The selection for the teams was through spinning a bottle. The bottle was spun, and whoever it pointed at was assigned to the teams in order.
Kyle was on the fourth team, with Wanda, Ozi, Tucker, and Quinton as his teammates. The battle plan for the teams placed Wanda as the support backliner, with Quinton and his fake guns also providing fire support while covering Wanda. Meanwhile, Kyle, Ozi, and Tucker would be the main melee line, who would tie down the opponents and keep them focused on them. Kyle also had the additional role as the midfielder, with the responsibility for taking care of those bypassing the mainline.
To pick the teams to fight, they used the bottle again, and fortunately or unfortunately, Kyle's team was picked first, with their first opponent being Ninia's team.
Ninia's team consisted of her, Johan, Meryn, Richard, and Clovis. Richard and Clovis weren't a problem, but the rest were, especially Ninia. Who could stop her? Kyle didn't believe that there was someone who could stop her advance in this class.
{'Should I step in? I already did more than enough to put myself among the strong but not the best,'} Kyle mused.
{'Nah, too risky. Let's see how it goes.'}
"How do we handle this?" Ozi asked as they gathered for a team briefing.
"We need to watch out for Ninia. She didn't show much, but I think we can agree that she is strong," Tucker added.
"Indeed, but let's not forget the others," Kyle said, and then he turned to Wanda. "Can you do something to separate them?"
"I can, but I don't think they will stay separated for a long time."
"That's okay, and may I suggest a plan?" Thus, Kyle began to tell them his plan, which was then modified to adjust it in accordance with their capabilities.
"Everyone in position?" asked the student refereeing the team match. "Ready? Begin!"
Right away, Kyle suddenly spread out his strings and tied up his opponents. However, Ninia easily broke out of it and rushed toward them.
"Wanda!" Kyle shouted.
"Frost Wall!" A wall made of ice rose up. It separated Ninia and her other teammates.
.
Kyle's team began to move, Ozi, Tucker, and Quinton rushed to Ninia's teammates while Kyle confronted Ninia. As for Wanda, she had to stay still to maintain the wall and also occasionally helped them.
"Are you going for a stall?" Ninia asked with a calm demeanor.
"You noticed. Yeah, I don't know how much I can hold you," Kyle replied as he readied his stance. "You are strong and even seem able to escape my strings easily."
"Your strings aren't for suppression. They are merely to stall as well," Ninia retorted. It was true. He created his strings to stall her. After all, with his condition, creating that many strings to suppress people were out of his reach unless he wanted to exhaust himself.
"True, but now I only have to focus on you." Kyle had already gathered back his strings, letting Ninia's teammates free.
"Is that so?" Ninia rushed at him. Her speed was the best among them. She easily arrived next to him.
Kyle backed away and used his strings to pull Ninia forward as well. It interrupted her movement, but she broke it through it by force, and began her attack.
{'She is like an unstoppable bull!'} Kyle avoided her attack just in time. He could feel her fist emanating with ki. However, his thoughts were forced to cut short when a sudden kick connected with his abdomen and sent him flying.
{'That hurt,'} Kyle thought as he slowly got up. He noticed that she was coming at him again at the same speed as before. {'She is not going easy on me.'}
Just as Ninia was about to enter his range, ice began to form and trapped her legs. It halted her advance, and Kyle immediately took this opportunity. He made his strings cover her and also cast fire magic on his strings. Flames ran along the strings and went after her.
However, everything was blown off.
{'She is crazy,'} Kyle noted after seeing Ninia let out a burst of her ki. {'Petty tricks truly wouldn't work on her. Man, how can I stall her?'}
"If you want to have a chance to defeat me, then you have to fight me head-on," Ninia declared. That sounded plausible, but in fact, it was a crazy suggestion. Going straight against someone who was wielding ki at her level was just crazy and a suicide.
"I think I'll stick with petty tricks," Kyle replied with a grin.
"So be it." Ninia rushed at him again. However, this time, Kyle rushed in as well.
"That madman," Friena whispered while looking at the fight.
"Mad man?" A girl named Bianca asked with curiosity when she heard her.
"Kyle …. That madman is crazy. Why would he go for a close fight?" Friena muttered in irritation. She knew Kyle's abilities. Against an average person, she believed Kyle's close combat skill would bring a victory. But against someone like Ninia? She would be a fool to believe he could win. Ninia had shown her strength to them; she was a frightening opponent to fight at close range.
Everyone else agreed on this as well. They knew Kyle would be beaten in close combat. However, what they believed didn't happen.
"Oh?" Eric appeared amused. Kyle had faced Ninia in close combat, and yet he didn't confront her directly. All he did was avoid the attacks and use his strings to divert or stall her moves.
Ninia was aware of this, and yet she couldn't stop it. She had noticed that Kyle moved like a slippery worm, it could be better to call him a slippery snake, but since he didn't attack her, a worm would do better for now.
He moved skillfully. The moment she thought that she could grasp him, he slipped away. It made her feel frustrated, and his strings added fuel to that. She could let out another burst, but would that be wise? She didn't know. She had to be careful of what her opponent was planning and so should reserve her strength. However, she knew she was dancing to his tune if she kept up at it like this. Her teammates would be defeated.
Despite her teammates outnumbering their opponents, the actual problem came from quality. She was aware that Wanda Paycott was capable of turning the tables there. So she planned to defeat Kyle first and then Wanda. Her team's victory would be assured, with both of them out of the way. But of course, it wouldn't be easy, seeing how she was still fighting Kyle.
"Curious, aren't you?" Kyle spoke haughtily. "How is it that you are not able to hit me and breakthrough my tricks?"
"The answer is simple …." Kyle grinned as he avoided another of her attacks. "But it is a secret."
"But I do know your secret." Kyle got closer to Ninia and released a lot of strings which halted her movements completely.
"You didn't use magic," he whispered. In that moment, Ninia's eyes widened, and she immediately broke free to attack Kyle again, but it was futile as Kyle dodged it.
"So it is true …. My eyes are good, and I can see whether that person uses magic or not. But not once did I feel that you were using magic. So where does your power come from?"
"I once read about it. A long time ago, there was a source of power that rivaled magic." Ninia's movements became faster, and her attacks became more powerful. It was enough to make Kyle suffer several grazes.
"Ki," he whispered. Then he got hit and was blown away thanks to Ninia's punch. He rolled a few times on the ground before stopping and looking at Ninia.
Before being blown away, he saw her shocked look. {'So she expected people wouldn't know that she uses ki. No, she expected people would know, sooner or later, but never this soon,'} He had seen that the others were just confused, or believed that she was using her magic elusively.
{'That her secret got found seems to be a shock to her, because she was unprepared for it to be known this soon. Fortunately, it was only me,'} The others didn't appear to know about Ki, which was fortunate for her. But Kyle thought she was too confident to believe that nobody knew about her using ki. While her confidence could have been true, had Kyle not noticed it, it would still have become a weakness when it eventually would have been discovered.
{'Now, she will desperately try to defeat me to clear her frustration,'} Kyle got up.
{'But it is useless.'} Ice had appeared around Ninia, and her body began to be covered up by it. She stopped for a moment and looked at Wanda, then toward the direction of her teammates. She saw that Kyle's teammates had won their battle.
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Author: Aida Hanabi
Proofreader: Teppo