Dragonslayer’s Class Regression Chapter 85

Chapter 85

There was a reason Zeke remembered the Al and Jeff brothers.

‘In my past life, those eccentric guys created the cure for the Hong-hwa disease.’

The continent fell into chaos as many people died when the Hong-hwa disease spread.

While no one else could create a cure for the Hong-hwa disease, it was none other than the Al and Jeff brothers who succeeded in developing the cure.

Even more surprising was that these eccentric twins freely released the combination method for the cure and made it widely known throughout the continent.

Thanks to this, the Hong-hwa disease could be eradicated quickly.

Zeke had also taught the Hong-hwa disease cure he remembered from then to Melissa Allensia.

He recalled the information he had heard about the Al and Jeff brothers in his past life.

‘After the Hong-hwa disease cure, they received a lot of sponsorship and developed many things, but being such eccentrics, almost none of them were useful.’

The Al and Jeff brothers were eccentrics who only focused on research they liked, so they developed medicines that were more like pranks rather than practical potions.

Things like a potion that immediately stops hiccups, eye drops that instantly remove eye discharge, or medicine that prevents stomach aches for people who get them from drinking milk.

They were all like that. Though they created hundreds of new medicines, those that were commercialized could be counted on one hand.

Zeke asked Feinan.

“Those twins. How are their skills?”

“Though their personalities are a bit unique, they’re certainly excellent alchemists.”

If Feinan, who acknowledged their skills, said this much, their alchemy must be genuine without a doubt.

He said to Feinan.

“So what are their demands?”

“They requested various alchemy materials, but too many seem unrelated to this new medicine research. Though I’m not majoring in alchemy, I can distinguish how materials should be combined, but quite a lot of materials were completely unrelated.”

With the Al and Jeff brothers, they would definitely make medicines they wanted to make under the excuse of new medicine development.

“Can you guess what they’re trying to make?”

Feinan shook his head at Zeke’s question.

“I couldn’t guess at all. So when I cut the budget for expensive materials that seemed unnecessary, they went on strike right away.”

Zeke roughly understood what the situation was.

He said to Feinan.

“Provide the materials that Al and Jeff are requesting.”

Feinan was shocked at those words.

“Are you sure? The amount would be quite substantial…”

Zeke flinched at Feinan’s intense reaction and asked.

“…How much is it?”

“Even roughly estimating, about a hundred thousand gold…”

“A hundred thousand gold? What kind of materials did they request for such an amount?”

“There are many things. Golden eagle droppings that only live in the Northern Ice Mountains, golden Komodo dragon droppings from the swamplands, Kraken King droppings that only live in the Death Waters of the South Sea, and…”

Zeke’s expression twisted at Feinan’s words.

‘Why is it all droppings?.’

After contemplating, Zeke nodded.

“For now, provide everything that can be obtained. But make sure to tell them firmly that they must complete the new medicine using soma.”

Feinan’s face brightened at Zeke’s permission.

“Understood, Master.”

Kei, who was beside them, said with a worried expression.

“Are you sure it’s okay to invest a hundred thousand gold in those eccentric guys?”

“If a proper new medicine comes out, a hundred thousand gold isn’t too much.”

Zeke clenched his fist with a cracking sound.

“If proper results don’t come out, I’ll have to visit them personally to give a warning.”

Kei broke out in cold sweat at his response, and Feinan gave an awkward smile.

* * *

‘The Draker Tournament Quarter-finals begin!’

The large arena prepared in Atlas was packed with spectators.

At the very front were flags full of supporting houses cheering for the participants.

Among them, the large banner of House Agamemnon supporting Zeke and the extremely flashy banner of House Graham were the most noticeable.

On the opposite side, House Jiemens’ allied houses, gathered through connections, cheered for Edward with a military band.

The participants appeared in the arena that was noisy in various ways.

Eight third-round qualifiers including Zeke’s group went up to the arena and greeted the audience.

Felix, who initially insisted he wouldn’t participate, was the most excited, waving his hands at the audience.

Shortly after, Gareth appeared and announced the first match.

“Felix Valencia, Morton Heros.”

Felix, realizing he was first, was startled and rolled his eyes around.

Then Zeke hit Felix’s back with a loud smack.

“Ugh! Ow, that hurts, Master.”

“Stop dawdling and get up there quickly. Know that if you lose, you’ll be doing closed-door training.”

At Zeke’s threat, Felix grumbled as he went up to the arena.

His opponent Morton Heros sneered at Felix.

Heros was one of House Jiemens’ vassals, counted among the prestigious houses in the eastern region.

Morton internally rejoiced seeing that his opponent was Felix, whose name he had never heard before.

‘The quarter-finals will be a freebie.’

“Begin the match!”

Ziiiing!

With the sound of the judgment bell, the tournament match began.

Morton approached Felix slowly while holding his sword.

He grinned and swung his sword at Felix.

Swoosh!

A clean cut befitting a noble family was displayed.

Felix moved slightly backward to avoid Morton’s sword.

Then Morton smirked.

‘So you’re not completely worthless.’

He adjusted his grip on the sword and charged toward Felix.

“Haaah!”

With a battle cry, Morton swung his sword powerfully as if to cut Felix’s waist in one strike.

Clang!

But Felix deflected Morton’s sword too easily.

Morton stepped back and gave a sneering smile.

“Lucky shot.”

Felix didn’t respond to his mockery and took one step closer to Morton.

Unlike Felix’s light appearance seen from outside the arena, there was an inexplicable pressure emanating from Felix as he held the sword.

Morton unconsciously flinched and stepped back.

‘W-what? Me, against someone like this….’

In that moment, Felix rushed forward quickly.

And raised his sword for a vertical cut.

It was a clean cut as if it had jumped out of a swordsmanship technique.

“Huk!”

Morton barely managed to raise his sword to block Felix’s blade.

His wrist stung from the heavy sword strike.

Felix didn’t stop and swung his sword in all directions.

Vertical cuts, horizontal cuts, diagonal downward strikes, diagonal upward strikes, and so on.

Though they were simple cutting motions, as the sword strikes came continuously without intervals, Morton was overwhelmed.

“Huff, huff.”

He took his stance while breathing heavily.

His sword hand was already trembling.

‘M-me, against this nobody…?’

Meanwhile, Felix took another half step forward.

Morton unconsciously became frightened and stepped back.

Being pushed back like that, he soon found himself cornered in the arena.

After confirming Morton’s position, Felix raised his sword, his body bending like a bow before shooting forward.

Then he swung his sword powerfully at Morton.

Whoosh!

Morton raised his sword to block Felix’s blade.

But Felix’s sword sent Morton flying along with his sword.

“Kuhuck!”

Morton flew straight out of the arena and fell outside.

“Felix Valencia wins!”

As the match was declared over, Felix immediately lowered his sword and returned to his original expression.

“Whew, fortunate that the opponent was weak. I almost had to go through closed-door training.”

In truth, Morton Heros was by no means a weak opponent.

Felix, who had been trained naturally among strong fighters while following Zeke, hadn’t realized how much stronger he had become.

The next match was between Reina and Liam.

The two who had competed for first and second place at the academy were now facing each other in the martial arts tournament.

“I look forward to our match, Reina Draker.”

Reina responded to Liam’s words with a nod.

After the bell sound announced the start, the two faced each other with their weapons raised.

But they only stared at each other without moving.

Having fought countless times since their academy days, they already knew well how the other would move.

The spectators also watched their standoff while holding their breath.

Amidst the tense standoff, Liam broke the balance first.

Pat!

He lowered his stance and attacked Reina’s legs.

Swoosh!

Reina jumped into the air and tried to cut Liam’s back.

But Liam’s long arm bent at a strange angle as he swung his sword to block Reina’s blade.

Clang!

The two created distance again and began probing while checking each other.

Unable to use aura in this situation, they had to swing their swords using only physical strength.

Reina had the Tourn family’s characteristic strength and elasticity, while Liam could make irregular attacks with his long reach and flexibility.

This time Reina attacked first.

She launched an attack using her whole body’s elasticity, as advised by Zeke before.

Swish!

Her sword displayed a sharp strike that was unbelievable without using aura.

Liam stepped back while quickly swinging his sword to block Reina’s attack.

Then he swung his long leg for a low kick.

Puk!

Reina took damage from the sudden kick attack.

As her balance wavered, Liam didn’t miss the opening and dove in.

Swoosh!

He swung his sword as if to cut through Reina’s waist.

That’s when it happened.

In an instant, Reina’s eyes flashed and her entire musculature surged as she transcended physical limits.

Reina felt as if time had stopped.

‘What is this sensation?.’

Liam’s sword seemed to approach her slowly.

Reina avoided Liam’s sword and rotated her body to dive into his embrace.

Then she tripped his legs to make him fall.

Whoosh!

The stopped time returned to normal.

Lying on the ground, Liam’s expression showed he couldn’t understand why he had fallen.

Reina felt pain as if every muscle in her body was screaming.

She endured the pain and placed her sword against the neck of Liam who was lying down.

“Reina Draker wins!”

Reina regulated her breathing while taking rough breaths.

‘I’ve found a new path.’

The battle with Liam had become a foundation for Reina’s growth.

Watching this, Zeke gave a bitter smile.

‘Flash technique. Indeed, once a genius is always a genius.’

He could see that Reina’s application of the technique, which in Zeke’s previous life had earned her the title of Flash Knight, was gradually taking shape.

Just then, Felix spoke to Zeke beside him.

“Master, since Liam lost, he gets closed-door training, right?”

Without answering, Zeke gave Felix’s back a smack and slowly walked up to the arena.

It was because it was his turn next.

“Zeke Draker, Edward Jiemens!”

Zeke looked at the spear Edward Jiemens brought to the arena.

‘Ha, this bastard. He brought a magic spear.’

While others couldn’t use aura, he sneakily brought a spear enchanted with magic to the match.

As Zeke could sense mana, which was essentially the same source as aura and magic power, he could detect the magic cast on the spear.

Edward spoke to Zeke.

“Remember this well. Strategy ultimately overcomes power.”

Edward was rationalizing his petty actions with nonsensical words.

Zeke silently raised Bahamut.

And soon the bell announcing the start of the match rang.

Edward charged at Zeke with his spear while shouting a battle cry.

“Haaah!”

With haste and strength enhancement magic cast on the spear, his charging speed and thrust power were hardly different from using aura.

But Zeke swung Bahamut toward the incoming spear with an expressionless face.

Slash!

“Huh?”

The spear blade was cut off in a single strike.

Edward couldn’t properly understand what had happened.

And immediately after, Zeke swung his sword at him.

Whoosh!

Edward tried to block Zeke’s sword with the remaining spear shaft.

But Zeke’s sword was faster.

He struck Edward with the flat of the blade rather than the edge.

“Squeak!”

Edward, who was hit squarely on the back while trying to dodge, let out a strange sound and collapsed.

The spectators all gaped at Edward who had fainted from Zeke’s single strike.

The referee finally gathered his wits and shouted.

“Z-Zeke Draker wins!”

Medical staff carried away Edward Jiemens who had collapsed foaming at the mouth.

Edward was eliminated without even getting to use any of his prepared strategies.

Zeke sheathed Bahamut and calmly walked down from the arena.

“Waaaaaah!”

“Zeke! Zeke!”

The arena filled with cheers.