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chapter 124
The training hall that Elliott had rented belonged to a small nearby guild.
Perhaps because the guild was small, the training hall wasn’t particularly impressive either.
“Still, it seems sufficient for Elliott and Lee Dumin to spar.”
If veteran Awakened had been fighting here, the hall would have been inadequate, but for these kids, it would be enough.
Elliott and Lee Dumin were abnormally strong for their age, but compared to Awakened as a whole, they weren’t particularly powerful.
“(Please use it carefully.)”
A middle-aged woman, apparently the guild master, said this in English and left the training hall. She looked unexpectedly pleased, as if earning some extra income had lifted her spirits.
Of course, usually one rents a training hall from a local gym run by the municipality rather than a small guild’s hall. However, renting from the municipality involved more complicated procedures and took more time, so Elliott had opted for this guild’s hall.
“(Hey, what weapon do you use?)”
“(Me? I don’t use a weapon.)”
When Elliott asked Lee Dumin, he replied like that. Elliott looked a bit surprised at the answer.
“(What? So you fight with your fists like Geonwoo?)”
“(…Like Geonwoo? Geonwoo uses a sword.)”
It seemed Elliott was recalling how I had fought him and Elena bare-handed in England. When I threw away my sword mid-practice and began using my fists, I had swiftly overpowered both Elliott and Elena. From Elliott’s perspective, my specialty must have seemed to be hand-to-hand combat rather than swordsmanship.
Even though I had held back a little while fighting.
“Especially the part where I grabbed the blade bare-handed must have left a shocking impression on Elliott.”
So it wasn’t strange for Elliott to make that assumption. Lee Dumin, unaware of this, initially found Elliott’s comment odd, but then…
“(…Well, it’s Geonwoo.)”
Lee Dumin seemed to convince himself and got into stance. Both hands were raised to face level, a typical boxing pose. It was suitable for punching but not for kicking.
“He plans to start with punches only and test the waters.”
I noticed this and looked across at Elliott. He had assumed a stance ideal for thrusting with a training sword.
“He was good before, but now his stance is even more stable than back then.”
After all, Elliott’s mentor was Arthur, who had excellent analytical skills. If Elliott’s stance had any flaws, Arthur would have corrected them each time.
“(I’ll act as referee.)”
Once the two got into position, Elliott’s attendant, looking experienced, stood between them and said so. Elliott apparently had a habit of requesting sparring matches with peers even before meeting me. And he had continued this behavior afterward.
“(Ready…)”
As the referee spoke, tension filled both their bodies.
“(Begin…!)”
The first to move was Elliott. From the way he assumed a thrusting stance, it was clear he intended to strike first.
Bang!
However, Elliott’s attack failed. Lee Dumin had moved his hand to push Elliott’s sword aside—parrying.
“(What….)”
Elliott expected his attack might be blocked but had not anticipated such a clean deflection. Startled, he failed to retrieve his sword in time, leaving an opening that Lee Dumin didn’t miss.
“(Take this!)”
Bang!
Lee Dumin struck Elliott’s chest firmly with his palm, specifically using the thick lower part of his palm—a palm strike.
“Normally, this targets the chin, but he hit the chest… he must have judged that the distance made hitting the chin difficult.”
A wise choice. If Lee Dumin had aimed for the chin, Elliott would have either leaned back to avoid it or absorbed some of the impact. But striking the upper body made evasion difficult, so Elliott took the hit full force.
“(Ugh….)”
Elliott stepped back, gritting his teeth in pain. It must have hurt—a palm strike is already stronger than an ordinary punch, but Lee Dumin’s ability made it even worse.
“Lee Dumin is a superhuman Awakened.”
A superhuman Awakened—a rare type whose entire body is exceptionally resilient. His palm strike was much harder than normal attacks.
“His parrying Elliott’s sword was likely because he trusted he wouldn’t get seriously hurt even if he failed.”
Without risk, he moved boldly. While he still tried to defend or dodge when possible, he knew his power wasn’t invincible.
Taking advantage of Elliott’s moment of pain, Lee Dumin pressed forward to strike again—but this time, Elliott didn’t just take it.
Bang!
Elliott wasn’t an Aura user. While he wielded a sword, he was also a mage. Recognizing he couldn’t block Lee Dumin’s attack with just the sword, he cast a shield spell.
“Pretty fast casting… faster than many active battle mages.”
Battle mages generally move to the front lines rather than staying behind and relying on protective formations. They prioritize casting speed over raw spell power, and Elliott’s shield was fast enough to show this.
Lee Dumin was pushed back by the shield but wasn’t hurt—only unbalanced. Elliott seized the moment to strike again.
“(Thunderbolt!)”
Crash!
Lightning struck from the ceiling, hitting Lee Dumin directly. The ceiling explanation is a quirk of the Thunderbolt spell—it can’t appear in mid-air if a roof exists, so it originates from the ceiling instead. The exact mechanics are a mystery, as magic forces the phenomenon to occur.
“…Thunderbolt here…”
Thunderbolt, being a lightning spell, is among the fastest basic magic but not particularly deadly. Even civilians can survive it over 90% of the time. Elliott used it not to kill but because it was fast enough that Lee Dumin likely couldn’t dodge in time.
“…Wow…!”
“Fast!”
“Amazing!”
The rapid exchange of attacks and counters—Lee Dumin’s palm strikes, Elliott’s shield, and then Thunderbolt—excited the kids watching.
“…Usually spectators stay quiet during sparring…”
But these middle schoolers were thrilled.
“(…Elliott is being pushed back…?)”
Elliott’s sister, Elena, was shocked to see him struggling. Stronger than Elliott, she expected him to dominate, yet Lee Dumin was dealing more damage.
“(…Not bad.)”
“(…That stung.)”
Elliott seemed surprised at Lee Dumin’s skill. Lee Dumin readjusted his stance—lower and more agile, ready to move in any direction to evade magic.
“(…I can’t just take losses.)”
Elliott muttered and immediately cast another spell.
“(Flash!)”
Lee Dumin, prepared to evade any attack, was caught off guard. Flash emits light rather than damage.
“This time, Dumin got hit.”
Seeing the intense light directly blinded him temporarily. Without sound, his hearing remained, but vision was enough.
“(Take this!)”
While veteran Awakened could function even with temporary sensory loss, Lee Dumin could not. He backed up slightly, realizing Elliott was approaching, but it wasn’t enough.
Arthur’s Zedel, Chapter 4: Hack
Elliott fully demonstrated Arthur-taught sword techniques. Unlike the previous parried strikes, his sword repeatedly contacted Lee Dumin. Being a training sword, it didn’t cut the skin.
“Even with a real sword, as a superhuman Awakened, Dumin would likely withstand it unless the sword was magically enhanced.”
For a while, Lee Dumin could only endure Elliott’s attacks. But not for long.
Thwack!
“(Huh?)”
Superhuman Lee Dumin’s recovery was fast, including vision. Once recovered, he grabbed Elliott’s sword and…
“(That hurts, you bastard…!)”
Bam!
“(Gah?!)”
He pulled Elliott in and struck Elliott’s face with his knee.
