For the next 3 days, Adam continued his training at home and the class trained without their abilities against Mr. Frank. But for the next class sessions, Mr. Frank decided to change the training a bit.
"So I see some improvements in your movements. Everyone is finally being coordinated and not making amateurish moves anymore." [Mr. Frank]
("Are we finally done with this training?") [Adam]
"And I have decided we finally move on to the next step." [Mr. Frank]
("Oh no…") [Adam]
"This time… you will all be fighting me with your abilities!" [Mr. Frank]
The class started chattering.
"Maybe we can win this time!" [Student A]
"There's no way he can fend off this many people with abilities!" [Student B]
("I feel like we just got jinxed…") [Adam]
"Don't get excited just yet, I'm also using my ability." [Mr. Frank]
"I don't think you can defend yourself against so many abilities!" [Student C]
Mr. Felix stayed silent.
"...Go ahead and think that." [Mr. Frank]
He extended his hand and turned it upwards.
"I'll give you guys a handicap, I'm going to tell you what my ability is." [Mr. Frank]
Suddenly, a large amount of cubes appeared out of thin air, forming a wooden sword.
"My ability is creation, a level 4 ability." [Mr. Frank]
The students started laughing uncontrollably.
"Hahaha! A level 4 thinks he can win against so many of us?! We have a level 8 on our side!" [Student D]
"...My ability is able to create anything I fully understand. For example, if I were to make a laptop, I would need to understand it's coding, materials, and how everything connects together." [Mr. Frank]
The students continued to laugh.
"...Are you all done?" [Mr. Frank]
A few seconds later, the laughter died down.
"It seems everyone is ready." [Mr. Frank]
The students spread out and prepared themselves.
"Begin!" [Mr. Frank]
"Air Cutter!" [Alex]
"Water Bullet!" [Jessica]
"Flame Javelin!" [Student A]
"Wooden Mallet!" [Student B]
"Steel Lance!" [Student C]
The students bombarded their abilities at Mr. Frank.
("I see they either copied the abilities from the videos I sent or created their own magic. Too bad their attack pattern is too simple.") [Mr. Frank]
In an instant, large steel walls appeared around Mr. Frank, taking on all the attacks the students had sent. When the dust died down, the walls could be seen covered in burns, cuts, dents, and other damages of the like. Moments later the walls vanished.
"What was that about me being level 4?" [Mr. Frank]
The students stood there in awe, unable to believe Mr. Frank could have come out of the barrage of attacks unscathed.
"Adam, I'm going for it." [Felix]
"What do you mea-" [Adam]
"Warp!" [Felix]
Felix disappeared and reappeared in the air above Mr. Frank.
"Mr. Frank! Dodge like your life depends on it!" [Felix]
Hearing a voice from above, Mr. Frank looked up in surprise.
"Spatial Slash!" [Felix]
He swiped his hand at Mr. Frank as if his hand was a blade. Mr. Frank felt a chill run down his spine and he dashed backwards reflexively.
In an explosion of dust, something invisible hit the ground where Mr. Frank had once stood.
"Warp!" [Felix]
He vanished from the air, and teleported back next to Adam.
"What was that?" [Adam]
The dust cleared, revealing a large hole in the ground as if a giant blade had cleaved through it.
"That was my ability that I practiced during these past few days." [Felix]
"Wow, that was close…" [Mr. Frank]
("As expected of a level 8 ability…") [Mr. Frank]
"I think it's time I got serious." [Mr. Frank]
He reached out and something began to form.
"Stop him!" [Alex]
The students restarted their onslaught of attacks, but it was too late.
BANG BANG BANG!
Blue projectiles pierced the air. Flying straight to their targets, the students fell one by one.
"I-is that a gun?! Did you kill them?!" [Adam]
Mr. Frank brandished his weapons while striking an unusual pose.
"No, this is a weapon I invented myself. It absorbs my mana and shoots them out as projectiles, if it hits you, it will only hurt... a lot. I call it mana pistols." [Mr. Frank]
("It's incredible he's able to understand and create weapons like that, but…") [Adam]
"...Your naming sucks." [Adam]
Mr. Frank immediately aimed his gun barrels at Adam's position and opened fire.
("Oh crap.") [Adam]
He dived to the side, rolled, and kept running while dodging the bullets.
"You're nimble, I'll give you that! But you can't run forever!" [Mr. Frank]
"You can bet I'm going to try!" [Adam]
("I can do it… I've been practicing this move for the past 3 days to make my compression ability usable in combat. I just need to get closer.") [Adam]
As he kept running in circles, his classmates would get caught up in the crossfire.
"Gah! Oof! Ack! Kya!" [Classmates]
"Adam! What are you doing?! You're killing everyone!" [Felix]
Felix was constantly warping around the bullets as Adam ran around.
("I know that already! Lets see if he can keep up with this move."") [Adam]
He pivoted his way towards Mr. Frank. Dashing left and right, he barely evaded the mana bullets.
("I need to compress the air into the palm of my hand… Rotate… Rotate…!") [Adam]
A ball of air swirled in the palm of his hand.
("It's ready!") [Adam]
He quickly closed the distance between himself and Mr. Frank.
"Take this!" [Adam]
He thrust his hand out, managing to land his palm on Mr. Frank's chest.
"How did yo-" [Mr. Frank]
"Pressure Cannon!" [Adam]
The accumulated air within his palm released upon Mr. Frank's chest. A torrent of air violently burst out, sending his opponent flying.
"Oh cra-!" [Mr. Frank]
Due to the impact of the attack, he was sent flying across the courtyard several meters.
"Did I… get him?" [Adam]
Mr. Frank laid there motionless for a few moments before getting back up.
"Ugh… That sure packs a punch." [Mr. Frank]
He dusted himself off and stood upright.
"I can't believe you did that with a level 1 ability, how did you do that?" [Mr. Frank]
"How are you still fine?!" [Adam]
As if to answer his question, a large chunk of metal looking several inches thick slid out from under Mr. Frank's shirt before hitting the ground. Mr. Frank bent down and picked up the metal slab before inspecting it.
"Wow! You really busted the reinforced steel slab I created." [Mr. Frank]
He turned the slab in Adam's direction, revealing a hole that is almost fully torn through the center.
"Now that I know what you can do, that trick isn't going to work anymore." [Mr. Frank]
He dropped the metal slab and approached Adam menacingly.
("What do I do? I'm out of moves…") [Adam]
"Adam, stall for time, I have a plan." [Felix]
"What? Where are you right now?" [Adam]
Although Felix was nowhere in sight, Adam could still hear his voice.
"I'm creating a space where only you can hear me. I'll explain later, just follow my plan." [Felix]
A bead of sweat slid down Adam's face.
"I'll see what I can do." [Adam]
He pointed at Mr. Frank and motioned gestures to taunt him.
("Take the bait… C'mon, Take the bait...") [Adam].
Shocked by his strange behavior, Mr. Frank stopped in his tracks.
("What the hell is he doing?") [Mr. Frank]
He formed his mana pistols once again and aimed it at Adam.
"Oh, not again…" [Adam]
"We're gonna play the hunting game again." [Mr. Frank]
"And you're the prey." [Felix]
Felix appeared behind Mr. Frank as if he was there the whole time.
"When did yo-" [Mr. Frank]
Mr. Frank turned around with his guns readied, but it was too late.
"Domain Expansion!" [Felix]
A mixture of purple and black aura expanded out of Felix, covering the entire courtyard in the shape of a dome.
("What?! I can't move!") [Mr. Frank]
Upon closer inspection, the entire area was still. It was like time had stopped.
"This entire field is now my domain, I froze everything in this space." [Felix]
He treaded lightly behind Mr. Frank before placing his palm on his back.
"If you manage to defend yourself, well… good for you. If not, then tell the nurse I send my regards." [Felix]
He took a deep breath before making his next move.
("I have to use it!") [Mr. Frank]
White flashed around him, leaving a suit of armor in its place.
"Spatial Discharge!" [Felix]
The domain vanished and Mr. Frank once again flew through the air.
"Guh! Gah! Urgh!" [Mr. Frank]
He hit the ground multiple times before coming to a complete stop.
"Haah… Haah…" [Mr. Frank]
Panting from large amounts of fatigue, he managed to get up to his knees.
"Oh, you're still ok after that?" [Felix]
Mr. Frank's armor cracked and crumbled on himself.
"Damn it… That was my strongest defense." [Mr. Frank]
Adam hurried over to Felix and regrouped.
"So… what now?" [Adam]
Felix dropped to the ground with a sigh.
"To be honest, I'm out of mana." [Felix]
"Well me too, but I think we can take him. He should be on his last legs now." [Adam]
Mr. Frank finally stood upright and formed a large rifle instead of the mana pistols from before.
"That's where you're wrong kiddo!" [Mr. Frank]
The rifle began to hum and vibrate. Electricity enveloped the barrel and it started shining a blinding blue.
"Deus Ex Machina." [Mr. Frank]
Before he could pull the trigger, the school bell intervened.
Brrring. Brrrrringgg.
The sound of the bell forced Mr. Frank to stop mid charge. He ended up disassembling his rifle and sitting back down to rest.
"Haah~" [Mr. Frank]
He let out a sigh of exhaustion.
("That was anticlimactic…") [Mr. Frank]
"Class is over now, everyone is dismissed." [Mr. Frank]
Groans echoed all over the place as everyone picked themselves up and left.
"We almost got fried there." [Adam]
"That was way too close for comfort." [Felix]
"I don't know about you, but I might just call my sister to drag me back home. I'm too tired to walk." [Adam]
"I feel like calling my brother to do the same too." [Felix]
Untrue to their words, the two ended up dragging their feet back home hoping that they would no longer have to participate in that combat training. Unfortunately, the next few days was that same exact training over and over. They were beaten black and blue for the rest of the week. Before they knew it, the class battles were already right around the corner.