(MARTIN) Looking at the clearly faked match, I frowned.
Maybe I was just able to tell because of my natural affinity to combat, but it was clear that they had faked the fight.
‘Was that what they were talking about during Amy’s fight?’ Thinking about it, I smirked.
Just the image of Nephis being swung through the air was one of the best things I had seen.
Sammy walked out of the ring and looked down at the ground with a frown, as if searching for something.
Raising a brow, I smiled.
“Searching for your dignity?” To my remark, Sammy raised a brow and scoffed.
“And just when I was thinking about not listening to Nate’s request.
Oh well.” Narrowing my eyes, I was about to ask what he was on about, but my attention was taken up by Sammy’s strange armored Shadow returning to his feet.
‘What?’ Glancing at it, my eyes then climbed up and focused on Sammy, who looked a little fearful.
“What’s that about?” Shaking his head, he simply sat down and shrugged, making sure to pay extra attention to the ground, particularly that Shadow of his.
“Well, feels like it just kinda left of its own accord.
Although when I noticed, it went back… But why exactly… I don’t know.” There was a palpable tension in his words, and I could see why, ‘Is it just his Pathway?
Ehh, not my problem.
I already have enough to deal with.’ It was mostly that, but I was also a bit worried about what he said.
‘What’s Nate planning?’, As I was getting ready to ask, Instructor Rock’s voice sounded.
“Alright, as Sleeper Liam finished his match, we’ll have a match between the two other winners.” His gaze turned from Amy to me, to which I stood up and went to the ring, while Amy got out of her little spot where she had been chewed out.
While there was a short intermission where Rock had to make sure to make everyone back away from the ring… for obvious reasons, I decided to approach Amy.
“Hey… you wouldn’t happen to uhhh… be up for showing mercy towards me?” Trying to smooth my way into not getting my ass kicked, I looked as she turned her gaze from the crowd that was going away from the ring to me.
She seemed a bit insulted at the gesture of them basically clearing the ring because of her.
She simply looked me up and down before smiling sweetly.
Chills ran down my spine as she spoke.
“Remember when we played GTA races and you kept killing me with sticky bombs?” ‘Okay, so no.
Awesome.’ Smiling, I coughed and waved a hand dismissively.
“Ohh, that was so long ago… Haven’t we matured since then?” Her snooty gaze locked onto me before she sighed, “Look, I’ll pay you back later on, alright?
I need to act as a warrior, and what kind of warrior lets themself be beat?” Scowling, I chuckled dryly, “…Can’t argue with that… so… how will you pay me back?” Thoughtful for a moment, Amy looked frustratingly serious.
“When you advance to Witch, I’ll give you some tips on—” “I hate all of you.” Finished with the conversation, I walked away and went to my side of the ring.
My heart raced, and I exhaled in an almost meditative manner, but with her words, I did also feel rather insulted.
The possibility of becoming a woman was there, and with it came unprecedented consequences.
Just the thought of some random guy hitting on me made me almost vomit.
Then came the thought of what my friends would do.
The only ones who would even bother to do that would probably be Steven, Sammy, Liam, and Damian, only to ragebait me of course.
But what would I even do in that situation?
‘Oh, I’d kill them, of course.’ The other two wouldn’t.
Nate was a ragebaiter, but even he had some amount of dignity, and Amy, of course, wouldn’t do anything about it.
She was mischievous from time to time, but even then, she always liked to be dignified.
‘Why am I thinking about this!’ Frowning, I shook my head and focused on the task at hand, trying not to lose in the first ten seconds.
‘Okay, okay, is she stronger than me?
Yes.
Will she beat my ass… probably, but despite this challenge before me, my heart is filled with perseverance.’ Feeling a bit more motivated, I shifted my body as Instructor Rock approached the ring.
He held his gaze on me, and when I looked, I almost saw him visibly change his face from an impassive one to one filled with pity.
‘Oh, come on.’ Making a moue of anger, I accepted my fate.
As he looked to Amy, he nodded and cleared his throat.
“Okay, you know the rules, but we’ll add one more…” He looked to Amy, and she just looked away in embarrassment.
He then quickly added on, “No throwing people out of the ring, at least not directly towards a crowd.” ‘Well, at least I can’t get thrown out by her.’ Rock raised his hand once more, and both of us shifted into position.
“Begin!” The moment his voice and hand fell, Amy moved.
She didn’t charge forward like I expected her to.
Instead, she took a single step and lowered her center of gravity, her eyes locked onto mine.
I narrowed my own in turn, much less confidently, of course.
‘I can take one L.
More than that and I’ll be a fraud forever.’ I knew better than to rush her, so after watching her fight Nephis, I’d already seen what she could do, and unlike Caster, she wasn’t relying on speed.
She was stronger than me, more durable than me, and from what I’d seen, her ability to adapt during a fight was frightening.
‘So what do I have?’ My combat instincts immediately began working, and an idea formed.
‘Information.
I know what her Pathways do and her Aspect… But damn it, knowing this makes it more impossible!’ Thinking up a strategy on the spot, I moved suddenly and sprinted forward.
Amy’s eyes widened slightly, and she immediately prepared to intercept me, her fist already moving towards my chest.
At the last moment, I shifted my body to the side, letting her fist pass by my shoulder before I grabbed her wrist.
I twisted her arm and attempted to use her own momentum to throw her onto the floor.
However, Amy simply planted her foot into the ground and made it difficult for me to do so.
‘Shit.’ She didn’t move an inch… Instead, her other hand moved towards my stomach with all the devastating force that made the machine groan.
All I could do was defend, so I managed to raise my arm.
*BAM!* The impact rattled my entire body and forced me backward.
And I gritted my teeth in response.
Immediately thereafter, I moved forward again, throwing a quick punch towards her face.
Amy tilted her head to the side and avoided it with surprising ease.
My second punch followed quickly, but it missed her by a good margin.
As I threw my third punch, I growled, and her hand moved fast, and she latched onto my wrist like an octopus.
Her eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion.
“Got you.” “Not quite.” I grinned and twisted my body, using my free hand to strike towards her ribs.
Amy barely managed to block it, but the impact forced her to release my wrist.
I immediately took advantage of the opening and swept my leg towards hers, but she jumped over it gracefully.
‘Damn it!’ She landed perfectly and immediately retaliated by sending a fist right towards my face.
Clicking my lips, I only managed to raise both arms.
*BAM!* The impact sent me sliding backward, and my arms trembled from the force as a dull pain spread through my bones.
‘Okay… Okay, it’s not that bad.
I can manage for now.’ Amy didn’t give me time to think any further as she sprinted forward.
I raised my guard and prepared for another exchange, but instead of striking, she suddenly changed direction.
My eyes widened as I watched her move around my side in an attempt to grab my shoulder.
I spun around and managed to avoid her hand.
However, the moment I did, she brought her knee upward.
I twisted my body and barely avoided it.
She smiled deviously and remarked with slightly haughty eyes.
“Getting nervous?” Frowning, I put a bit of distance between us and replied with my own quip, “Just a single dub got you this confident?” The fight continued, and by how it was going, it became clear to me just how outmatched I was.
Whenever I attacked from the front, she focused on blocking, and whenever I attempted to maneuver around her, she immediately changed her footing to prevent me from getting behind her.
She wasn’t simply stronger, she was incredibly adaptive to the fighting style of others, which was incredibly annoying.
I rushed forward again, and while Amy prepared herself, I did something different.
Instead of attacking her, I dropped low and attempted to grab her leg.
She quickly pulled her leg back, but that was exactly what I’d wanted, as I pushed myself upward and swung my shoulder into her chest.
*BAM!* Amy stumbled backward, and I followed immediately by grabbing her arm.
This time, I twisted it and used my entire body to throw her.
Amy’s eyes widened as her feet left the ground.
For a brief moment, it seemed like I’d actually managed to get her.
“YES!” I grinned… however, then my expression changed as I felt her simply relax.
That grin disappeared, and I swallowed hard.
‘Oh no.’ Amy twisted her body in midair and used the momentum I’d given her to rotate herself.
Instead of landing on her back, she planted one hand onto the floor and kicked her legs outward.
One of which struck my chest.
*THUD!* I was thrown backward, just barely managing to land on my feet.
I tried to steady myself, but my balance was completely gone.
Amy immediately closed the distance.
Left without any options, I raised my guard to welcome her fist right into my arms.
After she managed to catch me lacking, she released a barrage of strikes, each one making my entire upper body tremble.
I couldn’t even properly retaliate anymore.
‘She’s faster than before?’ No, not faster.
She was simply making better use of her strength.
Every strike forced me further backward, and every time I attempted to counter, she changed her attack.
Focused on defending, I failed to notice her style change.
Now she wasn’t hitting with her fists, instead, she was striking with her palms.
And so, the moment I moved one hand to try and get at least one strike on her, I gulped when her hands closed around my forearm.
Then her remaining hand grabbed onto my other forearm.
Looking at her, I watched her give me a cold and confident smile.
“Don’t do me like Nephis… please.” Her expression changed, and she nodded.
“You got it.” Not even a little relieved, I felt my body become weightless, and she spun me around.
Before I knew it, I felt my back being slammed directly onto the floor.
*SLAM!* “GAHH!” The air in my lungs left me as I hit the ground.
With my back now firmly on the floor, I did feel a little relaxed.
‘Ahhh, it’s over.’ While on the floor, I opened my eyes and looked at the ceiling, a little relieved.
From the side, I saw Rock raise his hand.
“Winner, Amy.” He quickly said, and thankfully he helped me to my feet.
‘Haa… I wanna go to bed.’ *** After my respectable loss, Amy made light work of Liam, to no one’s surprise, and thusly she was dubbed by everyone as ‘Muscle Queen.’ Well, Sammy called her that, and then everyone joined in as well.
And so, after my battle was over, I sat beside Sammy, who sneakily healed me, mostly due to his Flaw being unbearable, not because he felt bad for the pain I was in.
The flames he used were… breathtaking.
Instead of being a silver color, they were filled with all colors: yellow, brown, purple, red, green, blue… every color by what I had seen.
And well, the rest of the class went on without anything special happening.
Since I was healed, I was in the condition to fight, so I was able to continue partaking in the extra events in the class.
After those special one-time matches between the six of us, the rest of the class went on, and everyone had their own little matches.
I myself managed to take down almost twenty people, and despite my defeat against Amy, I was satisfied.
Halfway through, the dojo became more crowded, and I decided to excuse myself, which seemed to make Instructor Rock a bit relieved.
Heading out of the dojo and making my way through the halls, I sighed and stopped mid-step.
“Is this… an ambush or?” Looking behind myself, I spotted three other Sleepers clearly following me.
Each of them looked… disgusted?
‘What the Sp… Hell?’ The three of them were still like i was as well.
Moments passed, and after that short period of silence, the one in the middle decided to speak up.
“You were impressive in your fight against Mister Caster.” he said with a clearly forced calm exterior, to which I frowned.
‘Is he mad that I beat his homeboy?’ Nodding to this, I didn’t respond.
However, then the dude shook his head and added on.
“But, someone like you shouldn’t be in this academy.” Blinking slightly, I tilted my head.
‘What?
What a fucking cornball.’ Lampooning a bit to myself, I snorted and prostrated myself a bit more properly.
“And what do you mean by that?” The lackey on his right frowned and stepped forward with a grunt, “Don’t play dumb, everyone knows about your fetish.
You gross pervert.” Even more confused, I felt my posture slacken slightly.
“Uhhh, enlighten me?” Not even sure what to say at this point, I just decided to let them tell me.
He scowled and spat towards me with a venomous voice.
“You were talking to underage people, by what those two were saying, at least.” Fluttering my eyes and feeling a smile grace my lips, I giggled slightly.
“Ahah, who may they be?” The lackey blinked a few times and seemed to rack his head for their names, but I already had a creeping suspicion as to who they were.
“Sammy and Liam, right?
They were the other two guys that fought one on one.” said the one that had been quiet for a while.
“…I see… I see.” Showing an outwardly carefree expression, I made sure to be careful.
‘I’ll skin them alive!’ Barely restraining my anger, I was about to say something, but I was interrupted by the guy in the middle.
“They are the people that seemed closest to you, and in the cafeteria, you did say something along those lines.” ‘…Fuck.’ Laughing awkwardly, I cleared my throat quickly.
‘I’ll murder him!
Count your fucking days Nathaniel Sallow!’ Pondering on how to save myself from a potential three versus one, I didn’t get the opportunity to do so as I heard a familiar voice behind me sound with a strange and almost mystical authority.
“Objection!” The three looked behind me in confusion, and I, in turn, looked back as well.
And there, before me, was a familiar handsome face with beautiful, almost pearly eyes and short bronze hair.
‘Damian?
What… What the fuck is going on!?’ Lost in thought, i heard the middle man ask in a confused tone.
“Who are you?” Damian smirked confidently, and sparks gathered in his hands before forming a strange ball of a wood-like material.
And as he gripped it, the ball changed into a strange, featureless gavel.
“Me?
I’m this guy’s lawyer.” ______________________ Author’s Note: Alrighty, now i hope that it’s clear to everyone what Nathaniel was saying in chap 21, about what Damian was trying to get his help with.
Well it was this, to set him up so he could be Martin’s lawyer.
I’ll manage to squeeze out a chap on Sunday, and by the end of next week the academy arc is over, well the first one, we’ll have a little academy event after the awakening.
Like usual give me your thoughts on the chap and please leave a few comments to motivate me!
Have a good day :).