章 16: Second Step [5]
Cerus had won, and although his body was covered in cuts, he had done so quite convincingly without even having to use a skill. At least I assume he didn't as there had been none of the usual signs of activation that I had seen before, like your weapon or hands glowing moments before something magical happened.
Now, I didn't know much about this world, and I also didn't know much about classes, skills, and magic. What I did know, however, was that skills were probably extremely important when it came to one's power. Because they completely warped the traditional rules of a fight.
From being able to conjure spells at a distance, using attacks strong enough to dismantle common sense to simply denying the laws of physics, being able to bend your spear to launch attacks at impossible angles.
There was a saying in boxing and it went 'The one who rules with his left rules the world', and to me, that was very reminiscent of what Cerus had just done. He had ruled with his 'left', fighting without using skills or mana, proving to me yet again that he truly was the champion.
*Clench!*
'He seems so far away...!'
"Listen up! The first rounds of spars have now been completed! No matter if you won or lost, I want you to remember the fights and analyze what you could have done better!"
The faces of my classmates were varied, some disappointed, some pondering and some simply smiling.
Cerus belonged to the second group, his eyes showing that despite his body being present, his mind was far away. He was most certainly thinking about the fight with Evan and what he could improve.
Mr. Folm, however, wasn't about to pause the lecture just for that.
"We will do one more round of spars before lunch! Rose! You will be exempted from this round and Ray...as you haven't fought yet, you will be going first."
The time had come, the time for me to finally get a chance to see what I was capable of.
Not that I expected much.
Having already gotten the opportunity to see what all of my classmates could do, I honestly had very little confidence in victory against any of them.
But I would still make the most of the spar, as I was aware that I had a lot to gain and absolutely nothing to lose.
Talking a few steps forward, I knew that no matter which classmate our teacher chose as my opponent, I would be the challenger.
Therefore I would go in with the mindset of the challenger as well.
"Now, the one who will be sparring against Ray will be..."
"Please let me fight!"
Just as Mr. Folm was about to declare the one who would be fighting with me, a bright voice full of desperation rang out, making our teacher raise a brow in surprise.
Crossing his arms, he pierced the student who had acted out of line with his gaze, the student who happened to be a certain close friend of Cerus.
"Why?"
Celine took a breath and steeled herself before answering to Mr. Folm, creating an air of seriousness that contrasted her young-looking face.
"There are two reasons. First of all, I didn't get to fight at all which means that I haven't expended any energy, just like Ray. Second of all... I want to spar with him."
"...okay. Go ahead."
"It's not just because... what did you say?"
"I said, go ahead. If you want to spar with Ray, I won't stop you."
"Yes, sir!"
After a roller-coaster of different emotions, Celine finally realized that Mr. Folm had no intentions of quenching her resolve, her eyes now shining with gratitude.
An expression that very quickly went away as she turned her sights to me, leaving behind the warm emotions and instead adopting what I assumed was pure fighting spirit.
'No, there's something else as well...'
I had seen enough grudge matches on TV to recognize the face of someone who wanted to do more than just fight. To me, it was clear that she had something to prove beyond a simple spar, but I had no idea about the specifics. And honestly, I didn't care either.
*Clack*
Not even the sight of Celine grabbing a sword from the weapon rack bothered me right now and neither did the light practice swings she did before getting into position. My mind had already switched on, ready to make more than the most of this fight.
Underneath the light-blue sky, lit up by the giver of life, I felt the mixture of dirt and gravel underneath my feet while I was carefully shifting my weight from left to right. I knew that what I was about to do might be frowned upon by the spectators, and honestly, I wouldn't blame them. I as well would have some thoughts and opinions if I saw someone do what I was about to do.
Celine had already raised her sword, already standing in a fighting position more than prepared to face me at her absolute best. Despite that, I simply straightened my back and faced my opponent whose face quickly began to twist as she saw what I was doing.
'But this is still the best way for me to practice. And a spar is supposed to be practice.'
Our teacher, as well, didn't look too happy as he opened his mouth, his brown eyes dark with frustration.
"Both fighters, please take a fighting position."
It was a bit silly that he didn't talk directly to me as Celine was not the target of his order, but as it had likely something to do with the sanctity of a fight, I wasn't about to comment on it. More importantly, however, was that I still didn't change my stance.
Instead, I simply stood my ground, making sure my toes had contact with the ground through the soles of my shoes, revising all the basics of footwork that I had been taught but never actually learned in my head.
'Push with the toes and break with a slide... light steps before a hard step in...'
*Woosh!*
Ultimately, Mr. Folm didn't have a choice but to accept my decision, as he raised his arm into the arm using a lot more force than he had done previously which created a pretty dire sound.
"Fighters... ready?"
"Yes... sir!"
Celine's face was now bright red with anger, which was pretty cute due to her distinct facial features, but I couldn't stop myself from feeling a bit of shame. If this had been a real fight, I would have never acted as I now did, but this was a spar. And I also wasn't the champion.
"Mm. Ready."
Giving a slight nod to our teacher, whose raised hand quickly clenched into a fist in frustration as a response to my way of answering, I already knew what I was getting myself into. But I wasn't here to make friends. I was here to get stronger.
"Fight!"
'Sorry Celine, but I need you to take this as seriously as possible. Because that is the only way for me to see what I... huh?'
*Swoosh!*
Dirt was flung into the air the second our teacher announced the start of the spar in response to Celine kicking herself forward, her sword following its master right at her side.
The fact that she dashed forward hadn't been unexpected at all, but the speed of which she dashed forward...
'She is a lot faster than when she fought with Rose but...'
In a matter of moments, she had made her way to me, her smaller build looking even smaller as she bent forward to take advantage of the momentum she created. Because with that momentum, she twisted her body, her right arm holding the sword contracting with power as she prepared herself to end the spar in one blow.
"Take this!"
'... she is still slower than both Cerus and our teacher.'
*Schwing!*
A deadly horizontal arch was created inches away from my face as I leaned backward, a smile emerging on my face as I realized... this is doable! At the same time, I could see Celine's mouth open up in surprise for a moment, only to rapidly close as she fixed her stance.
*Swing! Swing! Swing!*
Choosing not to go for a single strong attack, Celine changed her strategy and was now connecting several weaker attacks. Diagonally up, diagonally down, horizontally as well as vertical attacks were all mixed in together, flowing like a stream from the mountain.
'But I can see them all!'
Taking a step back, sliding to the side, swaying and weaving... I was somehow successfully dodging all of her attacks with minimal movement. It wasn't because I was faster than her, because no matter what, I wasn't. It was simply the product of my eyes being able to catch her every move, giving me more than enough time to react as no matter how fast she was, Celine moved incredibly slowly to me.
Therefore I kept to the stance that I had chosen, which only served to make Celine even more frustrated. Because even now, I still hadn't taken my hands out of the pockets of my pants.
週次パワーステータス
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