Chapter 45: Spar: Chapter 44
As the bell rang across the hall for every student to hear, it was a sign that lunchtime was over and it was time for the next class to start. One by one, each student left the cafeteria and the same goes with me.
Just like what Sarah said, the Combatant class was next. On this class, all the student focus on the pretext of fighting to become strong. It was a class that supported the students capability to grow in strength so that they could manage to fight against any upcoming tragedy from gates and other occupations or threats.
As I walked my way to where the class was held, I tried to remember if anything significant was going to happen in the recent days of this part in the novel. I knew that another terrorist act was going to happen in a few weeks or so and that'll involve almost every student that was in the academy. I also know that in the upcoming days, Richard Vener Dickson will come to challenge Martha to a duel in hopes of proving his stance as the ranked one student in the first year ranking.
And of course, as a fan I wouldn't want to miss a scene like that happen.
But for now, nothing really happens except for just your daily life as a student in the academy. Anything other than that is something I deem to want to see.
As I walked further into the hall, I noticed that a few students were also going their way to the same direction that I was going.
"...?" I looked around and found out that those students were my classmates. One of which was Sarah who was walking by herself along with her baseball bat she carried on the first class. Aside from her, there was also Sofia who was walking with a few classmates but her look was somewhat gloomy, as if she was worried about the upcoming class.
When we finally arrived at the class, I noticed that this was the same place as the one where I took on the retaking of the exam. Looking around, I noticed a lot of my classmates were already in place and along with them was a huddle of another group of students who I presumed was from a different section.
When I went to approach Remmy who was standing with everyone else from our section, I went and ask him who the other group was.
"Who are they?" I said while looking over the opposing group.
"Class D, they're attending the same class as us." he said while cautiously looking over the class.
When I looked to their direction, I noticed that it was somehow giving off an opposing vibe. It was as if they were intimidating us with their smug looks and cocky postures. Somehow, I found this act a bit irregular knowing that it was just the first day of class. So I looked a bit more and noticed that in the center of that class was a boy who was standing tall over everyone. He had a grin over his face as he looked our way, almost as if he was sizing us up for a recruitment or a target of sort.
Knowing this, I guess he was their class leader and that they were underestimating the C-class. Either way, they just seemed like they were just cliched side bullies of the story.
Suddenly a man walked in between the two classes and introduced himself.
He was a slim man who wore a simple gray shirt and a whistle around his neck along with black sunglasses. He somewhat reminded me of your typical PE teacher who was a legit person who actually went to a gym instead of having a typical dad-bod.
"Good day everyone, I'm Mr. Hoffman and I'll be your teaching instructor in the ways of combat. If your wondering what my Rank is in qualification to teaching you guys, I am a A-rank Hunter whose proficient in a lot of forms of combat. From Swordsmanship to Marksmanship and even martial arts, I can handle and teach you the ways to fully grasp your potential in combat." he said this with full of pride as a Hunter.
"Now then, in future cooperation from both the classes, since I handle two, I need one representative and vice representative from each of the class to maintain order." he said this, expecting that the students would comply.
Combat classes always go too far and end in terrible danger at the start of the year, since some of the students don't know how to hold back. So it is in need that a class representative should be around to act as a pillar to in order to fully guide the other students.
"...If your having a hard time figuring out who should act as a representative, I advise you people to pick a person whose strong enough to stop a fight when needed."
As he said this, a lot of students came to the thought that the person who was capable of being a representative was a someone who was ranked the highest in the practical exam, so the thought was lead to a single person from our class and that person was Remmy Polinske. And for me being second in rank, I expected that I was picked vice representative.
"...Well, since you guys don't fully know each other's strength yet, we can pause this for another day and move on with our activity for today which is to know your classmates strength. So pair up with a classmate and we can begin the spar. Each pair will have a five minute time limit, which is enough time to evaluate your pair." hearing this, it looks like what Sarah said was real. A spar was going to happen today.
After he announced the activity for the day, I was unexpectedly approached by Remmy.
"Hey, you wanna be my sparring buddy?" he asked, expecting that I was going to say yes but because of a certain promise, I had to decline his offer.
"Sorry, I can't." I said.
"What? Why!?"
"...Somebody already booked a reservation with my time."
"Someone-…Oohh, I see. So that's why she called you out this morning." he figured out who it was that already booked my time since he was there when she called out to me.
"Oy."
All of a sudden, someone was tapping on my shoulders. When I turned around, I saw Sarah with a baseball bat on her shoulder, posing like it was a typical yankee picture.
"C'mon, we're going up first." she said as her low voice was a bit demanding but I couldn't really say no since I said yes to her request.
"Yeah, okay." as I said yes, I followed her through the class until we met the teacher Mr. Hoffman.
Seeing as how we both approached Mr. Hoffman, he figured that we were the first student who were going to spar.
"Oh, so you guys will be the first pair. and your names are?" he asked us for our names.
"Hamil Crux."
"Sarah Kenley."
We both said our names and in turn he went and recorded the pairing on his tablet.
"Okay then, use the weapons that are layed out here beside me." he said while pointing to us the array of weapons that were displayed at his side.
They were pretty common weapons that you would find at any shop, so it was a fair display. Not one weapon was stronger than the other and nor was it as fragile or weak than the last. It all mattered in your style of combat.
"Teacher, what if my weapon wasn't something you would normally use?" asked Sarah as she pointed out the bat she carried with her.
"Oh, if your asking about that bat of yours, then I should inspect it first before I let you use it. Is this bat any special from all the others?" as Mr. Hoffman.
"No, its just a normal metal bat." said Sarah.
"Hmm, I guess its alright to use it in the spar." said Hoffman as he approved Sarah's weapon of choice.
"..." While Sarah was asking for approval for her weapon, I went and walked to where the Shields and Spears were displayed. Looking at all the similar spears and shields, it looked like it didn't matter which weapon was any better so I went and just picked each one from the line.
As I approached Mr. Hoffman, I noticed that he instantly looked at my figure from up and down to see and analyze the compatibility I had with the weapons.
"Hmm, A shield and spear. That's a good choice. Great for both defense and long offense." he said, complimenting me for my weapon choice.
"...thanks." I said.
"Okay then, position yourselves in the inner circle and wait for my go." he said as he pointed towards the center of the coliseum.
As we both walked to the circle, we were watched and looked by by our classmates and the other section. Their eyes were showing an expression of interest and intrigued. Some people cheered while others looked our way with expecting eyes.
Looking at those people, I somewhat felt a little bit nervous of what was to come in my way. And looking at Sarah and her weapon, I tried to think through what her way of fighting was. Since it was a bat, it usually isn't something people use for fighting and is instead used for sport.
Sarah showed a intimidating expression just from her glare alone, it gave me the impression that she was a wild animal who was ready to jump at her prey.
"Okay, Left side ready….Right side ready….Fight!" said Hoffman as initiated the fight.
And so it began. Our spar was underway.
Sarah made the first move by rushing towards me with her fast pacing. She ran as fast as she could in a straight line and jumped right before she was about to meet with my shield.
Seeing her from above, I could see that she was going to attack me with her bat using the falling momentum she had from jumping. As she fell, she swung down her bat and it collided with my shield, denting the very center of its front.
*DING!* the very collision of our weapons sounded off like a bell.
After that hit, she went and struck down again at the same place. It was as if she was intending to break my shield to a point that it was unusable, but right as she was about to hit it again, I went and pushed her back by parrying her.
The moment the shield collided with her bat, I parried her and she came flying back and landed down to the floor.
"Damn it…that shield!" she was glaring at my direction, thinking of what she had to do to get pass my defense.
Seeing as how I was holding on my own in ease through her attacks, she decided that for someone with a strong defense, she needed to break that defense.
She ran up to me again and this time she didn't do anything particular like jumping, instead she just rushed her way to me with a glaring look.
The moment she came forward, she instantly brought out her bat and rushed down at my shield.
*Dang!*
*Dang!*
*Dang!*
Each strike was stronger than the last, and with each hit was leaving a dent on my shield. It looked like she only focused on my shield and nothing else. Seeing this, I felt like she was intending to break it, but seeing as how every strike so far was nothing more than a dent to my shield, I felt like she was just wasting her time.
She didn't made me move, in fact I just stood my ground and took every beating she made at me. My arm was starting to get numb but seeing as how she was just as hyper as the beginning, I was a bit worried.
Finally at her 30th strike, I decided to parry back again and push her back.
"Tch."
Looking at what I did, she simply clicked her tongue and proceeded to move again. She went and ran my away again but this time she went and curved her direction. Instead of running to me at a direct approach, she went to aim for my side. As she got close, she did a 360 degree spin and swung down her bat towards my side, but as it was about to collide with my shield, she instantly burst out mana from her body and increased the very pressure of her attack.
The moment her bat struck my shield, I felt the vibrating force of her swing through the shield. As it struck down, I could feel the handle of the shield quickly breaking off from my arm and as a last push of power, she doubled her pour of mana to her swing, this boost of power broke the very shield I was using.
It flew right off my hand and out of the ring.
"..." she intended to break my shield and seeing as how I didn't reinforced it with my mana, it easily broke like it was a piece of junk. It was really was my mistake but I didn't really care as much about it.
"Well, lets see how you defend against me now knowing that you don't have a shield." she said as a clear smirk was shown on her face.
She then charges at me at full speed, looking as if she instantly disappeared from where she stood and instantly appeared at the back of my head. She came with her bat surging out with power.
"..." I could only stand in place as she fully made her way to the back of my head.
As she swung her bat straight at my head with a full smile on her face, I thought came to my mind.
'Hmm, I guess this is fine.'
Although I was recorded to have been a D-rank hunter which is already a very high rank for someone in the first year, my full strength was at C-ranker. almost the same as the current protagonist who was peak C-rank and was making his way to B-rank.
Looking at my Character profile:
[CHARACTER PROFILE]
:Stats:
Name: Hamil Crux
Occupation: Trained Warrior
Age:17
God's followed: The Rulers (4/4)
Mana: 50
Strength: 120
Luck: 1.0
Agility: 107
Stamina: 114
Intelligence: 56
+++++++++++++++
Bow Proficiency: 50%
Spear Proficiency: 70%
Sword Proficiency: 100%
Shield Proficiency: 50%
+++++++++++++++
SKILL-ARTS:
*Sword Ability - Swordsman's Apparel (F)
==Swordsmanship Owned: 1/100
-Basic Swordsmanship - Enlightened
*My Bow Ability - Light Reflection (E)
*Spear Ability - Impossible Accuracy (C)
*Shield Ability - Shield's Copy (E)
My proficiency in using a spear and a shield had grown in the past few days since I kept on hunting inside a D-rank gate. Compared to what I was before in hunting a F-rank gate, this clearly showed my growth as a hunter.
"...maybe its time to settle this." I said to myself while the bat was heading my way.
As it was about to strike my head, I instantly countered her with my spear without looking her way. As both of the spear and bat collided with one another, Sarah was shock to see that I was just casually blocking off one of her powerful moves.
***Sarah's POV
She was thrilled by the very opportunity to final deal some damage to her opponent. His head was open for target and with her confidence in speed, she could surely hit him.
This attack of hers would surely knock out this guy. Without his shield he could never block this move.
'Its my Win!' she thought as the urge to see a chance filled her ego, everything was moving so well to a poit that she didn't expect anything to go wrong, but something did felt off. Her opponent was standing still with his back out in the open for her to attack. She thought that maybe this was too easy.
When all of a sudden, this weary and threatening aura was coming from his opponent.
"!?" without even looking her way, she could feel this cold gaze devouring her very instinct to fight. She doubted her very choice at the last second but it was too late to back away. The bat was already making its way to Hamil's head and nothing was stopping it until suddenly she saw Hamil finally decided to counter back.
"!?" she was shock to see that the spear blocked her attack but above all, Hamil was just casually standing with his back facing her.
After countering her attack, Hamil decided to turn around and face Sarah. And instead of just casually standing there like he usually would, he finally made his first attack.
With grasping the spear on his hand, he quickly raised it to a point that targeted the very center of Sarah's body. knowing this, her body screamed in warnings as a damaging attack was coming her way.
As if in slow motion she could see the very gap of their stength. As the tip of the spear made its way to her, she instinctively used the bat as a shield.
The moment the spear tip touched her bat, she could already feel the very strength that thrust had behind it.
"!!!???" at that impact, she felt a strange glare that was coming from Hamil. she saw that for a quick moment, she saw that Hamil was looking at her with such indifference that she felt cold for some reason.
and not a moment later, she was casually pushed back at every milli-second where she tried to fight back but not a second later, she found herself thrown out of the ring and rolling to the floor.
"Aghh!" she screamed as she rolled through the floor until it came to a stop.
"...you okay?" asked Hamil as he could see that Sarah was quite forced out of the ring just from his attack alone. he was quite concerned by what he did so he dropped the spear and made his way to Sarah.
As he got closer, he saw that Sarah was looking at him in a way that he couldn't really describe.
It felt like this was the first time he dominated a person.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"...I-I'm fine." she felt kind of shakey from that attack so he got a bit more worried, so he reeached out his hand in hopes that she would receive it and she did.
As she grabbed his hand, he pulled her back up and they walked up to where Mr. Hoffman was.
When they did approach Mr. Hoffman, they noticed that he was quite silent over that fight.
"...Mr. Hoffman?" Hamil tried to call out to him but in turn, Hoffman just looked at him with quite a cold gaze.
"4 minutes and 36 seconds, that's your time." he said.
"Oh, okay."
"4 minutes and 30 seconds for Ms. Sarah Kenley to continuously attack and for you to defend but 6 seconds just for you to make your difinitive attack. I'm impressed Hamil, you dominated this spar." he said as he evaluated our very battle.
"..." when I turned to look at Sarah, she could only frown by the result.
"Don't worry about it, you can always challenge me whenever you feel like it." i said as i tried to cheer her up from her lost, but all she gave me in turn was yet again that indescribable expression of hate but at the same time acceptance.
"...You better keep your word." she said in a mumbled voice while she looked away.
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