Why Am I Partnered With Leo?!

Weapons training class was located in an empty room about a four minutes walk from the main classroom. Inside, there were white outlines on the ground. At the center of each outline was a large number from one to fifteen. Each area was about forty square meters.

As the rest of the class arrived after changing into their gym clothes, I began praying.

"Please don't assign me to spar with Leo or Gauss…"

During the first weapons training class, Leo and Gauss had been paired together. This was their first official meeting and Leo was excited to meet the number one student.

The spar intensified as they were evenly matched. Eventually, both boys used skills and techniques despite Mr. Kvasir saying they were not allowed.

Since the safety procedures were meant for freshmen, they were not as advanced. They did not expect that any freshmen would have the destructive power to overcome the safety magic barriers.

Both boys were unexpected phenomena.

After the fight, both boys had been hospitalized.

Obviously, I did not want to fight them.

Please, please, please…

At the front of the classroom, Mr. Kvasir stood and tapped on his watch. "You all have been randomly assigned a number-- please go to the corresponding sparring area."

I checked my watch. 

[12]

…

I stood at the twelfth sparring area with a white-haired boy.

How do I have such terrible luck? I silently asked no one in particular.

Leo had originally been paired with Gauss, but due to the butterfly effect caused by my existence, I had ended up partnered with the protagonist's rival.

"Hello," I said in an attempt to be polite.

Leo only nodded in response, momentarily acknowledging my presence before returning to examining the room-- no, he was looking directly at Gauss.

Perhaps that was for the best. I needed to come up with a method to not get completely obliterated by the second ranked freshman before--

"You are going to be sparring with the partner that has been assigned to the same sparring area. I will be gauging the class' approximate skill level." 

"You are only allowed to use basic mana enhancement and your weapons. Magical barriers will intervene should one of you surrender or should dangerous levels of force be applied."

"Begin."

There goes that plan.

I unsheathed my sword and raised it into guard position.

Thankfully this was only a training match. Leo wouldn't use his hidden card or his White Lightning Technique, meaning that instead of completely demolishing me, he would only be defeating me violently.

However, that didn't make things much easier.

Leo languidly took hold of the handle of his longsword. His body began steaming with heat as blue lines began covering his arms.

Mana enhancement, the most common method of utilizing mana in combat, involves circulating mana through the body. Fighters were categorized in terms of skill of mana manipulation-- 1st circle enhancers could strengthen one part of their body, 2nd circle enhancers could strengthen two parts of their body, et cetera.

I was only a 2nd circle enhancer and I always used my mana enhancement on my eyes. 

During my training against the hardest simulation, I learned that I was significantly worse than the main characters. While they could easily see their enemies' movements, I struggled against Lucia and magical simulations.

For them, channeling mana into their eyes would be useless since their natural reaction speed was adequate. Enhancing their eyes would not make a significant difference.

For me, this was necessary.

As blue lines appeared around my eyes, I barely saw Leo's sword slicing towards my neck.

I don't have time to dodge!

My sword managed to barely raise into a side guard, but the force from Leo's mana enhanced strike caused me to skid sideways several steps. My hands trembled slightly.

"Not bad," Leo smirked. "You blocked one of my attacks."

I'm honestly surprised too, considering that he's in the 3rd circle.

Normal people would probably ask why Leo was only enhancing his two arms when he could enhance three parts of his body. However, when someone focused more of their attention to smaller areas, they would exert greater effects.

Thus, Leo concentrated his strength into only his arms rather than both his arms and one leg.

I wordlessly gripped my longsword tighter. I didn't make an attack-- I knew that Leo would capitalize on any openings that I made.

Leo simply chuckled at my silence before dashing at me again, his legs suddenly covered with blue lines. My eyes could barely track his movements.

From above!

I raised my sword and managed to solidly block the blow. Sparks scattered upon impact and the force traveled through my spine.

It hurts, but not nearly as much as the first strike…

Leo had switched from enhancing his arms to enhancing his legs. He quickly retrieved his blade and with quick movements, circled around into my blind spot.

"Crap…!" The curse slipped from my mouth as I realized that he was much faster than me.

Without another thought, I recklessly leapt forwards and rolled on my side. Cold air brushed against my back-- he had sliced the back of my gym shirt open.

"You're good at running," Leo arrogantly observed. "That must be how you made it into Class A."

I didn't respond to his bait as I rolled to my feet.

How can I win… no, how can I end this without getting too hurt?

My mind began turning as Leo dashed at me again, his fierce black eyes locked onto me.

I came up with an idea.

As Leo approached in an instant, I threw my shredded gym shirt into his line of sight.

"Petty tricks," he scoffed, before slashing through the cloth.

Then, his eyes widened as he deflected my longsword. 

I had thrown my blade at him.

He laughed as he slammed his sword against mine and sent my weapon spinning away.

"Are you stupid? What are you going to do without a weapon, you ignorant-- oof!"

While he had been distracted with my sword, I had charged at him and rammed my shoulder into his stomach. Hooking my hands behind his knees, I pulled his unstable legs and threw him onto his back.

My knee dropped onto his forearm, blocking him from stabbing me with his sword. 

Elbows, fists, knees, forehead… I used everything that I had to relentlessly bash Leo.

However, this wasn't one-sided. Leo fought back wildly like an animal, throwing his own punches and kicks. His mana enhancement meant that his blows hurt much more than mine.

The spar quickly devolved into an uncough brawl as we wrestled on the ground.

"Stop!"

We both froze as we looked up at the scarred man standing over us.

The other students had stopped fighting and were staring at us.