This time Ren did not dodge.
At the last instant, when Kai had committed his whole body to the attack, Ren drove forward instead.
His hand caught Kai's arm at the exact angle where the scales failed to protect the joint.
Ren turned Kai's own weight against him and pulled with precision.......
The scale-covered boy's body slammed heavily into the floor.
"Impossible!"
Jin shot up from his seat.
"How could the weakest one......."
The whispers and sneers that had accompanied the start of the fight turned into a taut silence.
No one had expected the mushroom boy to so much as touch Kai, let alone throw him.
Humiliation flashed across the faces of those who had been mocking him only a moment before, Jin's group most of all.
Kai rose slowly.
His green scales rippled with a threatening light.
The playfulness was gone from his face, and cold fury had taken its place.
Toying with the weakest boy and being hurled to the ground by him in front of the whole class were entirely different matters.
The air in the amphitheater had changed.
This was no longer an amusing spectacle.
Now there was real tension in it.
Even Professor Yang put aside his bored expression and leaned forward with real interest.
Assistant Instructor Lin and Luna showed far greater attention as well.
The way Kai clenched his fists, the way the scales at his neck bristled.
Everyone could see that the game was over.
Trash had humiliated him, and now he would pay the price for it.
"Damn it all......!"
Kai's scales shone more fiercely as he got to his feet.
"Speed Mode!"
The scales on his legs changed their pattern and let more mana flow through them.
All at once Kai's speed rose by a full 50%.
What happened next was, for Ren, nothing short of a nightmare.
Kai's figure turned into a blurred afterimage in Ren's vision.
The first blow came before there was any chance to dodge.
CRASH!
Ren blocked with his arms, but the bone-shaking impact drove him back several steps.
"Is that all you've got?"
Kai taunted as he closed the distance.
"The great Beast expert can't even stay on his feet?"
The second blow could not be avoided.
A green flash struck his abdomen.
UGH!
Every bit of air burst out of his lungs.
As Ren dropped to his knees, the mushrooms in his hair flickered raggedly.
"Get up, trash! The fun's only starting now!"
Jin shouted from the stands.
Ren stood up slowly.
Knowledge flowed in through the pain.
Kai was merciless.
Shoulder, ribs, thigh.
Under the ceaseless barrage Ren was beaten without recourse.
Every impact rattled him to the joints.
"Stop the fight! He's going to die!"
Taro cried out.
But the mushrooms in his hair shone more fiercely with every blow.
Within the pain, the knowledge only grew clearer.
'Speed Mode drives the mana into the legs and leaves other points defenseless.......'
Professor Yang stepped forward.
"That is enough......."
"Wait."
Assistant Instructor Lin stopped him.
Her eyes were fixed on Ren.
"Your scales...... are absorbing...... the wrong kind of mana."
Ren said, spitting out blood and saliva.
"Would you shut up already, you brat!"
"That's exactly...... why Speed Mode throws off your balance."
Kai paused for a moment.
His green scales shone unevenly.
"The scales should be blue. The faster you move......."
Ren barely held himself up as he went on.
"Would you just shut up......!"
Kai charged forward at his heightened speed.
His scales shone like green stars.
"Ren!"
Taro shouted.
But again...... Ren did not dodge.
At the last instant, Ren stepped a single pace to the left.
Guided by precise knowledge, his fist found the exact point where the mana flows crossed wrongly.
It was not a fist that bore down with strength.
A 10% improvement to physical ability made him only a little stronger than an ordinary child.
But he had no need of that.
Overcharged with the wrong mana and pulled taut to their limit by Speed Mode, Kai's scales resonated with the impact.
The already unstable energy pattern collapsed.
Every green scale lost its light at once.
Kai fell to the floor, gasping.
The scales, now dull and robbed of their luster, looked like nothing more than a husk over his skin.
For a moment, silence settled over the arena.
"Impossible...... a Stone Scale, brought down that easily......."
Professor Yang stepped forward.
"Speed Mode...... forces excess mana to run along a faulty pattern. One strike at the exact point is all it takes......."
Ren swayed, barely holding on to consciousness.
In the end he could not hold it.
His knees gave way, and the world went dark.
The last thing he heard was Professor Yang's voice.
"Get Partinder to the infirmary, now!"
***
Ren opened his eyes in the infirmary.
The pain throughout his body reminded him of each one of Kai's blows, and the mushrooms in his hair flickered irregularly.
"Oh, so the princess is finally awake?"
Assistant Instructor Lin was sitting beside his bed.
She was sipping tea with a mischievous smile on her face.
"My word, in all my life I've never seen anyone win while being beaten to rags like that."
She laughed.
"Your stance is a disaster, your stamina...... no better than a pebble rolling about on the roadside. Technique? That isn't even worth mentioning."
Ren tried to sit up, but every muscle screamed.
"Now, now. A kid who spent the afternoon as a wooden training dummy ought to lie still and listen, don't you think?"
Assistant Instructor Lin gently laid him back down on the bed.
"I wasn't only being hit......."
"You weren't?"
She frowned with amusement and laughed.
"Oh, forgive me. Let me correct that: your face and body heroically took every single blow, 'strategically.'"
Despite the pain, Ren could not help flushing.
"But......."
Assistant Instructor Lin leaned forward.
Her smile turned a good deal softer.
"The eye you have for reading a fight was spellbinding. The way you took Kai's scales apart, the way you drove into the gap in his mana pattern...... that was truly something special."
"Why are you here, Instructor?"
"I found a fun new toy, so I'm allowed to come and have a look at it, aren't I?"
"Your...... what?"
"I mean I've decided I want to train you myself."
Ren blinked.
He was certain he had misheard.
"Me? But...... I have the weakest Beast in the world...... even if my technique improves, the limit......."
He looked at the mushrooms in his hair, reflected in the window.
"And?"
Assistant Instructor Lin smiled, but there was a bitterness in her expression.
"I have something to show you."
With a theatrical gesture, Assistant Instructor Lin rolled up her sleeve.
White and red feathers gleamed on her arm in the light.
A Swift Crane had materialized on her skin, its wings forming an elegant pattern as far as her shoulder.
"A Swift Crane. But the pattern of the feathers......."
As Ren studied it, the mushrooms in his hair pulsed with knowledge.
Assistant Instructor Lin traced along the feathers with a finger.
"Most cranes reach the Silver grade easily. They have a natural gift for training, so the path to the higher grades is clear for them."
She sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Mine was especially promising, thanks to my family's resources. The professors said Silver stage 2, maybe even beyond. Hm...... fairly impressive, isn't it? At least until this idiot here," she pointed at herself,
"ruined the training out of impatience."
The mushrooms in his hair pulsed as though analyzing.
The pattern showed clearly where the training had gone astray.
"It reached its adult form early in the end, so it's stuck permanently at Bronze stage 1."
Assistant Instructor Lin went on, and pinched Ren's cheek.
"So let's say I have a soft spot for special cases."
"Why me?"
"Because......"
She leaned in until their noses nearly touched.
"today I saw a real find. A humanoid who has to relearn how to use his body from scratch, granted...... but a genius is a genius all the same."
She winked.
"A body can be repaired and put to use."
Ren saw the light of pity, well hidden behind her teasing manner.
And she was right.
Broken though it was, a mature Beast that had reached Bronze stage 1 was infinitely superior to his Spore.
In other people's perception, at least.
Ren knew the truth, but he certainly did need the extra training all the same.
"So, what will it be?"
Assistant Instructor Lin ruffled his hair.
"This 'broken' instructor is offering to take on the 'weakest' student. Are you going to help me out?"
The mushrooms in his hair glowed softly while Ren considered her offer.
The knowledge showed him how extraordinary Lin's Swift Crane could have been, and...... that it was not entirely finished yet.
"I'll do it." he said at last.
"But......."
"But?"
Assistant Instructor Lin tilted her head with a curious expression.
"Someday, I'd like to talk to you about your crane's training."
Ren looked at the feathers on her arm.
Assistant Instructor Lin blinked in surprise, then burst into laughter as clear as crystal.
"You really are no ordinary one!"
This time she pinched both of his cheeks.
"The little expert is going to fix up big sister's training method? Fine, let's take it in order, sweetheart."
Her smile turned mischievous.
"Right after you learn to last more than two minutes in a real fight."
The instructor stood up.
"All right, that's enough rest."
Assistant Instructor Lin took a small green pill from her pocket.
"Take this. It will dull the pain and speed up your recovery."
Ren swallowed the pill.
A pleasant warmth spread through his body.
The pain did not disappear entirely, but it became bearable.
"Now then, you'll be late for your next class."
Assistant Instructor Lin helped him up.
"Practical economics comes after combat arts, doesn't it? You can't afford to miss that. For a...... 'special' case like you, holding on to your support means locking down every mark you can get in the theory courses."
Ren nodded, understanding what her advice meant.
Assistant Instructor Lin judged that with his Spore, he needed every mark he could possibly earn.
"See you after class."
Assistant Instructor Lin smiled and pushed him gently toward the door.
"And this time, don't go provoking anyone who'd leave you without a bone to pick up, understood?"
The mushrooms in his hair pulsed gently as Ren headed off to his next class.
The pain that remained reminded him that although he had won, he still had a long way to go.