They faced each other. Shirtless and shoeless, they stood about 5 meters apart.

In this abandoned parking garage, the ground floor and below had tonnes of moss growing here and there, probably due to successive exposure to rain and dampness. Thus, the duel was being held one floor above.

"You sure you don't want to chicken out because of all those injuries? I'll let you use this as an excuse, you know?" was what Claude had said, perfectly aware of his standing in the social structure of the school.

Honestly, it was getting on Diavolo's nerves. Impulsively, he ripped the bandages off without any hesitation. Thus, exposing...basically nothing.

His swollen cheek was practically back to normal. His arm and abdomen had blotches of scabs scattered around revealing injuries that looked clearly non-fatal. If his arms were put side by side, the pinkish contrast on his left expressed a fresh new layer of skin had been created; but it didn't explain whether there was any proper injury or not. Or at least, whether the injury was as bad as it was made out to be.

"Hey, hey! What's this, huh?! Was that all an act?! Or are you just a big baby who can't deal with scratches like that?"

And it was not just Claude who thought that. All the students watching in anticipation had similar lines running across their minds. Surprise, confusion, disappointment, relief. Even in these multitudes of emotions, nobody spoke a word. These thoughts were vastly overshadowed by the upcoming bout.

Only Suzume knew about the true severity of the injuries. But what was even weirder, was that she wasn't at all fazed by Diavolo's otherworldly recovery speed. 'Ah, I see…' was the kind of expression she had.

"Wasn't I telling you from the very beginning that I was fine? Now that you've seen for yourself, you better go all out on this."

"Heh, I was planning to even if you didn't show me anyways…" and thus it started.

The two charged straight for each other with clenched fists, both of them preparing a punch.

But just as the two punches would've collided like a fistbump, Claude quickly bent his arm up into a defense posture. Having Diavolo's punch land on his forearm, he immediately sent another punch at his face, which was already on its way before the first punch landed.

Bam! Diavolo received a punch on his previously injured cheek, and thus both of them took a large step back. This first clash lasted less than a second. A clash that probably couldn't even be called 'testing the waters'.

Blood trickled down his cheek. Diavolo was cut!

Slightly surprised at first, but he quickly made sense out of it.

A punch that could cut. Claude was clearly utilizing his Material Natura of controlling gas, or air. If he manipulated it in just the right way, the wind enveloping his fist would not need to provide enough force on its own to cut. Claude's muscle strength could just take on that part.

Not needing to flamboyantly display strong Natura abilities, and only properly fusing in with his bodily skills. This showed just how much expertise Claude had as a fighter.

But just as he was about to curl a smile at Diavolo's naivete, a sharp pain stung him on his forearm. A burning sensation.

"Huh?" he thought.

It was odd. He who had cladded both his defense and offense with an adequate layer of wind, was not supposed to receive damage like this. In fact, Diavolo was the one who was supposed to have his knuckles cut for landing a punch on the circulating layer of wind like that. But his fist was unscathed.

No words were spoken. Their eyes and fists were meant to do the talking. And thus they started again.

Punches. Kicks. Blocks. Parries.

A barrage of freestyle hits from both sides. Every one of Claude's hits dealing a small cut and every one of Diavolo's hits leading to a burning sting.

It was not at all long until steam started to come out from every landed hit… and eventually, small bursts of fire.

The answer to the burning sensations were presented right in front of Claude… and he was not happy. He had already suspected it, but thinking about it just pissed him off.

"You… stop screwing with me!" he roared.

It was annoying. This boy, who he believed was a simple prodigy newbie, was not even supposed to be near him. 'He knows Raze much earlier… so what?!' was what he thought. He had yet to control it and needed a lot of time to actually deal massive blows. And not to mention he didn't even know his Material. Clearly a newbie.

However, this boy… after a mere day after the exam, not only discovered his Material Raze, but was also utilizing it in actual combat!

He was being cornered? No, that wasn't the case. But if this continued, he would surely be at a disadvantage.

His plan was to let Diavolo know fear. Regardless of whether he attacked or defended, it was supposed to slowly damage the transfer student and put him in despair. But it was the opposite.

Not only was his wind defense useless, but the ample air movement only aggravated Diavolo's flames before they reached his skin. His plan of chipping away on Diavolo's strength was being used against him! But unlike cuts, burns actually stung more and made movements more difficult. That's why, it didn't matter much if Diavolo was receiving damage. He himself was actually in more pain.

Among the audience, words could not describe what was going through their heads. A section of their minds dedicated to watching the action, the rest of it constantly tried to process new updates. If one peered into their heads, that person would see an outburst of images that couldn't be made sense out of in a short time span.

Suzume on the other hand, was more pleased than surprised. She was witnessing a growth. A growth, that put her heart at ease, somehow.

In Diavolo's perspective however, he thought he was taking a great risk. He wasn't sure if it would work, but it was necessary to test it.

Previously, he had ended up with severe burns due to prolonged exposure to his own heat. It was then that he realized why Hannah and Stanley had told them Plasma was more dangerous than the other Material elements.

Adding to that, he was lucky to have had his injuries healed at an astonishing rate. He didn't know why that happened either, but he had no time for questioning right now.

Diavolo knew very well that he wouldn't be able to control a workable output in a mere day. He wasn't a prodigy like that, but he was simply using his head. So, what if he did this? What if he released a great output of heat in an instant and immediately cut it off? A short burst as what one may call.

Since he couldn't control the output, but was capable of dishing out a lot of it, this idea could work in principle. But he didn't have time to practice, and he also ran the risk of not being able to stop the output. Nevertheless, he tried it.

And it worked! The situation was better than he thought. Not only was he able to successfully carry out his mental imaging, but Claude's own abilities seemed to work against him in this case. His fire output was not dangerously high to damage one's skin if used for such a short time, but since the fire was enhanced as he landed punches on Claude, the damage done had increased.

So basically, not only was he not using a double edged sword anymore, but his opponent was in a way damaging himself. A pleasantly convenient situation which he must not let slip by.

"Chipping away my strength by lightly burning me here and there… that's dirty! Fight like a man!" Claude ironically stated. He was aware of that fact, but he was just that irritated.

His first option was to deactivate his 'wind shielding'. If he did that, he would be able to decrease the effects of Diavolo's fire, but that would also get rid of the mitigating effect from Diavolo's brute strength.

His other option was to increase his wind shielding to the point where rather than aggravating his flames, it would blow them out like a candle. But if he did this, it would mean discarding a full-body wind coating, and only focus them on very specific parts. Something which required more time and a lot more concentration.

And he couldn't do that. No, rather… he didn't want to do that! Spending so much effort against a no-name like him would be too humiliating! Especially after all the things he said.

Even if nobody would care about it if he really did go all out — because technically, he would still be putting Diavolo in his place — it would still hurt his pride.

"This has nothing to do with being a man," Diavolo calmly replied, "If you think this is a duel between men, you're poorly mistaken. You insulted my friend right in front of me without giving a shit, and that really pissed me off. This is just me trying to teach you a lesson!

And also… I don't know what your idea of a 'fight' is, but I'm a hunter, not a fighter. I adjust my style depending on the kind of beast I'm up against. And against you, I've deemed big attacks useless."

A man living in the forest, living by the forest. Only nature's rules apply when you're having a fight. Things like fixed fighting styles were unnecessary! Because in the end, we were all animals, and the key factor playing here… was instinct!

Continuing on their fight, their quick barrages steadily lead to more and more elaborate moves. With both ends getting used to each other's movements, they needed to double, triple, quadruple their efforts into thinking ahead and predicting the next move.

Strike. Dodge. Counter strike. Dodge. Counter counter strike. Dodge. Quick barrage. Block and parry.

The frequency of actual hits being landed decreased as both of them started to feel the first glimpse of exhaustion. In this state, taking damage had a high chance of being a game changer.

With little room to breathe, their options became more and more limited. And then… Claude made a big mistake.

Till now, he had been using his arms to do most of the fighting. They were sore. Bending down backwards to dodge Diavolo's haymaker punch, he continued his momentum and stood on his hands. But instead of taking a little more time and flipping back to his feet, he decided to kick Diavolo during that motion.

If it was under normal circumstances, it might've worked. But right now, he was breathless and sore. A sharp pain diverted his attention to his arms and thus greatly diminished the power of his kick.

Noticing his chance in a split second, instead of blocking, Diavolo grabbed his leg!

"HUUUWWAAAA!!!" he used all his might to lift him up and smash him to the ground!

Boom! He landed face first on the ground with at least three times his own weight! The floor cracked and caved in. If the building was any older, he'd probably fall through the ground into the floor below.

"Guwaha!" Claude let out as the tremendous collision forced out the air from his lungs.

A short pause took ahold of the scene… and then… "UUUUWWWOOOO!!!!!" resounded the outburst of cheers from the onlookers! 'He did it! The transfer student won!' was what came out of their mouths.

"The fight's over, Claude. With this, you've lost," Diavolo calmly concluded, "I'll give you three seconds to apologize to my friends. Once that time is over, I'll deliver the finishing blow. Don't make this any more humiliating for yourself…" and boldly stated.

Thus, the battle was over. Transfer Student vs Problem Child. The winner: Transfer Student, Diavolo Signore! A duel that would probably go into the history of the school! Or at least, that's what it looked like.

"One."

Claude collected his thoughts. Wait a second, what just happened? Did I actually just lose? To this no-name kid? He absolutely couldn't believe it and it took him more than a second to fully grasp the events of the last few instances.

It was… aggravating. Utterly humiliating. For him, who had built up such a reputation. A person who nobody dared to go against. A person who nobody could stop, as long as he didn't go 'too' overboard. The undoubtedly strongest student in their batch… no, maybe even all three batches combined!

For him, such a person, to have met a loss THIS suddenly?! He just could not accept it!

"Two."

"Is this… really the end?" he thought with the eyes of a dead fish.

After this, nobody would come to fear him anymore. Even if he was fearfully stronger than basically everyone in the student body, all of them would huddle around Diavolo. Whether it's for protection, fame, friendship, or being a fan. Claude… would not be seen in the same light ever again.

"Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! SHIT!!!" a black mark appeared beneath his eyes… and then it happened. It all took but an instant.

Diavolo prepared his finishing blow, and charged up his 『Heavy Impact』, "Thre—" Kuwok! Something snapped, and… he plopped to the ground… unconscious.

Claude had moved beyond what Diavolo could react to, and punched him straight at his jaw. And his fist was not covered with his regular layer of wind, no no. The wind had enough force to propel one's head off. If Diavolo had not been on his guard, he would've suffered far more than just falling unconscious.

Oh, and the black marks were already gone, so nobody noticed.

The cheers froze, and so did their expressions.

"Hmph!" Claude snorted and quietly left walking away. The people who were watching from the stairs made no noise nor eye contact. They simply opened a path for him to go down.

Thus was the true outcome of the duel. Was it Diavolo's win, or was it Claude's? The victor was unclear.

Would Claude not have won if it weren't for his surprise attack in the end? Or was he simply pretending to be overpowered by Diavolo the whole time? This matter would be heavily discussed among the students for a long time… until a next duel would erupt.

…

..

.

By the time Diavolo woke up, everybody had already returned home.

"Oh damn, you woke up! Any longer, and we'd have to carry you home!" Shin jokingly greeted him.

"Are you… alright?" asked his lap pillow— er… Suzume.

"What happened?" he asked, sitting up.

"The fight with Claude is over, Diavolo! You were really amazing!" Yukio cheered.

"Honestly, you had us worried back there!" Hannah exclaimed, concerned.

"That last attack was so dirty! But don't worry! All of us know that you were clearly the winner in this round!"

Diavolo recollected his thoughts. That's right. He was knocked unconscious in the last instant. Confirming the circumstances, "Nope. This battle… was clearly my loss," he admitted, "That guy… is definitely hiding something up his sleeve…" he casually scratched his ear and stretched his arms.

The event took place in an instant. And even in that very instant, Diavolo noticed it. Claude felt much different from what he previously was.

"Most likely… that was not even his true powers," he stated.

Diavolo might've said that casually, but not everybody could treat it that way. The indications of such a fact could be dreadful.

Was he joking? No, he probably wasn't. But if so, what would this lead us to? Such was the train of thoughts going through his friends. A couple or two seconds passed in silence as the atmosphere somewhat turned heavy.

But even if things might have seemed grim, there wasn't much to worry about. They recovered fairly quickly. That was because…

"Rather than that, since when are you able to use Material Raze?! You had us freaked out there!" Shin exclaimed in amazement.

Yes, that was it. Diavolo's growth rate.

After this event, if Claude really was hiding his true powers, they would be in trouble. This match was without a doubt, very humiliating for him. And he would not let this go undealt with.

But now, they had a person who was able to use Material Raze in a mere day. If this boy's growth isn't just a fluke, then there really was hope. Things may get ugly, but if it was Diavolo, they might be able to somehow cope with it.

Even if they lost now, the next chance they get could turn out to be a time when Diavolo had monstrously evolved!

"Yes, that's right! Just as I thought, you used Material Raze back then, didn't you?! And it was fire, right? That means you use Plasma like Shin, too! Just when did you do all that?!" Yukio added in delight.

"Yeah, well… it's a long story… but it's no big deal!" he tried to brush it off with a light laugh. After all, he couldn't just brazenly give away what Suzume was going through.

"Like hell it's no big deal!" Hannah intercepted, "You didn't even know your affinity till yesterday, did you?! How on earth did you—! This is just ridiculous! Suzume, what did you do to him?!" and she shot a question at her.

"Um, no, I… didn't do anything…" she hesitantly said. With so many things going through her head, she hadn't prepared an excuse in advance to deal with such a situation.

Hannah of course, had her doubts, "That sounds so suspicious…" she comically squinted, "Those wounds have something to do with it, doesn't it?"

"No, you have it all wrong, Hannah! There was a building on fire and I went in to save a kid last night. Of course I got burnt and all, but thanks to that, I was able to realize I use plasma! Actually experiencing your respective element helps you learn it more easily, wasn't it? Yeah, that's all that happened!" was what Diavolo poured out in a rush.

The adrenaline acting up, made him recall all sorts of lessons Hannah had given them which Diavolo would otherwise, usually ignore hearing attentively.

"Ho~? Is that so?"

"Yes, yes, it is! Like, I can't control these flames yet, you know! I was just winging it! Letting out short bursts for a single moment and all that!" he tried to strengthen his explanation and, "More importantly, shouldn't we be hurrying now? We need weapons for tomorrow, right? If we take too long, we'll get in trouble!" gave a final push by quickly changing the topic.

"Ah, that's right! If you hadn't fallen unconscious for so long, we'd be done by now!" Hannah grunted.

"Then, let's get going!" (Shin)

"Would you like to come with us, Suzume?" (Yukio)

"Thank you! But it's okay. I have some business to take care of…"

"Ah, then I'll go with you."

"No, you don't have to, Diavolo-kun! It's just—" but then Diavolo gave her a look which let her know in an instant about why he was doing it. She surrendered immediately.

"Suspicious, suspicious…" Hannah squinted again. Yet still, sighing, "Well, I guess it can't be helped for lover-boy. Let's go, you two."

"Ah, about that, Hannah! I actually wanted to go with everyone, but since we're gonna scatter anyway, I'd really like to go get that new game with Marvin today!" (Yukio)

"HUH?! You're joking, right!"

"Pretty please? You think you can get a weapon for me while you're at it? I initially told Marvin to go alone, but as I expected, I rea~lly wanna go too!"

Hannah was at a loss for words. It was like she was baby-sitting a bunch of kids. A game freak, a muscle freak, and a trouble seeking freak. She didn't even want to argue anymore.

"Fine! Go ahead! Don't blame me if your sync rate is too low, okay?!"

"Hehe! Thanks! And I'm not worried! I trust Hannah's judgement!" he giggled.

And the group thus parted. Diavolo went off with Suzume somewhere, Shin and Hannah went to her long time acquaintance's weapon store, and Yukio went to Marvin to buy new game releases. Although… they had no idea they were being observed all along…