About three weeks had passed since the battle with Tiamat. Thanks to my master's treatment, I was finally able to get back to some kind of normal daily life.
Her medicine was apparently her own special blend. It didn't have the instant, potion-like recovery effect, but it gently boosted my body's natural healing without forcing anything. In a battlefield where you need immediate recovery, it might not cut it, but in a peaceful town where you can actually rest, it was incredibly reliable.
That said, during those three weeks I could barely move, and on top of that I ended up skipping school without permission for three whole days. So when I finally showed up again, Anri-sensei really let me have it.
Surprisingly, though, the three-day unexcused absence and the full three-week recovery period didn't cause much of a stir at school. When I returned, Mars saw the wounds on my body and went,
"What, did you zone out walking down the road and get run over by a carriage or something? Man, you're way too slow."
He mocked me in his usual way, and since everyone around him jumped on the bandwagon, the whole thing just kind of faded away. Of course, part of it was my fault for not bothering to deny it.
Anri-sensei wasn't fooled, though. She dragged me straight to the staff room for a full lecture.
"Nozomu-kun, you're hiding something, aren't you~? There's no way those injuries came right after skipping three days without notice. That's not normal at all~."
"N-no, it's really nothing big. I just messed up at work and got hurt, that's all..."
"Liar. You go into the forest sometimes, don't you, Nozomu-kun~? Sure, the rumors about dragons are probably just rumors, but powerful magic beasts from deep in the woods do wander close to the roads every now and then~."
...Sorry, Sensei. It really was a dragon. And I ended up defeating it, too. No way I could say that, so I stubbornly stuck to the story about an accident at work that dragged me into it.
"Then why skip without permission~? You're in the dorms, so you could've contacted the school, right~?"
"I got a fever from the injury and was bedridden. Plus... there aren't any classmates here who actually care about me..."
...Saying it out loud made me feel kind of sad. It's true I don't have friends, and I couldn't tell her the real reason anyway.
I was trying to talk my way out of it when...
"...Sniff."
Suddenly, Anri-sensei started crying.
I froze, completely thrown off.
"Uh... w-what's wrong all of a sudden?"
"Waaah! Nozomu-kun doesn't trust me at all~~!! I'm just such a hopeless half-baked teacher~~!!!"
"Eh? No, wait—that's not it! Why are we jumping to that?!"
"Because you won't tell me the truth~~!! Those wounds are clearly from a fight, nobody in town is talking about any accidents, and the medicine used on you isn't anything sold around here~~!!"
...Yeah, trying to bluff my way through was hopeless after all.
But I still couldn't tell her the truth. So we went back and forth for a while—me dodging, her pressing while crying. ...Honestly, her crying face is unfair.
Those kind eyes glistening with tears, staring right at me. And she's genuinely worried. Any guy seeing that expression would probably spill everything.
...This woman is the type who naturally makes guys fall for her without even trying, and the fact that she has zero self-awareness makes it worse.
"Nozomu-kun... won't you talk to me?"
That's totally unfair!!!
In the end, the class bell saved me. Her tearful lecture attack ended, and I bolted out of the staff room like I was escaping.
But Anri-sensei still looked unsatisfied. She stayed pouty and mad through the morning classes.
...Sorry, Sensei.
"Nozomu-kun! Stop spacing out and solve this problem~~!"
And then she kept calling on me specifically during class.
...Sensei, that's kind of petty for an adult...
Afternoon was combat training. Same as last time: mock battles within the class. My opponent...
"Again, you, bottom-feeder?"
Of course it had to be Mars again.
"You've got rotten luck, huh? Getting stuck with me right after last time. Well, doesn't matter who your opponent is—you're not winning anyway. Hahahahaha!"
I ignored his usual trash talk and took my position, checking my condition.
Injuries: fine, fully healed.
Sword: good. It's a practice blade, but it feels almost the same as my real one.
Ability suppression... looks like I could release it now.
But... I won't.
The dream of Tiamat, that faint unease I felt back then. The sense that if I released it, something inside me might break for good.
All of that held me back from undoing the chains.
"Begin~~!"
At Norn-sensei's signal, Mars charged.
He was going all out from the start—already using qi reinforcement on his body.
I kept my eyes on him as he rushed in, activating my own qi technique to boost my physical abilities.
"Get crushed!!!"
Mars swung his greatsword down from overhead, then shifted to a horizontal sweep.
I spun my body to build momentum and swung my katana upward from below, clashing against the underside of his blade and deflecting his swing.
He quickly adjusted the trajectory and brought it straight down in a cleave.
I twisted my wrist, angling my katana diagonally to meet it, while relaxing my legs to absorb the impact and let the strike slide off.
Thanks to becoming a dragon slayer—even if only a little—my boosted physical strength let me handle his slash without losing balance.
I stepped into range and slashed once.
Mars blocked with his gauntlet like last time, but I'd already accounted for that.
The moment my slash connected, I deliberately relaxed my grip. The blade got stopped by the gauntlet, but since I'd let go of power, I could immediately follow up.
Using the momentum of the swing, I took another step in, released one hand from the hilt, channeled the forward force into my fist, and drove a solid punch into his gut.
"Gah!"
Mars' face twisted in pain, his body folding.
I grabbed his head as he staggered back and slammed my knee into his face.
Blood sprayed from his nose as he reeled.
I moved to press the attack, but...
"You damn piece of trash aaaahhhh!!!"
With his scream, a massive burst of qi exploded out.
The random surge pushed me back out of range for a moment.
Mars glared at me with pure fury.
He'd just taken an unexpected counter from someone who'd always crawled at his feet. He was completely losing it.
"I'll kill you! You filthy bastard!! I'll definitely kill you!!!!!"
Still raging, he poured qi into his greatsword. The energy formed vicious wind blades that wrapped around the blade.
Qi technique: "Dust Wind Blade."
Any object that got close would be shredded by the wind blades clinging to the sword.
The surrounding wind also repelled defenses, so you either had to block with raw strength strong enough to resist the push or dodge entirely.
Mars swung the wind-wreathed blade down at me.
I read the path and evaded, but he chained into more attacks.
I kept dodging. My strength wasn't enough to parry the sword now—the wind would just blow me away.
But his strikes, driven by pure anger, were more straightforward than last time's mock battle. Dodging them wasn't an issue.
What made it possible was my slightly increased physical ability.
Even with suppression active, my stats were still below most students'. But that small boost widened my options a lot.
Before, I could only parry. Now, with reinforcement focused on evasion, I could actually dodge his slashes.
Feeling my growth for real, I started prepping my next move.
"What the hell is this?!"
Mars was clearly rattled by how different my movements were.
"Why can't my sword hit you!!!!"
The old me couldn't move like this.
I'd stagger if I blocked, flop pathetically if I tried to dodge.
Lately I'd managed a bit better, but the end result was always the same: me rolling on the ground.
But now there was no sign of that happening.
Compared to us, his speed was slower, but his evasion was insanely precise. He was reading not just my sword but the wind blades wrapped around it.
When I glanced at his face, there was no panic. He was completely seeing through my attacks.
"No way... no freaking way!!!"
He's second-year bottom rung. I'm upper-tier in practicals.
My skill is B-rank level, easy.
I suddenly remembered his ability.
"Ability Suppression."
It caps the target's power, qi volume, and magic below a certain point.
With those shackles on, just how strong would he have been otherwise? And even with them, how much training did it take to raise his physical ability this much?
"...I won't accept it. No way in hell!"
His rational mind warned him of the hidden strength, but emotion crushed it.
That was his downfall.
Mars had always been confident in his power. Born with high qi capacity and a great build, he got strong fast. No one around could beat him.
He's still in tenth grade, but his real ability is way higher. That pride in his strength blinded him.
Nozomu's stance faltered slightly under one of Mars' slashes. Mars seized the opening and swung down hard—but it was a trap.
The "faltering" Nozomu instantly recovered, leaped backward. Mars' sword stabbed into the ground, the wind blades kicking up a cloud of dirt that blocked his view.
"Damn it aaaahhh!!"
Panicking, Mars released the wind blades in the direction he thought Nozomu was.
Qi technique: "Rending Dust Hammer."
The blades fused into a massive wind mass that charged like a battering ram.
It coincidentally cleared the dust cloud, restoring his sight—but what he saw proved how wrong his choice was.
Nozomu wasn't in front of the attack. He was already at Mars' side.
The moment the dust covered everything, Nozomu had used instant step, sheathed his katana, and circled to the flank.
Their eyes met. Nozomu was in perfect iaijutsu stance. Mars was wide open.
No evasion possible. He tried to block with his gauntlet on reflex, but his balance was off—too slow.
The instant Nozomu drew...
Gooong, gooong, gooong.
"All right~! Match over~~. That's it for today's class, everyone. Make sure to review properly~~!"
The end-of-class bell rang. Anri-sensei's call released the tension, and classmates started chatting.
Nozomu sheathed his half-drawn blade and turned away.
Mars just stared silently at his retreating back as he left the training ground.
"Hey, Mars. How'd it go with today's loser?"
"Looked like he came out fine today. Mars, you didn't go too easy just 'cause he's annoying to deal with, right?"
His two lackeys were talking, but Mars didn't hear a word.
That guy is definitely getting stronger. Or... was he always this strong, and we just never noticed?
At the very least, his sword skill is way above mine now. Today's mock battle proved it.
"...What's with this crappy feeling..."
My chest felt restless. Anger bubbled up from inside... why?
Because he was hiding his strength?
...No. Thinking about him now didn't make me angry.
Then who... right... it's me.
...I've never been this angry at myself before.
I take pride in my strength. I hate weaklings who can't do anything yet sneak around scheming.
And more than that, I hate guys who just take abuse without fighting back.
That's exactly how I've seen him until now. The bottom of the year, taking every insult without changing expression. The perfect example of what I despise most.
But the truth?
He's been resisting more than anyone. I don't know why, but he's been fighting to get stronger.
And the effort he's put in is probably beyond anything I can imagine.
I've never heard of someone breaking through ability suppression like that.
We've just been dumping insults and mockery on a guy who's been struggling that hard, all for our own stress relief.
Full of rage at my past self, I kept watching him walk away from the training ground.