Chapter 19: A Small Spar [2]

FWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

The starting whistle blew, and a cloud of dust had already formed in the vacant spot from where Liss had just been standing.

Arthur was still standing there, in a basic combat position.

BOOM

Liss had run towards Arthur with explosive speed, trying to quickly end the match I presume.

The pale white knuckles of Liss filled Arthur's vision, moving with incredible speed and power for an 11-year-old.

Liss's face was stone cold, showing no signs of empathy for her victim.

In slow motion, her fists inched closer and closer to Arthur's face, not even preparing to slow down on impact.

FWWSHHH

The blur of Arthur's orange hair became an afterimage, leaving another cloud of dust in his footsteps as he narrowly dodged her hand.

Arthur's dead orange eyes darted towards Liss from the side, not leaving her out of his sight.

'Ohoh~ he's not that bad.'

Arthur began to slip behind Liss, placing his right foot behind her leg and twisted his body to grab Liss ready for a shoulder throw.

For a moment, Liss's face showed signs of confusion, as she was being lifted into the air.

"I really am not in the mood today..." he said coldly.

However, within a millisecond, she regained her composure and leeched onto Arthur's neck without being able to see, keeping her arms in a crossed position underneath her own neck for support.

Liss was currently in a sort of handstand position, pressing down all of her weight onto Arthur's left shoulder.

"AARGH!"

The tides were turned in a matter of seconds.

Liss's snow-coloured hair was also covering Arthur's sight, and so he stood with his knees bent and a low centre of gravity for a few seconds unable to do anything.

Eventually, Arthur's shoulder gave in, and Liss's body shot downwards, still holding his neck.

Arthur was pulled towards Liss as she put more strength in her tug, and he was sent into a roly-poly over Liss as he tumbled onto the floor.

Liss was also sitting on the floor, but she managed to push herself up with her hands, running towards the dizzy boy, wrestling with Arthur trying to keep him in place.

After a short tussle, she managed to put him in an armbar.

"I... surrender..."

FWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

The sound of the finishing whistle blew from the instructor's lips, as he ran to check if the students were okay.

The two didn't have too serious injuries, however, Arthur did have a hurting shoulder, and Liss had slightly hurt herself when she fell onto the floor.

The victory had been rewarded to Liss Everstone, who had far succeeded my expectations, not to mention Arthur's performance as well.

He was much stronger than what I gave him credit for.

He was able to react with incredible speed to an explosive punch and even managed to quickly think of a solution to keep her down. It was only unfortunate he had been matched with a person on the same level, and probably stronger than him in the first place.

I knew that Aunt Mary had specifically asked me to assassinate someone who wouldn't be weak, so it didn't shock me that Liss had some expertise.

However, in the end, there were many things she could have done better, and it would never be too hard to get rid of her.

"Argh dude, if only that stupid hair of hers was not in the way, I could have done something better!"

It seemed that the match against a strong opponent had somehow relieved Arthur's bad mood, even if he had lost. He was now wearing a sincere smile, as we helped him outside of the arena to the locker rooms.

"Don't sweat it, you were just matched against a far stronger opponent, and even if you didn't beat her, you did manage to startle her for a bit!" assured Ren.

"BUT I GOT BEATEN BY A GIRL! GOD KNOWS WHEN I WILL STOP GETTING TEASED ABOUT IT!" Arthur cried.

"Yeah... but that 'girl' is the daughter of the Everstone family, so I think... it would be a bit weird if you had beaten her..." said Damian.

"What is so special about the Everstone family?" I asked.

"You really don't know? They are a family that is practically second to the Steelhearts and the three great families in combat, and Liss is their 3rd daughter. She had 2 older brothers who used to come to the academy, and they are now one of the greatest soldiers on the battlefield who fought with the late hero!" said Arthur.

'Hmm... So they were a rival to the Steelhearts, that must probably be why aunt Mary wants them gone.'

"Oh, also, Liss isn't really known to be the prodigy of the family, but she was known to be diligent and hardworking, which is how she got her strength to the place it is."

"Okay, good to know I guess. Anyway, I am going back to the arena, I still have my match left."

"Alright, we will be waiting here with Arthur, so head back here when you are done, and don't lose." smiled Ren.

With a small nod, I walked back to our bracket arena, and my match was the one after the current one.

I didn't expect to be fighting a person from the three Great Houses, and since these fights were sorted from the overall combat assessment, I could still expect Dray Rubyheart to be nowhere near weak.

"Guys, isn't the next round going to be between two people from the three great families?"

"OHHH, you're right! That is going to be exciting!"

The audience spectating this match was checking the fixtures from their watch, and noticed who the next people to fight would be.

People from other groups had also started to crowd around this match including other instructors, in the hope of seeing us two fighting.

FWEEEEEEEEEH

The current match had just ended, and now it was my turn to walk up to the arena.

On the other side of the arena, I could see my opponent walk in from the crowds as well.

Dray Rubyheart was a boy with silver-coloured hair. His bangs were split from the middle, and he had golden orange eyes with a pale face.

"My name is Dray Rubyheart, and I hope we have a good fight," he said with a smile and bow.

"My name is Ray Steelheart, and I wish the same."

"Alright guys, since this is a match between two of the great houses, I feel that with such a big audience watching, we should make things a bit more fun. I will allow the exception for the use of mana manipulation. Keep in mind, this is not magic."

"To keep things safe, we can use some of the extra professors who are also spectating to help oversee this fight. Is everything okay?"

"Fine by me," Dray said flatly.

"I agree."

"Very well, we will begin." said the instructor.

My face showed no signs of fear or nervousness and remained a dead and boring complexion. Within my inner realm, I started to rotate my mana core, increasing the flow rate of my mana circuit, and feeling a surge of energy throughout my whole body.

FWEEEEEEEEEEEEEH

With the increase of mana flow, my soft blue eyes started to glow violently, as my body became a blur within the wind.