I still got strange eyes from everyone, like I'd done something wrong. It was hard to tell if they stared at me because of their usual distaste of a Cross or if they did so because of what I did earlier.
Surely, it couldn't be the latter, the light was too bright. You'd barely be able to see your surroundings let alone what I'd done.
For now, I was more focused on the next phase of the class.
I hadn't expected what happened next and yet it was dealt upon us.
One of the few things to expect from a man as unpredictable as Aleksander Kazamir.
"Dilbert Filum versus Nyx Besimios."
...
The scene changed to both of us with our wooden swords pointed at each other, prepared for the go ahead. At least this would help clear the air between us.
He'd been antagonistic all this while to me and I've chosen to shrug off his senile advances everytime. This time, it was going to be him venting out his frustration at me in this practice, I'm sure he felt very confident.
From the controlled heartbeat rate, to the steady hands and stationary fingertips, I could tell he truly believed he could win against me without the application of magic.
How did I know all this? Another skill from Scentia [Analytical Appraisal] it allowed me the ability to analyze and assess a target.
"This is no more than a mock battle. If it looks like it's getting dangerous, I'll stop you."
Kazamir indicated.
He knew there was some pent up hatred between Dilbert and I, actually, it was just one-sided as I had no reason to hate him nor did I have the time to encourage hatred.
My focus on the battle was like an arrow to the bullseye, it wasn't broken by the chants of "Look, it's the Cross.", "Hah, the magicless freak!", "Who the heck said he was good, anyway?", there were lots of jokes, insults, downplays and the likes directed toward me.
"Cross?" Belitha didn't understand their reason for calling me a Cross, I wasn't one or at least she chose not to believe I was.
Being my childhood friend she wouldn't want to say unpleasant things about me and also think unpleasantly of me. Besides, she had a secret of her own.
She chose to dismiss the possibility of me being a Cross, it was an offensive word that even they didn't know it's origin. And yet, they used it however they pleased.
Alaric came up from behind and explained to her that he was being called a Cross because I had no affinity for magic.
"Huh?" she uttered while raising an eyebrow as to whom he was, since they'd never spoken before.
He raised out his right thumb and informed Belitha "I'm Nyxʼs roomie, number one guy, muscle buddy, protein drinking companion.."
He listed out weird names we coined for ourselves in the dorm last night.
Still, Belitha was very much confused.
She then said "Oh, well, hello... But what does that mean to them?" judging from the look on her face she was clueless.
Alaric further narrated "Their understanding of a Cross is a magicless freak, it's usually associated with corpses as you are only without magic power when you're dead."
In my case I had mana, it's just so minimal that it doesn't help in casting spells.
"Oh, I get it.."
She conveyed her grasp of the word by snapping her fingers.
Then interlacing her fingers she placed her hands on her surprisingly large chest, "Nyx..." she muttered my name out of concern.
There was no need for her to be. It would end quickly.
...
"Okay, are you both ready?"
Kazamir mentioned, wanting our consent before he would commence the mock battle.
While I was calm as could be, with my wooden sword pointed outward.
Dilbert beared a menacing stare toward me. I couldn't understand the reason for so much hate, but in the mind of Dilbert he felt that someone who couldn't even use magic, had no right to stand on the same level as him, nor breathe the same air.
"I'll make sure you learn your place filthy creature!"
"I know, but chill dude." I replied calmly.
"Begin!"
As the go ahead was given, Dilbert made the first move.
His movement was sloppy at best but admirably quick in the eye of most. He was a tall, lanky fellow but at the same time exceptionally nimble. I could tell from the manner with which he propagated himself with his toe.
The wooden blade came down in a vertical manner but I could already see the path it would follow even before his toe moved a nerve. And in a brief, unspecified amount of time, I adjusted quickly yet gently toward my left and used my blade to guide his downward by placing it like a slide.
The idea was to make him lose balance. The abrupt increase in force without a suitable measure of control led to loss of balance and I was the catalyst for this to occur.
I watched as his blade ran down the flat surface of mine before driving itself into the soil.
Now that he was bent downward I had my blade placed on his neck, and what angered most people and surprised others, was the nonchalant appearance I wore on my countenance.
"No way!" I recall Belitha saying, meanwhile, Alaric was impressed but not shocked "Not, bad man!" his voice was loud, enough that I could hear him.
But not as loud as the three friends and followers of Dilbert who exclaimed in unison "Impossible!"
Kazamir on the other hand smiled proudly, nothing he loved more than a good show of swordsmanship.
I spun my sword from the hilt, albeit in a slow motion as I slowly took two steps back while conveying to Dilbert that I had been trained hard in the skillful use of a sword, after all I had less time invested into learning magic and more to reading and swordsmanship.
"Give me a challenge, alright?" I politely requested. Yes, I did want to frustrate him more.
Scentia also had a hand in my success.
I wasn't as good in swordsmanship as I was now. This was thanks to a few key elements. [Thought processing, Skill Creation, Skill Duplication] as such, attempts like that don't have as much influence on me as before.
"You... You..."
At that point in time, Dilbert could burst a vein. He was frustrated beyond reasonable doubt.
I could clearly see him getting into battle stance again, but I didn't see the need to justify it with any form of defense or a non-practical movement of any sort.
"Are you mocking me?! Plebian!"
This only burned his candle even more, which was my plan.
Anyone who could make you angry is ultimately your master, as they have control over your actions from when you choose to lose your cool. The one thing that helped a man in battle.
"You damned Cross!" I heard him shout out.
He swung his blade at me again but this time he'd imbued it with mana.
I could tell, as my eyes had the ability to perceive outside the normal three-dimensional eyes.
My wooden sword wasn't nearly enough to handle a mana fortified weapon, so I had improvise or rather we.
[Unique Skill ---> Oracle Engine]
Activating...
[First Function ---> Increase Mana Output to 100%]
Processing...
[Second Function ---> Engage Skill Duplication]
Isolated Mana Manipulation...
Processing...
I in turn, replicated the exact same technique he used, isolated mana manipulation but with a mana output of 100% after drawing from the magicubes in the surrounding.
The moment my blade clashed with his, I disintegrated, atomized, vaporized his blade or any fancy word you choose to use in order to describe turning his weapon to particles.
"Well that was unexpected.." I murmured.
A controlled factorization was measured in by Scentia the [Oracle Engine] to avoid my wooden sword eviscerating him as well.
Not a known fact, but my wooden sword at the time scaled higher than the Bonesword that Aleksander conjured earlier.
His weapon, vaporized, and my sword, now pointed at his neck, he had no choice but to yield to my blade.
"No way.", "For real?" they were all surprised to have witnessed this occur. But from the start, the victory was mine as Scentia calculated Dilbertʼs chance of victory to be no higher than 0.0000001%.
A long shot if you ask me.
The battle ended, no need to pursue it any further, the taste of victory was good. I had little to gain from watching Dilbert kneel in agony, it was all on him.
I'd already proven myself beyond the shadow of a doubt.
"Match ended. Nyx wins!"