A good hour or two had passed since the examination had begun. Obviously enough, no one could defeat Aaron: a veteran and hero of war, master of Ki and martial arts, and just an incredibly experienced warrior.
"Remember. There is no winner here. This examination is solely for the purpose of analysing your ability to adapt and survive against a strong foe. However, that will come later, since this is only the first lesson of the kind that you are learning. So, just get ready to lose and prepare yourself mentally to fight regardless of knowing the obvious outcome; stall for time—survive for as long as you can. That is what makes a good soldier in war," Aaron spoke with conviction.
"Uhh... Cho-onsoku Ryu," Carl fumbled the name and stuttered.
'Isn't that one of Sen's friends?' Quinn remembered one of the strongest first-year students from the battle against the Elemental grunts under Viktor.
———
[Inspect]
Cho-onsoku Ryu
Ability: Concept of Sound(Rank B)
Weapon: Katana forged using an alloy of Astermite, Bog iron and extreme carbon steel. A relic of the Cho-onsoku clan.
———
'Damn... his Ability alone is B rank,' Quinn remarked, 'he'll be much stronger after his stay in the academy. Considering his background and his future success, he should be able to upgrade his Ability's rank.'
"Let us have a fair dual; fought with honour," Ryu positioned his feet to be shoulder-width apart, his knees slightly bent, ready to dash in at the exact moment the examination began. His sword was slightly raised, still to his side, with its edge up on the left side. "I look forward to seeing your skill, prodigy of the Supersonic clan," Aaron remained unmoving, his arms folded; he was poised not to move before Ryu made the first move.
Cho-onsoku, translating to Supersonic, is a clan of Japanese origin. To master the sword using the [Concept of Sound] and the Iai-do sword technique to achieve inhuman slashing speed and its flawless execution—to become one with the blade in the moment of the draw—is their single creed.
A clan in which the weak heirs are not excused. The heirs must train and temper their body and blade technique until they come to the age of 15 to engage in a cruel showdown wherein each of the heirs bet their own lives for the position of the head of the clan. If an heir is to beg for their life and dishonour the clan rules, they will be exiled at once and robbed of their name and titles.
Ryu, one of the three who awakened a B rank Sound Ability in the battle of heirs 2 years ago, was, of course, the sole survivor and thus, the prodigy of the Cho-onsoku clan, with a raging flame of ambition to become the Lord of his clan—by carrying the burden and hopes of his fallen brothers and sisters.
Such a traditon would have died out the moment it became known to the outside world, and it should have. But, the Cho-onsoku clan is a benefactor to the entire Human race, in arms with other Families and Factions; thus, the otherwise backward tradition has remained untouched or unaltered even though the entire world kowns of it now.
'I didn't think he'd be of the Supersonic clan. No wonder he could take on so many of Viktor's henchmen back on Butani.'
The battle started. No longer than a split second had passed since the examination began, yet Ryu had launched himself towards Aaron with a swift and snappy dash, and drew his sword at an unbelievable speed, aiming for Aaron's neck. Although, the clan's Ability is called [Concept of Sound], the people mistake it for an Ability that allows for the User to reach nearly the speed of sound solely because of the clan name. Only S-rank Ability holders and the ultimate head of the clan can reach supersonic speeds, while the lower rank holders may remain in the domain of subsonic speeds.
Ryu, although a prodigy, was only intermediate in his mastery of the [Concept of Sound] and could only achieve a speed that sound waves may travel when moving across loose gas particles. If it were a master of the Ability, it would not have been easy for Aaron to dodge the blade without predicting at all.
Unarmed as Aaron was, he dared not touch the blade which was vibrating at a supersonic speed, capable of cutting through metal, despite knowing tactics to use an attacking blade against his enemies. He merely swayed his head backwards, just enough to closely avoid the blade.
"Can you see Sound, master Aaron?" Ryu asked Aaron, the moment the latter dodged the blade befelling him, "it was a generic and easy-to-answer question in our clan, you see... that is when we were to be punished when we could not keep up with training. We were asked the same question over and over again till the answer was engrained in our minds."
"Let us see if you know the answer to such an elementary question!"
A snap of Ryu's fingers echoed across the hall. A blast was heard as soon as he drew his sword a second time.
"Hrmm, not bad. But, are you really as naive as to think that a martial master like myself needs to see something to be able to avoid it?" Aaron remarked, holding Ryu's wrist at an angle so as to restrain the use of his Katana, "Did you wish to punish me as you were? Of all people, me?"
"That concludes this match!" Carl shouted into the mic, causing the students' ears to ring, annoying the students present; even Aaron had nearly had enough of Carl.
'What, can he feel his surroundings out with the help of Ki? Or, is his cognition just inhuman?'
"....Next is Sen Berman."
"Wish me luck!" Sen tapped Quinn's shoulder as he passed by. 'Let's see what you've got, then.'
———
"Berman, huh? I expect great things, as always," Aaron said as he tightened his hand wraps. "Well, I sure hope I don't disappoint," Sen smiled.
"Begin."
No sooner had the match started than Sen pulled out his trusty little Falchion knife and cut his left palm, welcoming a few handful of gasps from the audiance, after which, he proceeded to sprint towards Aaron.
"I see those chains wrapped around your hands. You're not going to use them?" Aaron asked but Sen did not reply and merely focused on his opponent.
He then proceeded to use palm techniques to try and find an opening through which he could fire a metallic spear while sparring with Aaron. "If I know anything at all, it is that a weasley Berman is never up to any good," Aaron, out of nowhere, grabbed Sen's wrist, which caught him off guard, and then tripped him using a low kick aimed for the side of his calf.
"The match is-" Carl was about to announce the end of the match but was stopped by the glare of Sen. "He seems to be in a state where he can still fight me," Aaron said out loud.
"So? I hope that wasn't it, Berman," Aaron taunted. "Oh, that certainly was not..."
The chains wrapped around Sen's forearms dangled down and emitted a fiery dark red glow. He whipped at Aaron with his right hand's chain, aiming for his neck. Simultaneously, he swept low with his left hand's chain to render Aaron immobile.
Aaron blocked the chain aimed for his neck using his left hand. It wrapped around his hand and a sizzling sound was heard. He then jumped high in the air and forward towards Sen—pulling on the chain to accelerate towards him—and came down with a punch that destroyed the ground near Sen which caused him to stagger forth.
A few exchanges of blows took place in a matter of seconds and the match was finally over. 'He did surprisingly well. Too bad the chains were of little to no use; I don't understand my he didn't use his Ability to the best of his capabilities. I know that he can do much more.'
———
[Inspect has leveled up to Lvl 5]
[Inspect is mutating...]
[Inspect has evolved into Scrutinize]
[Using Scrutinize, you have observed the combat technique of Aaron:
The attack patterns and combos will be familiar to you, and you can now counter them efficiently.]
[You have a B rank potential to master this technique.]
'Was not expecting it to measure my potential for the martial art,' Quinn, pleased by the new feature of his evolved Skill. The thought of the possibilities of mastering new techniques or just even studying his opponents' attack patterns and possibly predicting their moves efficiently; this would definitely affect and improve his overall prowess in combat in general.
"Quinn Maw"
'I thought I'd die of old age out here,' he cracked his neck.
———
"Quinn, I've been waiting. Ever since I first noticed you, you seemed different from the other people. Not just your origin or parents, but what was inside. As you know, I've mastered Ki. I'm the only Grand Master on this planet, that is. I'm one of the twenty-two Grand Masters in this galactic civilization with the Ability to see the truth of worlds, the innate energy inside every human, the life force of creatures; be it visible to our eyes.... or not," Aaron ended with a low tone, nearly growling.
Quinn could make somewhat sense out of what Aaron had said but they were mostly wild guesses.
"I sensed a different kind of energy in you; one that I've never seen myself. It was... an endless darkness. Whether that shows your talent, power or even perhaps.... your nature, is up to me to conclude. And I sincerely hope that it isn't in your nature in which the endless darkness resides," he spoke so that the other students nor the announcer, couldn't listen; it seemed almost telepathic.
Aaron took a few steps back and readied himself. "Come, then. I will be the judge. Show me what you are hiding."
"Begin!"
Quinn kicked off of his position and dashed at full speed. In just a second or two, he was in front of Aaron. However, instead of attacking head-on, he feinted a low, sweeping kick, and maneuvered around Aaron, positioning himself to be behind him.
"How'd he get behind the teach so quickly?!"
"He moves weird as fuck..."
Before Aaron even reacted, Quinn threw a screw-cross punch at him from behind. As the hit connected, Quinn felt something odd, "What... did I just hit?"
"Ki. An accumulation of Ki to be precise. Condensed to form a barrier to protect me from attacks that pack no punch. How about you use your weapon and Ability?"
A dagger slipped down from Quinn's sleeve—or it seemed as such to everyone. But in truth, he had just summoned it on his forearm so that it would fall into his hand from the long sleeves of the academy's attire.
———
[Black Knife]
Item Rank: B
Type: Dagger
Strength: +27
Agility: +10
Dexterity: +6
A peice of just not artisanal representation but also a tool designed for killing and inflicting pain upon the opponent. Made by a Dwarven blacksmith named Andre Arlo using an alloy of Magisteel and Astermite and infused with the soul core of Rodrick Manbane, a turned demon.
Special effect: If the blade of the weapon is even close to touching or is touching even a strand of hair on the enemy, the enemy has a 30 per cent chance to be inflicted with fear.
The damage dealt to opponents inflicted with fear is increased by 30%
Skill:
Skill Rank: C+
Shoot an arc of Hell's Wind from your blade, towards a derised direction. The arc is enhanced with Peirce and will phase through its target whilst dealing the minimum amount of damage at the very least.
———
'Fucking hell, this is such a broken item after I infused it with the soul of the demon!'