Chapter 29 : Chapter 29
Chapter 29 : Adrenaline
The look of shock on Dominic's face was the best fuel for Sal.
When his fist connected with Dominic's solid jaw, Sal felt as if his hand was rebounding.
But thanks to the adrenaline coursing through his body, Sal didn't feel the pain and continued his attack.
The series of punches he threw grazed Dominic's upper body and face.
Dominic raised his arms to cover his face, and Sal dug in closer.
The strength in his arms was fading, and the adrenaline was slowly subsiding.
He felt like he couldn't hold on much longer, but his opponent was still guarding his face.
'No effective hits...!'
The moment Dominic raised his arms higher to cover his face, Sal seized the opening, twisted his upper body, and threw an uppercut with all his might.
His wrist collided with Dominic's rock-hard jaw, and both of them staggered backward at the same time.
Dominic shook his head repeatedly and reached out his arms to regain his balance, while Sal grabbed his wrist as pain washed over him.
He knew he had completely lost the advantage of surprise, and the moment Dominic regained his senses, he would be counterattacked.
Turning his head, Sal caught sight of Divinity's face.
Surprisingly, her face was no longer filled with fear. Instead, she was looking at Sal with an expression closer to shock.
'Then my defeat isn't confirmed yet?'
Dominic straightened his wavering body, and Sal intuitively knew that the time for decision was running out.
His left wrist was already wrecked, and he was out of breath.
He didn't even have the confidence to try a kick.
Sal crouched low, bit his lip, and charged forward once more.
He hoped to shake his opponent with a low center of gravity.
'Please!'
Dominic still had his face covered with his arms and couldn't see Sal clearly.
But Sal couldn't let his guard down.
Dominic was an opponent superior in both strength and stamina.
Hearing Sal's footsteps approach, Dominic spun his body with lightning speed and swung his fist with his arm fully extended.
The blow grazed just above Sal's head, and Sal realized keenly that Dominic was terrifyingly fast.
But as the fist cut through the empty air, Dominic looked down.
At that exact moment, Sal's shoulder slammed hard into Dominic's abdomen.
Dominic had the wind knocked out of him without even time to brace himself.
After landing an attack he hadn't even imagined himself, Sal rolled to the side immediately after impact and sprawled on the ground.
"Ugh..."
With a painful groan, Sal forced himself up.
Raising his useless wrist to prepare for a counterattack, his mind was still in turmoil.
Dominic was lying on the floor, clutching his stomach and gasping for breath, but Sal didn't hastily expect victory.
'Is it a trap?'
Sal twitched, watching Dominic nervously.
His heart was beating like crazy, and adrenaline still wrapped around his entire body.
'What if it's a trap? I can't do anything anymore.'
Wanting to end it quickly, he debated whether to declare surrender or charge in to check if Dominic's condition was real or fake.
The time that felt like endless deliberation ended in an instant.
'It's now or never.'
Sal charged again, and Dominic curled up his body while lying down, taking a defensive posture.
Seeing that, Sal changed his attack trajectory, fearing his foot might break on Dominic's elbow.
Sal tried to jump over Dominic, but his jump distance was shorter than he thought.
Perhaps the sensation of the Speedster ability he used a few days ago still lingered.
The current ordinary Sal couldn't clear Dominic and fell right on top of him, driving both elbows squarely into Dominic's side.
"Aaaargh!!"
Dominic's pained scream echoed throughout the gymnasium, and Sal rolled off Dominic, his mind hazy.
At that moment, Professor Rust, the instructor, approached and grabbed Sal's hand.
Sal couldn't hear a single word coming from the professor's mouth.
His body was still trembling, and he was half out of it.
It was only when the professor led him out of the ring that the sensation of Essence returning to his body washed over him.
Like a warm embrace, the Essence wrapped around his entire body, and clear consciousness returned.
Sal turned his head to look at Dominic.
A medical officer in a white uniform was kneeling, placing a palm on Dominic's ribs.
The surroundings seemed engulfed in silence, but gradually Sal's hearing returned, and sounds began to filter in one by one.
He opened his eyes wide in surprise.
Many students of the Silver Cohort were applauding him.
Professor Rust was also clapping, and it took a few seconds for Sal to realize it was directed at him.
"Mr. Salvatore Argento, I think you've gained quite a few new fans today. Myself included."
***
It took nearly an hour for the adrenaline to leave Sal's system.
He watched the next six matches in a daze.
Some matches ended in just a few minutes, like his own.
'That was only a few minutes?'
To Sal, his own fight had felt incredibly long.
But in cases with cautious matchups or timid participants, it took much longer.
There was only one match filled with action, and watching that fight, Sal clutched his terminal tightly, overwhelmed by the fierce punches and kicks.
Combat class was scheduled for the whole day, and it seemed they would see the entire Silver Cohort face off against each other.
"By the way, I'm Victoria."
The moment the tenth match concluded, the girl next to him suddenly introduced herself.
Sal didn't immediately understand what she said because he was busy inputting the combat analysis at the time.
When he looked up, she was looking at him with a warm smile.
She pointed at Sal's face as if explaining her actions.
"I said my name the first four times, but you had a face like you didn't hear a thing. It finally got through on the fifth try."
As Sal tried to apologize, Victoria raised her hand to stop him.
"It's okay. It's been a while since I was ignored by a boy, so it was kind of fresh. Around the third time, I even considered charming you to make you react."
She smiled at Sal occasionally as she inputted her own content into the terminal.
"But your fight was really unexpected. I bet everyone was surprised, not just me."
Sal scratched the back of his head, feeling a bit embarrassed.
That fight felt distant like a dream now, and he wanted to forget it as soon as possible.
But Victoria seemed keen on continuing to talk about it.
"Dominic is pretty strong. Everyone thought he was practically guaranteed a spot in the Savior Class, but you beat him."
She shook her head as if she still couldn't understand, trying to fish for some clue, but Sal said nothing.
All he could do was shrug, and even that made Victoria laugh louder.
"No, shouldn't you be bragging a little? You just took down a Defender type."
Sal stopped in his tracks at those words.
He had thought of Dominic purely as an offensive type and hadn't considered the possibility of him being any other class.
He had assumed Dominic was an offensive type simply because he was strong and fast.
Sal vowed inwardly to research his cohort peers more thoroughly.
Thinking of people only within the boxes of offensive or support types seemed wrong.
"You're thinking of the Controller class, right?"
Sal asked Victoria.
A bright smile bloomed on Victoria's face.
"Bingo. There are a few strong Controllers in our grade, but in the Silver Cohort, I'm the strongest."
Despite her tone, Sal didn't think Victoria was bragging or exaggerating.
It felt like she was just stating a simple fact.
Victoria turned to Sal and tilted her head.
"What about you? Can you still call yourself a supporter after that fight earlier? If you keep doing that, the academy might put you in the offensive class."
Sal looked at his terminal and shook his head.
"I'm definitely a support type. That fight was pure luck, and I can't do it again. If I fought again, I'd lose in an instant."
Sal answered honestly as he watched the next combatants enter.
Victoria didn't pry any further, and they began monitoring the ensuing battles in silence for a while.
After five or six battles, Victoria finally spoke up again.
"What did you really do with Hannah?"
Sal flushed red at those words, taken aback.
But Victoria wasn't even looking at Sal; her mouth was full of a mischievous smile.
"Predictable reaction."
At Victoria's playful teasing, Sal was speechless, not knowing how to explain.
He couldn't decide whether to deny it or admit it.
'If Hannah hadn't told her, there would be no way for her to know? How on earth does Victoria know Hannah?'
Sal's mind was full of confusion, but Victoria didn't give him time to think deeply.
"I'm planning a party tonight... oh right, I'll invite you too. It's like a mixer with kids from each cohort. I was chatting with some girls from other cohorts in the cafeteria and ran into Hannah... She was bragging about her new gear like crazy."
Victoria wiggled her fingers, making a gesture reminiscent of Hannah's gauntlet.
"She was itching to tell us how amazing her new Crafter friend is."
Victoria's voice dropped as if sharing a conspiracy, and her smile curled up even more mischievously.
"She was going on about how much attention he pays to every single detail, how he won't finish until the gear is perfect or whatever. Doesn't he sound like a really trustworthy Crafter?"
She raised an eyebrow and curled the corner of her mouth.
"So, Sal... what do I have to do to get a gauntlet made too?"
Sal looked back and forth between Victoria and the cage where the arena was, seriously considering fighting Dominic one more time just to avoid this conversation.
Since he couldn't tell if she was just teasing or genuinely interested, he decided to respond safely with information he knew for sure.
"Bring the materials you need and what you want to make, and I'll give you a quote."
Whether Victoria was serious or joking, at least he wasn't easily swayed.
Victoria looked slightly disappointed but soon shrugged and accepted it.
"You're no fun."
Sal turned his gaze back to the arena, trying to focus as much as possible.
On one hand, it was good research.
He could see with his own eyes what combat capabilities his Silver Cohort peers possessed in actual combat.
However, on the other hand, it wasn't helpful because he still couldn't figure out exactly what their abilities were.
He also felt that ranking was incomplete for evaluating potential as a hero.
Above all, no matter how many times he tried, he still couldn't see through the barrier.
The only reward he got was discovering a blueprint to upgrade the terminal in front of him, which was so ridiculous it almost made him laugh at that moment.
Victoria focused on her terminal and didn't speak to him anymore, which made Sal much more comfortable.
However, he still wondered what on earth Hannah had told her, and he thought he definitely needed to clear that matter up at the party tonight.
Just then, the professor's voice filled the stadium.
"Attention everyone! We will pause the sparring for a moment."
Professor Rust raised his hand in the center of the ring to draw attention.
"You showed some truly wonderful matches today. I want to emphasize once again why this training is so crucial for your growth. In the first class, you fought using your respective abilities, and you earned your ranks as a result. But... do you think you are nothing more than your innate abilities?"
Rust slowly scanned the faces of the students standing in front of the terminals as he continued.
"What will you do when you run out of Essence on the battlefield? Will you just give up? The generations that lived before you... were weaker than you are now. They fought with only their wits and bodies. We are their descendants."
Professor Rust raised his arm to point at the group of students, then slowly turned, gesturing to each one.
"All of you here came to become heroes. We don't need anyone who can't become a hero without abilities. Even less so those filled only with arrogance!"
Rust grinned and lowered his arm.
"To relearn from the bottom up, you must first know your weaknesses accurately. I looked at a few reports, and calling them half-assed would be a compliment. Do this assignment sincerely. That is the way to help your comrades."
'Assignment...?'
"Watching other people fight is inherently fun, isn't it? Write down everything that frustrated you while watching! Point it out! If this still doesn't motivate you, I'll give Q-Credits to the person who writes the best combat analysis report today. Got it?"
The sound of a hundred students answering in unison echoed through the space.
Rust nodded and exited the cage.
"Good, shall we start again then?"
He clapped his hands once, and the next participants stepped onto the stage.