The moment Teacher Fielding signaled for the match to begin, Theodore Hammond immediately whipped out his Divine Device.
Transforming into a gigantic Thunder Hammer – the trademark weapon of the society that bore the same name, it crackled with incredible power. Silver-white lightning swarmed over the massive head of the hammer, wreathing it in a destructive power field.
"Let's see if I can finish you off before you summon any of your beasts!" Theodore roared as he charged at me. Swinging his hammer in a wide arc, he smashed it down in my direction, forcing me to jump back. The Thunder Hammer gouged a huge chunk of concrete out of the training room floor, sending a spray of debris in all directions.
Theodore took no notice. The boundary field didn't just apply to human combatants, who could be healed immediately no matter what sort of injuries they sustained inside. The moment they switched off the boundary field, the arena would be restored back to normal, with all damage gone. That was what happened in the main arena inside the school stadium after my battle against the representatives from Crowley's Academy.
While retreating, I summoned my Gemini twin swords. Not that I was planning on exchanging direct blows with Theodore or parrying his hammer strikes. With such tremendous power behind his swings, he would shatter both of my swords immediately.
No, if I wanted to win this, I needed to rely on speed.
Skidding to a stop, I suddenly switched directions and weaved through the destructive barrage that Theodore threw at me. He hurtled through the flying debris determinedly, his hammer raised high. With a speed that belied his massive size and the immense weight of his weapon, Theodore attempted to pummel me to oblivion, his hammer pulverizing the ground mercilessly and carving a deep crater into the concrete.
All while I weaved and dodged through the destructive pattern, barely staying just one step ahead of him. Damn, but the combat magic techniques I learned in Teacher Fielding's class were making a big difference here.
Not only that, the foundation had already been laid by Dad teaching me martial arts and footwork. I could just combine the footwork with the physical enhancement spells that Teacher Fielding imparted to us students in his class and accelerated my speed beyond what was possible for me in the past.
That was correct. In the past, I would never be capable of such high-speed actions. Dad didn't teach me magic because he wanted me to develop a solid foundation in martial arts instead of being overly reliant on magic. Otherwise I would end up with bad habits when learning combat magic later. He trusted the teachers in my school to teach me properly.
That was where Teacher Fielding and his classes came in. Once I had already established a firm foundation in martial arts, it was easy for me to combine them with Teacher Fielding's lessons in combat magic (particularly physical enhancement).
Consequently, I was enacting movements and maneuvers that were taking my opponent by surprise. Theodore had attempted to predict my path by striking at where he thought I would go to, but I relied on my reflexes to pull me out of danger. Skidding to a stop before Theodore's hammer struck the ground where I would end up in a few seconds, or diving to the right as Theodore's hammer swung to the left.
I could literally feel the intense electricity emanating from the Thunder Hammer as it swung toward me, narrowly missing me by a hair's breadth. Those were some really close shaves, which would have resulted in my loss if they connected. It also meant that my mastery of martial arts and attempts to combine them with combat magic were far from perfect. I hadn't reached the same level as my Dad. Not yet.
Theodore suddenly changed his movements. Instead of smashing down with his hammer, he dropped it and instead kicked at me. I jumped above his leg, only for him to shoulder-charge me.
"!"
I slashed down with my twin swords, forcing him to back off. Now that Theodore was unarmed, I sought to press my advantage, stepping forward and thrusting my swords forward. Relying on the training I received from Dad, I enacted a series of sword attacks, cutting, slicing, slashing and thrusting. Theodore backed off, avoiding each and every one of them. A thrust to his chest was swatted away by his arm. A slash to his shoulder was avoided by a hair's breadth when he sidestepped my attack.
Blood spurted when my blades cut through his flesh, but Theodore didn't even wince. He threw a punch at me after I missed a cut, whirling about to avoid my blade while counterattacking. Having seen a similar movement from Dad, I had anticipated his feint and was able to pull back in time. His fist soared above my face as I jerked my head back, and I hacked away at his arm, the blades catching upon his meaty muscle and doing nothing more than flay his flesh.
I couldn't even cut to the bone!
With a roar, Theodore swung his arm, dislodging my swords and causing me to stagger. He kicked at me, and I managed to block with my arms, just barely. Good thing I did, or his foot would have cracked my skull. Even so, the force behind his kick was so huge that I was sent hurtling off my feet and crashing several meters away.
"Ugh!"
I flipped myself in midair and landed clumsily on my feet. As I stood up, I caught sight of Theodore already picking up his Thunder Hammer. He reactivated it, causing lightning to run along its length and culminate in a raging storm at the head.
"Hu…"
I exhaled as I raised both my Gemini twin swords. From what I remembered, a Thunder Hammer doubled its user's strength and had a high armor penetration value. It also did massive damage, dealing at least several wounds per hit. I had best avoid getting hit by that damned thing.
But how?
"Hah!"
With a bellow, Theodore charged at me again. Lightning exploded from his Thunder Hammer, saturating the area with intense electricity. Even though I had tried to gather my magical energy to form a protective aura around myself, I couldn't withstand such an electrifying environment. Gritting my teeth, I backed off, only to find my back pressed against the wall.
Swoosh!
Ducking under Theodore's Thunder Hammer, which smashed a chunk of the wall into powder, I dove to the side and rolled away as I tried to avoid his kick. Theodore continued to hammer where I was rolling and I was forced to call my next option.
"Taurus!"
The gigantic bull materialized and rammed into Theodore. He grunted as he parried Taurus's charge with his Thunder Hammer, but found himself driven back despite his prodigious strength. Taurus grunted and jerked up his head, his horns locking with the Thunder Hammer and lifting Theodore off his feet, throwing him helplessly into the air.
Theodore then flipped himself up and swung his hammer down on Taurus's heavily armored back, which was covered with metallic plating. Taurus reared up and kicked him, his hooves meeting the hammer. There was an explosion of lightning, and Taurus staggered, slightly electrocuted. Theodore, on the other hand, was sent flying across the arena.
Seizing the opportunity, I threw my Gemini twin swords. Spinning in a vicious arc, they intersected where Theodore was falling. The president of the Thunder Hammer Society reacted quickly, though, swinging his hammer to smash Pollux away while twisting his body to avoid Castor. The black blade did score a huge cut on his back as it slashed past, drawing a line of blood.
"Kuh!"
He landed on his feet unsteadily, but I had already caught both Gemini twin swords and was descending upon him with a graceful slash. Gritting his teeth, Theodore swung his Thunder Hammer up to meet me.
There was a deafening crack, followed by an explosion of electricity. Both Gemini twin swords shattered instantly and I was blown across the arena. Slamming into the ground, I skidded for several meters before coming to a stop. My body convulsed as lightning electrocuted me mercilessly, and I gritted my teeth to endure it, slamming my hands onto the ground and discharging the electricity in my body to earth it.
"Oh, wow…you're capable of that?" Theodore was amazed. I grinned back.
"I learned that from my Dad." I had seen him fight a lightning mage before, and quite honestly, electric spells were annoying to deal with. They could disrupt one's magical energy and make it much more difficult to cast spells. Dad showed me that the best way to deal with it was to quickly discharge it into the earth before it could disrupt anything further.
"I see. Still, it's over."
Theodore approached me, getting ready to deliver the finishing blow. I gaped at him, unable to believe that he blatantly went and forgot about something.
But I wasn't going to remind him. Before Theodore could swing his Thunder Hammer down, Taurus slammed into him, knocking him off his feet and hurling him into the wall. There was a deafening crack as Theodore collided with the concrete, causing a cobweb of cracks and a crater, before he dropped onto the ground, unmoving.
"Thanks, Taurus." I slowly rose to my feet, heaving. Just as planned. I had thought to distract Theodore for a moment so that Taurus could attack him from behind while his guard was down, but I couldn't believe my opponent had completely forgotten about my Constellation spirit. Oh well. His loss.
I glanced in the direction of Teacher Fielding, expecting him to declare the end of the match, but he remained as impassive as ever.
Uh oh…that couldn't be good.
"Taurus!" I yelled. My Constellation spirit responded, twisting around and charging at the sprawled Theodore. While it seemed despicable to attack a fallen enemy before he got up, from the fact that Teacher Fielding hadn't declared it my victory, I could tell that the match was far from over. Theodore still wasn't down yet.
And I wasn't stupid enough to underestimate him. I had to finish him off quickly before he got up, or I might end up like my opponents who often underestimated me. Just like Hal Gunther.
Boom!
I was too late. Lightning exploded from Theodore's body and blasted Taurus off his feet. The enormous bull cried out before he disappeared, disintegrated by the tremendous amount of electricity.
Crackling with devastating energies, Theodore slowly rose to his feet, gripping his hammer tightly. His eyes had gone entirely white, smothered with silvery white lightning. The electricity rolling off his body was so intense that even though I was standing so far away, I began to feel numb.
"…Theodore Hammond is a berserker," Harvey Deng murmured outside the ring, his voice dripping with wonder. "He is in the berserker class."
"Damn it," I muttered, realizing that I had just flipped his switch and forced him into berserk mode. As I suspected, the match was far from over.
It was only just beginning.