Chapter 384 Volume VI - 17: The Strongest of the Academy

Chapter 384 Volume VI - 17: The Strongest of the Academy

The duel seemed to be over. I had no chance to dodge each of the attacks coming from all four sides.

At least that's what people thought.

And... even though they were thinking wrong, I actually didn't intend to move.

I stood where I was, not even moving, letting them make their attack.

I felt Cassandra's rapier enter my shoulder, piercing through my flesh and touching the bone. One of Jack's daggers went into my left arm and one into my right leg. The lightning spell from my left struck my body directly, while the fierce wind blades from my right cut through my clothes and opened countless cuts on my body.

The duel was over...

I smiled anyway, speaking slowly, in a calm tone.

"The fourth rule of the battlefield: you will get hurt, you will inevitably get wounded... but you must endure. You will endure."

Blue flames enveloped each of my wounds, and Cassandra's eyes widened.

"The moment you collapse, you will lose everything."

I grabbed the rapier that had pierced my shoulder with my other hand and swung my forehead at Cassandra's face, giving her a solid blow before she could teleport.

The flames were already melting the daggers of ice and closing my wounds one by one. But I ripped one of them from my leg before it melted completely and quickly plunged it into Cassandra's shoulder.

I felt her whole body tremble, but I didn't care. I snatched the rapier from her hand and threw it aside, then grabbed Cassandra by the shoulder and simply spun her around, sending her to the student on my left.

I quickly turned my free hand to the student on my right and sent a huge fireball of blue flames. Without looking at the results, I quickly turned to where Jack was and lunged at him.

His eyes were wide as if he could not believe what he was seeing. But he recovered quickly and took up a defensive position.

"The fifth rule of the battlefield: if you can't take it, run away. Overconfidence is deadly."

I clenched my fist, using most of my mana to strengthen it as much as I could. Then, I simply swung at Jack.

Jack was thrown backward with a small shockwave. But without waiting for him to hit the wall, I moved and caught him mid-air. I grabbed him by the collar, then slammed his body to the floor.

I turned my hand behind my back, creating a strong gust of wind that knocked one of the fourth-years, who was just getting to his feet, off his feet and pulled him toward me. I caught him in mid-air too and then hit Jack using his body with all my strength.

As the arena fell silent, I covered both my hands in flames and turned around, blocking Cassandra's punch. Her expression turned ugly and her lips trembled as the flames from my fists clearly burned her hand.

I quickly tripped her, and without letting her fall to the ground, I punched her hard in the stomach. She could do nothing as she collapsed to the ground.

The arena was really silent this time. They were all on the floor. Jack and Cassandra were writhing in pain while the other two students had already passed out.

The duel... was really over now.

I put a big smile on my face, and as caora retreated from my body, I switched my sword back to cane form, tapping the ground with a loud thud.

"I may be stronger than you, yes. But experience is the real reason you lost today."

With slow steps, I turned around and looked at Jack, anger in his eyes, glaring at me.

I tore my gaze away from him and turned toward the stands.

"That's why I advise you not to stand in front of me, because I have not only survived months in that hell called war... but I also have the strength to back up my experience."

I stopped my eyes on a camera. It was clearly live, pointed directly at me.

But soon, I paused, disrupting all movement and opening my eyes, which I had closed to focus.

"I'm doing it wrong."

It wasn't hard to realize. My movements were right, maybe, but... not enough.

They had to be more accurate, more perfect. The same with my control and refinement of the flow of my mana.

"Again."

And again.

After two or three minutes, I stopped supporting my body with the caora. I thought about the technique again from the start, I tried to analyze my mistake... and then I tried again.

After a few minutes, again.

'Aiden...'

I paused at the sound of Sith's voice, raising an eyebrow at his hovering figure.

'It's getting morning.'

"Oh..."

My eyes drifted outside, to my window... and then to the sunlight I could see through it.

"I'd better go to sleep... thanks."

I was thinking that it wouldn't matter if I skipped classes anyway. In fact, when I went to bed, it wasn't even about classes I was thinking about.

It was more about... the future.

And Sue.

"Haaaah..."

I cleared myself of my thoughts and tried to surrender myself to sleep, even if it was less than normal. I counted the seconds with my eyes closed, one by one.

...

...

Then a strange sensation came from literally nowhere.

My closed eyes slowly opened as I focused on the uncomfortable sensation spreading through my body. It was like as if something was... wrong.

This feeling remained for a while. Always there and... quite disturbing. After a short while, though, it disappeared as if it had never existed.

"Strange..."

I couldn't help sighing deeply as I threw myself back on my bed.

I should go to the doctor sometime and get examined... something might be wrong with my body again.

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*(A/N: I have an important thing to do today so I will not be able to write any chapter. So the next chapter will also come late, not at the usual 00.00 for UTC+0. Sorry, but it's really important. And don't worry, I will start writing the moment I get home.)*