Here's the next chapter, sorry for the wait.

A Man among Men Part 2

Scleri looked on with subdued shock.

She hid this feeling as well as a growing sense of awe under her normal facade. She wore her usual detached expression as she continued to observe the battle, which had entered a momentarily cease fire.

She observed as the two warriors before her exchanged words that she could not hear and looked on as the man she had once looked up to as invincible prepared another round of spells. The other one, the detestable, yet to her utter shock, surprisingly capable new student, Kelp, was complaining about his arm as he caressed it carefully.

To the less experienced eyes, the match would have looked completely one sided. Seeing as how the new student was constantly complaining and for the majority of the time, was on the receiving end of the battle, it would have looked like he was being easily overpowered. While on the other hand, Professor Kiryat standing continued to rise as he seemingly brushed aside all forms of aggression, and managed to deal quite an injury on the young man. It would not come out as unusual for the spectators to think that the battle was completely in the Veteran’s favor.

But, Scleri knew.

Scleri knew how strong Kiryat was. Scleri knew exactly how large the gap between him and the students were. And most importantly, Scleri knew that Kelp was by far stronger than her. She knew this because of personal experience.

She had fought Kiryat on numerous situations. She had sparred aggressively with the man, every time putting her own life at risk in order to close their gap in power by even the tiniest fraction. She had done all this and yet she had never pushed Kiryat as hard as Kelp had today. Kiryat had never once fought a student and aimed with the sharp edge of his sword. Kiryat had always avoided attempting killing blows while sparring. Yet, in front of Kelp, Scleri understood.

Through the thick miasma of killing intent the stoic teacher currently released, she knew that something within Kiryat had awakened. Something that made this untouchable teacher put his all into a match. Kiryat wanted to prove his strength by fighting the strong.

She was no fool, by this point Scleri grasped the whole situation.

She had drastically underestimated Kelp Kusanagi.

She bit down on her lip and grimaced.

The girl who was quietly sitting next to her. expressed a worried look.

Ami knew the president well.

From when they were children, they had always stuck together. From being little noble kindergartners, up to full blown mages aiming for the top, Ami had followed her friend faithfully. When Scleri campaigned and won the title of student council president, Ami was the first person to join her. She became the President’s right hand man, her secretary, in no time.

So right now, she knew that the president was troubled.

She knew that without a doubt, that the man named Kelp Kusanagi was the cause.

“P-president?” Ami warily asked.

“...”

Scleri continued to look down on the battlefield, neither responding nor acknowledging the concerned Ami.

After a while, Scleri suddenly asked, “Hey, Ami. Do you know how many times I’ve fought Professor Kiryat?”

Surprised by the sudden question, Ami could only respond with a confused, “W-what?”

Nevertheless, Scleri continued.

“I’ve fought him exactly 287 times.”

“...”

“Do you know how many times I’ve lost?”

“...No.”

“I’ve lost exactly 287 times.”

“I-I’m sure that’s only because Professor Kiryat is strong. After all he’s an experienced S rank mage.”

Ami tried weakly to comfort her friend.

But Scleri shook her head. She was done. She was ready to face the truth.

“Kusanagi is strong.”

“T-that can’t be… ”

Ami couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It wasn’t the fact that Kelp was strong, no, she too had realized this from the current state of the match. What she couldn’t believe was that her friend was admitting defeat.

The strong, the confident, the prestigious Scleri would have never conceded. Even if she was in the wrong, Scleri was the type of person to make her wrongs right.

A nasally snickering laughter resonated from behind the two.

“Huehuehue, But it’s true miss Secretary.”

A slant eyed young man addressed Ami from behind.

This new person was dressed rather sloppily in a 2nd year male uniform. He had black hair and narrow eyes which resembled a fish. His pale skin made the youth look like a poor rendition of a vampire.

Turning around, Ami was surprised to see the young man. She widened her eyes while wrinkling her nose in dissatisfaction.

“V-vice president? Why are you here?”

The man expressed a thin lipped smile.

“Hmmm? Surprised I’m back so quickly after that rather arduous task our little miss ray of sunshine over here assigned?”

He gestured at the president, who continued to solemnly stare at the arena.

“...”

“Ehh, no response? How boring~”

The man pouted in dissatisfaction before he stepped over a row of seats to sit directly beside Ami. Ami promptly scooted away from him.

“Vice president, you smell like fish…” Ami commented while wrinkling her nose.

The man in question raised an eyebrow as he began sniffing himself. He wrinkled his own nose as he brought his face near his armpit.

“Ah damn~ I even took a bath, and the smell still sticks…”

Ami sighed while she looked contemptuously at the youth.

“Why do you always smell like rotten food?”

“Ehh, I’m pretty sure this is a one time occurrence you know.” The vice president answered innocently.

Ami could only look at the man with narrowed eyes.

“Last time you smelled like rotten eggs, the time after that was month old cabbage, and there was that time you smelled like spoiled milk…”

Ami continued listing her complaints as she counted on two dainty fingers.

“Okay, okay, I get it!” The man waved his hands weakly as he conceded defeat. “Geez, so mean lately Ami~ I swear, it’s like you hate me.”

The man snickered as he looked at the girl with a wolfish grin.

She openly covered her nose with an open hand.

“Really? What could have possibly made you think that Vice- prez?” She answered sarcastically.

“That tone’s not very friendly you know.” He snickered.

“Please do something about the smell. It’s making my shoes rot.” She ignored his comment and instead complained.

He weakly shrugged.

“ I can’t help smelling like this. It’s because of my troublesome ability.”

Quietly listening to the side was Scleri, who was also quite fed up with the awful stench the youth was releasing. She pinched her nose, while addressing the man.

“Why are you here, Cadbye?”

“OH, finally the president decides to talk. Tis an honor my lady.” He replied sarcastically.

“... Answer the question.”

Cadbye shrugged. He was used to such harsh treatment by now.

“Well, it seemed like something interesting was going on, so I decided to come check it out.”

Cadbye shifted his gaze down into the arena. He leaned over the rail as he observed the scene before him.

“Who’s the kid?” He asked.

“...”

“Hmm?”

“...”

Noticing the lack of response from the president, Cadbye shrugged once more. He stood up and stretched his arms over his head. He then turned to address Scleri.

“I don’t know what type of complex you have with the brat, but my advice is to fix it.”

He turned around and made his way to the exit. Before he left, he looked over to the president.

“It’s an annoying habit of yours to prolong useless things.”

Cadbye’s silhouette quietly disappeared. A little while later, the disgusting aroma of rotten fish dissipated as well.

Ami took in a breathe of fresh air before she scowled.

“Muuuu!” She pouted. “Why is that man even part of the student council?! He’s so annoying!”

Scleri sighed at her friend’s complaints. Truth be told, she found the man’s capricious attitude almost as annoying as his constant smell of rotten food.

“Well, it can’t be helped.” Scleri sighed. “ Cadbye was the runner-up for president. I had no power in deciding.”

Scleri slumped in her seat. If she could, she would have kicked the man out months ago.

“How did a man that smells so awful end up as runner up? The world doesn’t make sense.”

Ami continued to complain. Scleri continued to sigh.

“Hah~, I don’t know, Ami. I don’t know.”

She spoke in a downtrodden tone as she turned her attention back to the match below.

Today was seriously piled high with bad luck for the misfortunate president.

*****

I observed as Kiryat piled fortitude spell upon fortitude spell upon his body.

Fortitude spells usually increased the user’s stamina, strength, and vigor. Kiryat’s spells were of the same kind, except they were much more potent, considering how large the glowing runes that appeared on his body were.

I sighed. Why the heck would that crazy old man need more vigor? I’d say for a man his age, he’s a bit too active on his feet.

I ignored Kiryat for a moment. He didn’t show any signs of stopping, so this opportunity was quite convenient for the me who wanted to activate his own ability.

[Heckaton]

The name of my ability. The fourth ability I ever acquired and the one with the most troublesome conditions. If it weren’t for the fact that I had somehow met them during this battle, there was no way I would willingly meet such painful prerequisites.

I sighed and focused my attention on my right arm.

I could feel the throbbing familiarity of a broken bone. Looking at where the swelling was, I could tell that it was the ulna that broke.

I continued to sigh as I mentally steeled myself for what was to come next.

“Damn it, I hate doing this…” I complained as I searched the ground for a rock.

I needed a big enough stone for what I was prepared to do.

After some moderate searching, I found a perfect stone that fit snugly into my grip.

I tightly held the stone until my knuckles turned white. I took a deep breathe as I raised the stone high up in the air. I held it aloft and at the ready before I-

Damn it, this is going to hurt…

- slammed the stone down onto my broken right arm.

“A--OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!”

I grinded my molars as I willed myself through the pain.

I made sure to apply enough force to cause a good amount of pain without completely snapping the already broken bone.

I panted heavily as I dropped to my knees. The now blood stained rock limply fell onto the floor as my grip loosened.

I glanced at the broken arm, and grimaced.

“D-damn, that looks ugly…”

I cringed at the wound. The appearance itself was almost as bad as the pain.

“W-well, with this, at least the conditions have been met.”

I scowled to myself as I dug deep down and activated the ability that had the annoying condition of broken bones and several dels of pain.

It wasn’t long until I found it. The ability fed off my pain as it began to manifest itself.

A moment later, a hand with a flexible wrist sprouted from my right shoulder.

I looked over the hand. It was a shade lighter than my own skin, but other than that, it looked exactly like my own right hand.

I nodded in satisfaction, as I attempted to move the hand.

It was difficult at first. Moving an extra appendage is always difficult, but I quickly mastered the task.

I bent, and twisted the wrist as I checked for its mobility. I then stretched out the attached arm. The arm itself was weird. There was absolutely no bone, aside from the wrist and hand. The thing that connected the wrist to the rest of my body was made of pure white muscle and was as flexible as a tentacle.

In all honesty, it was probably that. A tentacle like protrusion that, instead of suction cups, had a hand attached to its end. An ever extending tentacle.

Despite its perverted appearance (further solidified by the indecent hand motions the hand was currently doing), the ability, [Heckaton] was strong.

[Heckaton] was an ability I usurped from a rather odd looking monster. The monster was basically a coalition of several body parts. In total the thing had 100 arms and 50 heads. The heads were grotesque abominations with missing eyes and crooked faces, while the arms were of all various sizes. Some were long and flexible, while others were robust and muscular.

This titan of a creature was held aloft by a pair of stubby legs that were surprisingly nimble.

Killing the monster was exceedingly difficult, but the payout was quite satisfying.

I ended my reminiscence, and practiced how to use my new hand. Moving it soon became as comfortable as moving my left hand, so I went and practiced extending it. Like snapper head’s tail, the arm had a long range. It’s flexibility also made it possible to do rather some rather aerodynamic things.

Satisfied, I readied and slowly appreciate my new hand.

“Now if I had eight of you, I’d look like an squid.” I commented to myself.

Although there was no way in hell was I going through the annoying conditions seven more times just to fulfill a childish stray thought.

[Heckaton]’s usage was limited to the completion of a special set of conditions. As far as I know, there were two that restricted it. One, a broken bone, and two, a set amount of pain. Right now, I only had one additional arm, but the more bones I break, the more hands I can grow. Theoretically, I could have 206 hands at my disposal, but I doubt I’m going to go around and break every single one of my bones anytime soon.

As someone who hated pain and more importantly, injury, I hardly used thisability. I mean, who would willingly break their arm in order to use a single ability?

I finished my inspections, and looked on to observe Professor Kiryat. He had already finished and was now poised to attack, but it seems like he had decided to wait for me.

Although I was relieved he hadn’t attacked, I do wonder why he didn’t strike while I was prepping myself. Maybe it has something to do with a warrior’s honor? Bushido’s code? Do those even still exist?

As we met eyes, Kiryat instinctively understood that the time for rest was over.

I smiled wryly at him while commenting, “It sure was nice for you to wait on me like that.”

“...” He paused for a moment before he brushed aside my statement and countered with a question.

“... What magic is that?”

I shrugged my shoulders apathetically. Although I wanted to keep a cool facade, the resulting movement sent a shock of pain running down my broken right arm.

At my lack of response, Kiryat nodded, before he prepared himself.

With his new set of even stronger physical enhancement spells placed around him, he bent down and prepared to dash forward.

Of course, there was no way I was going to let him do that.

The one who’ll be controlling the second round is me!

I launched my own attack before Kiryat could kick off the ground.

With a thought, I sent my new fist hurling in his direction.

Kiryat was apparently surprised by its unexpected speed. He barely got his sword up in time before the fist made contact. The force of the punch sent him flying into the wall once again.

I didn’t give him any time to recover likes last time though. I shifted my weight and raise my left extended my left arm out. [Heckaton] complied with my wishes as it grabbed Kiryat by the ankle and flung his body up into the sky.

The strength of the hand sent him soaring up, barely missing Aleksey by a few centimeters.

“Woah! P-professor Kiryat?!” Aleksey screamed in dismay while he looked up and saw Kiryat's body continue to ascend.

As Kiryat’s body began its downward descent, I raised the arm above him and I swatted downwards. The slap accelerated his fall, and like a streaking meteor he landed heavily on cracked floor. His impact caused a hollow cavity to form on the ground, while the arena shook lightly.

For a few seconds, the arena was quiet. As the ringing faded away, the crowd held their breaths while they wondered if they’re over hyped invincible teacher, who lay unmoving under a cloud of debris that had gathered, was defeated.

This continued, until from within the debris a mass of red and muscles came springing forward.

Kiryat’s acceleration was much greater than any in our previous encounters. He blew through the dust, rushing ever closer towards me.

His body turned parallel with the ground, as he tucked himself in to avoid the wind resistance. He extended out his sword to the side and brought it rapidly towards my direction.

He was moving at such high velocities that it was almost impossible for me to perceive his movements, luckily [Heckaton] solved that issue.

I retracted the hand back inside me as Kiryat’s figure loomed ever closer. Not a second later, the hand once again popped out, this time from my chest. [Hekaton] was capable of being recalled and re-sprouted from any layer of skin on my body. A rather convenient feature to my ability as it allowed for some measure of surprise attacks.

Although it did have a tendency to rip through my clothing, so that was pretty bad.

Kiryat’s bladed edge was met with an open palmed hand. The hand’s surprisingly calloused palm halted Kiryat’s assault. He planted his feet on the ground, twisted his body, and sliced out, aiming for the exposed portion between my wrist and hand.

Instead of avoiding in self defense, my hand rocketed forward. His blade sliced into a thick layer of muscle as my fist slammed directly into his face.

If it weren’t for the numerous advanced tier fortification spells he had layered over himself, Kiryat’s face would have resembled pancakes.

His feet slid a few centimeters back as his head recoiled from the force.

He glared briefly at me, while he launched a desperate kick at the muscled portion of the arm as he tumbled downward. The hand caught his leg, and I once again flung him into the air.

He came back down, head first, his sword leading the fall. He attempted to pin my hand to the ground with his blade, but you know, hitting a such a small target wasn’t that easy. I swerved the hand to the side, narrowly dodging the blow. And as Kiryat hit the floor, he bent his knees to lower the impact.

He kneeled on one foot, while I controlled the arm to move behind him. He responded by swinging his sword backwards, and then following up with a vertical slash towards the palm. I avoided this attack and aimed a punch at his chest which he narrowly dodged.

The whole fight was happening at such a break neck speeds that it was impossible for the crowd to follow. They clumsily watched, not knowing who was winning or losing, while Aleksey tried to follow the fight with his slow eyes. Truth be told, From where I stood ( a good 50 meters away from the Kiryat vs [Heckaton] battle), as well as the pure speed of the match, it was impossible for me to completely perceive the match, even with my added perception from [Monochrome]’s after effects.

Fortunately, [Heckaton] was a semi-sentient ability. Although I could still directly control it, some part of my subconscious reacted to the environment around it, compensating for my inadequate handling.

That was the situation right now. My extra hand was keeping Kiryat at bay while I surveyed the whole situation. Although I tried to keep my tensions up, Sitting by and letting you're extra hand do all the work was a pretty boring event. It took about as much effort to control the arm as it did to suppress the yawn that was building up.

Eventually, from where the real action was happening, I saw Kiryat take a giant leap forward. instead of his usual stance, his feet tiptoed as he lowered his body.

Danger signals immediately warned my psyche. I hastily recalled the extended arm back, just in time to intercept a blade that suddenly appeared in front of me. Kiryat who had been standing about 65 meters away, was now holding a sword, which was only narrowly blocked by [Heckaton] as it gripped the blade with bloodied knuckles.

Kiryat pulled the blade back, causing the right pinky to sever from the arm.

The sliced pinky sent a jolt of pain down my body. I suppressed a scream through gritted teeth and tear soaked eyes.

Another downside to [Heckaton] was the fact that any superficial wound it received caused me to receive its sensation of pain, only at twice the intensity.

I took a brief look at Kiryat while panting. Despite his bloodied self, which dyed his body as red as his jersey, the man had a calm facade. Yet under that quiet stoicism was a fire of intensity that could be gleaned from the man’s eyes.

He separated briefly from the hand and once again took the same stance. I, in response quickly retracted my hand. I didn’t want to risk a surprise attack and aim for him with a fist while he prepared, considering I’d be defenseless if my hand was too far away from me.

I concentrated on the figure ahead of me as I relied on [Heckaton] to guard my back. I didn’t catch what quite happened a while ago, but this time, I was planning to see Kiryat in action.

Kiryat, mouthed two syllables under his breath as he leaned his body over to the point where I thought he’d hit the floor. A moment later his figure completely disappeared, only for it to reappear directly in front of me, with a blade narrowly inches away from my throat. The would be decapitator was blocked by a bloody palm.

I knew the injuries were fresh since a new jolt of pain rocketed my nervous system.

I grimaced before I moved [Heckaton] to swipe at Kiryat feet. He avoided by smoothly jumping backwards.

Was that teleportation?!

As I tried to deduce the type of magic Kiryat used against me, he looked briefly at me for a moment before he raised his sword to his shoulder, and initiated another stance once more.

He struck out at [Heckaton] to which it quickly replied by launching a flurry of its own counter attacks. As the the two parties continued to fight, I panted heavily, still barely recovering from the mental pain.

Kiryat struck upwards at the hand, causing [Heckaton] to momentarily loosen its defenses, giving Kiryat the opportunity he needed in order to slip past my hand. He ran towards me, blade aloft with enough Killing intent to murder a small village.

As he swiped out, his sword missed by mere centimeters due to the help of [Heckaton]. [Heckaton] stopped Kiryat short of his assault by grabbing onto the cuff of his jersey.

Before he was yanked back and away from me, an eery remark leaked from his lips.

“As I thought… you can’t - “

[Heckaton] flung the man back with tremendous power, forcing his unfinished words to stay unfinished.

Kiryat stuck his sword abruptly onto the ground, which quickly halted his flight.

He quickly stood up, and brushed aside the dirt that had accumulated on his jersey (Although the constant blood stains prevented him from cleaning up most of the mess).

“It seems like you can’t use that wind magic while this other magic of yours is in use.” He stated calmly as he began to walk over.

“...”

I grimaced, both from the accumulated pain and the fact that Kiryat realised this.

Seeing my reaction, he nodded understandingly.

“That explains why you don’t just defend yourself with the wind whenever I get close.”

He began to explain.

“You are always guarding with that new hand of yours, despite having a capable enough defense with the wind.”

He stopped at about 10 meters in front of me. He raised his sword to point in my direction.

“Unless you are baiting, I don’t think you will use your wind, because rather than you won’t, it is that you can’t.”

He declared with a tone of certainty.

Hearing all this, I could only sigh.

It seems like I’ve been seen through, huh.

“Well” I began while shrugging, “I guess those are my limitations.”

In response to my simple statement, Kiryat grunted.

He dashed forward and once again struck out with his sword.

“But…” He began to utter while swinging his sword. “... It is not like you're limitations are set in stone.”

He ducked and rolled to the right, avoiding an incoming punch. He then raised high and guarded against a palm thrust as he swung his sword in to counterattack.

“You show a lot of potential.” He stated while jumping over the appendage.

“... Despite you're low level… your instincts and strength are on a different field.”

He smirked as he parried a punch and retaliated by striking out at the wrist, which caused blood to draw.

“I will teach you then.” He stated simply. “You will learn through this battle.”

He leaped back as he adjusted his sword and bent his knees again. Given the opportunity, I couldn’t help but utter a complaint.

“Oi, I really don’t want to learn anything Teach, rather I also don’t want to fight…”

He ignored me, and continued fixing his stance. Finally after a couple of seconds, he resumed.

“Listen here bean sprout… This is my own developed magic. Be glad that I have dubbed you worthy of learning it.”

“Ah, I don’t really want to learn it though.” I stated apathetically. [Heckaton] waved sideways as if to agree.

Well, it’s more like I can’t learn it…

Kiryat ignored me as he continued on. “For now, engrave the magic into your flesh boy! This is…”

He once again disappeared from sight, prompting me to sigh once more.

The old man suddenly became a lot more talkative.

I made a mental response, as Kiryat appeared in front of me with his sword raised up high and striking down. The blow was blocked by an open palmed [Heckaton].

“... Flash Step!” He screeched while disappearing once more.

Despite not seeing him, his voice resonated throughout the surroundings, as if the man was everywhere at the same time.

“At first glance it may seem like a simple teleportation magic, but it is not!” He screamed as he reappeared once more, this time to my left.

He swung down with an awkward thrust diagonally, before he followed up with a much more properly executed slice aiming at the hand. The hand dodge most of it and attempted to retaliate, but Kiryat was already gone.

“Flash Step is more than that.” He stated while appearing from behind and attempted a slice at my exposed back. [Heckaton] jerked back into my body before reappearing between my shoulder blades. It parried the sword up into the air, giving it the opportunity to grab onto Kiryat’s ankle.

From behind me, I could hear Kiryat’s calm voice as he continued lecturing despite the hand that grabbed him.

“... Flash Step is a specialization of normal Physical Enhance spells.” He bent his knees. “By focusing the spells on only the needed components, such as the legs and nerves, you can break through your limits…”

In an instant, the ankle that [Heckaton] held on to disappeared, only to reappear moments later in front of me.

Shi-

He sliced down, which I barely managed to dodge by ducking and rolling to my left.

As I stopped and halted to catch my breath, Kiryat calmly looked down at me.

“...That is hyper speed.”

A fresh cut on my right arm opened up.

“Damn it old man.” I groaned.

It’s pointless teaching me, it’s not like I can learn any of it! Rather, what the heck are you doing during a match like this?!

“Do you understand now?” He questioned. “Or would more physical lessons be needed for your progression?”

“Stop trying to teach me stuff during a god damn fight! This isn’t some 90s shonen!” I avidly complained.

“Hmph, you're lack of motivation will be your downfall.”

“I don’t care old man!”

“Your attitude is bad too. You need more training.”

“Why are you trying to teach in the middle of battle?!”

“I am a teacher.” He stated simply.

I sighed. I was getting no where with this old man.

In a fit of anger, I struck out with [Heckaton].

Kiryat narrowly avoided by side stepping to the left. He then bent his knees.

“Now, Flash Step is not merely a magic spell.” He once again continued, despite my previous complaints. “Flash Step is a Martial Magic technique.”

He leaned over and avoided a flying fist aimed at his face.

“Its mastery requires training and first hand experience.”

He parried a blow aimed for his sides.

“That’s why, it will be important for your body to learn through impact.”

With his sword resting on his shoulder, he dashed forward. A second later Kiryat’s figure vanished.

“Tsk!” I steadied myself and recalled [Heckaton].

“Observe and learn the merit of Martial Magic boy!” His voice resonated from all directions.

I tried to ignore his incessant yelling. I knew the basics of martial magic from a long time ago.

Martial Magic were a certain branch of magic that was closely tied with martial arts. Actually, it would be more specific to just say it was magic that incorporated the user’s movements.

I once tried learning such a thing, back when I was young, full of hope, and had yet to learn about my ability. I had thought that since it did not completely rely on magic, I might have a chance at learning it, but during those times I learned a grave lesson.

Anything involving magic was completely off limits to me. Even martial magic ended up being a pipe dream that bore no fruit.

Although for most Mages it was also a hard to achieve skill.

Martial Magic was generally stronger and more battle oriented than normal spells, but it had the downside of being extremely difficult to learn.

It goes to show how truly skilled Kiryat was to use such complex skills.

It also goes to show how I’d be screwed if he continued to spam that hyper speed skill of his.

Improvising, I tried to come up with a method to counter his Flash Step.

While I pondered, I hastily dodged a slice aimed at my shoulder. Not a second after, Kiryat immediately disappeared.

Damn it.

I groaned. This fight was a lot more difficult than I first expected.

He continued to bombard with his attacks. He would pop up for little less than a second and strike out with his sword, in which he aimed for several of my internal organs. I would dodge all these by the skin of my neck or block some of them using [Heckaton].

After several minutes of this, and the constant interjection of Kiryat’s speeches, which always went something like, “Fix you're stance,” or “You need more training,” I finally had enough.

I slapped the floor using [Heckaton]. The impact made spread the dust over the surface. I slapped the floor again. More dust rose and accumulated around me. I continued smacking the floor until I was eventually surrounded by a layer of thick dust.

This way, he’s blinded, like me.

I knew that Kiryat’s movements, especially accompanied with that hyper speed skill of his, were too fast for me to perceive. The only reason why I wasn’t dead already was because of [Heckaton]. I relied on it to block all the killing blows aimed towards me.

So my train of thought was that if I can’t catch Kiryat, I might as well make him as blind as me to even the playing field.

This right now was an all or nothing gamble. I was completely and utterly relying on my ability, and whether this strategy worked or not was the deciding factor in this match’s final results.

I used [Heckaton] to sweep the ground for a suitable enough rock. I picked up a sharp stone which had broken off from the wall. After inspecting it, I found that the stone was sharp enough to pierce skin.

Now, I had steeled myself to launch a killing blow of my own.

I quietly waited, amidst all the dust and debris. I looked intently through the cover of debris, paying particular attention to any form of break or disruption.

Eventually I spotted a slight shift in the dust, and without hesitation, launched [Heckaton] towards its initial direction. The dust riled up as I could feel [Heckaton] block, parry, and counter attack an unseen force. I could feel quick and intense sensations of pain rocket my hand and arms as their exchange heated onwards.

No more than 5 seconds later, after a distinctive KLANG noise, an impact to my right soon knocked me off my feet .

From the brief but fierce exchange of blows from before, the dust soon dissipated. In its wake, it revealed a torn and bloody Kiryat who held an equally as bloody sword extended to my neck.

We stared down at each other for a while. I looked up as he looked down.

After a while, we could hear the roar of the crowd above us, commemorating the victory of the match. They repeatedly chanted Kiryat's name as if high of the euphoric feeling of battle and frenzy.

Amidst the roars, I was the first to break the silence between Kiryat and I.

“Damn, so I lost huh…”

I sighed dejectedly.

“....” Kiryat quietly loomed over me, still extending the sharpened sword up to my throat.

“No, it is a draw.” He glanced over to his side, where [Heckaton] was holding a sharp piece of jagged rock to a vital spot on Kiryat’s neck.

Seeing this I gave off a sly smile.

“Ha ha, It’s not like the rock would have penetrated you're Fortification spell.” I pointed out self-deprecatingly.

“...” Kiryat grunted in disapproval.

He lowered his sword hand and stretched out an arm towards me.

I lowered [Heckaton] and brushed aside his helping hand as I got up and straightened my hole laden uniform.

“Damn it, this is the second uniform…” I quietly muttered to myself as I held out the holes for inspection.

“Still.” Professor Kiryat began to speak.

I turned towards him with an apathetic expression.

“... You forced me to use several spells and techniques I would have never thought to use against a student.”

“....”

“It was a draw.”

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but instead shook his head. He opted to remain silent as he began to walk away.

Near the exit of the entrance he turned back to address me.

I met his stare with droopy eyes.

“Maybe the situation would have been more in your favor had you used your full strength…”

I laughed wryly.

“But you didn’t.” He said abruptly. “Which means you need more training.”

I laughed even louder at this.

If someone were to see a disheveled teenager cackling maniacally while holding onto a bloody right arm, they would have surely thought I was crazy.

With a sardonic smile on his face, Professor Kiryat turned back towards the exit, and left the arena,

leaving behind a group of awed spectators to view a blood covered laughing student in his wake.

After a while, I stopped laughing. I plopped down onto the floor and stared at my right arm.

[Heckaton] had deactivated a while ago during my hysteric laughing fit, but that was not what I concerned myself with.

I tentatively moved my left hand to my right pinky finger and tried touching it. The pain rocketed me as I grimaced.

I stopped doing such a self destructive thing and instead slumped down onto my back.

I sighed once more while staring at the evening sky. I could hear Aleksey screaming from above, commemorating Professor Kriyat’s “Overwhelming Performance.”

“Damn, the old man broke my pinky…” I muttered to myself as the dwindling volume of excited spectators filled my ears.

Chapter 14

Chapter 12