A few days later, the holidays arrived.

  This Saturday, I didn't have any activities with the others. Usually, when I'm not busy, I'd settle in to read a book in the library. But this time, I wanted to check out the training grounds in the central building, as it was a place I'd never been to before at this academy. Not just the training grounds, but the third floor and above in the central building, which I'd never even visited once.

  Then I arrived at the first floor of the central building, which houses the cafeteria, then climbed the stairs to the second floor, which housed the treatment room for students who had been injured or exhausted during matches. I'd been to this floor, albeit rarely, when I'd escorted Irene, who'd been injured after her fight with Princess Amelia, and when I'd escorted my classmates who'd exhausted their mana after their first exam. It's safe to say that the treatment on this floor is the best in the academy. Injured and exhausted students can recover in just a few minutes. Although I'd never experienced direct treatment on this floor, I rarely got injured in daily matches, and even if I did, I could heal myself.

  Then I went up to the third floor of the middle building. There was a very large training area, larger than the first-year training area. Perhaps because the middle building was also larger than the first-year building, the training area was also spacious. Furthermore, this training area was a joint training area for all students from first to fourth years.

  "So, this is what the joint training area is like. There are so many of them training here. And it looks like this is a special training area for magic, with wands or without weapons," I said.

  No one I knew was training on this floor, so I thought I'd continue looking up.

  And then I arrived at the fourth floor. Judging by the people training on this floor, it seemed like this was a special training area for both regular Martial Arts and Magic Martial Arts.

  "Hmm, that's Noa and Lillian. So, those two always train together during holidays like this," I said.

  I saw Noa sparring with Lillian, using only punches and kicks. I watched them for a long time until Noa finally came to his senses and looked at me. Noa called out to Lillian and pointed at me, and Lillian looked at me too. They both waved when they saw me. I waved back.

  I then continued to explore the next floor and gave Noa a thumbs-up sign, indicating I wanted to go up. Noa responded with a thumbs-up sign, meaning "okay." I don't know if he understood the meaning of my gesture.

  I then reached the 5th floor, a training ground specifically for close-range weapons like swords, rapiers, greatswords, and spears. Although spears can be categorized as mid-range weapons.

  "There are more students training here than in the Martial Arts training ground. Although not as many as in the magic training ground," I said.

  I observed the students arriving at the training ground, searching for anyone I might know until I finally found him.

  "Kotaro, huh? So he also likes to train here. Well, that's better than doing nothing during the holidays," I said.

  Kotaro was so focused on training that he didn't notice his surroundings, and I continued to the next floor.

  And then I arrived at the 6th floor. This floor was a special training area for long-range weapons such as bows and arrows and rifles. As I looked around the training area, I noticed one student who stood out from the rest. It was because of the weapon she was using. She ?was the only one using a rifle on the training ground, while the others were using bows and arrows. She was shooting several wooden dummies from a considerable distance with her rifle. She shot a wooden dummy that was in the middle of the others. After being shot, the dummy exploded, hitting the surrounding wooden dummies.

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  "It was an explosive shot, huh? It's the same as when she destroyed Senior Vyn's dragon head," I said.

  Whether she realized she was being watched or it was just a coincidence, Senior Nadine glanced at me after shooting the dummy. After that, she immediately approached me.

  "Good afternoon, Rid. It's quite unusual for you to be here. I think this is the first time I've seen you here," Senior Nadine said.

  "Good afternoon, senior. Yes, you're right, this is my first time here. I was just looking around," I said.

  "I see," said senior Nadine.

  "Compared to other training grounds, there aren't many people practicing here, are there?" I asked.

  "That's because there are very few long-range weapon users at this academy compared to other weapon users. So it's natural that this training ground is a bit quiet. But there are also other weapon users who come here to practice using long-range weapons," said Nadine.

  "I see," I said.

  "Are you interested in using long-range weapons, Rid?" Nadine asked.

  "I tried it before I entered the academy, but I don't think I'm suited to using long-range weapons," I said.

  "I see. By the way, did you come here just to look around?" Nadine asked.

  "Yes, what's the matter, senior?" I asked.

  "How about we have a sparring match?" Nadine asked.

  "Fight you? Here?" I asked again.

  "Yes," Nadine said.

  "Unfortunately, I didn't bring my sword this time because my purpose was just to look around. But even if I did, would it be permissible to spar here? I use a sword, and this is a training ground for long-range weapons," I said.

  "That's right, I forgot about that. I guess I was too eager to challenge you that I forgot. Then, let's do it another time," said Senior Nadine.

  "Why do you want to spar with me, Senior?" I asked.

  "I'm just curious to see how strong you'd be if I fought you head-to-head. Especially since you defeated Princess Amelia in a match," said Senior Nadine.

  "Have you ever fought Princess Amelia before?" I asked.

  "Yes, but only twice. My first match with her was in a daily match, and the second was in an academy tournament a few months ago," said Senior Nadine.

  "So who won between you and Princess Amelia, Senior?" I asked.

  "I won both matches," said Senior Nadine.

  "Really?" I said, surprised.

  "I didn't expect Senior Nadine to defeat Princess Amelia, even though she's so strong, and she's defeated her twice? Did she defeat her with just that rifle? But this makes sense, because Princess Amelia stopped bothering Irene when Senior Nadine arrived. It seems like she's afraid of Senior Nadine, having defeated her twice," I thought.

  "Yes. And since we both defeated Princess Amelia, that's what makes me curious about who would win if we fought," Senior Nadine said.

  "Then why don't you just challenge me to a daily match instead of a sparring match?" I asked.

  "I don't want to be reckless, because there's a chance I could lose against you. If I lose, I'll lose 400 points," Senior Nadine said.

  "Yes, you have a point. But I didn't expect you to defeat Princess Amelia. Does that mean you're the strongest female student in the second year?" I said.

  "Well, let's just say that, but compared to the other classes, I'm still weak compared to Miss Gretta and Miss Alisha," said Senior Nadine.

  "Alisha?" I asked, confused.

  "Ah, I guess you've never met her. Alisha Lesher, she's the current treasurer at Elevrad. She's the strongest female student at the academy, even Miss Gretta hasn't defeated her. That's the one with the bow," Senior Nadine said, pointing to someone in the training ground.

  The person Senior Nadine pointed to was drawing her bow, and far ahead of her were numerous wooden dummies. If I counted them, there were probably around 20 to 30.

  "So the strongest female student at this academy is a bow user, huh? I didn't expect that," I said.

  "Watch what Miss Alisha will do," Senior Nadine said.

  Miss Alisha released an arrow from her bow. At first, she only released one arrow, but suddenly the number of arrows increased, each arrow hitting each of the wooden dummies, destroying them. All the wooden dolls were destroyed. I was a little surprised when I saw that.

  "She can shoot multiple arrows with just one draw of the bow?" I asked.

  "Yes, and not only that. Each arrow has incredible destructive power. You know that Miss Gretta has the power to create clones, right?" asked Senior Nadine.

  "Yes, I saw it when I fought Senior Vyn," I said.

  "One arrow from Miss Alisha was enough to destroy one of Miss Gretta's clones, completely destroying it," said Senior Nadine.

  Meanwhile.

  After destroying all the wooden dolls, Miss Alisha looked at Rid and Senior Nadine, who were chatting.

  "Hmmm? I feel like they're talking about me," said Miss Alisha.

  -To be continued