“Just lightly. Lightly. Don’t use all your strength.”
“I know that. What do you think I am?”
In the training ground where a gentle breeze flows, I faced Arcelia, who tilted her head in confusion.
I held my sword while Arcelia stood in a natural stance.
“What do you think I am… well, a bad-—whoa!?”
A rock stake suddenly shot up from the ground, and I instinctively dodged it just in time.
“Seriously. If it were anyone else, they’d be dead.”
The tip of the rock stake was sharp, and I felt a killing intent from it. There was no doubt that Arcelia had activated magic to try to kill me.
That said, since I didn’t sense any real killing intent from her, this was likely just an act of violence because she believed I would dodge.
It was a rather unpleasant kind of trust.
“Isn’t it easy for you to dodge something like this? Please don’t be surprised at every little thing.”
“Hah.”
The warm climate I experienced when I enrolled had changed, and now the air was cold and clear. In the mornings and at night, my breath came out white. If I didn’t warm up before swinging my sword, I felt like I would get injured.
“Tomorrow’s the practical exam, and you… make sure not to destroy the labyrinth, okay?”
“I’ll do my best.”
“I’m counting on you…”
Yes. As I pointed out, time had passed since my enrollment, and today was the day before the practical exam.
In other words, quite a bit of time had passed since that incident… the squabble between Arcelia and me.
By the way, since then, we hadn’t had any real fights. We had a few arguments, but they were resolved on the same day.
Perhaps it was the result of both Arcelia and me being corrected in a proper direction.
“Well then, shall we begin?”
“Sure.”
With the light banter over, Arcelia and I focused. What we were about to do was a light sparring session, just a way to prepare for tomorrow’s practical exam.
The air became tense.
Even though it was just a light spar, if we let our guard down, we could be taken out in an instant. There was even the possibility of getting injured or dying.
I was good at holding back, so there was no danger in that regard, but Arcelia was different.
She would do it. While she wouldn’t actually kill me, there was more than enough chance that she could gut me.
Even if I ended up gravely injured, the fact that Arcelia could heal me made the situation even more unsettling.
“—”
A slight tremor in the ground.
Judging that a type of rock magic was being set up, I leaped back dramatically.
In an instant.
Numerous rock stakes shot up from the ground.
As always, the construction speed was impressive.
I let out a bitter smile while firmly stepping into the ground.
I lowered my stance and approached, slicing through the wind.
In the blink of an eye, I moved right beside Arcelia.
With my planted foot gouging into the ground, I unleashed a concentrated thrust.
However, it was blocked by the barrier Arcelia had set up.
A high-pitched sound echoed.
“Now the barriers are in the realm of instinct, huh?”
“Yeah. You’ve gotten even faster.”
We exchanged a word each, and after I slashed my sword upwards against Arcelia’s defense, we took a step back.
Fire and rock. Occasionally, lightning.
Arcelia’s specialty elemental magic rained down on me.
The density was thick, and each attack was precisely controlled, which was annoying.
If I didn’t execute the optimal action in an instant, I would be completely out of luck.
It was truly hell.
The usual hell.
Without a moment to catch my breath, I dodged and deflected with my sword.
My natural physical abilities and skills had improved significantly over the past year, and this defensive capability was made possible by enhancing it with fighting spirit.
Sparring with Arcelia was a continuous test of endurance. I had to find the rare openings and overwhelm her in close combat. That was my usual strategy, but…
It was indeed true. Recently, Arcelia had become increasingly cautious of my approach.
In situations where I could have closed in just a little while ago, now I found myself stopped in my tracks by her magic.
It was truly troublesome. It was beyond troublesome. I couldn’t help but wonder what more she wanted to eliminate all openings.
Well, it was the best thing for me.
An overwhelming talent and unceasing effort. The combination of these two allowed her to grow without any ceiling in sight.
People would look on in awe at that sight.
On the other hand, I found it beautiful.
I’ve said a lot, but the truth is quite simple: I just found it fun to have a worthy rival.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Just that, and that alone.
“—Hah!”
Sparks flew between the flourishing rocks and my sword.
In the tense back-and-forth where we couldn’t even catch our breath, our senses sharpened, and the air became electrified.
This moment was more enjoyable than anything else.
However, since this spar was merely a form of adjustment, I couldn’t go all out.
“—That’s enough for now.”
“…I agree.”
Once I shattered the rock spear Arcelia had launched, we both halted our actions.
I sheathed my sword, moved the collar of my clothes, and cooled down my pleasantly heated body.
“Well then, for tomorrow’s confirmation… it’s okay to plan to reach the bottom floor, right?”
“Of course. Otherwise, it would be boring, wouldn’t it? For you.”
“Well, yeah.”
The lord of the labyrinth sitting at the deepest level was a Rank 4 monster. If we were the same as we were last year, considering the fatigue on the way, it would be a tough opponent.
However, we had significantly improved our strength through a year of training and adventurer activities. While Rank 3 monsters were still out of our reach, we could relatively easily defeat Rank 6 and 7, and even Rank 5 and 4 would result in minimal exhaustion.
That was because I served as the vanguard, allowing Arcelia, as the rear guard, to focus on her attacks. I drew the enemy’s attention while attacking, and during that gap, Arcelia would use magic to take them out all at once.
This was a strategy possible only because I was a swordsman who didn’t need support and Arcelia had top-tier talent among mages.
“However, we must not neglect our preparations. No matter how strong we are, if we let our guard down, we can die in an instant in the labyrinth.”
When I was an adventurer in my previous life, many adventurers stronger than I were lost in the labyrinth.
The reasons for their deaths were trivial, such as being caught off guard due to overconfidence or stepping on traps, leading to being surrounded by numerous monsters despite the danger being low.
Accidental deaths due to unforeseen circumstances were unavoidable, but deaths that could have been prevented due to negligence were just too uncool. Plus, it was a waste.
In my previous life, I was cautious about this, which allowed me to continue being an adventurer for a long time, even as an average person.
“Since we have the chance to face off against Rank 4 monsters, I can’t die over something trivial.”
As a lesson from my previous life, I vowed not to have regrets in this life.
So I wouldn’t neglect my preparations.
“That said, most of the preparations are already done. Now we just need to check that there are no flaws in our equipment.”
“And let’s take another look at the labyrinth’s monsters and layout.”
“Yeah.”
I had gone into the labyrinth many times in my previous life, but this was my first time in this life. Hence, I was feeling a little excited as it had been so long since I had been there.
Even though obtaining credits at the academy was important, both Arcelia and I had only one thing on our minds: to conquer the labyrinth and kill a Rank 4 monster.
