October 15, 3109
Knights Lesson, Arena
"Come with me!" Liam said suddenly as he approached me from behind.
"Where?" I asked, surprised by the appearance of someone who, in the current situation, should've been in a completely different place.
"If you want, we can talk here too."
Realizing how many eyes were now on me, I had no choice but to follow Liam.
Most of the teams under Nero's leadership were now watching me again. My own teammates looked shocked except for Elysia, who distracted the others just enough to give me a chance to slip away from their gazes.
As we distanced ourselves from the crowd, I still felt like we were being followed.
"What do you want?" I asked Liam, curious what he was planning this time.
"Let's destroy Astrel's base," he said with an absolutely calm face, like he was talking about brushing his teeth.
"What did you just say?" I asked, a little shocked by the proposal.
"Exactly what you think."
He didn't seem to grasp how insane that sounded.
"You do realize it's not that simple, right? We have to even reach the base and that means getting past their troops."
I was getting slightly annoyed by how casually he said it.
"Possible, but still doable. Let's ask Nero!"
Liam was too excited to even process my objections.
Understanding that I wouldn't be able to change his mind, I had no choice but to follow him toward Nero's base.
Outside the tent, two guards tensed up when they saw me, clearly expecting trouble.
"He's with me," Liam said simply. That was all it took, the suspicion vanished, and they let us through.
Inside, Nero and three others were in the middle of a heated discussion. Behind them stood a blue monolith, about a meter tall, the objective for victory.
"Kail and I are going to destroy Astrel's base!" Liam declared loudly, instantly pulling everyone's attention toward us. Since when does asking mean throwing the same proposal?
Nero looked at Liam, analyzing him for a moment, then turned to me.
"Hi, Kail," he greeted, completely ignoring Liam's announcement.
"Hello," I said back, then Nero asked, "You know what this crazy guy just told me?"
Liam tried to protest after being both ignored and called crazy, but Nero simply placed his palm over his mouth, silencing him completely.
"He told me the exact same thing on the way here,"
Liam, now fully annoyed, pushed Nero's hand away and said,
"I'm not crazy!"
To which Nero immediately replied,
"Yes, you are."
"You definitely are."
"I don't know anyone crazier than you."
"This is your destiny."
Three of Nero's assistants, who had been quietly observing until now, joined in to roast Liam.
"No one asked you, Nero's dogs! Kail, tell them they're wrong!" Liam snapped, arms crossed, waiting for me to take his side.
"But they're right," I replied.
"Hey! Don't join these pussies!"
"Kail, from right to left Max, Simon, and Serena who you already know." Nero introduced the people next to him.
Max stood almost two meters tall, with short black hair and brown eyes. His solid build gave the impression of a tank more than a knight. Simon was a scout from a side branch of Frostvein with his dark blue hair and blue eyes confirming it; during the scout lessons, he was constantly surrounded by a group of people so I remembered him.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Kail."
"That's not important now!"
I didn't even manage to finish my greeting before Liam jumped back into promoting his idea.
"It's all very simple Kail and I will destroy the enemy base. You just have to distract them until we reach the place."
"Yeah? Then tell me how you plan to get through their front line, and how you'll destroy the base. Even if we assume you somehow push past hundreds of enemies, if they surround you after that, you definitely won't escape. If you're so desperate to give up your points, just donate them to us, don't complicate things," Max said.
Despite his intimidating appearance, Max seemed to be the strategic brain of the blue team.
"That's already our problem. You just have to distract them as much as possible, it's not that hard."
At that, no one could say anything.
"Then why do you need a stranger? If you needed a partner I could go with you," Simon said suddenly, agreeing with Liam's proposal.
I glanced at him despite how it sounded, it didn't feel like an attempt to insult me he simply doesn't even consider my existence.
Liam turned and scanned Simon for a moment.
"Mmm, Simon, no offense, but you'd just slow me down."
That did sound like an insult.
"I admit you're a better scout than me, but you're assuming I'd be worse than a stranger you brought from nowhere?"
"But Kail really is better than you," Liam said, his voice calm and sincere but it only annoyed Simon more.
"Fantastic," Simon muttered. "Max, find someone to replace me as the rearguard leader. Let's see how good your assistant really is."
"That means everything will happen. Wonderful!"
Confirming his plan, Liam immediately started pushing me toward the exit.
"Hey, I didn't approve anything!"
Nero tried to object but was completely ignored.
"I didn't even agree to do this!"
Also ignored.
"This will be fun!"
In this entire situation, only Liam seemed genuinely happy.
.
.
.
|Desert Terrain|
Liam, Simon, and I stood in the front row, flanked by knights with far more muscular builds than the three of us. They gave us uncomprehending looks, but no one dared to contradict us, not with the authority of Liam and Simon that everyone in Nero's group knows about.
|3|
Breathing Technique: Tempest Flow (4☆)
Stage Two – Wind Acceleration
|2|
Mana Armis Activation:
Left Foot + Left Hand + Right Shoulder – 2nd Form: Condensation
Everyone began activating their armor. But the three of us stood out.
Unlike the Knights, our Scout armor wasn't bulky or eye-catching. To the untrained eye, it might've seemed like we hadn't activated anything at all. But that was the difference, our armor wasn't made for show.
Knight armor focused on raw power and heavy defense, forged thick with aether to withstand direct assaults.
Ours, on the other hand, was built for speed and precision, light, efficient, and stealthy.
|1|
"Kail!" Liam called over his shoulder.
"What?"
"Whoever passes everyone fierst wins!"
"You're serious again? It's been two months and you still haven't changed."
Hearing our conversation, Simon raised an eyebrow.
"Two months? You two met before the academy started?"
"No, I said. What, you already forgot the entrance exam?"
"The entrance exam? What does that have to do with—"
"Wait. Stop. You were the one... "Simon began, realization slowly hitting.
|Start!|
The second the signal rang out, Liam and I launched forward, diving straight into the chaos. Simon remained behind, stuck mid-thought.
In seconds, we were charging toward a storm of swords, spears, and steel all pointed directly at us.
"See you on the other side!" Liam shouted as we were separated by the wave of armored bodies so dense even sunlight couldn't pierce through.
Alright… let's see what I can do now.
The vanguard closed in Knight after Knight, Aether armor glowing, only a meter or two away in every direction. It was chaos. But their speed couldn't compare to mine.
That gave me an edge.
A sword slashed from the right. A spear lunged from the front. From the left, someone tried to body-slam me to the ground. I deflected the sword, used the spear's shaft as a pivot, and launched myself forward.
Only to face three more spears lunging straight for me. Not a moment passed without me having to dodge various sharp objects.
Reflexes. Right now, everything comes down to reflexes.
My mind couldn't process each individual threat. It could only track one thing, the trajectory. The road through this storm of blades. My body took over, honed by countless training sessions with Turbo Bunny. And thanks to Mr. Michael's advice, I directed Aether precisely into my leg armor. The result?
A temporary burst of speed, enough to shift my tempo and disrupt the enemy's timing. Just a second too fast, or a second too late, that's all it took in battle to win or lose.
I kept moving.
Sometimes I had to take a step back, because the path ahead was so tightly packed that I couldn't squeeze through. So I made space myself.
Ten enemies had already taken hits from my legs at speeds too fast to follow. They didn't even understand what happened and just collapsed, unconscious before their minds could register the blow. . . .
I'd broken through the Vanguard.
Now I was in the heart of the army. The crowd here was thinner mostly Scouts, faster than Knights, and far more reactive.
They turned to me the moment I appeared.
But now…
I had space.
And with space, I could use my technique.
Movement Technique: Wind Kingdom (4☆)
1st Stage: Territory Formation
Even with my territory active, seven opponents reached its edges, surrounding me and blocking any path forward.
Movement Technique: Wind Kingdom (4☆)
2nd Stage: Illusionary Redirection
With a single step, my clone split off from me, a perfect illusion. At that moment, three enemies lunged toward the clone, leaving four still facing me. But with the group now divided, a gap opened in their formation just wide enough. I slipped through, vanishing from the sight of the first four, who froze in confusion. Meanwhile, the other three slammed into each other, crashing down in a tangled heap around my illusion.
Continuing my advance, I pushed deeper into the army's midline. The enemies here were faster than the knights, and their reactions sharper, but I still held the advantage. My movement left them struggling to keep up, though a few did manage to get dangerously close.
Soon, I was nearing the final defensive line: the archers. They had already spotted me, shifting formation and readying their volleys.
Suddenly, a gust of wind rushed from my right Liam entered my vision, having broken through as well.
"These are the last ones! Don't forget the first one through wins!" he shouted with that same cocky smile.
"Yeah yeah..."
We split, Liam veered left, I went right forcing the archers to divide their attention. I stopped. In one fluid motion, I raised my bow without reaching for an arrow. I closed my eyes, placed my right hand on the string.
"FIRE!"
The command echoed. Instantly, the sky turned black with arrows.
Archery Technique: Tornado Archery (4☆)
3rd Stage: Gust Recognition
Two small tornadoes spiraled into life around the bow limbs, growing more intense each second spinning faster, expanding, twisting into unstable chaos. I pulled the string. The air crackled. Wind currents slowly converged at the center of the bow.
Dammit… it's going out of control again.
The tornadoes kept growing, slicing into my arms with cuts, the wind pressure warping the bow. Any further, and both the weapon and my hands might be ruined.
I released the string.
A massive gust exploded forward like a cannon made of pure wind. The blast tore through the air, scattering all sounds in its path. The arrows that were on the path hurled away, shattered, or buried into the earth. Some of the arrows that were not affected by wind gust were powerful enough to create small craters but not a single arrow landed within a 5-meter radius around me.
I stood untouched, at the center of a still, empty circle.
Even if the technique failed she protected me from the arrows even though it left me with wind cuts on my hands and the bow didn't seem to last long.
I slung the bow behind my back and moved around the group of archers, sprinting toward the enemy base nearly identical in layout to ours. As I scanned it, I caught sight of Liam standing casually in front.
Looks like he beat me this time.
Without hesitation, I headed straight for him.
"Ho ho ho! Where's the red carpet for the star of the day?"
The second I heard his voice, I regretted letting him win.
"Who am I? A winner! And who are you? A loser!"
"What now?" I asked, hoping he'd drop the act.
"We destroy the monolith . Simple."
He pointed to the large tent about 250 meters away.
"FIRE!"
The shout echoed from behind us. Liam and I turned and were greeted by a sky turned black with a fresh volley of arrows.
We instinctively reached for our weapons. Before I could even activate my technique, Liam unleashed two crescent-shaped wind blades that split the air and carved a safe path through the downpour.
The arrows fell all around us, but none touched us.
I turned my gaze toward the tent. I trusted that Liam would protect us from the arrows, so I focused on how to end the situation as quickly as possible.
Archery Technique: Tornado Archery (4☆)
2nd Stage: Wind Slash – 5 Blades
"FIRE!"
My arrow launched forward, five wind blades spiraling around it. It tore through the sky, slicing a clear path toward the tent. As soon as it pierced the darkness of the fabric, the entire structure exploded outward.
From the debris, a figure emerged calm, sword in hand. While the free space on the ground around us became less and less due to the dozens of arrows.
"Kail, what's taking so long?" Liam asked casually.
"Looks like they left someone to defend it."
"I don't think I can block more than three more arrow volleys…"
When I looked at Liam, I noticed his hands were trembling slightly. Even though we didn't show it on the surface, the achievement we performed earlier hadn't come easy, it had drained us more than we were willing to admit.
As for me, I hadn't come out unscathed either. Blood was beginning to seep from cuts that turned out deeper than they first appeared.
"Two will be enough." I said, wanting to finish faster.
Taking an arrow, that I nocked on the bowstring. I channeled aether into it, drawing power with every breath.
"FIRE!"
Liam again summoned his wind to intercept the barrage. Even so, a few arrows landed uncomfortably close.
Combination Technique:
Guided Arrow + Wind Slash (10 Blades) = Wind Ripper
"FIRE!"
My arrow shot forward like a lightning bolt. In the blink of an eye, it crossed the battlefield, headed straight for the sword-wielder.
The defender raised his blade to intercept but too late. The ten wind blades flared outward in mid-air, spinning violently. The collision sent his body flying back, slamming into the monolith's defensive barrier. The impact made it flicker violently, briefly shattering before recovering.
But in that instant, my arrow slipped through brushing past the defender's head by mere centimeters.