Stop Kicking Me!

Alice stared at Draco, who was currently holding two sharp daggers in his hands. It was not uncommon to use weapons, but people mostly relied on their skills, rather than combat skills, so it was quite an interesting request. Draco's stance, surprisingly, was also not bad.

'Hmmm, Sophia obviously has more experience, but Draco has that skill...' Alice thought for a few moments, understanding that she actually knew little about Draco's skill. For instance, how much mana did Draco's skill require to keep that devil summoned? Or, what happens when that monster dies? Does Draco need to find another demon?

"You can start," Alice stated coldly, announcing the beginning of the battle. However, both opponents didn't move an inch, which was quite unexpected considering Sophia's personality.

"Come on, use your skill, and let's get started. I don't want to knock you out before you show something worthwhile." Sophia said, but frowned when she heard no response. "Hey, bastard, don't ignore me!"

However, Draco still didn't answer, instead lowering his head even further, while his stance seemed to have gotten deeper. Remembering that bastard's, no, his uncle's teachings, Draco calmed down his breathing, while his eyes turned even a darker shade.

"Alright then!" Sophia roared like a beast and rushed forward, jumping into the air. Then, she lifted her leg into the air, putting weight behind it as she aimed toward Draco's head from above.

Finally, when the attack was about to land on his face, Draco lifted his head, making eye contact with Sophia. Then, Draco made a roll to the side, dodging the attack by a hair width. However, Sophia didn't let him breathe and followed with another attack immediately.

Surprisingly, Draco dodged again. Continuously evading Sophia's attacks, Draco found her weak area and ducked. Pushing more strength onto his feet, Draco lowered his body and moved instantly after Sophia raised her leg upwards.

She clearly didn't expect a sudden counterattack, but reacted promptly, producing an attack with her elbow. This time Draco noticed a thin layer of mana coating her skin, but that didn't change a lot, for Draco expected this much.

He raised both his daggers against the incoming attack, fully expecting her to stop her elbow. However, she only smiled and continued with more vigor, causing a frown to appear on Draco's face. When Draco's daggers touched her skin, they suddenly flew away from his hands due to pressure, and Draco got hit in the stomach. A kick to his face was what followed, sending him flying a few feet away.

Fortunately, it wasn't that painful, so Draco stood back up.

"Still not going to do it?" Sophia asked.

"Can't. I have sore muscles." Draco joked, remembering Casper's serious face while saying so.

"Oh yeah?" Sophia's face suddenly started changing. Her face prolonged, while her nose grew a bit longer. The most noticeable shifts were her ears and nails, which became much sharper than Draco would consider beautiful. "I am going to force you then."

After she said so, Sophia appeared before Draco in an instant and kicked him in the chest. Everything happened so fast that Draco didn't even manage to raise his hands in defense. Draco collided with the nearest wall from the impact, but Sophia was once again upon him. She sliced at him with her sharp nails, but Draco managed to dodge this time.

He kicked against the wall and created some distance between them. Unfortunately, Sophia was extremely fast and didn't even let Draco think of what to do next. Even though Draco's experience with mana could be counted as zero, he still decided to give it a try. Asking the gorgeous pond in his mind to share some mana, Draco's hands got covered in a layer of energy.

'You are fast, but it's not like I can't catch you.' Draco grinned internally, seeing Sophia complete an overhead kick toward his head. Moving an inch to the left, Draco felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, but he didn't let that affect him. Instead, Draco grabbed onto her leg with his hand, locking her in place.

"Got you, rabbit." Draco smiled, punching her in the face with his mana-infused hand. The force behind his attack was a bit more serious than he had expected and blood spilled from the corner of her mouth. Yet, Draco wasn't finished. He twisted her leg in the opposite direction, forcing her to trip and fall to the ground.

Draco wanted to continue pressuring her, but Sophia suddenly maneuvered away, doing multiple backflips until landing at a considerable distance away from him. Taking this moment, Draco glanced around, only to see stupefied expressions on everyone, including Alice. She clearly didn't expect him to be a good combatant as well.

No one ever did. No one had gone through training that he had.

"Draco was your name, right? I acknowledge you are strong, especially for someone who just awakened. The fact that you can control mana is also crazy, but I have had enough fun." Sophia's face twisted and her eyes turned wild. She put her hands against the ground, imitating the position of a wolf. "I will fucking rip you apart."

'Alright, I think that's where I draw the line.' Draco saw the killing intent within her eyes, and she was clearly on the verge of losing it. Thus, Draco activated his skill, causing his shadows to extend forward. Sophia's charge was interrupted by the appearance of a huge dark figure in front of her.

She tried to stop her charge, but everything happened too suddenly. Deep shadows covered Minotaur's body, and he took one big step forward while using his other hand to punch the spriting woman. The collision barely lasted a moment, but Sophia got sent flying away like a pebble, as her back hit against the nearest wall with a crunch.

'Did I overdo it?' Draco thought, but seeing Sophia's rising back up with defiance on her expression, Draco sent the minotaur to finish the business. However, when he tried to do so, Minotaur didn't move an inch. No, it couldn't.

Looking down, he saw an unnatural shadow extend from Casper, holding Minotaur in place. Draco then moved his head to the side where he could see Noah standing with his skill activated.

"Don't move," Noah stated coldly, as Draco sighed. For some reason, he knew this was going to happen, for his powers were too unbelievable. Joy was already upon Sophia, healing her at a rapid pace. They were a really good team, everyone knew their roles.

With Draco standing unmoving, the atmosphere in the training ground grew more and more intense, until eventually it was broken by Alice. She started clapping to gather everyone's attention.

"At ease. This is awakener's Draco's skill, so stop this unnecessary bravado." Alice said with a scowl and everyone turned towards Draco, their surprise stemming from the huge monster standing in the middle of the training grounds.

"Alright, I have seen enough from this battle. Draco is going to be the main weapon of this team, while Casper is going to be the leader. Until the dive, we will go through battle formations and useful tactics. I expect you to grow more comfortable with each other during these few days." Alice said, seeing everyone nod. Then, Alice left the training ground, but she glanced one last time at Draco before leaving.

The battle resulted in Sophia's defeat, as expected, but the way it happened was not how the Captain imagined. Draco's battle sense and abilities were much more profound than expected, to the point that it made her curious about her teacher.

Unfortunately, Draco's uncle was dead.

He must have been a great man.