Chapter 50: Disciple vs Disciples (1/2)
When the opportunity was presented, it was not one but many that jumped at the chance of obtaining a spot to train directly under Susanoo.
"We can still stop this." Inari said, worried about the unnecessary fighting.
Yet seeing the two gods being adamant in their decision, she sighed.
"It's alright, Kami Inari." Kento assured. "I can handle this."
Inari had seen Kento's growth. But she could not help but be worried knowing that the boy might get hurt.
"I will take this opportunity."
The gods and the boy heard a brown haired guy raising his hand. He had a smile on his face, as if he had already won.
"Ah, Ryu." Susanoo grinned. "It seems you are confident that you can win against a disciple `I` chose."
The boy gave the god a respectful bow. "I have been training the art of sword that you wrote for years, Kami Susanoo. I know your sword art will not fail against someone who recently got into the Shinto faction."
As the boy named Ryu said this, Kento saw a few other people raising their hands as well.
"I would like to fight."
"Me too."
"So do I."
"Me as well."
In just a few moments, he could see quite a lot of hands being raised. Old and young alike, they all wanted to gain the position of a direct disciple.
Making Kento smile. 'This is going to be a harvest.'
But letting Kento fight the bunch of outer disciples was not something Susanoo wanted just to prove his decision.
It was to teach those disciples a lesson as well.
"However." He announced. "Those that fail to win against him, will forever lose the chance to obtain the training manuals of the Supreme Arts."
Kento did not know what the Supreme Arts were. But seeing the look of horror on the faces of those people, he guessed that it was something that was important.
"Whoever still wants to fight him, may walk forward."
There was not a single disciple that did not feel shaken by the condition. Even the boy Ryu who was confident in fighting Kento felt a bit worried.
However, they all knew that this was not a chance they would always get.
And hence, Ryu decided to walk forward.
"I will still take this opportunity, Kami." He said.
This ignited a chain reaction, instilling courage in a few others as well.
And as such, around a dozen people walked forward.
"We would like to take this opportunity." They said simultaneously.
"What do you say, boy?" Susanoo asked, looking at Kento.
Tsukuyomi and Inari stood to the side, with the goddess feeling a little uneasy about the ordeal.
Not just because she was worried about Kento or the disciples alone. But because she knew that no matter who won, someone else's dreams and hard work was going to get crushed
"I accept."
Kento walked forward, making it certain that the fight was going to happen.
"Very well, then." Tsukuyomi said. "Take your positions."
…
…
Standing in the arena with the boy Ryu against him, Kento used inspect.
{Inspect}
{Name: Ryu Danshi
Age: 20
Class: Middle Class Youkai
Skills: Transformation (B+), Flight (B+), Advance Martial Arts (A-), Enhanced Physique (A-), Fire Manipulation (C), Expert Combatant (B-), Scale Armour (A)
Special Trait: As a Youkai with diluted dragon blood, Ryu possesses the defensive scales of a dragon which can reduce the damage taken from elemental attacks by half of their original strength.}
'I don't think I have seen any dragons yet.'
Kento had talked to Ddraig and seen Vritra but both were in the form of Sacred Gears. Even the boy that stood against him was just a Youkai with a little bit of dragon blood in him.
'It will be great if I get to meet a real dragon sometime.'
He wanted to see how crazy powerful those beasts could be.
However, that was not something he had to worry about now.
"Don't be too confident because you are already a direct disciple."
Kento chuckled at Ryu's words.
"That's not the only reason I am confident." He said.
<<Opponent has racial advantage over host!>>
<<Herculean Strength Activated!>>
<<Hermes' Celerity Activated!>>
<<Atlas' Will Activated!>>
<<Athena's Insight Activated!>>
<<Coeus' Perspicacity Activated!>>
'No hit.' Kento smiled, remembering the details of the quest.
Kento didn't make the first move, he let Ryu do it.
As the Youkai saw that Kento was not planning on making the first move, he knew it was his chance.
He rushed in, aiming for the most common weak points of a human.
Ryu knew that it was his chance to take Kento down in a clean swoop and prove to the gods that he was a much better choice.
However, what he did not consider was Kento's agility.
The piercing move that was supposed to land directly onto Kento's gut did not even reach the human's vicinity. Instead, Kento stood behind the Youkai with an impressed smile
"Not too bad." Kento said, causing Ryu to immediately jump back. "Would have stung a little if that landed."
<<Hermes' Celerity>> was enough for Kento to dodge the attack as his opponent did not have a skill that granted high speed.
Ryu furrowed his brow and to Kento's surprise, he used his {Fire Manipulation} skill.
But not in a way that Kento expected.
While Kento preferred using his manipulation skills as long range and his physical skills as close combat, he did like that the boy was using the fire to envelop his fists.
"You are swift." The boy said, gritting his teeth as Kento dodged every single of his strikes with ease.
'Those scales…' As Kento kept dodging the attacks, he noticed that the boy had scales formed around his fists. 'It's his {Scale Armour} skill…'
Kento made sure to dodge the strikes as cleanly as possible. Because even if the flames hit him or touched his clothes, he might fail the bonus condition.
'He is using the scales to protect his hands from getting burnt. Quite clever.'
He did read Ryu's trait, making him aware that the scales lower the damage from elemental attacks.
'He has been throwing a few Karate moves.' Kento noticed the fighting style. 'Mostly because a majority of the other styles are useless if you cannot even grab your opponent.'
Because of the difference in speed, not a lot of skills could be used against Kento.
Ryu was starting to get both annoyed and a little tired. Seeing which made the goddess sigh.
"He is toying with Ryu." She said. "He hasn't even gotten offensive and Ryu has already lost his stamina."
"Ryu is desperate to prove his worth and because of that he is not realizing what Kento is doing." Tsukuyomi said, making Susanoo shake his head.
"He is humiliating the boy." The storm god said. "Something that I already expected."
Kento did not go on the offensive even once. Instead he dodged, appeared right behind Ryu and pointed out the flaws in his fighting style.
This started to infuriate Ryu.
"Blind rage is the doom of a warrior." Susanoo said. "Many great warriors fell in war because their opponent got control over their psyche."
"Anger lowers the reasoning and strategy making of any fighter." Tsukuyomi nodded. "Which is exactly something that Kento is trying to achieve."
And it was working.
'Why! Why is he not fighting back!' Ryu was furious. 'He is mocking me!'
He was well aware that the human in front of him was trying to make a fool out of him. And in front of that Kamis, it was not something that Ryu could allow.
'I have no choice.' The Youkai thought. 'But to use that!'
As Kento was analyzing and was being impressed by the rapid change in martial arts, he noticed Ryu suddenly stopping.
'He doesn't seem like the type to give up.' Kento figured. 'What is he thinking?'
Kento did not attack, instead he wanted to see what the boy had up his sleeves.
But whatever it was, there was no way for him to lose.
After all, Ryu did not have any skill that could surpass Kento.
Yet, the Youkai did have something flashy.
'{Transformation}...' Kento grinned witnessing the transformation skill in action after seeing the skill in so many people's skill set.
But the skill's output was not what he expected.
'I expected him to transform into a dragon…'
Sadly he did not.
Instead the boy obtained the features of a dragon –a tail, scaly body, sharp teeth, bigger build and claws– while retaining his humanoid shape.
'A dragonoid, huh?' Kento felt a bit disappointed.
"Let's see if you can dodge this!" Ryu roared before throwing a punch towards Kento.
However, Kento realized that because of the increase in his size, Ryu's speed had decreased even further.
However…
It did not mean that the attack did not reach Kento.
'The fuck!' Kento immediately moved to the left as a strong invisible force shot towards him.
"Good luck dodging now!" Ryu laughed as he threw another punch.
"The transformation had made him slower but also increased his strength by a lot. Thus each time he throws a punch, the force causes the wind to launch towards Kento." Susanoo analyzed, having faced such attacks multiple times in his life.
"However…" The storm god showed a terrifying smile. "It is not enough."
"I apologize." Kento said. "But I will have to end this here. After all, I cannot keep the others waiting."
As Kento said this, Ryu frowned.
"Do you think you have the capability to take me on!" Ryu laughed. "Don't make me laugh!"
This was what he said before witnessing Kento vanish from his spot.
{Flash Steps}
And feeling one of the worst pains ever.
{Kama's Path}
Before his vision turned black.
{Horo-Kanu}
A single clean, fast and painful strike was all it took to bring the dragonoid down –making him faint on the ground.
While an indifferent Kento stood over his unconscious body.
"I do have the capability, though?"
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[[A/N: Read 25+ Chapters ahead on Pat reon: Pat reon.com/Greedyfrog]]
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone