Kill or be Killed

(Third Person Pov)

Laura watched with quite an evident disinterest in her eyes.

To her, the fight was childish.

Of course, it was. The participants were but kids who didn't know anything about the real fight, their footwork, their way of using weapons, and their way of using their skills was anything but amateurish.

They used too much mana, made unnecessary movements, and exhausted themselves more than necessary, and their hasty decisions, and anxious movements in the battle didn't help them.

In simple words, they are too unrefined.

What they do currently possess is quite a strength surpassing those of the same age as them.

That is all they have.

That was her assessment of the students in the arena, well for almost everyone.

Her gaze tried to look for Alyssa and Aqua though she couldn't find them.

As for Noah, her assessment led her to a simple question. 

What happened in those 14 years unknown years of his life?

She knew about his unknown past, of course she did. Many higher-ups in the academy know about it and why wouldn't they?

It was an unprecedented case. For an academy of their caliber to not be able to find a single thing about Noah's 14 years of life, not a single trace or a clue was anything but absurd.

If the academy tried they could easily find out about almost anyone, even if that person lived in another continent, sure, maybe they won't be able to find everything but they will still find something about that person.

But what about Noah?

They couldn't find anything.

Not a single clue.

It was as if he just appeared out of thin air at the age of 14.

They don't even have the slightest idea where Noah used to live before.

That's just how strange it was.

And currently what fascinated Laura was the fact that Noah doesn't remember his own past, it wasn't a lie from Noah either. They had checked it using their own means. Noah had told them the truth. Noah truly doesn't remember about himself before coming to this city and earning from the casinos.

In other words, whatever life Noah had lived in that unknown frame of time had to be anything but normal.

What else could explain the way Noah moved?

His footwork is amazing, there were no unnecessary movements, and his mana control was precise. To her, it seemed like she was watching a seasoned warrior, a veteran who had fought countless battles.

Regarding raw fighting skills, Noah seemed to be better than most of the second-year students in the academy.

No, because there's no one there to push him, it's unclear how skilled he truly is.

Laura thought, waiting for the moment.

Sure, the other students weren't skilled in using their abilities but their overwhelming might wasn't to be underestimated.

And that moment came soon enough.

Noah was in mid-air, his posture not good enough to reflect the ice breath of the dragon, and the invisible bird was ready to pounce a lighting attack, along with the necromancer archers ready with their arrows.

It was impossible to deflect all the attacks, at least with the current set of skills Noah had shown till now.

Laura's eyes settled on Noah, watching his next set of movements closely.

But what happened next wasn't what she expected in the slightest.

"AGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

A roar resounded throughout the arena as it died out just as fast.

On the ground, beneath Noah's feet was what once used to be the dragon's face, its current face was crushed, its eyes rolling on the ground and its body squirmed before finally stopping any movements completely.

Without wasting any time Noah used his sword, willed it with dense aura, and sent a projectile attack towards the sky.

The attack that went into the dark sky hit something, and the moment it did blood started raining down from the sky.

The attack had cleaved the invisible bird in two halves.

Everyone in the arena at that moment simply froze.

Killing wasn't prohibited by any means in a duel but no one has actually thought of killing their opponent.

Their focus was on a simple thing, to either force Noah into submission or make him unable to continue any further.

They were all in the end 16-year-old teenagers.

They haven't yet been taught to kill.

It was inevitable that it would come as a shock to them all. To directly go for the kill? That was absurd to them.

But what felt more ridiculous to them was the way Noah had killed both the dragon and the bird.

The way they had died was simply brutal.

"In a fight, you can't win against someone stronger than you and even if you do manage to win, it would be nothing sort of close call. On the other hand, killing is easy, far too easy. Sorry, but y'all never had the luxury to fight me, you only have one option and that is to try to kill me." 

With the sword in his hands pointing at them, Noah said, his voice utterly emotionless, his eyes carrying an empty look like of a void that sent a shiver down the spine of others.

There was no bloodlust to be sensed from him and that was what had completely taken Laura by surprise.

She hadn't sensed even a little bit of killing intent from Noah when he killed the dragon and the bird.

And when she realized the implications of it, she felt unsettling.

Just how normal could killing be to one?

Whoosh!

A loud booming sound resounded.

"Then I will just kill you"

Closing the distance between herself and Noah, Marianna said with a rage-filled voice, her body covered in scales, her sky-blue eyes turned into reptilian sky-blue eyes, and the mana emitting from her body which had increased.

Summoners can merge with their summons, granting the summoner all the summons aspects.

Currently, Marianna had merged herself with one of her reptilian summons, granting her incredible speed and the scales that covered her body increasing her defenses while also increasing her mana capacity.

At first, she had felt confused when she saw Sia's eyes rolling on the ground, then she felt fear and then it soon turned into anger, a fiery rage that burned deep within her and she wasn't the only one.

"Just die" Said Emma, with spine chilling voice, standing just behind Noah.

She too had a similar ability.

Beast Tamers are capable of using one of the natural abilities of their tamed beasts. It is similar to the ability of a summoner but quite different.

Currently, Emma was using one of her beast's natural abilities, the strength of a giant mammoth.

"Killing is a thing for cowards, people who are too weak, when you try to kill, you only aim for vitals. If you come up front like this, it's no different than trying to fight ..which you can't win, dumbass"

Saying so, Noah used his sword and with a simple slash, blood flew around once more.

Marianna and Emma both fell to the ground and skidded along until their body came to a stop.

Marianna gritted her teeth as she tried to stand up but couldn't, unable to understand what had happened she looked at her legs only to find them missing.

It didn't take long for the searing pain to register for her, as she let out a scream.

"Aghhhh!!!!!!"

"Aghh!"

Emma too let out a scream, finding her arms to be missing.

Hearing their screams, everyone else on the field felt the dread running through them, panic rippled through their bodies, trembling with fear. Their heart pounded in their chest as they realized the gravity of their situation.

And just like that, the duel had turned into a situation of kill or be killed.

Alas, they didn't know Noah had no intention of killing them painlessly. He is going to kill them and make them feel their death approaching, slowly but surely.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Lucy, just like others had found herself just as perplexed as others in the arena, and that was precisely why she had stopped using her skill, resulting in Alyssa and Aqua emerging from the shadows.

The actual plan was to make both of them emerge from Noah's shadows when Noah isn't focused but Lucy found herself unable to control Noah's shadow.

She had done it in the beginning but she couldn't do it again.

Regardless, the plan was already done.

Aqua as he saw his friend's arms chopped off and her scream, didn't waste any time to move.

Alyssa too, registered the situation as a danger and prepared to become active, also moving towards Noah.

Unlike others who were too shocked to move, it wasn't the first for both of them to see the blood of another person in a fight.

Regardless, there was one more person who moved with lighting reflexes, before Alyssa and Aqua did, with a smile adorned on her face and a dagger in her hand.

"Let's kill!" 

She shouted.

It was none other than Elinalise.

Beastfolks have incredible physical stats, senses, eyesight, and strength far surpassing that of humans.

And that's why even if a beast folk and a human of the same rank were to face each other, the beast folk would win, without any difficulties.

That's just how it is.

Elinalise, an E+ ranker, and a beastfolk, is the 5th strongest person on the arena ground regarding pure physical stats. 

The clash between Elinalise's dagger and Noah's wooden sword covered with a thick layer of aura formed sparks.

"This is fun! Let's play like this every day!"

Elinalise shouted, jumping backward as Alyssa came up from Noah's left and Aqua from Noah's right.

"You are weak, I don't like playing with weak people" Noah replied, dodging the attack from both of them by doing a backflip.

"I am not weak!" Elinalise shouted.

And all four of them engaged in the battle.

Aqua used his lightning element, Alyssa used her wind, and Elinalise her fire element.

All three of them were ready to end Noah in a single strike.

Noah on the other hand mostly kept on dodging, Alyssa and Aqua weren't people who he wanted to kill right now. But he couldn't kill Elinalise either because both Aqua and Alyssa interfered whenever he tried to land a fatal blow on her.

"Fuck it! We are killing him! Sofia, Maria, use as much of a huge spell as you want! Daphne aim for the head! Lisa assist Elinalise! Lucy helps Ash, Ashly, and Margaret to get into Noah's blind spot! Katharine, we need a fucking buff, and while you are at it stop Emma's and Marianna's bleeding! Eros, make them more deadlier! Aden go wild! Max and Aleister both of you keep an eye on Sofia, Maria, and Ketharine while they are chanting their spells, and keep me safe too! And for the love of god, stop observing like you are a vampire and help us out, Lenny! " Allen breaking out of his stupor, barked his commands.

His class was simple, it was a gambler. His luck plays quite a big factor in his class. His class was quite literally a spin roulette.

Whenever he used his gambler class, he would get a temporary class, sometimes combat related sometimes not.

Currently, he has a temporary class of a Battle Commander.

His words would increase the morale of the team and help them band together.

Allen cursed his luck while running away, trying to control the flow of the battlefield. With the help of the Battle Commander, his sense of battle has been raised quite high. 

His gambler class gives him a temporary class for a certain period of time which makes him highly skilled in the category. For instance, currently despite lacking battle experience, his battle senses are quite high.

From the beginning, he had been looking for a way to kill Noah, unlike others who were trying to win against him.

Allen came to that conclusion long ago.

Well, once the time limit is over his battle sense would return to normal.

For now, he needed to pull together a plan.

A single mistake was all he needed from Noah's side.