The Match With Miss Erika

'Are you kidding me?! How could a divine being appear here while the world is going through a dark era?! Does she not care about her divinity?!'

Eden bites his lips in frustration, realizing that his mentor, A.K.A., his homeroom teacher, was no ordinary mortal but a divine being.

"?!"

Suddenly, he came to a halt as he sensed something unusual.

'She…doesn't have any divinity…?'

Eden realized that his homeroom teacher didn't have any divinity left within her.

"Ding!"

As soon as Eden discovered that, the system rang within his mind, reporting,

[It appears as if she had destroyed her divinity or like it got destroyed by someone.]

'Huh? That's strange.'

Eden tilted his head after hearing the system's report.

Even though Eden wasn't an angel anymore, he could still sense divine energy within a short distance.

"Well then."

Before Eden could contemplate any further, his thoughts got cut off by Miss Erika as she slammed a book on the desk, commenting,

"Shall we begin our introduction session now?"

"Yes!"

The students responded with their ecstatic voices.

"It's quite an honour to be taught by her."

Emilie commented while clasping her hands, adding:

"You know, Eden. She's the best mentor when it comes to teaching sword art. She's an S-rank swordswoman. Also, she's the vice leader of the members of the Elite Dragon Team."

Emilie continued bragging about her.

'An S-rank without any divinity, hmm? Amazing indeed.'

Then he realized something and raised his gaze towards the system's screen, asking,

'What's this Elite Dragon Team?'

[It's a team of Elite humans that fight against the White Devil Organization, to thwart their plans regarding disrupting planetary cosmic energy.]

'....'

Eden's face shaped a dull expression after learning about the White Devil Organization as he deeply sighed, requesting,

'Better elaborate it when I'll be free.'

[No problem.]

After disregarding the information about the lethal organization, Eden's attention shifted to Emilie as he smiled and wondered.

'Looks like she admires Miss Erika a lot.'

"Hmm, at least, I guess I should thank Miss Erika, right?"

Later on, Eden called out while adjusting his chair.

"Hmm? Why so?"

Emilie gazed at Eden while tilting her head in perplexity.

Seeing her perplexity, Eden glanced back at her, saying,

"Thanks to her quality which makes you start talking to me so amicably."

"?!"

Emilie was taken aback in surprise and averted her eyes, quivering.

"N-Not really! I just…umm…ugh, nevermind. Hmph."

Acting like a tsundere all of a sudden, she looked away, yet her behaviour made Eden chuckle.

Cough! Cough!

"Hmm?"

Hearing coughing from the front, Eden shifted his gaze towards the front, noticing Miss Erika coughing as she requested,

"Well, it would be better if you didn't converse with each other, students."

Her gaze was fixated on Eden.

In response, Eden just nodded with a fake smile.

"Alright then!"

In an enthusiastic voice, Miss Erika clicked on her watch, and a holographic attendance register appeared in front of her.

She took out her smartpen and started calling everyone's name, telling them their roll numbers.

"Eden White. Roll number 69."

Then she glanced at Eden, asking,

"Are you Eden White, the one with 'unrivalled' mana?"

It appeared like she knew it already, yet she wanted to confirm it just in case she ended up being wrong.

"Yes,"

Eden nodded, adding,

"There's only one Eden White here, and that's me."

He smiled; however inwardly, he screamed.

'Damn it!!! I've done it again!!'

"Oh~?"

Miss Erika showed a frisky smile and then gazed back at the register. Unlike others, she didn't seem to be much surprised by Eden's 'unrivalled' mana.

"Emilie Sakurasou. Roll number 70."

"?!"

Hearing Emilie's roll number, a grin shaped Eden's face. He glanced at Emilie, eagerly saying,

"It appears that even if we sit, according to roll numbers, we will end up like we are now."

To which Emilie just smiled a little, replying,

"Yeah, and I don't know why, but you're being a little too sociable with me as if I'm just your regular friend. No one dares to get this close to me, you know."

She tried to show Eden the difference between them, but Eden just tittered, resting his head on his palm, replying,

"Yeah, I know it very well."

He started to understand Emilie's nature. He realized that she valued her fame more than anything, yet he noticed the sense of loneliness in her face.

'But it doesn't matter…'

He smiled inwardly after taking a glimpse of Emilie, adding,

'…just wait a little…I know you'll remember me, my lady. I'll surely wipe away this loneliness from your face.'

"Alright, class! Your classes will start tomorrow, but since you guys are here, let me demonstrate to you, the basics of sword art."

Miss Erika smiled and raised her right hand, commanding,

"Cosmic Lock: Creation."

*Swish*

Suddenly, two blue blades made of cosmic energy materialized over her palm.

She grabbed those blades firmly, commenting,

"So, does anyone here want to have a match with me?"

With a playful smile, she asked.

"..."

Her request, nevertheless, made the whole classroom go dead silent.

"Fight with her? No way in hell."

"I don't want to die yet, so I pass."

"Maybe when pigs fly."

The students started showing their disheartedness for the fight.

'Hmm? No one, seriously?'

Eden gazed around with a bewildered look, realizing that no one dared to step forward. After all, Miss Erika was a S-rank swordswoman.

"Ding!"

Suddenly, the system made a ding noise, reporting,

[Host, I just have a task for you. The reward will be 50,000 points.]

'50,000 points?! What's the task, then? Tell me, tell me!'

Eden asked with his shimmering eyes.

[Your task is…]

'?!'

Eden's eyes widened after hearing the task.

Sigh!

Seeing the situation in the class and knowing the task, he sighed deeply and raised his right arm.

"Oh, Eden. How brave of you."

Miss Erika slammed one of her blades against the ground in slight excitement after noticing Eden's gutsiness to get ready for a fight with her.

"Eden! Are you crazy?! You know who she is, right?"

In a quiet yet stunned voice, Emilie asked.

"I know."

Eden, with a serious face, glared at Miss Erika and replied to Emilie before getting up from his seat.

"Bro…"

With a concerned look, Robert looked at Eden.

"Heh."

Meanwhile, Charles just smirked, knowing that Eden would be beaten up to a pulp soon.

Eden stepped forward and eventually arrived in front of Miss Erika.

"Well, since it's your first time having a spar, what about I teach you a thing or two?"

Miss Erika asked while tossing one of her blades at Eden.

"Sure, I'm honoured."

Eden grabbed the blade and bowed a little to show his gratitude to her, wondering,

'Just one blow—that's all I need.'

***

[Your task is to have a match with Miss Erika and land at least one blow on her.]

'Huh? You can't be serious!'

At that time, the system's request was just out of the world.

[No, I'm serious. As the rewards, not only will you get 50,000 points, but you'll also be rewarded with a spiritual core.]

'Hmm? What's a spiritual core? Something like mana core?'

[Yes, the spiritual core doesn't matter much to humans. But since you're a former angel, it will give you one or two useful skills of Miss Erika, and it will be S-ranked to A-ranked.]

[Not only that, but it can also increase your LVL, and, of course, without any pain.]

'S-ranked?! Holy shit! Of course, I'm onto it! But...it's still dangerous. Well, I'm doing it to increase my strength. So, it's fine.'

***

Sigh!

Eden sighed again, still feeling a little uneasy.

"What's up? Are you afraid?"

Miss Erika lifted her eyebrows after hearing Eden's sigh, with a little grin shaping her face.

"No, not really. Just excited, I guess. After all, it's a great chance to learn something from you, Miss Erika."

Faking a smile, Eden replied.

"Is that so?"

Miss Erika snickered and snapped her right fingers, and suddenly, just like in the virtual dungeon, the area around the classroom darkened as if Eden and Miss Erika had been teleported to another dimension, with the floor below them becoming deserted and some rocks appearing around the area.

'An alternate dimension, huh?'

Eden gazed around, understanding that she could even create an alternate dimension; no wonder she was an S-ranked human.

After that, a rectangular mirror appeared outside the alternate dimension, floating in mid-air while showing the area where Eden was standing as if it would broadcast their spar.

"Let your classmates watch our match. Maybe they will learn a thing or two."

Miss Erika commented and raised her blade, ready for the fight.

"Sure, no problem."

Eden nodded with a wry smile.

'Are you sure they'll learn something? Or you're just going to show off your skills to them, eh?'

Later on, he pondered.

Of course, he didn't say this. But he noticed something strange in the way Miss Erika stood.

In response, he just tightened the grip of his blade, wondering,

'Her stance…it's just like the swords mentors in the Land of Honour taught us about.'

Then his gaze sharpened, and he added,

'No matter who you are, I'll definitely find out about you!'