*crash* My sword only met ground and rubble flew everywhere and my sword was entirely buried in the ground, only the handle was visible on the surface which was enough of display how strong that attack was...strong enough to split Esdeath into two halves.
I took her rapier out of my pierced hand and threw it at her and instantly darted forward, leaving my own weapon buried in the ground.
"?!" She seemed surprised that I would abandon the advantage of having her weapon but she quickly recovered and dodged her rapier flying towards her head. It was able to take only a few strands of her hair and then it continued until it buried itself deep inside the tree. The handle was the only reason why it didn't pierce through the entire tree and continued further.
I already jumped towards her when she was busy dodging her own weapon.
*Bang* She was able to dodge my kick and rubble flew everywhere and it was impossible to see through all the dust gathered in the place of impact.
"Hm?" She slightly surprised when she saw my leg come out of the dust, coming for her stomach, she narrowed her eyes and dodged to the side but I already anticipated that she will be able to dodge this attack.
I jumped while spinning around and used my other leg with the help of the force behind the rotation to perform middle kick aiming at her waist.
"Hah!" I exclaimed with a crazy smile.
"?! Tch!" She noticed it too late and used her arm to block my kick.
*bam* Upon the contact with my kick, Esdeath flew away, knocking down a few smaller trees until a bigger tree stopped her.
---
'What a strong kick, I almost can't feel my arm!' Esdeath thought with a smile while blood poured down from the corner of her mouth. She was looking at Akashi who was standing at the same place with a small smile, waiting for her response which only ignited her will to fight more.
---
Esdeath got up from the ground and wiped away the blood from the corner of her mouth with a big smile.
"You are really strong, Akashi!" Esdeath exclaimed and darted towards me at an even higher speed than before.
Seeing her response, my smile widened and became slightly crazy once again as I darted forward to meet her head-on.
We both threw a punch.
*fwoosh* *Crack* When our fists met each other wind immediately went on a rampage around us and ground under our legs all around us cracked.
Seeing that it was a draw, we threw another punch with our other hand and once again the same situation was created.
We both looked at each other and started to smile even more as we tried to overpower each other.
But seeing how no one was getting the upper hand...
"Heh" I chuckled and used my head for a headbutt and Esdeath immediately followed after me with a smile.
When our heads collided both of us started bleeding from our forehead. But this time Esdeath acted even faster and when our heads collided she also kicked me into my stomach with her high heel boots.
Both of us flew away from each other, rolling on the ground for a while before we regained our balance and stopped.
[Health: 450/560]
I looked down on my stomach and found a bigger hole in my stomach but it wasn't that deep.
Was her heel able to pierce through my skin?
I thought with a slightly surprised expression while touching the wound.
I looked up to see Esdeath getting up from the ground with a much more bloodied forehead than me.
Did she already predict that she will lose that headbutt exchange with me so she used it to distract me from her real attack which was a kick?
"How about we stop? It seems that both of us are quite injured and I don't know if we will be able to fight tomorrow." She suggested with a smile that didn't look like she wanted to stop.
"Oh? Come on, little girl, that's not the smile you make when you want something to end!" I got up and said with a big smile.
I had a problem to form a fist with my pierced hand so I took out a few bandages to firmly bandage the wound.
I tried to form a fist and it was much easier but the bandages immediately became wet and red due to blood pouring out of the wound.
"Much better now!" I muttered and redirected my gaze at Esdeath with a wide smile.
"Although I am reluctant to admit, both of our beliefs are extremely strong. It's hard to decide which is stronger." Esdeath said with a helpless smile and closed eyes.
"No." I said shortly with a confident smile.
"What?" She frowned when she heard my answer.
"My belief is much stronger because I am only at the beginning!" I shouted and immediately jumped at her while punching with my injured hand.
"You are tenacious, I will give you that. But why continue a fight that's too even for both sides." She said and jumped away from my fist.
*Bang* The ground a few meters around me immediately cracked and in the place of impact, there was a bigger hole.
[Health: 440/560] More blood poured out of my injured hand but I couldn't care any less about that.
---
'How is he still so strong after losing so much blood? No...it's not that he is strong but he is getting stronger each second we fight...' Esdeath thought with a shocked expression when she saw the strength of Akashi's punch that didn't weaken after losing some blood but it only became stronger.
---
We continued our fight for some time, Esdeath used the strategy to receive the attack head-on and deliver even stronger one but she didn't know that it only made me stronger.
----In the forest, near the Akashi's and Esdeath's battlefield----
"Esdeath is losing to that boy, how is that possible!" Mera said with a frustrated expression while gritting her teeth.
"That boy...his physical strength and endurance are really high, it's hard to believe that he is still human." Gilberda commented with an impressed expression.
"I believe that you are still stronger physically than that boy." Mera said with an irritated tone.
'I am not sure about that...' Gilberda thought with a forced smile while looking at the place of Akashi's battle that was filled with holes in the ground and cracks were visible everywhere.
"I don't think so..." Taeko muttered while observing the fight with her bright green eyes and stoic face.
"Hm?" Mera directed questioning gaze at Taeko but before she could say anything Babara came forward with her hands behind her back.
"His aura is only strengthening by each drop of blood he loses. He isn't even using any techniques, he is simply enjoying this fight as you can judge from his expression and that crazy smile. If he used everything he can, he would win this fight without any major problems." Babara explained since she was the most experienced member of Oarburgh Clan.
"Hmm, Esdeath is quite tired and weakened, how about we-" Mera redirected her gaze at Esdeath and started saying something before she was interrupted.
"Don't even think of it, I have a good relationship with that boy and as you can see, we will be able to make use of his strength. You must keep your urges in check and if you are desperate, there is always Gilberda around you." Babara interrupted Mera with a stern tone.
When Gilberda heard her words, she immediately blushed while lewd expression appeared on her face.
'I swore my absolute loyalty to Mera-sama and she even loves me back with everything she got but...I am still quite glad to see that I am not the only one who has abnormal strength, even though my toughness is still much higher than his, even blades have a problem to cause me any deep wounds.' Gilberda redirected her gaze at Akashi with a small smile on her face.
----Back to Akashi's fight----
After a while of exchanging blows with Esdeath...
"Guh" I groaned when she punched me in the face but when I was falling on the ground, I used my hand to support my balance and used my leg instead to kick her into her face.
[Health: 270/560]
"Agh" *fwoosh* She released a groan of pain and her body flew away and air made piercing sound as her body quickly flew through the air.
*Thud* Her body finally stopped flying when she broke through a few trees until she hit a large tree.
I looked in her direction with a small smile and then I closed my eyes.
I used my hand to rebound from the ground to regain my balance on both legs and slowly approached Esdeath who was sitting near the tree and leaning her back on it with half of her face covered in blood but she was still smiling a little.
*Spit* I got rid of blood in my mouth from her punch and finally arrived in front of her.
"*cough* I guess it's your win, I can no longer move..." She raised her head to look into my eyes and said with a forced smile while trying to move with her hand but it immediately dropped back on the ground.
"..." I didn't say anything and just observed her with a calm expression.
---
[+ 4 SXP to your special class] x4
[+ 2 SXP to your special class] x10
Special Class: Yato (Lv. 3, +10 Str, +10 Const, +10 Agi, +3 Int) 22/40 SXP
[Health: 300/590]
[Energy: 965/965]
[Strength: 40 (70)]
[Agility: 40 (66)]
[Intelligence: 32 (44)]
[Constitution: 40 (56)]
Free Stat points: 7
---
.
.
---
'To think that someone younger would defeat me...Not to mention that he is from the capital, he didn't even grow up in the wildness' Esdeath thought with a genuine smile while looking at the night sky filled with stars.
'I guess now I understand why my father died...it wasn't because he was weak. He was simply outnumbered, his opponents were numerous and more tenacious than him, the same way as Akashi is more tenacious than me.' Esdeath thought and closed her eyes, waiting for Akashi to do whatever he wanted.
---
.
.
---
[Esdeath accepted her defeat and the fact that your belief is stronger. Completed together with Bonus]
[Reward: +5 Free stat points]
[Bonus Reward: +5 to a random stat......Agility]
[Agility: 45 (71)]
Free Stat points: 12
---
I looked at Esdeath who closed her eyes as if she was ready to die...
After a while of silence, she finally opened her eyes in confusion just to see my leg nearing her head from the side.
*Break* My kick connected with a tree and break it into 2 parts and one part have fallen down on the branches of other trees, revealing a few shadows jumping away from those branches.
Esdeath just looked at me with a confused expression.
"Come out, I know that you have been watching us for some time already." I said aloud with a confident smile.
"Aren't you quite rude for someone who is already exhausted?" A voice came out of the forest and at that moment 4 people revealed themselves, 3 of them were masked while one black-haired woman with a weird umbrella didn't bother to wear a mask.
The black-haired woman was looking at me with a small smile that didn't really look too friendly.
"Wha-? You!" When Esdeath also noticed those people and turned around with great difficulty, she immediately glared at the black-haired woman.
"Hello, Esdeath! I see that you can still remember me~" The black-haired woman around Esdeath's age directed her gaze at Esdeath and her eyes immediately became soft as she started waving at her with a smile.
Hmm, they know each other, huh? Those two wearing a mask must be Taeko and Babara but I don't know about that 3rd masked person. As for this woman without mask...she must be their leader since she is taking the initiative.
"How could I forget a perverted girl like you!" Esdeath shouted while glaring at that woman with cold eyes.
"How cold...I just wanted to teach you way of girls' love and make you stronger that way. I meant no harm...and look at you now...you are still unmarried, it's an extreme waste..." She replied with a regretful expression.
While they were arguing I noticed Taeko innocently waving at me before Babara caught her hand and stopped her. I nodded back at Taeko and Babara and understood that they don't want to reveal their identities in front of Esdeath.
So this is their man-hater leader who knows no bounds when it comes to lust and girls.
I thought while observing the black-haired woman with the umbrella in her hand.