By the Grace of the Gods (LN) - Volume 13 - Chapter 3

Chapter 8, Episode 3: Test of Strength

Once Sebas had left the inn with Ryoma, Remily asked, “Reinbach, how strong is that boy, in your opinion?”

“Truth be told, I can’t say. I have watched him cast a spell and train a few times, but never have I seen him in action... When I first met him, he was already hunting down bandits. During the recent conflict in Gimul that we were just talking about, he apparently vanquished an assassin of the underground guild. A more than competent fighter, but to what extent... That is why I asked you to take on the task of finding out, Sever.”

“Now it makes sense... Speaking of—Remily.”

“Yes?”

“When you approached him using magic to hide yourself...he still noticed you? Without you intending him to?”

“Curious, are we?” asked Remily.

“How could I not be? Even when we were younger, you used to think it was amusing to slip past castle security,” Sever said.

“Amusing? That was a surprise drill. Elias said as much,” Remily said.

“Be that as it may, it was no less of a headache for the ones on guard duty,” Sever said. “Not only me, but for the chief royal sorcerer as well as the elite knights and guards... I’ll admit it helped improve security, but that doesn’t mean I won’t take every opportunity to complain about it.”

“And how many years has it been?” Remily smirked. “I definitely didn’t expect the boy to notice me before I could even sneak up on him, let alone give him a hug. And the way he kept his guard up, you’d think he didn’t trust anyone but himself... Well, maybe that’s going a bit too far. At least when he was talking to Reinbach and Sebas, he seemed to relax. Maybe distrust of strangers has its roots deep in his heart.”

“You have always been observant of those things,” said Reinbach. “I have not been made privy to too many details, but his upbringing was not pleasant, from what I understand. When we first met, he held a hermitage deep in a forest. Even back then, he spoke and acted much older than his age, as if he were already weary of living. Recently, he seems a bit more lively.”

“Hm... He must have faced his fair share of tribulations. I won’t consider him a mere child, then. Very well. I’ll withhold further judgment until our match.” Sever swiftly went to his room to prepare for the sparring match.

With deftness acquired from years of experience, he donned the set of heavy armor he’d acquired after his retirement and took up the trusty halberd that had been his weapon since he’d been in the service. Feeling the weight of it in his hands, he muttered to himself, “Now, if only I didn’t feel my age in my bones...”

The halberd that had once felt like an extension of his arms had grown heavier and heavier with every year. By now, he had to use energy meditation—a skill he’d acquired through years of grueling training—just to wield the weapon as he had in his prime. Even with it, Sever couldn’t help but notice his strength and dexterity were declining in combat. When he’d first announced his retirement, those around him tried to convince him that age did not weigh so heavily on him as he thought, and that he had plenty of strength to continue his career. But Sever still felt his years, as much as he’d tried to carry on out of responsibility to his duty and to his coworkers. In the end, he stayed true to his resolution and resigned from his post as Captain of the Knights’ Order, once he’d grown confident in the abilities of his replacement. In his retirement, Sever was still mindful to keep up his strength, only to be reminded that mindfulness alone would not let him sail against the wind of time. Just last night, he hadn’t even been able to keep his drinks down.

“Time waits for no one, right?” Remily said, having been listening to Sever through the wall. “We all have to accept aging for what it is. But I think yours has been more gentle because of how aware you are of it. If you weren’t so sensitive to the flow of time, you’d have drifted further down before you realized.”

Sever chuckled as he remembered the longevity of dark elves. “You seem like you never change, Remily... Is it true that dark elves show signs of aging too, however unnoticeable they seem? While you’ve never told me your exact age—it could be twice mine, for all I know—you look the same as you did when we first met. And you’re still as nimble as ever. I can hardly believe you’ve aged at all. When I was finally desperate enough to ask you if there was a secret to staying young, you told me you had a ‘young heart’... Well, now’s not the time for discussing this. I must focus on the match.”

Shaking those thoughts out of him, Sever returned to Reinbach and Remily to find that Sebas had rejoined them. Immediately, Sebas transported them with Space magic to the clearing where Ryoma awaited them on mysteriously flat ground, surrounded by slimes.

Ryoma ran over to Sever. “I hope to be a good match for you.”

“Likewise,” said Sever. “What’s with the slimes? And the level ground?”

“The slimes are my familiars,” Ryoma explained. “And I thought setting up the space like a training ground would make things easier.”

“That was very considerate of you, although you must have spent some of your magical energy to do it.”

“No, I asked my earth slimes to do it for me with their Earth magic.”

“I see. As for our match, will you agree to the knights’ method?” Sever asked.

“Well... What method would that be?” asked Ryoma.

“In our case, it shall be one-on-one, of course. Spells up to intermediate level and magic weapons are allowed. Until the match is called, you may attack an opponent even if they are on the ground. Those who resort to trickery in sparring matches may not be popular, but all’s fair in war. Intentionally killing your opponent is of course out of the question, but other than that—no holds barred. This sparring method can be dangerous without a well-trained healer standing by, but luckily we have Remily with us.”

“I can use advanced healing magic too. Even if you were to lose a limb, I could reattach it as long as I do it right away. Oh, and I’ll set up a quick barrier so you don’t have to worry about your surroundings,” Remily said.

Although surprised by her claim, Ryoma accepted it and turned back to Sever. The sword in his hand warped before regaining its form. “My weapon is a transformed slime. Will this violate the one-on-one clause?”

“Your weapon is a slime...” Sever repeated. “I am here to measure your own abilities, so let’s say you can’t make any of your slimes attack me directly. Using a slime as your weapon is fine.”

“Thank you,” Ryoma said.

Ryoma and Sever faced each other in the center of the newly leveled ring, weapons in hand. Sebas stood between them, ready to serve as referee.

“Begin!” Sebas announced.

In the same instant, Sever thrust with his halberd. Dodging its point, Ryoma closed in on his opponent. Sever swung with the butt of the halberd to prevent this, prompting Ryoma to double back and loose a fire arrow from a distance. As if he saw it coming, Sever easily avoided the spell and countered with a blade of wind.

Spells and weapons clashed several times, each fighter concealing his full strength and sussing out his opponent—not that anyone who didn’t know the combatants’ strength already could have guessed as much just from watching the match. In the middle of the ring, now scarred by magical attacks, the pair ferociously clashed, the clang of their weapons heralding the severity of the battle. Sever’s first thrust alone would have ended the match against an average adventurer or soldier.

Sever was the first to take a risk. He swung his halberd down, aiming for Ryoma’s shoulder, but he was charging the weapon with magical energy at the same time. Ryoma took a step back to dodge the blade, noticed the magical energy, then leaped to his right. A moment later, whirlwinds coming from the halberd left numerous shallow scores on the ground where Ryoma had been.

“You do have a good eye,” Sever said.

“That would have been it for me if I hadn’t sensed the magical energy,” Ryoma said.

Sever’s halberd was enchanted with the elementary Wind Cutter and intermediate Tornado Cutter spells. Naturally, he had held back enough that even a direct hit would not have killed Ryoma; it only would’ve wounded him enough to end the match. Yet Ryoma had sensed his opponent’s magical energy flare, decided that Sever must’ve imbued his weapon with it rather than cast a spell, and actually made the leap to avoid the attack. If Ryoma had made the wrong call or faltered at any step, he wouldn’t have been able to evade the attack.

Silently praising his young opponent, Sever hardened his resolve to win the match. Ryoma, too, had renewed his focus.

This time, Ryoma took the initiative. “Fire arrow!” As he cast the spell, he rushed Sever, ready to cut the man with his sword. That much he had tried before. This time, though, just as he darted forward, he cast Earth Needle without an incantation.

Both the fire arrow and Ryoma—who was aiming as if to slice Sever as soon as he dodged the arrow—were decoys for a second spell: the earth spat out needles silently, headed for Sever.

With cool precision, Sever dodged both spells but ended up giving Ryoma an opening to close in and strike. When he did, Sever had to block the boy’s blade with the energy-charged shaft of his halberd. To break away, Sever immediately cast several Wind Cutter spells in rapid succession, activating the spells in his halberd at the same time. The spells allowed him to distance himself from the boy again.

As he did so, a question came to Sever’s mind.

Strange... The boy blocked my spell but made no attempt to counter. Not right away, at least. He’s an excellent swordsman and he can cast spells with no incantations, but he has a bizarre stiffness for someone with his abilities. At first, I thought he was leaving an opening on purpose to lure me in to attack, but this would be making it too obvious. Besides... 

After exchanging some more blows, Sever ventured a strike, taking advantage of the opening Ryoma gave him next.

I see, he concluded. He must have learned to use magic not too long ago. Compared to his spectacular swordsmanship... Did he have no teacher in magic? For his age, his spellcasting is more than competent, but he sorely lacks experience! 

The tide of battle began to turn against Ryoma. In this world, the use of magic spells was expected in combat, unlike on Earth. The type of sword fighting Ryoma had studied in his previous life wasn’t designed to be used in conjunction with magic.

Ryoma had creatively explored spellcasting since he’d come to this world, but that had only been four years. Even then, it was only after he had left the forest that he learned his first attack spell. Back in the forest, all of his spells had been for survival or making his life more comfortable. At the most, Ryoma had only spent about six months truly delving into practicing magic for combat. On the other hand, Sever had been born and raised in this world; he’d trained as a warrior for decades, knowing he’d need to know how to use—and counter—magic. When it came to magical training and real-world combat experience, he was miles ahead of Ryoma.

Until now, Ryoma had only fought against opponents far weaker than him. Some awkwardness in combat had never been an issue, and he could squeak by his self-taught strategies. Sever, however, was on par with Ryoma in physical combat and greatly surpassed his skills as a spellcaster. Every time Sever accurately struck at an opening provided by Ryoma’s inexperience, it pushed the battle in his favor, inch by inch.

But Sever was not allowed to chip away at Ryoma for long. From their brief series of exchanges so far, Ryoma quickly understood that he was losing to Sever because of his inexperience in magic.

If using magic worsens my position, Ryoma decided, I won’t use magic at all. I’ll put everything into the sword. That’s what I spent years training in. 

Suddenly Ryoma had switched his style of fighting. Physical energy sparking through his body, Ryoma thrust with his sword, far more quickly and accurately than before. Sever kept up with Ryoma’s invigorated attacks, but the sliver of advantage he had gained was completely gone.

The match grew fierce. Sever swung his halberd, aiming for Ryoma’s head. Ryoma lunged diagonally, parrying the attack with a circular swipe of his sword—then stepped wide towards Sever in the next breath, aiming to maim Sever’s left leg. Sever avoided that fate by twisting his body and stepping backwards, swinging his halberd at Ryoma’s feet to keep him at bay. When Ryoma dodged the blade and rushed in for another attack, Sever was already firing a spell at him, at the same time using the magic charged in his halberd to attack where he anticipated the boy would go in dodging the first spell.

The earth was torn up, the wind stirring up a thick mist of dirt and dust. Still, Ryoma had evaded the magic, bolting through the dust cloud to slice at Sever again.

Several minutes passed, each fighter unleashing their full strength and range of techniques against the other. Being in the midst of intense combat, which gave him no time to think of anything else, reminded Sever of true fulfillment—the likes of which he had long been estranged from. He thought he’d aged beyond the strength that coursed through his body now; his technique became sharper and sharper in this battle, when before he’d thought himself on the brink of irreversible dullness. Relishing these sensations, Sever concerned himself with nothing but his halberd and his spells.

Yet he knew this exhilaration would not last forever. Suddenly, the fighters were standing some distance apart, their gazes locked. Without so much as a word or even the blink of an eye, they both knew the next move would end the match, one way or the other.

“Hah!” they both grunted. It was time to break this split-second standoff, to engage at last in the final clash of this battle.

Ryoma cradled his sword at his side, tip pointed at Sever. Directing every spark of physical energy to his legs, Ryoma flew up to Sever as if they had never put distance between them to begin with.

To counter Ryoma’s incredible speed, Sever poured magic into his halberd while casting a spell of his own with no incantation. Sever fired a violent whirl of magical wind at Ryoma—along with a full-force counterthrust.

An instant before the tip of the halberd met Ryoma’s torso, Ryoma slipped by it with a paper’s width to spare. But he could not avoid the magical tornado that followed, which left cuts on his cheek, shoulder, and in several spots on the left side of his torso. Blood gushed from them and became mist in the whirl of magic and movement.

Unburdened by his wounds, Ryoma stepped closer to Sever, out of the tornado. Physical energy surged from his legs back up to his body, turning his charge into a tackle-thrust. He was trying to capitalize on the brief opening after Sever’s attack. In turn, Sever twisted by his waist to the limit of his mobility, mitigating the blow so that it only left a shallow cut on his left side.

Using his momentum to dart past Sever’s side, Ryoma dug into the ground with his energy-bolstered feet, braking himself into an abrupt stop—and turning back around and lifting his sword up over his head, he rebounded explosively, springing at Sever. Sever, too, drew back his halberd for a counter.

Two blades flashed in the setting sun, creating a bright red halo of blood.