"Ah... I was under the assumption that all of the students here had no live combat experience. I'm terribly sorry about that..."
I frowned before dematerialising my weapons, "Why would you even care if we did or not? I thought you were brought here to train us, right?"
He scratched his head in embarrassment, "Your... Instructor told us that the top students in his class would be able to whoop our asses and told us not to take it to heart... I thought all of the students here had never seen a real battle before and... Err... Didn't want you to become overconfident and get yourselves killed because of that..."
Huh... This guy's actually quite a stand up guy eh? I thought he was just trying to show off or something when he was trying so hard to win.
Alright, I take back what I said about you.
"So... Are you satisfied with this then?" I asked.
He opened his mouth before shutting it and gave me a pointed look, "You did not get your rank by simply accompanying a party and hiding behind them right?"
You bitch.
I narrowed my eyes at him, "Do you think I got the skills to beat you just by hiding behind my party?"
Sure, my current position is the party's support and leader so most of the time I would be at the very back. But it's not like I was always hiding behind everyone else since I have also fought on the front lines at times.
I mean... I did fight through and complete a Dungeon solo, right?
Ok, I did it with the help of my Shadow Summons so it wasn't exactly solo, but I guess since I did it using my own magic, I would say it still counted as a solo clear.
Besides... I'm pretty sure I could go back and fight those Dungeons I've fought before on my own without help now if I wanted to.
The male Mercenary shook his head, "This doesn't prove anything. Fighting in a life or death scenario is different from sparring. The skills you showed here could just mean that you have experience sparring with others."
"One of my titles is Dragonslayer," I told him as a matter of factly.
The sound of things clattering on the ground could be heard all around.
Eh?
When I looked around the place, I realised that everyone within earshot had dropped their weapons and were staring at me with wide eyes. Even the guy in front of me was looking at me with a shocked face.
I raised an eyebrow at them, "What? What happened?"
Instructor Henry grimaced, "Aster... When did you receive that title?"
"Err... A few years ago, I think? I fought an Infant Crimson Dragon and killed it."
"With... With a party right?"
"Does my Shadow Summon count?"
"No."
"Then... It's a solo kill I guess?"
This time, instead of hitting each other in the fist, they punched each other on the face instead.
Another shockwave blasted out but both Amraps stood their ground, taking their opponent's blow head on.
Then, as if a switch had been flipped, the two of them leapt away from each other to disengage before they lunged towards each other again.
Odeta swung her fist at the other Amrap's head, only for the Amrap to avoid the blow by ducking underneath it instead of taking it this time.
She then tried to counter with an uppercut to Odeta's chin which was caught in Odeta's other hand just a few inches short of its target.
Odeta then swung the fist her opponent had initially avoided back in an arc to smash her fist against her face, sending her opponent stumbling a step back.
She did not let her move too far as she pulled the hand she was holding back towards her, forcing the other Amrap to come to a stop before she delivered a snap kick into her opponent's abdomen.
The older Amrap let out a pained grunt as she found herself skidding backwards while the air in her lungs was forced out.
She barely had time to cross her arms in defence as Odeta had leapt towards her to deliver another punch aimed at her chest this time.
Odeta tried to deliver a left hook to get past her defence, only to hit empty air as her opponent ducked under it to punch her in the gut.
Everyone was expecting Odeta to be hurt from that but I knew that she had intentionally curled her body to absorb the blow, tensing up her abs to protect herself from the blow.
The older Amrap must be feeling numb in her fingers after punching something as solid as that.
By the time she tried to pull her hand back, Odeta had raised both her hands above her head to clasp them together before smashing it down on top of the other Amrap's head.
The other Amrap's head swung to the side from the blow, only for Odeta's fist to snap back and punch her right across the side of her head with a loud thwack.
All of us watched in wonder as the larger woman was actually sent airborne and her unconscious form flew for a good metre before crashing back down on the ground, unmoving.
I had to go over and heal her since I was sure she got a concussion from that blow.
Odeta grinned at me, "How was that, Sister Aster?!"
"Very cool. As expected of you, Odeta."
"Wahaha! Sister Aster's fight was still cooler though! I want to learn how to--"
Her words were interrupted when several Mercenaries quickly swarmed around us with hungry looks on their faces.
"Please duel me next!"
"No, no! Me! Me first!"
"No, get in line! I get to go first!!"
"Please, have a match with me!"
What the heck?