A good hour or two had passed since the examination had begun. Obviously enough, no one could defeat Aaron.
"Remember: there is no winner here. This is for analysing your ability to SURVIVE against a strong foe" Aaron spoke.
"*Uhh... Cho-onsoku Ryu*" Carl fumbled the name.
'Isn't that one of Sen's friends?'
———
[Inspect]
Cho-onsoku Ryu
Ability: Concept of Sound(Rank B)
Weapon: Katana forged using an alloy of Astermite, Bog iron and extreme carbon steel. A relic of the Cho-onsoku clan.
———
'Damn... his ability alone is B rank'
"Let us have a fair dual; fought with honour" Ryu unsheathed his Katana slowly. "I look forward to seeing your skill, prodigy of the Supersonic clan..."
Cho-onsoku meaning Supersonic is a clan of Japanese origin. To master the sword using the concept of sound and the Iai sword technique to achieve inhuman slashing speed is their goal.
A clan in which the weak heirs are not excused. The heirs must train and temper their body and blade technique until they come to the age of 15 to engage in a cruel dual wherein each of the heirs bet their own lives for the position of the head of the clan. If an heir is to beg for their life and dishonour the clan rules, they will be exiled at once and robbed of their name and titles.
Ryu, the only one who awakened a B rank sound ability in the battle of heirs 2 years ago, was, of course, the sole survivor and thus, the prodigy of the Cho-onsoku clan, with a raging flame of ambition to become the Lord of his clan.
...
'Didn't think he'd be of the Supersonic clan... no wonder he could take on so many of Viktor's henchmen'
The battle had already started and Ryu unsheathed his sword at an unbelievably fast speed. But nowhere near as fast as the leader of his clan.
Unarmed as Aaron was, he dared not touch the blade which was vibrating at a supersonic speed, capable of cutting through metal. As he dodged back, Ryu asked him: "Can you SEE sound?".
'...'
"What..."
"It was a generic and easy-to-answer question in our clan, you see... that is when we were to be punished when we couldn't keep up with training. We were asked the same question over and over again till the answer was engrained in our minds"
CAN YOU SEE SOUND?
A *Snap* of Ryu's fingers followed by a *thud*
"Hrmm.... not bad. But are you really as naive as to think that a martial master like myself needs to SEE something to be able to avoid it?" Aaron said, holding Ryu's wrist at an angle so as to restrain the use of his Katana.
"*That concludes this match!*" Carl shouted into the mic, causing the students' ears to ring, annoying most of the students present.
'Damn... that line was way too over-the-top'
"*....Next is Sen Berman*"
"Wish me luck!" Sen tapped Quinn's shoulder as he passed by. "Let's see what you got...".
....
"Berman, huh? I expect great things" Aaron said as he tightened his hand wraps. "Well, I hope I don't disappoint".
BEGIN!
No sooner had the match started, Sen pulled out his trusty little Falchion knife and cut his left palm after which, he proceeded to sprint towards Aaron.
"I see those chains wrapped around your hands. You're not going to use them?" Aaron asked but Sen did not reply.
He then proceeded to use his palm techniques to try and find an opening through which he could fire a metallic spear while sparring with Aaron. "If I know anything at all, it is that a Weasley Berman is never up to any good" Aaron, out of nowhere, grabbed Sen's wrist, which caught him off guard, and then tripped him using a low kick aimed for the side of his calf.
"*The match is-*" Carl was about to announce the end of the match but was stopped by the glare of Sen. "He seems to be in a state where he can still fight me" Aaron said out loud.
"So? I hope that wasn't it, Berman"
"Oh, that certainly was not..."
The chains wrapped around Sen's forearms dangled down and emitted a fiery dark red glow. He whipped at Aaron with his right hand's chain, aimed for his neck. Simultaneously, he swept low with his left hands' chain to render Aaron immobile.
Aaron blocked the chain aimed for his neck using his left hand. It wrapped around his hand and a sizzling sound was heard. He then jumped high in the air and forward towards Sen and came down with a punch that destroyed the ground near Sen which caused him to stagger forth.
A few exchanges of blows took place in a matter of seconds and the match was finally over. "He did surprisingly well. Too bad he couldn't use the chains as much".
....
***
[Inspect has levelled up to Lvl 5]
[Inspect is mutating...]
[Inspect has evolved into Scrutinize!]
[Using Scrutinize, you have observed the combat technique of Aaron.
The attack patterns and combos will be familiar to you.
You can even counter them effectively now.
You have a B rank potential to master this technique]
'Was not expecting it to measure my potential for the martial art' Quinn, flabbergasted by the new feature of his evolved skill, the thought of the possibilities of mastering new techniques or just even studying his opponents' attack patterns and possibly predicting their moves efficiently.
This would definitely affect and improve his overall prowess in combat in general.
"*Quinn Maw, ready yourself!*"
'I thought I'd die of waiting' he cracked his neck.
***
"Quinn, I've been waiting. Ever since I first noticed you, you seemed different from the other people. Not just your origin or parents, but what was inside.
As you know, I've mastered Ki. I'm the only Grand Master on this planet, that is. I'm one of the twenty-two Grand Masters in this galactic civilization with the ability to see the truth of worlds, the innate energy inside every human, the life force of creatures; be it visible to our eyes.... or not" Aaron ended with a grim tone.
Quinn could make somewhat sense out of what Aaron had said but they were mostly wild guesses.
"I sensed a different kind of energy in you; one that I've never seen myself. It was... an endless darkness. Whether that shows your talent, power or even perhaps.... your nature, is up to me to conclude.
And I sincerely hope that it isn't in your nature that in which the endless darkness resides" he spoke so that the other students nor the announcer, that was Carl, couldn't listen.
He took a few steps back and readied himself.
"COME ON, THEN! SHOW ME WHAT YOU'RE TRULY MADE OF!"
"*Begin!*"
Quinn kicked off of his position and in an instant, was behind Aaron.
"How'd he get behind the teach so fast?!"
"Damn, he must have some body enhancement ability"
Before Aaron could even react, Quinn threw a screw-cross punch at him from behind. After the hit landed, Quinn felt something odd, "What... did I just hit?".
"Ki. An accumulation of Ki to be precise. Condensed to form a barrier to protect me from attacks that pack no punch. How about you use your weapon and ability"
A dagger slipped down from Quinn's sleeve; or it seemed as such to everyone. But in truth, he had just summoned it on his forearm so that it would fall into his hand from the long sleeves of the academy's attire.
———
[Black Knife]
Item rank: B
Type: Dagger
Strength: +27
Agility: +10
Dexterity: +6
A peice of just not artisanal representation but also a tool designed for killing and inflicting pain upon the opponent. Made by a Dwarven blacksmith named Andre Arlo using an alloy of Magisteel and Astermite and infused with the soul core of Rodrick Manbane, a turned demon.
Special effect: If the blade of the weapon is even close to touching or is touching even a strand of hair on the enemy, the enemy has a 30 per cent chance to be inflicted with fear.
The damage dealt to opponents inflicted with fear is increased by 30%
Skill:-
Skill rank: C+
Shoot an arc of Hell's Wind from your blade, towards a derised direction. The arc is enhanced with Peirce and will phase through its target whilst dealing the minimum amount of damage at the very least.
———
'Fucking hell, this is such a broken item after I infused it with the soul of the demon!'