Learning Anew

"Oi, lovely rookie, and the new kid seemed to be going all out"

"Ehhh? Who would risk it? with that monstrous girl"

"I know, but it's been a while since Master Elfin departed, and he hasn't returned."

"Shall we then go?"

Soldiers and agents began to assemble in small groups to witness the battle.

~Kangh~

~kangh~

~kangh~

~kangh~

~kangh~

~kangh~

...

'We've been at it for over fifteen minutes and this bastard isn't even showing signs of fatigue, aside from that, because of my unique skill, I have the attribute pseudo-clairvoyance, which allows me to peek at a person's use of skills before they use it, but this guy, has he just been throwing sword strikes at me, without the use of a skill...or why am I not seeing it?!' She was nearly irritated as she pondered.

Karl was amused that Eloise could read his movement and still find time to respond as he repeatedly struck her with one of the black swords he generated. 'Her reaction is good; if it hadn't been for her reflexes, I would have won ten minutes ago."

[I agree with you, and I assume it stems from her special skill, much like yours] 'Oh, let's take this to the next level and show her who's in charge.'

Karl's sword expanded out to create a spear.

~whooom~

~swooosh~

Karl without wasting any second, with three step footwork, with the last step drifting pivotally towards the side Karl stabs the spear into the ground right between himself and Eloise, then bends the shaft by pushing it in order to create tension, esp energy rushed unto the spear, revealing his darkish red aura on it. At this time, Eloise was about to run backwards, but Karl added three forward steps faster than she could move, and in order to counter before she could move. He drove the spear upward with his left hand, resulting in a powerful and very rapid slash from below.

-WHOOSH!-

The heavy wind gathered and divided.

'hoho, I was about to split her in half, but she managed to evade'

[Did you intend to murder her?]

'Are there no healers around?'

[She would be unhealable if cut in half; I thought you claimed you loved her?]

'But she lived, thus she must be worthy to be called my woman, because the battlefield rewards soldiers equally, man or woman.'

[Karl, how did you father two children and be a husband in your previous life?]

Eloise coughed blood as she grasped her bleeding shoulder; she had entirely weaved but was not uninjured. 'What was it, I saw it, I definitely saw it, but it was so quick that I didn't know where to start dodging or blocking.'

"Hey! Do you want to murder our lovely rookie?" One of the soldiers yelled, prompting the others to respond, and the throng erupted.

Eloise stood tall, holding her blade straight and directing it at Karl. "Unique skill activation; Raven"

~whoosh~

A wall of wind engulfed her, making it impossible to see her. '....is her esp growing?'

[No...she appears to be borrowing esp]

'I'm not sure how she can borrow esp?'

[It depends on her unique abilities and whether they are linked to something much more bigger.]

'Like the black dude I met before I awakened'

[I can't say for sure, but there is a much larger source behind her]

'...so this will be fascinating after all.'

The wind cleared and revealed a new form of Eloise, her forehead was purple, she had purple wings springing out of her back, her fingers were so long and purple scales covered her hands, Karl grinned as he spinned the spear. She gripped the blade fiercely and twisted her grasp on it, and scales began to cover it, turning it entirely black.

She was floating at this point, her wings quietly flapping. She hurled the sword towards Karl with terrifying force.

Karl swerved slightly to the left but was still hit in the shoulder by the sword, throwing him away and out of the ring before smashing the wall. Karl coughed up blood as he yanked the blade from his chest and dropped to his knees.

[ohohoho, ehehehehehehrh, hahahahahaha, ekekekekekeke]

'Exactly what is funny.'

[I don't think you'll win this battle, Karl.]

[Aside from being stronger than you, that lady is an experienced monster]

[If we are to combine her powers with how she fought you without even using her skills, she's superior]

'I didn't use my skills too'

[Uh uh, more like, you don't have any skill to use, this is the bind I've been waiting for]

Karl rose to his feet and began to expel a big amount of esp from his body, his gaze fixed on modified Eloise, who was floating a meter above the ground and smirking at him. "That amount of esp, so he's a S rank too..." "...at least the bastard is useful," Elfin replied with a sneer.

[Karl, are you attempting to unlock my seal on your esp] 'Open it'

[And why should I do so?]

'I wasn't asking Black'

[Look, Karl, I only unlocked it that time because your life depended on it; if you don't develop from the little you have, how can I trust you with a far greater power and be confident you won't become sanctimonious]

[I am your chaperone, your guide... you don't get to tell me what to do, Karl]

[You've become so accustomed to being strong that you've become lazy, unable to even reconstruct what you once built, genius? Enjoys training?]

[Perhaps I exaggerated your ability]

[You've just had one attack and you're already panicking]

[That's twice in one day, Karl, twice!]

Karl's intense stare began to soften. '...He's right... what have I been reduced to... it's quite irritating, is it my pride, I never expected her to be this strong, have I been placing less expectations on people of this world, it was the same with Quincy too, I underestimated her abilities... perhaps I've been too full of myself, as Black said. 'What should I do now, black?'

[Well, at least you appear to be maturing]

[First and foremost, embrace your weakness; she is not an opponent you can undermine, which means you must go full force on her and push yourself to the limit] Karl sighed, calming the massive quantity of energy he was discharging.

'I thought he was going to charge in, it would have been the end for him,' thought Eloise as she raised her hand and the sword flew back into her hand.

"Now that I'm watching Karl battle her, I don't feel so awful about losing," Pascal added.

"I know right, I never thought that Karl will be reduced to this, but that bastard hasn't been fighting at full strength," Rachel stated.

"I don't think so; you just arrived here, how would you know?" Pascal spoke to Rachel as she wiped her hands on her skirt and threw away the bone of the chicken she had just finished eating.

"You think I don't know my training partner's capabilities even after fighting him three hundred times since he's been my training partner for six months and we've had over three hundred dwells? Karl improves with each battle he learns... and believe me when I say he isn't using all of his power, I mean he hasn't even used his sole skill." Rachel explained so seriously that Pascal was almost persuaded in less than a second.

'If what she's saying is true...I'm not sure... I don't want to follow my traditions but... well, let's not rush, let's just enjoy the excitement'

Many others also joined the scene including Akinwale and the squad captains.

"Hoho, I haven't seen that shape in a long time, when was it...her fight with Elfin?"

"You are correct, third squad leader, even though she went all out like this, I remembered wasn't able to defeat him and Elfin was about to go hell mode on her when first squad leader came in."

"ehehe... It was so much fun to see that none of us wanted it to end...but it's a shame she's an esper; if she was a hunter, I'm sure even Elfin really would not be able to beat her."

"...yet, the fact that she is a borrower compensates for it."

"You are correct, fifth squad captain; nothing is known about them, therefore no one knows the extent of her potential when she is borrowing."

"But there's no denying that white-haired youngster had to be good for Eloise to be borrowing."

"I agree with that; for unknown reasons, information on him from the academy was kept hidden, and he doesn't look like anybody I know; his white hair is unusual, and if he was a popular rookie, I'm sure the Bureaucracy would have known."

"Except if the academy is once again keeping something nice from us."

"hmmm...."

There was silence between them.

Karl rose in the air, higher than Eloise, as a plate of darkness formed beneath his legs and floated him back to the ring.

"Skill activation; Darkness," Karl said as he extended his hand.

The ring was immediately enveloped by blackness so dense that no one could see through it; it was absolute darkness on the ring.

"My pseudo-clairvoyance will tell me that I don't even need to see you. before you even begin to attack me"

"Really," Karl smirked, his dark scarlet eyeballs blazed, "Come out, NightKiller."