章節 11: Chapter 11: Magic technique

Time passes like a wind and the day of duel arrived.

Karl wakes up little earlier before sunrise. He brushes his teeth, takes a cold shower and does his daily necessities.

At 9:02 he changes into school uniform and decides to attend the mess for breakfast. There he orders his usual menu eggs, soup, two slices of bread for 3 people.

He sits besides Andressa like before. But something is different, like something bad is about to happen. Karl presses hard on the boiled egg. "LEO! LEO!" Karl returns to reality.

"Ah."

"I am calling you for like last 5 minutes. What are you zoning out for?"

Karl looks at the half-squashed egg. "Nothing." He answers as he eats in a hurry.

"Are you feeling nervous?" Andressa asks with a concerned look.

"Nervous? No. I am afraid of losing." Karl corrects.

"What if I lose and Ian's plan and your efforts would be all for nothing."

Andressa takes a deep breath "That's why you will win. Don't win for yourself, win for us." Andressa grabs Karl's hand. Karl glances at Andressa.

'Why does she- NO! Fuck! I had thoughts about a minor while being a minor. Someone, please kill me.' Karl pulls his hands away and stands up.

"T-thanks for the advice. I am going now for some personal work." Then, he proceeds to walk as fast he could, towards the exit.

'How could I? Being young is scary. Not to mention that Leonard was one year older than Ian and Andressa and my attitude doesn't fit him at all. Dumb kid couldn't even learn one spell in a whole year.'

After walking for some time, Karl reaches a range with a dry ground and giant boulders just laying around.

'Looks like this is the earth elemental range. Perfect for gathering high quality rocks.' Karl crouches down to find the perfect rock.

"Leonard Avaritia. You are a hard person to catch without any company." Karl quickly stands up and takes a battle stance.

A man his early thirties with dark red hair. "Woah, there kid. Easy. I am here to talk."

"Oh yeah? Then, talk quickly as I have a duel to win."

"Pretty arrogant for a student." The man laughs sarcastically. He looks at Karl in the eye.

"Hah!"

He disappears and appears in front of Karl.

'This movement!' Karl recognizes this man. He is the instructor who was fighting two students.

The man straight punches Karl. 'Too late to dodge.' Karl catches the punch in his right hand. Seeing this the man smiles widely. His arm muscles get bigger. He pushes Karl head on. Karl is being forced back by purely strength of one arm. With each second, Karl's body goes back a meter.

'What a monster.' Karl thinks.

The man's smile keeps on increasing in a creepy way. Karl suddenly releases his hand and throws a rear jab. It connects with the man's jaw.

'So hard.' Karl quickly takes a few steps back.

The man corrects his posture and touches his jaw. "Good punch."

Then, he extends his hand for a handshake. "My name Ken Jorachi. I am a retired knight and an instructor in our school."

'Retired? But he looks so young?' Karl questions.

Seeing that Karl isn't moving to shake his hand Ken takes his hand back. "Let me keep it simple, I think you have talent for my magic technique. I will teach you, so become my disciple."

"What do you mean by magic technique?" Suddenly Ken arrives behind Karl. Karl turns around quickly, but not quick enough to get away. Ken grabs Karl by his neck, lifting him off the ground. Karl struggles to breath.

"This movement and strength are the result of my magic technique." Ken smashes Karl into the ground. Loud cracking of bones was heard.

"You should be honored. That I, Ken Jorachi, a knight is personally recruiting you."

'Wasn't he retired?'

Karl's hand glows purple and a metal tray appears in his hand. Without hesitation Karl smashes the tray into Ken's eyes. "AHHH!"

Blood spurts form Ken's eyes. He releases his grip. Karl fells down, coughing for air. Karl stands up and throws the bent metal tray aside.

'This is going to be tough.'

Ken looks at Karl. His left eye is badly damaged. "You will pay for this".

'Who knew that I will graduate this early?' Ken is running towards Karl like a mad man. His muscles getting bigger.

'Poor eyesight, raged stage, too many openings and overconfident.' Karl smiles. His hand glowing purple.

Just as Ken is about reach Karl. Karl jumps asides avoiding Ken by a hair's length. Ken notices a second late that he missed Karl, he stops to turn around.

Just then Karl jumps onto Ken's back and stabs a fork in Ken's other eye. Ken screams and tries to grab Karl. But his over grown arms cannot reach his back. Karl continues to twist the fork.

"AHHHH!"

Karl smiles widely. "What is the use of such strength and speed if you can't even catch me?"

Ken proceeds to fall on his back purposely.

'Oh shit.' Karl jumps away to avoid being smashed. Ken fells on his back.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA." Ken loudly laughs as his he stares at the clouds.

'Is he gone mad?' Karl takes a few steps back.

"This! This perfect decision making, Swift movements and fearless attitude is what makes a strong warrior." Karl doesn't let his guard down.

"I changed my mind, Learn my technique. Improve it and let the name of Levihano family become a legend in the world." Ken's arms start to shrink to their original size. They look sullen and purplish-red.

Ken stands up and extends his hand towards Karl again.

'What should I do? Accept it? Could it be a trap? But I can't refuse it or I won't just get away with a broken back. Shit.' Karl decides to shake his hand.

"Good decision. Now, let's get started. Sit down." Karl obeys.

"I am a low knight belonging to Levihano family, I came here to find a talented individual to pass my magic technique. Our magic is little different than normal magic. Normally people manifest mana into their own element, creating a normal spell. In our magic, instead of manifesting mana we insert mana into our own body to surpass our capabilities."

'Basically steroids?' Karl thinks.

Ken continues "We also use enchanted armours and weapons to match the level of destruction of mages."

"Okay."

"So before teaching you let me ask me a question. Will you give up on the path of becoming a mage and become a warrior instead?"

"No." Karl answers quickly.

"Can you tell me why?" Ken asks in a heavy voice.

'Because mages are cooler.' Karl thinks.

"Why not both?"

Ken looks at Karl in a shocked expression.

"You want to become a magic warrior?"

'What's that?'

"Yes." Karl answers.

Ken laughs loudly. "If it's you it is very much possible. We start with training." Ken crouches behind Karl.

"There are three stages in this technique. First is lower body, center body and upper body. Lower body includes your thighs and feet. Center body includes your stomach and chest area. Lastly, upper body includes arms and neck. Once you master all three stages you will become almost immune to physical damage."

Ken touches Karl back and inserts raw mana into Karls back. 'It looks similar to Ian's teaching method.' Suddenly Karl feels all of his mana moving towards his legs.

"For the first stage lower body is the most optimal choice. Remember this flow." Karl nods.

'Wait. Why does his veins feel so wide? Mana is flowing too naturally. He learned this before?' Ken wonders. Karl feels the flow stop and he looks up.

"Is it over?"

"Yes." Ken hesitates but still asks. "Did you learn this anywhere before?"

'Well, I didn't. But don't know about Leonard. What should I answer?' Karl stands up and looks at Ken.

"No. it is my first time seeing such magic."

Ken glances at his own hand. Drops of sweats appears on Karl's forehead.

Few seconds passes.

"Fine. Now, try to imitate me." Karl exhales in relief.

Ken takes in a running pose. Karl looks at Ken's legs. Suddenly, Ken's muscles got bigger.

"HAH!" Ken takes his first step and he appears 10 meters ahead.

"Now you try." Ken yells.

Karl takes the same pose as Ken. He breathes deeply. First, he takes the feel of mana inside his body. Then, slowly he pushes that mana towards his legs. Karl's legs twitches on their own. He glances at his legs and sees that only calf of right leg is tightened and an entire upper thigh is solidified on the left leg. Which looks so uneven and gross.

Regardless, Karl puts his right leg forward. He feels nothing different. But when he applies the pressure to move forward, he flies forward.

'Too much pressure!'

He moves his left leg forward to land but just as it touches the ground he stops, which makes him loose his balance and trip.

'Fuck. Fuck. My back hurts.'

Ken appears and lifts Karl off the ground. "4 meters? That was good for the first try."

"T-Thanks" Karl says in a pained expression.

"Now try again." Again, Karl takes the pose and pushes the mana. Then, takes the step. This time he was prepared for the pressure.

'This might be little rough.' He puts his left foot down softly and skits little further. He almost fells but somehow stops. "Yes, I did it."

Ken appears besides Karl. "More distance is good but you should stop immediately after touching your foot at ground or the opponent will predict your position and attack you." Karl nods.

Ken glances at his watch. "Look at time, you have 2 hours before the duel begins. Don't disappoint me."

A sharp pain is felt from Karl's chest. Karl tightly grips his chest and crouches.

"Kid? Are you okay?" Ken asks as Karl trembles in pain.