Chapter 77: The Fool

Teo stood in front of an unknown opponent. With Lia and Windle facing each other, Teo was forced to spar against someone else he did not know. Despite introducing himself, the only reply he got was an aggressive glare.

“Alright, you two can begin,” Valdim said as his eyes briefly glanced at the panting and grunting students who were doing their basic exercises.

Teo took his stance, pulling out his wooden sword. Even if the weight of it was considerably heavier than a regular training sword, Teo easily wielded it with only one hand.

He did not take his eyes off his opponents. Choosing to fight without the help of his [God’s Eyes], Teo wanted to see his current level.

Without warning, the opponent moved forward! In two strides he appeared within Teo’s range. Teo’s reaction time was a little slower, but he still had enough time to swing his sword!

-Clang!-

Two swords collided with each other! The opponent was pushed back a few steps and retreated outside Teo’s range. Teo did not pursue as he was also surprised at the force of his newly acquired weapon.

The opponent felt his hands tremble. The weight of the force Teo’s sword produced was enough to leave him shocked, but he quickly regained his composure.

Teo pushed his feet off the ground and dashed with a vertical slash! The slash was stronger than before, but its speed was greatly reduced!

Looking at Teo’s slash, the opponent did not dare to take it head on and sidestepped, countering with a rising diagonal slash.

-Clang!-

Teo once again blocked, but this time, with his left forearm! The wooden dagger hidden under his sleeve took the brunt of the impact head on and Teo grabbed the sword as its force was briefly dissipated, surprising his opponent.

-Swoosh-

Teo’s sword flew swiftly, only stopping inches away from his opponent’s nose and concluded the match.

The opponent glared at Teo, but could only grit his teeth and accept his lost.

“Next pair!” Valdim said.

He evaluated all nine students’ combat ability and found that most of them had a decent amount of combat experience, with only one having no experience at all. He took special note of Lia and Windle, the two who seemed to be on the top of the group.

As for Teo, Valdim saw him as one who only won through his equipment and trickery. Although sneak attacks and feints are part of combat, from his perspective, one cannot always rely on them to win.

As time passed, Valdim pointed out each of their flaws and weaknesses, guiding them in the general path of improvement. He recommended certain exercises for each of them, and spoke about techniques people often used.

——

Huddled together in a spot, Teo, Windle and Lia swung their swords into the air repeatedly. As Valdim oversaw the other students’ exercises and training, the trio practiced nearby each other.

“So what do you guys think? Should we attend regularly?”

Without losing his breath, Windle asked their opinion of the class as he was kicking and thrusting his sword in combination.

“Well.. I.. think.. his.. evaluation.. is.. fair..”

Lia replied as she was jumping in the air and ducking down into the ground while wildly swinging her sword.

“Maybe once a week or once a month, I doubt we’ll need to attend everyday” Teo suggested as he stood in his regular stance and rehearsed different types of sword swings. He was still familiarizing himself with his new weapon so he only did the basic exercises that Rowen and Gina had taught him.

Not far off the distance, two pair of eyes watched Teo swing his sword.

“That’s him right?” one of them said as he held a portrait and description of Teo’s features.

“Yes, I recognize him! I saw him once before, so there is no doubt it’s him!”

“Good! Stay here and keep watch of him while I go inform the boss!”

The fifth year student quickly rushed out of the forest and headed to the center of the district.

—–

Zachery and the rest waited for news of Teo’s location to arrive. The four of them did not wear the Rizon badge on their sleeves but it was no secret that they were part of the Rizon faction.

People who knew about this oddity were curious but none of them could uncover the reason behind it.

After recovering from their injuries, the four’s hate for Teo had lessen, but it did not disappear. They felt embarrassed at the fact that they were showing off while they foolishly injured themselves but they had no way of venting their anger. The creator of those boots that harmed them was a mysterious and important figure so they could only swallow their frustrations.

Without much to do, the four of them concentrated on improving their elemental control and hoped to unleash their frustration on their most hated enemy, Teo. They would’ve made their move earlier if not for the fact that important guests visited to spectate the yearly tournament.

“Calm down Kris, we’ll get him today. We’ll slowly roast him until he squeals!”

Seeing Kristofer pacing back and forth in anticipation, Zachery tried to calm him.

“Heh, I know Zach. I’ll repay the humiliation I felt that day by a hundred times!”

Ash snickered as he looked at the help they brought. Ten students of various years were hired to help capture and lynch Teo. Zachery and the rest no longer cared for such trivial things as their reputation. If they cannot be respected by their status and regal loftiness, they will be respected through power and fear! Despite this, he could not force the other Rizon members to temporarily quit, so he had them scout for Teo and hired outsiders with skills to help dealing with Teo.

Suddenly, the fifth year messenger came rushing back!

“Boss, we found him!”

Their eyes hardened as they heard the news. Everyone stood up reading themselves.

“Good! Lead the way!”

Without wasting a moment, fifteen figures swiftly traversed through the northern district.

—–

Teo and the other sparring students sat down watching instructor Valdim’s demonstration. Gradually, the other pupils who could no longer continue or had finished their exercises laid down to watch as well. Grifford on the other hand collapsed beside Teo breathing heavily as his eyes could barely continue to look at the instructor. Valdim’s movements were swift and to the untrained eyes, it was difficult to discern the subtle differences in his movements.

He started slow and repeated certain moves, but the second time around the moves slightly sped up. After a few iteration, not many could keep track of his maneuvers.

The experienced Windle and Lia could barely keep up. Despite having seen their seniors’ velocity before, they could only track Valdim’s movements to an extent. Teo on the other hand lasted a little longer. He was used to speeds that the [God’s eyes] helped him to see, but soon he was forced to activate his [God’s eyes] to keep track.

The movement seemed the same, but there were subtle differences that Teo’s [God’s eyes] could pick up!

“So, how many of you could see my last moves? Can you tell the difference from each ones?”

Valdim asked his students but Teo remained silent. Upon activating his [God’s eyes] he discovered from a distance a few familiar faces he did not want to see. He acted natural and pretended to yawn as he looked around and found many hidden figures glancing towards him.

Valdim who saw Teo yawn felt quite displeased, but continued on with his lecture.

Teo pulled Windle and Lia together and whispered, “Guys I’ll need some help with something.”

Grifford who was laying down beside Teo also listened to what Teo was suggesting.

—–

“There he is!”

“This fool doesn’t know what is coming to him, hehe”

Zachery and the other 14 people watched Teo from the distance concealing themselves behind the bushes. The other two from the Rizon faction had already left since they were still restricted from attacking Teo and unlike Zachery, they did not dare to leave the faction just for revenge.

They waited until the class was finished to pounce on their unsuspecting target. Despite allowing third years and olders to fight, none of them dared to in front of an instructor or during class. Students who intruded on classes or had no respect for the academy’s instructors were often punished by the instructors themselves, so the group waited.

After waiting some time, many of the students had started to leave and the hidden force became excited!

“This is it, when he leaves we’ll block him right away!”

They moved to enclose on Teo, but Teo and a few other students stayed behind and asked their instructors for some pointers.

“Instructor Valdim is such a great teacher. Today, I have really learned a lot!” Windle said with excitement

Teo, Lia and Grifford nodded.

Grifford had heard of Teo’s situation, and despite not knowing him too well, he thought that observing nearby might be interesting so he played along with Teo’s plan.

“Indeed, I have never seen an instructor so good even in the Martial faction! You must visit our Martial faction today!” Lia suggested.

“Yes, yes, please visit our martial faction today!” Teo chimed in.

Valdim was quite flattered by Windle and Lia’s praises. Although he disliked Teo, he knew that Windle and Lia were probably the better students he had today.

“Well..” Valdim hesitated, but Lia did not let up.

“I am sure that the many ladies of the Martial faction will find instructor most appealing! The majority of our members will also come today, I think it is the best time to show your greatness to our members!”

Valdim smiled and liked the idea! His confidence was built up by the praises of these good students and was tempted to go.

“Alright, I guess I will make an exception today!”

“Yay! Thank you so much! I am sure that they will be pleased with your methods of teaching!”

“I am so glad that instructor will bless us with more of his time!”

The manipulative bunch laughed inside as their eyes quickly glanced at the seemingly empty surroundings.

[Proofread and slightly edited by Soeir]

[Cienz: It’s Sunday, 1:00 am, kinda lacking motivation at the moment. Here are the two chapters I promised. I am not sure if the chapters will keep on being released at a regular pace as my motivation fluctuates a lot. Sometimes I don't feel like writing a chapter, sometimes I can write 3 chapters in one go.. it varies.

There is also a fire a few hours from where I live, its pretty bad, since Tuesday I believe, though I am not directly affected by it, I feel obligated to ask for donations for those who needs it.

If anyone wants to donate to the victims of the fire at McMurray please go to this link. The government is going to match what ever is donated, so if you want to help please donate. Thanks.

You can also read ahead by going to ByCienz]