw out successfully drew Luke's attention right away.
"I wonder who's coming."
"I heard Director Kurono isn't at school because she has to handle matters related to the Seven Star Sword Art Festival."
"And Nene-sensei has an official KOK match to attend."
"The two of them should both be in Osaka right now, so they probably won't be able to rush back anytime soon."
"Those coaches I defeated before were apparently official competitors at the national league level in this country at the very least, right? I think a few of them were even professional KOK Mage-Knights."
"In that case, a coach specially invited because they're stronger than those people is worth looking forward to."
"By the way, Alice, do you know who's coming?"
…
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