It was hard to believe that the others would be doing better than them. Regardless, Javier and Ruth began to warm up while Raiden just sat down to relax. He would warm up during the duels and save some energy for later. He still had work and training to do.
When the instructor arrived, he nodded in satisfaction, as everyone was there and wanted to try their hardest.
"All right, the duels will start in five minutes. Who will go first?" The instructor asked.
"I will," Raiden stepped forward and then said it.
"All right, who wants to duel Raiden?"
A lot of the kids raised their hands, around eighty percent of them. Raiden felt like shrugging since he was so popular… All those kids had faced him before, but they never won, and now they wanted their revenge.
In the end, the kids decided to use the best ones against Raiden, just like he had expected. They won against Ruth and Javier a few times, but leaving Raiden undefeated would be too much, so such a tactic was necessary.
When the five minutes, Raiden stepped forward, and then his first adversary did the same. It was a red-headed boy who was one of the oldest kids in the class. He seriously looked for some reason… he also had a spear.
The adversary moved to mirror Raiden's posture and stance as if he was planning to use the same power against him… Raiden knew that he shouldn't expect much from an eight years old boy, but that was certainly something funny to see in any case that worked for Raiden well.
"Start," the instructor declared.
Both of them stepped forward while thrusting their weapons forward. Raiden has a hard time not using a trick. Still, the weapons collided, and the
component's arms began to tremble viciously. Raiden used that chance to strike the opponent's stomach; the kid opened his eyes widely and fell on his butt. The first match was over.
Some kids began to whisper to each other, analyzing what had happened. They also thought that Raiden was all strength and the times he won skillfully had been by luck… now they had to change their strategy.
"At least there is hope for them," Raiden thought.
There were many ways for one to fight while using a spear, and Raiden knew most of them after sparring with his sister hundreds of times. The spear's advantage lies in its reach. By keeping a safe distance from the opponent, Raiden can utilize the spear's extended length to strike while remaining out of their range. Continuously assess the distance and adjust his position accordingly.
Swift and agile footwork is crucial when fighting with a spear. Move deftly, circling around his opponents, and be mindful of his positioning. He can make it challenging for his opponent to land a hit by constantly changing angles and positions.
The thrust is the primary offensive technique with a spear. Raiden practiced accurate and quick thrusts, aiming for vulnerable areas while maintaining his defense. Use controlled lunges to hit your opponent and quickly retreat to safety.
Take advantage of his opponent's openings and mistakes. When they overextend or leave themselves vulnerable, he seizes the opportunity to strike. Swiftly counter-attack with a well-timed thrust or lunge, catching them off guard.
Deception can be a powerful tool in battle. Raiden knew how to use feints to create openings or confuse his opponent's defenses. Feign attacks in one direction, only to change course and strike from an unexpected angle. Using all of those, he defeated twenty kids in less than half an hour; he didn't feel much pride in doing that; he would feel if he could land a clean hit on Iri, fair and square, though.
In the end, Raiden showed a perfect display of skill and strength, to the point that the kids who lost to him didn't even feel mad. They didn't have any chance of winning in the first place, and they quickly realized that. They didn't endure the harsh training until now to become spoiled and dumb. They knew when they faced a superior opponent, and they lost because they didn't train enough; that was all.
Javier and Ruth, on the other hand, had a bit of a hard time completing the test. They were tired since they didn't sleep well and since they are the type that gets nervous during a fight due to their lack of experience.
Javier had a hard time pacing himself; he ended up trying too hard when his opponents were just defending themselves. Thanks to that, in the final ten, he was breathing roughly. Still, the fact that he was physically stronger than the others made him compensate for that. While he didn't land many clean hits, they began to accumulate, and his opponents eventually messed up due to the pain of broken fingers or swollen wounds.
Ruth didn't have the same problem; she paced herself really well, too well, in fact. She focused on defending and waiting for openings… still, even when she found them, she hesitated more than a little bit. Battles that could have ended in one minute or two lasted for ten… she was more skilled than most kids but nowhere near as confident.
Also, it looked like her trump card was her ability to read the movements of the enemies; she didn't get hit a single time because of that. Raiden wondered who she learned that from… regardless, thanks to that as well, she took a while to actually attack. Raiden could imagine her hesitating to kill people with a bow if one day she had to.
"You three passed the test; you can show up on the next level tomorrow," the instructor declared.
Raiden was expecting something else, like some tips and warnings. Still, that instructor really apparently disliked the sound of his own voice.
Javier and Ruth felt relieved since they were finally going to be around kids of the same age. Still, Raiden wasn't interested in making more friends. He was going to pass through that level as well like a storm… His plan was to teach the sixth level of the tower of mastery in two years and graduate from it. He could only live in a hurry after suddenly waking up in a new body when he was already ten years old.
"From tomorrow onwards, you will work with me," Raiden declared. "It will be only in the afternoon, and you will be able to do that between the training sessions, so things will be as efficient as they can be."
"You mean as hardcore as you want to be," Javier furrowed his eyebrows.
"What about your job of helping the other healers?" Ruth asked. "Are we going to spend the whole afternoon training?"
"They said that they will be fine if I just keep selling them my high-quality medicine," Raiden explained. "And yes, we will train the whole afternoon. If you two don't manage to do that and get used to it. Then, graduating from the next level will be impossible. Remember, from the fifth level onward, we will train during half of the afternoon as well, and you can tell that those guys on the fifth level are way above us."
"It feels like we are in an endless loop, training to get stronger and get stronger to train even more," Javier shrugged.
"At least we have the option to choose now," Raiden said.
That ended the conversation. Raiden noticed that he tended to end their talk with some serious, heavy words. He felt that it was fine since it was a reminder of what happened before… kids tend to forget some things faster, even if they experienced hell for who knows how long.
When he was having dinner with his family that day, Raiden told everyone that he reached the fourth level of the tower of mastery. They were quite surprised since it didn't take even six months. They probably would have their mouths hanging open if he told them about his plans of graduating when he was just twelve or thirteen. That would be easy if he exploited his system, but Raiden also wanted it slow down for now to see if Javier and Ruth could keep up with him and continue to train hard. They were ten years younger than him mentally, but they were his friends.