The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide - Chapter 156

Clang! Thunk!

The sword fell onto the floor.

In Rothstaylor Hall on the third floor of the annex of the Rothstaylor Mansion, Ed stood upright among the expensive decorations that filled the hall. His physique wasn’t sturdy, and his behavior was still immature.

It hadn’t been long since the baptism ceremony passed, so it was when he was still young. As a member of House Rothstaylor, the effort he showed through his determination and will was commendable.

Rothstaylor Hall, which was used as a venue for events and gatherings, was also a training center for nobles during a time of peace. It was a place where numerous famous and historic duels had taken place.

In that space, where various famous warriors had dueled, the young Arwen and Ed held practice duels against each other.

By holding their swords against each other, exchanging blows, and working up a sweat, she was able to shake off the weight of being the heir.

However, the level of skill between them was quite different.

“As expected of my sister.”

According to her memory, Ed had looked at the fallen sword with a hesitant smile.

Arwen swung her sword in the air once, cleaning it off.

She then went over to talk to Ed. His skills had improved a lot. All he needed to do was fix his stance a bit more.

“I don’t know. I don’t think I have any talent for swordsmanship. However, magic doesn’t feel great either, so I’m rather torn… I’m struggling to decide.”

Arwen encouraged him to cheer up as she cleaned her sword.

He still had a lot of time left.

And he was born with a blessed status of being a descendant of House Rothstaylor.

He had fruitful nourishment available to him, so if he could just make the effort to utilize it, he would definitely see results.

After Arwen said all of that with a kind expression, Ed picked up his sword and cleaned it, laughing.

“Thank you for saying that.”

Arwen and Ed looked at each other with a smile on their faces.

As if blessed by God, the Rothstaylor Estate was peaceful and surrounded by a beautiful atmosphere.

The warm sunlight came through the annex, reaching Rothstaylor Hall.

In the middle of the warm sunlight stood Ed, swinging his sword while deep in thought.

Arwen quietly closed her eyes for a while as she enjoyed the peaceful warmth of early spring.

Almost all the outer walls of Rothstaylor Hall had been blown away. It was hard to even call it a ‘hall’ at that point. It was more like a terrace.

Strange pieces of flesh wriggled around, covering the rubble of the building. The sky was filled with Merilda’s and Lucy’s magic.

The sound of fighting between the gremlins and spirits filled the mansion’s grounds. Occasionally, the screams of people being struck by the gremlin’s blades were heard.

Ed Rothstaylor was standing in front of Arwen, who had woken up.

He wore a tailcoat covered in blood as he held his dagger. There was a spirit in the shape of a bat and a lioness standing next to him. He had an enormous amount of mana compared to before. His eyes were cold, and his body had become muscular.

The energy flowing from his body was enough for Arwen to realize it.

Ed had no intention of turning around.

He was determined to pass through. So, Arwen took a fighting stance.

Jump!

Ed kicked off from the floor, leaping forward. He jumped in a straight line towards Arwen, narrowing the distance.

Arwen uses two greatswords in close combat. However, perhaps because she didn’t think he would narrow the distance, she could only react by quickly raising ‘Condemnation’ in her left hand.

However, just before they clashed… Ed threw his foot onto the floor, coming to a sudden stop and landing in a place where her sword didn’t reach.

Then, he casually took out a magic marble from his pocket as he rolled it on the floor. Arwen quickly reacted, trying to widen the distance, but the marble wasn’t a means of attack.

Hwaak!

Magic Engineering?!

Claw Fingers.

It was a magically engineered device that could temporarily pull nearby objects towards it.

Although there was a limit to its output, it was a useful tool to disturb an opponent in a close combat setting because of its fast activation speed.

Magic power came from the marble as Arwen’s ‘Condemnation’, which she held in her hand, was pulled away in an instant.

As Arwen’s posture crumbled, even her body was starting to get pulled closer towards Ed.

However, narrowing the distance was something that benefited Arwen as well. She then began to quickly cast support magic around her body.

‘Dawn’s Blade’ was a large sword in size, but had weight lightening magic applied to it. Arwen held onto it tightly as she swung the sword towards Ed, using the momentum of being dragged by Claw Fingers.

Booom!

She was at a level where she could freely adjust the weight lightening magic on the greatsword that she wielded. Arwen’s ability to use her magic power had also risen to a considerable level.

She had canceled the weight lightening magic on the sword as the weight fell down, slamming into the floor. Dust rose up as it blocked her view.

But Arwen, who wielded the sword, already knew. Ed had already run out of her range. She realized it the moment she swung the sword—he had leapt backwards.

So, why did he even narrow the distance in the first place? As soon as she thought of that, through the dust she noticed a dagger that had been stuck into the floor.

It was a ceremonial dagger that was used in Rothstaylor Mansion. It was the same exact one Ed had been using since the first day he was expelled from Ophelis Hall… And on it, there was a neatly engraved spiritual skill.

That…

Boom!

Before she could even figure out what spiritual skill it was, a large explosion occurred.

She quickly cast the defensive magic that was engraved on ‘Dawn’s Blade’, so she was able to protect her body…

Booom!

But then, the mid-rank fire magic Point Explosion exploded in Arwen’s stomach.

Arwen was directly hit as she dropped her sword onto the floor, barely supporting herself. A trail of blood flowed out of her.

When the smoke cleared, Ed was standing silently just beyond it, covered in blood.

“You’ve… gotten quite skilled…”

Arwen stood up again using the greatsword to support the weight of her body.

It was suicide for a magician to close the distance against a warrior as soon as a battle began. However, Ed had casually narrowed the distance to confuse his opponent. After pulling her into his range, he widened the distance between them all over again.

He looked like an expert who was controlling the battle at his own pace, thoroughly messing with the sense of distance of a regular warrior.

With just that one move, Arwen had recognized that Ed had grown to a level that was impossible to compare to his old self.

The Ed she faced in a swordsmanship duel back at Rothstaylor Hall was no longer there.

Paak!

Arwen jumped off from the floor.

She instantly cast weight lightening magic as she removed the weight of the greatsword. Arwen then kicked the handle of ‘Condemnation’, sending it flying into the air.

Then, holding ‘Dawn’s Blade’ in both hands, she went in to slice Ed horizontally, removing the weight lightening magic.

She was a female warrior who could freely handle the weight of her greatswords. Watching her fight was like watching a dancer who played with the weight of her swords.

Booom!

Ed managed to jump back and dodge it as Arwen was dragged to the side by the weight of the sword that she had swung horizontally. She then kicked off the floor, turning back.

Arwen narrowed the distance once more, slicing downwards. Ed tried to cast beginner defense magic to block it, but ‘Dawn’s Blade’s’ penetration magic—which was engraved on it—had an advantage over all types of defense magic.

Clang!

Crash!

In an instant, Ed’s defense magic broke as the blade struck him. He managed to avoid the brunt of the attack, but the tip of the blade still brushed past his shoulder blade as his blood splattered.

Ed let out a shallow moan as he frowned. However, the important fact was that this wound wasn’t fatal.

Boom!

Ed then pushed down on the sword that struck the ground, stopping on it with his foot. Arwen’s pupils widened in an instant.

Arwen didn’t have the strength to handle her greatsword freely with his foot on it like that.

Arwen’s swordsmanship ultimately focused on using weight lightening magic to hold the greatsword, swing it, and utilize the inertia of the weight when she canceled her magic halfway through her attack. Therefore, each of her attacks had the full weight of the sword.

Rather than building up physical strength herself, her actions came from her developed sense of grasping the center of an already generated force and twisting it.

It allowed her to use a much greater destructive force compared to the strength she had. However, there was an issue with that method.

It was difficult to wield the greatsword if she didn’t cast weight lightening magic.

However, the lighter the greatsword becomes with magic, the more easily it is affected by outside forces.

In other words, if the greatsword was being pushed down by external pressure, it wouldn’t be possible to lift it even with weight lightening magic. That meant Arwen wouldn’t have the strength to use her swords.

In just two attacks…?

It was a fatal weakness, but it wasn’t easy to spot.

That was because the sword always looked extremely heavy and sharp. Humans were affected by visual information more than you would think.

So, seeing such a heavy and bulky sword, normally you wouldn’t even think about somehow blocking it… It was impossible to think of going up against the weight of the sword itself. Normally, it would take a long time to figure out how to fight against it, but by then your neck would have been cut.

However, after exchanging only two attacks, Ed had quickly figured out how to fight against her.

Because Ed had his foot on ‘Dawn’s Blade’, Arwen couldn’t use her sword.

That’s incredibly quick thinking, but…!

However, that didn’t mean that Arwen wasn’t prepared for that type of situation. She let go of the handle of her greatsword as she turned her body around and grabbed something from her side.

The hem of her frayed skirt unfolded like a flower blooming. Arwen then caught her other sword, ‘Condemnation’, in her hand.

It was easy to hold down one of her swords by putting weight on it, but it would be difficult to subdue both of them at the same time. That was why Arwen used two swords.

Just in case something like that happened, she had kicked one of her swords into the air earlier. She then moved quickly, catching the sword as if she were doing acrobatics.

Without stopping the inertia of her moving body, she used the weight of ‘Condemnation’ to horizontally slice him. As Ed stepped back to dodge the attack, she leapt forward once more… kicking the now free ‘Dawn’s Blade’ with her foot.

The moment she kicked ‘Dawn’s Blade’ into the air by removing its weight, she had already sent her next attack flying towards Ed. A clean and clear sword strike aimed towards his shoulder.

He used Wind Blade to block the sword strike that was aimed towards him, sending the sword flying. Arwen utilized the inertia of the sword that had been sent flying as she spun around. Now empty handed, she caught ‘Dawn’s Blade’, which she had just kicked into the air, and continued using the momentum of her spin to land her next attack.

“Ack!”

Ed had succeeded in deflecting ‘Dawn’s Blade’s’ attack by casting Wind Blade again, but the recoil caused him to fall down.

Thud! Crash!

“I see that as soon as you found out defensive magic was useless, you started using elemental magic to defend.”

Seeing Ed fall down, Arwen wiped the blade of her greatsword.

“You have great reflexes, but you can’t stop the physical power itself.”

Ed took a deep breath as he stood up. His eyes were still intense.

Arwen swallowed her saliva seeing those eyes.

Ed Rothstaylor’s battles had always been based on ‘previous information.’

No matter who he fought, if it was a character in , he would be able to clearly figure out how he should fight against them.

However, Arwen Rothstaylor was a character completely outside of the storyline.

He had no prior information on her and everything with her was a first for him.

So, he kept his eyes wide open as he memorized all the new information about her in his mind.

From her small gestures, magic, habits… he digested all that information in an instant, trying to figure things out.

In the first attack, he had caught Arwen off guard by freely controlling the distance between them. In the second attack, he found a way to take advantage of the weakness of weight lightening magic. And in the third attack, he learned of the defense-ignoring attribute that was engraved on ‘Dawn’s Blade’ as he tried to defend against it.

It was beyond the level of just quickly adapting to the fight. With each new attack, it was as if he was becoming an entirely different person.

As Arwen looked at him… she had a newfound feeling.

Covered in blood, he barely managed to stand up as he stared at her with his eyes wide open.

She realized that her opponent was a master of improvisation.

If the bout were to become a long-term battle, she would definitely lose.

When all of Arwen’s attacks were revealed, he would be able to quickly come up with a perfect countermeasure.

“Ed.”

Arwen called his name softly as he responded.

“At this point, is there even something more to say?”

“Even though it came to this point, can’t you stop now?”

“Sigh…”

Ed slowly straightened his body as he grabbed the dagger once more, gathering magic power.

He didn’t want to summon a high-ranking spirit. That was because there was still a battle remaining after the one he was already in.

High-ranking spirits consumed an unbelievable amount of magic power just by summoning them. He was now at a level where he could handle one, but it was still no different than using his final move.

Nevertheless, Arwen was much more difficult to face than he thought.

The greatsword has a strong destructive power, but was heavy and slow.

And yet, she broke through such a natural principle, and struck with the power of a greatsword and the speed of a dagger… he realized just how powerful she was.

If it was necessary, perhaps it was a situation where he needed to bring out a high-ranking spirit.

“Maybe we… Will not understand each other until we die.”

Looking at Ed, who no longer respected her, she lowered her head.

“Then there’s no choice but for me to raise my sword.”

What does family mean? Ultimately, Ed was just finishing off Krepin in order to survive.

Whether you are a wife who couldn’t separate from her family even after being beaten by a drunken husband.

Whether you are a filial son who did his duty despite living under parents who treated their children like worms.

Or whether you are a parent who devoted your life to supporting someone that wasn’t even your own child.

Ed had always lived several steps away from her.

He had already walked too far from her to be bound by his blood ties.

Ever since the day they parted on the terrace, all of Ed’s respect for House Rothstaylor had burned to the ground.

Now, all that was left was a magician who was covered in blood on his way to defeat Krepin.

There was nothing good from dragging things on any longer. It was time for the last attack.

Arwen was sure of that fact as she raised her sword. Ed had already jumped forward as he rushed towards her.

Time moved slowly.

Ed rushing forward, narrowing the distance, was engraved in Arwen’s eyes.

The scene reflected in Ed’s eyes was the same.

There was no hesitation left in Arwen as she lifted her sword for her final attack.

A bat flew behind Ed’s back as he slowly narrowed the distance. Before Arwen could reach him, it spewed out fire.

Slowly, flames were sent straight towards Arwen.

Arwen lowered her stance, avoiding the fire. She then cast weight lightening magic on ‘Dawn’s Blade’.

However, at that moment, the lioness Lacia snatched her sword, throwing it aside.

Manifesting spirits. The thing he wanted to save until the very end.

His last move. One that he had saved until the end to catch her off guard.

Arwen’s main weakness was the moment her sword became light from her magic.

Since the sword had become so light that it could easily be thrown aside from a weak application of physical force, it was possible for Lacia to send the sword aside with a single kick.

However, there was still another one remaining.

‘Condemnation’, which was used by the Primordial Swordsman, Luden. The sword which was bestowed upon her by the imperial family as the heir of the respected House Rothstaylor, began to shine.

Arwen’s hand, which was getting ready to strike him with her sword, was brought straight towards Ed’s body. If she stabbed at a short distance, it would be much faster than Ed’s attack.

However, Ed knew.

Arwen Rothstaylor… She couldn’t ‘stab’.

Due to her fighting style, which relied on the weight of the sword to draw destructive power, she couldn’t stab. That was because she would need to withstand the weight of the sword on her own.

However, techniques that utilized large slashing movements, drawn by the sword’s weight, were completely futile in a close distance like this.

However, Arwen wasn’t unaware of this fact. Therefore, she cast the final magic that was engraved on ‘Condemnation’.

‘Acceleration’ magic. The power that instantly sped up one’s body movements. It wasn’t something Ed had calculated. It was the ability that Arwen had hidden until the very end.

A speed fast enough to defy the laws of physics. The moment she was about to strike Ed’s chest, Arwen was taken aback by Ed’s response.

Ed only tightly shut his eyes.

Had he given up on everything? That couldn’t be it.

At that moment, a strong wind enveloped Ed’s body.

It was the final attack against each other, but… In a fight against means, Ed had slightly more means up his sleeve.

Storm’s Blessing, which completely nullified all attacks that were outside his recognition.

The wind quickly rose as it deflected Arwen’s sword. It lifted her body in the air, leaving her incapacitated.

The moment Ed grabbed his dagger and tried to take advantage of that chance, Arwen optimally responded in an instant.

She clenched her teeth to the point they would break and clenched the hand that held the handle of the greatsword.

Using the weight of the greatsword, whose weight lightening magic had been canceled, she pulled down on the handle and somehow managed to block Ed’s attack. As a result, both of their final attacks left each other in shock as they now stood on even footing.

Now it was the time to finish things. It felt as if they both said that to each other.

As both of them got into their postures, jumping into the air, the moment they were about to trade final blows—

In a one-on-one fight.

A variable that was completely unexpected suddenly hit the two of them.

Craaaaash!

Fwoooosh!

The wind blew by once more.

There was a girl who had somehow cast an unstable wind magic as she landed between them.

Her blonde hair that fluttered against the night sky was similar to Arwen’s. Her sharp eyes resemble Ed’s.

The girl who had jumped from the central spire into the broken ceiling of Rothstaylor Hall was a variable that neither Ed nor Arwen could have ever imagined.

As if in slow motion, they saw Tanya’s expression.

It seemed as if she was crying, angry, and also surprised.

There was a lot of information that was rushing through her head.

Rothstaylor Estate suddenly being thrown into chaos. The destroyed annex of the mansion. Arwen was still alive, but now in a strange form. Ed was covered in blood as he climbed up through the annex. And the battle taking place between the two.

It was an urgent situation, one where she didn’t know anything and didn’t know what to think. Her hand, which appeared between the two of them exchanging their final attacks, had a slight amount of magic power left in it.

Only once more, weakly but surely, she could cast wind magic.

Arwen and Ed. If either of them were hit with it, their defensive magic would be destroyed.

Between the two, in Tanya’s eyes… She turned towards Arwen, who always looked towards her lovingly.

She looked at her older sister, who she couldn’t help but love.

I remembered the night we hugged on the terrace.

Ed, who told Tanya to come with him as he stood in the dark, had let Tanya go.

She didn’t know the reason, but he scared her. So, she stayed in Arwen’s arms, crying.

That was when the two of them separated. And like that, Tanya had followed Arwen’s path.

And with that, Ed had left the terrace, headed to Acken Island, and survived in solitude. Tanya didn’t want to stand next to him.

The day Ed left the mansion, she hid behind the curtains of the window, watching him from afar. She watched as his lonely back walked away.

Just what sort of thorny path had he walked on since that day? Now, Tanya Rothstaylor knew it all.

Booooom!

She didn’t know what the situation was or what would happen after.

In the last hundredth of a second before the two exchanged final blows, Tanya cast wind magic straight at Arwen’s hand.

Fwoooosh!

Clang!

The last sword, ‘Condemnation’, which was in Arwen’s hand… Had been thrown aside and fallen to the floor.

The moment Arwen tried to quickly widen the distance…

Slice!

Ed had closed the distance and pierced Arwen’s shoulder with his dagger.