If They Get Obsessed, I’m Doomed - Chapter 93
Chapter 47.2
Lexius’s golden eyes shifted from Devoncia to Ariel. His yellow gaze, cool and emotionless, only intensified her unease. Before she could steady herself, he gave a command.
“Ariel, you should go down as well.”
It felt as if Lexius had finally drawn a sword against her, slicing through the fragile sense of relief she had been clinging to.
Ariel swallowed dryly, her face taut with tension.
She had hoped he might make an exception, though that had only been wishful thinking. At the same time, she knew she still needed to raise her favorability with him. Racine’s warning hadn’t been off the mark. Even though she had somewhat anticipated this would happen eventually, she hadn’t expected it to happen as soon as the next day.
‘As long as I don’t get seriously hurt…’
She clenched her trembling fingers into a fist and bowed her head slightly.
“…Understood.”
Ariel stepped through the door and made her way down the stairs.
Devoncia watched Ariel’s figure as she moved away from him, his gaze lingering a bit intently before he shifted his gaze back. His expression held the faintest hint of a smile, though his face remained devoid of emotion.
As if he intended to keep the conversation going, he turned to Lexius and asked.
“What brings you here?”
“Sparring.”
“With Ariel? She’s a freshman.”
“Exactly.”
Lexius, who hadn’t been smiling at all until now, finally curved his lips slightly as he replied.
“She won’t have any idea what she’s supposed to do.”
Amused by Lexius’s wicked expression as if he was thoroughly enjoying himself, Devonsia smirked in response and remarked.
“Such a villain.”
“And you’re no better.”
They exchanged a knowing look, smiling at each other with expressions that held a blend of mutual understanding and faint revulsion as though recognizing their own kind.
̊ · : * ✧ * : · ̊
As Ariel descended, she was struck by the sight of the barrier. The foggy, clouded light shield looked much larger up close than it had from above.
Unlike the previous transparent barrier, which made it hard to gauge its true scale, this one was unmistakably massive. Standing before it, she felt small, as though facing down a natural disaster. Her instincts urged her to turn and flee as a wave of fear threatened her composure.
The barrier’s sheer presence was overwhelming.
But running wasn’t an option.
There was no guarantee that Lexius wouldn’t put her through this again. If she couldn’t handle this, she’d never be able to gain his favor.
‘Besides, no one actually dies in the practice field.’
This was something he had personally reassured her of. The academy rules would likely prevent him from pushing things too far. If it truly became unbearable, she could always back out.
Steeling herself against her fear and tension, Ariel stepped forward toward the barrier.
The professor appeared in front of the students, who were now assembled in an orderly line, accompanied by five imperial knights.
“For today’s sparring session, you will be facing five knights from the imperial knights. Each of you will spar one-on-one, with a maximum time limit of ten minutes per person. The knights will control the intensity at their discretion, and we won’t be doing individual introductions.”
After briefly explaining the rules, the professor stepped back, and three assistants entered. Two of them brought in a weapon rack holding real swords, while the third carried a black draw box in their arms.
“There are five numbers inside, from one to five. Your opponent will be determined by the number you draw.”
Once the assistant with the draw box finished explaining, the students lined up in an orderly fashion. Many of the repeat students appeared familiar with the process. It seemed like sparring draws were a common practice.
One by one, each student approached to draw their number.
“Please line up in five rows according to the number you’ve drawn.”
Following the assistant’s instructions, nearly two hundred students quickly drew their numbers and arranged themselves into neat lines.
Ariel stood in the far-right line, glancing down at her number.
‘Does this mean I’ll be sparring later in the order, or is it random?’
Ariel hoped that drawing ‘5’ meant she would be further down the sparring sequence. If possible, she preferred to observe the earlier matches before participating; at least that way, she could mentally prepare herself.
As she contemplated the significance of her number, a knight stepped forward to the front of each row.
She watched from a distance as the knight who would be her sparring partner approached. The knights wore identical swords and uniforms, making it impossible to assess their skills or characteristics based solely on appearance. However, as members of the imperial guard, there was no doubt that each of them was highly skilled.
‘The professor mentioned a ten-minute limit per person, so most matches should wrap up quickly.’
Although these students were elites at the imperial academy, they were still in the early stages of their training. The skill gap between them and an experienced knight would undoubtedly be significant.
For Ariel, who was still struggling with the basics, the difference in skill level would be even more pronounced.
With a tense expression, she glanced over at the weapon rack the assistant had brought in. The rack held various swords: daggers, longswords, rapiers, and even curved blades. These weren’t practice weapons with safety features; they were all real, sharp swords.
The sight of the keen edges made her blood run cold. It was clear that even the slightest touch could easily cut through human skin.
‘…Are we really sparring with real weapons? Against an active knight?’
The color drained from Ariel’s face, and her expression grew rigid.
Magic engineering was a class that combined science and tools with magic. The focus of the advanced magic warfare class was to use these combined magical tools, or enchanted artifacts, for sparring and strategic experiments.
Now, Ariel found herself in a situation where she had to participate in advanced magic warfare without fully grasping the fundamentals of magic engineering. To make matters worse, she had never even held a sword in her life. No matter how she looked at it, her chances of getting hurt were far too high.
Therefore, she needed to prepare herself mentally. Her heart raced with tension, and her entire body trembled slightly, but she forced herself to stand firm.
After the last student drew their number and lined up, the assistant holding the box stepped forward to continue.
“Now that everyone has drawn their numbers, we will begin…”
“I’ll participate too.”
Skylar, who had been lingering at the back, spoke up. At his words, everyone—the professor, assistants, knights, and students—turned to look at him.
With all eyes on him, he straightened from where he had been leaning against the wall.
“Draw a number.”
At the prince’s command, the assistant stiffly reached for the draw box. It was fortunate they had included the prince and grand duke in the count, just in case.
With slightly trembling fingers, the assistant unfolded the white paper.
It was the same number as Ariel’s.
As the fifth row buzzed with anxiety, the knight standing in front of row five turned noticeably pale.
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