Chapter 87: Midterm Exams (4)

「99.9%」

Aside from the system’s margin of error, it could be called a flawless score.

Considering even Instructor Frahan had only scored 99.7%, it was an unbelievable result.

That was why Laysis simply stared intently at the number without any reaction.

Meanwhile, Carl, who was unaware of this fact, tilted his head at the score that fell short of 100.

“There shouldn’t have been any mistakes. I must have made one somewhere.”

“…The system’s terms say that 0.1% never goes up because of error margins. The 99.9% you got now is the highest possible score.”

“Ah, I see.”

Carl nodded with a faintly regretful expression.

It still would have been cleaner to have it land exactly on 100.

But since it was still in the development stage, such flaws were inevitable.

“Carl.”

“Yes.”

“At this point, I’m curious.”

Carl lifted his head and met Laysis’s gaze.

“About what?”

“Carl, your real skill.”

“Hm.”

Carl closed his mouth at the unexpected words.

“I told you before, right? I already know you’re hiding your strength.”

“Yes.”

“At first, I thought you were at a cadet level, but I realized that standard was wrong. At the very least, you’re above Brother Darius, aren’t you?”

“…”

Carl stayed silent.

Seeing this, Laysis narrowed her eyes as if to say, ‘I knew it.’

The world was vast, and there were many strong people.

Even among first-year cadets, there was Nerian.

With the Power of Ice and the talent inherited from the Hopenheim bloodline, he had achieved outstanding results and made his name as Bayern’s top cadet.

In such circumstances, it wouldn’t be strange for someone stronger than Nerian to suddenly appear among the new cadets.

You never knew who might be out there, or where.

And the man standing before her belonged to that category.

“Would you spar with me?”

“A spar, you mean.”

“Yes. I want to know where I stand. And I also want to know a little more about you, Carl.”

“….”

Seeing Laysis lay out her thoughts so frankly, Carl scratched his cheek.

He had only intended to reveal a small portion of his skills to justify giving her advice.

But by raising his score unnecessarily, he had only managed to provoke her interest.

‘Judging by her expression, she’s not going to let this go easily.’

At the start of the semester, he had judged that it would be a success if he could get within the boundaries of the key cadets by the end of the first year.

But thanks to good luck since the entrance exam and careful maneuvering, he had made it this far.

Carl Leipzig.

Should he break the carefully cultivated image and take one more step forward?

Maximilian’s case had been an exception.

Even now, Maximilian believed his loss had been due to not being in good condition.

He was itching for a rematch once he fully recovered.

If it weren’t Laysis in front of him right now, Carl wouldn’t have thought twice about it.

But she held special meaning for both him and NOX.

‘The main cadets are four.’

Nerian, Louis, Yuria, and Laysis.

Mahut, whom he had initially kept an eye on, had a quiet personality and failed to stand out in academy life, quietly fading into the background.

That was why he focused on these four.

All of them were excellent, and their backgrounds were equally impressive.

Nerian and Louis were heirs to ducal houses, while Yuria had the Gray Magic Tower.

Laysis, on the other hand, was the princess of the Kingdom of Alforam—still royal, but her circumstances were slightly different from the first three.

‘The crown prince of Alforam is already decided. It’s impossible for Laysis to overturn that country’s power structure.’

Which meant her fate would ultimately fall into only a few possibilities.

Given her royal status, it was highly likely she would be bound by stiff, outdated traditions.

Her own wishes and desires probably wouldn’t be part of the equation.

But what if a hand was extended to her from this side?

‘There’s a chance she could be recruited into NOX.’

Laysis was a talent lacking nothing in both martial and scholarly pursuits.

If she gained experience and matured, she could become a formidable master.

Carl found her quite the tempting prospect, so he intended to invest effort into drawing her in from now on.

“Understood. Within limits.”

“Thank you.”

Hearing Carl’s decision, Laysis smiled faintly and raised her wooden sword.

They halted the Reflex System and silently stared at each other from a set distance.

Though the spar had come about suddenly, both Carl and Laysis were perfectly calm.

Tak!

The first move came from Laysis.

Lightly pushing off the ground, she closed the distance in an instant and unleashed a flurry of swift strikes.

Since she didn’t know his exact skill level, she was clearly probing with cautious, testing attacks.

But Carl had no intention of dragging this match out.

Kaaang!

A loud clang rang out in the middle of the training ground.

With a fierce swing, Carl knocked Laysis’s blade aside and looked at her with a suddenly serious expression.

“I’ll go a little more seriously.”

Thud─!

Leaping into the air, Carl descended like a fired cannon, producing a sonic burst.

Laysis, already composed and ready, responded calmly.

She struck Carl’s blade precisely as it cut down through the air toward her.

Kang! Kang!

Amid the darkness, pale yellow sparks flared.

At a glance, it might have seemed an even match, but before long, Laysis began retreating step by step.

‘Ugh.’

The strength behind Carl’s sword was considerable.

Not only was it difficult to deflect his strikes, but the shock from each clash traveled up her arms, making even her insides churn.

For even a moment’s lapse in focus, the shock seemed enough to make her drop her sword and collapse on the spot, and it continued to build without pause.

She had thought the gap between them would at least be one she could see with her eyes—was that a misjudgment?

“Your breathing has faltered. Focus. If you bend your knees, it becomes difficult to parry your opponent’s sword. Even if it’s hard right now, you must maintain the correct posture while responding.”

“……”

“You must watch the full arc of the swinging blade and counter along that diagonal to minimize the impact. If you block stubbornly head-on, it won’t be your hands giving out but your sword itself.”

Gritting her teeth at the flood of advice, Laysis pressed on.

She was someone who could admit her shortcomings.

That was why she desperately repeated Carl’s words in her mind, applying them to her movements.

‘Hm.’

Carl’s eyes narrowed.

Yuria, and now Laysis—both, when they showed their true skill, had something that exceeded his expectations.

Even now, she should have reached her limit and been knocked down within five exchanges.

Her bent knees were trembling.

Her breathing was rough enough to make her shoulders rise and fall, and her sword-gripping hand was so pale it looked bloodless, as if struck by spasms.

Yet Laysis did not retreat, holding her ground.

Seeing her like this, Carl let out a faint chuckle inwardly.

‘So this is what the masters of the Central Plains must feel when they meet a fledgling in the martial world and decide to teach them a move or two.’

How could one not be pleased, seeing such earnestness despite meager skill?

Carl exhaled a short breath and raised his sword.

“Keep your mind sharp and try to block this.”

“……”

At Carl’s words, signaling the end, Laysis raised her trembling sword tip.

‘Something big is coming.’

She could sense it instinctively.

It was a reward for enduring his fierce onslaught until now.

Opening her eyes wide, Laysis slowly raised her sword.

She had no intention of being satisfied with merely blocking it.

She too prepared to unleash the best sword she knew.

Saaaa—

The distracting thoughts in her head vanished, and a deep stillness settled over her surroundings.

She had already put all of Carl’s advice into practice.

So now, she excluded all else and focused solely on her blade.

It was not swordsmanship passed down by the royal family of Alforam.

Though the techniques learned there could be called secret arts, they lacked the substance to serve as her core.

What had quenched her thirst in that regard was a single sword form taught by Instructor Frahan.

Instructor Frahan had not brushed it off as just a lecture test reward.

He had truly passed on one of his own ultimate techniques, guiding her until she could learn it.

Its name was…

‘Arachne.’

Like a spiderweb spread wide—

The space fractured.

By tracing unseen lines in the air, she perceived and subconsciously controlled the surrounding domain.

Opening all her senses wide, she processed vast amounts of data in an instant, taking only what she needed.

Her mastery was still low, so she could only apply it to a single target.

Just by deploying Arachne, her head grew hot and her eyes welled with tears.

—Someday, if you can fully control Arachne, no one will be able to step into your domain lightly.

Laysis recalled Instructor Frahan’s words.

Arachne’s true worth lay in its rapid reaction and delay-free counterattack.

Like prey touching a spider’s web, she could instantly discern an intruder in her domain and deliver the optimal counter.

…Just like now.

Shhhhhhht!

A razor-sharp slash tore through the air, aimed at Carl who had entered her domain.

It was the most perfect strike she had ever swung.

From this clash, she instinctively realized that her Arachne had risen a level.

Kang!

But contrary to that, Arachne’s counter was blocked with ease.

She couldn’t clearly grasp what had happened.

In an instant, an intense chill surged from ahead, and the erupting shockwave swept her away, knocking her backward.

Barely regaining her balance and stopping in place, Laysis lost all strength in her body and collapsed to the ground.

“…Ugh.”

Her stomach churned.

It had only been about ten minutes of sparring, yet she felt a fatigue that pressed down on her whole body as if she had spent the entire night swinging her sword.

Even so, Laysis slowly lifted her head to look at Carl standing before her.

“You’re more of a monster than I expected. I still thought I’d be able to put up some fight.”

“I’m the one who’s surprised. That sword just now—did you learn it from Instructor Frahan?”

“Yes. It’s a sword form called Arachne. He said it was one of his ultimate techniques. If you’d like, I can teach it to you. It’s practically thanks to you that I obtained it.”

Originally, she had promised Instructor Frahan not to reveal the form, but if Carl wanted it, she was willing to pass it on.

As she said, she had gotten it thanks to him.

‘Arachne, huh.’

Carl rolled the name over in his mind.

It seemed Instructor Frahan was quite something too.

To hand over his ultimate technique as a mere lecture test reward…

Did that mean he was the type to keep his word, no matter what he had said?

“That’s all right. That’s yours, Miss Laysis. More importantly—did you get your answer now?”

Carl looked down at Laysis with a faint smile.

Having gone this far, he resolved that he must have her, no matter what.

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