"Okay, not bad, but try to maintain your composure next time. Being able to stay calm in battle is very important, keep that in mind," Advised Glenn, as the fifth student finished their bout against a Goblin.
Four students went in after Trey, and unfortunately, so far, none of them did any better than he did.
It'd be pretty cool if one of the others with lower Potential manages to do better than him, he needs a blow or two to his oversized ego.
"Alright, who's next?"
"I'll go," Spoke up Ariella Velle, cracking her knuckles as she stepped forward.
Huh, she looks pretty calm. If anything, she looks eager. Well, she is the strongest in the class by a fair distance, she's been improving at a pretty stunning rate in the Practical Training sessions.
Her gear is fairly minimal, she's probably got the lightest armor out of everyone besides me. She was wearing a black tank top, a red skirt over black tights, red boots that went up to her knees, and red gauntlets that went up past her elbows.
Her gauntlets and boots look a bit heavier and more armored than mine are, and the rest of her gear seems to be made of the same material as my armor.
She jumped down into the arena as she reached it, her feet hitting the floor with a thud, before she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly to compose herself.
"I'm ready!" She called out to Glenn, her gaze focused on the other end of the arena.
"Alright, then, here it comes!" He responded, activating the device.
The wall on the other side of the arena then slid open, a Goblin racing out with a venomous snarl and shot towards her immediately.
"[Flame Strike]," She chanted as the Goblin before to close in on her, before taking a swift step forward and drawing her arm back as flames swirled around her fist intensely, before exclaiming and driving her arm forward as the Monster sprang at her, "[Double IMPACT]!!!"
She slammed her fist square onto the middle of the Goblin's face, a sharp crunch ringing out upon impact...right before its head got blown clean off its shoulders.
A violent spray of blood burst out of its neck as its decapitated body collapsed onto its knees and fell over with it thud, a thunk echoing out as its head hit the ground and bounced away, its face smashed in and scorched, a slight smirk spreading out across Ariella's lips.
She killed it in a single hit, holy shit...it may have been a Low Level Monster, but still. Hm, I wonder if I can kill one with a single attack too?
I certainly don't have the brute strength to pull off what she did, that's for sure, plus I've never killed anything before. Well, not counting bugs.
But I've got plenty of experience facing malicious and violent intent, so if nothing else, I'm confident that I won't freeze up. Because unlike those previous times, I've got the means to defend myself now.
"Excellent, that was very well done, Ariella. Keep up the good work," Smiled Glenn with a nod of approval, as Ariella leapt out of the arena.
"Thank you, sir," She replied with a polite, respectful bow of her head, before heading back.
The next student then went in, one of the others with K-Ranked Potential, a mix of determination and nervousness on his face.
I guess Ariella's display must have motivated him, but not enough to completely alleviate his nerves.
He ended up putting on a decent showing, managing to kill the Goblin without too much trouble.
A couple more students went next, making it nine down and four more to go. The remaining seven were Support Mages, so they were exempt from the bouts since their abilities make them pretty weak in combat.
Alright, I think it's time I get in there, I've got a good idea of what Goblins are capable of at this point, so let's see how I do.
I volunteered and stepped forward as the ninth student finished their turn, before heading over towards the arena and climbed down.
As I took my place, I reached for my blade, my right hand hovering above the handle. I'd strapped it horizontally across my lower back with the handle pointing to the right, I'd tried it out in a bunch of different positions, but I found this one to be the easiest to draw it out from.
I signaled to Glenn that I was ready, a sense of anticipation coming over me as the wall ahead of me opened up, the gleam of a pair of beady yellow eyes coming into sight, narrowing as they caught sight of me.
The Monster then stepped out with a low growl, eyeing me warily as it sized me up.
Hey, Ai, is this thing worth using my Gluttony Skills on?
Alright, then, in that case, I'll save those Skills for the Dungeon.
As the Goblin began to circle me while keeping its distance, I swiftly drew out my short-sword and shot forward, its eyes widening slightly in alarm before it roared threateningly and swiped its claws at me as I closed in.
I deflected its slash with a sharp flick of my wrist, whipping my blade across, the Monster howling in pain as I severed a couple of its fingers, blood streaming down its hand before a choked gasp rang out as I swiftly plunged my blade through its neck.
Blood poured out of its mouth as I gave the blade a sharp twist, tearing its throat open, before pulling the blade back out.
The Goblin shakily stumbled back while clawing at its throat in agony, blood streaming down its torso from the deep wound in its neck, before it collapsed onto the floor and writhed around, gasping and wheezing for air.
It wasn't long before it went limp, slumping against the floor with a puddle of blood spreading out around it.
I swung my short-sword across to get the blood off, before sheathing the blade as I stared at the dead Goblin in bemusement.
Huh...well, that was easy.