Chapter 7 – A ‘test of skill’ in name alone

“Hmph! I’ve been searching for you, Guild Master. You said that you were going to come back as soon as you finished some business, but… Huh?!”

Said the Fezel guild receptionist, Misha. Her brown hair was tied into a side tail that swayed. And she was the perfect image of exasperation as she approached.

‘…The Guild Master? He went to the underground arena.’

After asking around, she had finally found the location of Reviel, but when she went there, he was nowhere to be found.
Not only that, but the arena, which was supposed to be nicely maintained, had several cracks that weren’t there before. On top of that, there were what looked like traces of a meteor falling. Misha could not help but rub her eyes.

Was this all a dream?

Just then…

“The Guild Master is over there.”

Said a familiar voice.

“Ms. Yorha…?”
“Yes. It’s been two weeks, hasn’t it?”

Yorha Aizentz was standing in a corner of the room.
She was an Adventurer that Misha knew.

As for where she was pointing, it was a place strangely thick with dust and smoke.
And from it came the occasional sounds of metal hitting against metal, and the grunts of anger.

After hearing the sounds of blades cutting through wind, and seeing the sparks fly, Misha finally understood what was happening.

“…”

But even as she managed to comprehend it, she was still at a loss for words.

And though the dust disturbed her, she was able to see that there were people inside. But they were moving so quickly that she could not follow them.

But this was the Guild Master.
Someone who was an Adventurer in a S-Rank party. What could have moved him into having to fight like this. It looked just like a life or death situation to her.

Even though Misha was not able to see them clearly, it seemed like Reviel’s opponent was at least equally as strong as him.

The thunderous clashing echoed.
Sparks flew in every direction.
The hollow sounds of metal rang through the room, and Misha’s heart beat faster and faster.

“What…what are they doing?”

She stood there, too stunned to speak for half a minute.
But after that, she was finally able to speak to Yorha, who surely understood everything.

“A test of strength.”
“…But why?”
“To decide if he can make an exception and issue a special permit, Misha.”

…I see. Misha thought.
It happens sometimes.
In order to shut up people who demanded to be an exception to the rule, Reviel would bring them down to the guild arena and make a deal with them.

However, this was different.

She still had not seen him clearly, but this one was clearly a step, no multiple steps above the others.

Surely it was enough.

That was what she thought. As this looked more like two people who were trying to kill each other.

“…You aren’t going to stop them, Ms. Yorha?”
“Even if I tried talking to them, they would not be able to hear me at this point. Besides, I couldn’t stop them even if I wanted to. I specialize in support magic, after all.”

But you already know that, Misha.
Yorha said, and Misha nodded in despair.

“…Does that mean, you know who this opponent is?”
“Know? I’m the one who called him. That’s why I’ve been away from Fezel for the past half month.”

Hehe. Yorha said with grin.

“His name is Alec Ugritte. He was working as a court magician in the Gardana Kingdom until recently, but he got fired, and so I dragged him out here.”

What do you think about my skill?
Yorha seemed to ask with a smug expression. Misha was a little exasperated as she flatly muttered, ‘Indeed.’ She was already thinking of leaving.

“…In any case, it is quite shocking. This Alec person. How many times can he multi-cast…”

If you could cast two spells at once, that was normal.
Three was impressive.
But if you could do four or five, then people thought you were a genius.

However…

“He is doing about ten, isn’t he? Which makes the Guild Master quite a freak for being able to dodge them. But I’ve never even heard of someone who can cast ten spells at once…”
“Well, he beat me and graduated first place, so he has to be this good at the very least.”

Misha had also heard about him a long time ago.

In Fezel, there was a strange party of three Adventurers.
And there was a certain reason that these three continued to challenge the dungeons together.

As these three were so strong that even S-Rank parties acknowledged their ability, no one objected to the fact that they were a party of three instead of four.

But this trio actually had a friend who was a fellow student back at the academy.
This was well known within Fezel.

However, the story continued from there. While these three were seen as being very powerful, none of them were number one at the academy.

Even Reviel had been surprised when he heard about this.
…There is someone who is above you three!? You have to be kidding me! He had said.

“Get beaten already! Arrghhh!!”

Reviel’s shouts of fury echoed through the room.
He was just being stubborn now.

Had Alec’s abilities been limited to just magic, the fight would have likely ended already.
However, he was also quite skilled with a sword.

Reviel’s fist attacks were unleashed in every direction over and over again. When a person of that size put all of their weight behind each attack, being hit directly by it would result in a fatal blow.
However, each blow was not even close to hitting the target.
And because of this, the battle had far exceeded the bounds of a mere ‘test.’

“By the way, Misha. Why were you looking for the Guild Master?”

She must have been resigned to the fact that she couldn’t stop them.
And so Yorha calmly asked Misha why she had come to the fighting arena.

“Ah!! Ahhh! Th-that’s right! Yes! I came here to call the Guild Master over a matter that only he can deal with!”

She had been completely distracted by the unreal sight in front of her eyes.
And thanks to that, she had forgotten her purpose for being there.

“Only the Guild Master?”
“Ye-yes. Uh, there is a bit of an argument happening in the guild. And I was told to…”

…call the Guild Master in order to mediate between them.

That’s what she was trying to say, but she was not able to finish the sentence.
The reason was simple.

“Hey, hey, hey! You seem to be having a lot of fun down here!! You should have told me that you returned, Yorha.”
“…Ugh. The nuisance has found me then.”

A new visitor had entered the fighting arena and interrupted Misha’s words.

The man who talked happily with amusement was called Ornest.

He was the reason that Misha had had to come down to the battle arena, and also the one who had sent Yorha to go and fetch Alec.

Next Chapter

A Court Magician A Court Magician Who Was Focused On Supportive Magic Because His Allies Were Too Weak Aims To Become The Strongest After Being Banished Aims To Become The Strongest After Being Banished Who Was Focused On Supportive Magic Because His Allies Were Too Weak