Chapter 34: Revelation
As I came to the stage, the host directed me to the weapon box. I took two daggers from it and traced my finger on the blade.
Taking notice that the blade was a bit dull, I wondered if the other weapons the previous fighters were using also had a dull blades.
Well, the purpose of this event wasn't to kill your opponent, so a dull dagger would suffice.
"Is that your weapon of choice?" said the host.
"Yes," I nodded.
Yes, dual daggers were enough. To be honest, I was better in using dual daggers rather than dual swords. The reason for that was that the dagger was lighter and smaller than the sword.
Even though my range of attack would be reduced, it was better than having my weapons stuck to each other, hindering my movements.
Satisfied, I scanned the bleachers where fellow students were seated.
'Which number should I pick?'
Then, suddenly, I heard noises in my head, interrupting my thoughts.
I couldn't make out the words at first, but the voice grew clearer with each passing moment.
'Pick me,' it said. But I wasn't sure what it meant. Did the owner of the voice want me to choose their number? If so, why didn't they mention which number they had?
Then, a faint glow emanated from my chest pocket, catching my attention.
The earring...
It was faintly glowing. Could it be true? Was there really a demon among us, as Ember had told me?
Was the voice in my head coming from the demon?
Thinking about it just left me with another series of questions like how did Ember know that there was a demon? By demon, did she refer to a demonic human or a real demon?
If it was the former, how did she know about their mental-based power? But, if it was the latter, how did she even know about the real demon in the first place when everyone else did not?
Ah no, she might know about that if she was Nuria's granddaughter, with all those authorities over top information…
I wasn't sure. If only I knew their rank number...
"Have you decided who you will challenge?" the host's voice interrupted my thoughts, bringing me back to the present moment.
"The number range for me is from 1000 to 500, right?"
"That's right. So, which number will you choose?"
"Then, I want to challenge number 666."
"Very well," the host nodded.
The host turned around, facing the second-year students' seating area.
"Rank 666 of the second-year students, Julian Klein! Please come to the stage!"
Rank 666, there were no other numbers that often associated with a demon other than this, right? It was purely my guess.
If I was lucky, I might find this demon hiding in the academy who might also be the one that brainwashed Baek Jin. If not, well, I had nothing to lose by choosing a higher rank than mine.
But, after giving it a second thought, shouldn't the demon have a higher placement? Considering their proud nature. Oh well, maybe this one was an ashamed, outcast demon.
And after giving it another thought, if the number I picked turned out to be the demon…
'Can I defeat them?'
In the incident in the flash dungeon, I was able to kill that Minion because I had Retro in my hand. But now, I only had two dull daggers in my arsenal. Could I defeat them?
Shaking my head, I pushed the useless thought away from my mind.
There was no use to think about it. After all, this was Neophyte Nexus, no need to get too serious. No one would die here, anyway.
If I won, I got merit points. If I lose, he got them instead. As simple as that…
Walking up to the stage was a guy with a slim build. Ruffling his brown hair as he walked, there were black lines under his eyes, and when he smiled, it looked creepy as hell.
Using my Clairvoyance, my guess about him being a demon was right.
[Name: Julron (♂)
Age: 102
Race: Demon]
'I don't know what to say about my luck… Is this good luck or bad luck?'
Maybe it was bad luck because the number I picked turned out to be the demon. But, it was good luck that his demon's name was revealed.
'So, it's Julron, huh?'
The demon, when they manifested themselves to earth, they were disguising. Be it human, animal, plant, or otherworldly being like elves and dwarves; yes, they did exist in this world, precisely after the second catastrophe.
They also often used a fake identity to cover their real name, because, once their real name was revealed, it would be a nightmare for them.
The demon's true name held a great of authority and power for the demon. Their names were considered sacred and not meant to be disclosed lightly. The names were their source of power. The longer name they had, the more power they held.
The consequences of their true name being revealed by their enemy would weaken their power, also their status and reputation among other demons.
Every demon in the story had its true name, but there was only one demon who I wrote and told their true name in the novel. One that had a 6-words length name.
This demon though only had one word, Julron. That meant he was a low-ranking demon. But, the demon was still a demon, they were not an opponent you could underestimate.
Knowing that there was a demon existed earlier than in the novel, which supposedly made its first appearance in New Avian, a floating city in Europe, I finally realized that the world was a sentient being.
The world was alive, time was always running in this world, always changing, and so did everything that happened. The world was vast, it won't always be centered around the main characters' focus, and there would be so much that happened behind the scene…
'And here I am, calling myself a genius because I know just small things…'
What a joke.
You were truly a joke, Zio Varrez.
"Haa…"
Let's put that aside first, there was a more concerning matter before me.
My opponent, the demon Julron who disguised as Julian Klein, what should I do to him?
Should I call out his true name and weaken him so I could win this?
'No. That's too risky. There might be other demons than him among the students here. If I'm to call his name and decided not to kill him on the spot… He might try to kill me when he had a chance later. Also, killing is prohibited here, and even if I managed to kill him, what reason should I use to avoid detention or worst, branded as a criminal…'
Unless Ember who also knew about the demon and had authority in this academy as the headmaster's granddaughter helped me…
"Nah. I won't risk it…"
Too much risk, I'd just confront him later after this…
"Hey, junior! What are you doing standing there? Come here, I will let you take the first hit."
"Ah sorry, senior. For putting my mind somewhere else…"
I apologized, looking pathetic and confused as if I was just got mind controlled.
When I looked up at Julian's face, I could see a faint grin plastered there.
Seeing that, I also smirked inwardly. He thought he got me under his mind control, but if only he knew that those things won't work on me, thanks to the earring.
The earring was an A-rank artifact, the name was Lunar Starwarden. As for the effect, it could block a mental-based attack like mind control, manipulation, etc. though my feeling told me there was more to this artifact other than to block a mental-based attack.
If only the information I got from my Clairvoyance could be more useful…
"Haha. Don't mind it, don't mind it. Now, come hit me, junior."
"If that's what you want, thanks for the opportunity, senior," I said, smiling.
I wanted to finish this as quickly as I could, so I went all-out in the beginning.
Mana was surging from my body and coated my feet, this was so I could move faster. I couldn't keep it up for too long though, 15 seconds was my limit for now. After it ended, I must cast it again.
Knowing that, I didn't waste my time and immediately dashed forward, both daggers ready in my hands as I held them tightly.
"Mana coating?!"
Taking advantage of his surprised behavior, I maneuvered my dash, deftly sidestepped him, and appeared behind him.
Not giving him any chance to react, I feinted him with my dagger. Instead of slashing him, I actually kicked his back knee, causing him to fall on the knee.
After that, I attempted to strike his face with my dagger. But, he blocked it with his quick reflex using a sword.
Because I got the advantage of the position, I could cancel my attack anytime. Adjusting my strategy, I pulled my dagger back and shifted my mana coat to my knee, diving it into his chest.
However, he once again defended himself well from my attack and released himself from me, backing a few paces away, he twisted the hilt of his sword.
"I did not expect that," he said.
Yeah. Same, me too, I didn't expect that I could move like that. It felt surreal…
I collected my breath after spending my stamina on that surprise attack which turned out to be failed.
"Too bad you just waste your opportunity to attack me. Now, it's my turn!"
He rushed toward me and relentlessly launched slashes and stabs. As always, I could see where the strikes going to land so I could easily dodge and parry them.
"Tch!"
This won't do, if I kept on dodging this, I would lose. Damn this stamina of mine!
I could feel a tickling sensation on my legs and shoulders, as well as my eyes. This was the first time I felt this. It was not like this when I was in the dungeon, what had happened?
'Is it because of the ring?'
That might be the case because unlike when I fought the demonic human or the fishman boss dungeon, I didn't feel exhausted this fast. It could be that the earring kept on draining my mana to block Julian's mental-based attack.
We exchanged a few blows before backing away and keeping our distance from each other.
Catching my breath, I observed Julian's expression. He had that kind of annoyed and frustrated face.
'Could he be frustrated because his skill didn't work on me?'
As I thought about that, he called to me.
"Hey, junior. You okay?"
What kind of question was that?
"Of course. I'm fine, nothing can distract me from this match."
"Haha! I see!"
Though he was smiling, I could see he was actually gritting his teeth and his palm turned white as he clenched it hard.
He was frustrated. The reason for that might be because his skill didn't work.
I looked at my chest pocket for a moment, the glow on the earring still glowed faintly. Then, a second later, the glow brightened for a short time before it completely disappeared.
'I guess that's gonna be the last attempt of his skill.'
Shifting my attention forward, Julian's face turned even sour. There was blood streamed down from his mouth, clearly showing his frustration.
Juggling the dagger in my right hand, I prepared to rush in again. I tapped the floor with my feet and do a little jump before launching myself forward.
I threw one of the daggers to distract Julian's vision. He parried that dagger as I wanted, and his focus was now solely on me. His angry eyes glared at me as he spat out the blood from his mouth.
"This is weird, junior…"
He started talking. His sword pointed forward, not in the right position to block an attack. I guessed he won't bother to defend but rather meet my attack with an attack of his own.
That was useless though, attacking me was useless as long as I could see where would his attack landed.
I slid down, dodged his sword, and went through both of his feet then caught both of his heels deftly then pulled them, causing him to stumble forward, left in confusion.
"Don't you have any honor, junior?!"
"I don't. As long as I could win this fight," I smiled.
Instead of attacking him while he was in rather a vulnerable position, I picked back my dagger.
As I stood up, I felt the wind gushing behind me.
"Then, don't hate me for doing this!"
The gusts of wind got stronger and made me shake a little. When I noticed it, in Julian's blade, the wind was swirling around it.
At that moment, I could see an image in my head. There, a series of wind blades thrust out from Julian's sword and rained me down with a flurry of stabs and thrusts.
When the image faded away, I immediately prepared my stance.
"You better dodge this if you don't want to get hurt!"
A flurry of wind blades strikes rushing at me like a thousand needles.
I parried and dodged it as I pushed myself forward, reaching for him. That was the only thing I could do in this situation, risking taking the attack to respond with another attack of my own.
As I got closer and closer, immediately, I coated my feet in mana and disappeared from his line of sight.
Appearing behind his blind spot, I swung my dual daggers.
Clang–!
He blocked them with his sword quickly and turned around to meet my face. At that moment, I was smirking, feeling that victory was within my grasp.
"Gotcha!"
I ducked in a flash thanks to mana coating that now covered half part of my lower body and slashed his right calf with my dual dagger in a circular motion.
"Guak!"
He screamed in pain as he fell to his knees. Thanks to that, he was disarming himself, saving my time to kick his wrist.
With a flick of my hand, I pointed the dagger at him and said.
"Do you feel like surrendering yet, senior?"
He chuckled, then yielded.
"Rank 911 of first-year students, Zio Varrez has won against Julian Klein!"
The cheers erupted in the air, assaulting my ears and earlier confidence. Never had I thought that the crowds would be overwhelming like this.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone