章 9: Counterattack

"Pick your weapon."

Hearing the instructor's command, they both went to the side of the field where a few baskets lined up—each holding at least ten wooden weapons that came in various types and sizes.

Laust had his own weapon of choice and grabbed a five-foot-long sword while Theo picked a similar spear as the one he bought two days ago.

These two gradually became the center of attention, even among the second and third-year students since they didn't have anything to do just yet.

"Alea, two people are fighting beside us. Are you going to stop them?" A pink-haired girl walked to Alea while asking. Her tone was playful as if she enjoyed the sight.

Alea glanced at her with a smile. "Of course not. The instructor here is related to the military. Because of our government policy, it's better not to get involved with the military even if you have a deep relationship with some people in the government or military. You know, our country's current president."

"Haha, Indeed. Even your family can't do anything, right?"

"Stopping the instructor? No. But stopping the participants? I can." Alea smiled mysteriously and stared at Laust. "Well, isn't this a familiar face? What is his name again?"

"He is Laust Lange, Lange Family's second son."

"And who is the person going to fight him?" She furrowed her eyebrows when looking at Theo. He didn't seem to be as strong as Laust. Yet, his face revealed no emotion as if he planned to beat him. "Who is he?"

"I don't know."

"Is this bullying?"

"You tell me. But the other guy seems raring to fight. Well, the instructor will stop them if it goes beyond the boundary."

"Fair enough. I will still watch it though. Can't have someone get injured in front of me."

"Haha. That sounds like you."

At the same time, on the opposite court, a grey-haired young man was staring at Theo mysteriously. His stare was deep in thought, while his serious expression made people unable to approach him.

If Theo actually looked in the young man's way, he would recognize this person. He was none other than the second-year student who bullied him, Sihan Raskaka.

Sihan glanced back and forth between Theo and Laust while frowning.

Meanwhile, Theo and Laust walked inside the arena, ignoring all the people around them.

The instructor, whose name was Rektus, took another look at their expression to see if they were ready to fight or not.

"No killing, no inflicting permanent harm, and no skills. I have the right to stop the match if I deem it's too dangerous to go on. The fight will end if one side admits defeat or knocks out your opponent. If you don't have a question, you may start."

The two nodded, but Laust couldn't contain his smile.

Knowing Laust's personal status, Rektus kept an eye on him, to prevent a person like him from doing something excessive to a normal student like Theo. After all, it would be terrible for Theo's family while the other party could simply afford some remuneration and call it a day.

"Let me show you what it means to be strong!" Laust made a sinister smile and jumped forward, slashing his sword down.

Theo raised his stance and received the blow with the tip of his spear before letting it slide a bit to pull Laust's toward him. His spear's blade had a diamond shape, so when it got stuck at the latter half, he used all his strength to push the sword to the side.

"!!!" Laust widened his eyes in surprise. He didn't remember Theo had this kind of strength.

Not wanting to lose to him, he put more strength in his grasp, so he didn't lose his sword, resulting in his sword getting locked on the ground with Theo's spear.

With the spear's butt pointing upward, Theo used his off-hand to slam Laust's head with its handle.

As expected from a wealthy family, even though Laust was known as a lecher or something, he still had a good foundation after getting trained by many tutors.

Before the spear reached him, the young man sent a powerful kick towards Theo's stomach.

"Tch." Theo realized that he couldn't take advantage of his unknown strength to defeat Laust, so he lowered his spear even more, receiving the kick with the spear's handle.

The kick was more powerful than he imagined, blowing him several feet away.

Theo landed on the floor with a stable posture and spun his spear to reset his grip.

"Fu." Taking a deep breath, Theo observed Laust's movement and thought, 'Haiz. This is not going to work. Speed, strength, and technique… I am inferior to him in all aspects, so how can I win this time? Even the change of my strength was unable to defeat him. He looks foolish, but it doesn't mean he can't think. I need to come up with another pattern then.'

As he predicted, Laust's expression turned serious after noticing Theo's drastic change. The couple told him that he was targeted by a Rock Turtle two days ago, but the change of his strength was too abnormal.

'Did he kill the Rock Turtle, resulting in him leveling up several times? Or was there an expert that happened to pass by, taught him something, and even helped him level up during the past two days?' Laust thought.

After staring at each other for five seconds, Theo continued the fight by jumping forward. He closed their distance in a few steps and thrust his spear toward Laust's chest.

Laust tried to stop the attack with a single swing from below.

Theo smiled as he had predicted his movement. Laust was a prideful man, so Theo bet that he wouldn't dodge the attack coming from him. Instead, he would stop the attack, showing the difference of strength.

And this character of him worked perfectly with what Theo had in mind. What Laust didn't realize was the slight adjustment in Theo's grip. Unlike the previous one, Theo held the spear slightly toward the tip of the spear's blade.

As soon as he saw the incoming swing, he halted his step. The shorter reach prevented Laust's sword from hitting his spear.

Theo utilized this chance by changing the grip to normal and thrust his spear once again, hitting Laust's on the back of his right palm.

"Ah!" Laust obviously couldn't accept that Theo hit him. His pride seemed to be bigger than Theo expected because he didn't shout something stupid. Instead, he used that anger to bear the pain as his other hand grabbed the sword and swung it at Theo's left forearm.

Theo let out a groan as the two leaped back.

Laust was clenching his fist and loosening it a few times to get the feeling of his hand again, but Theo was a bit worse.

He took a few deep breaths while holding his spear high. However, everyone could see that his off-hand was shaking.

"Ugh, that must really hurt." The female beside Alea commented. Although the bruise had yet to appear, she could already imagine what kind of pain Theo had to endure with that shaking hand alone. "Are you not going to stop them? From his expression alone, that Lange Family's scion will surely hit him a couple of times before the instructor can stop him."

"…" Alea had an internal conflict with herself, wondering whether she should stop the match here. As long as she asked Laust or Theo to step down, they would surely give her face and end the match.

However, Theo's expression remained strong. There was no way that kind of injury would stop him.

'He…Does he have some kind of grudge against the Lange Family or Laust Lange? To have this strong determination while being at a disadvantage. He might be able to do something great even if his achievement is limited in the future.'

This was Alea's honest thought when she observed Theo's movement. Although he wasn't particularly strong, especially when she found the lack of proper training in his way of handling the spear, she knew that if he had a great teacher, he might be able to reach a bigger step in the future.

Still, whether he was someone who was capable or not couldn't be seen in just one moment. She wasn't her grandfather after all. And she had another person in mind that her grandfather told her.

Meanwhile, Sihan seemed to have a different opinion than her, albeit he kept it for himself. He could see something behind that shaking.

Sihan himself wore a shield because his role in a party mainly was guarding the team. Meeting injured teams, perfectly fine teams, or even a team who had fallen into despair, he had protected them all.

That was why he could see that Theo's hand might be hurt, but it was still usable like Laust's.

However, Laust obviously didn't share his opinion. With how hurt Theo appeared to be, he smirked and began his ruthless attacks.

As long as he could knock off that spear from Theo's hand, he should be able to give three powerful blows before the instructor could stop the match. It should be fine for the time being.

Hence, his attacks mostly aimed at his spear and his main hand.

Theo gritted his teeth and his face gradually turned desperate. This was what Laust wanted to see.

His attacks became even more ruthless.

A ruthless attack also meant another thing. It meant that the swing was wider to pack up more power.

In his desperate moment, Theo pushed his spear upward with his off hand, allowing him to make a full thrust with only his main hand. This technique boosted the speed of his thrust.

In other words, this was all or nothing thrust.

Laust, who saw this movement, made a sinister smile as he changed the direction of his swing while saying. "Do you think I didn't anticipate this?"

The female beside Alea closed her eyes, knowing that Theo had lost, while Alea was about to move to stop the match.

To everyone's surprise, when his spear was about to get hit by the sword, Laust widened his eyes as a sharp pain spread all over his abdomen. He lowered his vision and found that he was hit by Theo's supposed broken hand. "!!!"

"Did you?" Theo smiled as if everything went according to his plan.

And it was also the sign of his counterattack.