Zaiden walked past and entered the infirmary with Lisa in his arms. I looked at the ceiling with no one in the hallway. The flickering light from the light bulb in the hallway made a humming noise of electricity.
Bzt–– hum––
It was quiet with no one talking. The electricity noise calmed me, for some reason.
"Damn it… Now I feel bad for not giving her some fighting ability."
I had heard everything with my sharp ears. I heard how Lisa asked Zaiden why she was too weak.
Lisa was an expert in Brewing and Business. But now, after living in this world for two weeks, I have realized something that I never specified in my novel.
"This world is too harsh for someone without strength."
Even with her monstrous Talent in Brewing, she would still be looked down upon if she had no strength to protect herself. That story would only be true for now, as no one would dare to touch Lisa when she was successful.
However, that road to success was hard. I even wrote about Lisa being depressed for quite some time in her backstory before she met Zaiden.
In this world, she had Zaiden. So I wasn't too worried about her. Even so, looking at her like that still made me feel bad.
"Let's just take my frustration to my opponent. I hope he can take my hits. I really need to control my stress level…"
A lot had happened, and now, seeing the character that I wrote break down with my own eyes, it made me feel sick. If I had never interacted with her, then maybe my reaction would be, 'Oh? She cried?'
But I had interacted with her. Even though our relationship was not too close to be called friends, I still knew her personally.
My stress level had reached an intolerable degree. I had a lot on my mind; I wanted to let it out in this spar.
"Hum, hmm~." I hummed as I walked through the hallway to find a quiet place. I was supposed to go last, but I would have had a lot to think about if I was sitting alone in the waiting room.
Also, the stares from the other students would make me irritated if I stayed for too long. It was bearable because Zaiden was with me, but now he was in the infirmary, so I couldn't go back to the waiting room.
That was why I decided to train myself.
Finding a quiet corner in the hallway, I sat down and closed my eyes. I decided to use the Mana Breathing Method as I had nothing to do until I was called.
"I hope my turn will come faster."
I muttered to myself before sinking into my subconscious. It always happened when I used Heavenly Breathing.
Even though I was in this state, I could still hear the situation in the arena, so I would know when it was my turn. Then I waited...
***
It turned out that I didn't need to wait too long. Thirty minutes after I did Mana Breathing, I heard the voice from the referee that the ninth match was done.
It was now my turn. I opened my eyes and stood up.
My body was in good condition after doing Mana Breathing.
I walked toward the Arena and picked up the wooden sword that was prepared on the side of the arena.
My opponent was ready in the arena. He was a blonde boy with sharp eyes. When I saw him, I wondered.
'He looks more like a delinquent than me.'
It was a silly thought.
He was holding a wooden sword in his hand and patted it against his shoulder. He looked confident, with a smirk on his face.
"Oi." He suddenly spoke all of a sudden. "Let me tell you something. I am not afraid of you."
His smirk irritated me somehow. Before this, I felt bad for my opponent because I was planning to beat him to release my stress.
"Also, I am stronger than you. I even attend a prestigious training facility for Non-Awakener!"
But after seeing his cocky attitude, my guilt was gone immediately. He… I wanted to beat him and erase that smirk from his face.
I ignored him and looked at the referee.
"Can you start the match immediately?"
The referee nodded his head.
"Are both sides ready?"
My opponent swung his wooden sword and shouted. "Yeah!"
I nodded my head in affirmation, and the referee started the match.
"Then, begin!"
My opponent propelled himself and rushed toward me. His movement was fast for a Non-Awakener. He was as fast as the girl who played Lisa around.
Maybe he was also as skillful as she was? Then I could use this to show my strength to the students.
At first, I was fine with being called a delinquent. But after I changed my mind, being called a delinquent when I was not one was a bit irritating.
That was why. Why shouldn't I act like a delinquent for real? Zaiden was kind. He was fine with me no matter what the public called me.
I could also make some excuses to the others later. Something like this guy was looking down on me. That should be enough.
My opponent was indeed fast, but he was still too slow for me. With my eyes, I could see him moving like a snail.
Even when I had various thoughts in my head, he was still not halfway to me.
"Tsk!" Irritated, I clicked my tongue. Then I kicked the ground and arrived in front of him in less than a second.
This move was still within the limits of Non-Awakener. I only used the footwork that Smith taught me yesterday. It was footwork to move fast, or so he explained. Who knew that it was this effective? It was my first time using it in a real fight.
He was surprised when I suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Wha?"
He immediately stopped in his tracks and was about to swing his sword.
However, I gave him no time for that. My wooden sword was already in front of his face. He panicked and tried to dodge, but it was still useless.
Thud–!
I hit him right on his face, and he tumbled backward. His nose was broken, and blood poured out from it.
"Argh!" He screamed in pain and blocked his nose with his left hand.
I didn't stop there. I quickly shortened my distance with him and kicked his legs.
Thud! Crash–!
"Guh!"
He fell to the ground, and I put my right feet on his chest. Then, using my weight, I grounded my feet on his chest.
"Augh!"
"Oi." I called out to him. "What did you say earlier? I am weak?"
"Ghh, Grr! Release me!"
He tried to lift my leg with his hands, but it was useless.
But, if I continued this, the referee would surely stop the match. So I jumped back to create a distance between us. It was still not enough. I still wanted to hit someone. I was not satisfied yet.
My primary target was Zaiden because I was still a bit irritated with him. He saved Lily and jeopardized the story. But he was my friend, so I couldn't hit him. I needed to wait until he became an Awakener so I could hit him as Rai.
The guy in front of me was a different story, though. He was the perfect target for me to hit. He was an extra, just like me.
He stood while holding his chest in pain. His expression was twisted in anger as he glared at me.
"You! I will kill you!"
"Really?" I asked with a mocking tone. "You will be thrown into jail if you do that."
"You!!"
Once again, he rushed at me while brandishing his sword.
The distance between us was not that far. It was only around 5 meters. I could close this distance in less than a second, but he needed more than that because his legs were injured from my kick earlier.
They were swollen, but he kept charging at me.
From his movements, it was clear that he was skilled at swordplay. He swung his sword downward, aimed at my neck. His attack was sharp; it was too different from the way I swung my sword two days ago.
Indeed, two days ago. Due to Smith's training combined with my A-Rank Talent, I became skilled at handling a sword in a matter of two days. Being an Awakener with an A-Rank Swordsmanship Talent was truly a cheat.
I stepped to the right to dodge his swing and kneed him in the stomach.
Tak!
"Eheuk!" The air in his lungs was pushed out, and he collapsed on his knees in front of me.
"Say it again, bastard. I am weaker than you?"
He raised his head to glare at me. As soon as he glared at me, I slapped him on his cheek.
Slap!
Slapping someone was not my style, but who cares about that right now? The crowds were booing me, but I was still not satisfied.
The referee was also looking at me while gritting his teeth. I glared back at him before looking back at my opponent.
"Hey, I will let you off if you apologize to me. It's simple, right?"
"Y-You fucker!"
He lunged at me with a stab motion. I quickly swung my sword and parried his attack.
His grip was too weak. His sword bounced off his hand and flew out of the arena. Now he had no weapon, so his only option was to punch me from his kneeling position.
With his right fist clenched hard, he sent a fast jab aimed at my stomach.
I took his fist with my left hand and grinned.
"You see?"
I slowly twisted his wrist, and he grunted in pain.
"Ugh! L-Let me go!"
My personality hadn't changed even a little. On Earth, I was someone who was proud of my work. Even though I was used to receiving hate comments on my novel, I was not used to one thing.
And that was…
'I am someone who hates being looked down on.'
I threw my sword away to hit him directly. I realized, after slapping him, that hitting him directly with my hand was more refreshing.
I punched him in the face while letting go of his hand, and he was blown three meters away.
He rolled on the ground a few times before stopping. His face was bruised with blood poured out from his nose and mouth.
I was about to approach him again, but the referee quickly stepped in and blocked my way.
"Move," I said coldly.
"It's enough. He has passed out."
"Is that so? You have yet to announce my win, so I thought the match was still not over." When I mentioned that, the referee noticed his blunder.
He nodded his head and announced the end of the match.
"Obara Zain can't continue the match! The winner of the second round is Vincent Dihart!"
The crowd was silent. There was no cheer or anything.
My fight was too brutal and too one-sided. In the first round, I quickly ended the match because I was bored.
However, in this match, I purposely played around with my opponent to release my stress.
My exit from the arena was accompanied by silence. The medical team brought a stretcher to take my opponent, Obara Zain, away.
I walked into the hallway once again. I had managed to release some of my stress; it was refreshing.
My mouth curled into a small smile.
The third round would be held in thirty minutes.
'What should I do now?'
There were only five people for the third round. Usually, only the strongest four were picked at this point, or the Academy would choose one person amongst the remaining contestants to be given a pass to the final.
From the match today, it was clear that Zaiden or I was the strongest one and got the pass, but there was also that girl who played Lisa around.
"Well, I don't need to worry about it. I should go to the spectators' seat to meet with the others for now."