How to Survive as a Mage Inside a Game-Chapter 59: Sky Sword Castle (4)

That was exactly how Bashon had selected them.

After all, his goal wasn’t to win the duel.

Other than Akion, the rest of the lineup was intentionally made up of young warriors with no exposure to magic—so they'd gain valuable firsthand experience.

“I can’t accept that. My grandfather said true strength comes from pushing your body to its absolute limit—”

“Oh god, not this again.”

“Enough talk. Just warm up before we start.”

Their reactions varied.

Some, like the brute, looked down on mages with pride in their martial arts. Others were visibly nervous. A few stayed quiet, calmly going through warm-ups.

But the one thing they all had in common was that unmistakable spark of anticipation. Big or small, every single one of them was fired up.

They’d already been told that the mages they were facing belonged to a renowned organization, even outside the mountains.

Their youthful blood boiled with competitive instinct.

They were martial artists to their core—losing was not in their nature.

“Peter, what about you? How strong do you think the mages really are?”

Everyone’s eyes shifted to a young man standing silently with his arms crossed.

He was acknowledged as a genius even within Sky Sword Castle.

Though he’d just reached adulthood, he already had few rivals among mid-tier warriors.

In short, he was the unofficial representative of Sky Sword Castle for today’s duel.

Of course, that was only true if you excluded one person who hadn’t shown up yet.

“They’ve got the advantage. By a lot.”

Peter’s answer came without the slightest hesitation.

“They’ve probably fought warriors like us before. There are plenty of fighters beyond the mountains. But we’ve never faced a mage—not once. It’s not just about strength. The difference in experience is going to be way bigger.”

Some nodded in agreement at his sharp observation, while others frowned in denial.

“Just watch. You won’t even have to go—I’ll take them all down myself.”

The rules of the duel were simple.

Each side would send out twenty members to fight one-on-one duels in succession.

The victor would stay in the ring and continue fighting the next challenger, and the last one standing would be the overall winner.

“By the way, Peter... what about Akion?”

Someone asked cautiously.

Just hearing her name made the others tense up and fall silent.

Peter shook his head with a sigh.

“No clue. She’s always done things her own way. But she seemed interested enough—she’ll probably show up before it ends.”

At last, Bashon, Lord of Sky Sword Castle, stepped into the arena accompanied by his warriors.

“Looks like it’s about to start.”

The once-noisy atmosphere immediately fell quiet.

Walking to the center of the arena, Bashon looked between both sides and opened his mouth.

“Seems we’re all ready. Then without further delay, let’s begin the friendly duel.”

With that, Bashon stepped back.

A warrior from Sky Sword Castle stepped up to explain the rules once more, and soon, the first duelists entered the ring and faced each other.

‘...Small.’

The warrior from Sky Sword Castle stared at the so-called mage standing a few paces away.

A petite woman with freckles.

He hesitated for a moment, unsure if it was really okay to swing his sword at someone who looked so delicate.

“Well then... begin!”

That thought was wiped clean barely seconds after the duel started.

A wave of heat grazed past his head with terrifying force.

Fwoosh!!

Several massive fireballs rose into the air around the woman.

The warrior quickly hurled himself out of the way, dodging the relentless bursts of flame.

He tried to slice through one with his sword, shaped with sword energy, and looked for an opening to charge her.

But he failed to dodge the sudden spike of earth that shot up from the ground beneath him.

“Shit...!!”

He lost his balance for a moment—and in that instant, an invisible shockwave slammed into him.

He was lifted off the ground and thrown backward.

Then, the fireballs came flying after him.

“......”

Lying on the ground, he blankly stared at the fireball hovering just in front of his face, then shifted his gaze to the mage across from him.

“Do you admit defeat?”

The woman smiled gently as she withdrew the flames.

He hadn’t even gotten close to her. It had been a total wipeout, but there was no denying her victory.

“...I lost.”

The warrior nodded with a dejected look and trudged out of the arena.

The other young warriors looked stunned as they watched.

“...Did the ground just rise up?”

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“Mages can do that, too?”

They’d thought magic was just about throwing stuff. Of course they were caught off guard.

The second duel wasn’t much different.

That warrior also failed to get close, overwhelmed by the barrage of spells.

Boom!

The third managed to close the distance—barely—but his attacks were blocked by a shield, and the mage countered with a freezing spell that knocked him out cold.

It wasn’t until Sky Sword Castle’s fourth warrior that the mage was finally defeated.

Even that was only because she ran out of mana halfway and basically forfeited.

“......”

By then, a gloomy air had settled over the rest of the warriors waiting their turn.

It had taken four of them just to take down one mage.

This was, in truth, the only outcome that made sense.

The mages sent by Altius were all elite combat division members—every single one of them had real combat experience in various forms.

Even if they were of similar age to the Sky Sword warriors, their accumulated experience was worlds apart.

These young warriors, who had done nothing but swing swords in the mountains their whole lives, with no understanding of magic and no sense for mana, simply weren’t equipped to handle opponents like that.

Sure, the warriors who came out later managed to adapt a little by watching the earlier duels, but there was a hard limit to how far that could take them.

In the end, when Altius still had twelve duelists remaining, Sky Sword Castle was down to just two.

"Hmm..."

Elder Hurst narrowed his brow.

Raphan, standing beside him, had a sour expression.

"I don’t get it. Didn’t they send out only people completely clueless about magic? Almost like they wanted their young warriors to get some experience..."

If winning was the goal, there’s no way they’d have done things like this.

Elder Hurst looked across the field at Lord Bashon with a perplexed look.

Despite the crushing defeat, the man looked perfectly at ease.

‘...What the hell is he after?’

If it wasn’t about winning, then what was the point of proposing this duel?

Was it really just to let his young warriors gain some experience, like Raphan said? All for that?

"This is way too easy."

"Right? Are we sure this is one of the continent’s Five Great Martial Factions?"

The Altius mages were already acting like the win was in the bag.

And really, they had every reason to. Sky Sword Castle only had two duelists left.

Boom!

Right then, a deafening crash rang out as the mage currently in the ring was sent flying backward.

Everyone’s eyes widened as they looked toward the warrior now standing alone in the arena.

It was Peter.

He might not have been at Akion’s level, but within Sky Sword Castle, he was still recognized as a bona fide prodigy.

"Finally, someone decent."

Remic, who had been watching with a bored expression and crossed arms, suddenly lit up.

He reached out and stopped the next mage in line by the shoulder.

"You guys can’t handle him. I’ll go next."

He glanced toward Elder Hurst for permission.

Hurst gave a lazy nod.

Remic was originally third from the end, but with only two opponents left, the order no longer mattered.

"What’s your name?"

Remic asked as he stepped into the arena.

Peter responded flatly, without expression.

"Peter."

"I’m Remic. Don’t know if the name means anything to you, but I’m the personal disciple of Altius’ combat division head. So unlike the trash you just faced, I’m on a whole different level. You’d better take this seriously."

Peter’s brow twitched.

"Trash? Is that how you refer to your comrades?"

"Comrades? Don’t make me laugh. Pathetic losers like that aren’t my comrades."

"...I don’t like you."

Clearly done talking, Peter fell silent and readied himself for battle.

Remic raised one hand and placed the other behind his back, lips curling smugly.

"Ugh, that poser."

Karl muttered with a grimace from the sidelines.

Next to him, Sharon silently nodded in agreement, looking equally annoyed.

Boom!

The duel began.

Peter surged forward with explosive speed, his body reinforced by aura.

But the twin waves of frost sweeping in from either side forced him to retreat almost immediately.

Crackle!!

He sprang away again, narrowly avoiding a barrage of lightning.

The ground of the arena cracked and shattered under the impact.

Remic’s chain attacks were clearly on a whole other level compared to the earlier mages.

Peter clenched his teeth and gripped his sword tighter.

"You’re good at dodging. Let’s see how long you can keep it up."

Flash! Boom boom boom!!

Magic of all kinds poured in, gradually boxing Peter in.

He knew it too—if this kept up, he’d be worn down and lose without ever getting a chance to fight back.

Then, a black orb came flying at him from the front.

If he could cut through it and charge in immediately, he might be able to close the gap.

But Peter didn’t realize it was a trap.

He lacked the experience.

Splutch!

The black orb didn’t slice cleanly—it clung to his blade like tar.

"...!!"

Peter’s body was instantly bound in place.

He should’ve dropped the sword and thrown himself clear, but it was too late.

Remic’s binding spell struck during that brief moment, locking down all four of his limbs.

"Tch. Not as impressive as I’d hoped."

Remic yanked Peter’s body closer and lifted him into the air.

"Honestly, if I’d been the only one to fight, I could’ve taken out all twenty of you by myself. Do you admit defeat?"

Peter stayed silent for a moment—then suddenly laughed.

"I don’t like losing this way... but in the end, the ones who’ll win aren’t you."

"...What bullshit are you spouting? You’ve only got one person left—"

Slice!

A flash of red aura cut straight through the binding spell from somewhere off to the side.

Remic flinched and leapt backward in surprise.

A woman was walking slowly into the arena.

She had arrived.