Arc 1: Part 14

Training Center

.

In one of the training rooms, Joshua was wearing his sportswear while sitting on the bench. He looked at the ground with intense focus. However, his focus was broken when the door opened. He looked up and saw Kyle entering the training room with someone he didn't know.

"Kyle!" Joshua waved with a smile. Kyle waved back as he walked toward him.

"Hey, how was it?" Kyle asked while putting down his bag on the bench.

"The challenge will be postponed to two weeks later." Joshua sighed tiredly. "So, what's next?"

"Obviously more training," Kyle replied. "Two weeks will be enough to bring you to the top. I'll be honest, you won't become crazily strong or get a new technique. What we need is to polish your basics."

"So it has come to the basics." Joshua smiled. He was familiar with the saying "basics are important," but many tended to ignore this. "What do I need to do?"

"You will spar with her." Kyle thumbed at Ninia. "Oh, by the way, her name is Ninia Umell."

"Pleasure to meet you," Ninia replied briefly with a slight bow.

"Likewise." Joshua stood up and bowed as well. He then turned to Kyle. "Will the spar help me?"

"I'll be honest again, Joshua, comparing you to Ninia is like a mouse to a cat."

"Wow, that's great," Joshua snorted in annoyance at the description.

"What you need right now is to fix the basics of your fighting style against an opponent who is stronger than you. These basics also involve your mana breathing and mana control," Kyle explained while gesturing to both Joshua and Ninia to follow him to the arena.

"You must notice that when fighting, mana breathing and mana control are becoming harder, right?"

"Yes, are you saying I have to increase my mastery of them?" Joshua was quick to catch on.

"Yes, but it won't be a normal fight. It will be an intense fight," Kyle grinned. "Why don't we go for it now?"

Both Joshua and Ninia faced each other. And like before, during their spar, Ninia would be fighting barehanded. As for Joshua, he was holding two short swords.

{'So Joshua is a dual-swords wielder, a close-range combatant. Can he use a long-range magic spell? Agh, let's just watch,'} Kyle mused. He took a deep breath and shouted. "Fight! Begin!"

The fight started as Ninia rushed in. Her speed was no joke, and it shocked Joshua. He instinctively backed away, but Ninia nonetheless pursued him. Seeing that he couldn't run away from her, Joshua decided to take the first attack. He used the chance of Ninia rushing at him by thrusting his sword at her. Unfortunately, she dodged it and suddenly grabbed his sword.

Joshua was undoubtedly shocked, but he soon realized why Ninia could easily hold his sword. Her hand was coated with magic, and despite him already having coated his sword with magic as well, it was a weaker coating when compared to hers.

{'So she is using magic. I suppose she doesn't want anyone outside the class to know about her ki.'} Kyle smiled.

Ninia pulled the sword in, thinking of trying to pull Joshua, but her opponent was quick to act. He let his sword go and swung his other sword without hesitation. Ninia avoided it by ducking down and then proceeded to sweep his feet, but Joshua swiftly jumped away.

With the distance being made between them, it created a room for Joshua to breathe. However, he knew it was only for a moment, before he would have to fight intensely again.

{'Joshua has fast reflexes and a quick mind. For someone who has never fought Ninia before, he is able to escape her. Although Ninia is still not being serious yet, neither is Joshua.'} Kyle thought after he observed their first clash.

{'The fight is not intense enough to put holes into Joshua's mana breathing and mana control.'} Kyle made eye contact with Ninia and gave her a nod. She shifted her attention from him to Joshua, before she suddenly became a blur as she rushed toward Joshua.

For the first time, Joshua got hit right in the face. If it weren't for the magic coating his body, he would have had his nose broken. But despite that, Joshua was thrown down to the ground. He lay on it for a moment while thinking of what had happened.

{'Damn,'} he mumbled before getting up. He readied himself and saw Ninia blurred again. His sword moved and thrust forward, and at the place where the sword hit, a blur appeared. Joshua's eyes moved to the right, and he pulled his sword to make another slash, which caused another blur to appear.

{'Using his magic to increase his speed and sight, that's impressive, but it won't last long.'} Indeed, it went just like what Kyle thought. Joshua didn't last long. His body grew weaker, and his breathing became ragged. There was a limit to boosting one's body with magic and it also caused quick exhaustion. To overcome this, people usually trained their body; so they could increase their limits and stamina.

Despite that, though, Joshua did well in reacting against Ninia and not being hit for ten seconds.

"Alright, that's enough!" Kyle called, and Ninia and Joshua immediately stopped moving. The former stood calmly while the latter fell down to the floor with exhaustion.

"Damn ... how did you move that fast?" Joshua wheezed while asking Ninia

"Training," Ninia answered curtly.

"What she said is true, but there is more than that." Kyle clapped his hands while saying this, but he didn't elaborate further on what he meant.

"Josh, you are good. Only a few people can react against Ninia like that. You were also able to notice quickly what she was going to do during a fight. Quick reflexes, perceptiveness, and decisiveness are good traits for a fighter. Unfortunately, you lack the strength to use it well against Ninia." Hearing this, Joshua sighed.

"Fortunately!" Kyle clapped his hands again. "Your opponent is not Ninia!"

"Huh?"

"Your opponent is someone from Class Seven! None of them knows whether they are stronger or weaker than you! But forget that; there is no use thinking about what you don't know! What matters most is to survive against Ninia and do what I told you before."

"Better mana breathing and mana control during a fight," Joshua repeated what he remembered. "But how long do I have to survive against her?"

Kyle raised one finger.

"One minute?" Joshua inquired with a hopeful look. He hoped it was ten seconds, but he knew it was the wrong answer, so he thought it would be one minute.

"No, ten minutes," Kyle grinned devilishly.

"No way! You saw what happened! It took all my focus and control just to desperately stop her from approaching me!" Joshua vehemently rejected what he had been told.

"Nah, don't worry." Kyle shook his right hand left and right while his left hand was on his hip. "Ninia won't be moving that fast. She will move at least 30% slower than that."

"30%...! How fast will you be?" Joshua asked Ninia. She responded to him through action. She moved to the edge of the arena really fast, but Joshua could still see her figure.

"I can see her. I can probably last more than thirty seconds. I think I might be able to push it up to forty," Joshua mumbled loudly.

"Great! Now you only have 560 seconds left to fill!"

"Ugh ... it means I have to increase my time each day by 45 or 46 seconds," Joshua groaned. He wasn't sure if he could improve that fast. Five seconds increase in a day would be something achievable, but more than forty? That would be a torture.

"Don't worry too much. Once you have cut down on unnecessary movements and achieved better mana breathing and mana control, your survival time will increase a lot," Kyle added. "Now, shall we begin again?" His eyes twinkled.

"Ugh," Joshua groaned once more.

-----------------------

Author: Aida Hanabi

Proofreader(s): Teppo & Lola

-----------------------

Join my discord server

https://discord.gg/haPjuxc8XS

.

Support me on ko-fi

https://ko-fi.com/aida_hanabi