Chapter 33: Day of the Match
“Damn it… No matter how much I train, it seems like I am never improving because I always get beat up…” Leo muttered in pain as he laid on the floor with bruises all over his body after his training with the four-armed training puppet.
“That’s because I keep on increasing the difficulty of your training. If it was easy, it wouldn’t be training.” Miss Camille said to him.
“By the way, Professor Jasmine mentioned about the Wilderness Training Course in class today. Since we’re going to the Wilderness, there will surely be some casualties, right?” Leo suddenly asked.
“Naturally. Every year, over a hundred students die from this training.”
“More than a hundred?! That seems a little bit high. Won’t the teachers be there with us?”
“There will be teachers, but even then, the students tend to wander too far or become reckless during fights and get themselves killed, and there’s only so much the teachers can do when there are thousands of students while there are only a few dozen teachers.”
“I’m surprised the academy is allowed to do this…” Leo mumbled.
“What are you talking about? The other schools also have similar exercises. It’s common practice— this is just how this world works.”
Leo recalled all of the fantasy novels that he’s read and sighed inwardly, ‘I guess this is going to be one of those worlds where human life is not as valuable to society… It’s not going to be easy getting used to this world.’
For the next few days, Leo would continue to train in the Training Center with the advanced training puppet.
The day of his challenge with Kayn grew closer and closer.
Soon, it was the only thing being talked about in the academy.
“Leo’s fight with Kayn is tomorrow! I cannot wait!”
“Have you made any bets yet? There’s a lot of students gambling in this fight.”
“I have— I bet that Leo would win.”
“Well, I think Kayn will win this time. Leo has turned into a spineless coward after getting amnesia. There’s no way that he could win against Kayn in his current state. Hell, I doubt Leo even remembers how to fight!”
The school had its own gambling system for students who wanted to bet on matches.
Leo eventually found out about the bet, and he went to take a look at his odds, and to his surprise, the amount of students who favored Kayn was actually 30 percent higher than those that supported him.
In fact, most of the magic students in the academy had bet on Kayn’s victory. On the other hand, all of the normal students placed their bets on Leo, their idol. And since this is a magic school, it was only natural for there to be more magic students.
‘So these guys think I will lose, huh? Well, I am going to have to disappoint these people!’
Leo decided to place his own bet.
“I’ll bet 33,000 dollars that Leo will win!” He used all of his earnings in the Wilderness on the bet.
“You’re betting on yourself? That’s quite shameless.” Lilith said to him.
“If I don’t have confidence in myself, who will?” He said with a smile.
After betting all of his money, Leo went to find Miss Camille in the infirmary.
“There’s no training today. Get plenty of rest and prepare for tomorrow.”
“No training today? It feels awkward to rest since I’ve been doing this everyday for a month now…” Leo mumbled.
“I’m actually surprised that you managed to go through all of the training without giving up. The old Leo… He would always complain about training and even skip them.”
“Did you also train the old Leo?” He asked.
“No, I didn’t. I only treated his injuries and gave him advice,” she said.
“You’re actually the first person I personally trained.”
“Eh? Really?” Leo was surprised to hear this.
“But you seem so good at it. I thought you had trained many people with your experience.”
“I guess I learned a thing or two after spending so much time in this place.”
Leo pondered for a moment before asking, “Is there a reason why you decided to quit being an Adventurer and become a nurse?”
“Not really. I just got tired of being an Adventurer, so I quit. And with my Magic Affinity, this kind of profession is more suitable.”
“Can you even quit being an Adventurer like how someone quits a normal job? I mean, since you’re so powerful, wouldn’t it be a major loss to the Adventurers’ Guild? If I were the Guildmaster, I wouldn’t want to lose someone like you.” Leo said.
“Of course it wasn’t easy to quit being an Adventurer. As you said, since I am an S-Rank Adventurer, the Adventurers’ Guild was reluctant to let me go. Even the government had tried to stop me from quitting. I had to threaten them before I was allowed to quit.”
“You threatened the government?” Leo swallowed nervously.
‘I guess the saying ‘the strong makes the rule’ is plenty accurate in this world…’ He thought inwardly.
“Hm? Wait. If you didn’t train the old Leo, who did? Surely, he didn’t become that powerful all by himself, right?”
“Indeed, he had another teacher. She’s also an S-Rank Adventurer, and she’s the only S-Rank Adventurer in this world who cannot use magic.”
“Seriously? That sounds badass… I wonder how the old Leo was able to get someone that powerful to teach him swordsmanship.”
“Who knows.”
“I have one more question before I stop bothering you. Do you think I will be able to defeat Kayn in my current state?” He suddenly asked.
“Probably.” She answered in a nonchalant manner.
“Probably?” He raised an eyebrow.
“You’ll find out tomorrow, and my answer won’t change anything, so what’s the point in asking me?”
“You’re right. I guess I just wanted some confidence boost. Oh, it’s not that I am not confident in myself, but I would feel better to know that you also have confidence in me.”
Miss Camille narrowed her eyes for a moment before speaking, “In your current state, you will have a pretty decent chance to defeat Kayn— that is if you pay attention to the fight.”
Leo immediately smiled after hearing her words.
“Thank you! I won’t disappoint you tomorrow!” Leo said to her before leaving the infirmary.
That night, Leo had trouble sleeping, but it was not because he was anxious about his fight with Kayn.
‘I can’t sleep because my body is full of energy. I usually fall asleep quickly because I am exhausted after training…’ He sighed as he tried to force himself to sleep.
The following day, as Leo made his way to class, the students that he passed said to him, “Good luck, Leo! I know you’ll beat that arrogant bully!”
“I had bet all of my money on you, Leo! Don’t disappoint me and my wallet!”
During homeroom, Professor Jasmine asked him, “How are you feeling? You have a match with a magic student today, right?”
“Yes, I do, and I feel great.” He said with a smile.
“That’s good to hear. I’ll be there to watch your match, too.”
“I’ll try not to embarrass myself.” He joked.
Once class ended, just as Leo prepared to leave the classroom, he suddenly realized something.
“Umm… Jasmine, where am I supposed to fight Kayn? We didn’t agree on a specific location…” He asked her in a slightly embarrassed voice.
Jasmine smiled and said, “All matches are held in the Magic Arena. Do you know how to get there? Actually, you can just follow your classmates because they’ll be heading there as well.”
“I understand.”
Leo realized a few moments later that he didn’t need to ask Jasmine such questions because Kayn was right outside his classroom the moment he stepped outside.
“I hope you’re ready, Leo! Meet me at the Magic Arena in two hours! I would fight you right now, but we need to let the audience grow first!” Kayn said with a wide smirk on his face.
“All right. I will see you at the Magic Arena in two hours.” Leo nodded.
Once Kayn left, the time of Leo’s match with Kayn spread throughout the academy like wildfire, and students began showing up at the Magic Arena way before the fight even began to acquire the good seats.
Leo made his way to the Magic Arena an hour before his fight with Kayn.
“Wow, there are a lot of students here.” Leo was dumbstruck by the sea of people outside the Magic Arena, almost as though he was going to a worldwide sports event.
“There are rarely this many students who would show up for a fight between students. Only fights between witches would gather such attention.” Lilith said to him from the sky.
“Make way! Leo is here!” One of the students there shouted when he noticed Leo trying to get inside the Magic Arena.
The students there made a path that led straight into the Magic Academy for him.
“T-Thanks…” Leo quickly entered the Magic Arena.
The Magic Arena was a massive, oval-shaped building that looked exactly like an indoor sports stadium. The interior of the building also resembled that of a stadium. The center of the building was a spacious field covered in fake grass, and surrounding it were tens of thousands of seats that were already filled by the students. There was a special area for teachers, and these seats were filled as well.
“This whole place seems unnecessarily big.” Leo mumbled out loud after seeing the interior of the place.
“Really? Things can get really hectic in a fight between two magicians, especially if they’re witches.” Lilith said.
Once it was almost time for his match with Kayn, Leo approached the empty field.