Eo's eyes were closed. In his head, he was replaying the battle. Looking back at the events, he had realized that Nestaris had actually spared his life. Then again, Eo wasn't using his tangiform. Eo wasn't sure whether to feel happy or sad about that, so he switched to thinking about tactics and other boring things.
What happened to him? When Eo was a mere recruit, he had managed to rapidly expand his reservoir of knowledge. That also coincided with the rapid increase in his essence level. Although he fought monsters for quite a while, that apparently only increased his essence marginally.
Of course, this was all relative. Eo's increase in essence was still absolutely massive in comparison to others. For Eo though, it felt like he was slowing down.
Learning and experimenting about the nature of essence unlocked so many more doors for Eo. It was also the event that triggered the most explosive growth for him. However, that didn't necessarily make him better at utilizing it himself. Eo's daily combat with the monsters allowed him to become more proficient with his essence.
Eo needed experimenting, then training. Learning, then practice.
Eo gagged. That sounded exactly like school. Eo took a deep breath. If essence training was going to be school, he was going to have to be the biggest nerd. He was going to be the valedictorian in his one-man class.
Should he use tangiform? Eo ponderously sat for hours (instead of sleeping, which was what he was supposed to be doing at this point). He then decided to use it only if he saw others using more advanced techniques. Looking back at his most recent fight, it was glaringly obvious that he was lacking in what seemed to be basic combat skills.
Eo was going to fake his terrible fighting. It wasn't that hard at the moment. All he needed to do was not use his tangiform.
☆
Eo squinted at the harsh glare of the arena lights. Why did they have to be so bright?
The opponent stepped up. She was dressed in a lot of red, with fiery decals plastered all over her armor.
Eo rolled his eyes. Probably a heat elemental. Why did they always have to be so flashy?
The announcer was someone else. Apparently, Mr. Zetterbard was one of the more important announcers. He announced major events, like a champion's battle or a newcomer's first match.
The new announcer had a really stuffy nose.
"This will be uh… Eo's second match and Kaldai's nineteenth match. Good luck to both, try not dying."
Kaldai leveled a flaming blade to Eo's chest.
"I better not get whupped by this wimp. Nah, I'll just kill 'em."
Kaldai horizontally swung her sword, unleashing a giant arc of flames. Eo limbo'ed it. Kaldai was thoroughly unimpressed.
"Hey, wimp, do you take me for a fool?" She spat on the ground. "I'LL KILL ALL YOUR FRIENDS!"
Eo backed away. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but that's like, zero people."
Kaldai started swinging her giant sword in a frenzy. Eo ran in circles. The audience of about four people started cringing.
Eo tried warning Kaldai. "Yo, calm down. You're making us look bad here." When that didn't work Eo synthesized a dagger and threw it at her.
The dagger would've missed, of course, but Kaldai tried swinging at it anyways.
Seriously? Eo thought. They're lumping me in with weird people like these? Eo normally wasn't the type to judge his personality against others, but his pet peeve was interacting with people that couldn't take a single sarcastic comment.
Eo infused a teeny tiny bit of essence into his legs and jumped. He jumped higher than a meter. Kaldai's eyes widened, and Eo threw the dagger into her torso.
The dagger hit her in the lower gut, and Kaldai stumbled back, clutching the handle. Blood started dribbling out of her abdomen, and she looked thoroughly shocked.
Eo wasn't trying to kill her. He just saw a clear target, and his body reacted as if it were fighting a monster.
"Hey, uh, you okay?" Eo looked at Kaldai. He was pretty sure he didn't hit a vital organ.
Kaldai hit the ground face-forward. Blood started pooling out of her.
"Uhh…" Eo looked around frantically. The spectators leaned in their seats. The announcer actually looked slightly awake.
Eo realized what he had to do. Here was someone who was immobile, injured, and probably dying.
Eo counted to 10.