Chapter 6: Second class

The next class that Lucas was in charge of was held in the training area. There were two other teachers holding their classes, one of which was Logan who taught swordsmanship, and the other was professor Uzin who specialized in magic. Lucas noticed that professor Uzin was teaching Annerose with magic. Annerose waved her hand at Lucas to which Lucas responded in kind.

Lucas was in charge of letting a group of fighters practice their skills. There were more students in this class, but the students that were from his homeroom class were Tora, Drace Elliot, Walter, Hannah, Marika, Hannibal, Iris and Sonya.

Lucas said to the class "At first we will divide the class into two groups. Magic and non magic. Then later we will intermingle the two sides and let people practice against a person that uses a different form of attack than yourself. Mages feel free to practice by yourself or with a partner. Non mages I recommend that you will find a partner to practice with, but if you want to practice with the dummies that we set up, then feel free to use them. If you see that there is someone you wish to spar with in the other two classes, inform me and I'll go ask the teacher if it's okay. Now begin."

The students spread around and go practice their skills. Tora and Walter chose to practice with each other. Tora uses an eastern sword as his weapon and Walter uses his two daggers. All the people in class hold a special device that protects them from damage. They will feel the blow, but no actual damage is done. With enough force, the device could fail, but with the strength of the students it isn't an issue.

Tora was skilled with swords so much so that Lucas thought he would get an adventurer rank B or even an A. Walter was a solid B ranker in Lucas' opinion.

Iris went to practice her magic with other mages. She showed great potential to become a grand sage of elves, but she still had room to improve. The rank Lucas would give her was around rank B but with little adjustment, it could rise to rank A.

Drace decided to practice with another student. Drace used his skill called "dragon hardening" to harden his hands and transform them into dragon's claws. He also excluded some fire from his body, so getting near him could damage the opponent. He himself is immune to most fire based attacks. Drace was also in the range of an A rank adventurer in Lucas' opinion.

Elliot seemed to prefer to practice alone and hone his spells. Lucas noticed that Elliot is capable of using many types of magic expertly. Normally there is a type of magic that a person focuses on to make the type they are using more powerful or to cost less mana. Elliot seemed to think that focusing only on a few types of magic would be meaningless and that he needed to be able to do so much more.

Lucas went and instructed him with a few tips and tricks, to which Elliot barely made any reaction to and kept on focusing on his own practice. Lucas could see when he later looked at Elliot that he was taking the advice Lucas gave him into practice. This made the conclusion to Lucas' mind that Elliot wasn't much of a talker. All in all, Lucas thought that he would get an adventurer rank D.

Hannah and Marika seemed to be close friends and practiced together. Both used swords, but Marika also used a shield. Hannah uses the northern style swordsmanship and Marika uses standard paladin techniques taught in the church. Both seemed decently good and Lucas guessed that they might be able to get an adventurer rank D a rank C if they improved a little.

Hannibal and Sonya practiced together. Hannibal's skill with both sword and magic made him a terrifying opponent to many, but Sonya seemed to be skilled in terms of body and aura. Lucas predicted that if Hannibal would get an adventurer rank, it would definitely be one the upper echelons of rank C. Sonya on the other hand had clearly a rank A level of skills. Hannibal used a broadsword and Sonya used two crooked shortswords.

Lucas came to the conclusion that Sonya and Drace would be a match in terms of combat. Since this wasn't their first time having training, Lucas was sure that each of them knew each other's combat capability.

When Drace was taking a break, Lucas went and asked him "Have you tried to spar with Sonya before?" Drace said "I have." Lucas asks "Why aren't you two then having a spar since you are around the same skill level?" Drace closes his eyes and says "That's none of your business." Lucas just said "Well okay then."

Then when Sonya was taking a break, Lucas went and asked "Has something happened between you and Drace?" Sonya gave a nervous laugh and said "There was something, but it's all in the past." Lucas further investigated "What happened?" Sonya was silent for a moment, until she said "I… once rejected him."

Lucas then asks "You mean romantically?" Sonya says "Yes. Romantically." Lucas then looks at Drace in the distance and then comments "Well that would damage his ego." Sonya said "Yeah. We don't really talk that much anymore." Lucas asks "Did you talk a lot before?" Sonya said "Well, it happened as soon as he noticed my skill during one of the first classes we had. We barely said a word to each other before then, so it really came out of the blue."

Lucas got curious and asked "What did he say exactly when he asked you out?" Sonya says "He said "You are strong and beautiful. I'm strong and beautiful. We would make strong and beautiful children. What do you say?" Or something like that." Lucas was stunned and said "I thought he would have a smoother line than that." Sonya then says "Can you even say and ask things like this as a teacher?"

Lucas says "I might be overstepping here and there. Have you ever tried to spar with him ever since?" Sonya said "I have, but he would tell me "My presence is too good for you." or things like that." Lucas says "He took it that deeply huh. Well that's all I wanted to know. Now do you want some advice on your form?" Sonya said "Of course. The better I am in combat the better I am to fulfill my duty as a warrior bunny." Then Lucas told and showed some tips.

Then Logan came to have a chat with Lucas. He said "Want to have that match now?" To which Lucas responded with "Do you really think this is the best time? We should make an official announcement when we are going to duel, so that people who want to see will come and see." Logan says "True. Let's do that. Does tomorrow at 12.00 sound good?" Lucas said "I think that will do. I don't have any classes tomorrow, so that will work." Logan says "Good. I'll inform the principal when this class ends." Lucas says "You do that." Then the two separated and went to teach their students.

Then later that day, a voice came through the announcement system that told Lucas to come to the principal's office. Lucas complied and went to the principal's office as soon as he was able. He was wondering why Lucy didn't just call him, but he didn't mind it.

When Lucas got to the principal's office, a magic bullet came flying near Lucas' head. Lucas says "You don't seem to be in the best of moods Lucy." Lucy says "Of course I aren't. Do you think that we can just let you and Logan fight in the arena?" Lucas says "What's the issue? It will be good motivation material to the students who thrive for combat."

Lucy says "You think that actual students would be able to perceive the match enough to make it worth the damage you two would cause?" Lucas says "Is the training area that flimsy?" Lucy says "It isn't. It's enhanced by magic. You two are just too powerful for that kind of place to hold on after all the fighting." Lucas says "So it is flimsy."

Lucy gets annoyed and says "You know that one rank S and one rank SSS having a duel would collapse any building that was ever built?" Lucas asks "Which one is the rank SSS?" Lucy then shoots another magic bullet near his face and says "Don't play coy with me. You know damn well which one I'm talking about." Lucas says "Whatever do you mean Ms. rank SS." Then Lucy sends a magic bullet at Lucas that he has to actually dodge.

Lucas then says "So that's a no to the official duel between me and Logan?" Lucy says "Yes. And don't you dare try to make one in secret or I will take away your pay this month." Lucas says "Fine fine. We will not duel in public. You have my word." Then Lucas leaves.

After he was far enough, he made a call to Logan and said "Hey Logan. Oh boy do I have a proposition for you."

The next day during a break, Lucas had instructed Logan and some students to come through a specific door. Once Logan opened the door, he found out that the door opened to a place that wasn't part of the academy. They were in a giant arena that was standing on top of a floating island far up in the sky.

Lucas greeted the people who came to the arena by saying "Greetings. Welcome to my personal arena that was once the property of the demon king of ashes. While you are inside this arena, you won't be able to die unless your soul gets ripped out of your body. That means that you will get healed back to your normal state in a few moments when you get damaged. Note that it doesn't restore your stamina, so be careful how much you will exercise."

Logan asked "I didn't know you had this kind of thing up your sleeve. Is this the place that you said will be safe for us to duel?" Lucas answers "Yes. This also doesn't break a promise that I made to the principal. I recommend that students go and take their seats before us two start to scuffle." The students follow his instructions and go take their seats. Most of the students that were in the combat class came with an exception of a few students.

Once students took their seats, Lucas started going through the rules. "First rule is that we can use any method we choose without restriction. The arena will hold almost all damage dealt to it. The second rule is that if a person reaches a point that would usually kill, the match will end in the favor of the one that dealt the blow. Note that killing yourself isn't a win for you. Are we clear on the rules?" Logan says "Crystal."

Then Lucas says "Okay. And just so I can make this a little interesting, I will not rely on my own strength in this fight. Instead, I will be using my mimic ability to mimic all your stats and skills. This way the only thing left is the person's own skill."

Logan asks "How far does your reach of mimicry apply?" Lucas says "This time I will only mimic your power in all senses of the word and I will mimic your skills. I can mimic the personal skills that you have, but I choose to use my own combat prowess."

Logan asks "So will your power increase or decrease during this duel?" Lucas says "I leave it up to your interpretation." Logan smiles and says "Of course. I will see for myself which of us is a more skilled fighter by having similar power." Lucas says "I actually can mimic your abilities to near exact numbers, but whatever. Also, normal mimic would have to change their appearance to the person who's power they are mimicking, but since I'm a demon mimic, that doesn't apply and I can stay like I am. It helps to let the students know which is which."

Logan says "Ready when you are" as he takes out his sword. Lucas takes out his own sword and the two have taken their battle stances. A moment of silence fills the arena as each combatant waits for the other to make a move. As a bird flies over the arena, the battle starts.

The two exchange blows strong enough to shatter castle walls. The shockwaves reach the students watching as they watch in awe. The speed of the two is astounding to look at as they move so fast that their eyes can barely follow. "How can they process so much information so fast?" one student asked. "I can barely even follow, but I can't look away" another student said.

The two combatants kept on fighting for around ten minutes where each second could be a deciding factor. Through the exchange of blows, Lucas eventually comprehended Logan's attack patterns perfectly and he started to take advantage of it.

As a demon mimic who can understand a person's all traits through one simple use of a skill "appraisal" as well as the nature of demon mimics, the pace at which Lucas learned the pattern was laughable. The reason why he didn't learn them as fast as he could is because he wanted to learn Logan's being simply through battle and not by using Lucas' nature as a demon mimic. Because if he would just use it, then there wouldn't be a true battle to begin with where exchange of blows and observation of subtle movements is communication to the fighters.

When Lucas finally reached the point of full understanding, it changed the battle significantly. Lucas started dominating the battle and Logan was pushed to the corner. When there was nothing else he could do, Logan started to use his beast aura together with a skill "Overcharge" which makes the person use more of their aura in less time. The scale of this ability can be modified, but the standard is that it doubles aura consumption. The drawback is that it will take more aura of a person that it initially would if used naturally. Logan chose to use ten times more aura because he wanted to end the match in one swing. After he uses it, his aura is completely spent and then he can do nothing else.

With all of his might, Logan pulled his aura and extended his abilities to over the limit. The speed and strength of the attack Logan made took Lucas by surprise. Lucas didn't think that Logan would use overcharge to this point and then the only thing he could do is try and dodge it. Blocking it with his current strength was suicide and he refused to use boost his strength in a way that Logan couldn't. Lucas thought "This duel was meant to see who is the better fighter and not who is stronger."

The attack made a giant shockwave that caused slight damage to the arena and it blew Lucas away. After the dust had settled, Logan saw that Lucas was missing his right arm and his sword. But since he wasn't able to stand anymore and Lucas could, he conceded and passed out. The duel was now over.

Then Lucas heard slow claps coming from where the students were and when he looked at the source, he saw Lucy standing there. Lucas started to go there after he picked up his arm and reattached it. He also started to carry Logan who wasn't even awake.

The students were in shock that the principal was there as well, and when Lucy said "You just had to go against my orders" the students froze and thought that they shouldn't have come. Lucy noticed this so she smiled at them and said "Don't worry. None of you broke any rules. This was all your teacher's doing. Him on the other hand…"

Lucas had gotten to the speaking distance and Lucy said "You know that you went against my orders." Lucas smirked and said "The only thing I agreed to is to not have a duel in public." Lucy tries to stay calm to keep up her principal persona intact. Then she says "We will discuss this in my office. First bring Logan to the nursing area and let him rest there. After that come to my office."

Then Lucy escorted the students out while Lucas was left to look at the damage Logan caused. Lucas said "I didn't expect you to actually damage it. I may have underestimated you. It won't happen again as next time we fight, I will hold nothing back." Then Lucas went to the nursing area and put Logan to bed. After that he went to Lucy's office.

The moment when he opened the door, Lucas had to dodge a magic bullet from Lucy who then said "You sure have some guts. Close the door." Lucas does so and then he has to hear a lecture of his own.