A New Turn [8]

"... YOU FUCKER!"

Wyll's face was twisted with anger after I had manage to get the first hit thanks to my new skill 'Mana Shell' which had allowed me to block his sword.

It was a simple skill, yet I had no qualms with its effectiveness now that I had gotten to try it in a real fight.

Although my forearm felt a bit numb after the impact, I had been able to defend without sustaining any injuries.

The only problem was the fact that I couldn't keep it activated for long. So far, in training, a couple of seconds had been my limit before the layer of mana disappeared and although I could reactivate the skill over and over, it drained too much mana for it to be a viable strategy.

For most people, it would likely feel scary to have to time a skill like this as mistiming it would lead to potentially losing an arm, but for me, with everything moving slowly, I had no issues with it. Because to me, it was also an offensive tool as it would increase the power of my punches.

The issue was that now I knew that without this skill, I also wasn't going to be able to do meaningful damage to Wyll, as the physical specs between our bodies were just too different right now. Not that I could be sure that Mana Shell would be the difference maker either.

'But I have no choice but to try it.'

Raising my fists, I readied myself for another round of fighting. Unfortunately, my enemy had more tricks up his sleeve.

Raising his sword above his head, it suddenly started shining as Wyll poured his mana into it.

Confused as to what he was doing, as I was much too far away for his blade to hit me, I increased my concentration to the max, allowing the world to slow down to a crawl.

"Take this, fucker!"

Swinging his sword down, I still couldn't comprehend what he was doing...

'Yeah, it's still not going to... shit!'

...until I noticed that even though he had finished his swing, the arc of mana hadn't stopped at all.

With fearsome speed, the shining projectile was coming straight toward me, who had been caught completely off-guard.

'Fuck! Mana Shell!'

Using my arms as a shield, I activated my skill again, covering both if them in a purple layer of defense.

*Boom!*

"Gah!

An unbelievably powerful impact struck me head-on, and although I could tell that my mama had somewhat protected me, I was still blown backward several meters before landing on my back.

'What the fuck was that...'

My whole body felt like I had been hit by a brick wall, and although I had protected myself to the point where I hadn't sustained any injuries, my head was still spinning.

"Hahaha! Is that all you got?! You're too fucking weak!"

As I forced myself back on my feet, trying to understand just what had happened to me, a loud voice of contempt rang out.

'Tch! What a brat...but he isn't wrong...'

I knew that I might have overestimated my skill a bit when I chose to defend against the attack rather than use Flicker Step to dodge it, but I still wanted to know its limits. That is what a spar is for, after all.

'But this is not just a spar, is it?'

With all the other students spectating, I already knew that Wyll wasn't seeing this as a spar, he was using this as an opportunity for something. But now, I was also beginning to view it as something more than a spar.

'Let's go all out then...'

Raising his sword over his head, repeating the same movement as before, I was now fairly certain what he was about to do.

"Anyway, this is the end!"

Shining mana enveloped his sword as he prepared himself to end the spar, and in the corner of my eye, I could see that Mr. Peut was also making himself ready to intervene.

"It's over!"

His sword swung downward, launching the congregated mana forward to slice my body in half.

Yet, I only smiled as I slid my right foot back a bit and used it as a pivot to rotate my body, resulting in the arc of death passing by, inches away from my face. Unfortunately, this did mean that the attack kept on going, and as we were surrounded by other students...

"-Shit!"

"-Watch out!"

*BOM!*

Although I was curious about what had happened with the students behind me, I wasn't about to let my enemy out of my sight as I now dashed forward.

"...shit! Come at me!"

Readying his sword, Wyll got ready to face my charge head-on with his trusted weapon, as he wouldn't have time to prepare another use of the ranged skill.

As I got into his range, Wyll instantly lashed out, throwing a horizontal slash which forced me to take a step back. 

'Huh...?'

Having already prepared myself for the follow-up attack that Wyll would inevitably throw out as I had shown an opening, I was surprised to see that he instead chose to stand still, only pointing his sword at me from a distance. 

"Come at be, bastard!"

Finally understanding what he was up to, I felt my pulse increase a bit. He wasn't going to be the aggressor, instead utilizing his range to wall me out until he found a much better opening.

And that pissed me off a bit. Because, right now, I was the challenger and he was the champion.

'But a champion isn't supposed to hide in the corner like a rat!'

Feeling my head grow cold, I lowered my fists and took a step forward.

"What are you doing?!"

I had really tried not to use it, but this kind of behavior was unacceptable to me. So, therefore, I wasn't going to hold back anymore.

*Step*

Taking another step, I was now within his range, and it didn't take more than a moment for him to make a horizontal slash again, as it was the most effective tool to keep me at bay.

This time, however, I didn't step back, something that Wyll quickly noticed, and as he did, his sword began to shine.

"Got you!"

Wyll remembered how I had blocked his sword the first time with my Mana Shell and assumed that I was going to do the same thing now.

Therefore, he found a solution of simply making his attack stronger than my defense by injecting it with massive amounts of mana.

Which would have been a good plan. If not for the fact that I had another plan in mind.

As the glowing sword of death raged toward me, I simply began to take a larger stride as I circulated my mana and my world went dark for a fraction of a split second.

*Bzzt!*

*TANG!*

****

[Cerus' POV]

'Wyll is fighting well...'

"Hey, Cerus! Doesn't it look like Ray is in trouble? He seems to be hesitating."

"Maybe."

It made sense that Jacob thought that this was the case. 

The fact that Wyll was keeping his temper in check and stood his ground instead of charging in was commendable, as it would be difficult for Ray to get him within his reach. A sword held by an arm was longer than just an arm, after all.

However, as Ray dropped his arms to the side I could see a change in his eyes. His already black eyes got even darker as he realized what Wyll was doing. And he didn't look particularly amused. In fact, so far I had never seen Ray make such a face. It was a face of nothing, yet there was no mistaking the fury inside of him. 

"What are you doing?!"

'It's time...'

As Ray began to slowly walk forward, I knew that I needed to raise my concentration to its absolute limit, as I knew that I was about to get to see the absurd skill that he had used against Celine once again. 

"Got you!"

"That idiot! Dodge it!"

Wyll's sword began to glow as he pulled off what could only be called a very advanced utilization of weapon imbuement, managing to empower his blade with mana mid-swing. Most of the spectators must've assumed that this would be the end of the fight, Celine included as she shouted harsh words of worry. 

I didn't carry the same assumption.

'Here it comes!'

The shining sword surged forward, creating an arc of mana in the air behind it as Wyll completed a deadly swing, more than enough to obliterate his opponent. But... Ray just disappeared. No, he disappeared and appeared behind Wyll at the same time. 

*TANG!*

A moment of extreme confusion arose in the sports hall as Wyll's attack was blocked by Mr. Peut who had stepped in to save the man who he was sure would lose his head. A man whose arms were now covered by a purple layer of mana. 

"Fuck...!"

*Bam!*

As Wyll turned around, his head flew upwards due to the force of the punch coming from below, and unlike last time, this punch had more than enough force to create a solid opening for Ray. 

*BAM! BAM! BAM!*

A relentless barrage of punches rained down onto Wyll's face, sending it flying left and right, over and over. 

"Gah!"

Blood spewed out of his mouth as he wasn't able to retaliate at all, not because the punches were fast, but because the punches were linked together fluidly enough to not give him a single opening. 

And then... Ray still didn't let up. 

*Bam! Bam! Bam!*

Punches from all angles were mixed together in a whirlwind of violence, but as none of them appeared to be lethal, Mr. Peut didn't stop him. Even more so as the purple layer of mana had already disappeared quite some time ago, but it didn't even seem to matter. It was already too late for Wyll to recover. 

Or maybe it was because Mr. Peut was also still too confused about what had just happened to act.

*Bam! Bam! Bam!*

'This... this isn't right...'

"W-what... what is that idiot doing? Cerus... why isn't Ray stopping?"

Celine sounded deeply terrified as she grabbed the hem of my shirt, but as I didn't want to look away, I had no idea what her face was like. Because I was too busy spectating a massacre.

*Bam! Bam! Bam!*

Even as his legs had given up, Wyll's body was pushed back up by upwards-angled punches, not allowing him to fall before Ray felt content whose fists were now colored red with his enemy's blood. 

*Bam! Bam! Bam!!*

"S-stop! Stop! The duel is over!"

*Thud!*

Finally, Mr. Peut got to his senses and realized what was happening, prompting him to step in and push Ray back, allowing Wyll's unconscious body to fall to the floor like a puppet without strings.