Mark

The air turned heavy - everybody could feel it.

Everyone stopped fighting as they glanced toward the white youth standing before three students. His emotionless gaze and dangerous aura rushing from his body made them unconsciously take a step back. It was the feeling these students coming from prestigious families didn't feel often.

Fear.

The only ones who weren't affected that much were, of course, the four monsters and the student fighting with Xander. However, even they could feel the change in the atmosphere.

Then, Draco started taking slow steps forward, yet the three students who were so eagerly rushing at him halted their steps. They were the ones affected the most by his skill as they stared at him like he was some sort of a monster.

"Y-you...what the hell are you?" One of the three raised his weapon, his hand trembling.

Draco ignored them, coldly looking at them. He was of the same height, but it felt like he was towering over them. Draco clutched his weapon, surging mana into it and attacking immediately. They were in a state of shock and even though they tried to defend themselves, Draco was still stronger than them.

By hitting all of them in the back of their heads with the tip of the sword, he made them lose consciousness. Then Draco deactivated [General's Ambiance], letting everyone finally take their eyes away from him. Since it was a [D] ranked skill, it consumed quite a bit of mana.

Though, he couldn't lie that he wasn't satisfied. It could work very well for throwing off the enemies and striking the finishing blow.

'That should have impressed Angelica, but I have to be certain that I got into the top five.' Draco thought, looking over the battlefield. There were nine students remaining, and most of them were [G+]. That wasn't bad at all, but they were just like heaven and earth compared to those four monsters.

Currently, five of the students whose names Draco didn't even bother remembering were fighting against each other. Sarah was fighting with the twins, their battle a stalemate. And Xander was fighting off against that...what was his name again? Mark? Yeah, that had to be it.

'To ensure my qualification, I have to defeat him.' Draco thought, cracking his neck slightly. In his past life, Mark was the fifth one who qualified for the tournament, hence he was the prime target Draco needed to care of.

He exploded from the spot like a bullet, speeding towards Xander and Mark. Xander felt him approaching as he slightly tilted his shield to the side in case Draco tried to attack him. However, he never felt any attacks incoming and instead saw Draco rushing at Mark.

"I am sorry, but he is mine." Draco winked at Xander, who furrowed his brows in response. "I have some personal issues with him."

"Tch...whatever." Xander glanced one last time at Draco before walking towards the five students who were fighting in between themselves. Even though the earlier battle with Mark looked rather intense, it was actually extremely boring for Xander. Thus, he didn't have that much stimulus to bicker over whom to fight.

"Thanks." Draco waved at him with a smile before focusing his attention on Mark, his target. He had a huge frown on his face, seeing Xander leaving like that as he directed all of his anger towards the one who interrupted their battle.

"What personal issues? We haven't even talked once." Mark raised his sword, his frown deepening. "Actually, maybe this is a good thing. Fighting against a tanker like Xander didn't bring too much pleasure."

"Whatever, man." Draco raised his sword as well, his eyes turning emotionless as he concentrated on the battle. Despite how weak he looked, Mark was actually a [F-] rank and practiced a three-star manual. "Let's get this over with."

Hearing Draco's casual response, Mark rushed forth immediately. He stabbed toward Draco's solar plexus, but he easily avoided it by sidestepping. Draco was about to attack back when he saw another sword suddenly appear out of thin air as it propelled towards his thigh.

Caught by surprise, Draco didn't have enough time to dodge or defend the attack, hence the sword hit against his leg, causing him to frown. However, he ignored the pain and concentrated on the enemy as he saw him attacking once again. Instead of dodging, Draco parried the sword this time, and his eyes widened slightly. Draco's wooden sword passed by as if there was no attack incoming in the first place.

'Shit.' Draco saw Mark's figure somehow shifting as two hands extended from his figure instead of one. He couldn't divert his body in time, thus receiving yet another attack on his stomach.

Their battle ensued for half a minute before Draco took a few steps back, blood spilling from his mouth. Despite being on the losing end, Draco didn't care that much since he was evaluating his enemy's abilities. And now, he has finally found a weakness in his martial technique.

From what he deduced, Mark could create an illusion that made it seem like he was attacking with two swords, while only one of the attacks was actually real. He could test his luck and try to guess which one was real, but there was no need for that.

"And here I thought you could entertain me. Honestly, even fighting against Xander now seems to have been more interesting." Mark sighed, his frown deepening as he was clearly looking down at Draco. "Surrender. I don't want to spend any more time beating you up."

Draco glanced at Mark, a smile forming on his face. "You are a funny kid."

"What?!" Mark scowled, not expecting to suddenly be insulted.

"I said that you are funny." Draco tightened the grip over his sword. Mark's martial technique had one major flaw. He couldn't create an illusion when he was defending or else he would be simply hit. Thus, Draco came up with a plan. Never let Mark attack in the first place. "Berserker."

A red aura enveloped Draco's body as he exploded from the spot, catching Mark completely off guard. Then Draco made a swing for his neck and Mark parried the sword, but he slid away a few meters. Draco's attack turned much heavier, his stats altered by the skill.

Before Mark could make another move, Draco propelled another attack, giving him no room to breathe. For the next ten seconds, he never stopped his brigade of attacks, and Mark's moves turned slugger and slugger each second.

"W-what the hell?" Mark muttered under his breath, not expecting his opponent to suddenly turn so agitated. His arm ached from pain already as Draco's blows turned heavier and heavier. Stuck in his thoughts, Mark unintentionally misstepped, causing a wide smile to appear on Draco's face.

He had been waiting for this moment.

"General's Ambiance."

Immediately, a pressure deserving of a general escaped from his body and Mark's eyes shook for a second. The grasp over his sword lessened and Draco promptly made his move, swinging at the opponent's wrist.

Clink!

Mark stared in horror as his wooden sword hit the floor. He was about to say something when he felt a stinging pain in his neck. Feeling his body growing heavy, Mark started to lose consciousness. However, before falling, he took one last glance at Draco's emotionless eyes, staring at him from above.

He engraved them into his mind.