Volume 3 Chapter 7 Opening Ceremony
The team battle, the opening ceremony has begun.
Since there are many teams, gathering all of them in one place is a hassle. So, only a selected number of teams gather at the main venue, the 'arena,' to do things like take an oath.
The other teams are gathered in groups of dozens in the 'player waiting room,' standing in front of a huge glass panel in the waiting room.
Elk tilts his head while looking at the glass panel.
"What is this?"
"It's a projection panel. There's a teacher who can use the 'projection' skill, and they project the 'images' they see onto the panel."
"Wow, that's convenient."
As Elk is staring at the projection panel, suddenly an image appears.
In the arena, ten teams are lined up.
As expected, there they are.
"Oh, that's Crown Prince Elwood's team. They say it's the strongest team of the new students."
"The ones with him are... tsk, the famous siblings. The 'Sword Demon' of the Deo Kingdom."
"...Sword Demon?"
"Yeah. It's the name given to the genius swordsman brother and the genius magician sister from the Duke Kinesis family in the Deo Kingdom. I heard they teamed up with Prince Elwood..."
"......"
Elk looks at the 'Sword Demon' from the Duke Kinesis family, Rosho and Sarissa.
Rosho is wearing knight-like battle clothes, and Sarissa is wrapped in a magician's robe. Their expressions are somewhat proud, that's not a mistake.
"You should at least remember the famous students."
"Yeah, you're right..."
"Oh, it looks like the greeting is about to start."
First, it's the greeting from the academy head, Poseidon.
'Uh, I don't like long speeches, so I'll keep it short. It's okay to get hurt, and if you die, you can come back to life within a day, so go all out. That's all... ho ho ho.'
The venue fell silent.
They can't tell if it's a joke or serious.
Poseidon was being scolded by the teachers, but he pretended not to hear by covering his ears with both hands. So childish.
Next up is Elwood's speech as the student representative.
'I swear!! We pledge to fight fairly and squarely!!'
The students in the arena raised their right hands and repeated after him.
A few in the waiting room also raised their hands in the same way.
But Elk did not raise his hand. He did not swear.
He couldn't believe in the words "fair and square." Remembering the time he was betrayed by the Duke Kinesis family, he glared at Roshu and Sarissa on the projection screen.
"...Hey, what's wrong?"
"Elk, are you nervous?"
"...No."
Gambo and Fine leaned in to look at Elk's face.
But Elk shook his head.
Then, appearing on the projection screen was──────Shakariki.
"Okay, okay! Now, let me explain the rules. First, we will hold a 'preliminary round.' Each team will receive one of these 'flags'."
When Shakariki snapped his fingers... suddenly, a red 'flag' appeared in Elk's hand.
It was surprising, but everyone around was in the same situation.
"The rules are simple. The team that possesses 3 of these 'flags' within the time limit will advance to the main event. You can use any means necessary. The time limit is 7 hours. Get 3 'flags.' Oh, as the principal mentioned earlier... it's okay to die. Seriously. If you die within a day, you can be revived in any condition by the strongest healer, Lady Nightingale, one of the 'Five Stars'."
Five Stars.
One of the 5 with the strongest skills in the world.
Indeed, that is reassuring.
'Adventurers are always close to death. Through this battle, we learn about the fear of death, the terror of fighting, pain, and despair──well, that's how it is. Yeah.'
As usual, Shakariki wraps it up casually.
He scratched his head and yawned sleepily.
Then, a young woman stepped onto the stage.
'Now, we will start the 'Martial Arts Tournament - Team Battle' for the first-year students... Everyone, fight fairly and bravely──────'
The woman raised her hand.
Then, she swung it down hard.
'Now──────let's begin!!'
"Eh?"
The 'flag' that Elk held shone for just a moment... and Elk felt a brief sensation of floating.
"...Huh?"
Then, when he realized it... he was standing in a forest.
* * *
Nearby, Gambo and Fine were there.
"Seriously... what's going on?"
"Maybe it's that flag? I saw it light up."
"Yeah... that's amazing."
Elk rolled up the flag and hid it inside his coat.
Then, he checked his surroundings.
"...It's a forest."
"Well, it is a forest dungeon."
"This is a safe dungeon after the investigation, right? So, we need to collect 3 flags, right?"
"Yeah. Just 2 more to go."
"And... the time limit is 7 hours. Until 5 in the evening."
They had to fight at least twice.
Elk hesitated a bit.
"......"
Should he tell Gambo and Fine about the Duke Kinesis family?
Right now, he was enjoying his school life.
But one of Elk's goals was "revenge on the Duke Kinesis family."
He really wanted to beat those 2 in this team battle.
If possible, in the main event.
"Um, so..."
"Hm? What is it?"
"...If you have something to say, just say it already."
"...That..."
Elk is confused.
First of all, will they even believe him? "I'm the eldest son of the Duke Kinesis family. I almost got killed by Rosho and Sarissa, members of the Duke Kinesis family, but I survived. So I want revenge," or something like that.
But if they're going to fight as a team, he has to say it.
"Hey, listen───"
"Whoa!!
Suddenly, a 'needle' flew from behind Elk.
Gambo turned his right arm into 'Steel Form' and deflected the needle.
Fine's expression changed, and he lowered his stance.
"Tch... they're already here."
"Yeah. I don't really know how big the dungeon is, but hundreds of teams have been sent here. There might be others too."
"Um, Gambo, Fine..."
"Talk later───."
Just then, another 'needle' flew at them.
This time, it was aimed at Fine.
Fine exhaled sharply and knocked the needle away with his glove.
"Needle... this has something on it. It might be poison."
"Gambo, Fine... actually, I..."
The moment Elk was about to speak, a bunch of 'needles' fell from above.
Gambo tried to use Full Body to turn into Steel Form, and Fine got ready.
But... the moment Elk raised his right hand, all the needles stopped in mid-air.
"Ugh, can we do this later?!"
Elk thrust his left hand forward and spun around.
"There!"
"!?"
A boy hiding in the bushes was forcibly pulled out with Telekinesis and floated in the air.
Elk slammed the boy against a nearby tree, then another tree, then another tree, and then another tree─── smashing him around wildly.
*Thud thud thud thud thud thud thud!!* A loud sound echoed as something crashed into a tree... finally, Elk had the boy's face sticking out, buried in the ground.
He was completely unconscious.
""......""
"Actually... I'm the first son of the Duke Kinesis family."
""...... R-really?""
Overwhelmed by Elk's power, the two nodded in agreement.
* * *
One down. But since it's a team of 3, there are still 2 left.
The boy with the 'needle' is probably acting as a scout, so there should be 2 more nearby.
Gambo said to Elk.
"Elk, Fine and I are close-range fighters. If they show up in front of us, we can handle them, but we're not good against those who attack from a distance... There should be 2 more somewhere. Can we leave it to you?"
"Yeah. Leave it to me."
Elk closed his eyes and spread his mental energy like ripples──then, he found them.
It's not just about moving objects. Telekinesis is the power of 'mental energy.' There are no set forms for it.
The distance was about 50m (≈164ft). They seemed anxious since his mouth was moving as if he was worried about the boy with the 'needle' not returning.
"Gambo, Fine. I'll pull them over, is that okay?"
"Sure, leave it to us."
"That's fine with me."
"Alright."
Elk pointed his right hand towards the two who were 50m away and activated his Telekinesis.
"Wha!?"
"Aaah!?"
The two who were suddenly pulled appeared in front of Elk and the others.
At the same time, Gambo and Fine moved.
The opponents were still floating in the air. Gambo's right arm transformed into Steel Form, and Fine clenched his fist.
"'Metal Lariat'!!"
"'Gale Punch'!!"
"Gobah!?"
"Ugh!?"
Gambo's Steel Form right arm delivered a lariat.
Fine's body blow, with a momentary 'Accel' of her fist.
The two attacks completely took the awareness of the two enemies, who hadn't even used their skills yet.
A flag was stuck in the waist of a male student. Elk used Telekinesis to retrieve it and got the second flag.
"Alright! That's 2 flags. Just one more!"
"Phew... I'm glad they were weak."
"Let's get that last flag and head to the main event!"
But before that... Elk said.
"Before we do, listen to my story. There's no one around here."
Elk decided to explain the situation to the two.
* * *
"So, what is it?"
After confirming again that there were no enemies nearby, Gambo asked.
Fine also seemed ready to listen and stayed quiet.
Elk let out a small sigh.
"I told you before, but I'm... I'm the eldest son of the Duke Kinesis family."
"...Duke Kinesis family. I heard the older brother died in an accident, and you have only a younger brother and sister."
"Oh, I heard that too."
"That's not true. It wasn't an accident. I was... set up by Duke Kinesis and almost killed by Rosho."
"...What?"
"W-What do you mean?"
Elk began to explain.
Despite being talented like Rosho and Sarissa, the next Duke, Elk, had the skill of "Telekinesis."
It was decided that they would have a duel to determine the next Duke, but the entire Duke family tried to kill Elk.
At that time, Emma, a maid from the Duke family, hid the living Elk in her home.
After 6 years of sleep, he had finally awakened recently.
As he explained all this, Gambo and Fine...
"...Seriously?"
"No way..."
They had expressions that were hard to describe. Elk continued.
"One of the reasons I joined this academy is... revenge against the Duke family. Rosho and Sarissa don't know I'm still alive. I'm going to use this team battle to completely corner those 2."
"But, can you really? Those 2... they're definitely among the strongest in the academy."
"I can. I'm strong enough now."
He left out details about Pipina and the 2,000 years between life and death.
They wouldn't believe that anyway.
"At first, I was just curious about the team selection. But... the moment I saw those 2, all my resentment came back."
"Alright, fine, I get it. I won't help you, but... I won't say anything. I'm going to fight to win the team battle. Is that okay?"
"Gambo..."
"I just want to fight strong opponents. Plus... I understand how you feel, Elk."
"Fine... thank you."
"Hmph. For now, let's gather one more flag and head to the main event──."
Just then, as Gambo spoke, a huge swarm of 'grasshoppers' and 'dragonflies' suddenly attacked Elk and the others.
"Whoa!? W-What is happening!?"
"Could it be────."
"Ugh, I'm fine with bugs, but when there are so many, it's gross!!"
Gambo shouted.
"This is 'manipulation'──damn it, Chuta!! Where the hell are you!!"
Chuta.
That was the name of the noble Marcos's aide, whom Gambo had once flattered.
A swarm of insects was attacking Elk and the others.
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