Chapter 290

Chapter 290

All the Round of 32 matches for the first-year students had concluded, and it was time for the Round of 16 to begin. A total of eight matches were scheduled to take place.

Naturally, Reinhart’s match was the first match of the Round of 16.

“Reinhart! Go for it!” Olivia screamed excitedly.

The announcer’s voice boomed across the stadium.

—The Round of 16 matches will be conducted in a best-of-three format.

The announcer also added that the quarterfinals, which would conclude this group stage, would follow a best-of-five format.

In the Round of 32, Reinhart had made eye contact with those who had come to support him in the audience, but this time, he did not look their way at all.

He could have glanced at them at least once, Harriet thought.

“... Wait a minute.” Olivia’s excited expression suddenly turned serious. “Something’s off.”

Ellen sensed it as well. Both Ellen and Olivia had noticed something that the other spectators hadn’t.

“What? What’s wrong?” Harriet asked.

“Something seems... off about Reinhart’s condition,” Olivia muttered, her expression growing more serious.

“Something’s wrong.”

Both Ellen and Olivia instinctively knew that something was wrong with Reinhart.

Meanwhile, on the other end of their row where the B-Class students were gathered, Sabioleen Tana was watching Reinhart with her arms crossed.

She, just like Olivia and Ellen, knew that there was an issue with Reinhart.

Of course, she could recognize the issue more precisely than the other two.

“Reinhart isn’t accustomed to Mana Reinforcement,” Sabioleen Tana said.

Charlotte was somewhat aware of this as well.

“I suppose that’s true...?”

“When you use an unfamiliar power, you inevitably reach your limits.”

“Limits?”

Reinhart had always succeeded in drawing out new powers in crisis situations. This time, though, the circumstances were different.

This wasn’t a real battle; it was a tournament in which he had to fight several rounds in succession.

The more he tapped into this unfamiliar power of Mana Reinforcement, the more his condition would decline.

“Reinhart is vulnerable to having to fight consecutive battles.”

If he used Mana Reinforcement, his condition would worsen with each fight.

Not all the Royal Class students there were cheering for Reinhart.

However, many of them were somewhat confident in Reinhart’s victory.

Ludwig and Scarlett were also formidable, but Reinhart could use Mana Reinforcement.

Now, though, they realized that Mana Reinforcement could ultimately become a hindrance for him.

Charlotte looked at Reinhart, who had a tense expression, with concern.

“Does this mean he has to win... without using Mana Reinforcement?”

“That would be the best approach... but even if he manages to do so today, what about tomorrow?”

Unfamiliar power always came with a price.

—And now, the first match of the Round of 16 in the Gradias Temple Tournament will begin!

With that, the first match of the Round of 16 began.

***

My Round of 16 match ended in a 2-0 victory in my favor.

I was not in danger at all, although trying not to use Mana Reinforcement in the first bout led to a few risky situations. My opponent was from one of the general classes, but he wasn’t someone to be underestimated. Ultimately, I prepared myself to use Mana Reinforcement again in the second bout.

Just because someone didn’t get into the Orbis Class did not mean they couldn’t surpass the Orbis Class students after a year of rigorous training.

I tried to rely solely on Self-Deception, but it did not work out as well as I had hoped.

Thankfully, I managed to win the best-of-three match by winning the second bout without using Mana Reinforcement.

When I returned to the waiting room, Ludwig and Scarlett were there to greet me.

The waiting room had its own internal viewing area, and they had been watching my match from there.

“That was impressive, Reinhart.”

“Good job.”

“... Thanks.”

Mana Reinforcement... I was acutely aware that it was a double-edged sword.

I had only used it twice before. Although I had succeeded in using it for the third time, I had to pay the price for wielding an unfamiliar power.

I didn’t pass out, but my entire body felt sluggish, like a waterlogged sponge. My condition had deteriorated, and I felt heavy.

Moreover, I didn’t have enough time to fully recover before the next match.

Even if I received healing from the priests on standby, it wouldn’t remedy my condition.

The Round of 16 wasn’t a problem.

But the upcoming Group A finals, the quarterfinals, would be a best-of-five match, and the semifinals the following day would also be a best-of-five.

I wasn’t confident I could easily defeat opponents like Gladen Amorel, Ludwig, or Scarlett without using Mana Reinforcement.

If I did not recover by the next day, or if I exhausted myself too much in the semifinals... I might not win the championship.

I had mistakenly believed that I was fully able to utilize Mana Reinforcement.

I sat quietly in the VIP viewing area in the participants’ waiting room, watching the next match of the Round of 16.

Clang!

The guy who looked like a bear or a human tank... He was aggressively pushing his opponent back.

For someone who had grown up watching billionaires in full-body armor flying around and shooting laser beams from their hands, this was a rather dull spectacle.

This world was a cultural wasteland.

For something to be truly spectacular, it would need to be a battle between superhumans, but the skill on display at this first-year tournament was not at that level.

The Open Tournament would probably have more dazzling spectacles.

Finally, it was the last duel of the day.

I watched Richard Haulman standing at the far end of the arena. He was glaring at me with eyes that seemed ready to devour me.

Why did I keep taunting him so much?

Honestly, part of it was just for fun, but it was also to see that expression on his face.

If an opponent got easily worked up and lost their composure, there was no reason not to exploit that.

Winning without using Mana Reinforcement would be best.

If I could create an overwhelming difference in physical strength with Mana Reinforcement, I wouldn’t have to worry, but for now, I intended not to use it.

Therefore, I had to understand the differences between myself and my opponent first, then approach the fight accordingly.

My weapon was a longsword.

Although a longsword was technically a two-handed sword, it was still possible to wield it with one hand. Thus, I could switch between wielding it with one hand or both hands.

The blade was about one meter in length.

However, Richard Haulman, who stood nearly two meters tall, wielded a weapon commonly known as a Zweihander, a two-handed greatsword.

The blade length of his two-handed greatsword was about 1.8 meters—almost as tall as I was.

His weapon surpassed mine in both reach and weight.

Due to its excessive length, maintaining balance while thrusting was difficult, so his weapon had a ricasso, an extended grip above the guard, allowing him to wield it more effectively. Additionally, it had a second guard of parrying hooks to protect the ricasso.

The whole sword was constructed so that it looked like a regular sword with an extra handle and guard added to it.

Given his physical build, it seemed likely that he could still handle that greatsword one-handed, at least to some extent.

In terms of reach and height, he had the advantage.

Reach and physical size alone could determine the initial advantages and disadvantages in a fight, and I had to acknowledge that. It had been the same with Lilka Aaron, who had to rely on kicks in her duel with me due to her small stature.

In the most basic terms, my opponent had the advantage.

But when had I ever fought a battle in which I was favored?

Besides, a monstrous guy wielding a monstrous sword was undoubtedly weaker than any of the opponents I had faced before.

This was just the quarterfinals.

I had grown stronger, but I was far from perfect, and I had come to accept that.

The penalty was that I had to fight with one of my most important powers sealed away.

If I were to use Mana Reinforcement, it would be in the semifinals or finals. This was not the time.

—And now, the Gradias Temple Tournament quarterfinals will begin! The match between Reinhart of the Royal Class and Richard Haulman of the Irason Class!

—Waaaaaah!

—Go Reinhart!

That was Olivia’s voice, her shout echoing faintly across the arena.

And then...

—Reinhart!

A voice I never expected to hear joined in.

Even though the match had already started, I couldn’t help but turn my head in surprise.

Ellen was cupping her hands around her mouth and shouting.

—Win it!

I never expected Ellen to do that, and neither did Harriet and Riana, who were sitting next to her.

It was just one shout. But everyone who knew Ellen understood that this was an incredibly rare sight. That was why they were all so surprised. Olivia, too, was staring at Ellen in astonishment.

Ellen was doing something she never did, something no one expected.

Ellen was shouting for me.

—If you don’t win, I’m gonna be angry at you!

I was the most surprised of all.

I wasn’t using Self-Deception or anything, nor had my condition suddenly improved.

Yet, strangely, the trembling in my hands stopped.

Up till this moment, I had relied on Self-Deception for everything.

Believing in myself had brought about change, and it had been the source of my growth. The power I had gained was all thanks to that belief.

But this time, it wasn’t coming from that.

This time, it wasn’t my supernatural power, Revise, some other anomaly, or Mana Reinforcement.

—“Win it!”

All my trembling had stopped with that one cry from Ellen.

Such things shouldn’t have made any difference, and a single cheer shouldn’t have been able to restore the physical imbalance caused by the instability of my mana circuits.

So why? Why did I feel like everything was okay?

“Huuaaah!”

Why was this happening?

The human tank was charging at me with a terrifying momentum.

“...”

The thought of losing didn’t even cross my mind.