Chapter 243 243: Evaluation [2]
"Begin!"
Professor Kael's voice echoed across the training grounds.
And Kyle didn't even hesitated.
He lunged forward, closing the distance between us in two rapid strides, and brought his wooden sword down in a heavy, two-handed overhead strike.
"Alright!"
I raised my training blade to block, completely relying on the artificial stats I had just locked myself into.
CRACK!
The impact sent a violent, jarring shockwave straight down my arms. My knees actually buckled slightly, and my boots skidded backward across the chalked ring.
Kyle wasn't holding back, and his physical conditioning had clearly improved over the break. My restricted Strength and Agility were buckling under his raw, enthusiastic momentum.
He didn't let up, instantly chaining his attack into a sweeping horizontal slash aimed at my ribs.
I barely managed to bring my sword down to deflect it, stumbling awkwardly to the side.
Okay. I was overconfident, I cursed internally, dodging another heavy thrust.
I nerfed myself way too hard.
I can't fight efficiently like this. My reflexes were screaming at me to move faster, but the system throttle was acting like a physical ball and chain.
I ducked under Kyle's next swing and quickly opened my interface.
And then removed the restrictions.
The suffocating weight on my limbs vanished instantly.
Kyle stepped in, thrusting his wooden blade straight for my chest.
This time, I didn't stumble.
And casually stepped to the side, letting his blade pass harmlessly by, and fluidly flicked my wrist to parry the recoil.
"Whoa!" Kyle blinked in surprise as I suddenly matched his tempo with effortless precision.
"Where did that come from? You were practically sleeping a second ago!"
"Just shaking the rust off," I smirked, parrying another flurry of blows and seamlessly guiding his kinetic energy away.
"Are you sure those meat pies didn't slow you down? Your swings are getting sloppy, Kyle."
"Hey! Don't insult the pies!" Kyle laughed, panting slightly as he redoubled his efforts.
"I'll show you sloppy!"
He tried to fake a low sweep and transition into a high strike, but for me... he was moving in slow motion.
I simply took a half-step inside his guard, tapped his wrist with the flat of my wooden blade to disarm him, and gently swept his front leg.
Kyle hit the stone floor with a dull thud, his wooden sword clattering away.
"Match," Professor Kael's gruff voice announced as he stepped up to the edge of our ring.
He looked down at his clipboard, making a quick mark.
"Good recovery, Raith. Your footwork was completely disjointed for the first ten seconds, but you tightened it up well. Kyle, stop telegraphing your overhead swings. You drop your shoulder a full second before you strike."
"Yes, sir," Kyle groaned, accepting the hand I offered to pull him back up to his feet.
Kael nodded and moved on to the next sparring ring.
We stepped out of the chalk circle, walking over to the side of the arena to catch our breath.
Kyle leaned heavily against the stone wall, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead as he looked at me with wide, completely awestruck green eyes.
"Dude," Kyle breathed out, shaking his head. "You've gotten way stronger. I swear, the moment you stopped stumbling, hitting your guard felt like hitting a solid brick wall! Did you secretly train with a swordmaster over the break?"
I let out a slow sigh, rolling my eyes to deflect the suspicion.
"I just did basic conditioning drills, Kyle. You just tire out too quickly—"
Before I could finish.
WHOOSH!
My perception caught the sudden sharp whistling sound cutting through the air before my eyes even registered the projectile.
But I didn't flinch, just casually raised my right hand and snatched the spinning wooden training axe directly out of the air, a mere inch from my face.
I glared to the side, lowering the weapon.
Standing a few yards away, was Sira.
The short, stocky girl had her sleeves rolled up, revealing sturdy, heavily bruised forearms.
She was flashing a massive, adrenaline-fueled grin, completely ignoring the chaotic brawls happening in the rings around us.
"Let's do it," Sira challenged, cracking her knuckles.
Before I could say anything, another first-year student jogged over and tapped Kyle on the shoulder, pointing to an empty ring for their evaluation match.
"Wish me luck!" Kyle grinned as he jogged off to spar.
I looked down at the wooden axe in my hand, then back up at Sira's deeply competitive grin.
And let out a long, resigned sigh.
I spun the wooden axe by the handle and hurled it right back at her. Sira caught it cleanly with one hand, her grin widening.
"With pleasure," I said, my boots digging into the stone floor as I shot forward to meet her.
I closed the distance in a fraction of a second, bringing my wooden sword up in a rapid, diagonal slash.
Sira didn't bother trying to dodge.
Just stepped directly into my strike zone, gripping her wooden axe with both hands, and swung it in a brutal, horizontal arc aimed straight for my ribs.
CLACK!
Wood cracked loudly against wood as I altered my trajectory, parrying the heavy axe head just before it connected.
Then pivoted on my heel, smoothly redirecting her momentum past me.
I didn't give her a chance to recover her balance and launched a relentless flurry of thrusts and quick slashes, forcing the stocky noble completely on the defensive.
Sira gritted her teeth, her messy black hair whipping around her face as she rapidly backpedaled, using the thick handle of her axe to desperately deflect my strikes.
I had the upper hand, and we both knew it.
My footwork was too clean, my strikes too perfectly calculated.
I was manually throttling my speed to match her, but the sheer.
She swung wide, a desperate, sweeping attack clearly meant to force me back and buy herself breathing room.
There it is.
I ducked effortlessly under the clumsy swing.
Then stepped cleanly inside her open guard, bringing the tip of my wooden sword up in a rapid, precise thrust aimed squarely at her throat.
It was the perfect, textbook finishing blow.
But to my surprise, Sira didn't flinch.
Instead of frantically trying to pull her axe back to defend herself, she completely abandoned her weapon's momentum.
Let the heavy wooden head hit the stone floor, using it as a solid pivot point.
She violently twisted her torso, sidestepping my blade just enough so that it grazed the collar of her tunic instead of striking her throat.
In the exact same fluid motion, she threw her entire body weight forward, lunging aggressively into my personal space.
Before I could retract my sword to parry,
Sira's empty hand shot out, grabbing a fistful of my uniform jacket. With her other hand, she ripped the wooden axe up off the floor, bringing the blunt, curved edge right up to the side of my neck.
We completely froze.
The tip of my wooden sword was pressed firmly against her chest, right over her heart.
The curved edge of her wooden axe was resting directly against my carotid artery.
We stood there, completely deadlocked in the middle of the training ring, both of our chests heaving with adrenaline as the sounds of the other spars echoed around us.
"Fuck," I breathed out, genuinely impressed.
It was a completely reckless, suicidal counter. If this were a real fight with live steel, we both would have died simultaneously.
I should stop underestimating...
Sira slowly lowered her axe, releasing her iron grip on my jacket. She stepped back, wiping a streak of sweat from her forehead with the back of her wrist.
Her chest was rising and falling heavily, but a massive, thoroughly satisfied grin spread across her face.
"Draw," Her dark eyes practically shining with competitive thrill.
"You've definitely gotten faster, Jin. But next time, I'm taking your head."