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!

sword changed direction and only ended up grazing his shoulder. A large cut appeared on

on his face, Aaron took a couple of steps

finally decided to use that skill..." Touching his

"Likewise."

I calmly responded.

thought I had him.

of me, my brows

I wanted to end the battle quickly, but from the looks of it, Aaron did not slack

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

found out the trick

'What should I do?'

moment. Not only was Aaron extremely strong, but his fighting style, which

was probably the first time since arriving in this world that I

not quite

at Aaron before me, a

meeting with Aaron truly a

bloom inside of my heart

that he arrived right after I got rid of the five individuals was something suspicious in

there before...or was it truly a coincidence? I

when I realized how familiar he was with my

to counter a few of my combos, it looked like he had been spectating the fight

it was

"Shit!"

around, I activated drifting steps and made a run for it. A horrible thought suddenly emerged inside of my mind as I ran for

the portal, there was a high chance that an instructor

was to get him as far away from there as possible. If that portal activated, we'd be

"Where are you running?"

from behind me was Aaron. Completely ignoring him, my legs continued to run

steps at my disposal, the distance between Aaron and me increased

able to get a fair distance

seriously gone wrong with the plans. Somehow, the Monolith had gotten wind of Kevin's

be even worse than mine. After running for a further kilometer,

be good enough

my head and no longer seeing Aaron, I

it. As I opened it, not once did I

any time. Especially since he had very terrifying skill at

Dual-link.

someone, he could directly swap places with them. Of

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

'Quick, quick, quick, quick.'

through the pages of the red book, I secretly prayed that

let it be

'”Clank! '”Clank!

area as Kevin swiftly dodged and parried

"Haaa...haaa...fuck"

His breathing

him from all sides were eight individuals. From the way they cooperated with each other, it was obvious that they

'What's going on?'

he distanced

'...This was a trap.'

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

they had expected

'”Clank! '”Clank!

the offensive and

his opponent tried to deflect the attack when suddenly Kevin's sword disappeared and reappeared on his

"kuukh'”!"

soon connected with his body and a small transparent

"One ou...khhh!"

left, and back. Right as Kevin got rid of one opponent, three more showed up. In one swift movement, Kevin slashed horizontally, deflecting two attacks. Unfortunately, one managed to land and hit him in

"...khak."

'”Clank!

enough time to breathe, two

"Shit..."

time had stopped for Kevin. Staring at the two

"Overdrive..."

He muttered.