She Professed Herself The Pupil Of The Wiseman (LN) - Volume 6 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

CLAD IN FULL ARMOR, Caerus stared at Mira with pure hatred. The two couldn’t have looked more different as they confronted each other within the decrepit amphitheater.

“As I recall, that was an unbiased symposium,” Mira said. “You dug your own grave. I don’t see the logic in getting mad at me.”

Caerus’s accusations against Mira had led to his crushing defeat in a duel witnessed by the entire academy. The fact that Mira seemed to regard him as no more than a yapping dog infuriated him even more.

“You’re one to talk after how much you insulted me. I needed to keep my first place! And I was beaten by a summoner, of all people?!”

Caerus’s dreams had been plagued by the gleaming red eyes of the Dark Knight looking down upon him. That Mira didn’t even remember the incident was insult added to injury. No, he could not let this stand.

Hrmm. This kid is annoying me.

“So you’ve come for revenge,” Mira sighed. “I’m amazed that you’d go through all of this for something so insignificant as that symposium.”

“Shut up! You came in out of nowhere and messed everything up. Then I hear you’re some Wise Man’s apprentice?! Thanks to you, I’ve been branded as a short-sighted failure! Everything is your fault!” Caerus’ voice grew hoarse as he raged, and he slammed his sword against the debris next to him.

Crimson light rose from the sword and gathered at one point, creating a heat wave that crushed and detonated the debris with a shriek that reverberated through Mira’s entire body. Despite standing right next to the burst, Caerus’s armor was unscathed. Face filled with ire, he chuckled to himself as he looked upon the wreckage.

Admiring the fire that tore through the debris, Caerus vented the fury that had been stoked by Mira’s words. “Incredible, isn’t it? This place is surrounded by a magic-sealing barrier. No matter how good a mage you were…now you’re just a little pipsqueak without any magic.”

Oho. It seals magic, hm? I’ve seen traps like this in dungeons. I suppose they’ve been actively developing such technology.

It seemed the membrane surrounding the amphitheater was a barrier, after all. Mira attempted to summon, but nothing happened. Her magic was indeed sealed. She surveyed the barrier and felt the passage of thirty years in this new technology.

It would be most advantageous for one to seal the other’s magic, but… Mira asked the armor-clad Caerus, “You’re a sorcerer, as I recall? Doesn’t it defeat the point if you seal your magic as well as mine?”

“Can’t you tell by looking? I don’t need magic. This sword, shield, and helmet are all spirit weapons. They do just fine in barriers. I think I can handle the likes of you.”

It was true that Caerus’s sword was a fire spirit’s sword, and his armor and shield harbored spirits’ power. However, Mira was neither surprised nor panicked. If she felt anything at all, it was exasperation. How could a sorcerer and citizen of the kingdom of magic surrender his magic and rely on weapons instead?

“Why’re you just standing there like that? You don’t understand the situation you’re in, do you?!”

Caerus swung his spirit blade. The blade ignited the air as it sliced through with a crimson gleam and launched flames toward Mira. When it landed in the debris close by, there was another shrieking explosion and hot air enveloped Mira.

As the inferno died down, all that remained was Caerus’s muffled laughter.

I thought I heard something in that explosion… That was a voice, wasn’t it?

Mira had heard a bitter cry tinged with hints of rage and hatred. She had heard it faintly the first time Caerus had slammed his sword into the debris, though it was overpowered by the explosions instantly after. But this time, Mira clearly heard that chilling voice.

“Do you see the power of my spirit blade? If it so much as grazes you, that delicate little body of yours will be burned to a crisp. Now you finally see the difference in power between us. But hey, even I can be merciful.”

Intoxicated with power, Caerus grinned condescendingly behind his face guard. He then leered at Mira’s youthful yet charming figure. As he ogled her, he swallowed the saliva gathering in his mouth and fantasized about how he might make her scream. The only decisions she could make were the ones he allowed her.

“If you apologize now, I could let you be my servant,” the lust-crazed Caerus commanded as if looking down on her from far above. He took a large metal ring from the pouch at his hip and threw it at Mira. It was a collar bearing the same sealing markings as the binding cloth that the Isuzu Alliance had used once before. “Put that around your neck. Do it—and I’ll let you live.”

Mira peered down at the collar at her feet. Planting her left foot, she punted it back at him with her right. Then it flew fast and low before it smacked into Caerus’s greaves, making a low metallic clunk before falling to the ground.

“Denied,” she replied flatly. “Now, listen up. Surrender now, and we can call this water under the bridge.” Mira looked at Caerus head-on, neither staring nor glaring.

Her words only caused Caerus’s lust to turn into pitch-black animosity. He began to swing his sword wildly with no form, proper swordplay, or aim.

“Damn yooou!” He screamed as shrilly as a steam whistle venting pressure to stop a boiler explosion. Fire spurted from the hideous arc of his sword’s swing and a wild blaze flew out toward Mira. Caerus fell onto his backside, blown back by the aftermath of the attack.

His aim was off, but the raging hellfire billowed outward to engulf all around it. No one could possibly be left unsinged by the inferno. 

“Hah! Ha ha ha! I told you—this is what happens when you defy me! Hah! Hah hah! Ha ha ha!”

Then Caerus’s face went blank. Overwhelming strength, murderous malice, the realization that he had killed someone with his own hands…and some very minor guilt all intertwined. The emotional gravity began to tug him back to earth.

“Hrmm. Ample firepower, but no finesse. It would be no laughing matter if it hit me, though. Do you understand what you’ve just done?” Mira’s chilly voice cut through the superheated air like an ice storm.

Unable to find Mira through the limited view of his visor slit, Caerus fought the weight of the armor as he tried to regain his feet. Once he managed to stand, he held his sword and shield close and spun around, looking for his prey.

Mira stood to his left, watching him scornfully. Her form, her eyes, and her very presence detonated the miniscule guilt that was previously within him.

“Aaaah!” The chaotic mix of emotions—the thought of his assassination attempt and the slight relief of seeing his victim survive—turned into fear at once.

As if trying to dispel the nightmare in front of him, Caerus single-mindedly swung his sword. Each time, however, the expelled flames only hit Mira’s afterimages.

“Damn it, damn it, damn it!” He lost sight of his target as Mira evaded each swing with Mirage Step. Each time the hellfire incinerated one illusion, she appeared in a new location.

Her magic was sealed…but her skills were not.

Worse still, with each of Caerus’s failed attacks, the distance between them shortened. As she slowly but surely approached, he shuddered and stepped back, yet he could not stop his arms from swinging.

That voice nearly muffled by the explosions wasn’t a hallucination; it was a clear voice of resentment. Listening close to the unbearable sounds of the voice, Mira hit upon one possibility.

This spirit blade… Could it be yin?

Spirit weapons weren’t just elemental; they were also divided into yin and yang. It was partially dependent on the properties of the spirit within, but they were generally associated with either negative or positive emotions. The vast majority of spirit weapons in circulation were yang, and they were obtained because a spirit took a liking to and blessed their wielder. But yin weapons… Such blessings were the product of hatred and anger in a spirit’s dying moments.

A voice appealing to hatred was mixed in the flames emitted by Caerus’s sword. Mira was sure of it.

It varied from person to person, but among a mage’s powers was the ability to see and converse with spirits. This theoretically applied to spirit weapons as well, but this was the first time Mira had heard the voice of one. Odd as it was, there could be no mistake.

As Mira analyzed the sound, she weaved through the baleful fireballs and gradually approached her attacker. Caerus kept trying to back away—his terror giving way to frustration—but he eventually stumbled over debris and fell backward spectacularly, armor rattling like a fistful of coins scattered across the ground.

With a grating metallic noise, Caerus righted himself and screamed, “Why can’t I hit you?!”

His emotions reached a crescendo. Reacting to Caerus’s fury, his armor began to cycle through the elements.

The spirit elements overflowing from his armor mixed and gathered at his blade. Curses filled the air so thickly that their madness seemed infectious.

“Ack… Is his gear all yin?” Mira asked herself. It certainly looked that way. It couldn’t be a coincidence that so many rare items were gathered around him.

I think I’ll have to question him regarding where he got these. Mira decided she would not be gentle in her interrogation. But for now, she kept her eyes fixed on Caerus, who laughed madly as the raw power of his spirit gear seemed to intoxicate him even more.

Using the sword as a vector, the elements whirled into a misshapen, unstable spiral resembling a miniature typhoon. Shooting a quick look at the incomprehensibly destructive sword, Mira relaxed her shoulders and leapt directly in front of Caerus.

“Damn! How are you so fast?!”

Barely able to control the torrent of energy enough to clench his fists, Caerus was unable to control his sword enough to swing it as his abominable enemy. Instead, he gritted his teeth as the elements began to coalesce. He was essentially stuck holding an open umbrella in the middle of a windstorm.

Mira did not miss this opening. She thrust out a slender arm and punched Caerus right in the stomach.

A mage’s fist with no reinforcement or magic cast on it ought to have had no effect on metal armor. Yet her punch caused a chaotic feedback loop to form, decreasing the sword’s stability. A red line of blood ran across Mira’s hand—it seemed the wind spirit in his armor had counterattacked.

“Heh, ha ha ha! Those puny arms can’t dent this armor! You don’t stand a chance!”

Caerus had worried for a moment, but Mira’s punch reminded him that he was at an overwhelming advantage. His enemy’s attacks were totally ineffective. He only had to hit her once, and he would win. Nothing had changed. He basked in delight as he saw the trickle of blood on her hand. This battle was decided the moment she’d walked into that barrier. Caerus gazed at the raging sword in his hands and smirked. He had no idea why the sword was doing this, but he realized that unstoppable power was literally in the palm of his hand.

Once the sword stabilized, his victory was certain. Caerus’s grin warped into a mask of hatred.

Mira’s face showed no signs of fear. She glared coldly at Caerus with her arm still outstretched.

“Time for a quiz: Do you have any idea who I’m the apprentice of?” she asked.

Behind his wall of armor, Caerus recalled the despair of that day at the symposium. Mira was the pupil of Danblf. 

He hadn’t known that then, but he knew it now. The knowledge had done little to quench the fire of his hatred for the diminutive summoner.

Feeling a sense of superiority even as he struggled to hold the sword aloft, he said, “You’re Danblf’s pupil, aren’t you? He was the best summoner, and he made up for his frailty with the Immortal Arts. Of course I know that. Based on how you act, you must use Immortal Arts, too. But if you can’t activate magic, then you can’t hurt me.”

Mira laughed. “Sixty points, at best. You have no idea who you’re dealing with.”

“Eh? What?”

“I’m saying you only scored a sixty out of a hundred on that quiz. My master was Danblf. But he was also the inventor of modern refining techniques!” For someone so short, she was certainly looking down on the humiliated sorcerer.

“So what?!” Goaded, Caerus lifted the shield in his left hand instead of his unprepared sword. A bash from it could do serious damage as well.

Mira flicked a pebble in his direction.

“Wha—” Before Caerus could react, the pebble scored a hit on his shield. Unbelievably, the shockwave knocked him back and sent him reeling! The impact ripped the shield from his grasp, nearly taking his entire arm with it.

Caerus was thrown to the ground. He skidded to a halt, the blow softened by his armor’s stats. But the crushed remains of the shield crashed to the ground nearby—the thing was totaled. He abruptly realized this might be but a small taste of the battle to come. With that horrifying thought in mind, Caerus hurriedly searched for his enemy.

He didn’t need to look far—she was right in front of him. Now he could only look up at her, while she looked down at him with cold eyes. She fidgeted with a handful of blasting stones as she considered him. The refined bullets caused immense destruction when they exploded on contact.

“Damn you! Don’t toy with me!” Caerus screamed, scooting back along the ground to get away from her. Mira ignored him and kept her eyes fixed on one point. 

He followed her line of sight to the spirit blade in his hand. Its condensed elemental power warped the space around it like a mirage, and the raging tempest from before had been replaced with calm. It was…eerie.

This is it! I will be the victor! I’ll blow those stupid pebbles away! Caerus thought.

He could tell at a glance that the sword had abnormal power. With a win close at hand, his enraged heart regained its calm. His fear evaporated—he truly could not lose.

I doubt I’ll get out of this unscathed, Mira thought to herself. Might as well get this over with.

Powerful or not, Mira knew that sword was a dangerous item. She might be more resistant to elemental damage than most people, but if she took a hit from these weapons, it would hurt. Only one option remained.

Caerus saw the daggers in her eyes grow sharper and instinct spurred him to scream, jump up, and raise the sword high. Five meters lay between them, but Mira could use her Immortal Arts to reach him in a single step. Caerus knew his only option would be to swing his sword before she even started moving.

The sword responded to his will, allowing its hidden power to surge as the mirage surrounding the blade turned darker, intent on devouring the light. It roared as he swung, and Caerus saw victory within his grasp. He felt as though he were leading an unstoppable army.

It all happened in an instant—a tornado suddenly emerged above Caerus’s head, its awesome winds tearing Caerus’s sword from his hand. The tornado then disappeared as suddenly as it appeared…another fun use of Mira’s blasting stones.

Though Caerus had seen their power with his own eyes, he’d underestimated those little rocks. He’d watched Mira’s feet in anticipation of her approach and therefore missed the flick of her wrist.

“What…?! Whaaat?!” Caerus cast about for his sword in vain. He finally spotted it, far beyond his reach. The power of the sword gleamed darkly…he had to have it back. He sprinted, his armor clanking as he made his mad dash.

Another foolish move.

Just as Caerus drew near to his salvation, the ground at his feet exploded like a land mine. He fell pitifully onto his back and stared at the ashen sky.

“What…?! No!” His feet should’ve been protected by spirit armor, but they felt nothing but overwhelming heat and pain.

Though the concussion left him reeling, Caerus sat up and assessed the situation. He saw his feet covered in soot. His tassets, cuisses, and greaves were bent and shattered. When he fearfully looked up, he shuddered at the sight of Mira closing in calmly.

“Shit!” he screamed, dragging himself away from her frantically. “I’ve had enough! Get her!”

Two figures emerged from behind the debris in Mira’s blind spots. Cloaked and masked in black, with daggers treated so as not to reflect light, they approached Mira from either side. The duo bent low to the ground as they sprinted toward her, like long shadows cast by the setting sun.

Without sound, without voice, these snakes creeping along the ground eagerly bared their fangs to strike. But before they could close in, there was an explosion of flame accompanied by a thunderclap.

The two crumpled like ragdolls.

Without pausing, Mira lowered her arms even as she continued her advance. When she reached Caerus’s feet, she asked, “Was that really your last resort? Pitiful.”

She couldn’t see his expression through the face guard, but his armor clattered as he trembled beneath it. She had foiled his plan at every turn. Magic-sealing effects weren’t rare in the hardest of dungeons, and a true Wise Man would have been well prepared for the occasion. One-versus-many situations were expected under such circumstances. Frankly, the whole encounter was…boring.

Moreover, she had known of the ambushers’ presence all along. When she’d used Biometric Scan earlier, they showed up as clear as day. For a surprise attack, this was hardly very surprising.

“What the hell? What the hell…?!” Caerus muttered. In this moment, he finally realized the gravity of the title of Wise Man, one of the nine heroes of the Kingdom of Alcait. “Y-you’re a monster…”

Then he broke into the manic laughter that accompanies true enlightenment.