Duel (2)

"This is how you attack! HAAAAAH!" 

Cleo charged at Shye and swung his halberd diagonally to try and hit Shye's neck. 

He wanted to end the fight as quickly as possible to not only humiliate Shye, but also to give a good boost to his fame.

If everyone learned that he defeated Shye Crowley with a single hit to the neck, he was bound to attract attention.

Unfortunately for him, his delusions didn't come true. On the contrary, due to his excessively wide swing, Shye was able to easily dodge to the side and hit him with a horizontal slash.

Cleo felt that a few rib cages cracked after being struck cleanly by a wooden greatsword.

Although the greatsword he was using was made of wood, it was still very heavy.

"Kuhaahhkk!!"

Cleo couldn't help but spit a bit of blood after being hit cleanly while Shye smirked after landing a clean hit.

He then rested his greatsword on his right shoulder and said "Why are you swinging so wide like an amateur? Come, I'll give you another chance."

[Congratulations! You've earned 40 points!]

Shye couldn't help but smile after earning more points.

"Ohhhh!!! Captain landed the first blow!"

"Captain Crowley! You're so cool!"

Shye's classmates started cheering loudly after seeing that their class captain had the advantage against the 14th-ranked Cleo Pollard. 

Cleo gnashed his teeth in anger after everything that happened. Not only was he humiliated, his body was also damaged pretty badly.

"Shit! Shit! Shit! How could I have been so careless?!" Cleo regretted underestimating Shye. Still, he believes that he still has a chance to turn this around.

This time, Cleo advanced carefully while holding his halberd in front of him.

Shye couldn't help but chuckle after seeing how careful Cleo was. He then assumed his fighting stance while also slowly walking closer to Cleo.

*PAH*

Shye's greatsword clashed against Cleo's halberd. 

"K...Kuhhh…" 

Cleo expected that he would be able to overpower Shye in a straightforward clash of weapons but unfortunately, he was the one getting pushed back.

He still wasn't convinced though so he continued the straightforward clashes against Shye.

*PAH* *PAH* *PAH*

After three more direct clashes, Cleo almost couldn't hold on to his halberd.

"You were hiding your strength earlier?!" Cleo shouted furiously

"Hahahaha! You've figured it out just now? Seeing how arrogant you were earlier, I knew you were easy to trick!" Shye retorted and smiled mockingly.

Instructor Brodley was getting more and more uneasy. At this rate, one of his top students would lose and he would be humiliated by Instructor Fienna.

"Tch! How disappointing, I expected more from you, Cleo." A student from Brodley's class muttered to himself.

After a few more minutes of desperately struggling to keep up with Shye, Cleo finally couldn't hold on to his halberd.

Shye quickly rushed forward to finish off the weaponless Cleo as he swung his heavy wooden greatsword downwards with full strength.

Having no other options, Cleo blocked the attack with his right forearm.

*CRACK*

"ARRRRGHHHH!!"

A nauseating crack was heard throughout the dueling area as Shye's greatsword cleanly struck Cleo's right forearm.

Cleo couldn't help but scream loudly in pain as his right forearm bent inwards in a strange angle.

"Stop!!! Enough! The match is over!" 

Instructor Brodley immediately dashed to try and save Cleo from further damage but unfortunately, he was too far.

Shye slashed his wooden greatsword diagonally with just the right amount of force toward Cleo's neck area.

*PAH* 

*THUD*

His wooden greatsword struck the defenseless Cleo cleanly on the neck and knocked him out cold.

[Congratulations! You've earned 70 points!]

"Captain Crowleeeeeyyyy!!"

"Captain Crowley is mighty!"

Shye's classmates cheered loudly after seeing their captain easily beat the 14th-ranked freshman student, Cleo Pollard.

"Tch! As strong as ever…" 

"Why do you keep getting more and more handsome?"

Even Anthony and Shirley, his classmates ranked in the top 20, couldn't help but comment after seeing his smooth victory.

Instructor Fienna smiled widely after the result was set in stone and slowly walked towards the rushing Brodley.

In contrast, Cleo's classmates were a bit dejected and disappointed. Although Cleo wasn't their captain, he was one of their "ace" fighters.

Seeing him being defeated by the other class' captain so easily made them feel a bit inferior.

"How ruthless! You're still so young but already so ruthless! You need to be taught a lesson!"

Brodley finally arrived and rushed towards Shye. He tried to hurt Shye under the pretense of "teaching him a lesson"

*PAH*

"Oi, Brodley, what the hell are you doing? If you want to hurt my student, you have to ask permission from me first!"

After just a single clash, it was evident which instructor was stronger. Instructor Brodley was pushed back after crossing swords with Instructor Fienna.

Brodley felt humiliated after not only failing to avenge his student but also because he was pushed back by Fienna.

He felt his face burning and he knew that he couldn't stay here any longer or he would lose more face.

He gnashed his teeth in anger as he picked up the unconscious Cleo and walked towards the infirmary.

"Instructor Brodley!"

"Huh?! What do you want?!"

Brodley wasn't in a good mood after such a humiliating experience. He didn't want to stay here any longer so being called like this naturally annoyed him.

He turned his head to look and after seeing that the one who called him was Shye, he was even more pissed off.

"Please give me my 300 silver coins from that guy's pockets…"

Shye respectfully bowed while asking Instructor Brodley for the 300 hundred coins that he won from the bet.

Veins popped on Instructor Brodley's after hearing his request. However, he knew that trying to renege on a bet would have a huge negative effect on a student's reputation.

Although he didn't want to, Brodley had no choice but to rummage through Cleo's sack bag to retrieve 300 silver coins.

"267…268…269…270…"

Unfortunately for him, Cleo's money pouch only had 270 silver coins. Instructor Brodley's hands were shaking due to mixed emotions of intense anger and humiliation.

In the end, he was forced to take the remaining 30 silver coins from his own pockets and handed the money over to Shye.

He then gave Shye a very fierce and furious look before continuing to walk towards the infirmary.

After Brodley was gone, Shye's classmates immediately swarmed him, some of them jumped up and down in excitement, some said congratulatory words to him, and some of his female classmates even took advantage of the situation and hugged him.

Although it was a bit chaotic, it was another happy and glorious day for him.