Ch 19

"You will win as long as you forced your opponent to surrender, if we judged that the fight could no longer continue, or if you force them out of the circle. Otherwise, the fight will go on. Remember, this is a mock battle. It is fine to be injured, but do not cripple."

"You may begin."

At Anne's signal, the two assumed a stance and carefully approached each other. Once in range, the two exchanged probing strikes. Their pace was getting quicker, their yells and the sound of the practice swords echoed loudly in the chamber. The rest of the group watched with concentration.

"Luke was from a fighter clan. Their family had produced numerous fighter type hunters and they built a dojo. He has been training swordsmanship since young." Kraus explained.

"I can see that he's got a good foundation." Anne smiled. "But I have trust in my members. I chose them after all."

Just as soon as she said that, Kyle, with his prodigious swordsmanship, was able to gain the upper hand. With his sword and hand covered in blue glow, his strength and speed was enhanced.

Luke committed many mistakes and got hit in the wrist. Eventually, one hit turned to many. Unable to endure the pain, he chose surrender.

Kyle walked away stylishly. He wasn't hit even once. He glanced at the ladies and pretended to be indifferent to victory and defeat.

"Not bad, he already knew mana enhancement." Kraus praised. "Next would be a battle of mages then. Lorie, you go up."

The girl was the one who casted the water ball previously.

Anne turned to Areth and the rest. Her gaze then landed on Rachel.

"Okay, I will do my best." Rachel stood up. Although she was a mana bender, she was carrying a sword with her.

"A sword?" Kraus turned to Anne. "She's a mage right?"

"Indeed, though she had taken a liking to the sword, she was very talented at it too."

The battle of mages are different from fighters. They needs protective equipments as some spells, especially those of the fire element, are dangerous.

When the fight begun, Rachel had quickly crossed ten meters in in a single breath. Her feet was carried by a gust of wind.

"Woah! Isn't that cheating?" Kraus' group started murmuring. Rachel's speed was not inferior to fighters who use mana to enhance their bodies.

"Air Blast!" Lorie who was caught unprepared followed her instinct and simply cast a spell randomly.

Fortunately, she was able to choose the right spell. A blast of wind sent Rachel on air, Lorie did not wait for her to land, sending fireballs toward her opponent.

"It's over." Kraus said as the fireball made contact.

"Gale!" A strong wind whirled around Rachel and immediately put out the flames. She defied gravity and remained in the air, sending powerful gust of wind to the opponent.

"Air blast!" Lorie reacted promptly. There was no other choice for the spell. In low level battles like this, the wind element reigns supreme.

Even the onlookers felt the strong wind pushing against them.

'Hmmph! Such clumsy fireball! A true fireball shoots like a bullet, surpassing the speed of sound. Even if the opponent does not burn, the impact is sure to send them to hell.'

Areth ignored a certain fireball fanatic and simply enjoyed the show. Wind element is simply invincible when basic projectile spells are used against it. A weak fireball would be extinguished, a waterfall would not sustain momentum, as for Earth Bullets and Ice Arrows, new students have yet to learn them.

As for the two people fighting, whether it be firepower, mobility, or casting speed, Rachel was superior. She won the the match unscathed. Fraus' expression was not looking good.

Areth started to reminisce his noob days, those days when he was still using crude projectile spells to fight against prehistoric creatures like Dragons. Naturally, he got his arse beaten. There was a difference between how a human cast a spell and how a dragon does it.

In his previous life, he had ranked mages into levels.

The lowest level was what he contemptuously call Infants, people at this level usually rely on spirits or other superior beings to cast their spells. They might be strong in combat, but as a mage, they could barely qualify. The hunter association calls them Spiritualists.

The next would be the Novice level, they only know how to circulate mana within their body. In this world, they are called Fighters.

Higher than Novice would be Apprentice, all the mage students belong in this class. Their spells were based on existing blueprints. They only know the conventional spells such as Fireballs, Ice Arrows and such. They are called Mana Benders, or simply mages.

Superior Mage were those that have escaped from traditions, they are capable of innovating and upgrading spells, they can also cast spells in a way that is tailored to their needs. Leyfin was in this level.

The level above was known as the Rule Defying Mage. The people at this level, are able to slightly manipulate the Absolute Rule, even without being aware of it. Such were the case for the Demon Generals, the Special-class hunters, and Dragons. The power depends on what kind of talents they have. Areth sees them as some kind of a flaw in the Absolute Rule, a bug-like existence.

The last level was called, "The Ultimate Being, The Very Powerful and Very Magnificent"

In the library of his kingdom, the books defined it as "someone who is unmatched and unrivaled, a dragon among men. He can consciously manipulate the Absolute Rule! And his name is Areth Augustus Claudius!"

Areth swore he had never forced those old scholars to write it this way. They did so in their own volition. He had even watched them carefully as they were writing it, to ensure that all that was written was fact and unbiased.

"Areth your turn." Anne's voice woke him up from his stupor. They have already won five matches consecutively, with Florence just returning after he nearly froze his opponent to death.

Fraus' face was showing obvious displeasure at his team's performance. His eyes enviously glanced towards Julius and Florence, the two rising stars among freshmen.

'We can't lost this time.' He thought as he turned toward a skinny boy. This boy wore glasses, his two eyes were covered in dark circles and he was ready a doujinshi featuring erotic images.

'He's dangerous. But we need to at least win to save our reputation.'

Kraus spoke. "Welsh, go up and fight. Don't go overboard."

The lanky boy scratched his head, muttering. "I can't really fight well." It's just that he was blessed with tremendous power upon his birth. He was the chosen one.

Areth was fascinated by his opponent. His mentor seems to have noticed it as well.

'A gifted Mage. A body overflowing with mana, this is what all those old fogies have been researching back in my days!'

She paused, and then added unsurprisingly. 'Of course, he's a bit inferior to me.'

Areth rolled his eyes in his mind, look these kids boasting.

'One should be humble and not be narcissistic. In the pursuit of truth, everyone is equal.'

'You brat, are you opposing me now?'

"Areth, do your best! If you get beaten down, just surrender immediately." Lina said.

His teammates also encouraged him.

"Senior, it's okay if you lost. The more important thing is that you learn something!"

"Failure is the mother of success!"

"Don't worry Areth, even if you lost, you will still be a member of our Guild!"

Although the new members did not know what was going on with their weird senior, they just followed along the rest. In fact, their impression of Areth was that he was weak. They have heard from Richard and the rest that he was often the one who gets beaten the most by Anne.

He was beaten so much that he lost confidence, choosing to become a backliner instead or pursuing to become a proper Hunter.

The corner of Areth's eyes twitched. What did these brats knew? Anne knew that he was strong, that's why she made him bear the brunt of being an example to the rest.

He was hiding his strength too, but although his output could already qualify to become a D rank hunter, Anne's combat prowess was ridiculous and baffling to Areth.

He was beaten and made an example on how to start and sustain a combo.

'What damned swordsmanship is that? She's obviously using sorcery!'

Her sword could travel through space. Of course, he was invincible once he set up a barrier, but then they would think he was an alien, even Leyfin might kneel down and call him master. 'The time isn't right yet. I need a proper time and atmosphere to remove my seal.'

Like those tearjerking moments when everyone has lost hope for survival, something like that.

Anne looked at the two combatants and worriedly looked at Areth. 'His opponent is a bit tricky.'

With her sharp intuition, she could deduce the power of his opponent. Nevertheless, she was confident with Areth. She signaled to start the fight.

'Normal mana output, basic projectile spells and basic defensive spells that a normal freshmen could learn, coupled with the full potential of the human brain for spell casting. It should be enough to take care of a child.'

"Come." Areth opened his palm, a normal fireball was conjured.