I Quit the Hero’s Party Chapter 252

〈 Episode 252 〉 I am your future (2)

* * *

Arena, or duel arena.

The seats in the so-called Colosseum are packed with students. Despite the fact that the duel took place suddenly, the number of spectators who came to watch the duel continues to increase.

There is a reason why that has to be the case.

Among Aplia’s first batch of graduates, if you were to pick one who is the most famous among them… everyone would unanimously call Rox.

Turbulent Rocks.

Although Rox was born as a commoner, he excelled in the ‘Shockwave’ type of magic since his school days. Immediately after his graduation, Rox received dozens of letters from various magical institutions, but Rox rejected them all.

What Rox chose was the battlefield.

After going through a simplified training course for special selection for Aplia graduates, Rox is ordained a knight and jumps straight into the battlefield.

And then, he starts to make a name for himself in earnest.

“The 3rd Kremfeld Defense Battle.”

「Battle to recapture the Celtic Mere Castle.」

「Ziepelte Gorge Annihilation Battle.」

He played an active part in major operations several times, and was recognized for his contributions, eventually taking the position of assistant to the knight commander.

All of that was accomplished in a short period of time.

He is truly a person who has taken an elite course.

So, for students who are planning to head to the battlefield after graduation, Rox is close to a role model… and even students who are not at least know Rox’s name.

“Then, please do me a favor.”

Such Rox came to Aplia.

“Juniors.”

As a senior who graduated from Aplia early on, I applied for a sparring match, offering to coach my juniors. So, who will be the recipient of that glorious sparring?

That was the reason that made so many students come here. The students looked at the two students standing across from Rox.

Deputy head of combat magic, Belnoa.

Chief of the Combat Magic Department, Lac Van Grace.

Among the first-year students who are said to have the greatest talent of all time, the two are by far the best. They are two people who surpass even their professors in the field of combat and were evaluated as stronger than most knights from the time they entered school.

The two face off against Rox, a graduate of Aplia… who is currently making a name for himself on the battlefield.

It is not easy to predict the outcome.

That’s why it’s interesting.

『No matter what, two people at the same time.』

『Still, it’s Rox senior. You are an active soldier on the battlefield…』

『I don’t know if it’s just one person, but it’s two people. Didn’t you see the duel between Lark and Belnoa? It really wasn’t a joke.』

Opinions are divided even among students.

While the students sitting in the audience shared their own guesses, Lark, standing in the arena, tilted his head and opened his mouth.

“How did this happen, Belnoa?”

“Senior Rox is teaching me a lesson.”

“Isn’t that what I said to you?”

“I said I was the second chief, so I asked you, the chief, to bring me too. “One person won’t be a match for you.”

“Oh oh···.”

Lark opened his mouth and gave a brief exclamation.

Rox’s eyes, who were watching the two, narrowed at the sight of them looking somewhat distant.

Warrior of the North, Lark Van Grace.

Belnoa, the nightmare of the slums.

I’ve also heard of the two people’s names, Rox.

Even though he was a student, he had heard countless rumors that he was of a higher level than a knight on the battlefield.

‘Let’s check whether it’s a rumor or not.’

Rox took a step back and raised his hand. It was a signal to count, and the host hurriedly started counting. That’s when the host shouted ‘five’.

I flinch.

Belnoa and Lark’s movements change.

The shoulders of the two who were standing calmly gained strength, and their eyes turned straight to Rox.

[four!]

Lark pulls out an ax from his belt.

Belnoa starts to release his wrist with a thud.

[three!]

Rox was secretly impressed as he watched the two people enter a fighting state in an instant.

‘The atmosphere changed in an instant.’

It gives off a sharp aura like a well-honed blade, as if it will attack at any moment.

[two!]

“Not bad.”

Rox rolls up his sleeves and begins to raise his mana. The circuit stocked on his forearm heated up, and Rox’s eyes narrowed.

[one!]

This is the moment when the host recited the last number.

With a thud, Lark and Belnoa hit the ground at the same time. Although the speed is unusual… Rox is not embarrassed.

Sigh.

Rox grabbed the air with his empty hands.

Shock.

The basic spell of the shock spell series.

A spell that gathers mana in the air and explodes.

The manifestation of spells that have been used thousands or tens of thousands of times continues smoothly. Mana gathers in the air, and Lark and Belnoa are within the explosion range.

It is the manifestation of orders through accurate predictions.

The moment when the two people were about to be swallowed up by the spell.

Kwasik!

Lark’s ax tears apart intangible mana.

Swinging doesn’t end once. As he was swinging the axe, Lark took a step forward and swung his arm.

Sigh!

An ax flies and gets stuck in Rox’s protective shield. Rox’s eyes open wide. The place the eye is directed to is the spell engraved on the ax blade.

Smite.

“Tsk!”

Quang, the shield vibrates with a sound. The shield is not broken by a single spell, but the ax stuck in the shield flies backwards due to the recoil of the impact.

widely.

Lark, who has already come close to us, catches the ax floating in the air. The series of movements is smooth. It looks like he predicted even the angle at which the ax would fly.

‘This is better than I thought…’

Rox feels surprised.

Rox stretches his gaze, taking in the approaching Lark at a glance. What is in the stretched field of view is Belnoa, who dug into the side as soon as the game started.

Belnoa approaches from the side.

Lark charging at you from the front.

A grin forms on Rox’s lips. Although it was only one battle, Rox had to change his evaluation of the two.

‘Let alone Son Dae-jung.’

If we are not careful, this side will lose.

“Whoa…”

Rox lets out a short breath and raises his foot.

A circuit engraved on my forearm burned fiercely. Rox’s military boots hit the dirt floor with a thud.

The spell that appeared was turbulence.

A spell similar to Rox’s symbol shook the duel arena.

2.

Boom, coo goo goong!

A shock wave explodes starting from the ground where Rox hit. The ground shakes, and dust rises. Lark and Belnoa, who were running on the ground, lost their balance for a moment.

Blah, blah.

As it is a high-level spell, its power is controlled, but the vibration that erupts in an instant is more than enough to shake the movements of two people.

‘There is one battle mage, but there are many different types.’

Amid the rising dust, Rox places his hand on the floor. The view was obscured. Rox determines the enemy’s location through the vibrations echoing through the floor.

‘For both of them, hand-to-hand combat is the main battle, and spells are the support.’

And Rox is the exact opposite.

As spells are the main focus, Rox is closer to a wizard than a battle mage. It’s just a little bit of learning about the magic system called Stock.

thud. Cooung.

Have you finished adjusting to the obscured view?

A vibration echoes through the ground. I can feel someone coming this way. Rox rotated his fingers clockwise against the ground.

Shock Ball (ShockBall).

The spells formed at the fingertips are revealed one after another.

A spell on standby floats next to Rox.

Throw in!

It was Lark who approached, shaking off the dust.

Three shock wave spheres appear in front of Lark, who is floating in the air and slamming his ax down. The moment he is about to swing the axe, Lark’s extra senses sound an alarm.

‘If it touches you, it will sweep you away.’

It is a land mine type spell.

Lark reflexively twisted his body and slipped and landed. Rox opened her mouth and muttered.

“It feels good.”

Lark too.

“You there too.”

Before we knew it, Belnoa was approaching, throwing out a shadow dagger. Both stood still, blocked by the shock wave sphere.

Just right.

The moment Rox snaps his fingers, the shock wave spheres explode all at once. The shock wave completely removes the dust, revealing the battlefield in disarray.

“My fighting method is the same as what you saw.”

This is a sparring to check your skills and learn.

As such, Rox kindly explains his fighting methods.

“Block your vision, shake the ground and upset your balance… or lay down spells like land mines.”

A combat method that is close to a grappling technique.

“On the battlefield, where big moves and big spells are pouring in, this surprisingly works well.”

As the two people look at Rox giving such an explanation, doubt abounds. People are looking at me like, why are you telling me that so kindly?

“Uh, senior?”

Belnoa, who could not see anything, opened his mouth.

“Why are you telling me that?”

“···yes?”

Rox blinked.

“No, of course I have to tell you. Isn’t this just practice sparring? “I’m not sparring to beat you.”

“of course···?”

Lark tilted his head.

“Professor, you didn’t say that…?”

“yes?”

“Wasn’t this something like your combat habits that we had to find out on our own during sparring?”

“···Yes?”

He seemed embarrassed when I immediately told him the correct answer.

Rox was even more embarrassed when he saw that.

‘How on earth did you learn it?’

Although such questions arise, I will put them aside for now. Rox lightly shook his arm and continued speaking.

“Anyway, my fighting method is like this.”

It gives a signal as if to continue.

Belnoa and Lark nod and rush towards Rox again. The movement is faster than before.

Rox also takes things a little more seriously.

Rox usually carries around 20 spells in stock. More than 20 spells are difficult to control, and the spells will be damaged.

Counting in his mind, Rox casts a spell.

Five spells appeared at the same time on the palms of our hands that were pressed against each other. What embroidered the air was an amplified shock wave ball. Keeping the two in check as they shorten the distance with a mine-shaped spell… Rox raises his arm.

All that remains is an immediate order.

It restricts movement with a shock wave ball and shakes the ground to create a gap. Rox’s fighting method was to sniper through the gap with an instantaneous spell.

‘···There are many spells that use the terrain to wipe out, but they take several days and require circuits to be engraved.’

In any case, it is said to be a difficult combat method for warriors who want to engage in close combat. As it is a combat method that has been built up over a long period of time, it will not be easy to destroy it.

It won’t be easy, it won’t be.

Kwajik, get a card!

Why?

bang. Kwaaaaang!

Even this is easily penetrated.

“What is this…”

Rox forgot to respond and looked at the scenery unfolding in front of him. The shock wave spheres hidden in the air are disappearing one by one.

It is torn apart by an axe.

It explodes after being struck by a shadow dagger flying from somewhere.

We are ‘exactly’ identifying where and how shock wave spheres, which are invisible to the naked eye, are located, and intercepting them one by one.

‘That guy sniping from a distance doesn’t make sense either.’

What’s even more surprising is Lark.

It accurately reads the direction of the shock wave emitted by the wave sphere and twists its body at the same time as it tears the wave sphere to escape the range. There is no way that such a move could be possible for just anyone.

‘It’s already the realm of the extra senses.’

Lark’s red eyes sparkle.

At some point, the smoke escaping from the corner of Lark’s mouth continues to follow Lark’s movements.

Boom, quaaaang!

The shock wave sphere is running out.

Soon, two people rush towards Rox. Rox looked at his feet for a moment.

Grumble.

The shadows pooled on the floor move.

Rox stepped back, blowing away the stake rising from the shadows with a shock wave. If you take a step back, there is Belnoa, who is throwing out a shadow dagger.

“Ugh!”

He dodged the dagger, but the dagger was released as a shadow and wrapped around Belnoa’s hand, perhaps because the attack was expecting evasion from the beginning. What was completed in this way is the Shadow Armor.

Belnoa swings his armor-covered fist.

Rox hits the armor with a fist holding the shock wave, but he is the one who gets pushed back.

Fit!

The back of my hand is torn. Blood splashes out.

Rox frowned and stamped his foot on the ground. The ground shakes with a thud.

He buys time with a shock wave and tries to hastily widen the distance, but the flying ax blocks Rox’s movements. Lark slid the ax stuck in the ground, pulled it out again, and struck it straight up.

Fit!

Blood splattered on Rox’s forearm again.

‘driving me crazy.’

It’s pushed, for sure.

If it was just one side, they could have done anything, but from the moment they became two, Rox was unable to predict victory.

‘I’m used to cooperation.’

Collaboration is familiar.

We know well the moments when each other is at a loss.

Rather than simply rushing in, the moment Rox digs in, looking for an opening, a check comes in right away.

We are used to fighting together.

And, it’s not just that.

‘Why on earth are you reacting so sensitively?’

The most surprising thing is the reaction to the stock.

To put it simply, Rox is a wizard who has learned the magic system called Stock. Although it is only half a coin… it means that he can use anomalous spells like a battle mage.

An anomalous fighting method that comes from stock.

It is impossible to predict at what moment and in what direction a spell will be fired. Battles with battle mages are always tricky because they are unpredictable. This means that it is not an easy thing to respond to.

‘It’s a system of combat that you have to see a lot and experience a lot to get a feel for it.’

In short, I got hit a lot.

It’s simple to understand if you’ve experienced it a lot.

However, for some reason, the two avoid it well. It reacts strangely sensitively to the stock, and is frantically wary of the activation of spells from certain movements.

As if you die if you get hit even once.

‘Even if you get hit, you won’t die, but those who can withstand a few hits are avoiding them like ghosts…!’

Even if you just move your finger slightly, you’ll get ripped! And looking at the two people moving like ghosts… all I can do is laugh.

Even the knights on the front lines do not react that sensitively to stock.

‘How on earth did I learn it like that…’

Are these monsters coming out?

Cooperation, individual physical abilities, and the ability to respond to orders are all already far beyond the level of ordinary knights.

‘What level of article… what the f*ck.’

At that level, he is at the level of active duty on the front line.

Even if you send him into battle right away, he will make a greater contribution than most veteran knights.

‘It’s definitely not at the student level.’

They say Aplia’s standards are high, but this is wrong. Rox instinctively realized this as he watched the two people making strange movements.

‘Those guys are the ones who saw the wall.’

Children who are close to being superhuman.

There are only a handful of people who have entered the realm of superhumans at that age…even in the hundreds of years of history of the kingdom.

These people are certain to become superhumans in the future.

Faced with children who harbor such potential, Rox bursts into laughter.

“What on earth did you get trained for?”

What on earth did they teach the students to make them move like that? The students sitting in the audience cannot hear those empty cries.

However, not everyone has heard.

A wizard who never missed a small sound that was just a scattered sound… but a story praising himself, nodded while listening to the sound.

“I teach well.”

Rania van Trias smiled proudly.

3.

I guess I taught you well.

While watching the sparring match, I rested my chin and smiled faintly. Watching the students grow was unexpectedly enjoyable.

‘Rox is at the top level.’

Turbulent Rocks.

It is rare for a wizard to make a name for himself on the battlefield. Rox was clearly at the top level, and was a knight who could single-handedly crush famous demons such as the Black Knight Dyke.

And, once upon a time, Belnoir was miserably defeated by Dyke.

‘But now?’

win

Belnoir will definitely win.

‘Not only Belnoa, but also Lark.’

It is growing steadily.

Since their main sparring partner was me, I couldn’t really understand what level the two had reached… but when I paired them with Rox, I got a rough idea.

“We’re almost there.”

And, Dalian has also reached its end.

Rox, who was cornered against the wall, unleashed the last spell he had in stock. It was a spell I had also seen before.

‘That’s it.’

A spell that collapsed the entire canyon.

This is a spell that lured the Demon King’s army into a canyon on the battlefield and buried them alive at once. I’ve tried collapsing canyons before, but there were some differences between what I did and what Rox did.

If I had ignorantly pressed the print button.

Rox created a crack in the ground due to turbulence, then filled the crack with a small spell to collapse it.

And, Rox is demonstrating that spell now.

Rox’s mana flashes between the gaping cracks. The ground shakes violently and begins to roll like waves. Lark and Belnoa were holding on with their weapons planted on the floor to maintain balance.

‘Should I stop it?’

It’s a bit weird to blow up the arena.

After briefly considering intervening, I quickly shook my head. Rox is also controlling his power… and I was curious about Lark and Belnoa’s response.

Special lectures from the past few months.

I had Lark and Belnoa repeat training that was as close to actual practice as possible.

‘How to understand the opponent’s battle habits, how to read mana, how to predict the form of a spell, and… how to respond to it.’

It’s time for them to see the light.

I silently looked at the two standing on the battlefield and muttered softly.

“If they block it, classes will be cancelled. If you can’t stop it, reinforce it.”

A voice filled with mana lingers in their ears. Both of their shoulders trembled. I watched their movements with a smile.

well.

While stuffing the dessert I bought before coming to the duel, I watched the battle that would end up being the last battle of the duel.

* * *

fantasy,