Chapter 709: He Thought We Were Noobs
A quick healing spell from me later and the female Mahun was back on her feet.
The good thing was that she wasn't that hung up about the loss and simply thanked me for the match before returning to the group of Mercenaries at the side.
Odeta immediately came up to me with an excited look on her face, "How did you do that, Sister Aster?!"
I was about to ask her what she was talking about when I realised that her gaze was pointed at the sword I had made using Lumenmancy still in my hand.
"You mean how did I create this?" I asked.
She nodded her head enthusiastically, "Last I remember, Sister Aster would make black coloured weapons right? How did you make these?"
"Oh, that's easy. You know I can use Lumenmancy as well right? I just learned from Li… I mean… Professor Lisa yesterday how to use that magic to create these like I would with my Umbramancy."
"Could I touch it?"
I flipped the sword around and handed it over to her, hilt first, wondering why she had the sudden interest in it.
She took the sword from me and marvelled at it like a kid with a new toy before looking at me again with even more enthusiasm than before.
"Could you also create a shield with this?"
I nodded, "I could. In fact, this magic is better for making shields than the shadow one."
I went ahead to chant the spell again and this time I created a shield while I dematerialised the sword in Odeta's hands.
The moment the shield appeared, Odeta seemed oddly enthusiastic about it and asked to hold it as well.
Of course, I saw no reason to deny her so I handed the shield over and she started inspecting it and even giving it a few taps with her fist.
She then held it up with one hand and punched it with the other, only to find that the shield withstood her punch with no issues.
"This is so cool, Sister Aster! If I could have one of these, I could protect you better!"
I giggled, "Ehehe~ But you already protect me very well though~"
"I can do better! I wanna learn this magic too!"
Oh wow, that's actually a surprise. I never thought that I would see Odeta showing interest in any magic at all. I'm pretty sure she learned Electormancy because it allowed her to temporarily buff herself, not because she had actual interest in the magic itself.
Kind of obvious since she literally doesn't use any of the attack magic and only uses the buffing type magic exclusively.
"Perhaps you could ask Lisa to teach you the basics? Maybe you could even join our class?"
"That sounds awesome, Sister Aster! I'll do that!!"
Having Odeta join in on another lesson would be nice so I'm quite looking forward to that.
Right then, I realised that the Amrap Mercenary and another one of the male Mercenaries that had wanted to have a match with me from earlier were approaching Odeta and I again.
I wondered what they wanted and the mystery was soon solved when the male Mercenary drew his wooden weapon.
"I shall be next in line for the match," He declared confidently.
Eh? Another match? But… Oh wait… No one said that it was limited to just one match right? So we're supposed to just keep fighting against the Mercs until the end of the lesson?
I looked at the side to see the other students still duelling with the Mercenaries and Dungeoneers that were matched with them.
It was clear that the more experienced Mercenaries were holding back and fighting the students with just enough skill to give them a challenge instead of just outright dominating them.
The more experienced students were still able to stand their ground somewhat so they were giving them a run for their money.
But it seems like Odeta and I were the only ones who won our matches so far.
Alright… I guess this is better than just sitting around and watching the rest of my class getting their asses kicked so let's start the next round.
I guess that means I'm going to have to watch Odeta fight her opponent first?
Odeta laughed and cracked her knuckles, "Wahahaha! Alright then! I'm not gonna pass up another fight! Watch me, Sister Aster!"
The male Mercenary took a step towards me and I raised my hand at him, "You're going to have to wait until her fight is done, sorry."
Instead of stopping, the Mahun ignored my words and charged towards me with his sword raised above his head.
What the heck? Hello? Is he deaf or something?
He let out a battle cry as he lunged the last metre or so towards me before swinging his sword down at my head.
I managed to slide myself out from the sword swing, letting the wooden blade slam itself on the ground where I had been standing.
Unperturbed, he brought the sword up in another swing and aimed it at my chest.
I had to leap backwards to avoid it which prompted him to chase after me with a lunge.
I spun myself around in midair, allowing my tail to swing out from under my skirt and slam into his unprotected side.
The blow sent him stumbling back as he grunted from the pain, giving me time to chant the spell to summon a shield and a sword in my hand using Lumenmancy.
Odeta looked like she was going to jump on him from behind but stopped when I raised my hand at her, indicating that I would handle this myself.
I guess she'll just have to wait till I was done with my match first before I could watch her. At least her opponent seemed content to wait with her instead of insisting on starting their fight like this guy.
My opponent recovered and charged towards me, his sword braced against his side in a stabbing pose while he rushed at me.
When he reached striking range, I raised my shield and leapt at him, aiming to knock him down with a shield charge.
Unfortunately for me, he managed to react to my attack and leapt away from me towards my right, spinning away on a foot and using the momentum to deliver another slash towards me.
I slammed my foot on the ground and swung my shield in an arc, parrying his sword away while I stabbed my sword at him at the same time.
He did the surprising thing of grabbing my blade with his bare hand and stopping it just an inch away from hitting him in the chest.
Sure, my sword was blunt so it would not have cut him anyway but he had caught my sword using his palm and fingers pressed against the flat of the blade so even if it was a real sword, it would not have cut him anyway.
While he was holding my sword to keep me there, he raised his own sword and started to bring it down on me, forcing me to raise my shield to protect myself from the blows.
His sword struck against my shield once, twice, three times, before I found an opening to kick my leg out and strike him in the ankle.
He let out a pained groan right before the edge of my light shield was slammed into the side of his face.
The male Mahun stumbled to the side and his grip on my sword loosened, allowing me to pull it out of his grasp before I swung it back to smash my blade into his chest.
That was a solid hit and should have meant the end of the match but… The guy did not stop and lunged at me again with his sword raised in an overhead slash.
What the heck dude? Why are you being so aggressive?
"I won't lose to some new student who hasn't even gone out to fight for real before!"
Err… What?
Wait… Does he really think that I don't have actual combat experience?
I twisted my arm to catch his sword with the edge of my shield, only to rotate my arm back to twist the sword out of his grasp to clatter on the ground noisily.
Before he could recover from that, I pointed my sword at his chest, pushing him back with the tip of my light sword.
He was looking at me with furrowed brows, clearly not happy with the result of the fight.
I frowned at him, "Dude… I'm a D rank Dungeoneer and an E rank Mercenary. Both of us have live combat experience."
He blinked at me a few times, as though trying to comprehend what I had just told him.
Then, very slowly, his mouth opened up into an 'O' shape before letting out a single word.
"Oh."
…
Oh? Is that the only thing you have to say? God damn it, I really want to punch his face right now.