Chapter 16:

A Formidable Ally

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15 seconds --no, 10 seconds was all it took to completely wipe out Emi’s group.

As soon as the match began, four of students rushed at him as they bared their fists at him while the rest stood back and began mumbling.

“Martial arts fighters at the front to keep the enemy busy while the rest stay back to conjure up a large attack spell huh..this is actually quite the common tactic against a normal enemy...though, too bad I’m not exactly normal…”

Vinci had not moved from his spot when the battle began. As his opponents drew near, he reached out his right hand faced down and quietly uttered

“Devour them all, «Nilfielm»”

Suddenly, all the students froze as mini magical crests appeared under their feet. They were paralyzed by the spell. And before long, a black smoke quickly slithered out of the ground as it shot towards the students.

“Kyaaa!!!!!”

“AHHHH!!! WHAT IS THIS?!!”

The students screamed as the the black smoke consumed them from their legs up. After a short while, there were only blobs of black smoke where the students were standing.

Emi looked at the scene before in horror, but was unable to move from her spot.

“Enough. Cancel, «Nilfielm»”

Vinci’s voice calmly rang out as he lowered his hand.

Then, as quickly as the dark smoke came, it slithered back into the ground.

But what was revealed after the black smoke disappeared caused Emi to drop her hand fan and immediately turn her head to the side as she held her hands over her mouth.

The students who were in black mist had multiple parts of their body seemingly torn off, no, “chewed” off would be a better way to describe it. There were unnatural teeth marks on parts of their shoulder where their arm should have been. Those were nowhere to be seen now. The scene with the nine students and their mutilated body was too much even for the princess who’s commonly known for her strong-personality .

“Ahh~ did I overdo it again? Well, at least this time I toned down my attack so they didn’t die...but this bleeding…..I guess I’d better heal them before they really die of blood loss.”

«Nilfielm» was a High-tier magic spell that only serves to completely annihilate and devour its enemies, leaving no trace behind. Fortunately, Vinci had lowered his power output and stopped its usage before the students were fully gone...

Vinci once again raised his right hand.

“Seal the wounds, «Salvation»”

Immediately, the open wounds on several students’ body where their arms, legs, and side part of their stomach once were, sealed shut. Not a drop of blood flowed out from the wounds again.

Although both of the magic spells that Vinci used can be considered High-tier magic that required enormous amount of Soul Power, the boy looked to be relatively calm even after using them consecutively.

The students could be heard quietly groaning in pain even after their wounds were healed. Some were even sobbing. After all, they had lost their one or both of their legs and arms in the battle...they won’t be able to fight ever again.

Satisfied, Vinci lowered his right hand and briefly looked at Emi, who had her hands over her mouth and desperately trying not to vomit. Without another word, he walked passed her and head towards the Training ground.

*Ding dong~*

The bell has rung.

***

Upon arriving on the Training ground, Vinci noticed that many of the students were avoiding him.

“Haaa...this must be because of yesterday’s fight…”

He scratched his head as he tried to think of what else to do. Suddenly, someone tapped him on his right shoulder. Vinci turned around and saw a teenage boy grinning at him. The male student looked to be a bit taller than him, with yellow short hair, black eyes, and a handsome facial feature.

“Yo~ new student. Nice to meet you! I’m Athan Greymony, Class 7. My favorite color is blue, I’m turning 16 this year, I like eating teriyaki meat, my home Clan is Greymony - aha, but I bet you already figured that out, oh and I’m also the eldest son in my family, and currently I’m a Master Rank. Now, how about you?”

Vinci continued to stare at the smiling boy before him whose words continuously fired out like a machine gun. Then, as if breaking out his daze, he spoke up,

“Ah, uh...it’s a pleasure to meet you as well. I’m Vinci Noburo, Class 6. I’m a No Rank.”

“Aha~ just as the rumor said! You really are a No Rank huh~ even though you could use Soul Power? Hahaha, interesting~ interesting~ And your calm yet polite attitude~ Mmmm, I’m already liking you a lot!”

Athan grinned as he patted Vinci on the shoulder.

“So, how about you and I become friends, hm?”

He winked at Vinci as he put his arm around him. His eyes were twinkling like the stars when Vinci glanced at him.

“Ah...then I will be in your care…”

Unable to quickly find a reason to resist, Vinci could only helplessly comply with the cheerful boy who was now his ‘friend’, and his first one in his entire life to be exact. He haven’t met anyone whom he could become “friends” with since starting his journey...it was quite a lonesome adventure for him.

“Friends huh...if I’m not mistaken, that’s a relationship revolving around trustworthy companions who are willing to be at your side through ‘good times and bad’...hmm, well I guess having one wouldn’t be so bad...these ‘friends’ might even help me in the future, too…”

Vinci quietly reasoned in his head as Athan was happily laughing at his reserved manner. Finally, the yellow-haired boy took his arm off of Vinci and with a wider grin this time, he asked,

“Sooo, I see that there is no one in your class right now that’s willing to practice with you? How about you and I practice with each other then? Although I’m a Master Rank and an upperclassman asking for a match, I’m sure that won’t be a problem with you...”

The attractive boy’s eyes shone a mysterious glint as he said his last line.

“Yes, that’s fine with me. Then, let us have a fair match.”

“Haha~ awesome. Likewise, please go easy on me~”

As the two positioned themselves apart on the training ground, some of the students around them began to murmur. But, the two did not seem to care as they stood facing each other.

“Are you ready~?”

“Yeah.”

“oK~ Here I come.”

Athan smiled as he began to spring towards Vinci while mumbling silently.

“Oh? He’s trying to cast a spell while trying to get close to me? Interesting..”

Vinci thought as he got ready to evade the oncoming attack. But before he could see what attack was unleashed, with a single step Athan blurred towards Vinci’s left side at an extreme speed.

“?!...This is..??”

Just as Athan arrived at Vinci’s on his left side, Vinci instinctively moved his body backwards to dodge.

“Pierce all, «Freezing Bursts»”

Upon Athan’s completed words, an icy blast of several cold spears shot forth from the magical crest formed from his left palm.

“Tch. An area attack huh and a Mid-tier magic at that...guess I won’t be able to dodge it in time.”

At the immediate danger, Vinci quickly muttered,

“Shield me, «Athena’s Wish»

A golden magical crest appeared on Vinci’s right as the icicles came in contact with it.

*BOOM! BOOM!*

Several loud noises exploded as the icy spell found its target. But, when the explosion calmed down Vinci was no where to be seen.

“?!”

Athan quickly retreated by springing backwards when he saw that Vinci was not in front of him. Suddenly, as he was landing, a fist came flying from his left side. Athan quickly parried it with his left hand and after deflecting it to the side, he turned his body to unleash a high right kick toward Vinci.

*psh!*

Seeing the kick, Vinci merely raised his left hand to grab the leg when his right fist got knocked away by Athan. Holding tightly onto Athan’s leg, Vinci was just about to cast another spell when he felt Athan twisting his body.

“!!”

The boy quickly let go and stepped backwards as Athan had managed to place his left palm on the ground and twist his body backward to unleash a left kick towards Vinci’s face.

“This guy...he’s strong even in martial arts techniques hm..”

Vinci thought as he stared at the opponent before him.

After regaining his balance, Athan once again faced Vinci. The two looked at each other for a moment, each acknowledging the other’s prowess in magic and martial arts, before they burst forward towards one another again.

As fists flew and legs raised, attacks parried and defenses broke, the two went at each other in a flurry of martial arts techniques.

Athan shouted,

“!”

as his fists seemed to have multiplied and came flying at Vinci at once.

But Vinci, who had his body involuntarily trained and honed through several life and death experiences on other dimensional worlds, was able to easily dodge within the oncoming barrage.

Even without using special martial arts techniques or magic spells, his body -- and his senses-- was already monstrous enough to pick up attacks that were normally difficult to perceive without the aid of magical buffs. That was how he was able to unleash devastating attacks during the turmoil with Batomi and his gang without the use of martial art attacks. A mere forceful punch from him was enough to appear as if it were a blur and shatter the bones of his enemies with ease.

“!!”

Blasts of ice exploded from Athan’s palm at Vinci. But the dark-haired boy easily countered,

“”

“Kh!....!!”

“”

“Hiding in your clones won’t help!...!!!”

*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*

The ground around them shattered and exploded as it was unable to endure the impacts.

As the two continued to exchange blows in the battle that had somehow escalated to a contest of martial arts, Athan couldn’t help but secretly admire his opponent.

“How is this possible...for me who is not only strong in magic, but martial arts technique as well to be unable to find a weak spot in his defense...is he really a No Rank? Hahaha…”

Athan grimly smiled as he thought about this. Because he was momentarily distracted by his thought, his defense weakened for a split second. But this split second was all Vinci needed.

After all, on the battlefield, it doesn’t even take a second of carelessness before someone is dead.

With a swift movement from him, Vinci forced both of Athan’s arms back. With his practice partner’s defense completely down, Vinci moved forward and turned his body as he quickly formed a glowing sword shaped energy in his right hand. As he finished his body turn and slashed the glowing sword towards Athan, it stopped a few centimeters away from his throat. In two moves, he had broken his opponent’s defense and successfully launched a fatal counterattack. Athan slightly paled when he saw the glowing sword.

“Ah~ I concede. You really are strong, Vinci…”

Athan raised both of his hands in defeat as he slowly shook his head. Vinci nodded as he slowly lowered his energy blade. He looked at Athan in a slightly new light now. Although he had held back quite a bit, he was surprised that Athan was still able to keep up with him. This not only impressed Vinci but made him a bit happy that he had befriended a strong ally -- even if it’s temporary..

“But man...to think you could even use condensed Soul Power as well...you really are filled with surprises huh.”

Athan looked at Vinci was a slightly puzzled expression.

“Condensed Soul Power huh...the process where one molds their soul power and then causes it to animate in real life. The SP that’s condensed could be transformed into anything the user desires and holds relatively high destructive power...so that’s what they call this power...”

Vinci looked down at the glowing sword shaped energy in his hand.

He never really thought much about it as he often used this power on various dimensional worlds, though the naming for channeling this energy wasn’t called “SP” as it varied from world to world. He tend to use it since it was much more durable and powerful than regular weapons found on most worlds. And with growing use, it became easy to instantly form this energy as if he was breathing air.

Once the battle between the two ended, Vinci hadn’t notice that the loud noises around him were coming from his classmates who began to once again frantically gossip among themselves. They had witnessed yet another impossible scene.

“Hey...isn’t the guy he was fighting that Athan from the Greymony Clan?...”

“Yeah...but wasn’t there a rule that stated that the upperclassmen can’t fight with the lower classmen??”

“Well, it looks that although that Athan had asked Vinci first, Vinci accepted it, so it was a mutual agreement…”

“That’s not important! Didn’t you guys see that battle?? Vinci won against that Class 7 student from the Greymony Clan!!”

“Maybe Athan went easy on him…?”

“””Hmm….”””

The students in Class 6 all had on a complicated expression as they looked towards the two boys standing together in the battlefield calmly chatting.

But only one student wore a cold, serene expression the whole time. Although her facade was broken slightly when she saw Vinci able to use condensed Soul Power, Cecilia instantly regained back her posture.

*Ding Dong~*

As the bell rang, all the students began to walk towards the School to pack up and leave.

Cecilia stood behind and gazed at Vinci’s back as he followed the other students. Slowly, her facade fell apart. Now, she wore an uncertain expression on her face as she watched Vinci disappear into the distant.

After reflecting on her own actions, Cecilia had come to a conclusion herself that she had no rights to get angry at Vinci. In the first place, the two of them weren’t even close so if Vinci had lied to her at the start then it was quite understandable. And having realized this, she quickly became dejected as she recalled how she had lashed out Vinci on his first day at School. And thus, she decided to find Vinci and properly apologize only to witness the incredible practice match between one of the top upperclassmen and the new student, Vinci. Once the battle had ended, Cecilia didn’t know how to approach Vinci anymore. Or more like, it became even harder to approach him as now there were simply too many questions whirling inside her head. Even after Vinci had long disappeared into the distance, Cecilia was still looking in the same direction that he left. Her perplexed expression still remains.

“...Just...who are you, Vinci Noburo?”