The time that he was afraid of came, Tokkou had finished all the other fights and it was Teras's turn to fight, all the other students were excited about the fight, and Recka was excited about the fight too, after what happened in the forest she had high hopes for Teras, she was almost sure that he will pass the special test and ascend to the silver rank, the fight was about to begin, Teras had entered the field, Tokkou was staring at him with a look of excitement, a countdown from 3 to 0 began
"3...2...1...FIGHT!"
the fight began with a scream by Recka, Teras quickly rushed at Tokkou, he tried to punch him multiple times but Tokkou easily dodged all of his punches, it was clear that Tokkou didn't even try
"What's up, kid? I thought you got stronger but it seems you are just like you were before, don't worry though, I will only use one hand for this fight"
Tokkou told him with a smirk on his face, Teras was progressively getting angrier and angrier because of the fact that he couldn't touch Tokkou, Teras then took grabbed his sword and charged it with mana, he then sent a huge wave of air at Tokkou, the area got foggy because of the dust the air raised up, Teras used mana vision so he could get past the dust cloud with ease, Teras then jumped high in the air and attempted to strike Tokkou from the air but he failed because Tokkou dodged it
"You are slow but you have a really good fighting sense, but it seems that it's a waste"
Tokkou said
"My fighting skill helped me win my first fight against a card user so I wouldn't say it's a waste"
Teras replied with a smile, the fog had begun to fade away and the crowd could see the field clearly again, Tokkou died of laughter when he heard what Teras said
"Do you really think that this guy could use the power of cards? He was just a fake to attract customers! You basically won against a guy with little mana control"
"That doesn't change the fact that this guy was strong and I had zero fighting experience at the moment"
Teras told him, Tokkou then got quiet, Teras then charged at him again but Tokkou didn't dodge this time, he counter-attacked, he quickly punched Teras multiple times on his face and body with his right arm, his attacks were planned out and conculcated, it was clear that Tokkou knew what he was doing, for Tokkou to end his combo he followed up with a kick to Teras's head, Teras fell down from the impact of the attacks
'how is he that fast?'
Teras wondered, the fact that Tokkou was the grand jack never came up to his mind the whole fight
"Get up Teras I don't want this fight to end quickly!"
Tokkou told him to tease him, Teras slowly got up and charged at him once again but instead of punching him Teras threw a sphere at Tokkou, Tokkou kicked it out of instinct, and the sphere then released a smoke cloud after breaking from the impact of the kick, Teras launched a mana shield like a spear at Tokkou, he thought that the attack would work since there was smoke hiding him, the shield almost stroke Tokkou but he dodged it with his incredible speed
"Oh fancy trick with these gadgets and your mana shield, by the way, where did you take those spheres from? No, let me guess! you took them from the man you killed in the forest, right?"
Tokkou asked him, this question left Teras silent, and the other students were shocked too, Recka didn't know about this either
"How did you know...?"
Teras asked, he had a pretty depressing look on his face when he asked Tokkou
"Well you didn't even bury him, so you really expected nobody to find the body? So tell me kid how did you feel when you stabbed him? Did you like it?"
Tokkou said, He was trying to provoke Teras to mindlessly attack him, and this tactic seemed like it worked, Teras was angrier than ever, he couldn't believe that a person he considered his most trusted friend treated him like that
"Shut up already..."
Teras told him calmly but Tokkou didn't consider Teras's feelings for a second
"Don't worry Teras I will stop revealing your past, haha, you don't even have your memories and the first thing you do is kill people, they say old habits die hard"
Teras couldn't stand any more of Tokkou's insults so he charged at Tokkou, he enhanced his legs with mana so he can close the distance in a flash, Teras then swaged his mana-charged blade at Tokkou, Tokkou then did the most unexpected thing for Teras, He simply grabbed the blade, Teras was amazed by Tokkou's strength, Tokkou then kicked Teras multiple times until he lost his grip on the sword
"Now you lost your stronger weapon, I wonder what will you do"
Tokkou told Teras, he then threw the weapon out of the field
"Is your mana pool that big? you can even stop such a strong attack with your bare hands!"
Teras told him with a surprised look
"Well I'm not weak like you kid, I'm the grand jack, if I couldn't block an attack like that then I would simply retire"
Tokkou told him with a cocky smile, Teras then laughed
"What's funny kid?"
Tokkou said, he was clearly annoyed by his laugh
"Did you really think that I wouldn't become stronger? I faced death multiple times and with all these dangers that roamed this world I had to become stronger, I don't even know my real name yet, and I'm not even near revealing who I am, so do you really think that I would allow myself to remain weak? I don't even need this stupid sword of yours, so stop bullshitting me! We both know I will surpass you someday with the speed of my growth and this day is today!"
Teras told him, he then released his mana overflow, Tokkou, and his guards were amazed by his mana overflow since they have never seen someone have it under control in the past, Teras then quickly rushed at Tokkou, Teras tried to punch Tokkou multiple times but he blocked every single hit, even though Teras had boosted his strength and speed with mana overflow it was still not enough to best Tokkou, Teras then decided to switch tactics, he began to jump in the air, he then used mana shields to launch his self from different angles, he wanted to use them as the trees in the forest that he fought Prodo, the students and the guards found it hard to spectate the fight if they didn't use mana vision
"You are really creative with your mana usage, you remind me of a specific someone I know"
Tokkou told him, Teras simply ignored him and continued attacking him, the attacks kept on destroying the field, it may seemed that Teras's attacks were dumb but in reality, it was all part of his plan to set up a perfect opportunity to strike, he believed that there was a way to beat Tokkou but it wouldn't have been easy and he was right, after some attack Teras decided to try a different attack, he jumped high up in the sky and set up a mana shield, he then used it to launch him self at Tokkou but this time Teras tried to axe kick Tokkou while rotating, Tokkou saw it coming from miles away so he dodged it, when Teras stroke the ground, the attack launched all the other destroyed pieces of the field around the place, Tokkou destroyed the pieces of rock that flew at him with his bare hands, he was so distracted from the rocks that he slipped on a small rock, Teras took advantage of this moment, Teras quickly enhanced his legs and swiftly went behind him so Tokkou could not see him, his speed was greater than the speed of sound
"Wha..?"
Tokkou mumbled silently, he couldn't believe Teras's speed
'I feel sorry for you Tokkou, you possess one of the greatest powers in the world but you still have a lot to learn'
Teras thought as he was about to hit Tokkou on the back of his head, but before the attack could hit him Tokkou used his telekinesis power to fly over the attack, Teras's attack was so strong that it sent a huge wave of air and dust at the people spectating the fight, the intensity of the air that was sent was almost the same as when Teras uses his charged sword, some of the students were pushed back from the force of the wind, after some impressive flips Tokkou landed perfectly on the ground
"You said you would only use your one hand, but here you are fighting with everything you have, don't you feel bad? You are trying too much to win a weak kid that doesn't even use the power of cards"
Teras told him with a smug face
"I guess I lied kid, your attack was pretty impressive, I honestly didn't expect this from someone that preys on weak bandits"
Teras then snapped, he remembered those words from the past, but he could identify the person saying them
"SHUT UP, IT'S THE FIRST TIME WE MEET AFTER A MONTH AND THE FIRST THING YOU DO IS JUDGE ME ABOUT MY CHOICES, YOU JUST SENT ME INTO A WORLD FULL OF DANGERS WITHOUT TEACHING ME THE BASICS OF FIGHTING, WHAT DID YOU EVEN EXPECT ME TO DO? INSTEAD OF BEING GLAD THAT I CAME HERE WITHOUT LOSING ANY LIMBS OR EVEN MY LIFE YOU ARE JUST STANDING HERE WITH YOUR ALMIGHTY STRENGTH AND DOING NOTHING BUT DOWNPLAYING EVERYONE WEAKER THAN YOU, TELL ME WHERE WERE YOU WHEN A BLOOD-THIRSTY BANDIT ATTACKED ME? WHERE WERE YOU WHEN A EVIL SPIRIT TRIED TO SLAUGHTER EVERYONE IN THIS CAMP? TELL ME WHERE WERE YOU? YOU BASTARD!!!"
Teras screamed at Tokkou, the students were confused about the evil spirit thing but they didn't suspect anything, before Tokkou could reply Teras attacked him again and again, and the attacks slowly dragged Tokkou to the corner of the field, Teras then released a barrage of blows at Tokkou, the attacks were so fast that not even Teras could see his hands, Tokkou smiled with excitement when he saw the attacks coming at him, he then activated his mana flow and mana vision, Tokkou proceeded to block every single punch, but this time he used both of his arms, after some seconds of continue attacks Teras slowly began to slow down, when Teras got weak enough Tokkou ducked down and he kicked Teras on his stomach launching him to the other side of the destroyed field, Teras clashed on multiple rocks while he was in the air, after the attack Teras was laying down on the ground, it seemed like the fight was over
"The winner of this fight is...."
"IT'S NOT OVER!!!"
Teras's scream interrupted Recka, everyone was surprised that Teras was conscious after the attack Teras then moved all the rocks on top of him and grabbed a big destroyed part of the field, and threw it at Tokkou, Tokkou broke the rock with a punch, at the same time, Teras launched himself with mana overflow Tokkou tried to punch him with his other hand, Teras then quickly warped his legs around his arm and punched Tokkou with all of his might, the attack dragged Tokkou to the ground, the crash rose up a tremendous amount of dust, Teras thought that he got Tokkou but little did he know, he did absolutely nothing
"You keep on impressing me more and more Teras"
Tokkou said, he then launched Teras in the air with his power, he then jumped up, and struck Teras's stomach with his knee, Teras coughed blood from the hit, Tokkou then merged his hands together and struck Teras on his back, Teras hit the ground hard, Tokkou then flew down after the hits, a moment later Teras got up his nose was bleeding, it seemed like his nose wasn't completely healed from when Cara broke it, Teras then slowly walked up to Tokkou
"I'm sure I punched you, but it seemed like my fist didn't even touch you, how did this happen?"
"Teras let's stop, I don't want to hurt you anymore, you have shown all of us your resolve"
"Tokkou you will never understand, I HAVE to win this fight"
"If that's what you think then fine, come at me"
Teras started to run in Tokkou's direction but before he could approach him Tokkou used telekinesis to push Teras down to the ground
'what the hell is this? it feels like my body gained double the weight!'
Teras thought, he could hardly even stand
"If you take another step I will increase the pressure so I suggest you stop"
Tokkou told him, his tone was starting to change, Teras didn't listen to him, he kept on walking at him, Tokkou increased the weight, and Teras fell on the ground the pressure was way too strong for him to handle, in a last-ditch effort he used mana overflow one more time, he managed to get up, all of Tokkou's guards were surprised, Teras kept on walking but his legs were slowly giving up on him, after some steps he got close to Tokkou and slowly punched him on the face, Tokkou didn't block the punch, since it was very weak, the attack barely did damage to him, Tokkou then increased the pressure of his power once more, Teras fell on the ground, he felt the same way like the one time in Tokkou's mansion but this time the pressure was twice as strong than before, Teras screamed of pain so Tokkou stopped
"Come on Recka! it's over just call it out!"
Tokkou told her with a pissed look on his face
"I can't! that's not what Teras would want, just throw him out of bounce I refuse to end the match"
Tokkou was angry at her response, he tried to pick up Teras but he wasn't on the ground, before Tokkou could get on the defensive Teras grabbed him by his leg and used every single drop of mana he had to throw Tokkou away, Tokkou was taken by surprised since Teras was behind him, for some reason, Tokkou couldn't detect him, Tokkou easily landed on his feet, but as soon as he hit the ground a loud cheer could have been heard from the crowd, Tokkou then looked down, to his surprise he was stepping outside of the field, Tokkou then left out a small laugh
"You sure are crazy Teras!"
"And you are giving up on a fight before it's over, that's a bad habit..."
Teras said before he lost consciousness, Teras was quickly taken to Becka's tent to heal, the remaining fights were delayed since the field was destroyed, and a new one had to be created by Recka
"Sir, do you think that this kid could join us in the future?"
the captain of Tokkou's knights asked him, he was a tall brown-haired man with brown eyes he had a big battle scar on his face, Tokkou smiled when he heard what the man said
"No chance! I doubt that he will become a royal knight, he will probably try to become a ranker-ranked adventurer, but I can see him helping us in the near future! Just give him a few years and he will surpass us for real"
He replied, the captain nodded and went back to work, Tokkou then flew up to the roof of the boy's dorm, he then laid down, and enjoyed the view, it was a cloudy day but you could easily see the blue sky, and the clouds were covering the sun at the moment, it was a perfect spot for a nap
'I'm sorry about the things I told you today Teras but this is the only way a monster like you can grow, I hope that one day you will forgive me for the things I told you today'
Tokkou thought as he was looking at the clouds, a flash of memory came back to Tokkou
He was very young, he was inside of a dark room, he had bruises all over his body, it seemed like the one that did this to Tokkou was a tall man, his face was hidden under the darkness of the room
"A monster like you can't improve otherwise! Do you understand me? even if you die I will replace you, so if you ever think of giving up I won't hesitate to kill you understood?"
those words came out of a man's mouth, Tokkou hated those words but it turned out the person saying them was right
"Those days are over, so why am I remembering them now? that doesn't matter, I will definitely go to apologize to Teras, but I probably have to do it after he wakes up, since then I will relax up here"
he said as he closed his eyes, he fell asleep on the roof, after this fight, the atmosphere around the camp somehow became more peaceful and silent, the fight also gave hope to the other students, Teras showed them that even if the all the odds are against them they can still manage to win, so everyone was excited about their upcoming fights, they felt nothing but excitement, after an hour the new field was ready, a guard was sent to wake Tokkou up so the matches could continue