Chapter 14

“Let’s start with Yuria and Keith. Enter the ring,” Mr. Cyrus said, looking at the list of participants in his hands. The two of us faced off and prepared to fight. While we stood there, glaring at each other, Mr. Cyrus suddenly called out to me. “Yuria, can you come here for a second?”

“Yes, what is it?” I said, walking over to Mr. Cyrus.

“Alright. Use this as your weapon for today.”

“Huh?! This… is a pencil…”

“Mhm. It’s my spare pencil. You can keep it.”

“Um… Do you want me to use this for all of the matches?”

“Mhm. You use a knife normally, right? And against these kids here, your fights would end in an instant. I want to be able to see how strong the other students are, too. That Non-Systematic, Attribute-less Illusion Magic you use is an original spell, right?”

“Yes, it is…”

“Then your results will depend on your own ingenuity. Oh, and you can’t use your fingers, either. Only the pencil.”

“…Understood…”

And so, I ended up with a freshly-sharpened pencil. It was a simple piece of wood, even thinner than a twig. It was a writing instrument – and only a writing instrument – and yet, it was now my weapon.

It was unlikely that anyone else heard our conversation, and they all seemed startled to see the pencil in my hands. Keith, after all, had a claymore while I was standing there with a simple pencil. They had no idea what was going on. To be honest, I have no idea what’s going on, either… but I have to at least try to fight with this thing.

“Alright, you can start.”

I decided I was going to go on the offensive. It would probably be impossible to block that claymore with this pencil, even using [Invisible Blade]. Keith’s claymore was about two metres long with a wide blade. The sword’s guard sloped towards the blade, and it had decorations on both sides. It had probably been adjusted to fit his preferences, and the blade seemed a little longer than usual. Considering his build, that sword length was probably perfect for him. He seemed like the type to try to finish a match in one blow.

“Hah, a pencil? Trying to bluff your way out of this? A bluff that weak might just backfire on you, you know!”

Of course, anyone other than Sherry or Mr. Cyrus would have that reaction. However, thanks to the influence the Twilight had on my body, I can’t use magic from the four Major Attributes. I specialise in Non-Systematic Magic and Attribute-less Magic. Therefore, I have no choice but to use this pencil and my other skills to take the victory.

Of course, if I could use my fingers, I’d have access to more options, but having to use just this pencil is the worst option. Fighting bare-handed would be preferable to this. I would be able to use my fingers and my legs as starting points for my magic. If I used my body properly, I’d be able to make surprise attacks. However, with a pencil, the trajectory of my blade is completely visible from the movement of my arm and wrist. Most of all, it’s thin.

I can’t afford to take a single one of his attacks head-on. I have to go on the offensive. As soon as I have to defend, I’ll lose. “Hah!!”

It’s not like me, but I let out a shout as I activated [Invisible Blade] from the pencil. I extended the blade forward, using its length to attack Keith. Please, let this settle the match…

But that didn’t happen. Keith stood there, blocking my [Invisible Blade], muttering, “Impossible…”

“What?! What happened?”

“Did he have something hidden in that pencil?”

“No… I can’t see anything like that…”

“What’s going on? Keith’s on the defensive. He’s defending against… thin air…”

At that moment, Keith realised that there was an invisible blade extending about 1.5 metres from this pencil. Of course, being invisible, it couldn’t be seen. Both of us could only feel that it’s there. I wonder, did your animal instincts perceive the blade, or have you consciously decided to take me seriously now?

“…I’m not totally sure what kind of trick you’re using, but I’ve already seen through it. I’ll win with the next strike!!”

He’s going to attack… Well, that makes sense. Now that he’d seen through my magic, he could deal with it by treating it as a simple, thin sword. Even if he couldn’t see the blade, he could grasp where it is to some extent based on the movements of my body. Normally, I’d be able to mess with his senses by changing the length of the blade… But I can’t do that with this pencil. But I’m not going to just give up the advantages that [Invisible Blade] affords me. Even if he can sense where the blade is, the fact that it is invisible is a major advantage. Especially against intelligent creatures like humans.

“Hah!! Take this!”

He’s noisy, I thought. I dodged his attack and responded with a thrust.

“Ugh…”

It was just a light scratch, but I made contact with his skin. While this pencil may be thin, it’s quick and easy to move around. Overall, I prefer my knife, but this pencil isn’t so bad either, I thought, activating my Inertia Magic. And then I unleashed a stream of seemingly never-ending blows.

“Guh, ugh, haah!!”

Somehow, Keith managed to handle my attacks. He was fairly skilled himself and was somehow able to keep up with the rapid movements of my sword. He’s a bad match for me, though. At this distance, my [Invisible Blade] is far faster than his claymore. Add in Inertia Magic, and the speed at which I can manoeuvre my sword is far greater than his. I was finally hitting my stride, and I was able to smoothly chain from one attack to the next.

“Woah, woah, is Keith going to lose?”

“He’s a Rank 2 Exorcist and only second to Sherry, right?”

“But… he’s being overwhelmed. Yuria’s overwhelming him with an invisible sword and that pencil.”

“A-amazing…”

I was so immersed in the battle that I couldn’t hear the spectators. That feeling of total immersion felt incredibly nostalgic.

“Bastard! Don’t… get full of yourself!”

Perhaps a little desperate, Keith activated his magic. A wall of ice appeared, separating the two of us. But magic wasn’t exactly his strong suit, so I easily smashed it with my sword and further closed the distance between us.

“Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it… This isn’t possible… This can’t be happening… I’m gonna lose? I’m a Rank 2 Exorcist! I can’t lose! Damn it! Don’t fuck with me, bastard!!”

Keith created wall after wall, retreating rapidly. He’d stopped swinging his sword, enabling him to activate magic faster. Since he’s escaped that far away, it looks like I won’t be able to finish this with [Invisible Blade].

“…Looks like I have no choice,” I muttered, activating a special power of mine, called [Extra]. The academic name is “Magic-Dependent Extra Sensory Perception.”

In other words, it’s a sort of ESP that comes from magic. Some Exorcists, due to the influence of magic, have special perceptual abilities. My special ability is in my eyes. I acquired something called “Demon Eyes” while I was in the Twilight.

“…[Twilight Sight].”

The best way to explain it is the ability to perceive the world from another perspective. My Demon Eyes can perceive the mana flowing through the world as particles. Mana is the basis of magic and is present all around. By using it, humans and demons can cast magic. They normally can’t be seen, but I can see them with this eye.

With my twin eyes burning with the colour of the sunset, I saw exactly where he was going to activate his magic next and quickly closed the distance.

“Wh-“

Dodging his ice walls, I brought [Invisible Blade] to his neck.

Blood dripped from his neck.

“Admit defeat.”

“…Not… Not yet!!”

Of course, I expected he wouldn’t honestly admit his defeat, so I hit him in the solar plexus with a roundhouse kick.

“Ahh…” Finally, he fell unconscious.

“And the winner is… Yuria,” Mr. Cyrus said, marking my victory on his roster. And the silence in the arena… was suddenly broken by deafening applause.

“Amazing! You’re awesome! You won! Against Keith!”

“And it was an overwhelming victory, too!”

“What the hell is he?!”

“Could he be the strongest person in the Academy?”

“Maybe those rumours about him are true!!”

“Amazing! Those rumours were definitely true!”

The applause and cheers were more than I could’ve expected. I was stunned that they actually accepted me and recognised my strength.

“I told you, didn’t I? You didn’t need to worry.”

“…Sherry.”

“Your strength is something that should be respected. The students at this Academy can tell how much effort you had to put in to attain that kind of strength.”

“Yeah…”

I looked up at the burning red sky. It was the same twilight scene as always. And yet, today… somehow it felt clear and calm.