Kwakwang!

The space vibrated and tore. Although no lightning was seen, the sound of ferocious thunder rang out. At the same time, the aftermath of the first collision swept through the training ground. Cracks spread across the floor of the old training ground, and dirt and dust rose wildly. The knights’ clothes fluttered furiously, caught in the aftershock.

“Ugh…!”

Maxim blocked the oncoming wind with his palm. Through the gaps between his fingers, beyond the vision blurred by the dust storm, he could assess the situation.

The first collision was in Christine’s favor. She hadn’t moved an inch from where she had manifested her magic, but a long groove had been carved under her opponent’s feet.

The two mages seemed to have roughly gauged each other’s skills. While Christine had an indifferent expression as if her expectations had been met, her opponent, Lione Becker, couldn’t hide her bewilderment at Christine’s skills surpassing her expectations.

“…!”

Lione’s lips moved. The spell she chanted unfolded and took shape. Christine was calmly waiting for the mage’s spell to be completed. However, despite her arrogant attitude, there was not a hint of humiliation on Lione’s face. The hierarchy had already been established.

‘She’s strong.’

Maxim thought to himself as he looked at Christine. He guessed she was a skilled mage, but Maxim had never seen Christine fight properly. Whenever he jokingly requested a spar, she would frown and refuse.

The knight chanting the spell and Christine watching it.

After the first collision, this match had already moved beyond the realm of determining victory or defeat.

As Lione’s magic was completed, a magic circle was drawn in the air, and chains made of mana were ejected. The chains of light rushed to restrain Christine. She glanced sideways at the approaching chains and muttered something. At that moment, Maxim could read Christine’s lip movements.

Not bad.

That was Christine’s evaluation of Lione Becker’s magic.

Like a snake coiling, the chains circled around Christine. She hadn’t even begun preparing for a counterattack yet. Lione pulled the hand she had stretched forward towards herself and clenched it tightly.

Shiik!

The immaterial chains of light closed in with the sound of metal clashing against metal. Christine was obediently bound by the chains without resistance. With a clattering sound, the tightening chains made a loud interlocking sound and stopped after tightly binding Christine.

“….!”

Lione chanted spells without rest. The chains of light creaked and crushed Christine. Her feet were lifted off the ground.

Did she get distracted?

Maxim was inwardly worried about Christine, but that didn’t happen.

Clang!

If forcibly expressed in onomatopoeia, that was the sound that rang out. The magic activated by Lione had been destroyed. The chains, which had a solid magical structure even in the eyes of an outsider, crumbled too easily at Christine’s will.

Lione hastily activated the magic circle she had kept on standby. Several strands of light chains fell towards Christine from all directions. This time, she didn’t wait patiently. She dodged a couple of chains with light footwork and simultaneously deployed defensive magic when needed. A golden magic circle resembling Christine’s hair spread out in the air.

Bang!

The falling chains collided with the magic circle, sparking flames of mana. Lione, who seemed to have expected from the beginning that her spell wouldn’t penetrate it, launched another attack without panic.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

However, the defensive magic Christine had deployed didn’t break, let alone get scratched. If this pattern continued for long, Lione would be at a disadvantage. Realizing that fact, she retracted her magical chains. Like an anchor being drawn in, they disappeared into the magic circle.

Christine lightly landed on the training ground floor. The way she blinked her eyebrows at Lione standing on the opposite side seemed to ask, “Is that all?” For the first time, Lione’s face contorted.

“….”

Lione chanted a spell again. Small lumps of light made of mana appeared above her head. The next moment, mana swirled around the knight and seeped into her body.

Physical ability enhancement. Lione was attempting close combat.

The long-range exchange of magic was broken. Lione’s figure blurred, and in an instant, Christine was in range of her fist. Christine slightly distanced herself and activated a defensive spell. A golden magic circle appeared, separating Christine and Lione.

“Ha!”

A shout burst out from Lione’s mouth for the first time since the match began. Regardless of whether the spell was activated or not, Lione threw her fist with the momentum to pierce through everything.

Zzzing!

For the first time, Christine’s indifferent expression changed. She furrowed her eyebrows and extended her hand to reinforce the defensive magic. But before Christine could finish chanting the technique, Lione broke through.

With a cracking sound, cracks appeared on the magic circle of the defensive magic, and it shattered and perished with an explosive sound. Christine was blown back, and she stopped in midair with a dumbfounded expression.

“…Your attacking style is extremely aggressive.”

Those were the first words she had uttered since the match began, which is characteristic of Christine. Upon hearing those words, Lione responded calmly.

“Mages can be versatile. You just adhere to a different style than mine.”
“I’ll respect yours, though I can’t understand it.”

The atmosphere of the defensive-oriented Christine changed. The mana scattered in the air began to swirl and absorb her. Maxim realized it was the physical ability enhancement magic Lione had just used. The aura it emit wasn’t as ferocious as Lione’s, but the power contained in the magic wasn’t significantly inferior. Her refined control over it could even be seen as more threatening.

Christine cracked her knuckles and slowly walked towards Lione. Aura rose between the two mages, who were about 5 meters apart.

“Well, since I respect it, I’ll match your style.”
“You’re quite arrogant.”

‘Although Christine had an overwhelming advantage in long-range exchanges…’

Maxim frowned and looked at Christine. How would she fare in close combat where bodies collide? When he had tried to teach her boxing before, her talent wasn’t at a lacking level. Interest flickered in Maxim’s eyes as he watched over Christine. How far could she go?

“Don’t think that just because you have the upper hand in long-range, you’ll also have the advantage in close combat.”

Lione spoke in a displeased voice, and the ground beneath her feet exploded. She moved even faster than before. Lione’s charge surpassed the velocity of a seasoned knight. The distance between the two was instantly narrowed. She used her right leg as a pivot and rotated her body to the extreme.

Lione’s left leg flared towards Christine’s face. When most people in the training ground thought so, Maxim clearly saw Christine’s raised right arm.

“Don’t think that just because you were pushed back in long-range, close combat will be in your favor.”

Christine provoked her opponent with words that were very characteristic of her. Lione’s eyebrows curved inward. Next, an unbelievable boxing match for a fight between mages began.

Lione Becker changed her posture and extended her fist. Christine calmly dodged the attack by following the movements of the arm and shoulder with her eyes, just as I had taught her. In the meantime, Christine blocked the incoming left leg again.

Christine tried to grab by extending her freely usable left hand, but unfortunately, her arm was too short to catch the opponent. As Christine’s hand swung empty in the air, Lione Becker didn’t miss the opportunity and shook her off. As the distance slightly widened, the two mages simultaneously activated attack magic. The mages’ fire arrows and ice awls collided in midair and exploded.

Poof!

“… You’re much more impressive than I thought.”
“The genius who abandoned the Magic Tower… I guess you aren’t all talk after all.”
“An awl in the pocket is bound to poke out.”*

The knights muttered in admiration of Christine’s skills. Maxim felt inwardly proud to see her being acknowledged. After all, she was a comrade who had been with him through thick and thin for two years.

Bang!

In the meantime, the two mages had engaged in hand-to-hand combat again. As Lione threw punches in succession, Christine deflected or dodged all the incoming attacks. Christine tried to attack again by extending her leg, but the opponent was equally difficult to hit. They maintained physical reinforcement as if they possessed an infinite mana reservoir and didn’t hesitate to launch attack magic whenever they saw an opening.

Gradually, a sense of urgency began to seep from Lione. She seemed to have judged it would be disadvantageous if it became a battle of attrition. Christine didn’t miss the changed flow. Calmly deflecting Lione’s attacks, she finally grabbed her opponent’s shoulder.

Lione’s expression stiffened, and just as Christine was certain of victory, Theodora’s voice boomed across the headquarters.

“Enough.”

The two mages froze in place as if they had encountered a basilisk. Lione’s expression revealed a resentful look, while Christine’s expression showed a look of regret.

“Christine Watson, you pass. Congratulations. Now, both of you, return to your positions.”

However, Lione didn’t do the absurd thing of disobeying the order or requesting an extension of the match time. She cleanly stepped back and praised Christine.

“Good work. Your skills are excellent.”

Christine looked at Lione, who extended her hand and said that with a reluctant gaze. However, she couldn’t bring herself to refuse the extended hand and awkwardly shook it.

“Yes… Thank you.”

Even as Christine returned to Maxim’s side, she couldn’t erase the unsatisfied expression on her face.

“Congratulations, Christine.”
“Thank you, Vice Commander… But it ended in a rather unsatisfying way.”

Maxim couldn’t help but chuckle at her regretful appearance.

“You’re disappointed that you couldn’t reach a conclusion?”
“I wanted to show you how well I learned from you.”
“You did great.”

When Maxim praised her, Christine grinned with the corners of her mouth raised.

“Next… Hans Wagner, step forward.”

Theodora called out the next member. The member called had heavy footsteps, perhaps having lost confidence after the previous fight. Maxim watched the next match, envisioning who the opponent would be and how he should fight.

==

After three more matches following Christine’s, the knights seemed to have reached a conclusion.

Christine Watson is the mutant of the Raven Knight Order.

The remaining three existing members who challenged the selection test couldn’t even last 10 minutes, let alone 15 minutes. Amidst the smell of iron, dust, and the pungent odor of blood wafting through the training ground, the member who had just been eliminated walked down the hill with slumped shoulders.

“It’s your turn now, Vice Commander.”

Christine spoke to Maxim, turning her eyes away from the departing member’s back. He pretended to be nonchalant and put on a playful act.

“If even I get eliminated, the honor of this knight order will hit rock bottom.”
“There was no such honor in the first place.”

Christine laughed. Then, she changed her expression and urged Maxim.

“Don’t overdo it.”
“I know.”

Maxim felt a gaze from the podium as he stretched his body. Theodora was glancing at him.

“Next, Maxim Apart, step forward.”

Maxim stepped forward according to her words. Since four knights had been brought along, she intended to have one of them fight again. Except for Lione Becker, the mage who had fought Christine, none of the knights showed signs of fatigue. It was because all the matches had ended blandly.

‘Still not helpful until the end.’

Maxim clicked his tongue inwardly. He reviewed the fights the knights had shown so far in his mind. He recalled their movements and the flow of mana. Then, Maxim could reach a conclusion.

There’s no need to overdo it.

Maxim’s eyes were filled with anticipation. His heartbeat was much slower than usual, and the breath coming out of his mouth was not heated but cold. Maxim grasped the hilt of his sword, bringing forth the blade in his heart.

Maxim waited for Theodora to call out his opponent, but she hadn’t said anything yet. Was she pondering who to designate as his opponent? He thought she was making an uncharacteristic contemplation. As Maxim’s gaze steadily turned towards the podium, Theodora finally opened her mouth.

“Vice Commander Maxim Apart will…”

Maxim’s hand gripping the hilt tightened firmly. Who would be his opponent? He looked around at the knights standing with unwavering postures.

“Personally face me.”

What the hell.