The combat arena for classes D and C was a dilapidated gymnasium in the back of the academy. It was a vast space with non-lethal weapons, reinforced clothing, and a central area where the fighting took place.
All the students in class D were in their training clothes, a kind of gray armor that clung to their bodies. In the midst of the students was Professor Caligan in his usual attire explaining everything around.
"This place that was once the Phoenix Academy's main arena will, for the remaining days, be the training area that lower rank classes can use. This place is made with material coming from the Tower to sustain damage and regenerate."
"Regenerate? This place...(yawn)... it's a mess..." said Theo.
"That's because they didn't recharge the environment with the energy stones, which are also found in the Tower. So now this place is just a gymnasium that has seen better days. But there is a good side to coming here, which is to talk about the treasures of the Tower."
The professor picked up an old, scratched spear to show everyone.
"In the old days the ones who made the weapons were the Craftsmen. Not just weapons, but potions, armor, and inventions of all sorts. But when the higher ranks rose higher in the Tower whole weapons and all sorts of items were found. These items in theory are superior to those that were manufactured and could regenerate or strengthen themselves depending on the rank of the person using them. In other words, the Tower's weapons and armor react to your blood."
"These armors and weapons are from the Tower? I have heard that they change color and shape according to the blood of the person who wears and uses them?" asked Saphyra raising her hand first.
"Precisely, ms. Vizzora. And indeed the armor they wear comes from the Tower. They are old, yes, but they certainly come from there, and you can see that by the small slot for supplying energy gems on the left side of your chestplate." said the professor pointing to the small slot. "These armors you wear here will not react to your blood, as they only mutate when in contact with ranks B and up."
"Look how wonderful...(stretches)... another disadvantage." said Theo further back.
The professor wanted to continue talking, but seeing that Kaito was raising his hand, he simply gestured for the boy to proceed with his plan and left the middle of the arena, going to a corner where he could sit and continue reading his book.
Kaito went to the front and received the gaze of doubt and anger from his entire class. He was not shaken by this. In fact that was to be expected. Taking a deep breath, the boy began to speak.
"As you know Class D has been challenged by Class B. They want a five member team to face each other in thirty days. I-"
"We don't want to hear that from you, F rank. We want to know when and how we can kick your ass." cut Hakon going forward with a heavy battle axe in hand.
"As I said before, I want to challenge class D to a fight. If I win you will have to accept what I say."
"What if you lose?" asked a cleric who had a blonde afro and smooth, velvety black skin.
Kaito hadn't noticed her before, and he didn't know how he hadn't seen her, because she stood out. She had very blue eyes, red lipstick, a strong body, and three earrings in her right ear.
"If I lose..." said Kaito suggesting that she say her own name.
"My name you'll have to earn, my dear," said the girl with a smart smile.
"Okay, Miss Anonymous, if I lose I will leave the Phoenix Academy. Happy?"
"That will be too easy!" said the cleric smiling and stretching her arms nonchalantly.
"I don't think it's fair!" said Saphyra putting herself forward.
"Oh, you're not going to tell me you're going to protect this F rank?!" asked Hakon.
"We are thirty D ranks against one F rank! That's absurd!"
"And it really is absurd. I don't think I stand a chance against all of you myself." said Kaito going towards the wall of weapons and looking one by one at which one would be ideal for that moment "But I won't do it any other way, Saphy. I want to prove you wrong."
Kaito faced his class and an almost insane smile passed his lips. Everyone there saw at that moment that the person in front of them was not only an F rank, but something dangerous that took pleasure in what he was about to do
Saphyra on the other hand did not see it that way. She felt that this would be wrong. If it was a fair fight she would give full support, but what they were doing was different. It was unfair.
"You have five minutes to get ready!" said Kaito adjusting a medium-sized shield on his arm, putting a spear in hand, leaving a sword at his waist and a bow on his back "Because if you don't do that, you will lose!"
Silence took over the place. Normally everyone would laugh at the one who equipped himself with so many weapons, but there, in that moment, Class D felt that they would face something big and so they should prepare themselves.
* * *
Kaito gave everyone five minutes to prepare, and in that time he studied what he would do. The weapons he chose would help him in several cases that he could not foresee. He could target mages, ward off warriors, and defend himself against artillery. The sword would be a good against thieves who got too close.
"Are you sure you want to do this, mr. Arturis?" asked Professor Caligan, who still had his book in hand.
"Certainty is the one thing I don't have, professor. But I think it will be fun." replied Kaito laughing.
"Can you use all those weapons?"
"I think I will do well with them. I have always trained with my mother the most varied types of weapons. According to her, 'a complete warrior is one who uses everything!' In the end I did not become a warrior."
"Indeed you are not a warrior, young man. But who says you can't be something more interesting than that?"
Kaito did not expect this kind of treatment from Professor Caligan. The professor just nodded and walked away, returning to his chair and going back to reading his book.
"What's up, F rank? Shall we get started?"
The voice was Hakon's, and when Kaito turned around he saw that his entire class was equipped and ready. The warriors went for their heavy weapons. The thieves for their knives and bows. The clerics were further back and had staffs and shields in hand, and the mages stood in the middle of the group, with their orbs and staffs at the ready. But there were differences there that Kaito had not noticed.
Theo did not use a dagger, but a katana, something he had only seen Selize do. Saphyra had no apparatus at hand, and this confused Kaito. The Afro cleric, on the other hand, was standing in front of him, and in her hands she carried a steel knuckle in both hands.
Kaito took a deep breath, positioned his shield and spear, and faced everyone there already preparing himself for what he was going to have to do.
"Professor, would you do the honors?" asked Kaito.
Professor Caligan gave a heavy sigh, stood up and walked to the center of the arena. Watching everyone there, he began his preparations.
"The fight time is a maximum of twenty minutes. The arena and the armor will work together to mitigate all damage, so there will be no fatalities. There still may be injuries, so if an opponent who remains down will automatically be out of the contest." the teacher snapped his fingers and a blue spark came out of them, briefly illuminating the armor of each one there "since we don't have a gem in this place, I will yield my energy to your armor and weapons. Is everyone ready?"
The class clasped their weapons in hand and Kaito swallowed dryly, bowing and directing his spear at them.
"Battle!"
The group's first move was to advance, but seeing that Kaito was coming at them without any hesitation, they became fearful and faltered. Kaito changed the way he held his spear, twisted his body, concentrated the energy of the flames on the tip of the spear and threw it all at once.
Everyone saw the spear coming at them and many even raised their shields, but to everyone's surprise the spear didn't have enough strength to cover the distance, falling just in front of Hakon, who faced Kaito with a chuckle on his lips.
"Are you serious that you want to face us with i-"
Suddenly the tip of the spear glowed in a strong red and an explosion beneath the earth was made. It was not a strong explosion, but it had been enough to raise a cloud of dust all over the group, who were left with no way to see who was approaching.
Kaito drew his short sword and ran into the cloud. He knew exactly where each one was. He spent the five minutes paying attention to it and forced himself to memorize. His priority now was to cut down numbers as quickly as possible, and so he got into the middle of the group and went about striking one by one.
"HE CAN USE MAGI-" Kaito hit a warrior ahead.
"WHERE IS HE-" the rogue tried to say, until he was hit in the head with the hilt of his sword.
"HIT AS YOU CAN!" Was the last say of a desperate cleric who had been hit by an ally.
One by one they were falling, but time was short. Kaito knew he couldn't defeat them all before the dust had settled, so he had to be quick. The blows were buzzing around him, one hit after another. Kaito himself had been hit a few times, but most were just his shield or his shoulders.
The dust had settled, many were fallen, and Kaito needed to act before they could locate him. The boy enchanted the tip of his sword with fire and tried to pierce the ground. If he raised another cloud of dust he could end it quickly, but to his surprise, the sword did not ignite. On the contrary, it felt cold, almost painful to hold.
"I think that's enough, Kaito..."
Kaito looked ahead and saw that Saphyra was staring at him with her eyes glowing a bright blue as she cooled his sword. He had never seen a mage use weapon enchantment on enemy equipment.
"Then let's go to plan B!" said Kaito trying to back up in a leap.
"No plans! That's over!" replied Saphyra putting her hands together at once.
Kaito hadn't realized it, but near his foot was a small bluish ball, like a bead from a bracelet. This bead glowed brightly at the moment of Saphyra's gesture and a rune appeared on the ground, creating an icy floor that froze Kaito's right leg, paralyzing him in place.
Distressed, Kaito looked at the mage and realized that she had several bracelets on her arms, made with small beads like the one on the floor.
"A rune mage...?"
"Now you fall, you trash!" said Hakon emerging at once spinning his axe with all the strength of his body.
Kaito had no way to escape. If that blow landed he would be defeated. At that moment he could only take one action and pray it worked.
The generalist dropped his sword, raised his shield and held it with both hands, concentrating as best he could to conjure the magic.
"Barrier of Light!"
His shield was taken by a weak light that made it more powerful, but still the blow hit him with such force that it broke the ice and caused him to be thrown for a long distance. Kaito rolled on the ground several times to try to soften the impact, but that blow was one of the most powerful he had ever received in his life. As soon as he was able to stop, he got to his knees and stared at the barbarian in front of him.
"What's up?! I'm too strong, Bloodless?!" teased Hakon with his arms spread wide laughing.
Kaito felt his arm numb and his body complaining of pain. His foot was twisted and his shield dented in the middle. For the first time he feared the strength of a barbarian. That was far above the impact power of a warrior.
Kaito stood as best he could and dropped the shield that was no longer of any use. In front of him were about ten standing opponents, including Hakon, Theo, the cleric, and a few others. All the rest were down.
"I knocked down twenty of you. Isn't that enough?" he tried to tease.
"You didn't knock down the one worth twenty!" replied Hakon confidently.
"Then how about I fix that?"
Kaito drew his bow and readied it in hand. On the other side Hakon held his axe tightly and soon his skin turned red with muscles bulging more and more.
"You have no arrows, Bloodless!" said the barbarian firing at once at enormous speed.
Kaito positioned his bow, concentrated and soon the snap and flash of lightning appeared as an arrow.
"He... he's using the bow as a channel?" questioned Saphyra impressed.
"Look at that! Just as well my mother warned me..." said the cleric with a smile on her lips.
The F rank took a deep breath and released the rope at once, shooting a small bolt of lightning that crossed the arena in the blink of an eye and hit Hakon's leg, who, unable to put his foot down, fell off balance rolling heavily.
Kaito prepared another arrow with fire magic this time. He didn't know if he would win, but he felt that this was a great battle to be had.
"You guys better get ready, because I haven't shown half of what I can do..."