Episode 21.7

Lecan was led to a building with a <Training Ground> sign put up at the entrance.

It's a big square-shaped building with a gallery on where the roofs are supposed to be, the town lord, knights and upper-class looking people are lined up there. Someone with a considerably large mana pool is among them.

The insides of the gallery are plastered with holey iron boards. Probably as a fall prevention and to protect the spectators from throwing weapons.

Following a knight who was guiding him, Lecan stood in the opposite direction of the town lord.

His duel opponent is already standing at the town lord's side.

He's about as tall as Lecan, surpassing Lecan in shoulder width and chest thickness. He's wearing a thick leather armor, with a shield on his left hand.

His right hand is holding a slim stick-like thing with a round orb-like thing attached to its tip. It must be a weapon.

As for Lecan, his right hand has <Sword of Agost>, his left hand <Shield of Wolkan> in gauntlet form, <Guardian Jewel of Zana> in his chest pocket, <Necklace of Intuador> around his neck, and <Dagger of Harut> hanging on his belt, he's also got a cloth bag filled with large magic stones. There's no mana stored in <Guardian Jewel of Zana>.

He bought the cloth bag for putting large magic stones at Chaney Company. It's made of a thin robust cloth that lets mana flow easily, Lecan can efficiently drain mana from large magic stones put in there. Even after they've been emptied of mana, large magic stones shouldn't be thrown away. It's a better idea to refill them with mana and reuse them. That's why Lecan came up with this style.

The two duelists stand face to face 20 steps apart.

(This guy's strong.)

Radiating out of Bargos's whole body is that of a quiet yet definite forces of extraordinary might.

Lecan's blood is boiling with a presentiment of a fierce fight.

"We will now begin a honorable duel between Knight Tomaj Douga's proxy, Adventurer Bargos versus Town of Vouka's Gold Rank Adventurer Lecan."

Tomaj's loud voice quieted down the buzzing.

"Knight Tomaj Douga shall claim everything adventurer Lecan currently has with him if his proxy wins. Adventurer Lecan shall claim everything Bargos has with him if he wins. In addition, Earl Golbul shall write a letter to Vouka town lord."

There are short pillar-like things in four corners of the gallery, a mage is standing by next to a pillar close by Tomaj.

"The duel shall begin the moment anti-magic barrier has been set up!"

The training ground fell dead silent, with nary a sound.

<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka.com >

"Set up the barrier!"

The mage recited their spells. Lecan couldn't hear what kind of spells they used.

A thin membrane-like thing emerged across the pillars before reaching the ground. It's a giant barrier covering the training ground whole. It must be an anti-magic barrier. Protecting the spectators from magic used under it.

"<Barrier (Ogdim)>!"

Bargos recited a spell, then a gigantic wall of light manifested from the shield he had on his left hand.

But it's not something that can be seen with naked eyes. Lecan sensed it with <Mana Detection>. In other word, it's a barrier formed from mana. Lecan got a good guess as to what kind of property it might have.

In order to prove his guess, Lecan raised <Sword of Agost> overhead and rushed toward Bargos.

Bargos calmly waited for Lecan's charge. He's not even trying to adjust his shield's position.

A loud low-pitched sound of explosion resounded, Lecan's sword got flicked back in the air.

Lecan swiftly jumped backward.

It really is an anti-physical barrier.

He's seen something with similar effects in his former world.

Most are maintained with mana, they block physical attacks as long as the mana supply persists.

They're awfully handy, but they're not without flaws. There's a limit to the strength of an impact the barrier can bear, it will break if it takes on an attack that surpass that limit. Additionally, the user will eventually runs out of mana, bringing the barrier down if it keeps getting hit by physical attacks.

Bargos pointed the orb on the wand he held in his right hand toward Lecan, and recited a spell.

"<Grand Thunderbolt (Dingwin)>!"

"<Deploy (Parshot)>!"

In that instance, Lecan recited a spell returning <Shield of Wolkan> to its original form, using it to block the white flash unleashed from Bargos's wand.

BOOM, the sound of an explosion resounded. It's a magic attack.

<Shield of Wolkan> has the effects of anti-magic and anti-physical defense. However, <Necklace of Intuador> would have blocked the attack if it were pure magic.

"No way, could that be."

"<Shield of Wolkan>?"

As he heard spectators at the gallery muttering those lines, Lecan recited another spell.

"<Reduction (Pilua)>!"

He returned <Shield of Wolkan> to gauntlet state.

Then he pointed his left palm at Bargos.

"<Flame Spear (Bandroux)>!"

A light of offensive red mana, rather than a flame, shot out going for Bargo's head.

However, as expected of a veteran warrior. He turned his head to the right, dodging the attack.

The offensive mana curved toward that head, blowing away Bargos's head.

The body of headless Bargos slowly fell backward.

Lecan was dumbfounded at this result.

He tried to put curving <Flame Spear>, which he had been practicing, to test in a real combat, and managed to pull it off, but he never would have thought it would hit for real. He believed a warrior on Bargos's level would be able to dodge or block it.

Bargos had prepared an anti-physical barrier but it seemed he had none for magical attacks.

Lecan never intended to kill him. He was planning to end the fight without reaping his life.

However, the dead can't come back to life.

Lecan put his right palm on his chest, slightly bowed his head and offered a silent prayer.

The fight ended all too quickly but the man was a formidable foe.

His reaction speed, the calmness he carried throughout the fight were marks of a veteran warrior.

Besides, he was a man who managed to bear the brunt of that phantasmal-moving Greatarm Ogre's assaults by relying merely on that simple anti-physical barrier. Lecan could have very well lost had the guy been able to perform to his fullest.

The cause of Bargos's defeat is only one.

It's because he believed Lecan only had physical attacks to rely on.

However, there's no adventurers who would be dead set on how an opponent they're facing for the first time is going to fight.

Unless someone gave them the orders.

Tomaj Douga most likely gave such orders. Like, 'Lecan can only attack physically, prepare accordingly'. His equipment too must have been slanted wholly on anti-physical stuff.

(What a fool.)

Come to think of it, Tomaj Douga witnessed Lecan's battle once. It was when he fought Wrinkle Man. He chose to only fight with a hammer at that time because he sensed somebody drawing near. Tomaj must have falsely assumed that Lecan specialized in physical attacks after watching that fight.

He said that the earl house loaned Bargos his equipment. That shield and wand must be ones such equipment. They were the basis for the earl and his sons' confidence in Bargos prevailing against Lecan.

True enough, if Lecan could only attack physically, that shield would prove difficult to deal with.

Had Lecan not possessed a way to defend against magical attacks, that wand would be a dire threat.

However, even if all those were true, Lecan still had tricks up his sleeve to fight back.

"Remove the barrier!"

The mage removed the barrier as ordered by Tomaj.

Just as the barrier vanished, an offensive spell was cast behind Lecan, hitting his back.