Chapter 185

Chapter 185 Strongest Sage, Hand Over Book

"Ok then, are you ready?"

Giruas drew out his sword as he said that .

However . . . We probably should at least establish the rule considering this is a test .

"What about the rule?"

"The fight is decided when either side gets knocked out or gives up . I won"t use magic, but you aren"t disallowed to yerself . "

" . . . You won"t use magic? Are you going easy on me?"

Giruas"s mana reaction is definitely that of a magic fighter .

If he"s not fighting with magic, there is no other explanation than him going easy .

There"s no point in this match as a test if he fights like such, but . . .

"Yeah nah, I"ve never used magic in my life . This guy is the only thing I use . "

Giruas took a stance with his sword .

He also activated body reinforcement magic right at the same time .

Yet . . . It doesn"t seem like Giruas is telling a lie at all .

Or to be more precise, he has no intention to lie .

--I understand the source of the odd feelings I got now .

" . . . I see, he did it unconsciously huh . "

It appears that Giruas is not aware that he"s using magic .

He"s simply controlling his inner mana through his senses and reinforces his body through that .

Of course, it"s not possible for an ordinary human to use magic without being aware of it .

However, geniuses can be found every now and then .

"Unconsciously . . . What are you talking about? Meh whatever . Let"s get to it already . "

Giruas readied his sword .

I too drew mine out while checking the surroundings .

Several guild staff including the branch head have already positioned themselves around the training ground, observing us .

They"re probably acting as the witnesses of this test .

I wonder if I should show a fight that"s easy to digest for them .

"I"m ready . Come at me anytime . "

"Gotcha, ya asked for it . "

Giruas rushed up and thrust his sword at me .

His sword was buffed with a half-baked version of 『Toughening』 and 『Steel Slash』 as he thrust it .

I make a counter attack while parrying his sword to the wayside .

Frankly speaking, I could have ended the fight right here and now if I wanted to .

. . . And honestly, Giruas"s way of fighting can"t really be called that of magic fighter .

He"s just fighting randomly while relying on his talent .

Alma is far better at technical level than him .

Well since Giruas never learned magic training in earnest, this should come as no surprise .

Rather I"m impressed that he could reach this level despite the fact he isn"t even aware that he could use magic .

While thinking so, I swing my sword at Giruas, with just enough force not to end the match .

Seems like it took Giruas everything just to block the attack though . . . What surprises me is how he"s quickly improvising mid battle .

This guy probably has never fought with someone stronger than him before .

After all, simply swinging a magically enhanced sword around would afford you victory unless the opponent is powerful .

And he used this opportunity of fighting someone that can"t be beaten with brute force alone to learn how to fight against one such opponents .

Still, this is the first I"ve met someone who could improvise this quick .

"Oy, don"t tell me, yer" holding back on me, are ya?"

. . . I was being careful not to let him notice that, he"s got good intuition .

Is this also thanks to his overwhelming talent that prevail over technique .

Trying to deceive this kind of opponents would net the opposite result .

"Yeah . I was . . . if you want to make me fight seriously, try doing it yourself first . "

I kicked off a barrier I put mid-air and slashed at Giruas .

Giruas shouts out loud while guarding against my sword .

" . . . You said it! I ain"t gonna hold back no more!"

His body reinforcement got strengthened with that shout .

"Eat this!"

Giruas slashed at me .

I was going to parry the sword like I did before--but this time Giruas took on a different path .

He jumped up right before our sword clashed .

Of course, jumping up is the height of folly for a fighter who can"t use magic .

You"re fully exposing yourself to attacks the moment you jump until you"ve landed .

The reason why part of the way of the sword puts importance on moving around with your legs on the ground is to shave off even a bit of instances you find yourself in such a situation .

And that also applies to Giruas who cannot use other magic besides body reinforcement .

At least that should have been at the beginning of this match .

--However, the current Giruas is not the same as before .

The jumping Giruas emitted mana from the sole of his feet, and then he made an air-kick-like move through the force generated from that .

Amateurish, technically speaking, but it"s undoubtedly magic .

It"s as if he was mimicking the maneuver I did before with a spell he made on the spot .

And Giruas swings down his sword at me while I"m taken aback .

It"s a blow that takes advantage of gravity alongside body reinforcement .

An ideal sword art to push down your opponent with brute force .

--I face that sword from the front, and cut it down .

I"m not using any kind of special technique .

It"s just a straight sword swing with body reinforcement magic .

Giruas was blown away without barely any resistance .

He probably never imagined that he would lose in a battle of brute force .

Since Giruas had always won through brute force up until now, he tried to create a situation where the clash would revolve around brute force .

I step forward toward him and put my sword on his neck .

"Now then . . . Still wanna go?"

"I give . "

Giruas muttered while looking vexed when he saw the sword pointed at him .

"Tch, my first lose since I was born . From the beginning to the end, it never felt like I could win . . . It"s more frustrating than I thought . "

Giruas stood up after saying that .

And then he asks me .

"Please tell me . How do you get so strong?"

I considered inviting Giruas to our party for an instant, but I immediately threw away the idea .

This type of person will grow better if you leave them to their own devices .

. . . That said, I guess I can at least give him some pointers .

I"ve got just the right thing with me after all .

"Read this book . Whether you could get stronger than me or not, it all depends on you . . . But I can guarantee that you have the talent . "

I hand over a thick book to Giruas .

The t.i.tle 『Second Royal Academy Textbook - Magic Volume - Complete Version』 is written on the cover .

This book may have second academy on its t.i.tle, but it"s not like it can"t be used by anyone other than second academy"s students .

Rather, it"s better if the book is spread out in the entire country to fight off demons .

Though the one being employed at Second Royal Academy of Eis Kingdom is the 『Simple Version』, a greatly simplified version of this 『Complete Version』 .

Apparently, the complete version is too complicated, only a few researchers were able to even read it .

" . . . You makin" fool outta me?"

"I"m dead serious . "

"This is a magic book no? No way you can fight while making yerself full of openings by chanting and stuff . . . Even you Mathias can"t use magic right?"

"I can . I even used some in our fight just now . . . True magic need not chanting . "

I light up a flame on the tip of my finger without a chant .

Giruas opened his eye wide when he saw that .

"Giruas, you too casted body reinforcement magic on yourself unconsciously . . . Once you"re able to master it consciously, you should get far stronger than you are now . "

" . . . And the way to do that is written in this textbook thingy?"

"That"s right . "

Giruas opened the book when he heard that .

And immediately frowned .

"What the c.r.a.p with this stupidly hard book . I feel depressed just looking at it . . . Is this thing seriously used as textbook?"

"Unfortunately, that book was rejected because it was too difficult . I"ve got a simpler version of the book with me here, do you want that instead?"

I took out the 『Simple Version』 as I said that .

" . . . This book ain"t difficult just for the sake of it yea?"

"Yeah . The simpler version could get you stronger, but if you want to truly get strong, it"s the complete version . "

"Got it . I"m taking this book . "

Giruas put the complete version into his pocket .

And then he asks me with a slightly hopeful face .

" . . . By the way, d"ya know a spell that makes you good at reading? I"m bad with studying y"see . I got headache every time I tried reading a book . "

"Unfortunately, nope . . . By the way, the healing spell written on page 132 is effective for headache just so you know . "

"I wanted to read this without getting one in the first place . . . "

Giruas opened the book while muttering . . . He grimaced in 10 seconds flat, and folded the book .

Yup . Looks like it"d take some time before this guy read through the entire book .

However, there is no doubt that he"d get stronger .

The desire to get stronger, fondness of battle, and most of all, talent .

There"s no future where such a person doesn"t get stronger when they"re given the right magic theory .

"Oh yea, I forgot . You pa.s.sed the test . . . Don"t think anyone would complain after seeing the fight just now . "

Giruas looks at the branch head .

The branch head nodded like he consented .

This means we"ve ranked up to Rank A now .