Chương 69: Piggyback?
The students that were watching the battles in the stands were feverishly discussing amongst themselves. The Royal Institute was a place that specialized in Physical Enhancing and fighting up close and personal. Although they also had other types of fighters, such as those that used Sorcery, it was a rare sight to see powerful Sorcery users here. But seeing the strength and power of Jada and Jaden was a real treat. Many of the seniors now had their eyes on the twins.
By having a Sorcery user of their level, you would be able to add a powerful long range advantage to your team's battle ability. Having the twins creating chaos from a distance, covering your back as your rush in, that was the perfect supplement for any Physical Enhancement user. They all desperately wanted the twins in their teams.
The seniors were also looking at Class 7 as a whole. They could see that they were truly filled with monsters this year, each and every one of the students were there for a reason and had the strength and ability to be there. The seniors were excited to see them battle, to see how strong they were. The mood between the seniors became tense as they all realized that the students in Class 7 would all be fought over and they needed to be strategic on who they approach, and how they approach.
Unbeknownst to the discussions that were taking place around them, Class 7 were huddled together planning their next move. Arata spoke quickly as he decided on the next team. He decided that the best thing for the class to retain their momentum, as well as set a strong and lasting image into the minds of the other students and teachers was a powerful and decisive display of strength. Ending the battle quickly and efficiently. Although he believed that it was a little early to show one of their trump cards already and had initially planned to reveal it later, he decided it was time. He turned to Tallis.
"You and Yuki. End it quickly."
The rest of the class were stunned. They knew how powerful they were together, and Arata wanted them to show themselves now? Even Tallis had a look of shock and surprise. He couldn't quite understand why he would want to send him out so early. But he quickly calmed himself and regained his composure. He nodded.
"Understood. Yuki, let's go."
The frizzy, grey haired girl silently followed behind Tallis, seemingly floating behind him like a ghost. As Tallis walked onto the stage, giving off a noble and refined vibe, Yuki seemed like she was trying to hide herself behind Tallis. Their opponents came on stage, 2 young boys dressed in white. One was quite tall, it didn't look like he was in the same age range as everyone else. He had long, braided hair that went down his back. The other boy was bald and had markings on his forehead, it was clear that he was brought up as a monk of some kind.
Yuki stood behind Tallis, almost as if she was hiding behind him. When the two students from Class 1 saw this, they chuckled. The tall boy smirked at his classmate.
"It seems that Class 7 aren't confident, they sent up a girl that is too scared to face us."
The bald boy nodded.
"It seems so. Let's end this swiftly."
They nodded at each other confidently. Tallis seemed unfazed as he stood with his hands behind his back. The two students gave off a menacing aura as they got into a fighting stance, they were clearly well versed with each others fighting style and abilities as they seemed like a single unit. Arata observed them quietly for a moment. He grinned as he turned to Tallis and shouted.
"Tallis! Piggyback!"
At this, the students and teachers were confused. Piggyback? Why would he shout that? Was it a codeword for something? It must be, considering that this was Class 7, they must have codewords for different moves and strategies. The crowd were interested to see what this "Piggyback" strategy was. The two students on stage also were curious to see what this strategy would be.
They didn't need to wait long as Yuki obediently jumped onto Tallis' back, wrapping her arms around his neck like a baby. Her legs wrapped around his stomach and, with her frizzy grey hair covering her, she looked like a little koala wrapped around a tree. The students and teachers were stunned. What the heck? It wasn't a codeword? But he actually wanted them to piggyback? Piggybacking someone while you fight?
Many of the students began to laugh at this peculiar scene. They never expected that this would be what they would witness and it humored them to see someone actually planning to fight with a little girl on their back. The two students from Class 1 were also laughing.
"Not only is she scared, but she is even clinging onto him like a frightened baby."
The bald young boy chuckled.
"Let's help this mother and child exit the stage quickly."
As everyone laughed at their words, Ryouma looked around at the surrounding students before looking at the students from Class 1. He sighed deeply. Arata turned to him with a confused look.
"Are you alright, Ryouma?"
Ryouma chuckled to himself as he gestured to the two laughing students from Class 1.
"I remembered the time when I was thinking the exact same thing when I faced Tallis and Yuki. I also looked down on them, and then..."
Ryouma shuddered as he recounted the past events. Akari giggled softly.
"That was a pretty humiliating defeat, especially considering there were 5 of you against the two of them."
Ryouma's face twitched at the comment. Bardric and Cephas looked at each other awkwardly. Aisha looked at the ground as if she thinking about a horrifying memory. Aramis sighed as he spoke softly.
"Pride truly comes before a fall. We thought the match was ours. We were so off."
Bardric nodded as he had a dejected look on his face.
"No matter what we did, nothing worked. They are truly a terrifying team."
Arata smirked as he looked at the five of them wallow in their memories.
"You all need to tell me about this battle later. For now, you can just watch another couple of students try to take them down."
Aisha shook her head.
"With just two people, they don't have enough time to even try. Those poor students don't even realize what is about to happen."
The five students collectively sighed in pity for the two students on stage. The teacher finally raised his hand a shot of a fireball, signalling the start of the match. The two Class 1 students charged up their Energy. The tall boy began to chant quickly as Light Energy left his body and formed floating arrows of light around him. As he did this, the bald monk charged forward while he was chanting. He seemed to be praying while he ran and he began to glow softly as the Light around him rushed towards him.
They were both Light users. Tallis smirked as he watched them approach. His eyes glowed as he circulated his Energy. He needed to time this perfectly for it to work. He ran forward to meet the oncoming opponent. As they reached each other, the young monk threw a punch at Tallis, who responded by raising his hand to block it. The fist and palm made contact for a millisecond before the monk went confused.
He felt the impact with the palm before a strange feeling hit him, followed by the feel of the palm disappearing. His eyes went wide as he watched Tallis turn transparent and his hand went through him, like he was a ghost. Tallis grinned as he fell through him and entered the ground. The students and teachers went silent in shock. What the heck just happened?
Arata grinned.
"His timing was spot on."
Akari turned to look at Arata with a questioning gaze.
"Timing?"
Arata nodded.
"It was something I heard from my Father. A technique of the Diamont Clan that I wanted to see if Tallis could learn. He said he knew of it, and knows how to do it. The technique is called the Silent Watch. As you all know, the Diamont Clan's abilities are amazing when used for battle as it connects, strengthens and allows the user to see, hear and command everyone as a single unit. But it is also used for other means. The Diamont Clan and the Sato Clan have a special relationship as their abilities are perfect for what we do and carry out as they have the perfect techniques for scouting and spying."
Ryouma frowned.
"I understand scouting, but spying? Their powers aren't powerful in combat so wouldn't it be dangerous for them to be sent in as spies?"
Arata chuckled.
"You still have a lot to learn. In theory, let's say he connects to a spy who then infiltrates a building of an enemy, he can now see and hear everything that that spy can hear in real time. As long as the person from the Diamont Clan is close enough and has enough Energy, he can keep that connection and gather a lot of information."
Akari's eyes went wide as she understood the meaning of this. This was indeed a powerful skill to have on your side, if you had a spy in the barracks of the enemy, listening to the plans and orders being made in real time, that would be too powerful. Arata could see that Akari had made the connection as he continued.
"But there is the big issue of getting the spy into the place where he is needed, and that can take too long at times. So that is where the Silent Watch technique comes in. The Silent Watch involves inputting a piece of the Diamont Clan Energy into the person unknowingly. It is activated by physical touch, but the Energy is unnoticeable by those of a lower cultivation. Thus, if you were able to get the Diamont Clan member to make contact with a commander in the enemies army, maybe bumping into him 'accidentally' in the street, then you could see and hear what that commander does."
Ryouma made the connection as his eyes lit up.
"And the Sato Clan helps to set up this 'accident'."
Arata nodded.
"So I asked him to train in the technique. I then suggested him to try using it in combat, but he was skeptical about that. He had never used it in combat before because it involves an insane amount of precision and timing. So I have been spending my down timing punching Tallis at different speeds for him to get the timing down. Considering how things went, it seems that he has the hang of it."
Ryouma and Akari looked at each other stunned. They quickly realized what Arata was saying. They both looked at the confused young monk. According to Arata, Tallis was able to activate Silent Watch as he made contact with the young monk before getting Yuki to turn them transparent and disappear into the ground. The timing would truly need to be perfect to pull that off. But if he did pull it off, didn't that mean that he could now see and hear what the young monk could see and hear?
Meaning that he knew where he was even when he and Yuki were underground. They could find the exact place where their opponents were through the use of Tallis' tracking abilities, having locked on to the young monk, and using the young monk's sight, he could pinpoint where he needed to be. Underground, Tallis and Yuki were just below the surface, Tallis placed his palm flat above him as he sent a thought to Yuki.
"Here. Bring him down."
Yuki channelled her Energy through Tallis before going further into the ground. On the surface, the two Class 1 students were looking around, confused yet vigilant. The tall boy suddenly realized that his hand looked like it was see through before he was pulled into the ground, disappearing completely. The young monk went wide eyed seeing his classmate disappear. But he didn't have much time to react either as he went transparent as well and was pulled into the ground.
Everyone in the Arena were shocked and confused as to what had just happened. Tallis slowly rose from the ground, standing in the center of the stage with Yuki still on his back. Yuki hopped off and began walking back to Class 7. Tallis turned to Class 1.
"You may want to quickly dig up your friends. Oxygen is somewhat scarce underground. They're somewhere over there I think."
After pointing at an area of the stage, he then turned to the stunned judge. He stuttered in shock.
"C-Class 7 w-wins."
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