"Damn it! I'm getting that bell!" Cinister declared as he struggled back to his feet, his determination unwavering.
Cinister quickly lunged at Kaecha again, but before he could reach her, Luck stepped in between them.
Cinister prepared to throw a jab at Luck, who instinctively raised his guard.
"Perfect!" Cinister said aloud.
He feinted the punch and kicked Luck into Kaecha, sending them both crashing into a wall.
"A feint?" Luck said in surprise.
"Ow~" Kaecha grunted as she kicked Luck toward the mage.
"Dammit!" Luck exclaimed as he hurtled toward Cinister at incredible speed.
Luck readied his sword and swung at Cinister but she just dodged with a single step
"Come on! Try to beat me!" Luck challenged him.
"You're out," Cinister said as he raised his left hand, holding up a bell with his knuckles.
BLING!
The bell fell from his hand.
"When did you?" Luck stared in disbelief as he realized the bells were no longer attached to his uniform.
"So, it's time to take yours now," Cinister said as he turned toward Kaecha.
However, the only thing he saw was her left palm resting on top of his head.
BOOM!
Kaecha slammed Cinister's head into the ground, creating a small crater and knocking him unconscious.
"Your training is over for now, so get some rest. In five hours, a new challenge will await you~~" Kaecha announced. "The Scaler."
Meanwhile, in the cafeteria, Ragna, Choi, and Scrappy sat together, eating chocolate pudding.
"Damn, I haven't talked to you guys in ages," Ragna said, licking his spoon clean.
"I mean, classes have been kicking my ass lately," Choi replied.
"Yeah. Nexus 101, Combat 101, and whatever other 101 classes I haven't mentioned," Scrappy sighed in disappointment as he played with his empty pudding cup.
"By the way, where is Cinister?" Choi remarked "I haven't seen him in a while"
"Yeah I haven't seen him and you losers in a while" a familiar voice was heard behind them
"Yoake!" The three freshmen turned around to see their friend
"How's the fourth grade treating you?" Ragna asked with a smirk on his face
"To be honest super easy" Yoake bragged "I have full marks in every subject and I'm on top of my class so you could say I'm doing amazing"
"That's only because you were trained by Allen" Scrappy quickly pointed out how easy his life was
"Looks like you haven't changed, have you, Scrappy? Whatever, are guys down to do a 3v1 tho?" Yoake proposed
"You know what let's beat his up" Scrappy and Ranga were ready for the smoke
"Guys the race starts in 5 hours we should be preparing for the race" Choi wanted to do a bit more training
"No!" they said in sync as they dragged Choi towards the sparing section in the Academy
"Mr.Aevryn can you please prepare one training room so I can beat these 3" Yoake said
"Fine just make it quick since I have to be somewhere" Averyn replied as he put on the regeneration seal on the floor
Both teams go on different sides
3
2
1
Ragna immediately jumped out with a swing but Yoake parried it with his spear but as if clockwork Scrappy came behind him and starting swinging with both of his daggers
Yoake stabbed his spear on the ground blocking Scrappy's attack and using the spear as a pole to swing around it and kick Scrappy
BLOCK
Choi blocked the attack
"Nice save" Yoake was mildly impressed
"You mean a counter attack" as Choi used Blessing of Swap to replace the shield and Scrappy
"Nice going" Scrappy tanked him as he cast [Rising Frost] to send him and Yoake in the air
"Haven't you trained a bit since we've come here? You're still as feeble as ever." Yoake interrupted them.
[Blinkgate] Yoake appeared behind Scrappy
"Your current strategy won't take much farther." Yoake stated as he cast [Dust eclipse]
The battlefield was filled to the brim with a dust cloud
Ragna, Choi and Scrappy immediately lost all 5 of their primary senses
Choi instinctively swapped places with Scrappy solely hoping in his shield basically automatic defense
He didn't feel Yoake's spear colliding with his shield , not only because his senses were nullified but also because Yoake didn't strike him
Ragna used [Cross Ragna] to try to hit Yoake but because of the spell's insane destructive capabilities it managed to dispel [Dust Eclipse].
When the dust cleared Choi and Ragna's eyes widened as they saw Scrappy's mutilated body with Yoake standing next to him. Multiple holes could be seen going through Scrappy's body, a puddle of blood had formed under him.
"Crap, Scrappy is already out and the fight just started." Choi thought to himself
"Hey Choi listen let-" Ragna said to try to tell Choi about a strategy when Yoake swooped in and tried to thrust his spear into Ragna's torso.
Ragna easily managed to parry the incoming attack
"No enemy of yours will let you think of a new strategy this way" Yoake told them
"Do you think we would even do it this way?" Choi replied immediately as he swapped places with Ragna
Catching a glimpse of Choi in front of him, Yoake immediately reacted and turned around. Thrust with his spear about to hit Ragna about to strike from behind.
SWITCH
Choi swapped himself with Ragna again. Ragna now behind Yoake struck with [Kuro thrust]
"I've got you now!" Ragna shouted
"Not yet" Yoake replied calmly as he used [Dust siphon] to absorb Ragna's attack.
Yoake with his now empowered spear sent a flurry of thrust in Choi's direction only to see that the tank had managed to block all of them.
"What? But Choi wasn't able to react to them when I launched them point blank when we last fought. Either he got a hell of lot stronger or that sophisticated new shield he's using is somehow related to him having better reflexes " Yoake thought to himself
Using the one moment of confusion from Yoake's side Ragna immediately capitalized on the trapper's mistake of committing to the counter attack fully.
[Aqua blades] Ragna casted, taking advantage of the short casting time of the spell.
Choi also attacked after successfully blocking Yoake's attacks. [Gale Maelstrom]
[Blinkgate]
"Woah, that one was close, you guys" Yoake admitted.
Although Yoake managed to escape from [Gale Maelstrom] Ragna had managed to land a few hits on Yoake's upper and lower back.
The cuts weren't very deep therefore they weren't match ending but still enough to hold him back a reasonable amount.
"Let's end this already, shall we?" Yoake teased them
"Let's do this" replied Choi and Ragna in unison. Their spirits were visibly high
Choi and Ragna rushed at Yoake straightaway when [Dustbind] activated.
Both Choi and Ragna were caught and in that moment Yoake chose to attack Choi only to see he could block his attacks without moving.
"It must be the shield then" Yoake deducted
When [Dustbind] was dispelled Ragna jumped at Yoake while Choi went behind him again
This time Yoake immediately headed towards Choi.
As they started exchanging attacks Yoake swiftly casted [Dust Eclipse] only in the space around Choi.
At the same time Ragna attacked with [Cross Ragna] followed by a barrage of sword strikes.
To Ragna's astonishment Yoake had casted [Dust Siphon] on his back in the heat of the moment.
Ragna was just about to use [Bubble] to defend himself when Yoake's first strike raptured his stomach.
With his spell undone Ragna suffered 20 stabbing wounds in the matter of 2 seconds with the final hit blowing a hole right through his throat ensuring he won't be standing up until the fight was over
Freeing himself from the dust cloud Choi attempted a last resort attack just for him to be caught by [Dust bind] once again.
"What? Why can't I use my blessing or any of my nexus abilities for that mat-" Choi's thought were cut short by Yoake speaking:
"Goodnight Choi. Please enquire me about anything about this fight after you wake up"
Yoake said as he cast [Dustthorn] multiple times one on top of the other filling Choi up with massive holes. Choi's left leg was detached and two massive holes could be seen going through his Ribcage and lower part of his head, barely missing his brain
AFTER A COUPLE OH HOURS
"You guys are ready for the tournament now!" Yoake said as he looked down at the 3 passed out Class 3 students on the floor
SILENCE
"I might have gone too far, huh?" Yoake thought to himself as he sighed
4.5 hours later
Cinister makes his way to the finish line as finds a place between Ragna and Choi
"Are you guys ready to get speedblitzed?" Cinister trash talked before the race even started
"In your dreams Zugren taught me and Scrappy how to finally beat you" Choi replied
"Yeah be careful or you might lose a tooth or two!" Scrappy chimed in
A drone came down and explained the rules
"You guys and girls have 10 minutes to cross the finish line while holding a white ribbon. You can find the ribbons from defeating the rock golems made by the principal" the robotic voice was a bit annoying "If you aren't holding one and you finish you will lose"
"Let the games begin!"
3
2
"Hah now that we know that walking is the best way to finish this will be easy but boring though" Cinister thought to himself as he looked around the contestants
1
GO!!
Everyone but Cinister quickly started running towards the finish line
"Huh what!" Cinister's eyes widen as he looked at everyone running "I thought the cuffs were supposed to take away your energy but how is everyone still going"
He looks at Choi and Scrappy whose energy was still not depleted even after running
"But then how is Ragna running!?" Cinister quickly looked towards Ragna
HUH!
"What kinda monster is he!" The mage thought to himself "His energy is being taken away but he's still running!"