Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 101 (Part 1):

After all the classes ended, Helmut, returning to the dormitory, encountered Sian at the entrance.

“Asuka, Helmut, I heard you two dueled today. Everyone seems excited about it. What’s the story?”

It seems he already got the information from the students in the swordsmanship department who returned first.

“I wish I had seen it too.”

Sian expressed regret.

“They say it was a very high-level duel? what happened?”

“I’m going in.”

Interrupting Sian’s words, Asuka briskly walked towards the dormitory. Even at a glance, he seemed quite downcast.

He had dueled three times consecutively in the morning and lost all three times in a row. He didn’t complain or throw a tantrum; he just became sullen, losing his usual talkative nature.

Watching his back, Sian made a strange expression.

“What’s wrong with him? That guy. Did you hit him a lot?”

“Not really, I didn’t hit him much.”

Considering the dueling ended almost overwhelmingly. He got hit with a wooden sword, so it might hurt, but he treated it all afterward.

In other words, there was a significant skill gap between Helmut and Asuka to the extent that he didn’t need to inflict injuries.

“Winning and losing is part of life,” Sian murmured.

The perspective of a swordsman who values victory and a magician who values individual achievement was somewhat different.

Although magical prowess could decide the balance in combat, it was not an absolute criterion.

“Like how you always lose to Alea?”

“Except for Alea, everyone else loses to me, so I’m second, right?”

“Looking at it from a different perspective, I guess.”

It was new. But Helmut didn’t want to lose. To anyone. He couldn’t even tolerate being second. The Forest of Roots was full of powerful monsters, and Helmut, being human, was a fragile existence. He didn’t want to become like that even in the human world.

In the human world, he wanted to be strong. A formidable force that no one could underestimate.

He had already stepped out of someone’s shadow.

“He seems a bit upset, but it won’t last long, will it?”

Leaving Sian muttering, Helmut returned to his dormitory room. Alea’s class was about to start soon.

“Is that guy not coming today?”

Alea, who saw Sian carefully locking the door, asked with his chin propped up.

Not long ago, there was an incident where Alea’s fans forcefully opened the door and rushed in.

After pushing them out and closing the door, everyone had been thorough in checking the door ever since.

“Asuka is at the training ground. He won’t come today. Seems like he’s really upset.”

“Well, that’s good.”

The atmosphere improved as one of the two who had been dampening the mood disappeared.

If Asuka focused only on training and neglected his studies, the chances of Helmut becoming the top student would increase.

“Don’t be complacent. He said he studied all the notes, so he just needs to look at them briefly the day before the exam.”

“Whether I’m complacent or not, you still have to run 100 laps around the field.”

“Do you have confidence? Did Helmut’s answer sheets improve a lot?”

Sian reached out and grabbed the answer sheet that Helmut was looking at. Helmut, who was just reviewing Alea’s corrections, frowned.

“This… what is this? How can a person improve this much in such a short period of time?”

Sian muttered. He was also the second-best in the magic department. He knew how to distinguish between a well-written answer sheet and a poorly written one. The expression was crude, but there was nothing to criticize. It was an answer sheet that could easily be in the upper ranks.

Alea cut off his words without mercy.

“Let’s start, close your mouth.”

“Yes, yes.”

The class began in the study room. It was the night before the midterm exams.

The second-year students in the swordsmanship department were unusually lively from the morning. The long-awaited confrontation with the first-year students had finally arrived.

“Today, we’re facing the first-year students.”

“Ugh, I’m nervous. If we win this, it should be the normal thing, but if we lose, it’s embarrassing, right?”

“The first-year guys are good this year, they underestimate us.”

“We have to show them what we’ve got!”

“But actually, we underestimated the second-years last year. We came to our senses after we got beaten.”

“First of all, we have to beat them.”

“You’re not lacking confidence, are you?”

“I’m confident, but you’re the problem.”

“What, dude? You’re behind me in duel records, are you kidding?”

“Whether it’s 4 wins 5 losses or 5 wins 4 losses, it’s the same.”

“I’m worried about both of you. If you can’t win, at least play the part.”

“Even if you lose, try to hold out for 5 minutes!”

“If you lose, you don’t deserve to enter the dormitory, sleep on the field!”

Laughter erupted. The atmosphere was quite good. Appropriate tension. Moderate vitality.

Certainly, as the dueling with students from other years approached, there was a sense of unity among them.

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