Highest in the Room (3)
"Ok, let's get to it now. Who's first?"
"Let's go!"
"Me."
Ray and Linda said at the same time before realizing just how agitated they seemed, not in a bad way. To say the least, they sounded pumped and eager to challenge Ren. This was very much expected, so it was no surprise to Ren or anybody else for that matter. Perhaps, what was unexpected was that Isaac had remained silent without any reaction, since he had been sneakily taking one too many glances at Ren, well, only he thought he was being sneaky since it was obvious to the rest.
Seeing his fellow mates, Ren could acknowledge just how much stronger he was, and since he had copied most of their skills, it was normal for him to feel satisfied, but maybe just that wasn't enough. 'I doubt they'd have trump cards by this time when it's so early into the story, but they should have at least one skill they refuse to show, perhaps, I can push them to reveal it.'
Even though Ren could basically just think up skills and create them, their power and efficiency would be better if there were records of references.
"You go first; I'll wait my turn." Ray said, playing the gentle character.
Linda nodded her head before stepping forward. As if expecting something destructive, everyone took several steps backwards without anyone needing to say anything.
Ren noticed Linda using a sword earlier as her weapon, even though she awakened as an Ice Mage. This was also something that was highlighted in the original story, and even formed an entire ark of her realizing where her true strength lied, and of course, it was the MC, 'Ray' who led her to the right path, increasing affection and solidifying her place in the harem.
'Well, what she's doing now isn't abnormal in anyway, no wonder no one thought to tell her off.'
Even though someone awakens as a particular class, they may later specialize elsewhere with their class as foundation, so a magic swordsman is not impossible, which is what Linda is aiming for, or at least that is what Ren thinks it is.
"A sword as you main weapon, huh?" Ren commented, kind of unconsciously.
"I don't see any weapons in your hand. As a swordsman, how do you plan to fight without your weapon?" Linda responded with a question of her own.
'I might just be buying trouble for myself here. No way, though.'
Well, for a swordsman, their sword is their life and their life is their sword, so for Ren to stand in a duel, even though a friendly one, without his sword, it was like an insult to all swordsmen. To Linda who took being a swordsman pretty seriously, it was like shit bundled in a takeaway bag had been thrown to her face, or at least that is what a true swordsman may feel, looking at this situation.
"A true swordsman does not raise his sword against the powerless." Ren responded. His answer was very unexpected, and it was visible on the face of everyone there. Quite literally, this was an insult to Linda in a way, or at the very least, it was him calling her a weakling.
"Harsh words."
Ren no longer responded and just instead gestured with his hand for her to come to him. Linda got even more serious than she was as she readied her stance preparing for attack. Looking at the face off, it was clear who was going to be on the offensive.
With her sword held firmly in both hands, Linda pushed forward instantly closing the distance between her and Ren.
"WOW! I swear I didn't see anything just now! Did you see anything?" Ash was the first to talk as Linda's movements were too fast for him to catch initially. She had literally disappeared and reappeared before Ren in Ash's eyes. He wasn't alone in this, as Damien and the others were completely caught off guard at the start of the duel with Linda's explosive speed.
'She didn't show this level when we fought earlier.' Ray thought to himself. He could feel his blood boiling, clearly overhyped.
While everyone was fascinated and more than impressed with the new show of strength from Linda, Ren on the other hand was still pretty calm and very far away from any dangerous situation.
He could acknowledge the fact that Linda had improved, but to him at that moment, she could very much be walking and it would feel the same.
Linda showed excellent strength and tenacity to keep attacking without stop over a long period of time. Even though Ren could see she had improved and all, 'for someone who likes the sword so much, her technique is poor and her form is even worse.' Ren thought to himself. Well, given the fact that they had only been enrolled in the academy for a month or so, Ren was not berating her at all, perhaps it was because of his knowledge when it came to swordsmanship through his techniques and class that he could not just look past this.
"Hmm…" Ren continued avoiding all of Linda's attacks by little margins, minimizing his movements and energy consumption.
'It's like he has calculated every path my sword will take and moves his body only enough to avoid it… It just doesn't make any sense. We came into this school together, but how can he improve so much in such little time?' Linda was baffled, and the more her attacks missed, the clearer it became just how far apart they were in strength.
*CLANG!!
Linda, for the first time swung all the way through causing her sword to strike against a stone sticking out of the ground. She paused in her movements for a while, then she swiftly drew her sword back and in the same motion sheathed it on her waist.
'What's going on?'
"I admit defeat. The gap between us is far too much, keeping this up is just fruitless." She said, keeping the same straight face as usual.
'I'm glad someone thinks so too.'
"Well, you are yet to use any skill yet, so there're still chances."
"Haha, I see, so that's what you think? Actually, I have already activated two skills earlier, seeing as you didn't even notice, it means they were just that weak…"
"???" 'I fucked up again, huh?'
"Besides, I have been focused on developing my path with the sword, so all my skills cater towards that, there really isn't anything to show."
"I see."
In reality, Ren noticed when she activated her skills which were the same ones she used already, he was only hoping that she had more to show that was why he said that… seems he was wrong. 'Indeed, one month is too short a time.'
"Well, come on Ray, let's go." Ren called Ray out.
To cut the long story short, the outcome was similar to Linda's with the only difference being that Ray had one extra skill to show Ren, or so he saw it. Ray was actually stringer than Linda when it came to physical stats, but the strength of his skills were similar with the exception of the last skill he used which was an overpowered skill that Ren remembered remained one of his final moves even later in the future.
'The skill that causes extreme pain to the victim by boiling the water content in their body, causing irreversible damage depending on how used, a skill that could render even the most epic of berserkers useless.
'Blood Burn… such a vampire sounding skill name.'
After Ray, no one was willing to try their luck against Ren anymore, his show of power was very much sufficient for the wise, and today, even Ash who loved to fool around was feeling scholarly energy around him.
'That concludes it, Ren is undoubtedly the strongest in our set,' was the strain of thought in everybody's mind.
-- 贈り物
が届きました 
-- 推薦
ランキング 
-- 推薦
チケット