Chapter 237: Unexpected Growth

A/N: Lemonnn! Hello again after a one-month break! ^_^

For those who aren’t on the Discord server, I’ve been away for a month because I was busy with university...

Anyway, all you need to know is that I’ll be posting Chapters regularly again. 🍋

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Chapter 237: Unexpected Growth

Felix remained on the ground for several seconds.

Although Veris had the tip of his sword pointed at him, he didn’t attack. He was waiting for Felix to get back up.

The magic circles around Layla’s staff flickered and disappeared.

I was also watching Felix.

Felix first pressed his palms against the ground, then slowly stood up using his sword for support. The back of his uniform was covered in mud. His lower lip was split, and a thin line of blood ran from the corner of his mouth toward his chin.

He wiped the blood away with his thumb and examined it for a few seconds.

Then he looked at Veris again.

"That hurt a little."

The usual warm smile was gone from his face. For the first time, his gaze was as serious as Veris’s.

Veris gripped his sword with both hands.

"Are you going to surrender?"

"When we’ve only just started?"

The moment Felix raised his sword, I felt a faint wave of mana spread from within his chest.

It was quite weak at first.

A tiny vibration that was almost impossible to notice...

But in the next moment, the mana inside Felix’s core began to rapidly condense. As the air around him grew heavy, the dust at his feet was blown outward in a circle.

The runes on the protective pillars surrounding the training field lit up at the same time.

Several students stopped fighting and turned toward Felix. Those closest to him instinctively stepped back under the pressure bearing down on them.

Even Professor Aemon completely lifted his hat.

Felix’s core was releasing mana pressure into the surroundings.

But the amount of mana wasn’t the only thing that had changed.

His mana, which had previously flowed softly and unevenly, was now gathering at a single point on his sword. With every wave of mana released from his core, the pressure around him grew slightly stronger.

A faint golden light began to form around his sword.

Layla breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing Felix back on his feet had briefly erased all the worry from her face.

"Good..." she murmured.

Instead of being frightened by the sudden change in his opponent, Veris smiled.

"So you’re finally getting serious."

Felix didn’t answer.

Veris took the first step.

The ground beneath his foot cracked as his body shot forward. His sword descended from above once again and collided with Felix’s weapon.

A powerful gust of wind spread through the area after the clash of metal.

This time, Felix wasn’t the one forced back.

As their swords pressed against each other, Veris’s eyes widened in surprise. Felix had stopped the same force that had easily pushed him back only a few minutes ago without taking a single step.

Felix twisted his wrist, guided Veris’s sword to the side, and stepped forward at the same time.

The hilt of his sword struck Veris’s shoulder.

As Veris staggered backward, Felix followed him. The first slash from the right targeted his chest, while the second immediately went for his legs.

Veris blocked both attacks, but Felix didn’t give him any time to recover.

Every time their swords collided, another wave of mana spread from Felix’s core. His movements grew faster, while his attacks became heavier.

Even so, this wasn’t merely a sudden increase in strength.

Felix had learned Veris’s movements.

The reason he had remained on the defensive since the beginning of the fight wasn’t simply because he couldn’t counterattack. He had been observing Veris’s footwork, the angle at which he held his sword, and the small openings he left between attacks.

Now he was using everything he had learned against him.

When Veris stepped forward with his left foot, Felix must have realized that the attack would come from above. Instead of raising his sword over his head, he held it diagonally and redirected the blow to the side.

As Veris’s weapon passed beside his shoulder, Felix slipped inside his guard and slammed his shoulder into his chest.

Veris slid back several steps.

Felix swung his sword upward from below. Veris deflected the attack, but Felix shifted all his weight onto his front foot, spun, and struck Veris’s wrist with the flat of his blade.

Veris’s fingers loosened.

But he didn’t let go of his sword.

Gritting his teeth, he tightened his grip again and sent a horizontal slash toward Felix’s neck. Felix leaned back and avoided the attack. The tip of the sword passed only a few centimeters in front of his chin, but he never took his eyes off Veris.

Then he suddenly lunged forward.

The hilt of Felix’s sword struck Veris in the stomach.

It was the same attack Veris had used on him only a few minutes ago.

The air was knocked out of Veris’s lungs, but instead of retreating, he raised his head and slammed it into Felix’s forehead.

Felix staggered back two steps.

Veris held his stomach and tried to catch his breath. Even so, neither of them looked away from the other.

After a brief silence, they charged forward again.

Their swords clashed six times within seconds.

Each strike echoed across the training field, and the ground around them broke apart a little more. Veris’s attacks were still heavier, but Felix was no longer taking them head-on. He moved his sword at slight angles, guiding Veris’s strength to the side and turning it into his own attacks.

The smile on Veris’s face gradually grew wider.

He had finally accepted Felix as a truly powerful opponent.

"Show me more!"

The mana surrounding Veris was suddenly drawn back into his body.

As he gripped his sword with both hands and raised it over his shoulder, a dense layer of gray mana formed around the weapon. Then he charged forward with all his strength.

Instead of meeting the attack, Felix stepped back.

For the first time, more than ten steps of distance opened between them.

He slowly lowered the tip of his sword toward the ground. When he pulled his right foot back and turned his body sideways, golden mana began flowing from his arm into his weapon.

My brows furrowed slightly.

I recognized that stance.

The way Felix held his sword close to the ground, shifted his weight onto his back foot, and gathered his mana at the tip of the blade...

There was no way I was mistaken.

Dawn Sword...

It was the sword technique that would eventually become synonymous with Felix’s name in the original story.

But he wasn’t supposed to use it this early.

In fact, he shouldn’t have even learned the opening stance of its first form yet.

The golden mana gathering at the tip of Felix’s sword grew increasingly dense. Light spilled from the weapon and spread across the ground around his feet in thin lines.

As Veris approached, he raised his sword.

Felix’s hair and uniform whipped around under the pressure of Veris’s mana, but he didn’t move from his position.

The distance between them fell to five steps.

Four...

Three...

The ground beneath Felix’s feet cracked.

As he accelerated forward, he left a trail of golden light behind him. When he swung his sword from the ground toward the sky, a massive golden crescent rose from the tip of his weapon.

The slash tore through the ground as it rushed toward Veris.

Veris didn’t retreat.

He gathered all the mana surrounding his sword in front of him and faced the golden slash head-on.

The entire training field shook when the two forces collided.

The ground beneath Veris’s feet shattered as the veins in his arms bulged. The golden crescent came to a halt against his sword.

Veris gritted his teeth.

"Is that all?!"

Felix didn’t answer.

He raised his sword and completed the first movement. Instead of disappearing, the golden mana left in the air formed a wide semicircle above his head.

It looked like a sun about to rise over the horizon.

Felix spun on his front foot and released a second slash.

This time, his sword moved horizontally.

The straight line of mana passing beneath the golden semicircle suspended in the air completed the shape of the technique.

A sun with the horizon beneath it...

Golden light filled the entire training field.

Felix’s voice reached my ears just before the explosion.

"Dawn Sword..."

The completed formation of mana descended upon Veris.

"First Form: Rising Sun!"

The golden sun exploded.

The protective pillars around the training field activated at the same time, causing the entire transparent dome to tremble. The exploding mana created a wave of hot wind that reached all the way to where we stood.

Layla raised her staff in front of her to protect her face.

Some of the nearby students staggered backward. Felix and Veris completely disappeared from sight for several seconds behind the cloud of dust and fragments of golden mana.

A sharp metallic sound rang out from the center of the explosion.

Then a sword spun out of the dust cloud.

The weapon turned several times in the air before stabbing into the ground.

It was Veris’s sword.

As the dust slowly cleared, two figures came into view once again.

Veris was down on one knee. The chest of his uniform had been torn open, and one of the pieces of armor protecting his arms was cracked. His right hand was empty, and his fingers trembled from the impact they had taken.

Felix stood several steps behind him.

His sword was still covered in golden light.

The moment Veris raised his head and tried to turn toward him, Felix moved his wrist. As the tip of his sword reached Veris’s neck, the remaining fragments of golden mana scattered through the air like tiny sparks.

The training field fell silent.

Almost every student who had been fighting among themselves moments ago was now watching them.

Professor Aemon was no longer sitting down.

He stood with his hat in one hand, unable to take his eyes off Felix’s sword.

Felix was breathing heavily. The blood at the corner of his mouth had begun to flow again, and the arm holding his sword was trembling slightly.

Even so, the tip of his weapon remained steady against Veris’s neck.

Veris first looked at his sword, which had been thrown to the side, then at Felix.

He didn’t say anything for several seconds.

Finally, he lowered his head.

"I lost."

The serious expression on Felix’s face slowly disappeared. He lowered his sword and offered Veris his hand.

"You fought well."

Veris frowned as he looked at his hand.

"I don’t need you to comfort me."

"I’m not comforting you. You really did fight well."

After hesitating for a few more seconds, Veris took Felix’s hand and stood up.

He had accepted his defeat, but the displeasure on his face hadn’t disappeared. Even so, there was now a clear respect in the way he looked at Felix that hadn’t been there before.

The golden light covering Felix’s sword faded.

The mana pressure he had released into the surroundings also slowly began to disappear.

The relief on Layla’s face faded along with it.

She had smiled when she saw Felix get back on his feet. Now, however, she was staring at her own hands. She was gripping her staff so tightly that her knuckles had turned white.

She had also felt how much stronger Felix had become in only a few minutes.

She must have remembered what I had told her.

Felix will continue to grow stronger even if you do nothing.

The distance between them had widened a little more right before her eyes.

And Felix hadn’t merely grown stronger.

He had also used the first form of the sword technique that would bring him fame in the future.

When Rose noticed that Felix was injured, she ran toward him.

"Felix!"

Layla also took an instinctive step forward.

But Rose was faster.

She reached Felix and grabbed his arm. First, she looked at the blood on his lip, then at his mud-covered uniform.

"Are you all right? You didn’t break anything, did you?"

"I’m fine. I only took a few hits."

"You call that a few hits?"

When Felix lost his balance and leaned slightly to the side, Rose immediately moved beneath his shoulder. She placed his arm over her own shoulder and supported him.

The brown-haired girl who had been paired with Rose earlier also hurried over behind them. A pale green healing spell began to form between her hands.

Layla remained where she was.

Her hand rose a few centimeters as if she wanted to reach out to Felix, but then fell back to her side.

Rose was already standing beside him.

She was supporting him, checking his injuries, and making sure he was all right.

Layla clenched her fists.

I could see her nails digging into her palms.

"No one is stopping you if you want to go," I said.

Layla answered without raising her head.

"There’s no need anymore."

Her voice was much weaker than when she had been angry earlier.

"He already has someone beside him."

This time, I didn’t try to provoke her.

My eyes returned to Felix.

The technique he had just used was definitely the first form of Dawn Sword.

It wasn’t perfect.

He had used more mana than necessary and could barely remain standing after completing the technique. Although the golden slash had broken through Veris’s defense, most of its power had scattered into the surroundings.

Even so, he had managed to use it.

I tried to determine when his sudden growth had begun.

Was it when Veris’s final blow knocked him to the ground?

Was it when he decided to stand up again?

Or had the change inside his core been slowly taking place since the beginning of the fight, with me only noticing it when it finally surfaced?

The original story had shown several times that Felix could grow rapidly when he was in danger. He adapted to the pressure of his opponents and broke through limits during battle that most people would need months to overcome.

It was one of the most annoying advantages of being the main character.

But this growth had happened far too early.

In the story I remembered, he hadn’t experienced such a huge leap during an ordinary combat practice. He was also supposed to use the first form of Dawn Sword much later.

Perhaps this event had simply never been shown in the story.

Maybe Felix already knew the basics of the technique but had never managed to use it.

Or perhaps I was the one who had triggered it this time.

I had placed Veris in front of Felix. I had motivated him to win, then forced him to fight in front of Layla and Rose.

Could all Felix needed to grow be a sufficiently powerful opponent?

Had the physical pain activated his core?

Was it his refusal to lose in front of everyone?

Or had the pressure he felt during Veris’s final attack allowed him to instinctively complete Dawn Sword?

There was no way for me to find the answer right now. Even Felix himself didn’t seem to fully understand what he had just done.

He was staring at his own sword, blinking in confusion as if he hadn’t been the one who had created the golden sun moments ago.

That was even worse.

If even my small interventions in the original story could accelerate his growth, it would become difficult to predict what kind of Felix I would face in the future.

"White Hair."

Professor Aemon’s voice interrupted my thoughts.

When I turned my head, I saw him adjusting his hat as he got up from the weapons chest.

"Come with me after class."

"Where?"

"To the faculty room."

The moment a few nearby students heard our conversation, they looked at me.

Aemon stretched his back with a yawn.

"Don’t worry. You’re not being expelled from the academy yet."