I hate to admit it, but their worries do indeed warrant a test. However, I did not expect them to test his abilities this way. I have observed Jakob while training under our master for 3 years. That is not a long time to learn everything from our master. To be honest, I trained with our master for more than a decade and I'm still not as good as him before he passed away.
But Jakob is different. Is it because they are both Misfits that their capabilities go far beyond any normal human being? Though I wasn't sure about it until I became a Misfit myself, I can sense that my overall abilities far exceeds most humans in terms of physical strength.
There is so much difference between our strength, Jakob and I, even to this day, I don't think I'll be able to take him on and win in terms of physical abilities. That's just how terrifying he is, and to think that they would test him via spar. I'm worried.
"You're... all sure about this? Isn't there any other way?" I asked.
They all turned to me with puzzled expressions on their faces.
"I don't think we can conduct a test that would explain his abilities aside from this, Faram."
"Yeah, I agree. If he is as brilliant as you say he is, this isn't a problem. Am I right? Or is it that you are not confident in his abilities like you say you are."
These idiots. I'm trying to protect you from him, you ungrateful bastards. It's no use trying to reason with them. The moment they decide on things, they'll be stubborn as a mule. Words are meaningless.
"Are you sure? Don't bring up anything that happens here to me later. I'm not going to entertain you all." I told them, and they just smiled.
'Smile while you can, you bastards' I want to tell them that, but that's just asking for a fight. Jakob can just show them the truth if they want it so badly.
"Don't worry about it, Faram. I know your junior will prevail. You have so much faith in him, I know he will pass this test without fail." Fajin told me, patting my shoulder.
Fajin is the only one who refused this test. Among all the House heads, he's one of the closest to me. And he did not even hesitate and trust my words when I told them about the threat that Jakob pointed out. I guess, I can say Fajin trusts me a lot.
"It's not that I'm worried about my junior or anything. I am more worried about the fact that they think they can get out of this unscathed. I told them over and over again. Jakob far surpasses me in terms of physical abilities and skills. But if they want their people to get a beating, then I won't stop them."
Fajin looked at me, surprised. Well, I'd be surprised if I heard such arrogant words myself. A House head unsure of his victory over his junior is a surprising one indeed. After all, I am a Misfit but even with that fact, I can't still be sure coming out victorious says a lot.
"Now I'm really looking forward to seeing him in action." Fajin said with a mischievous smile.
This guy looking forward to it? Because I said so? Does he want to see them get beaten?
"Faram, is it okay for Julius to spar him, right?" House Huru head, Alron Huru asked.
"Julius? Your son who graduated from the academy and decided to stay here and train future students?" I asked, and he immediately nodded his head.
"Yes. He is interested in Jakob's abilities himself, so he volunteered."
"Is that so? If you have already decided then I guess I have no choice, right?"
Alron smiled and left. Jakob then came up to me.
"Senior. How should I deal with this?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, Should I go all out? I can't just underestimate my opponent, it's disrespectful, after all."
All out' those words alone made me nervous. In any case, he should tone it down.
"On the contrary, can you be gentle with your opponent? I know that your impaired vision is a huge handicap and an opportunity to them, but isn't the case for you. He is an important person that trains the future students so please be gentle." I told him, and Jakob surprisingly agreed.
"Is that so? Then wouldn't it make sense to have someone else fight me instead? If he is such an important figure, shouldn't they change my opponent?"
What Jakob said makes sense, but it's too late to change their minds. It's already set in stone and based on their expressions, they have another goal in mind. These bastards are on to something.
"You heard me earlier, right? I did not want this in the first place but the majority is in favor of this, so there's no way to change it. Anyway, just be a bit gentle with him and get this over with. If they want to see what you are truly capable of and they are willing to take the risk, so be it."
"In that case, I will heed my senior's words. Please excuse me."
Jakob said and walked towards the space in the middle of the city hall.
The city hall is designed like a dome with so much space in the middle. It's like a large coliseum but only for important meetings such as this. It is the first time something like this is held inside the city hall in history. The proud faces of the nobles glistened as they watched in anticipation of what was about to happen.
"Wow, your junior is so daring. He is going to face a sword barehanded? I'm not even confident of doing that." Fajin said, admiring Jakob.
They exchange a few greetings with each other and even I can tell Julius is confused why Jakob wants to spar without using any weapons when he is using a sword himself. Julius is a swordsman, so there is no way he will use his fists to fight Jakob. It's just stupid to throw away your advantage.
After bickering for a while, the two reached an agreement and took their stance. I can see hesitation in Julius' movements whether to use a sword against an unarmed opponent, but his opponent is Jakob himself. He is someone whom our master poured all his efforts into raising and came out a masterpiece. That alone is more than enough to assure his victory. For me, that is. These foolish nobles will learn what fear is today.
Julius held back for a moment, and then lunged towards Jakob and swung his sword, slashing vertically. Against a blind man, it's a surefire win. But Jakob parried his sword and even broke it in half with his hands alone. And in that split of a second, he launched a counter attack, twisting his entire body back, landing a swift and solid kick hitting Julius head.
It was over in an instant. Julius' body tensed and fell to the ground like a log after being chopped down. That's the only description that would fit the situation. And the expressions on their faces are within my expectations. They are shocked beyond belief that they can't even utter a single word.
The awful silence was disturbed when we heard a cluster of gasp coming from behind us. It came from a group of young women, they are most likely one of the daughters of the House heads who decided to see what's going on.
"And it's over in an instant." I said, turning my gaze to Fajin who is sweating bullets.
"What in the world did I just witness? What the hell was that?"
I looked at him indifferently. Hearing his tone of voice made it sound like he was dreaming. Well, I'd be more surprised he didn't react like this so I just pat his back as if comforting him.
"That's why I was against this from the very beginning. Jakob was generous enough to even fight barehanded. As far as I know, it's not his specialty. Well, now that it's proven. Can we continued what we are discussing earlier-"
Before I could finish what I was saying, Alron stomped his foot on the floor and pointed at Jakob.
"What the hell was that?!" He screamed furiously.
His reaction is delayed but whatever. I had to step in.
"I already told you over and over again that this is pointless. Now that you have seen what he's capable of, isn't this over? More importantly, shouldn't you take care of your son who's out cold? I'm sure he should take priority."
I pointed at Julius lying on the floor. Seeing the infuriated look on their faces somewhat made me happy. Now that they know I'm telling the truth, This is the last of it, right?
"That doesn't prove anything. May I spar with him? Since I also fight barehanded, I think it's a perfect match." Bale, son of House head Rekka, stepped in.
I was wrong. Did it spark something instead? I turned to Jakob to see his reaction, and just as I expected, he neither approves or declines.
"What do you think, Jakob? I guess that was not enough to prove your abilities." I told him.
"I can go on however they like. I just hope they don't take me lightly because I have a disability."
Yeah, I think they won't take you lightly anymore after seeing what happened. If they still do, they're just stupid then.
Bale is the first person to snap out of shock and step in. His father is in a daze to even speak a word of disapproval, so no one was able to stop him from sparring with Jakob.
"I'm sure Julius took you lightly because you have a disability. But I will not repeat his mistake, so please do not take me lightly as well,"
"I do not take my opponents lightly. A single hesitation could lead to one's death, after all," Compared to Julius earlier, who lunged towards his opponent and attacked carelessly. Bale cautiously tries to watch out for Jakob's movements.
"I feel like I'm watching 2 mantis hunting each other." Fujin muttered.
I can't agree more. Jakob is unaware of his opponent's strength while Bale is more or less aware of his opponent after seeing what happened. He knows that it will all be over once he attacks Jakob carelessly.
"This will be a lot longer than last ti-"
In that moment, Jakob throws a feint which immediately threw Bale off and puts up his guard. To his surprise, Jakob used Bale's restricted field of view as an advantage to land a decisive kick on Bale's side. It happened in an instant that none of us were able to react until the agonizing sound reached our ears.
Even after receiving such a strong attack, Bale still stands his ground gritting his teeth in pain. Using his ability to recover from the damage he sustained, Bale returned to tiptop shape in mere seconds.
It is the high regenerative ability of Rekka's contract that has been passed down to their family, the insane healing and regenerative abilities of a 'War Troll'. But that doesn't come without a price. Due to the limits of the human body as well as the restrictions made by the contract, House Rekka contractors need to expend their energy to heal themselves.
This is a fact that is known by everyone. Because of that handicap, House Rekka mainly focus on exercises and are big eaters. I'm sure Jakob realized something from this.
And just as I thought, the attacks Jakob managed to land were heavy. The sound created from the impact is incomparable to earlier that I'm even starting to feel how painful it must have been for Bale, yet he endured all that and still stands tall.
"This….this is a one sided beatdown." Fajin muttered.
It is one. Even with the regenerative abilities that a 'War Troll' has, because of the restrictions, the contractor will surely be at a disadvantage when their enemy exploits their weakness.
"Jakob, even if his vision is impaired, still managed to find Bale's weakness. If his senses are not sharp then I don't know what it is." I said, murmuring to myself.
I don't even need to look at Fajin's expression to know. From his silence alone, I can tell what he is thinking: 'What if he still has his vision?' That is the most obvious thing anyone who sees him in action would think of.
It is amazing and nerve-wracking at the same time. Those painful and agonizing sounds, I don't want to be at the receiving end at all, not even in a hundred years.
At this point, the nobles are starting to understand my words. Seeing Bale, the most durable young man in this town slowly getting beaten to a pulp despite his healing abilities, greatly convinced them. And not long after, Bale falls to his knees unable to stand back up.
It was the end of the fight, no- it wasn't even a fight to begin with. It's like watching Jakob train punching a dummy. It was over and House head Rekka rushed towards his son's side, who can barely even stand let alone take a single step.
"Huff! Huff!...what's up with him? I barely did any damage to him at all." Bale told his father.
Liron turned to Jakob, who was breathing heavily as well.
"Are you certain you're blind? Because to me, your movements, your attacks were so on point that it makes me think otherwise."
"Of course he is…"
Before I could say anything, Jakob took off his blindfold and revealed his clouded, white, and lifeless eyes. He still has the indifferent look on his face, that did not change at all.
"Does this suffice? Is there anything you want to know? It would be troublesome to answer it later." Said Jakob.
Liron and Bale looked shocked. The entire time, their doubts were unwarranted and the fact that a blind man managed to take down 2 instructors still hasn't sunk into their minds.
"What monster are you contracted to?"
Aram asked, taking a step forward. A question that all of them must have in their mind. Jakob put back his blindfold and turned to Aram.
"A 'Spectre', I have been a Misfit since the moment I was born.'
After answering Aram's question, Jakob walked towards me.
"Senior, now that I did my part, can I rest now?"
Did he really have to ask me that?
"Of course, who the hell am I to stop you from doing that? You've done enough so leave the rest to me." I told him, and patted his back.
Jakob bowed his head and traced one of the chairs with his hand and took a seat. He must have been tired. Well, taking down a 'War Troll' isn't easy unless he wants to kill for real. But it was a spar so Jakob has to be extra careful not to overdo it. And it resulted in him expending more energy than he had to.
"Looks like I missed out on a good opportunity to have a remarkable son-in-law." Fajin told me, pinching my sides.
"What are you talking about?"
He smiled and pointed at the ladies sitting at the back, clearly fixing their gazes on Jakob.
"Looks like your junior will be busy for a while," Fajin chuckled.
Well, that's to be expected. A strong man will surely catch the attention of countless young ladies from other noble houses.
"Forget that, my junior can deal with it on his own. You need to help me for now." I told him and turned to the other House Heads, "Now that this is over. Can we continue what we were discussing earlier?"