Chapter 86 The Defenders



[Name: Enzo Ruiz (♂)

Age: 18

Race: Human

[Stats]

Strength: E

Agility: E

Intelligence: D-

Stamina: D+

Magic: E

Charisma: E+

Luck: S

[Hidden Stats]

Perception: S

Mental: C

eαglesnᴏνel Potential: A+

Health: E]

'<S> rank Perception? So that's how he did that.'

I blinked my eyes as the ticklish became itchy.

That was the first time I felt it. The itchy eyes I meant.

Rubbing my eyes, the itch gradually subsided. I threw my face away from Enzo who was closing his eyes, unaware that he was being observed.

I looked at my hand, noticing that the storage ring was not there.

Before the exam started, the instructors demanded that bringing a storage cube with personal weapons was prohibited. They had asked that students were to use the weapon the academy provided.

The academy itself didn't have strict rules about students' weapons. We were allowed to change our weapons whenever we wanted. Though most of the instructors and professors advised that it was better to stick with one type of weapon of students' talent.

Those who had Swordsmanship talent would obviously use a sword, Bowmanship talent used a bow, Spearmanship talent used a spear, and so on. These talents that were limited to one weapon only were often called 'Path Talent'.

Meanwhile, the talents similar to Blademaster, Assassin, Berserker, and other talents that were named like a class or profession in RPGs were called 'Specialization Talent'. These talents were capable to wield different weapons to improve their talents level.

Blademaster was capable to use any weapon with a blade. In my opinion, this talent was the most broken talent because most of the weapons produced for Enhanced mostly had blades.

Assassin could be equipped with a dagger, short sword, or even a bow. Berserkers could fight with their fists, halberd, or any weapons categorized as heavy weapons.

'For my Dual Wielding talent, I'm still not sure what type of weapons I can use to improve my talent level but, I do know that it will raise my mastery as long as I hold—use two weapons in both hands.'

So I categorized my Dual Wielding in Specialization Talent. Because I could use any weapon as long as I held a pair in both hands.

Anyway, I used my usual weapon for today. Dual daggers.

'What's the point of practicing with dual swords a week ago, you said? Well, even if I was practicing it doesn't mean I will use it. Idiots and cool wannabes should just shut up.'

'This whole talk about what weapon I should use depended on what I'm going to face, it's situational. I know what I should do. So just shut up!'

Uhum!

Sorry, some weird noises were ringing in my head, telling me to do this and that as if they knew sh!t.

Using my Clairvoyance, I tried to survey and scan the area around me. 

I found no signs of humans within a hundred meters of the vicinity.

As I was done, I closed my eyes and eventually relaxed under the tree. The fresh air brushed my skin helping me to relax.

30 minutes had passed since the game started, and only half an hour left before we could move with the flag in hand.

This was surprisingly quiet and easy, I thought there would be a wave of students trying to steal the flag from us like what happened to Lux's team in the novel.

'Oh right. That may be the reason why…'

It was just my assumption but since I didn't find any team around my team's base, it might be possible that they were raiding Lux's team.

Oh ho. It was an illogical story event but phew, I was glad that this exam played out the same as I knew.

***

At the same time. On the other side of the Artificial Forest…

"Seize their flag!" a male voice shouted.

Three teams, each made of three people had teamed up against Lux's and Seo Yeong-Ha's team.

Nine against five.

Lux's team had decided on defensive tactics so that he could defend their territory. Another reason was that he had a feeling that this would happen. He had noticed that a few teams were already targeting them even before the game started.

A lot of cold and jealous stares were directed at him at that moment. The worst thing was he didn't know what he did wrong to make those people hating on him.

As the group was desperate to reach the flag positioned at the center of Lux's team formation, Seo Yeong-Ha wiped four of them with ease. And Lux handled the other five by himself.

Meanwhile, the rest of his team members just watched as the two strongest members of their team single-handedly defeated the nine aggressors.

Lux started with a slow, flowing motion. He was swinging his sword, following the jiggle light that only he could see. The slow swinging motion gradually increased in pace, it had become fast that the five couldn't follow Lux's movements.

Lux effortlessly swung and danced together with his sword, slashing while dodging the five in a fast motion. At the end of his action, he reached the backline of the five, his sword creating a trace of a crescent moon.

With a graceful sheathing of his sword, the five aggressors suddenly crumpled to the ground, defeated.

"Your swordsmanship is pleasant to my eyes. It's beautiful and still captivating no matter how many times I see it," said Seo Yeong-Ha as she knocked out the last person of the attacking group.

Lux, finally opening his eyes, grinned as he turned around to see Seo Yeong-Ha dominating her opponent. Her left foot rested upon the two unconscious bodies stacked beneath her.

"I can say the same to you. You're brutal and ferocious as always."

"Ferocious? This is merely moderate," Seo Yeong-Ha scoffed.

Lux just chuckled in response to her claim.

"Anyhow, why are there so many teams targeting us? How many have we defeated?" Lux wondered.

"I don't know, probably 30?" Seo Yeong-Ha replied, her thumb gesturing to dozens of students tied to trees.

"It's 34 now!" Her teammates shouted.

Lux sighed. "I hope this will end soon, I'm tired already."

***

As I woke up from a brief, approximately 5-minute nap, I stretched my body and rose to my feet.

Gazing in the direction of Enzo, I noticed his hands were occupied with his bow and arrow.

"You're finally awake," he remarked.

"Yeah. Thanks for not waking me up and..." 

I trailed off as my gaze fixated on the three individuals tightly bound with a rope, their mouths securely taped shut.

"...good work for stopping them too."

"It's nothing."

I could hear blocked noises coming from one of the attackers, he was shooting me a sharp, burning glare.

I arched a brow before approaching him and pulling the tape on his mouth. Immediately, he yelled at me, "YOU FVCKING RAT!! I—!"

Once I heard the word 'rat' coming from his filthy mouth, I quickly shut him up, his mouth taped again.

"What a cruel fate that I've encountered my victim for the second time."

The man made a noise as soon as I said that. I didn't what he was saying but he was probably throwing me a bunch of curse words in different languages.

Well, I just ignored him. What could he do, anyway? Nothing. If he couldn't break free from the knot then he couldn't do anything to me.

Rustle—! Rustle—!

The bushes, or probably the leaves on the tree suddenly make a noise, freezing me and Enzo in the place.

We exchanged a glance and nod before taking out our weapons.

I unsheathed the dual daggers from the scabbards hanging on the belt made of kydex around my waist.

Did not want to get ambushed, Enzo performed the first strike. His arrow flew toward the tree not far from us.

Stab–!

"Ack!" 

Following the sound of an arrow penetrating the flesh was a pained groan from a student. He fell from the top of the tree and hit the ground pretty hard that it made a loud THUD sound.

As soon as one of the ambushers was spotted, the other quickly emerged from their hiding spots and surrounded us.

Four people. Five if we count the one who already fell.

'Hmm, are they teaming up to steal our team's flag?' I thought as I counted their numbers.

Then, one of them, a tall and muscular figure charged toward Enzo with a longsword in hand. He swung it fiercely, aiming to overpower him with brute strength.

Enzo swiftly dodged the attack and jumped away, making a distance between them.

Meanwhile, two others, armed with short swords, lunged at me simultaneously from different angles. They probably hoped to catch me off guard, too bad it didn't work.

With ease, I dodged their strikes, agilely maneuvering between them and launching counterattacks with my daggers.

The fourth attacker, a nimble and acrobatic woman, circled around, attempting to flank me and catch me off balance. Her agility made it challenging to predict their movements.

Thankfully, I got Clairvoyance in my possession. Predicting her next move was as easy as I breathe air. When she was about to launch a kick, I intercept her and knocked her out before the other two could make their attempt to attack.

Burst—!

A strong gust of wind materialized around Enzo's arrow. When he released the bowstrings, the arrow enhanced with wind magic sent the muscular figure to fly away.

I hope he doesn't die…

The last two had a good combination and coordinated attacks that kept me on the defensive, evading their strikes while searching for an opportunity to strike back.

Whoosh—!

Enzo shot another arrow to help me, ruining their coordinated attacks. 

"Nice one!"

While their concentration was broken by the distraction arrow, I delivered a swift, lethal strike to one of them, staggering him before Enzo knocked him out.

"Ready your jaw!"

The last one, seemingly distracted by my voice, couldn't react in time as my fist came from below and hit his jaw.

Thud–!

After a short dramatic flying a few centimeters above the ground, he crumbled to the ground.

"Fuh… That was easy."