Entering the Game with a Cheat Physique

Exchange Match (4)

Exchange Match (4)

*BANG!*

A sound like a cannon exploding echoes through the duel arena.

It was the result of my fist colliding with Jackson’s blade.

“Guh…!”

Normally, if a fist and a blade collide, the fist would logically lose.

Deliberately putting your hand on a sharp object is practically self-harm.

But Jackson couldn’t do that.

My dash was far faster than he anticipated, and he couldn’t even react properly, defending with the side of the blade.

*Thump.* Jackson’s body falters from the impact.

I don’t miss the fact that the sword that touched my fist is pushed back, causing Jackson’s stance to collapse.

*Whoosh*—my other fist advances, howling with wind pressure. The target is Jackson’s abdomen.

A hard-to-avoid spot, but definitely a place where damage would accumulate if hit.

“Y-you bas…!”

It’s a simple unblockable.

If Jackson defends his abdomen, he won’t be able to recover his stance.

He’ll be too busy trying to respond to my attacks.

Even if he tries to dodge his abdomen, the area is too large and difficult.

If he tries too hard to avoid it, he’ll take a bigger, more effective hit.

BANG!

Jackson reads my intent too, and drops his arm in a hurry.

His belated parry, the hilt of his blade, clashes against my fist, and Jackson loses his balance again.

There’s no need to hesitate now.

Just trap him and pound him the same way.

Like a game, a strategy of chipping away at his stamina with little jabs.

BANG!

Each time my fist flies out, Jackson is too busy trying to defend.

If he’d had even a moment to breathe, he could’ve switched to offense, or at least landed a decent counter.

But from the first dash, he’s completely lost the flow, dragged into my rhythm.

‘That’s how it had to be.’

Jackson Percival.

A thug character, 7th in the second-year knight class in ＜Song of Swords and Magic＞.

His defining feature: a rock-solid body that enables him to be such a jerk.

‘His fighting style is all about physical strength and size.’

That’s why Jackson is especially vulnerable to ‘physical builds stronger than his.’

Since he’s survived by relying solely on the strength of his size, if he loses that, he’s done for.

This was information I’d gleaned from playing the original game.

‘Act 1, Scene 3, Discipline. That’s where he appears as the bully tormenting the protagonist.’

The fact that he becomes a complete moron once he’s lost his rhythm, there’s no way a veteran like me wouldn’t know that…!

BANG!

Again, a boom.

“Huff, huff…”

No longer able to defend properly, Jackson’s body bounces back hard.

He was now cornered against the edge of the dueling arena.

A precarious position, like he might stumble and fall off.

His eyes, barely clinging to the edge, are locked on me.

His pupils tremble, in shock at the unbelievable reality.

The sneering expression that had been there before was nowhere to be found.

Only the despair of a defeated mob was left.

“Come to think of it, what did I say again?”

*Thud.*

I take a step closer to the guy.

Jackson tries to back away, but realizes he doesn’t have the space and clenches his teeth.

“Whether I declare my own forfeit, or get tossed out of the arena… you said I would say it with my own mouth.”

“Kch, uhhk….”

“I wonder what it’ll be for you?”

Jackson grips his sword with difficulty.

Sparks fly in the guy’s bloodshot pupils.

They say a cornered rat will bite the cat.

His stance is the same.

“Will you give up willingly, or will you go rolling out of the arena in disgrace?”

“…You b*stard!”

“Well, I think I already know the answer.”

Jackson roars, spitting as he does.

He grabs his sword and charges at me.

A slow, pathetic dash compared to mine earlier, a pathetic attempt to gather his remaining momentum.

There’s no way it’ll reach me with that.

I raise my arm.

I bring my index finger and thumb together.

The remaining three fingers are spread wide, pulling the joined fingers taut.

‘Finger Flick.’

A technique I gained from the 【Twelve Star Cloud Fist】.

Not just fighting based on physique, but learning techniques to win intelligently.

My strategy.

“A guy who just throws his weight around.”

*TWHAANG!*

As the index finger and thumb flick, an enormous shockwave shoots out at Jackson.

“What…!?”

He never expected that I would have a ranged attack.

Jackson tried to twist his body, even belatedly, but there was no way he could stop the all-out dash he’d already committed to.

Like a moth drawn to a flame, he threw himself into the magic-infused ball.

“─Gah─.”

*THWACK!*

A sound that shouldn’t come from a human body.

The magic ball, striking Jackson’s stomach squarely, sent him flying backward.

*CRASH!*

The dusty floor outside the dueling ring.

Jackson was hurled unceremoniously into it.

“Kuh, huh….”

The magic ball had connected perfectly with his abdomen.

Struck clean, Jackson didn’t even try to get up, simply collapsing, unconscious.

The foam bubbling from his mouth was a grotesque sight.

“…You’re not worthy of standing in the ring.”

I wouldn’t even give you the chance to concede on your own,

I declared, ending the duel.

Act 1, Scene 4, Inter-grade Exchange cleared.

*

“…….”

The arena was swallowed by silence.

A scene they couldn’t possibly believe.

Not a single student could open their mouth; they held their breath.

The 7th ranked 2nd year from the Knight Department, Jackson.

Lost to Herac, a substitute from the 2nd year Magic Department.

And with only physical strength at that!

The Knight Department students were the first to react.

“Shit, what the hell…?! Jackson lost? Seriously?”

“What did I just see? Am I hallucinating?”

“Was that a brawl just now? He won with his fists, the madman!”

“He didn’t even use a single spell!”

A shocking result.

A matchup everyone expected to be a sure win.

But when the upset went down hard, the Knights Department students went dizzy.

And Jackson’s defeat wasn’t just Jackson’s problem.

“This… Are we… gonna lose the championship?”

*Gulp.*

Someone swallowed, muttering to themselves.

A chill ran down everyone’s spine.

Next came the reaction from the Magic Department students.

“What the fuck? Why did Herak win?”

“He didn’t even use any magic? What’s a mage doing relying on his body?”

“But… he did win, didn’t he?”

“…Wait. The last place beat the 7th. This is a championship chance…?!”

They hadn’t held even a shred of expectation for Herak at first.

Now, they were finally starting to shift their opinions.

There were still many who questioned how Herak won without using magic.

Even so, the fact that he upheld the pride of the Magic Department’s 2nd years remained.

The last place defeated a solid 7th place, no less.

An underdog’s victory gets a crazy bonus.

Even if Penel lost, the championship itself could still very likely go to the Magic Department…!

Of course, the students weren’t the only ones shocked by this matchup’s outcome.

Far above the dueling arena, in the upper seats.

In the area where the instructors who prepared and evaluated the matchups sat.

An intense debate was already in full swing.

“What was that? Was that even magic?”

“What kind of bizarre act was that? A mage beating a knight with his body?”

“Did you see him snap his fingers? Was that ‘Wind Gun’?”

Each one was analyzing Herak’s secret to victory.

There were many interesting points.

A powerful physique that even overwhelmed Jackson, who made it to 7th place with his sheer size.

That skillful, sensory movement.

So many details, if you were to break it down.

But the most striking thing is…

“No.”

Just now, that technique of flicking the wind with his fingers and sending Jackson flying – what *was* that?!

“That’s not magic. At least, it’s completely different from the concept of magic we know.”

“What are you talking about, Instructor Angelina?”

“I’ve seen that technique of Herak’s before, in the recent [Introduction to Elemental Studies].”

“No way…! Tell me quickly!”

Angelina’s eyes gleam.

She remembered it clearly.

Her assignment, the ‘rock breaking’ that had always been included during the first week since Angelina had taken charge of [Introduction to Elemental Studies].

“You all know my assignment, right? The rock that even second-year students struggle to scratch.”

“Famous, indeed.”

It was Digory, the first-year instructor, who responded.

He pushed up his frameless glasses and asked,

“The difficult challenge that no student has ever passed in the first week. What about it?”

“If Herak was the student who passed it in that very first week, would you believe it?”

“……!”

Digory inhaled sharply.

The other magic department instructors around them were the same.

“Herak’s technique clearly possessed magical power. But there were many heterogenous points that made it difficult to define as magic.”

“……”

“After analyzing it a bit. The name I’ve come up with for Herak’s magic is….”

Angelina declared it then.

Herak’s unique combat method.

The unique power where his body was itself magic.

“‘Battle Mage.’ I think that suits it. I was reminded of it when I saw a combat method that was like a mix of a knight and a mage.”

“……”

Silence.

Not a single instructor from the Department of Magic can speak.

Battle Mage.

That, named by Angelina right here, right now, is a concept they’ve never heard of.

An independent build that utilizes one’s own body to wield magic.

Yes, now the Olympia Academy had to acknowledge it.

That cadet they’d so disregarded.

The one they even interviewed separately to shame and expel at this opportunity.

That Herak, was now shouting in this Colosseum.

—Do you see, you relics of the old ways?

Knights who only know how to ignite aura on their swords, but struggle to imbue it into their own bodies.

Magicians who are like scholars, only knowing how to blast magic from afar, unable to move their own bodies.

Neither one nor the other, but a trendsetter combining both.

The emergence of the ‘Battle Mage’.