Having had no choice but to enter one of the capsules, it hadn't taken long before my consciousness was launched into a digital world consisting of grassy plains, and in front of me, my opponent was currently waiting for me to make a move.
Kobold, an [F]-rank monster that could be said to be somewhat of a cross between a god and a human, with the majority of it being very much a dog. Still, it had enough human traits to hold the wooden club in one of its hands, as well as having the decency to cover up its privates with a dirty loincloth.
Even if I recognized to an extent that I had brought this upon myself by sticking out my neck, I was still swearing inwards at the teacher who had obviously wanted to show me my place by making a fool out of me.
I assumed that he thought that because of my statue that I was weak, and would therefore undoubtedly lose to the kobold without standing much of a chance. So this would cement my position as the bottom of the barrel, and by extension be a large hit against my teacher who had defended me against Hugo.
However, what he didn't know was that I actually had a secret weapon. A certain kill attack that I had practiced with Ms. Zito during my first night at her apartment. Even though I had needed to practice just activating and controlling my ability, she had forced me to practice this move so many times during that one night that I was confident that I could pull it out here as well.
So, when the teacher's voice rang out in the digital world, I was already ready to go, having fully prepared myself to show him just how wrong he was.
"-Let's begin!"
*Groh!*
As soon as Mr. Ainsworth spoke, the kobold ran forward through the tufts of grass, raising his club high into the air, ready to smash my head like a watermelon on the beach. Maybe it was because of my demonic traits, or maybe it was because it was one of the weakest monsters in the world, but I wasn't scared.
In fact, I could almost feel myself getting a bit excited.
So, tensing the muscles in my left leg, I used it as a lever to send me forward, while at the same time activating my ability. It was very much like the move I used to soar to the roof previously, except my direction was a lot more forward than up.
*Groh...?*
Thanks to the zero gravity state I had put myself in, the burst of speed that I got from launching myself forward didn't dissipate, and it took less than a second for my right knee to reach the head of the kobold.
'[Reset]!'
Then, timing the momentum of my knee just about to collide with the kobold, I restored my state of gravity, making it so its face ate the full weight of my body while maintaining the same speed as my prior dash.
*Bam!*
Blood spewed out of its mouth while some of its fangs flew through the air.
*Thud...*
When it landed on the ground, there was no doubt that I could declare myself the victor of the fight, seeing as it could no longer move.
Yes, this was my ultimate move. A move I had tried to name the Flying Knee of Destruction, but as Dona had more or less puked her guts out when hearing that name, I decided to seal it away. It was so dangerous that even hearing the name would incapacitate someone.
And this was the move he had forced me to use.
Now, was it a great achievement that I managed to bring down an [F]-rank monster? No.
Did I still raise my hands and yell 'ADRIAN!' to burn the memory of my victory into the very strands of my memory? No, that would be silly. I just did so internally.
"-Umm... So, that's one way to go about it, I guess? Though Mr. Laupier seems to have forgotten everything I said about kobolds, he managed to bring it down even though he attacked the single point of their body that isn't regarded as a weakness. You may come out now."
With a blue screen appearing in front of me, counting down the time until ejection, it didn't take long until I was back in the classroom, with all of the other students now looking at me strangely. Still, even though he tried to hide it, the small amount of frustration that was shown on Mr. Ainsworth's face made me completely disregard them.
'But how much did he underestimate me to think I would lose against something like that...? Do I really look that weak?'
'-Yeah, you do look quite weak at the moment. Hmm, though it's quite unconventional for a demon, maybe you should start lifting some weights?'
'I guess that could be one way to go about it? Still, I'm not sure... Lucifer! Why didn't you tell me about what would happen when...!"
'-I'm sorry. I truly am. I will tell you more, I promise, but not right now. This is not the place nor the time for it.'
'Okay. I understand.'
It was somewhat unsettling, hearing the usually aloof and uncaring tone of Lucifer turn serious. If there was something I had learned during these past years, it was that during the brief moment when she became like this, I should just listen to her obediently.
Taking a stand next to the other students, I instead turned my focus to Mr. Ainsworth, quite interested in seeing how he would be able to muddy my accomplishment.
Swiftly fixing his blonde hair, it didn't take long for the bullshit to start.
"Now, let's talk about what we just got to see. Let's start talking about what Mr. Laupier did wrong."
A sea of hands were raised to his question, and it didn't take long until the responses started flowing out, a sea of what felt like never-ending criticism. A list of comments that went on and on.
"He didn't take the time to eye his opponent up."
"He didn't take into account the terrain they were in."
Everything from how I had looked at the monster, to how I supposedly kneed him at a suboptimal angle, all kinds of bullshit were spouted from the students around me, all seemingly not caring about the fact that I had brought down the kobold in an instant.
*Clap, clap, clap!*
Doing some kind of theatrical act, Mr. Ainsworth praised them for their keen analysis of the fight, more than happy to see that the students had played along with his disgusting plan of making me out to be a fool.
"Good job! Yes, there are no doubts that Mr. Laupier has a lot of work to do before he can confidently step out into the wilderness and hunt monsters for real. However, even if he did many things wrong, let's talk also talk about what he did well.
'These guys...'
Not a single hand was raised, as there seemed to be no one that wanted to for any reason say anything about me that could be interpreted as a compliment.
"No one?"
Or so I had thought. In the end, there was one girl who raised her hand.
"Yes? Oh, and what's your name?"
Taking a step forward, as it was in the lines of respect to clearly show oneself when answering a teacher, a brown-haired girl spoke.
"My name is Lydia Wild."
"Okay, then Lydia, what did you think Aarick did well?"
Very subtly, she glanced at me before answering, almost as if she wanted to make sure I was still there.
"He didn't hesitate."
Silence enveloped us as everyone took in what she had just said. Although I didn't quite know why the reaction was so exaggerated, something about what she had said seemed to have made quite an impact on everyone around us. Our teacher included.
"That's true... That's very true, Ms. Wild! Yes, even though he made so many errors during his fight, it is true that he at least didn't hesitate. Because hesitation will ultimately end with you losing your lives."
As there was no way for him to just sweep her comment under the rug, our teacher seemingly decided to just allow me to obtain at least this small victory, even though he tried to make it seem like it was overshadowed by all the things I had done wrong.
Turning my head toward the brown-haired girl, I also wasn't quite sure how to interpret her choice to answer his question. Looking at the girl I had thought to be energetic and over the top from her interaction with Peter, I was forced to take a step back and re-evaluate her a bit.
Strangely enough, she even met my gaze head-on, and instead of turning her head away, she just smiled at me.
Though it wasn't to the point where I dared to believe I had gained an ally or a friend here at the academy, it was at least enough to show me that I wasn't just surrounded by enemies.