A loud beep sounded after the man stopped speaking, and not even a single thread of sound came after that.
Well, except for the howling wind, which for some reason wouldn't stop no matter how much time passed.
Many of the pairs stared at each other in confusion, somewhat tense and wary of their "opponents" now.
So that guy wants me to fight Julia…? Hell no, I can't compete against that!
A terrible chill tingled down his spine as he saw Julia gripping her weapon tighter and slowly raising it up.
"I guess, since this really is a simulation, we can go all out, huh? I don't agree with the man's attitude, but it really is true that the best teacher is adrenaline."
Yoel blinked a few times and looked at her with worry. A few beads of sweat fell from his forehead.
She's not in the right mind, is she?
"Listen, we can't be sure that damage won't be inflicted on our real bodies. What if sustaining too much damages our-"
A sudden explosion cut off Yoel, and a pleading voice followed.
"Please, let's talk this out! We don't need to fight!"
The man was all but crouching, his back against the forcefield, aiming his hand at his opponent, who was leisurely walking over to him.
"We've been sent here to fight, so why don't you fight back?"
A disturbing smile was plastered on the man's face, and he held an unflinching stance as he walked over to his opponent.
He hid a dagger somewhere under his sleeve; Yoel was certain that he could see it. While the other man held a simple short sword.
His somewhat long white hair served as an indicator that the man was Cole. Once Yoel recognized that fact, he also began to notice numerous white feathers floating about inside the forcefield.
Somewhere closer to him, a sound similar to the wind was heard, although a few decibels higher and too… unnatural.
Once he turned his head in the direction of the sound, he found Loki locked in a clash against another man, the man matching Loki's bulkiness and readily taking his attack.
Steel met steel; as both men unleashed a flurry of attacks with no signs of stopping. This time, Loki was wielding a war axe, and his opponent held a greatsword.
It was quite miraculous how Loki and his opponent managed to keep clashing with weapons as big as those– perhaps they were both more of the heavy hitter type.
Once he focused his gaze on their clash, he realized that a small disturbance in the air stuck near Loki's and his opponent's weapons, like the space was being distorted around their weapons, and Loki's opponent was struggling to keep his hands up.
Turning away before he could witness something that would make him vomit his lunch, he found Julia staring at him intensely.
"See, Yoel? They're all fighting too! Please, pretty please, can we fight as well?"
As she spoke, she prepared herself in a stance that would allow her to unleash quick attacks with her invisible slashes.
I can sense this can only go horribly wro-
Before he could finish the sentence in his mind, a gust of furious wind assaulted him and he was barely able to clumsily sidestep away from it, albeit with a somewhat deep gash appearing on his left arm.
Damn, it really does fucking hurt! That damn geezer!
Yoel had felt pain before, but it was very hard to get used to it. While he might have been a Blessed, awakening and achieving something despite the unfavorable odds, he was still a human boy above all of that.
One that was simply not trained in resistance such as pain, even though he had felt much of it during the dungeon exam.
So, all he could do was clench his arm while eyeing Julia, paying extra attention to her hands, waiting for her next move…
And finally, she moved.
She brought the sword up to the sky as if preparing to mercilessly behead a prisoner of the old times, and after a long and arduous pause…
She swung it down.
Yoel immediately felt the rush of wind approaching his location at unbelievable speeds, it was really a miracle that he had been able to feel it, otherwise, he was sure he would've been split in two by it long before he could feel its approach.
Sidestepping to the left, he successfully dodged an invisible slash, which clashed with a forcefield instead of his bones, and…
Blood spilled from Yoel's open mouth.
He had taken a direct hit from an invisible slash to his stomach, the gaping wound left little resistance against the slowly spilling innards.
"N..No… Already..?"
After a few more painful seconds passed, before Yoel could see any more of his own innards slide out of his body, mist enveloped his wounds.
The small cloud of mist also slithered towards the fallen innards, slowly retracting them back…
Slowly understanding what was going to happen, Yoel opened his mouth to retort.
Blood was the only thing that escaped.
No… no! Don't put those back in my body! WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PLACE?!
The mist would hear no complaints. The innards escaped the cloud of mist that had encompassed Yoel's wound, and a familiar weight made itself known once again.
Luckily, Yoel couldn't see the process happen due to the pure white mist, simply feeling a soothing cold from it.
After a few moments, he felt himself slowly gaining energy rapidly. As the cloud of mist left, he found the wound on his body completely closed, only the torn shirt remaining there as proof that there ever was a wound there.
After a few moments of hesitation, he stretched his hand towards where the wound had been and slowly and hesitantly poked it.
A somewhat hardened but still soft wall of flesh met his poking, ensuring him that it was closed for good.
I honestly half-expected this to be an illusion, but god damn… that's a new pain I never wanted to experience.
Maybe if I ever want to learn how to endure torture or a simple battle, I should annoy our professor to lend me one of these.
"Up already? Well, that's quite useful. If we regenerate so fast, we might as well keep going no matter what!"
A sudden declaration from Julia made Yoel groan, and he quickly stood up, allowing Julia no unguarded spots for her to attack.
Once Yoel was back on his feet, the gears of his brain were already turning. How did Julia manage to damage him?
Was the invisible slash aimed horizontally, somehow? Julia had aimed to deliver a vertical slash, but Yoel did not know how exactly her invisible slashes manifested into reality.
Perhaps the way she swung her sword was a mere distraction, and it didn't matter which way she swung the sword, as long as she swung it.
But… if it had been a horizontal slash, then the slash he dodged wouldn't have collapsed against the wall.
He was sure he dodged the invisible slash, he even saw it in the periphery of his vision as it clashed against the barrier.
If he really had collapsed against the same slash as the one that hit him, there should have never been a collision against the barrier.
His long train of thought, which happened over the span of a few seconds, was put to an end by an abrupt swing from Julia's sword, which upon closer observation resembled a falchion, its blade too long to be considered one.
Another gust of wind, with barely any time to react. Yoel felt it close in towards him, and he jumped to the side to create as much distance from him and the slash as possible.
His spear followed him to the ground, its wooden pole barely avoiding a direct impact with the invisible slashes.
Once again, it crashed against the barrier.
Julia gave Yoel no time to counterattack, immediately sending more slashes at his prone figure on the ground.
He rolled over, feeling uncomfortable due to the fact he had to carry a spear with him whilst also trying to find momentum strong enough to get him on his feet again.
Only after what Yoel estimated were three more slashes, was he able to stand up. The view of the world spun in his eyes, he had grown too dizzy rolling around on the ground like that.
Today, everything Yoel had been doing was a new experience. He had never rolled around on solid marble so much, nor was he ever hurt to such an extent.
It opened a lot of paths of improvement which Yoel had simply overlooked or forgotten about.
I lack a lot of basic combat skills, I understand that. However, I know better than to let myself get opened like a can of tuna and split in half by these slashes.
After Yoel had jumped to the right to dodge another slash, he stood still and closed his eyes. He was calling to the shadows.
Of course, no shadows responded but his own. Why would they respond to someone who couldn't even accomplish being a slave?
Regardless, though, he pushed on.
Let's see just what exactly I am able to do with this ability of mine…
As if pulling on an invisible string with his fingers, Yoel's eyes strained and felt heavier as the colors in his view washed away, replaced by dull grey, leaving only the environmental avon with a pure purple color.