Chapter 7: Academy Heroine’s Right Diagonal Back Seat

"Ta-da! Today's class will involve sparring!"

Prayer? What prayer.

Nietzsche, you were right; God is dead.

I stupidly forgot that sparring was an event right away in the novel.

The reason for sparring was simple.

Heroes not only had to face monstrous beasts but also criminals.

To fight superhuman criminals, it was natural to gain combat experience against humans.

But in this school, there's surprisingly a student whose powers, if used, could get them arrested for public indecency.

...What should I do?

"Let's start with Si-woo and Sylvia for the first match! Both of you, put on the protective gear in front of you!"

At Eve's call, the two stepped into the sparring area.

It was the duel described in the novel.

Sylvia pulled out a small wand from her robes, while Yoon Si-woo summoned his radiant white sword from thin air.

"No holding back, okay?"

"That's what I was hoping for."

With both ready for battle, Eve snapped her fingers, and the number 3 appeared between them like a hologram.

"Alright, seems like you're ready. Let's start! Three, two, one, match start!"

3, 2, 1, Start!

As Eve's voice echoed, the numbers counted down, and the sparring began with a Start! just like in a game.

Sylvia immediately launched small orbs of light at Yoon Si-woo.

Sylvia, who used spirit magic—a subset of magic, knew the key against a swordsman like Yoon Si-woo was maintaining distance and buying time to cast spells.

The orbs were explosive; dodging them would give her distance, and blocking them would give her time to cast another spell.

For others, it would be a dilemma that always favored her.

Yoon Si-woo's choice was to charge forward.

Seeing this, Sylvia must have thought he'd be delayed blocking the attack and began chanting another spell.

"Huh, what?!"

Until she saw Yoon Si-woo slice through the orbs.

Yoon Si-woo used the same sword he had used to defeat the illusory monster, called the Sword of Humility.

This sword had many settings, but its ability was simple.

It could cut through and nullify anything made of magic or mana.

A straightforward yet terrifying ability for magicians like Sylvia.

Sylvia, having been criticized by Eve for poor responses to unexpected situations yesterday, momentarily faltered but then steadied herself and completed her chant.

Instead of aiming at Yoon Si-woo, she directed her spell at the ground, causing an explosion to obscure his vision and leapt back to cast a more powerful spell.

[Alf, Ad, Ast-]

But before she could finish, Yoon Si-woo's sword was at her neck, having cut through the explosion.

"The winner is Si-woo! Both of you did great. Sylvia, it was impressive how quickly you adapted. That's not easy to do."

Eve's voice declared the match.

Sylvia, who had been scowling, broke into a smile and spoke to Yoon Si-woo.

"Cutting through magic like that, you're incredible."

She blushed and smiled at Yoon Si-woo, more impressed than frustrated by his ability.

'I wouldn't mind my crush being this strong,' she might be thinking.

Seeing it in person was much more thrilling than reading it in the novel.

Other students were also buzzing, impressed by the high-level duel.

As I calmed my racing heart, Eve's voice rang out again.

"Next, Mei and Evande, step forward!"

Already?

Right after Sylvia and Yoon Si-woo's duel, it was inevitable that we'd be compared.

Nervously, I donned my protective gear.

The class rep, Mei, seemed as nervous as I was, even if she tried to hide it.

Poor Mei, you're having a hard time too...

I stretched, preparing for the intense movement, when Mei, who had drawn her sword and was glaring at me, spoke in a voice filled with suppressed anger.

"...Are you mocking me? Grab a weapon already."

A weapon?

I looked around and saw that everyone else had swords, spears, or something similar, even Sylvia had a wand-like device.

Was I the only one unarmed?

Mei must have thought so.

There's a saying in swordsmanship, that an unarmed person needs at least three times the skill to defeat someone with a sword.

But what could I do? The only weapon I'd ever handled was a K-2 rifle.

Feeling wronged, I told Mei.

"I don't have a weapon."

"...Fine, if you're going to underestimate me, don't expect me to go easy on you just because you're unarmed."

Mei's face hardened as she responded.

Her eyes were cold, as icy as her sword.

Dirty sword supremacist.

I adopted the only martial arts stance I knew.

Ah, this is called the 'Kyorugi stance.'

It's the basic stance of Taekwondo, Korea's native martial art.

I had been dragged to a Taekwondo gym by my parents in elementary school and forced to stay until I earned a black belt.

I recalled the grueling training I had endured.

-Ahh! I'm going to die!! I feel like I'm losing my mind!!

-Just hang in there. Keep stretching your legs like this, and they'll eventually split.

-Screech!!! I feel like I'm losing my mind!!

By the time I snapped back to reality, I was already on fire.

Having endured such torturous training, I wasn't just an ordinary Taekwondo black belt.

I was now, The Goryeo Master.

"Looks like you're ready, let's start!"

Eve's voice signaled the countdown between me and Mei.

3, 2, 1

Start!

I tensed my body and, as the countdown ended, I took a step to the right and twisted my body to the left.

Mei's sword barely grazed my back.

Her eyes widened in surprise at my unexpected dodge.

Everything was going according to my plan from the beginning.

Neither of us knew each other's abilities.

But I had deliberately set myself on fire to make Mei think I was a fire-element superhuman.

Typically, fire users focus on ranged attacks unless they're very unusual cases like me. Seeing her with a sword, Mei would want to close the distance quickly.

And Mei was honest to a fault, almost stupidly so.

I was sure her first attack would be a direct thrust at close range!

A thrust meant to end it in one blow.

Missing that thrust created a huge opening, and I exploited it with a spinning back kick.

It should have connected.

But with a swoosh, an odd sensation hit my leg.

Crap!!

Feeling the chilling sensation, I bent my supporting leg, dropped to the ground, and rolled back to my feet.

A few strands of cut hair fluttered in the air.

I nearly got sliced in half by her counterattack.

Of course, the protective gear would have prevented that, but still.

To force The Goryeo Master into such a desperate move, she was quite skilled!

As I raised my head, Mei was looking at me with a peculiar gaze.

She stood still for a moment, then knocked on the spot where my kick had landed with her fist.

It sounded like hitting an empty wall.

There was something invisible there.

"It's a barrier made of compressed air. My superpower lets me control air to some extent. Without it, your kick might have hit, but no attack like that will break through my barrier."

Mei's eyes, now slightly different, no longer glared with the intent to kill but were more rounded and softer.

After a deep breath, she pointed her sword at me again.

"Here I come."

Tilting my head left, her sword grazed my ear.

Her attacks were fast and silent.

On closer inspection, her clothes hardly moved, likely reducing air resistance with her power.

Fortunately, my vision was better than expected, and I could see her attacks, dodging them with quick reflexes.

But I couldn't keep dodging forever.

No matter how well I dodged, I couldn't avoid getting hurt forever, and too many injuries would stop the match.

I could just forfeit, but a stubborn pride kept me from saying it.

Could my flames break through her barrier?

But to do that, I needed to control the flames to my hands only.

Dodging her swift attacks, I kept thinking.

With my heightened senses from the intense movement, I felt something.

Parts of my body felt especially hot.

Maybe those were the places the flames came from.

Then, I had failed yesterday because I was doing it wrong.

Perhaps the answer was not making flames appear where I wanted but stopping them from appearing where I didn't want.

I focused on the hot spots, shutting them off like closing valves on a gas stove.

The flames in my hair subsided.

Then, in order, the flames on my chest, abdomen, and legs went out.

Knowing how to ignite flames, I gathered my anger.

The world that dropped me here without a reason was too harsh for me.

My gender changed, I had no money.

I had to learn to fight to survive.

So, I hated this world.

With that anger, flames fiercely roared from my hands.

The fierce surge interrupted her attack flow slightly.

It was enough for me.

In that brief moment, I stepped forward into punching range.

And there was only one thing left to do.

Fire Punch.

With the sound of shattering flames, something broke.

"The winner is Evande!"

-Ohhhh!!!!

Cheers erupted for the victor.

That was the moment I went from a human firefly to Fire Punch.

...Looking back, the thrill of my first fight must have fried a part of my brain.