Fantasy Libary 18

Title: Lightning Blade

In the rest area of the Multipurpose Arena:

“Haaah…”

Ark exhaled deeply as he sat down, letting his tense body relax after the duel.

“So this is what a real battle feels like?”

Only now did Ark have time to reflect on his first duel. The rush of adrenaline flowing through him left him feeling exhilarated and oddly euphoric.

“I could feel it even before stepping into the arena. Could it be… deep down, I’m actually a battle junkie?”

Ark questioned himself, though he couldn’t deny the allure of the experience. Especially the sensation of victory—it was intoxicating.

“Thank you, Ser-Veresta.” Ark said with a smile, gripping Ser-Veresta.

“You performed well earlier, and it proved that our battle strategy is entirely viable.”

By releasing heat from Ser-Veresta, he created a heatwave to propel himself—and even his sword—enhancing his movement speed and attack power.

As Claudia had pointed out earlier, this was a method of using Ser-Veresta that had never been imagined before.

The Four Bewitched Swords were notoriously difficult to wield. For most people, simply mastering their use was a significant challenge. Developing an entirely new battle strategy to further exploit their capabilities was almost unthinkable.

Only Ark could achieve this, thanks to his 100% mastery of Ser-Veresta. His perfect synergy with the weapon allowed for this innovative approach.

This was a method Ark had devised specifically to compensate for his current limitations.

Even after absorbing a significant amount of Manadyte, which had pushed his abilities to a level where he could secure a place in the Named Charts, he still fell short compared to Page One.

Without Ser-Veresta, Ark’s current physical abilities and combat skills would place him on par with someone like Arcadi. In other words, he wouldn’t be a threat to the elites.

Currently, his physical attributes and Prana placed him in the mid-tier of the Named Charts—roughly between ranks 30 and 50. No matter how great his weapon techniques were, his lack of raw power was a critical weakness.

Even with Ser-Veresta’s ability to cut through anything, it would be useless if he couldn’t land a hit. That’s why Arcadi had confidently declared that he wouldn’t give Ark another chance to close the distance.

Arcadi’s expertise in close combat, combined with superior physical and Prana stats, would make evasion an effective strategy against Ark.

However, if others could recognize this weakness, so could Ark.

This realization drove him to develop the heatwave acceleration technique as a countermeasure.

The outcome of the duel had proven the effectiveness of his strategy.

With this, Ark gained the ability to defeat someone ranked 13th almost instantly, earning the fear of other high-ranking students and establishing himself as a threat to Page One.

“Still, fighting this way comes at a cost.” Ark muttered, shaking his head with a wry smile.

Releasing heat from Ser-Veresta was easy—after all, the weapon could do it automatically. This ability had been demonstrated during the compatibility test in the underground lab of the Equipment Bureau.

However, controlling the released heat to form precise, directional heatwaves that could propel him or his sword required an extraordinary level of mastery.

Ark’s ability to achieve this relied entirely on his perfect synchronization with Ser-Veresta and its willingness to fully cooperate. However, this technique drained his Prana at an accelerated rate.

Under normal conditions, Ark could maintain Ser-Veresta at average output for over an hour. But with heatwave-assisted combat, his Prana would be depleted in about 20 minutes.

“Luckily, this is only temporary.” Ark said, his expression softening as he thought of the pile of Manadyte stored in the underground vault.

He had found a way to rapidly enhance his abilities. As long as he could maintain control over his growing power, his physical strength and Prana would skyrocket.

‘There are still about two months until the first match of this season’s Phoenix Festa,’ Ark thought.

“Even if I can’t absorb all the Manadyte in the vault by then, my abilities will undoubtedly surpass my current level.”

Based on his calculations, Ark estimated that after absorbing Manadyte, he needed about a week to adjust to the power surge before repeating the process.

In other words, he could undergo four absorption cycles in a month, resulting in four significant improvements.

“One month should be enough for me to reach a level where I can defeat an ordinary member of Page One without relying on Ser-Veresta.” Ark mused silently.

“By the time the Phoenix Festa begins, I’ll be even stronger. Among the students of Seidoukan Academy, I should be at the top.”

At that point, with his full mastery of Ser-Veresta, Ark was confident he could claim the Phoenix Festa championship.

“Although the Phoenix Festa is a two-person team competition…”

The thought made Ark’s expression turn contemplative.

Suddenly—

“WHOOOOAAAA—!”

Deafening cheers erupted from the arena, shaking the rest area and snapping Ark out of his reverie.

“What’s going on?”

Startled, Ark quickly opened a display screen and navigated to the live broadcast of Seidoukan Academy’s Official Ranked Battle.

On the screen, the most anticipated match of the day was about to begin.

The participants had already entered the stage—two girls.

Both looked incredibly young, their appearances almost childlike.

One of them stood out strikingly. Her smooth, enchanting face, framed by silver hair tied into twin tails, was utterly captivating. She wore the Middle School Division uniform, her large, watery eyes filled with innocence.

Despite her soft and fragile aura, a sheathed sword hung at her waist.

Though petite and delicate, her figure was astonishing. The curves beneath her uniform were so pronounced that they seemed to defy the constraints of her clothing, putting 99% of adult women to shame.

“...What kind of anime physique is this?”

Ark couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Could someone like her really exist in the real world?

Wait, what? This is a fantasy world?

Oh, that explains it!

“That’s Toudou Kirin?”

Ark stared at the girl’s shy expression, taking in her delicate features.

Toudou Kirin, a first-year student in the Middle School Division, was only thirteen years old.

Yes, thirteen.

Yet, her figure… How could anyone believe she was only thirteen?

But even harder to believe was that this seemingly fragile thirteen-year-old girl, who had just met the minimum age requirement to enroll at Seidoukan Academy, currently held the number one rank.

Yes, number one.

Toudou Kirin was the top-ranked student at Seidoukan Academy.

Although she had only been enrolled for two months, she had made waves the moment she arrived. After joining the academy, she immediately challenged and defeated the eleventh-ranked student in a duel, securing a position among Page One.

Then, a month ago, in her first Official Ranked Battle, she challenged the then-number one student. To everyone’s shock, she defeated her opponent and claimed the top spot for herself, becoming the strongest at Seidoukan Academy.

However, today, she wasn’t standing on the stage as the challenger. Instead, she was the one being challenged.

Her opponent was the tenth-ranked member of Page One, another prodigy who, like her, was a Middle School Division student.

Page One was mostly composed of students from the High School or University Divisions. Kirin and her opponent were the only two exceptions, making them anomalies among the academy’s elite.

No wonder when the two stepped onto the stage, the arena erupted with cheers so loud that even Ark, sitting in the rest area, could hear them.

Yet the duel, which had drawn so much attention, ended in less than a minute.

Within a few breaths, Kirin displayed such extraordinary swordsmanship that she easily cornered her opponent. With one decisive strike, she severed their badge and claimed victory, leaving the audience cheering in astonishment.

Watching the silver-haired girl showcase her flawless swordsmanship, Ark’s eyes sparkled with interest.

“Lightning Blade… huh?”

Ark muttered to himself as he sank into his thoughts once again.