CH 8

Chapter 8 – Attack

The Sixty Seconds of Blood was a tradition for welcoming newcomers into Gawain’s unit of Royal Magicians, and it was rather popular among those who worked in the palace.

Not only the Royal Magicians, but the Royal Knights, and people of the court came to watch after hearing rumors of it.

However, the crowd of spectators on this day was larger than usual.

Many people wanted to see with their own eyes, how this freak would do, as she had broken through the wall.

And now, she was going to face Gawain Stark, a Magus-rank magician. So the amount of attention she received was enormous.

There were even spectators who were placing bets on the result.

Betting on how long a person would last was practically a part of the tradition at this point.

But this naturally spread throughout the palace, and now there were people who came mainly to place their bets.

Oliver Hampton was one such spectator.

‘If I were to enter, I would wager that she would be defeated in less than ten seconds. I understand why some would choose more than ten seconds, because of the hole, but I wouldn’t advise it. No one has done that in over two years, and the person who passed at the top this year only lasted nine seconds. While it is abnormal to have the power to break through the wall, the burden is too much for an unemployed woman with no accolades.’

Everyone seemed to be saying some variation of this before the fight.

But as he watched the crowd, Oliver gasped when he saw someone most unexpected.

Chris Sherlock, a Magus-rank magician who was also called the ‘Ice Magician.’

And there was also the captain of the Royal Knights Order, the ‘Holy Blade,’ Eric Rushford.

These two accompanied none other than the first prince of the realm, Michael Ardenfeld.

(I cannot believe it… Even His Highness…)

I suppose everyone really was thinking the same thing.

By now, most of the people there had noticed Prince Michael’s presence, and their eyes were fixed on his every move.

And so the atmosphere had changed into something very different from the ordinary welcoming ceremony.

Oliver could not help but feel pity for this newcomer called Noel.

Surely there was no need for her to be seen by so many people.

Even though this ceremony was referred to as an entrance exam, its true purpose was to take these newcomers, who were students of the academy and had been treated as geniuses, and break their noses.

And Gawain would not go easy on her.

These poor newcomers would have no choice but to take this one-sided beating, until they lay helplessly on the ground.

(While it seems that the more friendly members of the 3rd unit are encouraging her, losing in front of so many people is bound to hurt one’s pride. I just hope she doesn’t let it get to her too much…)

Oliver would not have been the only person thinking this.

In fact, most of the spectators were thinking the same.

And yet…

(What is this?)

Oliver could not believe what he was witnessing.

(Her movements changed… It’s like she is a different person…)

She must have used magic to accelerate her own time.

Her attacks and defenses were too fast to follow.

The collisions of magic were like explosions against his eardrum.

Oliver was a Jade-rank Royal Magician, and even he could not keep up with their movements.

But there were two things that he noticed.

The first was that while Gawain had trampled over numerous newcomers with his overwhelming strength, it was clearly now that he had been holding back.

And the newcomer in front of him was facing Gawain as he went all out, and she had not retreated a single step, and was meeting him blow for blow.

“Who the hell is this person…”

He couldn’t help but ask him.

Someone he would normally have never been able to talk to like this.

The sapphire blue eyes pierced through him, and he realized what he had done.

The heir of the great Waldstein house.

The first newcomer to survive the Sixty Seconds of Blood. The great genius who rose to Adamantite-rank in just three years.

Though younger than him, Luke Waldstein was his superior. Still, he answered as if nothing had happened.

“A real monster. The one person I was never able to beat during my years at the academy. But she can also be a complete fool, and was wasting away in the countryside, so I had to pick her up. Well, now that she will stand next to me, I expect this level from her, at the very least.”

The very least…

It really wasn’t something to say so casually…

He felt the inside of his mouth go dry.

It was still difficult to accept that what he was seeing was reality.

However, he did know one thing was true.

That he was witnessing something outrageous.

He even forgot to breathe as he watched.

Just like everyone else who was present.