THE EVERLASTING

VOLUME 3

Grand Tournament

Chapter 1 : Spars and a rude red-head.

‘Well she started improving that I can say for sure right now…but she is still lacking.’

It was a nice sunny day .A good breeze of air whiffed from time to time making the weather ever more pleasant.

If only I didn’t look like I was bullying a pretty girl that was gasping for air in front of me I think I would call this a perfect day.

What lead to this you might say…well, it goes like this.

Back when I was on the transportation ship which by the way was magnanimous the size of it was ridiculous its different compartments would take days to describe …well in all its glory the ship was magnificent and capable of carrying the entire student board of the school while still retaining its majestic appearance…

Well I was in one of those compartment near a clinic that was built inside the air ship…yep there was a clinic…even a restaurant…one can only imagine how big it was…

So after Osfor was done talking to me and relaying the various informations regarding what happened after I passed out…this angelic being entered the room while Osfor comically exited.

She was as always, beyond beautiful…her perfect proportions nothing too big nothing too small a perfect hourglass shaped body with white hair reaching her waist. A stern look was atop her face when she said in a tone akin to be a whisper than a direct speech.

“Can I speak with you?”

I hastily said “Sure” before she could change her mind as I too was bewitched and wanting to converse with this person.

She looked back checking if Osfor-sensei really did leave then turned back facing me with the same sharp look on top of her face.

“I would like to spend some time with you…”

“Huh?” what? What? Is this chick saying…spend time with me…is she…no there seems to be a mistake here.

She fidgeted with a look of embarrassment on her face while her cheeks blushed red for a second then corrected herself.

“I-I mean…would you please spend time with me for training purposes…I was told that you managed to break through the third floor and even took down the yeti that I was unable to beat…I even saw your fight that time with the invaders at our school…I was helpless in front of one of them whilst you managed to beat him so please” She bowed slightly with her hair covering her face and added “would you please spare some time with me for sparring when we reach the school grounds…”

Now this is embarrassing, the girl wanted a sparring partner while my head on the other hand was in the gutter. Coughing a bit to shake off my embarrassment I said.

“Surly but I cannot see how sparring with me would prove beneficial to you even if as you say I was able to beat the floors of the dungeon that doesn’t qualify me to be a proper sparring partner, shouldn’t you ask a teacher?”

She waited for a moment opening her mouth then closing it hesitant on what to say next…then after a brief delay she said.

“W-well you see…the tournament is coming up soon and I need a partner not for magical fights but if my adversary is a warrior like you I would like to know how to handle myself in front of such opponents…there are not many teachers who can wield weapons on Albion so finding an adequate person to help with my training is difficult…until you showed up that is.”

She has a point…I have seen no teachers or classes teaching anything besides magic in this school…I know it is a magic school, but shouldn’t they at least have a small branch teaching swordsmanship?

“I see…well I need to consult first with Osfor sensei I also need to organize my time so that our sparring sessions will not be hindered by the time we need to attend classes.”

As I finished my sentence the girl’s eyes lit up and with pursed lips she smiled…a toothless smile but it can surly melt anyone’s heart.

“Thank you…Asura-san” She said. Bowing once more then left…

I was left starring at the ceiling for a moment…still awestruck by what happened…if I remember…her name was Yuna.

And now here I am…in the middle of the coliseum of the school dodging and counterattacking that same girl’s attacks.

She was Bold… strong and at times reckless. Most of her movement were elegant but still a bit exaggerated. Too many unnecessary actions…although here magical prowess were almost peerless to anyone I have seen in this school…except for Shiki I think he can hold his own. Her mana pool that was apparently dozens upon dozens of times larger than my natural mana pool seemed like an endless sea.

If it wasn’t for her incomplete combustion that she told me that she could use 97% of here spell while 3% rebounded back causing magic poisoning, think she would make a terrifying mage.

I have been sparring with her each morning for the last 10 days. This however dragged some random audience that wanted to see how the fights go on.

She dropped down from exhaustion…mostly magic poisoning. As she was never able to fully burn trough here mana in a fight with me because the poisoning always prohibited here from continuing.

I started giving some advice.

“Okay…what can I say…I think right now you are perfectly capable of handling that same yeti. You obviously took the advice of Sraam-sensei and applied it. It’s a good thing that you can use different attributes well not exactly to the same extent of the ice element nor your other dominant element wind and water but still it’s amazing. Although…well you have a lot of openings…I know you are trying and I know this is not your full strength but you always take time between attacks and seem to hesitate every time you try using a large scale spell. More so you use too many useless movements trying to dodge a simple attack. Sidestepping my last blow would have been better than jumping backwards. At that position I could have used a follow-up attack and took you out with a single trust before you could even land.”

The girl dusted herself up standing then nodded

Bowing slightly she said “Hm. Thank you for your time…Asura-san”

I am starting to feel embarrassed by the look of this girl bowing to me frequently.

“Don’t mention it, whenever you feel ready just come ask for a sparring session I’ll never decline a challenge.”

Feeling good about myself I walked away from the arena.

The coliseum was not empty it had a number students that were watching our spare they too wanted to know how would the ice beauty fare against the devastating juggernaut this time…as one of the spectator stated earlier…quite a fun nickname the juggernaut, I think I became fond of it.

Appearing in front of me was the ever smiling face of Shiki. He seemed rather relaxed considering he was almost beaten to death by the teacher who he stole her bra.

“What’s up buddy? Won’t you spar with me too? Common I would like to see how I can manage myself in front of you.” He said that with a bit of cracking and electricity spewing around his body.

…troublesome.

“Alright then let’s go.”

In an instant Shiki appeared on one side of the arena…he seems to be enjoying showing off especially when a lot of the audience was cheering once he was inside the arena. Mostly girls…what a showoff.

I said

“So would you like me to use my blade arts or magic or both?”

He said sarcastically.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t little Asura trying to pity me hah.”

“So what is it gonna be?”

He said

“Well, use everything you got I want to see how I can beat you with you full power. I know you were able to beat that mage but I tell you this time you won’t be lucky as I am fully prepared and will take you down instantly… speaking of magic didn’t you just start learning it…you couldn’t possibly be able to use high level spells so that bluff of yours will not work heheh so Let’s go.”

A judge was at the side of the ring staring at both of us probably bored from the small chat. He said

“The rules are the following. The use of A class offensive spells and above is forbidden as for non damaging high tierd spells there is no restriction. the person who’s hit points reaches 0 first is the loser of the match the player who leaves the perimeter of the square stone platform is considered to have lost the game as well. Fight well…FIGHT START”

I had a wristwatch like thinning that I was given to by Osfor it supposedly calculates my current MU and SU. As Magical units and spiritual units. It had multiple functions and one of them this hit point system

It gives points that translates the current health state of a person in a normal situation when the hit points reaches 0 the person dies but under the dome and barrier of the school when the hit points reaches that threshold the person loses consciousness as the pain is only translated to the brain and not actually dealt to the body.

In a second as I watched Shiki who started to charge himself with electricity I believe I witnessed this before it the same as the time with the twins. He used this attack to accelerate the response of his body so he could move at inhuman speeds.

Not giving him time to fully finish his spell I used Shunpo appearing right in front of him while using earth shattering blow right in the middle of his chest.

And that was it. I think his hit points reached 0 long before his body could hit the wall of the arena.

A cheap shot…well I don’t think that an opponent will wait for you to finish your spell will they now.

Shrugging at the instant defeat of Shiki I walked away from the ring…and I remember myself almost pissing myself the first time I saw the guys at school use magic. Laughing at the current development I headed away from the arena under the loud screams and cheers of the audience.

“Now it’s my turn.” Said a rude person who I begun to despise…it was Nassi he seems to have been accompanied with Shiki and decided to tap in. I wanted to decline but what can I say...It’s my motto never back away from a challenge.

Releasing a long sigh I turned back and walked back at the arena again under the loud cheer of the small audience I crushed yet again another challenger.

Man…if all mages are like this I have no idea how they always won the tournament…it only takes a warrior with high enough speed a single hit to break them. Mages are strong but if they can’t use their powers when they are needed then what is their use.

Walking away from the arena I noticed another line of challengers forming…give me a brake will you…

_____________________________________________________________________________________

The day ended with me having a 22 consecutive win against different opponents…Shiki on the other hand joint the line three more times. He actually was the only one to be able to dodge my initial Shunpo+earth chattering blow. While he did dodge it he couldn’t come up with a follow up as I just shrugged his useless attempt and reused the same combo but this time appearing behind him.

Nassi refused to join the line even after he was asked by Shiki…repeatedly.

Kaori who came to the Coliseum a bit late starred in wonder at what was happening and she too decided to join…she tried to erect a barrier of water to counter my frontal assault but it just shattered once I coated my right hand with ice magic making the water she created brake like glass. I hesitated a bit as I have never hited a girl before. but before I could say anything she gave up. She said that she only wanted to test the strength of her water magic against my attack and if that failed there was no need to keep fighting.

Then he came…probably he heard the commotion one of the called five monsters came and joined the line.

He respectfully stood in line at the last position. But once the students saw him they all cleared way.

Making him approach the stage and entering the arena.

This guy…he looked simple. Not too buffed nor too slim just average…with average looks and average height he even wore average looking glasses and had an average haircut. He had a small book on his right hand which he was keeping close to his chest and his left eye was fixing his thick average looking glasses.

“Hello there Asura-san. It seems that you are enjoying yourself. So may I join in on the fun?”

…why say that when you already are inside the ring…

“Well if you say so…”

The judge who seemed a bit more serious this time called upon the start of the fight.

The second the words Fight Start left his mouth my hyperecognition skill activated. With time slowing down I noticed that the average looking dude used a spell that was fast…so fast that I could only use Shunpo to dodge his initial attack as he pointed his index at me and few wind bolts were sent toward the location I should have been in a few milliseconds ago.

Not leaving the chance he gave me, an opening was created once he noticed that I already dodged his attack and a startled expression appeared on his face.

I used Shunpo and closed the distance between us. Trying to use the earth shattering blow I noticed a smirk on his face. The blow hit ’nothing’… no I was sure I struck at him but his body just dissolved.

This is a cloning technique?

No. he appeared to have blinked to another location as my eye copied his spell. The thing I stuck at was his after image…so this guy is able to use a similar version of Shunpo but it relied on magic instead of muscle and spiritual energy. He uses magic to ‘push’ his body from place to place. Not very fun as the use of mana is ridiculous… almost 1200 Mu per use.

I can use Shunpo for a far less cost and for a much better results.

His ability was not as fast. As it needed a quarter of a second to activate which in my opinion is quit long. This is why he blinked a far distance away probably for him to have enough time to reuse the spell.

Once I used my Shunpo appearing right at his side he teleported about 30 meters away from me. knowing that he will do that I chased after him again. The speed at which I was catching up to him, was increasing. As every time he blinked he would find me right where he would appear. Closing in on him each time a panicked look started to show on him…I taught carefully this time he probably is baiting me around as to prepare some sort of trap as he didn’t use any spell except for this blinking from the beginning of this high speed chase.

Stopping at the middle of the arena. I turned my face around looking for anything inconvenient. And I was right. There were feint traces of mana that I was able to see thanks to my right eye lingering in the air…these were not here before. He must have been ‘feeding’ his spell mana when we were playing tag.

Looking at him I understood that he knew I was on to him, he then smirked and snapped his finger making spear sized bolts of air appear in the sky. Hundreds upon hundreds of arrows just materialized and even more so did after them…when did he ever have time to cast such a spell…I didn’t even see a Mahojin…this is less than an A class tier spell…amazing.

The spears were aiming at me. I walked a step to the side noticing that the tip of every spear in sight slightly moved to my new position. They were all held in the air…waiting for a chance to pounce at their prey…I am being hunted…I laughed at the taught.

With another snap and a muffled “Go” from the guy in front, the spears gradually started descending row after row of spears landed at the location I was standing on I dodged and moved running using Shunpo and even rolling over away from the never ending stream of spears being thrown at me…this was fun.

The guy didn’t seem to be suffering from fatigue even after using a spell this scale. he is yet to break a sweat.

I took a chance.

The next time I used Shunpo I appeared in front of him. Aiming with my right hand a bluffing blow that forced him to use his blink in order to dodge my attack. Not letting this chance go I kept on chasing him even if I was chased by his stream of spears. Every spear on contact made a deep penetrating hole on the platform of the arena. This would take a considerable amount of HP if I take a few of them head on so I have to dodge. I forced the guy to a corner he can’t blink away from there as if he tried to appear behind me he will be greeted with his own volley of attacks. Stuck between the external borders of the ring and the incoming me, he had no choice but to brace himself. In a last attempt he summoned a Mahojin that created a thick wind wall in front of him, he probably taught that if the wall was able to slow me down even for a second the arrows will hit my back before I could land another hit. He couldn’t be more mistaken.

Charging my earth shattering blow and in an attempt to blast him away with his own spell and right before the contact.

A strong and loud feminine voice was heard. “Both of you stop right there.”

It belonged to a beautiful looking girl. With long red hair akin to orange which I never seen before. Her eyes were hazel with sharp green in them a small nose and some cute looking freckles on its side. She had a height of 175cm. She is a third year because the tie on her neck was red in color.

She was accompanied by two other girls almost the same height as her and a freakily big looking guy.

The girls were also on the beautiful side…I don’t remember noticing any plane (ugly) looking girls in this school…weird.

The girls were following a few steps behind the girl that spoke they too had the same tie color even the big guy. All of them were third years. One of the girls was wearing a wizard hat on her head…it looked really cute as she was …petit in size I can’t believe someone with the body of a 12-13 year old to be a senior…

The other one had a detached expression on her face as if she was not interested in the least cool beauty type of presence. As for the guy…he was simply big… more than 2meters tall with tanned skin and a serious face…the type of guys you would try to avoid bumping into while walking down a street.

At that moment the average looking guy stopped fueling his barrier with mana and canceled the spears that were still numbering hundreds even after the insane amount that was already launched at me.

I also stopped my fists. I could have won this if they didn’t intervene…I will have to ask for explanations.

The judge seemingly annoyed with the intervention asked the girl.

“Vessma-sama even with your authority as the student council president you cannot stop a duel without proper procedure…this fight has yet to end.”

She looked at the judge in a serious manner then sighed.

“…I know sir but I needed to stop this farce as you know we don’t want to be seen as bullying the freshmen so I needed to stop this before the boy gets hurt.”

Hoo…me? Get hurt? Hah now that’s a good joke…I was wining this for god sake.

I said, in apparent annoyance facing the girl.

“Hey you…on what basis you presumed that I was being bullied. As you can clearly see I was in perfect control of the match since the beginning and even right now I have this guy backed to the wall…or edge”

She squinted here eyebrows raised her chin and pointed haughtily with her finger and with a harsh tone she said.

“How dare you talk back to me like that…why would an insignificant person like you even be allowed to attend Albion…Just because your master had stupid luck and ended up being one of the great seven do you think that a school for mages will accept a half brain barbarian and a no name like you. I will make sure that you are expelled for this…now kneel before me and apologies so that I may reconsidered myself.”

The hell…isn’t this an over exaggerated introduction hammering me with insults and even insulting my master’s strength…who the fuck is this girl.

I saw the look on the entourage that was surrounding her…the girl with the wizard hat hung her head down while the other girl face palmed adding to her detached expression a look of disdain.

The big guy however…didn’t move nor changed his expression.

I on the other hand was still processing what was going on then I turned toward her and looked directly at her…she really was pretty but that doesn’t give right for anyone to insult others or demanding them to kneel for god know what stupid reason that she taught of…

I tilted my head a bit and lifted a brow then blinked twice and said.

“What gives you right to ask that of me? To kneel for you? That is ridiculous I bow to no one only my master. And you dared insult him in my presence…I would have let this go if you were only speaking to me but to dare smear the name of my master while I am present is something I will not tolerate .”I used the pressure skill from the control pillar making heat waves reverberate through the space. Everyone that was affected flinched and walked back a few steps except the five persons in front of me with Shiki Nassi and Kaori exempted from its effect.

“You dare threaten me…heir of the noble house of the molten lands…you will know your end today insignificant one.”

How in the name of the all mighty did this person was able to become the student council president…

She clenched her fists and an even stronger heat wave was emitted from her body the shock was apparent on all students present as they taught that a war was going to break through.

Not fazed by her approach I fully changed my focus on her…today I am ready to hit a girl.

Then a hand grabbed my shoulder. It was the average looking guy he calmly said.

“I am sorry for this Asura-san it seems that our match will have to be postponed to a later date. And you Vessma-san that was a very rude way to address someone even if they are not a part of a noble house or a clan you need to calm yourself…”

She answered back with a tone filled with contempt.

“Zeles-sama this person is not one to be given respect he is but a commoner with no backing the likes of him are to be trampled by us of noble linage…pitiful existence I should not have wasted my time with this brute. Let’s go we have work to be done I was looking for you and finding you playing with this person made me lose my temper…”

…what the hell…every word from this girl’s mouth is making me angrier…I would have grabbed my sword and gave her a piece of my mind if it was not for the rules of the school that forbad me from drawing it…

The guy named Zeles turned to face me then whispered to me.

“Again I am sorry for the behavior of Vessma-san. She is usually not like this but I believe that she couldn’t accept the fact that the school has accepted a warrior within its ranks even if this is a school for mages. The ability you have is exceptional while you can use martial arts the addition of magical prowess makes you really good in combat. If the rules enabled me to use higher level spells I believe I would not have been cornered this much. Let’s keep this between us today you have won but I need to keep face so let’s call it a draw and redo this with full power next time Kay?”

I receded to his demands and asked the judge to rule a draw. The judge disbelieving what I just said asked Zeles again as to confirm this decision then he cleared the arena declaring that the match has ended in a draw.

Looking at the leaving figures of the read-head and her click I noticed that she was pestering Zeles on why he accepted the draw. I was a bit disappointed that my game count was stopped at 22 wins and 1 draw…I wanted a perfect score but I really needed to get rid of that annoying girl…I can’t imagine that someone will hate another this much just because they think they are unworthy of attending the same school…nobles…hang on…nobles? So she must be from outside the capital…as the capital has the clan system the nobles are a faction that lives outside the capital they even share their opinion on the high council…hmm this is giving me a headache…

I then herd Shiki whistling behind me in awe.

“Man I can’t believe you threatened that girl…I envy you bro…at least you can back up your words as for me I still can’t beat her in a fight…”

I said

“Who is she supposed to be? Some noble heir or something?”

“Well it’s exactly like that and more…the heir of the nobles unlike the clans is the first born. And she is the sole childe of the rulers of the molten lands north of Alsa. The clans however choose their heir based on his exploits and powers before a certain age. Yet even if she is the heir by birth that doesn’t mean she is weak…I fought with here recently and I still wasn’t able to beat her…she really is quite strong for a spirit mage that is.”

“…a spirit mage? So she is a summoner?”

Shiki answered.

“Hmm well almost, she uses her summon as a suit to envelop her body and fight inside it. the summon is absorbing energy from the surroundings, and she uses that to fight here enemies…quite an annoying ability as you need to DE summon her guardian before you can beat here and that my friend is a real pain in the ass.”

“…a different type of combat mage interesting…”

“I believe that she noticed that you were winning the spar and she intervened to stop it …she didn’t want you to tarnish the image of her entourage…as Zeles was her vice president and she already was ‘shamed’ by having one of her entourage lose a match with me she didn’t want you to be the second one…she thinks that me as in heir to the thunder beast clan I was tolerable to have won against one of hers but if you and sorry for the use of the next words a no name won then her standings will be shaken and her position will be questioned by the school…”

“…quite a difficult situation ay…but still that is no reason for insulting me or Master Greetman that was just plain rude and stupid.”

“well you can’t blame a spoiled girl that always had her ways…I still think that the winner of the last game was you as in a matter of fact you fought more than 22 times none stop while everyone challenged you in their best shape I think that is commendable…”

“Haha I have yet to break a sweat so want a rematch?”

Shiki held his hands up declining

“No, no. we need to leave now as it is time for lunch heheh”

“Hmm nice dodge, alright then let’s eat.”