Dante's p.o.v
"Well, someone is very slow, haha!" I heard Sister Rin's voice echo down the stairs as we both zoomed past some of the others. I smirked at that comment and decided to increase my speed. A little bit. Oh, I see, so magic is allowed then, perfect."
Sister Rin responded with a smirk, and we started to reach the round, descending staircase, with some of the students on the stair ultimately blocking both our paths. Though, that's what I thought.
"Magic technique: flame manifesto!" Rin cast an elemental spell that created a fire pole straight down, but then it started to solidify into a golden pole that ran straight down the stairs, avoiding the blockage. "Let's do this!"
Before anyone knew it, Rin took a big leap on the pole and immediately slid down the pole, straight through the descending staircase. "SEE YOU DOWN STAIRS, DANTE!"
I face-palmed at her antics, while some others were in awe and amazed. Though I wasn't having any of this, I took off one of my robe button weights and threw it on the ground, and on impact, the button created a crater on it, as some of the students were shocked by this. "Ah, so much better; carrying a 1500kg button is really a difficult task.
Now then."
I took on a sprinting pose while facing the nearest window leading to the training grounds, with red mana coating my body and then sinking in. I chanted. "Aurora technique; drive!"
I cast an aurora drive spell using the aurora technique. This spell increases my heart rate and air intake while removing the restraints on my muscles, enabling mobility. But overall, it increases my speed to levels beyond human capabilities. My surroundings started to move at a slow pace, and with that, I immediately zoomed out through the opened window and started to descend. I reached the ground and performed an aerial somersault, landing gracefully on the ground. Though it may seem that I'm the first one to get here, 'hehe, eat that rin.
"hey dirt! Me and you, right here. Right now." I heard Bao's voice echo out from beside the main building alley as he approached me with a menacing look on his face and with his goons accompanying him. "Or are you just scared?"
"Look, Bao, I don't have your time right now, okay? Father Alfred prohibited fights around school premises. Unless it's sparing training... But from the look of it, I'll pass." I said this while walking towards the training grounds, just a few feet away from the entrance of the building.
"THEN I CHALLENGE YOU TO A SPAR... ONE ON ONE, NO HOLDING BACK." Bao called out... Stopping me in my tracks as I turned to face him with a large grin on my face.
"Now you've done it... Fine, let's spar, grass head." I taunted him, making him even more pissed, as we headed towards the training grounds.
Time Skip
"ARE YOU CRAZY?" Rin shook my shoulders like crazy as I was seated on a chair facing her, while Bao was at the far end, getting ready. "I leave you for two minutes, and you're starting up a fight... Just thank your stars that Father Alfred was delayed."
"Relax, sister Rin, okay? I got this. Besides, it was a matter of time before I showed him up." I said this while doing some light stretches and jogging on one spot as a warm-up.
"You're just looking for a chance to fight, you battle maniac." Rin snorted out, face palming.
"Hehe, don't worry, it's fine; he asked for it anyways... And trust me, it will be quick." I grinned, waving at Bao, which only vexed him even more, and the look on his face was priceless.
I walked towards the stage, with Bao already there, waiting for me. I started to hear cheers from the crowd of students that had already gathered for the sparring. And apparently, it was Bao they were cheering for.
"GO BAO!" Multiple voices were heard from the crowd.
"SHOW HIM YOUR AWESOME POWER."
"DON'T GO EASY ON HIM, HAHAHA."
"Haha, it seems that they already know the true winner of the fight." He laughed, but then took a stance by spreading out his legs and opening his palms in anticipation. Now you better get ready, dirt."
"Come at me, grasshead." I teased as his body started to release a large amount of green, like mana, which started to cloak his body.
"YOU'LL REGRET CALLING ME THAT!"
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Author's p.o.v
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"YOU'LL REGRET CALLING ME THAT!" Bao lunged at Dante with his right palm opened and pointed at me. "magic technique: storm gale."
A wind projectile erupted from Bao's right hand and headed towards Dante. But before it could make an impact on Dante, he dodged the attack by evading towards the left side. But still, Bao kept on firing, but Dante kept on evading.
"STOP RUNNING AWAY LIKE A LOSER, AND FACE ME!" Bao roared out in rage as Dante just kept on dodging and evading with a grin on his face.
"Yeah, and let you win; hell no." Dante counters, starting to reach Bao little by little for a physical engagement since Dante specialized in aurora and Bao was weak in this area when compared to Dante. "Besides, I'm sure one strike from me is more than enough to do the job."
"Oh, so that's your plan, ha! Let's see you evade this!" Bao shifted his stance and raised his right leg. "Magic technique: impaling earth!"
He stomped his foot down to the ground, triggering a series of sharp, gigantic rocks that protruded from the ground, which surrounded Bao and were ultimately heading towards Dante.
"Dante, watch out!" Rin shouted out in fear, as it was fast approaching Dante, and apparently if this reached Dante, then he might end up getting impaled.
So he wasn't kidding; he's taking this fight so seriously, to the point that any move he launches at me at this very moment is lethal.' Dante thought, considering the situation. He stopped his pursuit and waited for the stony spike. But then he noticed that there was a way of going through the spikes without getting hurt in the process. "Alright then!"
"Aurora technique: sensory boost!" Dante casts a spell, with a golden glow covering his body and then fading away. Then the spikes reached him, and a large boom was heard, with dust covering everything.
"DANTE!" Rin shouted out, and some of the students were worried about what had happened. Bao and his friends cheered at this.
"He got him, haha!"
"Take that dirt!" One of Bao's goons cheered, but then all of them were instantly silenced by Rin, who was glaring menacingly at them.
"Haha, I got him!" 'Now you stay dead, Bao thought as he continued to observe the site. Until the dust started to clear and reveal, "Wait... What?"
"Hahahahahahaha, oh my, is this all you got? Well, it's decent... But not enough." Dante called out as the dust settled, showing that Dante had somehow dodged all the spikes and was currently balancing on the edge of one of the spikes while staring at Bao with a very cocky smile. "Come on, bao! Come at me!"
"Why don't you just stay down?" Bao roared out with a crazed look on his face. His mana presence started to grow to the point of manifesting in a light green-cyan color. "AAAAAHHHHH MAGIC TECHNIQUE: INFERNO BURST!"
A shockwave of cyan flame busted out around him, destroying the spikes around him and approaching Dante, who had a crazy grin on his face and jumped up and landed gracefully between Bao's flames and the students.
"COME ON BAO! You're fighting with me; don't drag them into this!" Dante took a stance, with red mana overtaking his form and sinking into his back. "AURORA TECHNIQUE: QUAKE!"
Dante rose to his feet, and with a powerful stomp, he slammed it down with an unparalleled force that shook the terrain, neutralized the incoming flame from Bao, and also successfully disorientated Bao, throwing him off his feet. Everyone stood surprised and shocked by the strength displayed by Dante, as Rin smirked and shouted. "Go Dante! GOOO!"
"No more playing around!" Dante rushed at Bao, who finally got his footing, summoned flames around his hands in the form of a fist, and instantly charged at Dante. "Wrong choice, bao!"
Dante and Bao clashed and started to trade blows, but it seemed that Dante had the upper hand, as Bao tried to deliver a right gab at Dante's face, but Dante took a duck and delivered a left hook at him instead. This attack was followed by a series of others: three kicks to the stomach, four to the side ribs, and a powerful uppercut that somehow extinguished the flames on Bao's palm. But just before he was about to move his head back after the uppercut from Dante, Dante dragged his hair down with his left hand and brought his head back down, just to deliver an even more powerful uppercut that took him flying back to the ground.
"Come on, bao... Get up, isn't this what you wanted?" Dante taunted, but then, before he knew it, Bao stood up with major difficulties... But now, something was wrong with his mana presence. It started to grow exponentially.
Haha, if you think you've won, then think again, dirt; I won't lose!" He roared out, and just like that, a shockwave of green mana erupted from him, pushing Dante back. But to Dante's and the students surprise, when they took a look at what had transpired,
"He summoned his chronicle." Rin said in awe, as this time she started to worry for Dante as Bao's mana presence flared. A surprised look gazed at Bao's face, but then twisted into a sinister smile.
"Hahahahaha, I finally summoned my chronicle... And now, I'm leagues ahead of you, dirt." Bao spoke out with pride. "After I'm done with you... Trust me, that blue whore and blonde is next, hahaha, then I'll be the first on the scale!"
Bao proclaimed, as this started to make people around them feel uncomfortable, some afraid, and some disgusted. But Rin was just outright angry and disappointed in Bao. But overall, the most pissed was Dante, who started to walk slowly towards Bao. Everyone was confused by this; some called out to him to stop, while others were just observing what was going to happen next. Bao, on the other hand, grinned at this and pointed his hands out towards Dante, ready to cast a space towards him. But Dante just reached for his wrist and started to remove a bracelet from it.
"There are a whole lot of things that I can tolerate. You can curse me, hit me, bully me, heck, ignore my very existence, bao." Dante spoke in a low tone while glaring at Bao. He lost both of the bracelets on each wrist, stretched his hands out, and released them. "But never insult the things I hold dear."
BOOOOM!
The two bracelets hit the ground and caused it to shake from the sheer weight they held. Everyone stared in disbelief and amazement, but Rin just gave a knowing smile, knowing what was about to happen. Dante took a stance and stood while looking forward towards Bao, who was star-struck by the release of the weights and was a little bit shaken by Dante's new expression on his face.
'Time to finish this, Dante thought in his mind.
"Aurora technique: maximum enhancement:
Strength increasement
Indomitability
Defensive Reaction
Fighting spirit
Fighter Shield
Omni Barricade
Protective Touch
Attack strengthening
Heavenly guard
True Barrage
True Carapace
Warding Caress
Wrestling Bane"
Dante cast a multitude of spells as different colors flashed on his form and sank into his body. This amazed Bao and the remaining students.
"It doesn't matter if you cast all those spells; you're still weak, huh?" Bao's speech was cut short by Dante, closing the distance between them in a matter of seconds. "Damn it, air shield!"
"Oh no, you don't!" Dante rightly gabbed him, with power behind it. The force was enough to shatter the shield and throw him away into the distance, as this had surprised everyone.
"Whoa... Dante just got the upper hand over Bao... Even with a chronicle, hell yeah!" A student cheered at this, and soon everyone started cheering for Dante. Dante flashed again to Bao's front and delivered a straight right gab towards Bao, who tried to summon a protective barrier made of sand, hoping the sand would absorb the force from Dante's fist. But unfortunately, it didn't. As the fist first made contact with the sand shield, the sand turned into glass from the intense heat and pressure from the fist, shattering it and pushing Bao backwards.
How am I losing to him? Why, how... It's not like he had anything that made him special. And still, I'm getting beat up by him. And everyone is cheering for him, but not me. They chose him over me. Bao thought about what was going on. He then caught sight of his friends cheering on Dante. And not him. Is that so? I'm abandoned once again.'
Dante rushed at him, and then, just like clockwork, he landed an uppercut that didn't just throw Bao away but also made his chronicle vanish. Bao was launched towards the trees side, almost ending up deep inside the woods close by. Dante relaxed his stance and turned towards the students with a grin on his face. "Hehe, well, I guess that just means I won!"
Everyone cheered for him, while Rin just gave him a thumbs up and shot him a wink with a grin. Dante just scratched the back of his head and smiled, with a blush on his face.
"Well, we better start cleaning this mess, alright, before Father Alfred arrives." Rin ordered everyone to clean up the mess with their magic.
Meanwhile, Bao's friends ran into the woods to search for him as Dante and Rin saw them off. But just as Dante and Rin had turned their backs... A cold sensation went through their spines as a new mana presence appeared out of nowhere, and right on queue, Bao friends were sent flying back from the woods, but of course, they were caught by Dante and Rin.
"You felt that too, Rin... It feels... monstrous." Dante commented as he looked back at the woods. But then Rin started to shake and panic while staring intensely at a specific path in the woods. Dante focused in that direction and was surprised at what he saw.
A half-monstrous-looking Bao could be seen making his way here. As his body looked burnt and purple flames spilled out of his left eye, while the right eye looked ash-colored, just like Dante's father... During the great disaster
Dante shook in fear, and the other students were also paralyzed in fear.
"DAnTE. I WILL KILL YOU!" The monstrosity called Bao before roared out in rage and on queue... The clouds above us turned dirty black, and then suddenly a beam of purple stroked down on Bao as the shockwave pushed us back.
Dante opened his eyes after what had happened. And as the dust had cleared, he was met with a being of darkness with soulless purple eyes and two big horns. As it stood dormant.
Dante stood up slowly and could only say a few words. With a remorseful expression on his face.
No, Dante, stop; it's too dangerous!" Rin called out to me, but I started to walk towards the now corrupted bao, as almost all the students had passed out from the dark mana emitted by the corrupted hamji.
"....bao.... Forgive me." Dante said while heading towards him, trying to block him from reaching the others, as Bao turned his furious gaze at Dante and roared.
"I'll make sure to save you from your torment right now... So now... come!" Dante spoke confidently with a serious face while removing the bracelets and buttons on
him, and a red aura overcame him.
"ROOOOOOOOOOOARR!"