Chapter 49 Combat Class

The next day arrived quickly, and I groaned as I sluggishly pulled myself from the comfort of my bed. The blanket clung to my skin as if attempting to persuade me to remain, but I threw it off.

I'd rather sacrifice a few hours of extra sleep than face Robin's wrath later on.

I dressed in a daze and stumbled out of my apartment, rubbing my bleary eyes. The sun was annoyingly high in the sky, shining directly into my face.

"Stupid morning..." I muttered, my voice scratchy and low.

Grumbling, I made my way to class, where I noticed that most of the students had already gathered.

As I entered the room, nobody looked my way, and I realized that Rose was absent. It was likely due to the phone call from Oscar's father.

I slumped into my seat and buried my head in my arms, attempting to pass the time until our teacher arrived.

Whoosh...

Suddenly, a faint whooshing sound echoed through the classroom and a man materialized at the front of the room. He wore a wide grin on his face, but most of the students scowled at the sight.

"Good morning, class!"

Robin declared, clasping his hands together and shooting a brief glance in my direction.

"Today, we'll be having a Combat Class. I've already reserved a full facility for our use, so let's get started!"

Robin quickly marked attendance before leading us towards a colossal building, brimming with countless arenas.

Not a single person was within the massive facility, and Robin quickly separated us in pairs before assigning arenas and telling us to fight.

"..."

I looked at my opponent. His name was Toby, and he was a student with a massive stature. His muscles could be seen bulging out through the gloves. He seemed more like a bodybuilder than a student.

"Let's have a fair fight..."

Flexing his massive shoulders and raising his weapon, a massive shield with massive metal tusks decorating its front.

If I was to be hit by a single attack coming from that shield, a lot of my bones would be broken.

"Yeah, yeah... Let's have a fair fight..."

Trying to keep a smile on my face, I took out my Katana and took a fighting stance. I circulated Mana through my body, allowing it to envelop my wrists, shoulders, and legs.

As I noticed that the golden layer covered my body, I placed my left foot forward, straining my leg muscles and pushing myself forward with all the strength I could muster.

Whoosh...

I moved at such speeds that even the wind rippled as I appeared before Toby. The big guy's eye twitched seeing a Katana's edge already at his neck, but kept his head calm, pushing his shield in the way.

Clank...

I felt a painful vibration pass through my entire arm, but it was mostly dulled by my Mana.

"You are strong..."

Toby spoke, looking at me with narrowed eyes. Everybody had the ability to skim through his classmates entering Rank, and mine was way lower than now.

Most of the people probably considered me to be the weakest, but now I could confidently say that I was somewhere below the middle.

Although I won the fight against Rose's lunatics, it was because the guy underestimated me too much.

I was strong to the weak and weak to the strong.

Thud...

Toby suddenly smashed his shield to the ground, making some pebbles rise from the platform.

"Earth Core: Rock Bullets!"

The pebbles suddenly shot towards me at a speed barely perceptible by the eye.

"..."

However, my Agility was more than enough to deal with such attacks.

Slash... Slash...

I swung my blade masterfully, splitting some pebbles in two while dodging others.

If I had faced such an attack before, I would have been severely injured, but now I could easily avoid it.

As soon as the last pebble was deflected, I dashed towards Toby. Since I couldn't do anything from long range, I purposefully raised my Katana high in the air, hoping that he would raise his shield. Then, I supplied mana to my blade, making it disappear.

"Ahhh!"

Using my weapon style, I managed to slash both of Toby's legs while his shield was raised to protect his head.

Toby fought well, but his experience was lacking. Well, I couldn't blame him; he was just a kid. He might have wielded his weapon longer than I did, but 5 years of memorizing combos and mastering each movement to perfection was my strong suit.

I had no experience with the sword, but I had experience in battle.

"Huck..."

Suppressing his cry, Toby quickly took out a health potion and, with trembling arms, drank it. I could see a pained expression on his face and sighed. His pain resistance was pathetic.

Throwing a glance at Robin, I saw him nod his head before changing Toby with another opponent.

This time it was a blonde girl with a doll-like face. She wielded a longbow, which made me question whether she'd be able to pull it.

Her green eyes scanned me, starting by looking at my weapon and posture and ending with my eyes. Usually, characters in Leclentia possess similar facial features to Eastern Europeans, but the girl had a small nose and lips that made her look very cute and beautiful at the same time.

"Who is she?"

No matter how hard I tried to recall, I couldn't remember ever seeing or hearing of a girl wielding a longbow.

I carefully drew my Katana, looking at her relaxed position.

"Ready?" I spoke, watching as the woman slowly nodded her head before pulling her bowstring without much effort.

Whoosh...

She didn't have an arrow loaded, so for a second, I thought that she was stupid. However, the next moment, a projectile made entirely out of Mana appeared on her bow, before being launched directly at me.

'Shit!'

I didn't have any time to dodge the arrow, so I swung my Katana in the direction of the incoming projectile.

!

I remembered the name of the girl. She was Katarina, the eldest daughter of Carolina!