Chapter 39: Promotion Celebration

“Ah~, that surprised me… I accelerated way more than I thought; I almost crashed into it…”

I let out a big breath inside the Frame Unit. The Gear Spell [Zero Gravity] is a Gear Spell utilizing my Null Magic [Gravity]. [Gravity] is a Null Magic that changes the weight of any object, but I’m not good at increasing weight, so I hadn’t mastered [Gravity]. Whenever I used it, it was solely to lighten my own body and utilize instantaneous force in my fighting style. [Zero Gravity] is an application of that. Unlike the Lucifer up until now, changing the internal Ether Lines and Ether Vessels from Lightning Frame specs to Mystic Frame specs allowed magic to circulate more thoroughly throughout the body, making it possible to activate [Zero Gravity]. However, naturally, this placed an even greater load on the machine. The activation time for [Zero Gravity] is only about one minute. Continuing any longer would cause the machine to fall apart. When I saw the opponent’s Frame Gear, I thought dragging it out would be disadvantageous. If they thoroughly defended with those large shields, I’d have no choice but to use ‘Battle Spirit Method’ prepared for mutual destruction. So, I decided to go full speed the moment the match started and pierce the opponent’s cockpit. Due to the sheer speed, I think if I had been even a few moments slower in drawing the Kodachi, I wouldn’t have been able to land the tip on the cockpit. Also, if the opponent knew about this Gear Spell, I feel they would have gone into defense the moment the match started. No matter how fast [Zero Gravity] is, that would probably have blocked it. It’s a so-called ‘first-time killer’. It won’t go so well next time.

“Oh.”

The match result was displayed on the result screen. Winning the promotion match earned me five betting stars. And I ascended to E-Rank. Alright! I’m the third E-Rank among the first-years. Fifth in the grade ranking too! To participate in the ‘Inter-School Match’ with the School, I just need to be in the top twelve. With this ranking, I don’t think I’ll drop easily. Now to maintain this ranking… no, no, that’s not it. I have to aim higher! I’ll take the top spot in the grade by the time of the ‘Inter-School Match’. Just watch. Renewing my determination along with my victory, I pressed the open/close button on the Frame Unit. With a pshhh sound of releasing air, the hatch opened. When I stepped out, the second-year opponent was just coming out of the adjacent unit. So she was next door… The moment the second-year with loose blonde waves saw me, she spat out a parting shot with teary eyes, “Don’t think you’ve won with this!”, and ran out of the unit room. Don’t think I’ve won, she says… No, no matter how you look at it, I won…

“Nero, congratulations on your promotion!”

“Ah, everyone came.”

Turning around at the voice, there were Carrol, Sherry, Lara, and even Lirisha. Behind them were Zelda Onee-sama, Sharon-senpai, and even Chiba-senpai. Or rather, I’m glad I didn’t fail… If I had, I might have been lectured on top of being embarrassed.

“That’s an amazing Gear Spell! We have to catch up quickly too!”

“When did you become able to do something like that? Isn’t that unfair?”

“You did it! With that, I think the damage to the machine is minimal!”

“…Hmph, well, I will say congratulations for today.”

Each of them offered their congratulations. It’s a little embarrassing.

“Wapu?!”

While I was mumbling, not knowing how to reply, Zelda Onee-sama suddenly hugged me from the side.

“Congratulations, Nero! As expected of my little sister!”

Why is the surrounding area buzzing again?! Since Zelda Onee-sama is here, I don’t think they’ll do anything weird, though…

“That was an amazing Gear Spell~. That utilizes the Null Magic [Gravity], right? Which means conversely, increasing weight is also…”

“Now, now. Calm down, Sharon. This isn’t the place to talk about that, is it?”

“Ah, that’s right. It was such rare magic, I just~…”

“Let’s all go eat sweets to celebrate Nero’s promotion. I’m treating.”

To Chiba-senpai’s words, everyone replied without hesitation, “Thanks for the meal!” Leaving the unit room in a group, we headed to our favorite cafe, ‘Parent’, again, and Chiba-senpai treated everyone. Apparently, it’s a custom in the ‘Academy’ for upperclassmen to treat underclassmen. Will I treat underclassmen when I go up a grade too? If I make close underclassmen friends, I wouldn’t mind doing that.

“However, rumors of Nero will spread again with this.”

While I was smacking my lips at the Special Melon Parfait, Sherry started saying such things.

“What rumors?”

“Listen, you’re the first first-year to master a Gear Spell, and currently, it’s the shortest match record this year, you know? It would be weirder if you didn’t attract attention.”

“Match time, merely two seconds… unbelievable.”

“Shortest matches are often with Lightning Frames, but two seconds is truly amazing!”

“Or rather, isn’t this an ‘Academy’ record…?”

The first-years are saying all sorts of things. It’s not like I aimed for it.

“It’s not an ‘Academy’ record. There’s a 1.8 seconds above that.”

“1.8?! Such a record exists?!”

When Carrol reacted with surprise to Chiba-senpai’s words, Sharon-senpai also interjected amusedly.

“Yup. And with a Ritter Frame too~. Simultaneous with the match start, flying [Floating Swords] ‘Fragarach’, and zudon!~”

“That was a coincidence. The opponent was a Lightning Frame charging at me full speed, and the [Floating Sword] ‘Fragarach’ I released with good timing just happened to hit the cockpit.”

Wait, so the record holder is Zelda Onee-sama! As always, this person is unbelievable…

“As expected of Zelda-sama…”

“Sasuzel…”

Lirisha and Sherry leaked such voices, but I was pondering a bit. About Zelda Onee-sama’s story just now… I might have potentially eaten that if things went poorly… It was good because the opponent was equipped with rock-solid defense this time, but if it had been something like [Floating Swords] ‘Fragarach’ or Assault Lances like in Onee-sama’s case, just charging in blindly would likely result in getting killed. Since I’m charging at that speed, after all. If they ready a weapon in front, I can’t stop suddenly. While I was lost in thought, Carrol similarly stopped eating her cake and was pondering something.

“I see… [Zero Gravity] is weak against counters…?”

“Well, that momentum would come back right at you, after all.”

“Even in today’s match, if they had gone into defense immediately, wouldn’t it have been dangerous?”

Hey, you guys. Don’t hold a countermeasure meeting in front of the person herself!

“Well, launching a counter to match that speed would require decent skill too, though.”

“Conversely, I’m more interested in the weight-increasing magic of [Gravity]~. If you could switch freely, it would be even more amazing~.”

Chiba-senpai and Sharon-senpai were talking about that, but inwardly my heart skipped a beat. Sharon-senpai is sharp… In fact, [Gravity] can exert effects of increasing and decreasing weight, plus and minus. And apparently, its true value comes from switching between them. A [Gravity] user Master knew apparently swung a lightened weapon around, and at the moment of impact, increased the weight to boost the striking and destructive power. I can’t do that much with my [Gravity]. I have to train more…

“Nero is the first to rank up, huh. I have to do my best too.”

“Huh? Carrol, you have enough stars for a promotion match, right?”

“I do, but if I lose, it’s all gone, isn’t it? I’ll save up more stars until I’m convinced I can win for sure.”

I thought she was cautious, but asking the others, apparently that’s normal. Well, if you lose, you lose the minimum one betting star plus the ten stars for the promotion challenge rights, totaling eleven stars lost. Of course you’d be cautious. In my case, since it was a challenge from above, I would have only lost the betting stars even if I lost… Wait? Does this mean if I get challenged from above constantly, I can keep ranking up? Assuming I win, that is. When I mentioned that, Chiba-senpai laughed at me.

“That’s impossible. C-Rank and above cannot challenge lower ranks. Besides, even if you raise your rank rapidly, you’ll end up receiving challenges from lower ranks one after another, you know? You can refuse, but in that case, a certain number of stars will be confiscated by the ‘Academy’.”

“Geh…”

It doesn’t go that smoothly, huh. Well, if there’s a challenge from D-Rank, there’s no reason not to accept. Even if I lose, there’s no rank down. But challenges from the lower F-Rank will start coming… In that case, if I lose, I lose my betting stars and rank down. If I win, I get the ten challenge rights stars and the betting stars… Hmm? Doesn’t sound too bad, actually.

“I see. So we could challenge Nero, win, and rise to E-Rank.”

“Then Nero would go back to F-Rank.”

“Ah? If you wanna go, let’s go? I have counter-countermeasures, you know!”

Carrol and Sherry were saying ‘Joking, joking’, but it’s suspicious whether it was really a joke. Since I’ve already fought Lirisha, we can’t duel until three months later. If I ascend to D-Rank by then and Lirisha remains F-Rank, we can’t duel. You can only challenge one rank above or below. Well, Lirisha will probably rise to E-Rank soon, though… In the first place, challenging D-Rank requires twenty challenge stars. I have to earn again. In that sense, maybe challenges from lower ranks are welcome…? Going up and down like this, I guess one settles into their appropriate rank… So walls that can’t be overcome no matter what are formed. Well, I’ll just smash such walls, though. Rank went up, but my pure overall ranking hasn’t gone up that much. Rank and ranking aren’t necessarily linked. If you don’t raise your rank but keep winning within the same rank, a situation where you are high in ranking but low in rank can occur. However, it’s a fact that higher ranks are easier for earning stars and rewards, so apparently, such a state rarely happens. Well, for the ranking, it’s partly because we’re first-years, and also because there haven’t been events to earn big stars yet. Still, I am currently fifth among the first-years.

“Come to think of it, who is the top of the first-year ranking right now?”

“Umm… That would be Pearl Frennel-san. From Xenoah.”

Lara answered my question. Pearl Frennel… From the Demon Kingdom Xenoah. A Demon, huh. I’ve met a few of Master’s Demon acquaintances, but the ones I met were Dark Elves, a race excellent in both physical ability and magic. Though I just couldn’t accept their local cuisine no matter what… There are quite a few bizarre foods…

“The Frennel House of the ‘Shield’, huh.”

” ‘Shield’?”

“One of the Five Martial Families of Xenoah, the Frennel House of the ‘Shield’. It is said that their techniques block, deflect, and divert any attack, preventing it from reaching the user.”

Chiba-senpai taught me that. A shield user, huh… I wonder what kind of Frame Gear it is? I’d like to see it a bit. If there’s a chance, I’ll try to watch a match of the grade’s top ranker.