A/N: Yeah I'm ngl exams are much easier than I thought they would be, can probs expect a weekly ish schedule now I'm ngl.
Valier POV:
I watched as Mana gathered in Artorius' fist. I was honestly pretty happy, he was attacking me with the intent to kill. He was going to be someone who I'd enjoy fighting in the future, but this attack was actually pretty strong. In fact, the power behind this attack surpassed the current limits of Artorius.
'He's that afraid of me? It almost makes me feel something.'
Then, our teacher stopped his attack from making contact with my body, and I truly was thankful for that. If that had hit me, I don't think I'd have gotten away without being seriously injured. But that's if, and only if it actually landed. I seriously doubted that that guy could actually land a solid blow on me.
I then looked past the teacher and saw the state of Artorius' arm. It was actually totally fine. It was then that I remembered how Holy Magic worked, it could heal its user when they circulated it throughout their bodies. This of course cost far more Mana than if they just wanted to strengthen or just wanted to heal themselves.
But, it allowed a person like Artorius who had more Mana than his body could handle to fight beyond his regular limits. It was a simple yet effective ability that would become his first Mana Art, 'Overdrive.' It was a simple name for a simple ability. However, it was the perfect ability for someone who had as much Mana as him.
You see, normally people didn't have the issue of having more Mana than their body could handle, but Artorius had so much that if he wanted to use his Mana to his fullest his body would simply break itself apart. But, with Overdrive, he'd instantly repair the damage and launch his next attack. Sure, others could use it if they had the attribute, but only he could take it to its full potential.
But this also had a rather significant drawback, it consumed a ridiculous amount of Mana. Of course, doing all of these processes did strain the brain but that wasn't an issue since he could just heal his brain from the damage. Even Artorius couldn't maintain this state for too long or rather it was because he was Artorius that he couldn't maintain it. When Overdrive was being used, even breathing was tearing his body apart, even his heartbeat put a strain on his heart. Every process taking place within his body was causing damage to him, which in turn needed healing.
So, it really did eat away at his Mana. But, the power it granted him would probably be enough to make him a threat to me. At the moment, his attacks were a bit tough for me to take on, but he'd never be able to hit me.
Thus, I'd still win, after all, he only had that whole anti Demon thing going for him. I'm probably stronger than even most of the second years, after all, I was stronger than Irene who was a monster in her own right. And, Irene was probably stronger than even some third years.
So, in all honesty, I'm far ahead of a lot of these guys. But, this year's group has its own monsters, and if it had gone according to the plot... then next year, Iris would've attended this school.
'Why the fuck do I still care about that?'
Then, I thought about Iris's funeral, there wasn't even a fucking body. Not even ashes to leave in an urn, not even a trace of her existence was left.
I sighed, this was out of character for me. To actually care about something that didn't benefit me in any real way. But I suppose there's not much wrong with that, it was not like it was causing me any harm.
"Artorius Astedalle."
Then, a voice containing a chilling blood lust came from my teacher.
"If you had used Mana to defend against his attack, I would have allowed it, of course I would have stopped his attack before it touched you. But, you dare to attack your classmate? And with an attack like that? You have that ridiculous Mana Capacity, and your Mana output is also on a different dimension compared to the rest of your year. But, you decided to maximise your output and aim for his stomach. You could have killed him."
Artorius, who was once frozen in fear, was now frozen by an overwhelming sense of guilt. Artorius wasn't a cold person, he was a regular person. And so, when he realised that he had nearly become a murderer, he felt an immense sense of guilt. After all, he had never killed anyone before, not even an animal.
But, he had still made an attempt on my life. If I forgot about the situation so easily, then I wouldn't be able to hold my head up so high.
I walked towards Artorius, moving our teacher aside, I looked at our teacher for a moment and he understood my intentions.
"Don't worry about it, it happens and we had a teacher here to stop the incident, so can we forget about this incident?"
I said, faking a smile. I then placed an arm over Artorius' shoulder, then I quietly spoke.
"If you try and pull a stunt like that again, I'll fucking rip you to shreds."
As I took my arm off his shoulders, my hand grazed his throat. But, in that instant, I squeezed the flesh above the carotid artery, a few drops of blood dripped from his neck but he healed the surface level cuts almost immediately.
"I promise you, whatever I decide to show off at this school isn't even a fraction of what I can do. You'd best remember who the strongest in our year is."
I put more force into my grip, but I didn't pierce his skin. Instead, I applied a more blunt force to his throat.
"The strongest isn't you, it's not some royal, it's not an Elf, a beastman or anything in between. It's me."
The title of the strongest was a title that I didn't usually concern myself with in my old world. That's because it didn't matter If you were stronger than me if I could delete you out of existence. But here, strength mattered much more, and here, I could grow much stronger than in my old world.
In my old world, I was never allowed to be taught martial arts, so I'd always just copied people. Here, if I didn't understand something, I could ask for assistance, and I could even ask for teachers to set aside time for me.
Of course, the only help I'd need would be in Magic related things. But, I could technically ask Irene as well, though I'd rather not. I'm sure she'd agree if I asked for her help though. She was actually rather affectionate towards me, and she was probably a bit scared of losing me.
But I really didn't know how to respond to that sort of stuff, but I also did feel a sort of connection that could only be described as familial.
Was I the one feeling that sensation in my heart? Or was I just feeling what Iris used to feel for Irene, after all, I'd heard of people inheriting memories and feelings among other things from other people after a transplant.
Honestly, this body of mine was weird, the eye of a God, the blood of a Demon, the heart of a Dragon, and apparently there was some human mixed in there.
'What the hell am I? Am I even considered a part of the same species as these guys? Like, can I seriously be called a human? Even the blood flowing through my veins isn't the same as everyone else here.'
I then let off Artorius and walked off, the teacher then dispersed the class and told them to get on with their duels.
"Valier, a moment please."
Our teacher called me over and honestly, I didn't feel like getting on his bad side so I walked over to him.
"Need something?"
"Would you be able to stay a few minutes after class? I'd like to talk to you in private for a bit, it won't take long, I promise."
"Sure."
And so, the class sparred with one another and unfortunately, I couldn't see any moves I didn't know or any moves worth copying. On a note, Artorius and I were sitting out, which was why I even had the opportunity to observe everyone.
'So bland, nothing here's worth learning or even understanding. No one here has put any effort in understanding techniques, especially that Artorius guy. He doesn't try to hone that talent nor does he train his body, all he does is rely on his talent without putting any work in.'
Edited By: WorthyAdversary