章 10: Kein's Awakening
The 2 weeks before the duel flew by and now I was in a room while waiting for everything to be ready, Livia was by my side while looking a bit worried
"You don't have to worry; on the path we're on, hurting us badly won't be an uncommon thing."
"I know, but still..."
"I understand; I know how you feel, but you won't be able to have that attitude if you want to endure what's to come later on."
"..."
Livia lowered her head and said nothing more.
"Sigh~"
I stood up and caressed her head, She raised her gaze to look into my eyes
"I'm not saying change now, but take this first experience as a starting point."
"...Yes."
She nodded as she looked determined, After another 10 minutes, I was called to go up to the arena.
"I'm going"
"Yes, please be careful."
"I will"
I followed the man out of the room and I could see a big arena and the seats in the stands practically full, It seems that the second and third years also came to see the duel.
I went up the stairs and on the other side appeared Kein with a burning look, determined to win this duel.
We stopped in the middle of the arena and Professor Lucius, who will be the referee, started to explain the rules to us
"You can't use artifacts nor can you perform lethal attacks; the one who gives up or gets unconscious loses, If I notice that any of you can't continue, I will stop the fight immediately and the winner will be the one who is in better condition Is that clear?"
"Yes"
We both affirmed and then a person handed us both some swords to fight with.
I'm more of a long sword fighter, but it doesn't matter; I won't win anyway'.
We walked away from the center and the teacher raised his hand.
"Ready! Fight!"
He lowered his hand, and the duel began. Kein quickly pounced on me and attacked me, making an arc with his sword.
-Klangh!
Our swords clashed as I blocked his attack, which seemed to have surprised him.
"Hmp, for a rat, you have some strength!"
Applying force, I swung his sword away and then gave him a paw to the abdomen, which sent him a few feet away.
'Damn, it's like kicking a stone wall'.
When my foot connected with his abdomen, I could feel how sturdy and resilient his muscles were.
"Well, he's the main character for a reason, and that crazy grandfather of his has put him through hellish training since he was 5 years old, so it's no wonder."
-Fum!
I enhanced my body with mana and ran towards Kein, who had already regained his stance, Our swords resounded once again when they clashed, Kein counterattacked but I easily evaded him and continued with my attack.
-Klangh! Klangh! Klangh!
We started close combat, clashing our swords, The pace was increasing every second but Kein was lagging behind.
"What happened to your arrogant attitude from before, huh?"
Several cuts started to appear on Kein's body as he was trying to protect himself from my attacks
"Fuu~"
Suddenly, Kein started inhaling a large amount of air so fast that even I could hear it as our swords collided
"Hmp!"
-Klangh!
With a loud hit, he sent my sword backwards, leaving my arm half numb. He didn't stop there and started attacking at a much faster speed than before, making me retreat.
The spectators in the stands who thought I would win easily were surprised at the sudden counterattack. The commoners supporting Kein started cheering, and the second and third years seemed more interested in the duel.
-Klangh Klangh
Kein's hits were strong and fast, making me lose my balance, Actually, I could recover quickly from this; I just had to use a little more mana and that's it, I have a lot more mana than him thanks to my training.
But winning is not my goal, In order for me to be expelled from both the academy and the family, I have to follow the steps of Arthur in the novel to the letter, Everything I have done so far has not been blindly, I made sure to remember every appearance of Arthur in the novel, every interaction, every fight, and analyze his behavior and way of thinking.
When faced with situations that were not in the novel, I always wondered, what would Arthur do?hit this guy, insult this guy's mother and threaten to destroy this guy's family
Now then
What would Arthur do in this situation?
The answer is clear
"Fucking filthy commoner!!!"
Lose his temper and attack like a madman.
-Klangh! Klangh! Klangh!
I started attacking frantically while Kein, keeping calm, blocked the attacks and took advantage of all the openings of my careless attack.
Several cuts appeared on my body, but that only made me more 'angry'.
-KLANGH
With a strong hit that he didn't see coming, Kein lost his balance and I took advantage of that to make a treacherous attack.
I quickly moved my sword and stabbed Kein in the left leg.
"Kgh!"
Kein groaned in pain but quickly moved away, He tried to support his leg but the pain made him lose his balance again, Taking advantage of this, I lashed out at him without letting him regain his posture
The spectators, more specifically the commoners, cursed me for making such a cowardly move, Some nobles also looked at me with complicated expressions, The older ones, however, didn't care much; they had been taught to use everything at their disposal to ensure victory and stabbing the enemy's leg to reduce his mobility was a good strategy
Kein wasn't having a good time, as he blocked my frantic attacks while enduring the pain in his leg, but he didn't lose his calm and looked for the best way out of the situation
"Shh~"
This time, he exhaled instead of inhaled and relaxed his grip and posture.
-Screech
This time when their swords clashed, Kein, with a smooth movement, deflected my sword to the side, making me lose my balance, Taking advantage of that, he connected a knee to my stomach with his right leg with all his strength
"Cof, cof!"
I kneeled down while clutching my stomach and trying to breathe.
Kein approached me and pointed his sword at me.
"Surrender; you can't win."
He said with a firm tone as he looked at me with his glowing red eyes
"How...dare...you...DARE...DAMN PLEBEY!!!"
Expelling 'all' the mana from my body, I lashed out at Kein, who was stunned by the sudden burst of power.
-Klangh!
"Kgh!"
With a mighty hit, I sent Kein's sword backwards and struck him in the face, taking advantage of his helpless stance.
Kein rolled a little on the ground before stabilizing himself with blood coming out of his nose.
-Klangh!
I didn't let him rest, and with a downward attack, I pushed him down again as his knees embedded into the ground from the force of the attack.
-Crash!
He deflected my sword and it smashed into the ground, breaking it and leaving cracks, Kein fell back, trying to regain his balance but I quickly reached him and pushed him down again.
-Klangh Klangh Klangh Klangh
Kein tried his best to block my attacks but he was already tired and the wound on his leg didn't exactly help.
"What happened to your airs of superiority, huh?"
-Klangh Klangh
"After I defeat you, I'll turn you into my punching bag to take out my stress!"
-Klangh
"And that friend of yours, hahaha, don't worry, I'll make sure to take good care of her."
I told him in the nastiest tone I could.
"Kgh! you fucking son of a"
A golden gleam appeared in his eyes for a few seconds before disappearing
'Alright, we're almost done.
"What's the matter? You don't like the idea? I can let you have some after we're done."
The glow reappeared, along with a small aura of the same color.
"This is what happens to commoners when they mess with nobility!"
-Klangh Klangh
"You filthy commoners should just listen to our orders without rebuttal!"
-Klangh Klangh
"You commoners should only follow the orders of the nobles!
-Klangh!
A sword flew out and slammed into the ground, but, surprisingly, it was not Kein's sword.
Arthur looked astonished at Kein, who was surrounded by a golden aura just like his eyes, Raising his hand, he took impulse and smashed his fist against Arthur's face with all his strength, He flew out at high speed, only stopping after crashing and getting stuck in the other end of the arena.
The aura that surrounded him disappeared and he lost all his strength and fell unconscious.
The audience remained silent without processing what they had just seen; they would still be in their stupor if it weren't for a voice that echoed throughout the arena.
"The duel is over! the winner is Kein!"
***
"My face hurts..."
I slowly opened my eyes, Well, my left eye was swollen shut and I couldn't see anything.
'Damn, even when I protected my face with mana, it hurt a lot'.
At least I'm much better off than Arthur in the novel, who, after taking that hit, was left half disfigured and with his face unrecognizable
"Young master!"
I heard a shout next to me and when I turned around, I saw Livia looking at me with a mixture of relief, concern and happiness
"Hello, sorry to worry you but I'm already..."
I couldn't finish speaking because Livia suddenly hugged me with all her strength, burying her face in my chest, I noticed she was tempering lightly as she mumbled
"I was scared..."
"..."
I said nothing and simply caressed her head while letting her calm down, After 5 minutes of hugging, Livia let go of me and went back to her expressionless face
"That's a pretty big change."
"I'm sorry, I got too upset before."
She said with a slight blush
" Well, I see you've woken up."
Suddenly, a voice was heard at the door, We both turned in surprise and saw a tall, stout man with black hair and golden eyes
'Lucius? what are you doing here? there was no mention of this in the novel.'
I was nervous to see him visiting me in the hospital, Livia stood up and bowed respectfully to him; after all, he is a professor at the academy and she is just a servant.
"Professor Lucius, what are you doing here?"
Shit I stuttered, I got too nervous, Well, let's calm down, we don't know what he wants yet.
"I just wanted to ask you one thing."
He walked over to my bed and looked me in the eyes.
"You held back, right?"
After hearing that, my mind went blank.
"Why did you do it?"
He asked me as he looked me in the eyes, as if telling me that he wouldn't accept a lie.
'...Shit'
That's all I could think of
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