It was only after seeing who he was up against that I recognized where I was.
"It's you.."
The boy who walked out of the opposite side of the field was a slender boy with long black hair and long thick black eyelashes that accompanied two eyes so dark that they looked like small abyss orbs in place of where eyes should be.
His mouth, covered by a black mask, and his smooth sun-kissed skin and tired expression, even the way that he seemed to be walking slowly as if just standing was draining him of his energy.
Everything pointed to him being the character from a novel I read in my past life. This boy wasn't a main character or protagonist, hell.. he barely qualified as a support or side character.
There's only one reason I recognised him, and that's because despite him only appearing for less than 10 chapters throughout the novel which had over 300, he always left an impression.
'After recognising him, I now know that this is a novel world and not some manhwa or game or anime… and yet.. the overall details remain foggy to me.'
Sigh
Running a hand through my hair I watched the match with interest and slight unease.
["Don't get bored yet folk~ this next one will be a great match, I can feel it!"]
["For the 49th match, examinees Aaron Protrelli and Null! Once both examinees have chosen their weapon of choice, the match will begin!"]
'Ah, I remember now. So that's what he chose..'
Aaron already had his weapon, leaving only Null to choose his. He lazily grabbed his weapon of choice. A short sword dagger. The hilt was black with purple and silver lining, and the sheath was black with a cold silver crest.
["Now that both examinees have chosen their weapons~ let's not delay any longer! Let the match begin!"]
As soon as the match started I already knew what the outcome would be.
Aaron pulled out his sword and kicked off of the ground launching himself at Null with inhuman speed.
==============================
[Aaron POV]
'The matches are coming to an end. Since it's like this his match should be right after mine.'
"Hm.."
Tsk—
Irritated, I couldn't help but scratch my head in frustration.
'I wanted to fight against him to test his skills for myself, but I guess I'll have to wait.'
Looking around the field to distract myself, I watched as my opponent appeared from the opposite side of the field.
"Huh..?"
Walking slowly out of the shadows from the opposite side was a tall slender looking man with long black strands of hair like ink, and slightly dark skin that looked smooth and clear like pure honey. Their eyes were black and half of their face was covered by a mask.
The way they walked, the way they moved and even the way they blinked was very slow as if he were walking in slow motion.
It even took him a moment to look at me, once he did his gaze didn't even hold a flicker of recognition at all. It was as if he were looking at something completely disinteresting and irrelevant. Then, after meeting my gaze, he yawned and placed his hands into his pockets.
I felt a vein throbbing my head at his acts of indifference. How could I not?
'How did someone like this even make it past the first part of the exam and how come I didn't notice him in the waiting room?'
Now that I was thinking about it. The boy in front of me had absolutely no presence. Almost as if he weren't there at all. Not at all like the boy from before, at least he had a presence albeit a very faint one.
["Let the match begin."]
'Whatever. I don't have time to waste on thinking about this useless extra.'
I didn't hesitate and immediately coated my legs with aura, kicking off of the ground at a speed impossible for most to even see, I pulled my sword back and attacked with a downward diagonal slash.
However, my attack did not reach my opponent. Not only did he evade my attack, but he did so by only moving his body less than 4cm to the side.
"What.."
Sensing something was wrong, I immediately retreated and watched him.
["Oho~ It seems that Aaron's attack didn't hit its target. Could it be that you're going easy on your opponent? Was he lucky? Or were you underestimating him? Oh dear~"]
Tsk—
'No.. even if I were underestimating him.. Dodging like that shouldn't have been possible unless..'
Despite what just occurred, the boy didn't seem shocked or even confused. He simply yawned again. A tear even formed at the side of his eye and as he wiped it away with the hand which he held his dagger in, and kept the other hand in his pocket I couldn't help but feel more irritated.
Huuuu
Inhaling and exhaling deeply, I decided to take this more seriously than before, slightly excited now.
"I'm not some idiot that underestimated my opponents just because they seem weak. However, this time I'm going all out without holding anything back."
I spoke out to Null, fully aware that he likely wouldn't respond as he hadn't spoken a single word since appearing on the field. However, I couldn't help but notice that he was now looking at me with a flicker of interest. His gaze watched me as I coated the sword in aura.
A technique I learned and nearly perfected through previous battles. My sword was enveloped with a warm light blue aura and moments later the light was absorbed into the sword.
Clearing my mind, I had only one thought and that was to win.
'I won't lose.'
Closing the distance, I slashed once again with an arched attack, slicing through the air and followed up the attack with a horizontal slash, not giving him time to dodge. This time, instead of dodging, Null brought up his dagger, still sheathed and blocked my blade.
Parrying my attack, he brushed off my sword and backed away quickly. It was only after looking at his sheath that he noticed the scorched material.
Examining it for a moment, he finally looked up to meet my gaze, a flicker of something appeared vividly, but I didn't give him time to recover. I rushed him and unleashed a flurry of fast and heavy attacks, each slash slicing through the air like paper and burning anything it touched with my flames.
I didn't need to use flashy attacks, just this was enough. Quick, precise, strong movements that burned through its target. That's how I have always fought, the style of mine that has helped me to survive countless battles with corrupted creatures, defeating beast and foe with ease until now.
Heh
'That doesn't mean that I don't have an attack I can use if he dodges this though.'
This time I saw it. Every slash, every step I took. His eyes followed every movement. That's how he reacted fast enough to dodge.
'To him.. it's as if everything moves slowly, that's how he's reading my every move isn't it?'
A chuckle escaped my lips as I allowed my aura to surge into my sword freely. A burst of blue aura shot out once again, coating my entire sword and then turned into deep scarlet coloured flames.
The flames grew and grew as I pulled the sword up over my head with a grin. My heart began to pound.
'This attack, I haven't yet perfected it but I have a feeling it will be enough.'
"Now show me. How will you dodge this attack."
Above my head, a huge ball of flames began to form, attached to a line of aura connected to my sword, the ball grew and grew like a small chunk of the sun had been plucked down.
For the first time since the fight started, Null showed emotion. His eyes widened and his body stiffened as he looked up at the attack that caused a huge shadow over the field.
"It's a shame. If half of your face wasn't covered, I'd be interested in seeing what kind of expression you had on your face!"
Null finally unsheathed his dagger and I slashed down hurling the attack his way with a sharp gust of scorching hot wind and a huge ball of flames. If he didn't get cut in half, he'd get burned to ashes.
'Unless of course, he somehow dodges or blocks the attack, or gets saved and immediately loses the match.'
The adrenaline pumping through my veins caused me to breathe heavily as I heard my heart pounding in my chest quickly. I couldn't even feel the aftereffects of using such a powerful and unperfected technique.
Looking at my sword, it was in no condition to continue the fight. It was completely ruined, the blade had melted from the heat of the attack and even the hilt was damaged. I tossed it aside and wiped my hands, dusting myself off and began walking away with my back turned.
===============================
Aaron brushed a handful of his hair back from his face and dropped his sword. Turning around to leave, he began walking away with Null still lying on the ground face first as if he had fainted.
I couldn't help but feel disappointed. I shook my head and my gaze returned to the spot where Aaron had appeared. I didn't say anything and only nodded at him.
It didn't take long for Null to also walk in sluggishly. Despite losing his match, the atmosphere in the room was intense. Out of 49 matches only a few were interesting and out of them their match had been among the most intense yet shortest battles.
'Still, it wasn't enough. With just that much I'd be surprised if either of them made it into the top 10 ranks..'
Rubbing my chin, I leaned back against the wall and a yawn escaped my lips. It has been so long and yet my own match hasn't happened yet. I couldn't say I wasn't worried. Now that I knew where I was, I also realised that there were only a few people left and one of those people was someone I strongly wished to avoid. Even more than the main protagonist himself.
Rubbing my temples lightly I shook off a headache that began to form and calmed myself down.
'I won't say it… it's not going to be one of those cliche moments where I say something optimistic and then my hopes get crushed immediately after. However…. I'm tired. I haven't rested properly in a while.'
I closed my eyes and sighed lightly.
The next match will start in 5 minutes, please use this time to prepare yourselves
***