The Author's POV

"Aaron."

"Oh? You know me?"

Standing on the spot where I used to be standing moments before, was Aaron. Theodora Academy's number one ranked first year.

"Of course, I would. You're pretty famous." Taking a step back, I replied. "...It'd be strange for me to not know you."

"That makes sense..."

As if it was the most logical answer, Aaron crossed his arms and thoughtfully nodded his head.

Looking around, he asked, "...but, you still haven't answered my question. Where are the other two?"

"You're talking about Kevin and Jin?" I shrugged my shoulders. "Beats me. They are off doing their own thing."

Even though I knew; why would I give him the answer? That was a stupid question to begin with.

"Mhm, I see. Then I'll get rid of you first."

Aaron's eyes coldly flashed. Disappearing from the spot he was standing, he reappeared a couple of inches away from me.

'”Sha!

Slashing sideways, I could hear the faint sound of his dagger splitting the air apart.

"...khuk!"

Bending my knees slightly, I watched as his dagger pierced the area where my head used to be.

'”Thump!

Stomping on the floor, I pushed my body back. Cold sweat trickled down my forehead.

"...that was close."

After distancing myself from Aaron, I placed my hand on the sheath of my sword and glared in his direction.

"Hmm, you're as good as I thought you were.", Aaron said as he looked at me from the distance.

"You too..."

There was a reason why Aaron was the number one ranked person in Theodora academy. Experiencing his skills firsthand, I now understood just how strong he was.

Furthermore, from the looks of it, he seemed to be taking me seriously unlike all of my other opponents before.

"Damn it."

Unknowingly, my grip on the handle of the sword tightened.

'”Sha! '”Sha!

Before I knew it, Aaron once again attacked me. Unlike before, I was more prepared and thus was able to dodge his attacks.

"...khuak!"

Unfortunately, cuts still appeared on my body as Aaron's dagger tore my clothes and skin.

'He's done his research on me...'

The more Aaron attacked, the more difficult my situation became. He was leaving me no room to breathe. Like a machine, he attacked, attacked, and attacked.

Because my rings needed half a second to make, and the Keiki style couldn't defend, I was truly in a stump. Slowly but surely, my injuries were starting to pile up as cuts appeared all over my body.

'Crap, I can't let this go on...I needed to create some distance.'

Gritting my teeth, I raised my head and directly stared at Aaron in the eyes. Slowly my pupils turned grey as I muttered inside of my mind.

'The one..'

Aaron instantly fell into a trance as his footsteps slowed down for a split second. Taking advantage of this opening, placing my hand on the sheath of my sword, a clicking sound resounded across the area.

'”Click!

"...Kahk!"

'”Clank!

slightly, Aaron deflected my attack slightly as my sword changed direction and only ended up grazing his shoulder. A

Aaron took a couple of steps

that skill..." Touching his shoulders, his smile deepened. "As

"Likewise."

I calmly responded.

really thought I had

Aaron in front of me, my brows

utilizing the one, and taking advantage of the small opening I created, I wanted to end the battle quickly, but from the looks of it,

a very strong skill, it had a severe flaw. If the opponent expected the skill and was not caught off-guard, then the effect of the skill diminished. Furthermore, if my opponent's mentality was strong, the effect of the skill was

had found out the trick behind my

'What should I do?'

at a pretty severe disadvantage at the moment. Not only was Aaron extremely strong, but his fighting style, which was similar to Jin's, completely countered

the first time since arriving in this world that I faced an opponent as

quite right about

Aaron before me, a thought

my meeting with Aaron

inside of

right after I got rid of the five individuals

he there before...or was it

when I realized how familiar he

depicting how I fought online, from how he was able to counter a few of my

it was

"Shit!"

it. A horrible thought suddenly emerged inside of my mind as I ran for it. On the opposite

took care of before near the portal, there was a high chance that an instructor would

goal was to get him as far away from

"Where are you running?"

me was Aaron. Completely ignoring him, my legs continued to run as fast

drifting steps at my disposal, the distance between Aaron and

was able to get

so, I continued running. Something had seriously gone wrong with the plans. Somehow, the Monolith had gotten wind

worse than mine. After running for a further kilometer,

be good

longer seeing Aaron, I

red book, I carefully opened it. As I opened it, not

any time. Especially since he

Dual-link.

a selected target. As long as he saw someone, he could directly swap places

someone near me, Aaron could use that ability to directly teleport before me. I'd be

'Quick, quick, quick, quick.'

the red book, I secretly prayed

don't let it

'”Clank! '”Clank!

across the area as Kevin swiftly dodged and parried the incoming attacks directed towards him from

"Haaa...haaa...fuck"

breathing

him from all sides were eight individuals. From the way they cooperated

'What's going on?'

as he distanced himself from the eight

'...This was a trap.'

that there were only four opponents he needed to take care of, but contrary to his expectations, there were four more lying

very start, they had

'”Clank! '”Clank!

two more attacks, Kevin took the offensive and counterattacked. Kevin slashed

opponent tried to deflect the attack when

"kuukh'”!"

soon connected with his body

"One ou...khhh!"

showed up. In one swift movement, Kevin slashed horizontally, deflecting two attacks. Unfortunately, one managed to land and

"...khak."

'”Clank!

to breathe, two more

"Shit..."

for Kevin. Staring at the two attacks directed

"Overdrive..."

He muttered.