Chapter 29
Garrett had a strong sense of pride in his skills.
While his family might not be prestigious, the swordsmanship of the Iskaea family was undoubtedly powerful and had its own charm.
It emphasized offense, particularly speed, rather than defense.
There had been very few opponents at the Academy who could withstand his sword in consecutive strikes.
Of course, the professors were excluded from that count.
It was the same last year during the dungeon exploration.
The countless monsters that appeared in the dungeon had all fallen helplessly before his sword.
So, he expected things to go similarly this year.
“Verte!”
“What… What is this?”
Clang—
“Ugh.”
The moment he blocked his opponent’s strike, his hand gripping the sword tingled.
Just how much power was packed into that single swing?
“Verte! Hurry!”
“Almost… done!”
Even the usually unshakable and calm Verte’s voice quivered slightly.
When Garrett sensed the surging mana from Verte’s direction, he pushed his opponent’s sword away and leaped back.
Whoom—Blaze!
At the same time, blue flames erupted from Verte’s hand and shot forward.
The signature blue flames of the Bernstein family were always a sight to behold.
“Phew.”
“An undead? Are you kidding?!”
Garrett wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, while Verte exploded with intense anger.
The thing blocking their path just moments ago was a Death Knight.
A dangerous undead entity, something one wouldn’t typically see in a dungeon.
And it wasn’t just any low-level undead, but a Death Knight, a high-tier undead.
It was the first time either of them had encountered an undead in person.
The last recorded sighting of an undead on the continent had been several decades ago.
“Something feels off.”
“There were no crazy monsters like this last year. The toughest thing was a giant spider.”
“…Hold on.”
“This is truly insane…!”
Screech—
As the chilling sound echoed from ahead, Garrett and Verte instinctively looked forward.
From the area where the heat of the blue flames still lingered, a sound emerged.
Screech—Thud!
“What… What is this… really…?”
Verte’s voice trembled much more than before.
Despite being engulfed in the flames, the Death Knight was still moving.
And it appeared completely unscathed.
“Verte, get behind me!”
“Argh!”
Clang—
The sharp clash of Garrett’s sword against the Death Knight’s heavy blade sent a metallic echo throughout the air.
Gulp
Garrett felt genuine danger.
An undead that could withstand those flames.
This was truly dangerous.
The Death Knight that had been doused in blue flames looked far too unscathed.
“This… is a school tournament…?”
Garrett shut his eyes tightly, then once again tried to force the Death Knight back with a powerful push.
But the Death Knight barely budged.
“Damn.”
Garrett’s voice also quivered slightly.
***
***
“Grrrr…”
“What is that…?”
“It looks like a monster!”
The figure that finally came into the light was a revolting creature.
A gray-skinned being that lumbered forward slowly.
Seeing it move on two legs confirmed it was some kind of living entity.
“Cynthia, stay behind me!”
Shing—
Elaine raised her sword, aiming at the slow-moving creature that was definitely advancing toward them.
Cynthia quickly moved behind Elaine and drew her bow.
“That… That can’t possibly be…”
“Emily, do you know what it is?”
“No… It can’t be…!”
Emily seemed to know something.
With a voice that trembled more than usual, she stretched her hand toward Elaine and silently stared at the approaching monster.
“Ho-how… can it be an undead?”
“Undead?”
“I-it looks like a ghoul… but how could that be here…?”
While Cynthia and I listened to Emily’s words, Elaine acted first.
Whoosh—Slash!
Alongside the sound of Elaine’s sword slicing through the air, a distinct tearing noise echoed.
Elaine’s sword had sliced cleanly across the ghoul’s chest.
I expected some kind of blood or equivalent substance to splatter, but nothing appeared.
“Grrrr…”
“What the…?!”
Even with a clear wound on its chest from Elaine’s strike, the ghoul kept moving.
Without displaying any pain, the ghoul simply continued its steady approach, causing Elaine to take a step back in shock.
“You… you have to cut off its head to kill it!”
“The head…?”
At Emily’s words, Elaine quickly adjusted her stance.
Without hesitation, she charged at the ghoul, swinging her sword horizontally.
Slash—Thud!
Once again, the sound of slicing reverberated through the cave.
The ghoul’s head rolled off and tumbled to my feet.
“Ugh, disgusting.”
As the ghoul’s head, barely recognizable, rolled toward me, I reflexively kicked it away.
It was a sight that perfectly embodied the word “revolting.”
Thud.
“It’s… down.”
The ghoul’s body, now headless, collapsed forward without resistance.
This time, it seemed genuinely dead.
“We… we have to run!”
“Huh? Emily?”
“Hurry!”
The brief moment of silence following the ghoul’s fall was broken as Emily urgently tugged at my clothes.
Her face was filled with fear.
A deep, overwhelming fear.
“Hey, come on, we just killed it. Our amazing swordswoman Elaine took it down in one blow.”
I tried to lighten the mood since Emily seemed genuinely terrified, but it didn’t work.
She clutched my sleeve even tighter.
Even through my sleeve, I could feel her trembling.
“What’s up with her?”
It was just an undead, and now it was a lifeless corpse. There was no reason for her to be this scared.
“G-ghouls never travel alone!”
“What?”
Elaine and Cynthia, who had been inspecting the fallen ghoul’s body, instantly turned their attention to Emily at her desperate words.
“But how do you know so much about undead…?”
Grrrr…
Before I could smoothly change the topic and ask Emily a question, the same sound echoed from the front.
Just moments ago, there had been nothing there.
Cynthia checked, and so did I.
“What is going on?”
Grrrr…
The sound was identical to that of the ghoul Elaine had just decapitated.
Or rather, it was multiple sounds.
Step—Step—
“Aah!”
Shing!
“Everyone, get behind me!”
“Kyaa! We have to run, quickly! Or else, like last time… Kyaaah!”
“Hey, Emily!”
It was total chaos.
Emerging from the darkness, at least ten ghouls were in sight.
And there were likely even more lurking further back.
As the ghouls appeared from the shadows, Emily collapsed, screaming, right where she stood.
Cynthia, too, jumped back in shock.
Elaine was the calmest among us.
Steadily, she drew her sword and pointed it at the ghouls.
‘But I’ve never seen undead before either.’
Over the past few years, I’ve visited countless famous dungeons.
I’ve ventured into unexplored dungeons and ones that had been cleared but still held something valuable.
I’ve encountered numerous monsters within them, but this was my first encounter with undead.
Didn’t Addy once say that undead creatures hadn’t been seen since the “Exile of the Dark Mages”?
“We have… to escape… quickly… Auntie…”
“Emily, hey, Emily?”
“Mr. Ryu! I think we need to retreat!”
Whoosh—Slash!
It was absolute chaos.
Out of nowhere, the ghouls had appeared, with Emily clutching my leg, muttering something incomprehensible in fear.
And amidst it all, I heard Elaine slicing through another ghoul’s neck.
“Cynthia, take care of her!”
“O-okay.”
“And back up a bit. Seriously, what’s going on?”
Cynthia slung her bow back over her shoulder and began to soothe Emily.
She carefully pulled Emily off my leg and guided her to safety.
Slash—Slice!
Meanwhile, Elaine was steadily slashing through the ghouls’ necks without hesitation.
‘I really want to recruit her.’
Elaine, with her glistening blonde hair, effortlessly decapitated the ghouls one by one.
It wasn’t just her clean technique; she was incredibly composed.
Emily was in shock, Cynthia didn’t know what to do, but Elaine was out there, taking down ghouls.
She didn’t act like a student at all.
While the ghouls were numerous, they didn’t seem particularly strong individually.
However, there were just too many of them.
Elaine maintained her composure and positioned herself carefully, avoiding getting surrounded, but the ghouls were steadily closing in.
“… Mr. Ryu!”
‘Damn, I was planning to be a mage.’
There was no other option.
If only I knew a single area-of-effect spell, I’d have used it without hesitation.
But all I could do now was cast a simple, condensed mana attack.
Not exactly the most useful spell in this situation.
“Is this supposed to be an exam?”
“Is now really the time to say that?!”
Slash!
Elaine shouted as she beheaded a ghoul that was practically in front of her.
She was moments away from being surrounded.
‘Guess I have no choice.’
Clench!
I opened a space with my right hand and gripped the sword’s hilt.
‘Is this really the standard for academy students?’
With all the life-threatening moments in this obstacle race, it seemed far more dangerous than I had anticipated for an academy exam.
I’d hoped not to have to wield a sword during this test, but this was already the second time.
Last time, I only gripped the hilt, but this time I’d actually have to draw it.
Shing!
For the first time in ages, I drew my sword.
—
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