This Novel is not my Novel

For an instant, I thought the attack had succeeded.

But just before the whip struck him, Kaldrun twisted his body and narrowly avoided it.

Well... it can't be helped. It may be 【Dragon Fear】, but it's only C-rank and in a weakened state.

Looking at it another way, however, a mere C-rank skill had managed to freeze a skilled fighter like Kaldrun for an instant.

It had certainly lived up to the name 【Dragon Fear】.

Moreover, Kaldrun could not immediately resume his charge after evading the whip.

He kicked off the floor, leaped backward, raised his sword, and assumed a defensive stance of his own accord.

Perhaps he had not consciously dodged my whip at all. It might have been an instinctive reaction born from years of accumulated combat experience.

That thought activated 【Character Analysis】, and within the slowed passage of time, I once again saw Kaldrun's lips begin to move.

He appeared ready to praise Yor's ability, and I considered listening.

Interrupting the spar once was enough.

Kaldrun must have reached the same conclusion, because he soon pressed his lips together and charged at me again.

I retreated while repeatedly swinging my whip.

Following his movements with my eyes, I calculated where he would be when the force concentrated at the tip of the whip reached its maximum speed.

But the attack failed again.

Kaldrun perceived the timing of each strike with uncanny precision. He would briefly step back before rushing forward again, or knock the whip aside with his sword, steadily closing the distance between us.

Then, just as his sword came within range—

A barrage of translucent sky-blue arrows, formed from Yor's condensed Ether, poured down upon Kaldrun. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

Kaldrun abandoned his attack and chose to evade.

He coated the floor in ice and slid swiftly across it, escaping the rain of arrows.

Half of the Ether arrows, which possessed tangible physical force, embedded themselves in the icy surface and shattered it into fragments.

The other half changed direction and flew after Kaldrun once more.

Judging by their movements, Yor did not appear to be predicting his actions before attacking. She was simply firing them in arbitrary directions.

Even so, Kaldrun was forced to devote himself entirely to defense.

Arrows he had already avoided would suddenly change shape and seize his hands or feet, while others reversed direction and attacked him again.

And I'm not merely standing here watching.

Kaldrun deflected as many arrows as he could and neutralized those that clung to him with his own Ether.

At the same time, he continued responding to my successive whip strikes.

As he did, a satisfied smile appeared on his face, just as it had during his spar with Reisir.

Yor is the one who drew that reaction from him.

At present, Yor's combat ability was like an unpolished gemstone.

Her potential was extraordinary, but her technique remained crude and incomplete.

Kaldrun quickly discerned the pattern of her attacks and began advancing again.

Since Yor was still forming new arrows and maintaining her assault, he could not approach as quickly as before.

Even so, I failed to preserve a suitable distance.

My body feels strangely sluggish... And the whip isn't following the trajectory I intend quite as precisely as before.

My eyes caught sight of my breath spreading through the air in a white cloud.

Only then did I notice the tingling of my skin and the slight trembling of my hands.

I had been so focused on the fight that I had failed to notice the falling temperature.

Once I became aware of it, the sensation of bitter cold biting into my flesh became vividly clear.

I nearly lost control of 【Character Analysis】.

Surely a professor wouldn't freeze a student to death.

Besides, with me constantly moving and generating heat, Kaldrun's ability could not freeze me to death in the first place.

That might only become possible if his skill evolved to at least EX-rank.

I therefore tried to ignore the cold and continued swinging my whip while retreating from the approaching Kaldrun.

Then, without warning, my body began to tilt backward. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

My left foot had failed to find purchase and slipped.

I had deliberately avoided every patch of ice Kaldrun had created earlier.

That meant he must have formed a new one beneath my foot at that very moment, intending to create an opening.

Right. The distance has narrowed considerably, and Yor's efforts have dragged the spar out longer than expected. It makes sense that he'd try to end it now.

But I could not allow myself to be defeated so easily.

If I wanted to avoid being judged as hopelessly inferior to my own familiar, I needed to show him something as well.

I wrapped my left hand in Ether and struck the frozen floor with all my strength, shattering it.

Then, pushing myself up as though launching from solid ground, I twisted my body and swung my Ether-coated right leg upward in a powerful kick.

I had watched various martial arts videos for reference when writing combat scenes in the past.

This was my attempt to imitate a capoeira kick.

Since it was my first attempt, the motion was far from smooth.

However, thanks to the experience I had gained performing all manner of acrobatic movements during the dagger techniques lecture, along with the increase in physical ability granted by my buffs, I somehow managed to execute it.

Though the attack itself still missed.

Kaldrun, who had closed in to end the spar, stepped back and avoided the kick.

Using that opening, I carried the rotational force through, righted myself, and retrieved a dagger from my Inventory before hurling it at him.

The moment Kaldrun knocked it aside, I rushed forward and slashed at him with another dagger I had drawn.

Even if I attempted to retreat and widen the distance, he would catch me immediately.

I judged that it would be better to rely on surprise instead.

But my opponent was a skilled fighter who had even defeated the original protagonist.

With the hand not holding his sword, Kaldrun seized my wrist and pulled me toward him as he raised one knee.

No matter how I looked at it, he was about to drive his knee into me.

I can't avoid this.

Getting struck in slow motion would not make it hurt any less, so I deactivated 【Character Analysis】.

A dull impact slammed into my abdomen.

My breath caught in my throat, and a cough escaped me involuntarily.

"To think you can fight this well despite possessing an ability specialized for support. Impressive."

Kaldrun spoke while holding the sword in his right hand against my neck.

Saying that I was impressive for a support specialist was no different from saying that I was mediocre as an actual combatant.

Although I knew he intended it as praise, it did not feel like praise at all.

If he had praised Yor instead, I would have accepted it gladly...

With that thought, I answered him.

"Ah... yes..."

"...I was complimenting you."

"Yes, I know."

"......"

Was he still bothered by Ríolíkin's earlier remark that he had no talent for praise?

When I reacted awkwardly, Kaldrun deliberately clarified that his words had been meant as a compliment.

But hearing that did not suddenly fill me with gratitude.

All I could think was, What am I supposed to do with that?

"Surely you aren't holding a grudge over the final blow?"

"I am not."

"Sparring is supposed to hurt. That way, when you enter real combat, the pain won't cloud your mind and prevent you from continuing to fight."

"I am aware."

Perhaps because this body belonged to the pampered heir of a noble family, he assumed my feelings had been hurt because no one had ever struck me so harshly before.

The original Karvaldr might never have been hit by anyone, but I was different.

The blow had forced a cough from me, but it was not so painful that I could not yet straighten my back.

"As you said, Professor, being struck during a spar is only natural. I have not suffered any meaningful physical harm. Even if I had been severely injured, I could simply receive treatment, could I not? I am not so petty that I would resent someone over something that occurred during a spar."

I straightened my posture and met Kaldrun's eyes as I spoke.

Realizing that he had misunderstood me, Kaldrun adopted an awkward expression.

"I see... My apologies for the misunderstanding."

"It is fine. Then I will return to my seat."

"...Go ahead."

Once my conversation with Kaldrun ended, Yor called out to me.

"Myaang."

Several daggers were clutched in her forelegs.

It appeared she had retrieved those that had fallen to the floor while I was speaking.

"Good work."

As I thanked her for collecting the daggers, I also filled the words with praise for how splendidly she had completed her first spar.

I gently stroked Yor's head and back.

Of course, I had no intention of reducing my thoughts on the Baby Dragon's first sparring session to those two words.

I'll praise her properly once we're back at the dormitory.

With that resolution, I returned the daggers to my Inventory.

Then Yor's condition caught my attention.

She had consumed no small amount of Ether, and condensing and shaping it must have required considerable Mental Power as well.

Is it because her Ether reserves are so vast and her Mental Power is so high...?

Unlike me, whose arms had grown stiff and whose energy was fading, Yor remained full of life.

Despite the cold penetrating all the way to my bones, she showed no sign of feeling it whatsoever.

Had my own skill been better... If I had pressured him before Kaldrun adapted to Yor's attacks, could we have won?

I firmly impressed upon myself the need to work harder and returned to my seat.

"Thank you for your hard work! Lord Yor was amazing, exactly as expected of Lord Yor, and Lord Karvaldr, you fought very well too! If it had been me, I would have fallen the moment I slipped. But you launched a kick from that position...!"

I had expected Ríolíkin to praise me loudly.

Besides, since he was praising an attack that had failed, his words did not resonate with me very much.

"That's right. It was a truly splendid spar. More importantly, you must be freezing. Take something out of your Inventory and put it on before you catch a cold. If you don't have anything, ask Reisir to lend you something. The blanket I'm using was borrowed from him as well."

Unlike Ríolíkin, whose desire to praise others was as strong as his desire to be praised himself, Vigdís prioritized concern for my health.

At her words, I noticed that everyone else had wrapped themselves in cloaks or blankets.

The Demon Realms I had personally entered so far had not involved any changes in temperature, but some were said to be intensely cold or hot.

For that reason, I had stocked my Inventory with equipment intended for extreme cold.

Just as I retrieved a blanket and prepared to wrap it around myself—

"Use this first, then put yours over it."

Reisir, as meddlesome as ever, attempted to drape the blanket he had warmed with his own body heat around my shoulders.

"That kindness is unnecessary."

I refused.

What I had taken out was not an ordinary blanket, but an Ether Heated Blanket.

I conspicuously pressed its power button.

When Reisir touched the blanket and felt it warm almost instantly, an embarrassed expression crossed his face.

"You... carry something like this with you...?"

"One never knows when one might be swept into a Demon Realm, nor what sort of environment it might contain. Is that not why you also carry several blankets?"

"That's true... But when it comes to preparedness, it seems you're one step ahead of me."

It would be more accurate to call it a difference in financial means rather than preparedness, but saying so would have been impolite.

As always, I ended the conversation with a quiet—

"Hmph."