Chapter 125 He’s Just Like Me! [1]

Arvell twirled the sword in his hand as he walked to watch the black-ringed boy standing only 10 metres in front of him.

At this point, they had to wait for the professor's start signal, and then they were free to start their fight.

The professor had brought them to the field and led them to a small pile of training swords she had left there prior in the morning, giving them weapons to use to aid in their training,

The black-ringed youth put his fingers to his chin and looked at Arvell, somewhat confused, before opening his mouth to speak.

"What's your name?"

"It's common etiquette to give your name before asking that of others."

The youth pondered for a moment before nodding his head.

"Marcus Athburg, that's my name. Now, what's yours."

"My name's Arvell. Arvell Silvanus."

'Arvell, huh?' Marcus thought to himself while licking his slightly protruding canines with an eager expression, 'Let's see just how good you really are.'

Mere moments after he finished that thought, Professor Lorine blew her whistle, prompting all of the students to begin their spars.

Arvell and Marcus were no different.

They dashed as fast as they could, swinging their swords with all their might.

*CLANG*

A Loud banging noise rang out as both swords quaked from the impact.

But neither of the boy's hands seemed to budge an inch or shake.

It was as if an impact of that magnitude was something they could effortlessly hold back.

'He's strong!' Both boys thought simultaneously.

Continuing to test what the other was capable of, they both unleashed a flurry of attacks on each other.

*CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG*

Every strike of Arvell's was expertly blocked by Marcus, while all of Marcus's attacks couldn't even land as much as a scratch on the silver-haired youth.

Even without using their abilities, both boys could hold their own against one another.

Arvell was completely and utterly shocked by this revelation.

'I'm not using the full power of my Nether body, but this guy… He's able to beat me back without even using magic? Just what kind of person is he?'

On the other hand, Marcus didn't seem like he cared too much about how Arvell could match his strength and speed.

All that mattered was that he could!

Marcus's bright yellow eyes glowed like the sun as a warped smile formed on his face.

Seeing that smile on Marcus's face, Arvell's eyes went wide.

'He's the same as me! A fellow battle junkie!'

Arvell decided to finally throw away any remaining reservations about fighting Marcus, giving into his primal urge.

His overpowering desire to fight!

Arvell's mouth twisted until it mirrored that of Marcus's.

"Hahahaha!"

"Ahahahah!"

The two of them broke out into a burst of cacophonous laughter, which, if anyone could hear over the sound of their swords colliding, would have found highly creepy and disturbing.

The surrounding students had also kicked their battles into full throttle, filling the air with the sounds of weapons colliding, explosions, and grunts of pain.

Knowing that they had onsite medical help in case they needed help, everyone pushed themselves to their utmost limit to use this advantage.

Arvell and Marcus were no different, as all of their attacks were performed with the intent to kill.

Furthermore, with the blunted edges on their swords, there was no way they would manage to inflict lasting harm before the professor could stop them.

Arvell slashed at Marcus's heart, which Marcus parried, before stabbing at Arvell's throat.

Arvell swiftly dodged an attack by tilting his head to the side before following up with a kick aimed at Marcus's core.

Marcus hurriedly brought his sword to deflect Arvell's kick, which caused them both to shoot back at each other.

Landing on their feet, both kicked off the ground as hard as they rocketed towards each other to continue their bout.

"Hey, Arvell, how about we end the warm-up and get to the main course?" Marcus proposed while slashing at Arvell's throat.

"I agree. The warm-up was fun, but the real fight should be much more entertaining!" Ducking down to dodge the slash, Arvell thrust his sword directly at Marcus's heart.

Marcus kicked off the ground and created distance between himself and Arvell.

"Yes, YES! THAT'S THE SPIRIT! Arvell Silvanus, I like you!"

Arvell nodded his head in agreement.

"If I knew you'd have been this fun, I would have tried to fight you yesterday! So why wait until today to fight?"

The two boys looked at each other, and their smiles widened into toothy grins.

Arvell moved his mouth to fake 'casting' his ability while Marcus began to chant out his spell."

[Temporal Manipulation]

"By the might of the stars, fall into the pits of the abyss! Gravity Doman!"

They charged back at each other, each thinking they had the advantage, but from an outsider's perspective, it looked like nothing had changed.

None of them were any faster or slower than they were before.

It was as if neither of them had cast a spell in the first place.

The two boys looked at each other with shocked looks.

Arvell felt a strong tugging force pull him to the ground, causing him to slow down substantially.

It was as if someone had strapped a second Arvell onto his back and got him to carry both of their weights simultaneously.

He was experiencing a crushing force that seemed intent on pulling him into the very ground itself.

Even if he was using a double-layered temporal manipulation technique to speed himself up and slow down his enemy, it seemed that Marcus's ability was able to counter it!

*Crack*

The faint cracking sound caused Arvell to look at the ground around them.

The plants… they were collapsing, seemingly as if someone was stepping on them!

'No, wait, if the same pulling strength is affecting them too… That means… Marcus's controlling gravity itself! He's able to negate the effects of the ability of my 'Temporal Manipulation' by controlling the surrounding gravity!'