Chapter 203 : Representative Team (2)
Chapter 203: Representative Team (2)
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None of the representative team members had ever considered Carl a rival.
Though his grades had improved by the end of the first semester, they simply assumed they would beat him in a fair fight.
However, when they were directly faced with Carl’s momentum, the cadets of the representative team turned pale and broke out in cold sweat.
‘What kind of pressure is this……?’
‘Is he really the same person?’
‘……He might be stronger than my father.’
The atmosphere was completely different from the first semester.
Back then, he had always smiled warmly and seemed gentle.
Tap!
While nearly all cadets were eliminated, unable to withstand Carl’s pressure, Nerian and Lewis planted their feet almost simultaneously.
They too had their own pride and dignity.
They never expected Carl to have hidden such skill, but that didn’t mean they would just stand there dazed like the other cadets.
‘I’m going all in.’
Nerian raised his sword and charged at Carl with full force.
Ssssss.
The moment he saw the power of ice begin to form on Nerian’s sword, Lewis furrowed his brow.
‘He’s going that far?’
Carl’s momentum was certainly overwhelming, but Nerian’s expression was unusually intense.
Did that mean he was feeling that much pressure?
Swish!
Matching Nerian’s assault, Lewis manipulated the wind to scatter sharp slashes.
Two streams of attacks poured down toward a single point, but Carl simply raised his hand without dodging.
Boom!
A massive explosion erupted.
Nerian’s eyes darkened, and Lewis let out a near-screech.
“That’s impossible!”
Lewis’s shock was justified.
The swords they had combined forces to swing were caught in Carl’s hand.
He hadn’t even drawn his sword and blocked their attacks with bare hands?
Even after taking the power of two elements, he didn’t bear a single scratch.
Crack.
Fragments of ice dropped away.
With narrowed eyes, Nerian stared at Carl’s hand gripping his sword.
“……Have you been hiding this kind of skill all along?”
“I didn’t hide it. You just didn’t notice.”
“That’s the same thing, isn’t it?”
Lewis, whose sword was also caught in Carl’s hand, responded with a look of disbelief.
Carl twisted his lips slightly and said to them,
“Seems like you still have energy left. You’re chatting away.”
“What? Urgh……?!”
Thud.
A heavy shock struck Nerian and Lewis in the chest.
Struck by an invisible attack, the two rolled across the training hall floor, coughing violently.
Tap tap.
Brushing off his hands lightly, Carl stood tall and looked down at them.
Soon, Nerian and Lewis furrowed their brows and slowly got up.
“This is the first time I’ve been humiliated like this since entering this damned academy.”
“……”
The same went for Nerian.
From the beginning, it was the first time he had been overwhelmed and sent tumbling to the ground.
Even in spars with upperclassmen, he was always dominant or at least held the advantage.
‘This is astonishing.’
Nerian’s expression sank.
That aside, what was astonishing remained astonishing.
Who would’ve thought Carl had hidden this level of strength?
‘Leipzig’s bloodline traces back to a hero, right? Could it be that it manifested in this generation?’
If not, there was no explanation for the skills Carl just displayed.
Then what should he do?
– Hey.
A voice riding the wind brushed his ears, causing Nerian’s eyes to twitch.
When he slightly raised his head, he saw it came from Lewis, who was still glaring at Carl.
‘He transmitted his voice through the wind.’
Lewis had awakened the power to control wind.
Hadn’t he sensed it before when they clashed?
– I’ll create an opening, so you land a hit. You and I both hate losing like this.
“……”
Nerian gave a faint nod.
He had no intention of ending the fight after just taking a beating.
At the very least, he had to uphold the dignity of himself and of Hopenheim.
Click.
That was why he slowly raised his sword and pointed it at Carl.
He never imagined he'd be in the position of challenger, but if Nerian had one strength, it was adaptability.
Shyaaaa!
A tremendous storm swept through the interior of the training hall.
The sharp wind was enough to make one believe a hurricane had struck.
“Ugh!”
“Grab onto something!”
Other cadets who had been watching the duel from nearby flinched and backed away at the sudden phenomenon.
Shyak!
Soon, wind from all directions became blades and surged toward Carl.
Crack.
Carl didn’t react much.
Just like before, he lightly clenched his fist, slightly lowered his body, and took up the stance for a straight punch.
‘As expected.’
So this was the newly manifested power of wind Lewis had awakened.
It was an element unknown in the Central Plains, making it seem all the more mystifying.
But it was only curious, nothing more.
It wasn’t difficult to counter.
Jjeong.
With a True Step, a powerful straight punch was unleashed.
Air currents always got swept away by stronger ones and disappeared.
The gale Lewis had conjured with all his might became a mere breeze and vanished, while the resulting backlash wind sent Lewis flying.
“……Now!”
Even as he crashed into the training hall wall, Lewis shouted.
He was telling Nerian to strike while Carl created an opening to counter his technique.
Shyak!
Nerian laid down a sheet of ice across the floor and dashed toward Carl with incredible speed.
Carl also swung his hand like a blade to intercept Nerian’s charge, but upon impact, Nerian’s body shattered into ice crystals.
Paaat!
When he saw glitter scattering in all directions, Carl widened his eyes slightly.
‘A clone?’
He had used ice crystals to create a clone and deceive Carl’s eyes?
Then the real body was……
Thud.
Nerian appeared from behind Carl, half-prone on the ground, and thrust an ice spear.
“……!”
Laysis, watching from the rear, opened her eyes wide.
At a glance, it looked as if Carl’s chest had been pierced straight through.
But Nerian asked Carl with a grave expression,
“……How did you know?”
“A clever trick. If it weren’t me, anyone else would’ve fallen for it.”
Carl lightly tapped the spear wedged between his arm and side.
Even with all his senses and perception, he hadn’t noticed how Nerian had hidden both his form and presence.
If it could fool someone who had reached the level of a Master, it meant those with similar skill would never avoid it.
“But you failed to conceal your gaze.”
“My gaze?”
“The stronger one is, the more sensitive they become to the eyes of others.”
Nerian’s downfall came from the overwhelming desire burning in his eyes.
That obsession—‘I will stab,’ ‘I will pierce’—transmitted through his gaze and triggered Carl’s qi sense.
Of course, even without that, he would have easily dodged the incoming spear.
“And also.”
Carl raised his hand.
He grabbed the spear wedged at his side and activated the Bright Heaven Divine Art.
Ssssss.
A chill distinctly different from the Power of Ice began to rise and re-freeze the ice spear.
“……!”
Nerian’s eyes flew open at the familiar energy.
A tremendous chill surged through his hand.
He hurried to let go of the spear, but his pride in bearing the blood of Hopenheim made him grit his teeth and tighten his grip.
Crrrk, crrrk.
Shards fell from the surface of the ice spear.
The Power of Ice and the Bright Heaven Divine Art.
Neither held superiority over the other.
Both the power and the divine art were in completed forms.
However, the ability of the caster using them was overwhelmingly in Carl’s favor.
“Nerian may need to reflect more on his power. It seems like relying on it is actually undermining his own skill.”
“…….”
Crack.
Nerian let go of the spear.
At the same time, the frozen flesh tore apart, and his palm was instantly soaked in blood.
The cold that had invaded through his palm caused severe frostbite, inducing excruciating pain.
But the real blow Nerian suffered wasn’t physical.
‘The Power of Ice… lost?’
Nerian’s eyes trembled finely.
There were countless abilities in the world that used ice.
It appeared in swordsmanship, magic, spirit arts, and many other techniques—it was an extremely common element.
Even so, he had believed that among them, Hopenheim’s power was undoubtedly the greatest.
In fact, ever since the beginning of Hopenheim’s history, it had never allowed a single defeat and had maintained its lofty pinnacle.
But now, he had suffered a loss beyond excuse.
‘Losing a spar or a duel is one thing. But the Power of Ice…….’
It was the pride of Hopenheim, and practically its very reason for existence.
“How could this……”
“I don’t think that’s the important part.”
A cold voice unlike his usual tone.
Nerian flinched and lifted his head to see Carl’s twisted smile.
An intrigued expression, like he’d found something amusing.
Nerian suddenly surged with emotion and tried to rise, but the frostbite that had seeped deep inside restrained his movements.
“Take some time to reflect and continue your training.”
Carl whispered in a soft voice, then raised his head as if he were finished.
He clapped his hands toward those standing vacantly among the cadets and said,
“That concludes the test. Everyone passes, so please come out at this time starting tomorrow. If anyone has objections, contact me separately.”
Even after Carl’s words that they could now disperse, no one moved.
That was how shocking the scene before them had been.
“If even Nerian and Lewis fought together and lost, how strong is he really?”
“He’s not even on a cadet’s level.”
“Nerian and Lewis weren’t cadet level either. It just means he’s on a whole different plane.”
“……”
As the cadets whispered among themselves, Laysis felt quietly proud.
She had known the truth long before any of the cadets did.
But she didn’t boast and simply enjoyed that truth alone in silence.
There was no pride to be had in bragging anyway.
‘Still, I don’t get what Carl is thinking.’
It made sense that he had shown his strength in front of people like Maximilian and the others.
Thanks to that, he had undergone harsh training over the break and made tremendous progress.
But if he revealed his true power to all of Bayern, he would be much more bothered than before……
Swish, swish.
Laysis shook her head.
The decision was Carl’s to make—in any case, she was just a third party.
‘Maybe it’s because I wanted to keep it to myself.’
A bitter smile naturally appeared on her lips.
She had wanted to keep it a secret known only to herself, and now that she was sharing it with others, perhaps she felt jealous.
She rarely ever felt possessive over anything.
“Laysis.”
“……Ah, yes.”
Snapping out of her thoughts at Carl’s call, Laysis lifted her head.
“Let’s go. We have our next schedule.”
“Yes.”
Gazes poured in from all directions.
Belatedly, the cadets seemed to recall the rumors that had swirled around Carl and Laysis during the first semester, and now sent them peculiar glances.
But Laysis paid them no mind and followed Carl with a smile.