The batch this year has been interesting at least.
Thankfully at least, it didn't seem like the entirety of it was subpar, there were quite a few individuals that were on the level of at least A class.
'Aaron Protrelli, he didn't disappoint but still. I was the fool for getting my hopes up.'
I couldn't help but release a tired sigh followed by a yawn.
After returning to the locker room I took a quick glance around at the remaining participants.
Nearly everyone had completed their battle and only a small handful were left.
'None of them are worth my time.. I'm taking a nap.'
I was prepared to immediately fall asleep somewhere inconspicuous, that was until my gaze landed on someone from behind.
A boy, with a slender and delicate build and long white hair like freshly laid blankets of snow. Pure and untouched.
'Ah yes, the blind one. A swordsman's path is not an easy one, much less the path one must traverse in eternal darkness, and yet here he stands after passing the first assessment and now he aims to pass the second.'
"..."
'How tiresome.'
I rubbed my temples in a slight annoyance and I felt a smirk spread across my lips.
The boy had bested me. He had fallen asleep carelessly, likely waiting for his turn to fight.
It was a fair and understandable outcome. The majority of the fights were subpar at best. The only fights worthwhile watching had already passed.
'I wonder. Is his complacency arrogance or stupidity?'
He has a strange power emanating about him, however it's not particularly noteworthy.
***
As the battle on the screen came to a close, The names of the last two examinees were called.
["Damien Protrelli and Adel Pixie!"]
The two examinees were called and appeared on opposite sides of the arena on the screen.
I found myself peeking one eye open to see the start of the battle.
["Please choose your weapon before the battle begins~"]
The boy named Adel walked into the center of the arena. His short slightly curly pastel blue hair and pink eyes like ripened pink grapes were stunning and complimented his white and black attire as if he were a character from a fairytale romance novel.
His skin was pale and smooth, clear of any and all blemishes, yet had a beautiful glow like white sand under the sunlight.
In his hands contrary to his appearance his weapon was a strange spear. Not as long as the first spear used by Cecil, but it didn't fall far behind in quality and sharpness at a glance.
Alternatively, Damien held a sheathed sword. The same one he had been carrying until now.
The sleek black and azure blue sheath, and the sword with cold silver fangs at the hilt gave off a strong aura of something as high quality as it is dangerous.
Despite being blind, it was obvious from the way he smoothly held the sword, that wielding it came as effortlessly and naturally as breathing.
["Oh ho~ It would seem that the last matchup of the day has started with quite a familiar atmosphere! How exciting~"]
=============================
[ Damien's POV ]
I felt a cold sweat forming as I looked at my opponent.
'Couldn't I have been out against a random NPC? Why am I up against Adel Pixie?'
Silently cursing at the universe, I bit my lip and moved out of the way of yet another attack. The match had started over 10 minutes ago, and just as expected going against a main character is a job that only main characters should be tasked with.
It wasn't until Adel, or rather his spear, was about half a centimeter away from me that I briefly got dragged out of my spiraling thoughts.
Reflectively, I managed to barely dodge the attack by stepping to the side.
My senses stood on high alert as the powerhouse in front of me prepared yet another attack, wasting no time.
'Tsk, he's completely ridiculous. I don't have time to—'
Before I could finish my thought Adel twisted on his heel and raised his spear sweeping it in an upward crescent motion followed by 3 quick jabs.
All of which I had barely managed to dodge, several times sustaining shallow injuries from the sharp spear grazing against my skin or clothing.
He clicked his tongue and closed the distance between us, grabbing me by the collar and speaking to me in a threatening low tone.
"You, why are you holding back? If you think this fight will be a breeze just because you'll be healed in the end then—"
Pushing him away and jumping back a reasonable distance, I spoke while stifling a sigh.
"I told you! I'm not holding back, you maniac!"
"...what?"
He looked at me as if I said something that made absolutely no sense. Like I had told some kind of blatant lie that didn't even make sense for the situation and yet I had only told the truth.
Looking at his expression that seemed stunned, and then quickly switched to irritation I finally took out my sword from its sheath.
"I wasn't holding back, I don't know why you're so convinced that I am but I won't just stand by and let you kill me."
Unsheathing my sword, I inhaled deeply and held my breath. Closing my eyes and clearing my mind.
My heart still seemed to be beating quickly but that's to be expected.
In the original story, Adel was a character that needed to pass the entrance exams and become a student by any means necessary. It was obvious that he had his own circumstances which led him to become someone who fought without hesitation whenever necessary, that's why someone with such an adorable and innocent face could have such a two sided personality.
He was a fan-favourite because of his looks and innocent "cotton candy-like" personality. Sweet and gentle as he was, he learned to be ruthless and precise. I never cared much for the guy so I don't know his exact situation or background but I do know that he's dangerous.
He's one of the heroes of this world, and one of the last ones to die, making him among the strongest of the heroes in the future and he didn't fall behind by much as a child. A fast learner with a lot to lose was not among my list of examinees that I wanted to fight.
'Damn it… I don't know why he's acting like this… even in the original story he simply attacked once and finished the duel.. Is this because of some kind of damn butterfly effect?'
"Damn it all to the deepest pits of hell."
'From the moment I got thrown into this world I've had the displeasure of running into nothing but random powerhouses that either want me dead or wouldn't hesitate to kill me if I get in the way even a little.'
'But who the hell decided that I was an obstacle for you to step on, huh?'
This time, Adel had given me time to attack. Be it on purpose or because he had gotten lost in thought and let his guard down, it didn't matter.
As I gripped my sword tighter I felt a chill envelope my body as if clinging to my bones. And air began to brush past me almost as if engulfing me.
"Honestly, it's really starting to piss me off."
Firmly gripping the hilt of my sword I dashed forward and swung my sword towards Adel's neck causing him to jump back and use the spear to deflect my attack.
Following the attack was a strong gust of wind, causing a bright red slit to appear on Adel's face near his eye.
I didn't stop there. As if suddenly overcome with a wave of strong negative emotions, my body moved on its own as my mind began spiraling with thoughts.
'First I get threatened after my family is slaughtered right in front of me, then I get kidnapped to some crazy noble's home and he forces me to swallow some dangerous mythical creature to use me!
'Now??'
Kicking Adel squarely in the chest and sending him back as he used his spear to slow down the speed at which he flew back and came to a stop. He coughed up blood and looked down at his bloodied hand with a blank expression before looking up and what replaced that was an expression of excitement or the closest thing to it.
'Now I'm being pitted against one of the main characters, a hero from a doomed novel who seems to view me as the only thing between him and his entrance to the academy!'
Adel quickly stood up and twirled his spear dramatically yet fluidly around him before taking a stance and preparing an attack.
'Hell no…'
'I'm not just going to roll over and let him nearly kill me just to put on an interesting enough show in hopes that he passes the exam!'
Sure, he'll get in but I'll get embarrassed, injured, and worse, I'll likely end up dying at the hands of Lord Protrelli for not getting admitted like he hoped.
Cold sweat trickled down my back as I remembered my last encounter with that man. Just the thought of him shoving that accursed snake down my throat made me both furious and nauseous.
Speaking of Protrelli, who the hell said they could attach that last name to me? Why didn't they just call me Damien or something? Won't I get into trouble if people hear the name and think I'm some hidden successor or something??
A/N: IM SO SORRY!
I know it's been a while since I uploaded anything and I want to apologize.
I won't go into detail about how busy I am or whatever, but I will say that I've been doing my best to write literally every time I got any freedom to do so.
Also! I recently hurt my arm and was unable to do anything as I couldn't even move my arm, I couldn't study, couldn't read, and sure as hell couldn't write… my arm is better now.. a little. It's literally purple but I can move it now so I spent all night writing. I rewrote this chapter since I didn't like the original as it was really messy and made little sense… I don't know if this is much better but to me it feels like a great improvement.
Tell me, who do you like more so far and why, and between Adel and Damien, who do you think will win the fight?
Ah- I was going to make the fights long and in depth but I didn't wanna make it seem like I was trying to make chapters unnecessarily long by writing so many words so I'll just try to summarize the fights quickly but not too quickly.. Thank you in advance for allowing me to experiment with my writing style as I figure out what works and what doesn't. I hope to improve quickly for all of our sakes.