Unorthodox Weapon

I pushed her weapon aside as she took back her stance, moving slower like she was hunting prey. However, our roles had changed once I have now a weapon I can use better than a simple sword.

Moving forward I was met with a hail of spells as Lady Lissandra shot a huge fireball towards me.

Dodging would be a good idea, however…

Strengthening the weapon I struck forward in a single motion destroying the spell as I split it in half. The fireball dissipated as I moved forward, scythe drawn and my feet nimble. I looked like Nocturne when we fought in my sea of consciousness, I looked like a grim reaper.

With a single stride, I closed the distance as I struck at her.

She tried to block the attack, however, to block the curved blade of a scythe with a sword is an amateurish move, Nocturne taught me that the hard way. the scythe managed to slip behind the sword and strike at Lady Lissandra's shoulder with complete ease.

Her hand wielding sword shuddered from the impact as a gash was now apparent on her shoulder.

"That is cheating!" said someone from the side, "That is by no mean a swordsman's weapon!" he added. He was trying to defend the princess and score some points from her.

I could only scoff at him. There is no such thing as cheating in war.

"Silence! Continue the match" said the woman who was supervising the match.

Lady Lissandra now switched her stance. Her right hand no longer able to hold her sword. She was now using her left.

Her body tensed up for a moment before the blood that was flowing from her shoulder stopped.

'That's neat, I should learn that.'

Nocture casually replied, "I'll show you later, focus on the fight.'

She began now moving more cautiously, defending rather than attacking and probing my defenses with spells cast from range.

I could easily dodge them right now, as the more spells she uses the more exhausted she became.

However, so am I, the longer this match lasts the more fatigued I'll accumulate. After all, I am much weaker physically than her. She must have trained in the sword since she was young while I only began three months ago.

Dragging this match longer will result in my loss of advantage, an advantage I gained by using an unexpected weapon.

If she manages to understand the trick behind it I might lose. So I must end this as soon as possible.

"Saint slayer" she spoke and used a vertical slash.

The sword let out a blinding light as a wave of energy shot forward, much faster than I anticipated.

Barely dodging as I slid beneath it I saw her lunging forward with her arm fully extended, the sword pointing at my chest.

A fast piercing attack is a good way to penetrate the range of the scythe, However, I was taught the hard way how to not do this blindly.

The scythe's shaft can also be used to defend and attack, I rotated the scythe and managed to knock the sword away with ease.

I then used the blunt end of the scythe to strick at her exposed chest, sending her reeling back.

This time without waiting for her to retaliate or find her stance, I went on the offensive.

Using the butt of the wooden shaft again I struck at her hand forcing her weapon away from her arm and in one single motion, i moved the scythe's edge and placed it on her neck.

Quick, fast, efficient.

"Concede defeat," I said as she was now laying on her back, weaponless and unable to do anything.

The lady gritted her teeth, however, she didn't try anything foolish.

"This match is my loss," she said.

I moved the weapon's edge from her neck, a smile plastered on my face.

The crowd turned to an uproar as most of them didn't believe the outcome.

I gave the Lady my hand trying to help her up, but she didn't bother as she stood on her own.

She moved away from the arena without uttering a word.

"Today's winner is Mr. Basara of the House Ling. Following the rules Basara is now eligible to access the S class." Said the overseer of the match.

"In accordance, Lady Lissandra is now demoted to class F" she then added.

With that final statement, I understood while looking at the crowd that I made many enemies.

Many had a foul look on their faces, and many were outright hostile. Screaming insults at me. A servant demoting the royal princess to the lowest class, that was worth some infamy points.

However, this was not something that I had control over. She came looking for trouble and she had what was coming to her.

"Give me your card Mr. Basara," said the woman directing the match.

Once given to her she placed hers on it and gave it back to me.

The card still showed a double negative but the bottom of the card showed something different.

7500 points.

"As an S class student, you are now entitled to these points. Your class, however, will remain a double negative due to the orb of testing's influence. Apparently, there was a mistake in calculating your potential and the card showed this absurd result. You can go back to the same hall you took your testing the first time to have it checked once again." She said then she brought a black coin from her pocket. "This is now yours, you may force a challenge or evade one using it. However..." she said as she looked around "I guess you will be needing more than just one coin…" she said in a smile.

Well, it is true, I guess that once the S class students understand that I have now joined their ranks, and I am sure that many will come asking for a challenge. I may be able to refuse one, but not everyone.

However losing to an S class person is not a big deal, I will still retain my class, unless.

"Can the black coin be given to anyone?" I asked

"Yes, that coin is given to S class students, but can be given to anyone." Said the lady.

Sigh, now, this is troublesome if they were given to a powerful servant they can challenge me to a duel and I might end up forced to fight.

"However, now that you have participated in a challenge you are absolved from forced challenges for one week. Unless you accept the challenge of course," She said as she walked away.

I remained standing on the platform while many of the watchers left.

The first to approach me was Viktor.

"Hey! I never thought that you would be able to defeat the princess here, but man that was a good way to use an unorthodox weapon. Never had I thought that I would see someone wielding a scythe in my life as an actual combat weapon," he said in a laugh.

"Oh indeed," I said "It is a bit unfair that many don't understand how to fight against it due to how rare it is to see it in actual combat. But still this doesn't mean that it was easy to learn how to use it," I said as I removed both rings from the weapon then placed them back on my arms.

"How are you even able to move using those, by the way?" he said

"What do you mean? The limiters?" I said

"Yes, those rings, they are used to force slaves and convicts from using their full strength. Those are tools of torture, but they are also sometimes used as a form of body tempering, however, five? You must love suffering." He said

"Well, this was my master's desire, he said it will help me build a better base of my body. But it just needs time to get used to. Nothing much," I said

"Huh… you are a strange one, Mr. Basara. And by the way, my lady asked me to bring your house, she is hosting a banquet tonight and is willing to have your house as guests, would you please tell lady Akari of this?" he said

"Well of course," I said as I gave him back the scythe, "This is school property, I think it should go back to where it belongs."

"Thank you, I will make sure to put it back where it was," he said as he grabbed the scythe and scurried away.

What a serviceable fella.

"Basara, That was, how can I say, unorthodox, but impressive," the old man who was guarding the forest that day said.

"Oh it's you old man," I replied.

"It appears that Shen was not boasting about you, no seeing this with my eyes I guess he didn't even say half the truth. You, my child, are far stronger than I expected. You are indeed of use" said the old man.

"What do you mean?" I said

"You are able to locate various treasures within the forest, able to cast magic using a quick cast, and even dual cast. And your assimilation level has already reached the fourth within but a mere three months."

"Oh, so you managed to sense my level? I didn't even tell master Shen" I said

"That is of no concern right now. What I want to say is. Looking at your progress I believe that you are worthy of knowing this" he said

"This school teaches people, also it gives them the chance to become one of the most elite of forces, the Enforces. Every three years, ten get chosen to become an enforcer, these ten are always preselected. Most of them are the sons and daughters of powerful houses and some lucky ones that proved themselves. However, you Mr. Basara as a servant of an unknown origin, though you are affiliated to the House Ling, you will never be chosen as one of them" He said

in his words, I felt that my heart sank

"Unless," he said you buy your way in" he added with a smile

"How do you do that? I don't believe I have enough money to do so"

"There is a ticket that enables you to be one of these enforces. It is the most expensive item in the school glossary, if you get your hand on enough points to get it, you will undoubtedly become an enforcer. Even if ten seats are taken. You shall be given the eleventh seat. No one in their right mind will ever think of not giving you that seat once you acquire that ticket…" he said as he walked away.

A ticket? And a guaranteed spot… I should probably check it out.