5 more days passed with no news of any missions from his burner phone. His lessons were getting a bit repetitive now as his teachers would give him a new combination to train and master. Now, he was really getting used to using his dagger in battle instead of just his fists.
During training with Mr Gudbrand, who most certainly wasn't fond of Brandyn, he was simply doing as everyone else was. They were a given a few dummies in the large arena and they had to practice what Mr Gudbrand had just showed them. This was a special technique where the user would feint by pretending to throw their dagger at their target. Following this feint, the dagger user was to run as fast as they could ahead to deal any attack that they wanted to. Mr Gudbrand was arrogant, but he was not stupid.
The students all had varying attributes and locking the entire class down to only a set few combos would've been quite foolish. Some people could've benefitted from that approach, but he was also aware that some people wouldn't.
While Brandyn was practicing how to feint successfully, another student barged into him as they walked past. This was none other than Luuk Bruin.
"Who are you looking at, weakling!" Luuk replied, glaring at Brandyn with his glowing eyes.
"Who are you looking at?" Brandyn replied boldly, also making his eyes glow.
This brief conversation caught the attention of everyone around them, making the arena go almost silent. Everyone was intrigued about what was about to happen, but Mr Gudbrand just wanted to see Brandyn get beaten to a pulp.
"Students. Let them have their space. I would like to see how far they have come." Mr Gudbrand said sinisterly.
The group of students promptly complied and gave these 2 students space. Brandyn did not look scared at all and he did not break off eye contact with his target. As this happened, unknown to Brandyn, he had been given a new quest.
[NEW QUEST!]
[Quest: Bruin]
[Luuk of the famed Bruin dynasty has just challenged you to a battle. Show him your true strength and prove your superiority!]
[Rewards: 400XP, 1 Skill]
Luuk swivelled his dagger to fit snugly into his palm and with that, the match began. Brandyn gripped his dagger tightly too and he knew not to rush into this battle blindly. The Bruin dynasty possessed great abilities and if he was to do something too rash, he knew he would get punished for it.
Luuk, on the other hand, had no reason to stay passive and calculated. Not only was he stronger and faster, his ego would not let him fight as if he was taking this seriously.
*crackle*
His arms crackled with bright lime electricity and before Brandyn could even react by making a tighter stance, he was off. His strides were long, due to his stature, but also swift. Each strike with the ground from his shoe felt like a stomp but he didn't seem to be sluggish or weighty.
Luuk began the opening strike by swinging up his green dagger. Brandyn had enough time and space initially to evade, using all of his force to step back and out of the way. Miscalculating, Brandyn placed way too much force into moving back from the attack, causing him to almost stumble back.
While doing this, he instinctively pulled his arms back but Luuk was not here to play fair and to let him off. Luuk was here to take him out.
As Brandyn's chest was left right open, he slashed across his chest and sliced right through the muscular fibres in his torso. Blood soared out from the wound and even got on some of the dummies. Even though some of the students were getting a kick out of seeing Brandyn get pummelled, some couldn't help but look back to their professor after this gory event.
"Do not fret. The medical team can heal any injury caused with ease. Let them continue." Mr Gubrand ordered, while he watched the fight with a smile.
From this attack, Brandyn brought back his arms to his torso and cowered away in pain. This attempt to get away from his target was futile as Luuk just chased him down again, covering the distance between them in no time.
Once Brandyn saw Luuk coming towards him, he cocked back his fist in preparation for when he would get in range. He also swept back his right foot then shot out his fist.
*WHOOSH*
His fist whipped right past Luuk's face, leaving him unscathed. All this attack did was slightly move up his green hair due to the gust of air.
In annoyance, Luuk noticed that Brandyn was pressed up against the wall of the arena and so, he leapt forward and slammed him into the wooden barrier between the arena and the stands. The slam sounded like a violent explosion that went off and Brandyn realised that this fight would not be easy to win.
"He's so fast and strong at the same time! How can I win?!" Brandyn thought in panic, feeling the throbbing pain across his entire body.
The teacher had got exactly what he wanted. To see Brandyn get pummelled by someone stronger than him. Someone better than him, he believed. Brandyn's will to beat those above him was undying and intensified alongside his emotions in this fight. However, reality soon set in.
"I can't win! Damn!" Brandyn thought, gritting his canines together in fury.
Even after all the work that he had put in, he seemed to be so far behind.
*BAM*
Before he could even react, Luuk shot forward his glowing, crackling fist and slammed it right into Brandyn's abdomen with a straight punch. The vibrations from the impact boomed around his intestines and created this overwhelming feeling of nausea and pain. Seeing Brandyn's state of agony, Luuk couldn't help but smile as he reigned supreme over him.
Viciously, the green-haired kid swung his arm out to slice across Brandyn's chest. After this, the victor of the fight was clearly settled. Brandyn's raging, glowing eyes, fizzled out into nothing and he simply looked down at the ground in pain. The student grasped his stomach in discomfort and he felt as if he was about to throw up everything in his intestines.
"Don't you dare try and attack me again, fool! Know your damn place!" Luuk declared, infuriated.
His lightning bolts that scurried across his skin fizzled out into nothing and he remained practically untouched.
"No! Not like this! Not again!"