Chapter 6: The King of the School Year Competition

Chapter 6:
The King of the School Year Competition

 

FINALLY, THE DAY OF THE King of the School Year Competition arrived. The event wasn’t just important for me; it was important for the whole Stardia family.

“Let us all support my dearest brother today,” Alice said, looking meek. “We must ensure that he can reign victorious.”

Everyone got up and stood in a line while I walked past and gave them all a hug—my mother, sister, Olivia, and Tigerson. It wasn’t much, but LP was LP. It had been smart of Alice to suggest it. After I hugged Tigerson, my father bashfully held out his arms.

I smiled. “Oh, I’m good.”

“Why?! You hugged Tigerson, even though you wouldn’t get any LP from it!”

“It’s an important bonding exercise.”

“Oh, so you don’t want to bond with me? I see how it is. Fine. It’s not like I care…”

“Tell me, Father, did you bathe yesterday?” I asked pointedly.

My father whistled silently. From his reaction, he hadn’t bathed in three days. And besides, exchanging passionate hugs with my father wasn’t the most appealing proposition.

“I have no doubt that you’ll win, Noir,” Olivia said. “I mean, you are a disciple of the great Olivia, after all. Really, the only one you have to watch out for is Emma.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, how would I know? Just make sure you don’t lose your wits to Emma’s sex appeal!”

Yeah, I still had no idea what she was getting at. Maybe she’d given Emma some kind of advice. Either way, everyone came to the front door to see me off.

“My dear boy, if you win, we’ll have another way to promote the store,” my father said. “You understand how important this is, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I get it. I do want to win anyway, you know. I’m off.”

“Have a nice day!”

Father was planning to run a sale when I won, claiming that items from the shop had helped me to become King of the School Year. Personally, I was more interested in the rights associated with the title—and the enchanted prize.

I arrived on campus and headed directly for the school yard. The competition would take place there, inside the school building, as well as on the roof. Low-lethality magic was permitted in the yard and on the roof, but not in the building. Weapons were allowed inside, but only so long as you took care not to damage the place. Sword-users were using wooden swords, bow-wielders had arrowheads that were less likely to cause injury, and every other weapon had similar safety options. After all, we didn’t want anyone to die.

“First-years, are you all here?” the vice-principal asked from the stage.

The principal was away on urgent business, so he was filling in. Today was just for the first-years, and he looked over us all.

“Welcome to your first King of the School Year Competition. You all know the rules—if the badge on your chest touches the ground, you’re out. Consider this a dry run for your future heroics.” Then he finished with an unexpected shout: “Fight like your lives depend on it!”

I couldn’t tell if he was trying to get us fired up. It made him come off as more unstable than anything. I found it a little unsettling. The badges had been distributed and affixed to our chests, and concealing them was against the rules. If your badge hit the ground, you were out. But if someone took it from you, you were safe—so long as you got it back. If someone did steal your badge, they had to fix it to their chest along with their own. Why did that rule exist anyway?

Ms. Elena whistled with her fingers. “One minute until the competition begins. Take up positions wherever you like. I’ll be your referee, but I won’t interfere unless there’s cheating.”

All of the teachers were watching, so flagrant cheating would be difficult. On that note, using weapons that weren’t sanctioned by the school would earn you an instant expulsion, so I wasn’t about to use my enchanted items.

With close to two hundred students present, it was hard to tell where anyone was. Everyone looked serious, keeping their distance from each other. Then the starting signal sounded, birds flew across the big, blue sky, and the entire student body moved at once. Some made a break for the building, and some tried to hide, while others attacked immediately. Little battles broke out across the yard.

“Hiyaaaaah!”

Someone came at me with a wooden sword. I blocked it with one hand and used my other to fire a Stone Bullet at their feet.

“Eeek?!”

“I’ll be taking that.”

I smacked my would-be assailant’s badge off his chest, and it fell to the ground. The badges were only attached lightly, so it didn’t take much to remove them. I’d have to be careful not to lose mine doing something stupid. Then, before I knew it, I was surrounded.

“You’re in S-Class, aren’t you? No hard feelings, but we’ve gotta take out the strongest players while we’ve still got the energy to put up a fight.”

I’d never seen these five, but they seemed to be from lower-ranked classes. I hadn’t even considered this kind of tactic—working as a team to eliminate the strongest, then duking it out between yourselves at the end. It was clever.

“Are you all ready to fire?”

“Yessir!”

Well, that didn’t sound good. We were out in the school yard, so spells were permitted. I hastily made a box of Stone Walls.

“Get him!”

I heard them fire off Stone Bullets or something similar, but the wall just about managed to protect me.

“Phew, that was close.”

But now my own defense had me kinda trapped. I’d have to wait for the walls to disappear.

“Dammit, what do we do? Go after someone else?”

Yes, I thought. Do that.

But my hopes were crushed.

“Wait, it’s open on top. You go check it out.”

I could have closed the top off if I wanted, but I deliberately left it open. I could hear one of them moving around outside. The real question was whether he’d just peer over to assess the situation or come in all guns blazing. I heard a thud, like he’d kicked the wall.

“Hide all you like, it’s not gonna save you!”

He’d used the wall for leverage—jumping over the box and firing a skill down from above. It was dangerous to stay put, so I jumped straight up. I had A-Grade Jumping, so I soared over his head easily.

“What the heck?! How can he jump so high?”

I fired off a four-inch Stone Bullet, aiming for the badge on his chest and knocking it to the ground. As I landed, I fired off a second shot at one of the others, but he managed to dodge out of the way. I quickly closed the distance between us and grabbed his badge with my bare hand, tossing it aside.

“Three left, huh?”

“Don’t let him spook you! Did you see how small the Stone Bullet was? He probably isn’t very good with spells.”

Actually, I can just control it. I fired off an almost two-foot diameter Stone Bullet at the guy’s feet, and he frantically jumped aside—diving to the ground. The impact freed his badge from his shirt, and the other two fell just as easily. They were probably in D- or E-Class.

“Well, that was a good start,” I said. “And my badge is still safe—”

Wait. I couldn’t believe my own eyes. Where had my badge gone…?

 

***

 

I hadn’t taken a single hit. Maybe it had fallen off when I jumped? I counted the badges on the ground, but mine definitely wasn’t there.

“That’s weird. Who could’ve taken it?”

I looked around and noticed a lone girl. She immediately looked down at the ground, her long, black hair covering her eyes. She was petite and had a dark aura about her. She was also carrying a boomerang, and for some reason, had two badges on her chest.

“Don’t tell me—that’s where it went?!”

She nodded. How had she managed that? Discerning Eye gave me the answer.

 

Name: Ficia Otto

Age: 16

Species: Human

Level: 26

Occupation: Student

Skills: Boomerang Handling (Grade C), Telekinesis

 

Telekinesis: The ability to physically move an object by focusing on it.

 

What the…? That’s cheating!

She must have snatched it while I was fighting. At least she hadn’t discarded it yet.

“Join forces with me,” she said. “Then I’ll give it back.”

Maybe I was approaching this all wrong. You weren’t disqualified until your badge hit the ground, so it was possible to make other people follow your orders like this.

“So your plan is to gather more allies?” I asked.

“No. That would put me at risk. I only need one or two powerful allies.”

The more underlings she collected, the more careful she’d have to be with all those badges. I’d clearly made a tactical error, but now I could make use of her skill. Maybe this was a lucky development after all.

“You’ll really give it back?” I asked. “Seems like it’d be easy to toss it once you’re done with me.”

“I keep my promises. When we’re the last two standing, I’ll give it back.”

But she had to know she didn’t stand a chance in a one-on-one confrontation. What else did she have up her sleeve? Either way, it would be best to work with her for the time being.

“All right, I guess I don’t have much choice.”

She nodded and pointed to a corner of the yard. “Someone’s hiding behind that tree. Start a fight to create a distraction.”

“Sure, I guess. What class are you in anyway?”

“B-Class.”

“Were you angling for me from the start?”

“Yes. You made an impression during the entrance exam.”

I supposed turning up with the skull of a dead reaper and earning a ton of points would do that. We watched our backs and moved toward the tree.

“I know you’re hiding back there,” Ficia called. “Come out.”

“Tch, I was planning to hide until it was all over.”

A girl appeared from behind the tree, smiling daringly. She didn’t have any weapons, but Discerning Eye told me she was skilled in Earth Magic. Her name was Sitrah. Most of the weapons users had moved inside the building, so basically everyone still out here had magic. Since casting was prohibited inside, the power gap was substantial.

“You’re up, Underling No. 1,” said Ficia.

“I have a name, you know.”

But it was futile to stand up to my captor, so I attacked Sitrah with my wooden sword. She put one hand on the ground and smirked. Suddenly, a wall of soil blocked my path, but I’d expected that. I jumped over it with ease, landing behind her and swinging my sword in a horizontal arc. Sitrah reacted quickly, side-stepping away and opening a space between us.

“Phew, that was close,” she said. “You’re S-Class, aren’t you?”

“I’m guessing you’re in A.”

“Bingo. But my abilities are easily S-Class. Guess why I’m not there.”

Her powers were definitely impressive, but I couldn’t think why she’d want to stick to a lower class.

“There are a ton of nobles in S-Class, aren’t there?” she said. “I hate it. It’s a miniature version of high society. It’s stifling. I couldn’t breathe.”

I kinda agreed. I’d hated a lot of the people in my class at first. But after I got used to the atmosphere, I found that most of them weren’t so bad.

“If a member of A-Class were to win, that’d put all you S-Class goons to shame, wouldn’t it?” Sitrah said.

“I’m not sure anyone would really care. Plus, there’s no way you’re going to win.” I smiled and pointed to her badge as it floated through the air.

“Huh? Huuuuh? No way!”

“Now, look over there.”

I pointed at Ficia, who was staring intently at the badge. This time, I’d noticed her doing it. When Sitrah started talking, the badge slowly pulled away from her chest. It was hard to see your own chest anyway, and talking to someone else made it even harder to notice. Sitrah realized she was in trouble and sprinted after her badge.

“Come baaaaack!”

Plop!

Unfortunately, she was too late.

“Idiot,” said Ficia.

And with that, she turned around and left. As I followed, I glanced back to see Sitrah hanging her head.

By now, the situation in the yard had changed drastically. A lot of people had been disqualified, and there were only a handful left. One of them came charging at me.

“Ha ha ha ha! You’re so careless, Noir! No one can stop me now!”

It was Kento. He was a plain kid and didn’t really stand out, but he took pride in calling himself “Speed Star.” His tenacious attitude was definitely annoying. He could probably run right past someone and snatch their badge. I didn’t even try to defend myself.

Whoosh!

Kento streaked by, touching my chest as he passed.

“I win. One step closer to total victo—what?!”

“Joke’s on you,” I said. “I don’t have my badge.”

“What is the meaning of this—hnngh?!”

A boomerang hit Kento’s feet, pitching him forward and sending his badge flying.

“Idiot No. 2,” said Ficia.

I had racked up another victory without lifting a finger. Ficia and I were the only people left outside.

“Are you ready to go inside?” I asked.

“Any time, Underling No. 1,” she said, expressionless.

I shrugged, and she headed into the building just as Maria, the duke’s daughter, burst out alongside her attendant, Amane. I tensed up, but the two of them looked dejected, and their badges were missing.

“Oh, goodness,” said Maria. “Mr. Noir, do take care if you go inside.”

“Whoever beat you must be really powerful,” I said.

“Indeed, we were utterly bested. I believe you’re quite familiar with her.”

So, either Emma or Leila. Just then, Ms. Elena came over.

“No excessive talking to people who have been disqualified.”

“My apologies,” said Maria. “I’m rooting for you, Mr. Noir.”

She and Amane left quietly. Ms. Elena glanced at my chest and raised an eyebrow, but she figured out what had happened right away.

“Ha ha, I see Ficia’s ability got the best of you.”

“She said she’d give it back at the end…”

“So naive!”

Well, it wasn’t like I believed she’d give it back without a fight.

“Silence, Ms. Booty,” said Ficia. “No, I mean, Ms. Erotica.”

“Neither of those are right!”

Ficia didn’t fear Ms. Elena one bit. She was incredible. In the future, she’d be a real force to be reckoned with.

The two of us headed inside, and Ms. Elena followed to keep watch. There was no one on the first floor, so we moved up to the second. The air was silent, but a figure stood at the end of the long hallway, oozing a powerful aura.

“I knew you’d come,” said Leila. “I beat pretty much everyone else already. I was getting bored”

“So,” I said. “You’re the one who beat Maria and Amane, huh?”

“How are you doing, by the way?” Leila asked. “Surely you didn’t have your badge stolen…?”

“Ha ha ha… Well, it’s only temporary…”

“Hmm, well, whatever. I’m just here to fight.”

Leila’s masterful stance was quite terrifying. Magic was prohibited in here, and I didn’t stand a chance in straight-up physical confrontation.

“She’s on a whole different level from the others we’ve dealt with,” I warned Ficia. “We need a plan.”

“We’ll just do the same thing.”

“No, that’s almost definitely not gonna work.”

“Oh, it will. Abandon your fear and fight, No. 1.”

This was useless. Ficia didn’t know Leila, so she wasn’t going to change her mind. Time to sink or swim. I walked toward Leila and dropped into a low stance, raising my wooden sword over my head. I was confident in my speed, but Leila dodged and followed up with a powerful punch.

“Eek!”

I shrieked, but I managed to evade it. What a relief! Her Demon Fist skill didn’t count as magic, so it was fair game in here. Eating that would put you in the hospital, but I had to trust in Leila’s common sense. I had to trust her…

By now, Ficia was using her Telekinesis. Leila’s badge silently detached from her chest.

“Would you knock it off with your little tricks?”

Leila snatched the badge out of the air and put it back in its rightful place.

See? It didn’t work.

To make matters worse, Leila turned on Ficia and charged.

I frantically chased after her.

Ficia countered with Leila boomerang. “Ngh! Who do you think you are?”

With a thwap, Leila’s Demon Fist smashed the boomerang to pieces. Ficia looked shocked, and Leila stepped in to shove her. It didn’t look very powerful, but Ficia went flying.

Oh, no! Where did my badge go?!

Both badges had come off and were flying through the air. I frantically reached out to grab them, and Ficia did the same.

“No. 1…save me…”

“I swear I will!”

Our hands slipped past each other, and we both hit the floor.

Clack!

The sound of a badge hitting the floor echoed down the hall. I closed my hand around my own, and my heart flooded with relief. I’d barely caught it in time.

“You’re…so cruel,” said Ficia.

I stood up and fixed the badge back on my chest.

“The feeling’s mutual,” I said. “Leave the rest to No. 1.”

Not that I really stood a chance of winning!

 

***

 

I didn’t need to defeat Leila, I just needed her badge. I ran through all sorts of options in my head. As I watched Ficia slink away, it hit me: I could use Telekinesis too. I wouldn’t get another chance, so it was worth a try. I spent 500 LP on the skill and concentrated on Ficia’s fallen badge to check that it worked.

Wobble, wobble.

The badge was suspended in the air, rising and falling. Larger objects would be impossible, but it was easy to manipulate something so small. Now I had some kind of chance.

“Ooh, a new skill?” Leila asked. “That little trick didn’t work last time.”

“Yeah, but this time I’m the one using it.”

“I think I know what you’ll do. But can you pull it off?”

Leila beckoned with her fingers. I’d just have to find a way to betray her expectations. I lunged at her with my wooden sword, but Leila moved like a hornet—dodging nimbly before shifting to counterattack. I couldn’t let her break my only weapon, so I quickly drew it back. I’d already seen what her Demon Fist did to Ficia’s boomerang. If I couldn’t use any other weapons or magic, I was done for. I could barely keep track of her sharp punches and kicks.

“Ngh, even if I know what you’ll do, you sure are fast,” I said.

“I have to say, your bladework’s gotten quicker too.”

Leila glanced at her chest to ensure her badge was still there. She wasn’t about to drop her guard. I considered using Telekinesis, but there were no gaps in her defense. Besides, the moment I got my hands on her badge, she’d just kick it away and send me flying.

“I’m clearly at a disadvantage,” I said. “I’ve gotta be bold!”

I pulled back, then followed through with a Power Slash. It was designed to knock opponents off their feet, so it was hard to defend against. Even with a wooden sword, it would hurt. But Leila’s eyes were calm and resolute as she wound up with her right fist.

Thwaaaack!

It was the boomerang situation all over again. My sword shattered, sending scraps of wood flying. We both knew this was it. Lelia checked her badge again. She knew I’d used that move deliberately to throw her off guard. That I was watching for the right moment to use Telekinesis. And she was right. But my target wasn’t her badge on her chest, it was a small fragment of my sword. The smaller it was, the easier it would be to control. I found a good one and focused my Telekinesis on it.

“Nngh?!”

The splinter shot out like a bullet, knocking Leila’s badge from her chest. She was so focused on her badge that she didn’t have time to react.

“I’m not done yet!”

She reached out for the badge, but I crouched down and blocked her way, launching an uppercut at her jaw.

“Ugh…”

She groaned as she twisted away. I had to respect her reflexes, but this time, they worked to my advantage.

Ka-tunk!

The badge fell to the floor behind her.

“Phew. Almost didn’t make it that time.” I grinned.

“That was clever. I never thought you’d use that new power on the wood.”

“If I’d used it on the badge directly, you would have just snatched it back.”

“Either way, I lost this time. You’d better win the whole thing now,” she said encouragingly. “I know you’ve got it in you.”

And with that, Leila gallantly withdrew—accepting her loss without a word of complaint. She really was incredible.

I picked up what was left of my sword. “About half of it is still intact. Might as well keep it, just in case.”

I searched the rest of the second and third floors, but no one was left.

“I think they’re up on the roof,” Ms. Elena called out.

That made sense. I opened the door to the roof and felt the breeze wash over my skin. There was only one student waiting for me.

“Emma. I knew it’d be you.”

“Hiya! You sure took your time.”

It seemed she’d already eliminated the others. Still, the main thing that caught my attention was her clothes. They weren’t the kind of thing she usually wore. Her shoulders and stomach were on full display in a tube top and mini-skirt, and the hem of her skirt was torn. Her battles must have been just that rough. I could almost see something, but it was hard to be sure.

“Y-you’re trying a different style today, huh?” I asked.

“Thought I’d experiment a bit,” she said. “It’s real easy to move in.”

“R-right. S-so I guess we’re the last two.”

“Yup, seems like. How long has it been since we fought each other?”

“Ages…for sure. You always beat me too.”

I was always too slow against her daggers and Wind Magic.

Emma had a wooden dagger in each hand and a sharp look in her eye. “Now I’m the underdog,” she said.

“It’s basically no holds barred. Let’s let our skills shine.”

I timidly approached, but perplexingly, Emma began jumping in place. It was probably some kind of warm-up, but as a side effect, her boobs bounced like crazy. In that revealing top and miniskirt, I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

“Well, lemme do a little warm-up first,” she said.

This time she started stretching. When she leaned forward, I got an eyeful of her cleavage. When she stretched left and right, the hem of her skirt fluttered. I could see her white thighs. If it went just…just a fraction higher…

I shook my head, trying to rid my mind of such base desires, but taking my eyes off my opponent was dangerous. She could attack at any moment.

“A-are you done yet?” I asked.

“Almost. Hnn!”

It was almost like she was pushing her breasts together for some reason.

My sense of reason was losing to my baser instincts, and I couldn’t fight when my lower half was so…“energetic.” To make things worse, Ms. Elena was right there. How embarrassing would it be if she thought I was turned on in the middle of a fight? I pulled my hips back, trying to hide the change as much as possible.

“Hope you’re ready, Noir!”

“Wait, now?!”

I was hoping she’d keep stretching until things settled down a little…

I parried Emma’s fierce attack with the remains of my sword. It wouldn’t last much longer. She was putting me on the defense, trying to get me to withdraw while I was still in this awkward position. She fired off a roaring Wind Strike and took my badge off with it. She’d aimed so well that it didn’t even touch me.

My badge flew several yards and was about to fall when I frantically focused my mind to keep it in the air. It floated less than five inches off the floor.

“You nearly got me there,” I said.

I retrieved it and put it back on my chest.

“Wh-what was that skill?” Emma asked. “You got a new one, huh? Well, you’re not the only one who’s learned new things.”

She kicked up on seemingly nothing and moved through the air.

“Huh?”

“It’s a Wind Kick! When I kick up, the wind supports my leg!”

It was clever, and she was giving it her all, but it was difficult to respond. I was still trying to hide my shame. I reflexively fired a small Stone Bullet, but Emma just kicked it away and lunged at my chest with her dagger. My badge nearly hit the ground again, but I focused my Telekinesis on it.

“Again?!” Emma shouted.

I barely made it in time. I picked it up and made a break for it.

“It’s my turn now,” I said, firing a Water Drop at her feet.

Emma was too quick for it to actually hit her, but that wasn’t what I was trying to do. My real objective was to get the floor wet. After that, I swapped to Iceball. Again, Emma dodged it easily, but that wasn’t really the point. The water I’d just laid down froze over.

“Ugh, it’s so slippery,” Emma complained.

As a bonus, it would lower her body temperature too. Emma was fairly defenseless as she focused on keeping her balance, so I fired a tiny Stone Bullet at her chest.

“Ah!”

Her badge clattered to the ground, and I hurried forward to stop her from falling.

“Here, take my hand.”

“Thanks! Even if we are enemies.”

“Well, not anymore.”

“Oh, right. You really are strong, Noir.”

“And you’ve grown so much, Emma. If I hadn’t had Telekinesis, you definitely would have won.”

“Eh he he he! I’m glad I got to show off my new skills, at least.”

Her smile was adorable, and up close, her sex appeal was insane. She’d sure grown in other departments too…but I decided to keep that to myself.

Ms. Elena clapped her hands. “Congratulations, Noir. You’re the King of the School Year.”

“Hooray! I won!”

I balled my hands into fists and pumped them in the air. It was a close fight, but somehow, I’d made it.

“By the way, why do you keep standing like that?” Ms. Elena asked with an impish grin.

All I could do was laugh awkwardly.

“I…guess I should be happy about that too,” Emma mumbled, looking bashful.