"...."
Silence erupted as both parties stared at each other without saying a word. One side was sweating beads as they found the situation difficult to even breathe in, the other sitting relaxed in some lawn chairs waiting for the show to start. The growling from Felis' mouth was only growing louder as each second went by, Kouki knew the longer he delayed the more likely she'd just outright attack him on the spot. Rather than dealing with a sudden battle in this enclosed space, he'd rather have an official duel outside.
"I apologize, miss. My words were not meant to offend you, they were instead directed at your father who does not wish to fight to himself. However if it were just that I wouldn't be so appalled, instead he forced you against me without asking for your decision! So please stand away, I do not wish to harm you!"
His soft-spoken words and distraught expression did nothing to quell the animosity. While a normal girl would've swooned there for his sincere words the only thing on Felis' mind was to tear him into bits and pieces.
"..... Did he just say we forced her to fight?" For the first time since entering the shop, Yue spoke to Ivan beside her.
"Well, he more or less said that I was the one forcing her hand. It doesn't look that way to me though considering she's foaming at the mouth for the chance of slaughtering him. In any case, this will be the first proper time she went toe to toe with someone, though it would've been much more bountiful if the opponent held the intent to kill. I guess she'll have to make do fighting the Hero instead~"
Their nonchalant conversation fell upon the ears of everyone in the room, this only incited Kouki's desire to make proof of himself.
"Alright, seeing as how you still stand here I assume you want to go ahead with this. Then let us go outside, Templars, sheathe your weapons. I want a fair duel against her. No one is to interfere or get in the way no matter the result. And miss, let us not wreck your father's shop in this duel, let's take it outside."
Felis looked back at Ivan before seeing him return a nod, seeing that he approved of this situation she left the shop first considering she was the closest to the door. Both Ivan and Yue followed after dragging along their lawn chairs, then Kouki who had been holding his unsheathed sword this entire time. And finally the templar knights and the rest of the students that had been in a daze.
Ivan wasn't afraid that their battle would damage the land, in any case, it would only take a few days of repair from the droids to settle it back to normal. Now that all parties stood outside in an empty field, the battle was ready to commence. Right now what Ivan wanted was a gauge of the students' strength. And who better to gauge the strength of than the legendary hero of the party, this would give him a good insight as to how far they've progressed since his 'death.' Were they now reliable tools in the ensuing war against the demons, or just still students with big sticks.
It would seem the latter was more apparent, as Kouki seemed to underestimate Felis the whole way through. Not even taking a proper stance as he stood there arrogantly with his sword. Felis on the other hand had her knees bent to perfect ninety degrees angles, her back arched forward as her claws stood fully extended. A wide stance she adopted after their days of training down below.
What he really wanted was to see her parameters displayed on a status plate, and while he could just go over to Fuhren and ask Ilwa Wang for a couple he would rather not be indebted to the sly man. There were some perfectly good messengers standing right before him anyways, it'd be a waste to miss the opportunity. Probably also a power move once Ilwa heard that the legendary heroes were there as Ivan's delivery service.
Ivan got out of his lawn chair and stood evenly placed between the two fighters. Pulling a strange black device from his pocket, he held it up to his mouth.
"Ladieeeesss and Gentlemen~! It is an honor to welcome you all to Felis' first exhibition match! Maaaa~ she's grown up so fast in this short amount of time she's been with us, just two weeks ago I could remember her barely being able to hold a stance without breaking it….. But that aside, the conditions are clear. No one is to step in unless the battle has already been decided, which means only breaking up the fight when someone is about to die or be injured excessively. The prize? Well, we at 'Hohenheim's Dream' shall assist the heroes in their quest to slaughter the demon race should we lose. Should the hero lose, he and his party shall garner us at least four status plates along with five million Luta! Are these terms acceptable to both parties~?"
The voice from the black boxes latched to the side of the shop was broadcasted clearly to those outside, some tech he stole from the auction hall back in Fuhren. Both fighters nodded their heads according to his words, Kouki not even questioning the random five million Luta condition. Much to his party's distress. Likely, he didn't think much of it because he knew it would be the church's money and not his.
As for Ivan, he just saw the opportunity to gain some extra funds too good to miss upon.
"With that settled, the moment you hear the fireworks go off you are welcome to begin. No restrictions on magic, skills, and items! Yue hit the button~!"
BOOP
Ear piercing whistles emanate through the air as the trail of smoke the fireworks left behind flew into the air. Kouki and his group stared at the fireworks, awaiting their beautiful explosion. Felis on the other hand did nothing to remind her opponent of their ensuing battle, arching her back even more as she waited for the bang.
And then—
BANG!
Kouki's group let out cries of joy and wonder as the fireworks bright enough to illuminate the day sky shone with enough brilliance to darken the world above. Their color and patterns were so intense it put everyone in a daze for a moment, even Kouki who had sighed in disbelief.
RUMBLE! CRACK!
However, his attention was turned back to in front of him as the ground shook and broke apart, a blur steadily approaching him before he could even muster up a defense. Kouki let out a whine as he felt all the air within him disappear. His hands reaching for the knee dug deep into his chest, too late to change what had happened.
"GAAHHH!"
He flew for several meters before coming to a stop. Kouki got back up almost immediately, patting his chest as he stared at the imprint that melded into the armor the Kingdom had given him. Never once did he have to take in the armor for repairs, as it had been declared as the strongest armor artifact the Kingdom had. Though it had succeeded in its purpose of enhancing his defense capabilities, it now stood with a dent.
Kouki hurriedly held up his holy sword as the black metallic claws swooped down on him from above, sparks arousing as the two stood in a stalemate.
"Limitbreak!" His body illuminated with a bright light as the ground beneath him broke apart, with not much effort he was able to knock Felis out of the way with just a swing. She stuck the landing before maintaining her distance, rightfully so as with 'Limitbreak' Kouki's physical capabilities had been multiplied three times over. The downside is that perpetual use would gratefully fatigue his body.
While not knowing the specifics of the skill he shouted out, she knew that such power could not be cast from nothing, Similar to her Father's teachings something must have been sacrificed to create this phenomenon, something other than mana. She came to a conclusion after noticing the bulging veins that threatened to pop out of his skin.
Seeing as all she would have to do is wait for her opponent to wear himself out, she stood defensively, grinning beneath her mask as she thought of the scene in which he just randomly fell over from exhaustion.
"Tch!"
After having his intentions seen through, Kouki decided to take an offensive approach. He charged in with his sword slung over his shoulder. His lips moved as he silently muttered words to himself, suggesting that he was going to use a spell or a skill.
"Supersonic Step!" The distance between the two closed in a flash as the sword that had been slung over Kouki's shoulder flew forward with enough strength to whirlwinds. His face scrunching up as intensity from using both 'Limitbreak' and 'Supersonic Step' hit him all at once.
In response to this attack Felis muttered some words of her own, "Fireball!" she shouted with her hand raised high.
Not expecting a perceived beastman to be able to cast magic, Kouki was stunned by the sudden ball of flames. Failing to shield his face as the flames engulfed his face, his attack halted in the air as he took a step back. Once he took a step back one could notice that he escaped unscathed, only his face being a bit redder and the tips of his hair frizzled. The same however could not be said for his eyes that had been opened during the attack.
"AAUUUGHH!!!'
And as she was taught, Felis made use of this situation to pierce her enemy's ribcage with her claws. The sound of metal tearing emanating from Kouki's chest plate as blood flew in the air. Unfortunately for Felis, the legendary armor had received most of her attack, only allowing bits of metal to come flying as one of her claws was able to pierce.
The audience gasped in concern as the battle had taken a development they never expected, the hero of the class everyone admired had his blood drawn from some no-name beastman. They unsheathed their weapons and inched closer to the battle, Ivan only watched this scene from the corner of his eye as he pressed on the remote he held in his hand.
A barrier manifested, dividing the audience and the fighters. It wasn't one particularly made up for this situation, in fact, it was just the normal defense barrier he had made for his property. The fact that it 'coincidently' divided the audience from the fighters was no accident, he had Felis direct them to this specific field in the event something like this were to happen.
Both he and the audience were sitting right before the barrier's maximum range, just as impenetrable, it was from the outside the same could be said for the inside.
The class yelled out helplessly as their attacks against the barrier only resulted in it jiggling like gelatin. They stared at the scene of Felis drawing more blood before turning over to Ivan who was still sitting in his chair.
"W-What are you doing?! He's going to die!"
"You have to let us out there to help him, or at least stop the beastman or something!"
"This is against the agreement, Paracelsus… You don't intend on going against your words do you!?"
Ivan remained silent against their threats, the class approached him steadily before two figures blocked their way.
"I apologize, children, but any steps closer to master and I'll take it as a personal threat, fufufufu~!"
"Against the agreement you say? As Ivan-sama had stated NO ONE is to interfere until the match has been decided. If anything he's just reinforcing the rules. So why don't you just take a step out, and have some faith in your 'hero.'"
In front of Tio and Ari, the class felt a certain trepidation. An instinct in their body telling them not to pursue any further. They grit their teeth in frustration, even the templar knights chose to step back as any threats would likely only worsen the situation.
If Felis was truly only combat training recently, then how strong were these four in front of them? This was a question that rang in their minds as they watched the battle continue.
CLANG!
BANG!
CRASH!
Sparks, explosions, earth-shattering, every movement of these two caused some sort of damage to the terrain.
"Heavenrend!" The white beams of light that had been shot at Felis were each shattered like glass in the air the moment they came in contact with her claws. And what's worse of all, Felis began muttering to herself, the glow in her eyes dazzling but covered by the mask.
"Heavenrend~!" She yelled out, the white beams of light were a lot less in number than Kouki's casting of it but plentiful nonetheless. His armor tanked most of the light magic as he took out whatever he could with his sword.
Each and every magic he had cast had been shot back at him, a result that made him bewildered. This convinced him that if he had any hopes of beating her it had to be by sword or hand, anything else would just result in a losing battle.
"Haze Pierce!" Kouki dodged and weaved in between Felis' attacks, once he got close enough he plunged with his sword in three quick moves, all in succession. A grin formed on his face as he had finally caused some damage to her, however, that grin had vanished the moment her revealing clothing had shown that each of his attacks disappeared on her body almost instantaneously.
He looked up before noticing she had been staring back at him, and though unable to see her expression he had no doubt she was holding a grin as stupid as he was moments ago. The rage in his heart was unable to be transmitted as her claws dug into his armpits, focusing the joints of the armor where it was at its weakest.
Kouki was unable to let out a scream as his head was bludgeoned with a force greater than a truck, his body flying back before hitting the ground. His vision blurry as he tried desperately to push himself off the ground, the strain from 'Limitbreak' catching up to him before he lay back down helplessly.
The class stood silent as the fight grew to a conclusion. Felis looked at her fallen foe for only a few seconds before making her way to the edge of the barrier. Her humming was loud enough for the class to hear, and as expected it pissed every one of them off, with the exceptions of a few. Though of course, they wouldn't dare speak out against it in fear of receiving the same treatment as did Kouki.
Felis' tail wagged rhythmically before she stood in front of Ivan, her head bowing down slightly as to present the top of her hair. With a sigh he rested his palm on her head, gently brushing her hair back and forth. The barrier to the outside disappeared before the class rushed onto the field. Kaori and Hajime were in the front as she was their best healer and he wanted to inspect the wounds out of curiosity.
In any case, the match had been decided, Ivan left Felis with Yue and the rest before strolling on over to Kouki's body. Not minding the stares and unbridled hostility of the class as he walked by them, even Aiko held a suspicious look to him as he went by her.
Without a word he pulled out a vial from beneath his mantle, lodging it into Kouki's mouth much to the fear of the others who thought he was poisoning him.
"You… What did you do?!"
"Get away you bastard!"
"W-What guys, look! Kouki's color is returning!"
The motions of the class stopped as they turned over to look at Kouki, who had started coughing a fit. It was a simple potion of his that would heal him just enough to the point where he'd definitely live, but still, be sustaining injuries. Ivan didn't want him to get up screaming about a rematch or something after all.
Ivan stood there silently for a moment before opening his mouth to speak to the class.
"I can respect that you choose to use your power to aid those in need. It is a respectable quality most in this world don't possess, however even so it is not up to you to force that ideal upon someone else. Just as you wish to lay your life for the sake of others, I only wish to lay my life for my family. Though not too different, there are differences. Just remember, we are not the same."
Leaving these words behind, Ivan turned to leave the scene. Only to be stopped by a tug at his mantle.
"Please, Paracelsus-san. May I have a word with you?" The one to reach out to him was Hajime Nagumo, much to his classmates' surprise. Ivan looked into his eyes before smirking to himself, laughing inwardly at how much the kid had changed.
"If you're going to ask about the shop, do not fear. I will not forbid the entry of any of you just because of this scuffle. No matter who it is, we welcome all to do business, so long as they don't break the rules. And of course, I expect you to fulfill the agreements made today, whether it be the hero or you guys who take up the issue of payment it doesn't matter to me. Just get it done."
"That's not it, I would like to speak to you regarding a VERY important matter. Privately of course." The look and tone Hajime took were definitely suspicious to the class.
"..... Very well, come to the shop with me then. We can have a word in the staff room."
Ivan and his group were followed by Hajime as the class and the templar knights stood back in a daze. Their emotions broke as the coughing from Kouki redirected their attention.
No one would know of the meeting between the two, leaving those to question what exactly happened.
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