章節 40: A New Turn [7]
[Cerus POV]
A lot of people had gathered in the sports hall, where, in the center, Wyll Lawson was currently waiting for his sparring partner with a large grin on his face. Wearing a version of the academy uniform which was made for fighting, being made out of more flexible but durable material while at the same time being much more tight-fitting, it was obvious that Wyll didn't see this event as a simple spar.
'He wants to prove himself.'
With almost all of the freshmen being present, as well as some older students and a couple of teachers, a simple spar should realistically never have become this much of an event if it wasn't for Wyll pulling some strings. One could say that, realistically, it was all thanks to the Lawson family name. However, in reality, even though the Lawson family was technically part of the four greatest families in Abas, they were always on the lower end of that list.
At the top was the Damaris family, not only due to their historical accomplishments but also because they were consistently producing great talents who would end up becoming leading figures in the global arena.
The second family was my family, the Hale family. However, right now, it was difficult to say that we were a major family after having lost most of our fighting force fifteen years ago, which included my own parents. My family was known for our combination of physical might and magical prowess, as these were combined in our bloodline skills and techniques.
Third on this list was the Gala family, a family that had begun as a mercenary group that later on grew into one of the pillars of the nation in terms of military power. A very stark contrast to the magic-focused Damaris family, the Galas were fully focused on creating soldiers who would defeat their enemies with pure physical strength.
Lastly, we had the Lawson family. A lot of people saw them as nothing more than a lesser version of my family, another family made up of national knights and heroes, wielding both might and magic. Now, although I wanted to disagree, it had for a long time been impossible. Until now. Right now, the Lawson family had found their opportunity to make a bigger name for themselves, as my family had fallen from grace.
'He must be feeling the pressure from his family to make a name for himself.'
Ray wasn't famous or renowned by any means. Even after doing some quite extensive searches for his family name, there was no information to be found. He was, for all intents and purposes, a nobody. Yet, despite that, Wyll was still desperate to prove himself stronger than Ray, as he likely couldn't stand feeling disrespected when he felt the looming pressure of becoming someone great.
And now, he would get the chance to take the first step on that road.
The only problem was...
'Where is Ray?'
The time had already passed 1 pm, and he still wasn't here. The teacher that was going to supervise the spar, Mr. Peut, had begun to check his watch every now and then which showed that he was about to call it quits. Wyll, on the other hand, was noticeably growing more stressed by the second. Though he was forcing himself to keep a confident grin, the hands connected to his crossed arms had begun fiddling with the fabric of his battle uniform.
This was supposed to be his chance to start building an image, yet his opponent didn't even seem like he was going to show up. When he realized this, Wyll's eyes narrowed, and his arms tensed up even more, trembling slightly from the internal fury he was containing.
At some point, Mr. Peut let out an audible sigh and was just about to call it quits when...
"Why are there so many people here...?"
Making his way through the ocean of people, a black-haired man wearing a black tank top and a pair of dark sweatpants arrived at the center of the sports hall, entering the white lines that symbolized the area of a small arena.
'He has no idea what is going on, does he?'
Scratching the back of his head, it was pretty obvious that Ray didn't understand how or why there were so many people here to spectate as it should have been nothing more than a spar. Wyll, on the other hand, was finally able to relax a bit, as he was now not going to have to suffer the embarrassment of getting all these people here and the event becoming a no-show.
"You finally came! Were you so scared that you hadn't decided whether to show up or run away? Hahaha!"
The show had begun, and although it could be said to be a bit obnoxious, being confident was a very effective way of making people talk about you. Unfortunately for him, Ray was too indifferent to even care.
"No? You just never told me an exact time. You just said that we would meet here after lunch, after all."
"..."
"Hahahaha!"
An awkward silence arose for a moment before a green-haired archer next to me couldn't stop himself from laughing out loud, making Wyll's cheeks redden with shame. Luckily for him, Mr. Peut quickly took control of the situation, although it was probably due to lack of time rather than saving face for the man with the dirty blonde hair.
"Good, you're here, Ray Flowers. Then, we can get the spar started. First of all, if you have a preferred weapon, please pick one from the weapon rack as they have all been dulled down to reduce lethality. Secondly, avoid consciously aiming at vital points with stronger attacks. If I see a lethal attack about to connect, I will intervene, stop the sparring, and designate a victor."
"Yes, sir."
"Gotcha."
While Wyll walked to the weapon rack to pick up a sword, Ray began to roll his shoulders a bit, loosening up before what would inevitably be one of two main talking points for next week, the second one obviously being the fact that he would be participating in a duel on Friday.
'It must be on purpose, right?'
There was no way that Ray was accidentally walking into these kinds of situations one after another. The only reasonable explanation was that, for some reason, he was actively looking for opportunities to who himself. Which in itself didn't make much sense as his previous actions would lead one to think that he was hiding his abilities.
It was frustrating to say the least, having no idea what he was up to nor the motives behind his actions. But I still had to figure out more about him. Because in the future, when the forces in hiding started to move, he could become a vital chess piece in the game for humanity's survival.
****
[Ray's POV]
'Man... somehow I feel like this is much more than just a simple spar with all these people spectating.'
A tinge of nervousness was growing inside my chest as Wyll picked up his sword and returned to the 'arena', a tension that was building not because I was gonna spar with Wyll, but because there were just so many people watching.
One of them being a certain blonde-haired man who I was supposed to fight next week, looking at us with a stern face.
However, there was no denying that I also had another emotion inside of me, a lot fiercer and powerful than the small amount of nervousness that I was feeling. Pure exhilaration just from thinking about getting to use my fists again!
My heart was already beating faster, making me unable to stop my muscles from twitching in anticipation. Adding on the fact that my body felt light as a feather now that I had taken off the weights, I was having a hard time containing myself.
Seeing Wyll lightly doing some practice swings, time was moving excruciatingly slowly, with me waiting for the teacher to raise his hand. For every second that passed, the less I was able to perceive our spectators, slowly being able to see nothing but my opponent.
And then, our teacher spoke while raising his arm into the air.
"Are both fighters ready?"
"Yes, sir."
"Mm."
Wyll answered with a confident grin on his face, but due to my current state of mind, I could only answer with a slight nod, as if even opening my mouth would force my legs to launch me forward.
"Then... fight!"
*Dash!*
Without waiting for a single moment after the teacher lowered his arm, both me and Wyll both dashed toward each other, which strangely enough, made Wyll's face open up with surprise having not expected me to go on the aggressive.
Despite that, he still managed to swing his sword horizontally, but due to him being off-balance, the attack that attempted to split my torso in half became sloppy and slow. Unfortunately, this did mean that I now had no way of escaping as my body was still leaning forward into him.
'Not that I thought about escaping anyway...!'
Quickly circulating my mana, I activated my new skill, unsure whether it would even be effective, and blocked the attack with my forearm.
*Tang!*
A dulled metallic sound rang out in the room as the sword hit the arm that was now shining in a deep purple, reflected by the layer of mana that I had covered it with. Then...
*Bam!*
A left uppercut connected straight into Wyll's jaw, sending his head flying backward a bit, creating a huge opening for me. Or so I thought...'
"Weak...!"
It didn't even take a split second for Wyll to recover as I just didn't have enough firepower. So, instead of pushing onward, I dashed back, avoiding the sword that was now returning with lethal force.
Now, as I took a moment to inspect my opponent, I could see his face seething with pure rage, letting me know that even though he had underestimated me at first, he very likely wouldn't make that mistake again.
"... YOU FUCKER!"
每周推薦票狀態
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榜單 
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