Aziel stood on the battlefield in an unprofessional fighting stance, cold sweat trickling down his face, tension visible.
'I think I should surrender.'
Aziel pondered, his mind raced through different possibilities.
'No... I can't, it would trash my reputation even more than it is already now, and if that clan ca-'
A pause.
Then a smirk in his thoughts.
'But why do I even care? Since when did I start giving a damn about their pride?'
As he looked ahead, his mind, though focused, was clouded with a paralyzed dread until...
A blue holographic screen appeared out of nowhere in front of him.
.
"A new quest has arrived"
.
L Side Quest: Survive for five minutes against the opponent.
L Reward: +150 EXP
+10 Stat points
L Difficulty level: Insane
L Penalty: None due to the sheer difficulty level
.
'Oh, the universe does have a sense of humor.'
Aziel thought dryly.
'Five minutes? Against her? Maybe they should have just written: Try not to die pathetically.'
Then a sound reverberated in Aziel's ears.
Beep... Beep... Beep...
.
As the match began, Sarah immediately took the offensive, recognizing him as the weakest.
She darted forward with remarkable speed, her rapier flashing in quick, precise jabs aimed at exploiting any opening in his defense.
Aziel, though initially able to parry her strikes with sweeping arcs of his scythe, soon found himself on the defensive.
The sheer speed and agility of Sarah's attack forced him to constantly adjust, struggling to keep up.
Sarah's rapier moved like a blur, and she seemed almost to glide across the floor.
As the battle progressed, Aziel struggled to keep up with Sarah's relentless assault.
The next moment, Sarah's rapier glowed with a faint blue hue, showing her water affinity.
.
As she prepared to strike, she manifested thin streams of water that flowed alongside the blade, which increased the sheer force of her attack.
Finally, Aziel saw an opportunity.
He closed the distance and attempted to deliver a devastating thrust.
But to his surprise she conjured a barrier of swirling water that blocked his strike with ease.
Aziel momentarily lost his balance, which was his biggest mistake.
Immediately she conjured large boulders, emerging from the ground which clutched Aziel's legs, making him immobile.
Then she raised her hand as several water spheres materialized, hovering around her.
With a flick of her finger, the water spheres launched with great force, aimed towards Aziel.
Unable to move, he met the attack head-on which severely injured him.
.
Struggling to stand, he leaned on his scythe, which was embedded in the ground for support.
With every effort he pushed against the haft, his body trembling as he tried to regain his balance and rise to his feet.
But it was then...
When a grin etched across his face.
---
"Quest Accomplished"
L Rewards Given ☆¤¤☆
.
[] LVL 1 → LVL 2 []
• +1 Skill slot Unlocked
.
---
L Enter the Skill name and description
L Omnipotent
L Creating...
"Error"
L Anti-Matter Manipulation
L Creating...
"Error"
L Death Touch
L Creating...
"Error"
.
"Of course, it wouldn't work... what was I even thinking?"
Aziel sighed inwardly as he realized there was not much time left.
L Creating Skill...
L Initializing...
"Skill creation successful"
--
L Total skills:
"2/2"
--
He was unable to see the Skill description as Sarah once again struck, which he was barely able to parry.
The next moment he stood firmly as if there were no injuries and murmured under his breath.
.
"CHAMPION'S ARENA"
.
As those words left his mouth a black translucent dome of radius more than fifteen metres covered the battlefield.
But the dome was only visible to him.
Not to anyone else, not Sarah, other students, and not even Zara.
He once again opened his system hurriedly and read the Skill description for confirmation.
--
L Skills:
• Champion's Arena: Allows the user to create a dome of radius 15 metres, which is not visible to others. When inside the dome, user's Stats will increase by 135% of the strongest opponent, while any other internal player Stats will reduce by 30%.
• The dome changes it position with respect to the user.
L Time: 75 seconds
L Cooldown: 12 hours
.
--
Immediately, Aziel felt an incredible surge of power coursing through his body.
His movements became sharper, faster, more powerful and precise.
Sarah once again continued her assault but now Aziel moved with incredible speed, slipping past each strike with ease.
Sarah's eyes widened as she gritted her teeth in frustration, launching another flurry of attacks.
Her every swing became sluggish and her face twisted in confusion.
Seizing the opportunity, Aziel landed a punch to her side.
The blow, now boosted by the dome's effect, hit her with the force of a hammer.
She stumbled back and coughed out blood from her mouth.
"Cough... cough... khk."
Yet another strike came, a kick to the abdomen.
She tried to block the kick with her water barrier but the kick tore past the barrier and knocked the wind out of her.
Aziel's Intuitive Intellect was on cooldown, and it was also the reason he didn't use his elements.
Eitherway, just his fists reinforced by mana inside the dome were enough.
She tried one final attack, but Aziel moved like a blur, twisting his body to dodge.
In an instant, he closed the distance delivering a devastating uppercut.
Sarah fell down on her knees, gasping for breath.
Aziel once again attempted to deliver a kick to her face.
But...
It was a trap.
Sarah caught his leg and punched his torso.
But Aziel didn't feel anything.
It should have been the case, right?
Instead, he was sent flying a few metres away on the battlefield.
Reason?
The dome was already lifted when Sarah fell on her knees but Aziel didn't realize it.
That one punch was enough for him.
Enough to render him unconscious.
.
After all, the rank difference was too large.
The fight came to an end.
Zara and Zephyr rushed towards Aziel, who lay on the ground, unconscious.
They quickly lifted him up by the shoulders and dragged him to the infirmary.
Zara made him eat some healing medicine, because the injuries were after all not too critical.
"Are you sure you want to stay here, you've got other lectures to attend to, and it's your first day too?"
Zara interrogated, her voice filled with concern.
"Yeah... I will stay here, but you should go."
Zephyr replied firmly.
"Okay then, I have other lectures so I will leave him in your care. Goodbye."
"Yeah... Bye."
As Zara's left, her footsteps echoing in the hallway, Zephyr stared blankly in Aziel's eyes with a warm expression.
"Aziel...he really has grown up. Though i wonder if that's really a good thing"
He murmured under his breath, his gaze unwavering.
"Perhaps they will allow you back someday soon"
.
"_"
"_"
"_"
•••
"Saaaaveeeee meeeeee"
---