A Bluff

Nikolai squinted his eyes to protect them from the powerful wind. The Skyward Falcon's speed was unprecedented. He wanted to fly directly toward the Wind Class's monolith, but he knew he wouldn't make it in time.

As he dived through the clouds that covered their monolith, he saw the Water Class making their advancement after they defeated the scouts Julian had left behind.

"Does our contract involve helping me fight?" Nikolai grabbed the Falcon's feathers tighter.

"A single elemental gem is insufficient and I doubt the academy would allow it." The Falcon laughed. "Move your ass, boy. I want to see how you fight too." The Falcon's words made Nikolai sigh.

"What's that?" A student spotted him from the wind class. Nikolai jumped from the Falcon's body as he came closer to the ground.

"I request that you wait here." Nikolai took out his gun after he landed. "For my Class needs some time to make it back here."

"How did you tame that monster?" One of the students shouted as he looked with fear at the Falcon's departing back. The Falcon left the battle and hovered above in the sky.

"Through my strong will. If you take a single step forward, the monster will shred you to pieces!" Nikolai said with a triumphant expression, scaring all of the Wind Class students.

"That's a lie. I won't interfere no matter what happens." The Falcon said, foiling Nikolai's bluff.

"..." Nikolai exchanged glances with the Wind Class. They glared at him after his bluff was called out. "He's simply baiting you into attacking me!" He tried again but the Wind Class's students were already taking out their weapons.

The three oddballs at the back were studying Nikolai with interest. He cursed his luck and aimed his gun at them. Without saying anything, he fired three shots that were instantly in front of the three clansmen.

Wearing similar green bandanas on their foreheads, the three students were similar odd with a unique appearance for each. One of them stepped up, who was as round as a sphere and slapped his belly.

Wind elementals exploded from his body after the slap and created a barrier. The barrier deflected the bullets successfully and Nikolai's attack was rendered useless.

'As tenacious as ever,' Nikolai felt a headache coming. He knew these three quite well from his past life. They were from the same clan that cultivated the Wind elemental mana. 'They complement each other a bit too well and they are equally as strong.'

Another person stepped out of the three and nocked an arrow on her bow. She aimed it at Nikolai and fired the arrow, but it was created from Wind mana. The arrow turned into a whirlwind that threatened to topple Nikolai off his feet.

'Finally.' Nikolai smiled as he closed his eyes. He used a bit of his mana through a technique he learned under 'her' command. It was to fight without seeing, but feeling the elementals in the air.

Nikolai planned on taking it one step further today and using the wind to his advantage. 'Let it rain!'

Nikolai jumped forward with his gun in hand. He fired several shots in succession that were in no way aimed at the students. The target of his missed shots looked at Nikolai as if he was an idiot.

"The bullets are flying all over the place, is he blind?" Asked the fatty with a green bandana. "I think you need to take him out, Veron." He looked to the short youth in the middle. Veron was also one of the clansmen, wearing a similar bandana in addition to green earrings.

"There's something weird," Veron said as he looked at the bullet. "The bullets have yet to strike a single object, the wind is trapping them."

"Kara's wind is that strong." The fat clansmen said with a smirk. "I bet that's the reason this guy lost his aim." Veron nodded but still seemed doubtful. Suddenly, his eyes went round as he reached out to the fatty.

"Duck!"

He warned but it was too late. Fatty screamed in pain as a bullet lodged itself into his back. It appeared out of nowhere like a ghost, but it was by no means the last.

"Cling!"

A clinking sound resounded as Veron's arm trembled after deflecting a bullet that appeared out of nowhere. The bullets kept raining on them from every angle that the wind blew.

"Who is it?!" Kara turned her body to look for the attacker, but there was no one behind them except for the ever-stretching forest.

"It's him!" Veron gritted his teeth as he pointed his sword at Nikolai. "He's using the wind currents you made to direct his bullets. Even though their power decreased, their angle is unpredictable anymore!"

"That is..." Kara turned with shock at Nikolai, who kept firing one magazine after another. The bullets started raining on every student in the Wind Class and chaos and confusion spread. "Is he even human?"

"We need to take him down!"

Veron shouted and green mana coated his sword. He dashed forward and endured the incoming bullets to launch his attack on Nikolai who kept firing.

It was a fact that gunmen were weaker in close-range combat, so Veron's judgment was sound. The only problem is that Nikolai was always one step ahead of them.

Despite his bullets, Veron managed to get close to Nikolai. With all of his years of experience, Nikolai knew that he couldn't match up to this swordsman.

The sword descended like the wind itself, threatening to rip Nikolai into two. At the last second, a dagger appeared in Nikolai's hand and redirected the sword.

Nikolai blocked the attack at an angle, allowing the sword to slide off his dagger and miss. As Veron's body leaned into Nikolai's left side, Nikolai shoved the gun into his face.

Without hesitation, Nikolai fired. The bullet left his pistol's muzzle and went on to strike Veron's forehead, but it stopped. The elemental wind has gathered in front of Veron's forehead to stop the bullet.

"You are good." Veron smiled. "But this is the end." Veron let go of his sword and struck with his open palm. Wind from every direction gathered in his hand to form an unstoppable force that sent Nikolai flying away.

Rolling on the ground, Nikolai coughed the dirt that got into his mouth and tried to stand up. However, it took him several tries to manage to stand up straight. The attack was far more powerful than he had anticipated.

"Step down, it's your loss." Veron picked up his sword. "I don't mind giving you a permanent injury if that's what it takes."

"My loss?" Nikolai smiled as he picked up his gun. "But my plan has yet to be completed." His words made Veron frown. It was at that moment that a high-pitch scream came from the forest.

His first volley of bullets didn't miss as they expected, but Nikolai was aiming at the forest's monsters. He saw that monster from above when he was flying and decided to make use of it.

His bullets worked very little to harm that monster, but they were enough to irritate it. With a high-pitch scream like that of a vengeful ghost, the monster made its debut.