Sword Saint's Reincarnation-Chapter 44Book 2 : Assignment (5)

Once Aelfric got healed by the white-robed students, he walked over to Rylan’s side. Rylan gave him a proud nod and patted him on the shoulder.

“You did well,” he said. “But you need to work on a few things.”

Aelfric smiled and grabbed his wrist. Rylan could tell his brother’s hands were shaking.

“Of course,” Aelfric replied. “I’m not you.”

Rylan shook his head.

“That goes even for me, too.”

Aelfric merely nodded and looked at the stands where the others were. Luna was leaning over the railing as if she were a second away from jumping into the arena herself, eyes filled with anxiety as she stared at Aelfric. The boy straightened his posture before looking at Rylan with a smug grin.

“I don’t think she’s faking it,” Aelfric stated in a low tone.

Rylan looked at Luna pensively and nodded.

“Yeah, I don’t think she is, either.”

Aelfric immediately smiled widely. He opened his mouth to reply, but his words died in his throat as he looked at Alice, who was standing next to Rylan. She was staring at Aelfric with a raised eyebrow.

“Aelfric Flameheart,” Alice started. “I’m sure you’d be willing to talk to Rylan about your sweetheart, but there are other people in line to complete this assignment. Go back to the stands, now.”

Aelfric flinched and hurriedly nodded twice. He then nodded at Rylan one last time and started running back to the stands. Rylan only looked at him silently, just like Alice. He glanced at his professor. She was rubbing her chin with a pensive expression.

“I don’t think she’s faking it either,” Alice suddenly said as she leaned toward Rylan. “I have a good eye for these things. I’d say he’s good to go.”

Rylan blinked before smiling.

“Now that I’ve gotten to know you a bit, I can tell you have a cute personality, professor.”

Alice looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

“Is that so?”

Rylan shrugged, making Alice narrow her eyes at him.

“Well, if it’s worth anything, you’ve exceeded my expectations, too,” she continued.

Rylan tilted his head, but his attention was grabbed by the talking in the stands. He looked at them to see several students crowding around Aelfric. Luna was standing particularly close to him. Rylan’s improved senses helped him clearly hear her complaints about “how Alice had even allowed this to happen” and “if he had been healed correctly.” He smiled and shook his head.

Meanwhile, the others who would also go through the assignment were looking at Aelfric with renewed respect. Only Hayden seemed to be rather unimpressed, but Rylan didn’t find that weird at all, given the boy’s history.

Alice followed his gaze and waited for the commotion to die down. At the same time, the white-robed students dragged the hobgoblin’s carcass out of the stone arena. Once enough students had elbowed the others and told them to shut up, she took a step forward.

“Aelfric Flameheart has completed his assignment well! Is there anyone who wants to go next?”

Rylan glanced at her.

“You could have at least said he completed it with mastery or something,” he whispered.

This time, it was her turn to shrug. With a sigh, Rylan looked back at the stands. Among the fourteen remaining students, only a single one hadn’t frozen and looked at the ground. Rylan smiled at Hayden as he stood up. Alice nodded appreciatively.

“Hayden of Lindsor, come forward!” she said loudly.

Rylan could almost feel the wave of anticipation building among the students in the further rows of the stands, the rest of their class. Even the other thirteen students who would fight had straightened their backs and clenched their jaws, their eyes almost shining. Jasmine was the only one whose expression hardened a bit. Rylan paid some attention to her. She had clenched her fists.

Hayden vaulted over the railing and landed inside the circular space, then started walking confidently to the stone arena. He smiled at Rylan. Rylan nodded at him.

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There’s no envy or resentment.

In Hayden’s eyes, he could see nothing but admiration and respect. It was something that went beyond his expectations, surpassing the realm of ‘unlikely.’ Rylan had defeated and injured him in front of countless people, but he couldn’t detect even an ounce of hostility in Hayden. It wasn’t the first time this thought had struck him. Repeatedly, Hayden had shown that he harbored no negative emotions toward him. Rylan smiled warmly. Was this what it meant to have a friend?

Alice raised her hand and looked in the direction of the steel cages. The white-robed students moved without even looking at her, going straight to the largest cage. Rylan nodded to himself as he looked at the injured gnoll inside it. It was only natural that the strongest enemy would be reserved for the strongest participating student, especially because Hayden had been in real battles before.

Still, judging from the way the dozens of students had gasped almost at the same time, it was something they hadn’t figured out. Or maybe they just didn’t want to admit that anyone their age would be willing to fight to the death against a gnoll.

Once Hayden stepped on the stone arena, the white-robed students, who had already dismissed the magical restraints around the monster, opened the door and leaped away from it. Like the hobgoblin before it, the gnoll lunged forward and burst out of the cage with a roar. Unlike the hobgoblin, however, it didn’t even attempt to gauge its surroundings and consider its possibilities. It looked at Hayden alone with bloodshot eyes and a drooling maw.

“Hayden!” Alice shouted. “I think you know this, but remember the purpose of this assignment! In your case, killing it as fast as possible isn’t the point!”

The gnoll looked at her, attracted by her voice, but it hurriedly snapped back toward Hayden once the boy started walking toward it.

“I know!” Hayden shouted back.

The gnoll snarled and started running toward him. In stark contrast, Hayden only met the gnoll’s charging figure with calm eyes and raised his wand.

To his right, the wind gathered and took the shape of half-moons. To his left, the floor rippled like water. In response, the gnoll only roared and sped up. Rylan watched it carefully.

Its physical abilities are rather surprising.

It seemed to have less intelligence than a hobgoblin, but its physical stats made up for the difference. Rylan could see the powerful muscles hidden beneath the fur, the way they contracted and granted it the power to move so quickly. Gnolls hadn’t existed in his past life.

Hayden pointed his wand at the monster. The Wind Blades cut through the air as the earth rose in the shape of spikes. The two spells arrived at their target at the same time. The gnoll abruptly twisted its body to avoid the first Wind Blade, only to be met by an Earth Spike to the side. The stone pierced through its fur and hide, then through its muscles to reach the closest rib. It cracked loudly with a sickening sound. The gnoll roared out in pain. However, because it had been forced to slow down due to the attack, it became a much easier target. In the next second, two Wind Blades cut it from shoulder to waist, drawing an ‘X’ on its torso. The reddish-black blood fell to the stone floor, making the monster roar again. Rylan nodded at Hayden.

He predicted its movements.

The difference in experience between him and Aelfric was palpable. Through this exchange alone, Rylan determined that there was little for Hayden to learn in a battle against an enemy at this level. Judging by Hayden’s bored look, he understood this too. The gnoll tried to step forward, only for more Spikes to pierce through its feet and cripple its ability to move. Three Wind Blades gathered and slashed the monster’s left side, which didn’t have an arm to protect it. Without anything in their way, the magical winds cut through flesh and muscle, ground against bone, and reached the gnoll’s lungs. Its pained roars turned into gurgles as blood filled its airways, and the organs collapsed into themselves.

The last Wind Blade descended like a merciless guillotine and landed on the back of the creature’s neck. It froze. A moment later, its head rolled to the floor, blood gushing out of its severed neck.

The stands were completely silent. Rylan glanced at the students. Some were simply nodding to themselves as if this were completely within their expectations, while others were gasping at Hayden. A few, however, were looking straight at Rylan, making him furrow his brow.

Do they want to see me do it?

He chuckled at the thought.

“…Maybe I should have picked something stronger,” Alice said next to him while shaking her head. “No, any higher-Leveled monster could have posed a danger to the other students.”

“I do think you should have done that,” Rylan replied, turning to look at her. “With me and you here, there was room to be bolder. Well, not that it matters now.”

She nodded, not even questioning how he’d grouped up both himself and her. Alice waved her hand, making the white-robed students go collect the corpse as they tried to wipe off their stunned expressions.

I guess they didn’t expect him to win with only two spells, both under the Third Circle.

He didn’t know enough about gnolls to be able to judge, but it was possible that they formed packs, like goblins. If that were the case, the true danger would be going against organized groups of the creatures, not lone fighters. Rylan looked back at Hayden. The boy was looking straight at him. Rylan could see the competitiveness burning within those eyes, but he only shrugged.

“Rylan,” Hayden shouted after a second. “Why don’t you fight too?”

Before he could reply, Alice raised her voice.

“There’s no need. It would be pointless.”

Hayden raised an eyebrow at her as the stands went silent.

“…You seem very sure of that, professor. I know I am, but I didn’t expect you to be, too.”

Alice immediately nodded.

“I am. Now that you’ve killed the strongest monster, having Rylan fight anything else would serve no purpose. Maybe if all the monsters here charged at him together.”

Whispers echoed throughout the ‘audience,’ but Hayden only smiled.

“Yeah, I think so too. I just wanted to see him fighting for real,” he pointed at the steel cages. “But the ones we have here aren’t enough. We would need an army of those to actually push him.”

Rylan scoffed, but Alice nodded matter-of-factly. After smiling at Rylan, Hayden walked out of the arena and back to the stands without a single injury. Finally, Rylan’s gaze landed on the next person who would fight.

Jasmine leaped over the railing with her forehead soaked in sweat, gritting her teeth as she looked at the steel cages.

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