Chapter 29 Translator: XZY Chapter 29: Elente (4) ***
If the star-rank and proficiency of magic were to measure the completeness of a skill, then the total amount of mana itself could be compared to basic physical stamina.
No matter how many excellent spells one learned, if the amount of mana to manifest them was insufficient, their meaning would often fade.
If asked to list the reasons why a commoner could not keep up with a noble's magical achievements, one could list over a dozen, but one reason that occupied a large proportion was the innate amount of mana.
Mages born of noble bloodlines often had an extraordinary amount of innate mana from birth.
Needless to say, this was even more true for the mages of the Duplein, Beltus, and Belmeade families, who were the nobles among nobles.
—Fwoooosh!
The 1-Star magic that Elente unleashed with both hands was at a level that even mages at the entry-level of 2-Star would be astonished by its scale alone.
The difference between 1-Star and 2-Star was no different from the difference between an arrow and a cannonball. Inherently, there was a large gap in power between the two, but if a massive volume covered it, the meaning could sometimes change.
Elente's magic was like that.
The wall of flames erupting from her surroundings was covering everything as if it would swallow the whole world. Who in the world could deny it? She was the most talented mage in the Belmeade family.
However, her opponent was Aiseline Eleanor Duplein.
Her father was a 5-Star mage, a rarity even on this continent. He was a man who knew how to use such a massive scale of magic without batting an eye.
Anyone would be overwhelmed the first time they saw magic of that level, but Aiseline had seen it a few times. She did not panic much and raised her mana to manifest the 1-Star magic 'Shockwave.'
—Fwoosh!
There was no need to completely neutralize that huge spell. It was enough to protect her own body.
It was not that Aiseline did not know how to use such splendid magic. It was just that in a magic duel like this where dignity was important, there were many other important things to take care of besides the scale of the magic.
Elente would not be unaware of that fact either, but Elente pressed Aiseline by implementing an all-out magical assault as if it didn't matter.
Elente's sincerity was contained in the heavy mana of each and every blow. It was the will to win itself.
'Her mana capacity is amazing...! But if she doesn't concentrate it on one point, she'll run out quickly...!'
As a drop of sweat trickled down due to the rising heat, she resolved that she must not let her guard down.
'The larger the scale of the magic, the more room there is to exploit...! I see an opening...!'
Lady Aiseline saw Lady Elente, who was emitting mana from beyond the flames. A mana arrow, loaded in an instant, curved and bent, then directly hit Lady Elente's body.
'It hit!'
It was a moment of delight.
The body of Lady Elente, which seemed to be emitting mana, instantly turned into mana and disappeared.
In an instant, Lady Aiseline corrected her stance. It was the Confusion-type magic, 'Lesser Illusion.'
Illusion magic using mana was the most representative skill of Confusion-type magic, but 1-Star level illusion magic could only create a low-level illusion that could not move properly like that and could barely imitate the original.
It was a magic that was nothing more and nothing less than a target, which would turn into mana and disappear the moment it was hit.
However, in this extreme situation where all sides were covered in the flames of magic, it was not easy to distinguish those illusions.
By the time she came to her senses, the image of Elente was visible everywhere. If one looked closely, the dissonance of each one could be noticed, but Elente had no intention of giving her that leisure.
Now she seemed to know the reason why she had launched such a wide-range attack, even at the cost of wasting mana. It was to continuously press Aiseline and throw her into confusion.
If she launched a surprise attack in this confusion, she could not be sure if even Aiseline could respond properly.
'The maturity of the skill itself has increased a lot, and the way she uses it has become more diverse...!'
Above all, it was splendid and dazzling.
It was a scale that was perfect for this magic duel between prestigious families, where many people came to watch. The act of showing off one's magic skills and raising the family's name was a sight that could be seen quite often in such a magic duel environment.
Four or five of Elente's mana arrows flew in and struck from outside her field of vision.
Aiseline parried all the arrows with quick reflexes, but it was a sharp blow that could have decided the match if she had been a little late.
Deception and inducing confusion. It was a move that could have looked petty if done wrong, but she was hiding that cowardice with diverse and splendid application. In the first place, it was close to using tricks to win against the opponent, but she had buried all such intentions with the beauty that came from the feast of flames blooming like flowers.
In fact, the people in the audience were all captivated by the beautifully blooming flames.
If Aiseline was a pure white lily, Elente was a splendidly blooming rose.
As if to prove that fact, she was revealing her identity through magic.
The sight of her walking leisurely through the flames and dusting off her skirt looked like a peacock preening its feathers. Her flowing red hair had also become a part of the flames.
Aiseline easily saw through the splendid appearance of Elente, that the influence of that white-haired mercenary had subtly seeped in.
She was in a state where she had absorbed the improvisation and agility peculiar to mercenaries, without losing her own splendor.
—'Please do not let your guard down too much.'
Lady Aiseline completely understood the advice that Derek had given her.
It was different from when he had taught Diella. The mages who had received the boy's teachings often came with a move that would catch the opponent off guard in some way.
Considering that one of the boy's specialty fields was Confusion-type magic in the first place, it was clear that it would have influenced Elente's strategy as well.
'If it comes to this, I have no choice but to push with firepower as well...!'
Aiseline did not particularly like the grand magic that was spewed out as if to show off, but that did not mean she did not know how to do it.
If she could not suppress the opponent by parrying each and every blow as if swinging a sword, then she had no choice but to pour down a rain of arrows from her side as well.
And so, Aiseline drew out her mana and manifested dozens of large ice spears.
—Ooh!
—To draw out magic of that level with almost no chanting!
Sounds of admiration flowed from the audience.
The speed of Aiseline's magic manifestation was at a level that even mature mages would nod their heads at.
However, the ice spears that Aiseline had manifested were all shattered before they could even set their direction and fly.
—Kwa-ga-gak! Ka-ga-ga-ga-gak!
By the time he came to his senses, the mana arrows that had flown from Lady Elente's body had already accurately struck all the ice spears and exploded.
Elente had already experienced this from Derek as well.
Derek would preemptively respond and neutralize the magic before the opponent could even set the direction of their mana's application.
That delicate mana utilization was not something that could be imitated just by seeing it once, but she had seen it dozens, hundreds of times while wandering the labyrinth with him.
Mana had a direction.
If you read the opponent's intention, you could also see the direction that the magic would go.
She felt as if the theories that Derek had repeated until his mouth was dry were now embodied in her and were beginning to be used in a real battle.
Elente was feeling a strange sense of elation.
The advice that the boy had casually thrown around in daily life was all beginning to have meaning in a real battle.
She realized that even the trivial words that would not have been strange to let go in one ear and out the other were, in fact, all practical advice based on experience.
When it came to real combat, it was hard for a master like Derek to exist.
Both Aiseline and Elente realized that fact.
Aiseline's eyes widened for a moment, then she regained her composure in an instant.
Aiseline, who had been implicitly thinking that Elente's magic level was far below her own, instantly realized that all those thoughts were a manifestation of arrogance.
Her self-reflection was fast, and even her adaptation was fast.
Lady Aiseline re-established all the preconditions from the beginning and decided to go all out.
—Fwoooooooooosh!
The feeling of fighting on equal terms with Aiseline.
To Elente, who was overwhelmed with emotion and her heart was full, the cold blade of reality flew in.
Aiseline's mana, who had decided to go all out, began to cover the dueling ground.
After that, everything happened in an instant.
First, the feast of flames that had filled the dueling ground all disappeared. As if it had never been there from the beginning.
And the mana arrows that Elente had been gathering were also all crushed by the huge mana and disappeared. This too, as if it had never existed from the beginning.
Lady Elente's eyes widened.
The girl, who was like the flower of the Duplein family standing on the other side of the platform, did not make any great movements, nor did she show any emotional appearance.
She just closed her eyes and opened them, took a deep breath, and held the hem of her skirt that was flapping in the gust of swirling mana, and put strength in her gaze.
At that moment, the world was dyed with silence.
It was not even a star-rank magic. She had crushed Elente's magic with only the amount of rising mana.
No technical factors were involved in that process.
Like an adult crushing a child who was using a splendid technique with the strength of their arm... the girl had neutralized all the spells that Elente had used with only the pure amount of mana.
A mage who had almost reached 2-Star, and a mage who had just become mature in 1-Star.
The time had come to realize how big of a gap that seemingly trivial difference actually was.
This whole process was not to crush Elente's magic. It was just a preparation process to manifest the next magic.
Her appearance was still elegant. As if the expression of a pure white lily was a perfect fit, her hand that had swept the beautifully flowing end of her dress soon clenched into a tight fist.
At that moment, Elente's vision was blinded by a great light.
—Kwaaaaaang!
The sound of the explosion followed a little late.
<><><>
—'Derek, to be honest, I don't know if I can win against Lady Aiseline.'
—'I've been assuring you continuously, haven't I? You will win.'
—'Can you really be that sure?'
—'Yes. Actually... to be precise...'
Elente recalled the words the boy had said to her among the corpses of the magical beasts.
—'You will win.'
The boy's declaration that he would definitely make Elente win against Aiseline.
She had spent a difficult time believing only in that, but now, she had no choice but to doubt those words once again.
Aiseline's eyes had become serious, and the magic that had spewed out from her hand in an instant was the 2-Star magic 'Fireball.'
A huge explosion that would not have been strange even if it had covered the entire platform spread out, and screams of admiration and surprise erupted from the audience.
The girl had just used a 2-Star magic.
It was a sight that even the observers from the magic society could not help but have their eyes wide open at.
'Is... this... even possible...?'
Lady Elente was somehow able to protect her body from the aftermath of the explosion.
The reason she was able to protect her protective magic even while a 2-Star magic flew in was for only one reason. It was because she was lucky.
Lady Aiseline was still inexperienced in the use of 2-Star magic. She had drawn out all her strength and tried to raise the accuracy as much as possible, but the fireball she had thrown had completely missed the range, so Lady Elente only had to take the aftermath.
If it had been a little more accurate, the match would have been decided at this point.
"Hah... hah...."
Lady Aiseline was panting as if she were tired.
Looking at the situation alone, it was an expression as if Aiseline was cornered, but this attack range and influence were already proving everything. It was that the deception tactics like before would not work on Lady Aiseline.
Her every blow neutralized all cheap tricks in one go.
In front of this overwhelming difference in capability, what kind of technique could have meaning?
However, Lady Elente held her breath for a moment, then soon quickly distanced herself and gathered her mana again.
Although the audience was filled with expressions of admiration at the sight of her using 2-Star magic, Lady Elente did not pay attention to such things.
With only the single-minded determination to win, she once again raised her mana and tried to deceive her by mobilizing all sorts of magic as she had done before.
If she could not win by fighting capability against capability, she was determined to corner her by mobilizing all the means she had.
And so, after exchanging a few blows, when the second fireball flew in, a gasp erupted from among the spectators again.
It was still a tremendous firepower, but it was not easy to completely suppress Elente with an inexperienced 2-Star magic. She was able to evade it somehow... but it seemed certain that the match would be decided if it even grazed her.
But... even in front of that overwhelming difference in capability, Elente could faintly feel a chance of victory.
The face of Lady Aiseline, seen while exchanging magic several times. The leisure in her expression had disappeared a lot.
Through the cold sweat that was gradually flowing, she could tell that she was gradually being cornered.
Only then did it seem as if all of Derek's strategies were understood at once.
She could never beat Aiseline with just pure capability.
However, in Derek's calculations, Aiseline's upright character was also included.
If she acknowledged her opponent and began to fight them as a worthy rival, the upright Aiseline would use all the power she could muster.
It was obvious that she would present all the cards she had and try to have an honest, wholehearted match. Aiseline was that kind of person.
The problem was that her 2-Star magic was still in an inexperienced transitional period.
A 2-Star magic that could not be perfectly controlled was a monster that devoured mana. If she became proficient, the mana efficiency would also improve, but the 2-Star spells that were unleashed in an inexperienced state would quickly deplete her mana.
Given her personality, it was obvious that she would unleash 2-Star magic if she had decided to go all out. It was because in a duel, going all out was a sign of respect and courtesy for the opponent.
If so, the efficiency of the mana that the two of them handled would be different.
It seemed as if the reason why Derek had induced her to drag the duel into a war of attrition was also fitting together like a puzzle at once.
He had seen through the fact that Aiseline would soon master even 2-Star magic.
If you endured, you would win. There was no need to face the opponent's attitude fairly and squarely.
So what if it was a little cowardly and petty? So what if you took advantage of the opponent's upright character?
Aiseline, who was using 2-Star magic that she could not even handle properly in the name of respect for her opponent, would soon show an opening.
Or, both of them would run out of mana, and the whole situation would turn into a mental strength contest where the one who could scrape out a little more mana from the bottom would win.
And she had been doing mental strength training to her heart's content for the past few weeks. Elente's mental strength, which she had built up while somehow enduring Derek's whipping, was already on a different level from the flowers in the greenhouse.
Could it be that the magic master, who had not even had his coming-of-age ceremony yet, had considered even this composition?
Elente took a big step back and clicked her tongue.
Anyway, she understood his thoughts well. If she went on like this, it was not an impossible task to win the duel itself, regardless of 2-Star magic or anything else.
—Fwoosh! Kaang!
—Fwoosh!
And so, after exchanging about ten more blows, the duel was running towards its climax.
"Hah... hah...."
A state where both of them had completely run out of mana. It was a time when there was still quite a lot of time left until the bell announcing a draw would ring.
Elente, who had been blooming her mana splendidly from the start, also began to have her legs tremble. Although she had fired off magic until her mana was depleted several times, she never got used to this fatigue.
On the other hand, Aiseline's fingertips were even trembling. It seemed she had no experience of using magic so excessively. It was inevitable. There was no master who would work a young lady of the Duplein family so hard.
That gap would decide the whole match.
In a situation that had reached the very, very limit, Elente scraped together her depleted mana. She seemed to be full of intention to manifest a new magic again, gritting her teeth.
"Ugh, heok... heok..."
Aiseline also tried to scrape out her mana while panting heavily, but it was not an easy task for her, who was not used to this kind of situation.
She was trying to raise her mana even a little, but seeing the amount of mana shimmering in Elente's hand, she had a premonition.
She would try to block it with all her might, but the match would be decided in the next blow... or the one after that.
Nevertheless, Lady Aiseline gritted her teeth. Although defeat seemed to be looming before her eyes, she still tried to resist with all her might.
'...I did it! I cornered her! I... I cornered Aiseline...!'
Even in her hazy vision, Elente clearly felt the thrill that was welling up.
The fact that she had an advantage over Aiseline, the pleasure that everything had gone according to Derek's plan, seemed to dominate her head.
In that situation where both of them were exhausted, it was the moment when Elente was transforming her mana to deliver the finishing blow.
"..."
The moment she saw Aiseline's will-filled gaze, Elente felt as if cold water had been poured on her head.
If she just continued the war of attrition like this, the scales of victory would surely tip towards Elente. She could declare victory to Lady Aiseline, saying that although her magic level was high, she lacked the experience in proper mana distribution, and then smile and leave the stage. A future where she could achieve such a triumphant victory was not hard to imagine.
How long had she dreamed of such a triumphant victory?
However, a silence hung in the audience.
Far away in the spectator seats, she met the eyes of Derek, who was leaning against the wall and watching the duel.
Lady Aiseline, who was completely exhausted, and Lady Elente, who could still use more power if she gritted her teeth.
The two chillingly red eyes of the boy, who was watching quietly with an indifferent expression, as if he had expected this situation from the beginning.
The moment those two eyes came and pierced Elente, Elente felt as if a knife had been stabbed in her heart.
'...'
A momentary lull.
The splendidly exchanged magic had stopped, and both young ladies were catching their panting breaths.
Elente had no choice but to quietly ask herself. Why had she tried so hard to beat Aiseline? The answer was clear.
It was because she was so pathetic for being the only one to envy and be jealous of the idol that everyone admired. It was because she wanted to beat Lady Aiseline in something, anything, to escape from this inferiority complex.
However, now, she could not be sure. Even if she won against Lady Aiseline by dragging out a war of attrition like this, would she really be able to not be jealous of that person who was like a living idol?
Could she escape from this disgusting sense of inferiority that had been eating away at her heart for many years?
Even in the situation where she was cornered and panting, Lady Aiseline looked noble and radiant. Her two eyes were also shining brilliantly, as if she would overcome any trial with ease.
There was even a certain sublimity in her appearance.
—'Then let's win.'
'...'
Even while declaring 'then let's win,' Derek did not show a relieved attitude.
Only then did Elente understand everything. She had thought she had completely understood all of Derek's intentions, but even that was arrogance.
What Derek had wanted to teach Elente was not how to win this duel, nor how to corner Aiseline, nor how to escape from that disgusting inferiority complex.
Only when it came to this situation did Elente finally realize. She was fighting a battle she could not win.
Although she was considered the pillar of the Belmeade family and was learning all sorts of practical skills, her mind was still just that of a girl of that age.
There were things that one could never realize with an inexperienced life experience. That was, that humans were creatures who lived with jealousy until they died.
This envy and jealousy that boiled in her chest, which she had so despised and tried to control, was like a part of her body that could not be removed no matter what she did. It was because she was human.
As people living in a difficult world often did, there was no other answer but for everyone to live with it in their own way.
If you struggled with all your might to remove that shabby emotion, and punched the air several times, anyone would naturally realize it.
That was why Derek had helped Elente so wholeheartedly.
Although they were of a similar age, there were times when that boy named Derek felt as if he had lived for decades longer than Elente.
That boy had already known.
The very attempt to control that heart was a battle that Elente could not win.
Once her thoughts reached that point, Elente was finally able to turn her gaze to her surroundings.
In the audience, there were spectators watching the duel, holding their breath. The place where their admiring gazes were directed was all towards Lady Aiseline. It was inevitable.
She captivated everyone with her dignified appearance, embraced everyone with her kind character, and had even manifested 2-Star magic in this place. Anyone could see that the star of this place was her.
Right under a large light source, there was always a cool shade. Elente, who had lived her whole life in that shade, felt as if she had finally realized something she had not realized in her entire life.
"..."
And so, Elente, who had closed and opened her eyes in the silence... finally smiled a dignified smile. It was a very aristocratic and beautiful smile.
Lady Aiseline, who saw that, momentarily had her eyes wide open.
"As expected, I can't match you, Lady Aiseline. My mana is completely depleted."
Aiseline, who was watching her opponent from closer than anyone else, was well aware.
If she scraped the very bottom of the bottom, she could still fight a little more. If the war of attrition continued like this, the one who would be defeated was her.
Nevertheless, Lady Elente lifted the hem of her skirt with a smile full of more dignity than ever before and gave a polite bow.
"It is my defeat. It was a good duel."
—Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!!!
Soon, a thunderous standing ovation poured out, enough to wash away the venue.
The venue was filled with respect for Lady Aiseline.
<><><>
"Lady Aiseline! It's truly amazing! 2-Star magic!"
"The rumor that the Duplein family is shining just with Lord Valerian alone is widespread, but even Lady Aiseline...! The Grand Duke will be very happy when he hears the news!"
"I am Belia of the Redon family! I have always admired you...! This duel... was so moving...!"
As soon as the duel ended, numerous people, along with Aiseline's followers, flocked to her, praising her.
Through the flocking crowd, she could see the figure of Elente tidying her skirt in a corner of the dueling ground far away.
Before Aiseline could catch her breath and call out to her, she quickly led her skirt and went down from the platform with a flick.
"Ele—!"
Before Aiseline could call out to Elente, she disappeared beyond the door to the corridor with a flick. Watching her back from a distance, she was bowing her head and rubbing her eyes.
Derek, who was leaning against the wall in a corner of the spectator seats, quietly got up and quickly followed her.
Even so, Derek turned back and gave a polite bow towards Lady Aiseline.
Mixed in with the numerous crowd that was praising her, Aiseline could only watch the scene blankly. No matter what anyone said, the current Derek was on Elente's side.
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