Rokas Hassan

After paying for the Skill Card and bidding farewell to Bigsby, I headed to an isolated part of the school campus and began practicing Identity Warp.

Practicing skills was crucial to learning their abilities. While a normal fireball sounds basic on paper, there are actually a lot of factors that go into making said fireball.

I won't explain them though; I'm not a magic type of guy.

But the basic idea was this: the more you practice and get to know the skills in your arsenal, the higher chance you win your battles.

Even if the skill isn't combat oriented.

"Okay, let's start with changing my hair color."

My hairstyle was naturally messy, and that seemed to have followed me into this world as well. It was one of my weird traits. No matter how much I combed and took care of my hair, it would always go back to its original, messy position.

I had already given up on keeping it tidy when I realized my efforts were useless, so I just stayed with it, eventually growing to like said hairstyle.

But it was time to say a temporary goodbye to it. I had to change myself to look like a different person.

"Identity Warp," I called out the skill's name, and immediately I felt my hair turning itchy.

I frantically scratched at it. It was like I had a year's worth of dandruff stuck inside it.

But before I realized it, a strand of hair had fallen from all the scratching I did. I picked it up and noticed its color: blonde.

Not my top choice for hair colors, honestly. I would've gone for a redhead, but I didn't have the luxury to choose at the moment.

I took out a mirror I received from Bigsby. My messy, unkempt hair was now no longer there and was instead replaced by straight and tidy hair.

Damn… this actually looks good.

I continued using Identity Warp to adjust some of my facial features. After an hour or so, I was able to change the color of my pupils to red and lowered my nose a little.

Nice. There was still a bit of resemblance between me and Dignitas Qwerdan, but it would have to do. I was only going to use this appearance when needed, anyway.

That being right now.

Thankfully, the skill was a "use once, takes once" type. Meaning I didn't have to spend mana to keep my disguise up and could stay in the same look for as long as I wanted.

"Hmm. Looks like I spent quite a long time changing my appearance. Maybe it's time I head back. John's match should be coming up soon."

As I walked back, I logged onto the Team 3 group chat Wang Jin had created to see what happened while I was gone.

____

Team 3 Group Chat ;)

Dicknidas: How did your fight go, Rokas?

Shield God: It was a tough fight, Leader. We were both even throughout the whole match, but I was able to gain the upper hand towards the end.

Wank Jin: Yeah, you should've seen it when they clashed with their shields. It was so awesome.

Dicknidas: I'll be sure to check it out. Anyway, who's fighting next?

Wank Jin: Some guy named John Ailey and Elliot Serrano. The battle starts in 30 minutes, so you still have time.

Dicknidas: Gotcha. I'll be back once I finish watching Rokas' fight on my phone.

____

With that, I logged off the messenger app and went to my browser. I typed in the name of the Academy's site and began to browse it.

All the fights in the second exam would be recorded and published online. This would allow the student to look up information about other cadets' battle styles.

Hell, there was even a live stream recording the footage of the tournament at this very moment. It was on break, though.

With there still half an hour before John's fight starts, I pressed on the video showing Rokas' battle with Mordiot Prea.

"AND HERE WE HAVE ONE OF THE MOST PROMISING TANKS IN THE ENTIRE STUDENT BODY, ROKAS HASSAN!"

The video opened up with the caster's loud voice as he announced the two fighters.

On one side of the arena, stood Rokas, clad in his signature bulky armor and his sword and shield.

On the other side, a man of similar height to Rokas stood tall. This was Mordriot Prea. Just like Rokas, he wore armor twice his size and wielded a sword and shield.

"I am grateful to be able to have this battle with you, Mister Hassan. Let the better warrior win." Mordriot bowed.

"Yes, let the better warrior win. I wish you luck." Rokas reciprocated the gesture by bowing as well.

This was a match between both tanks. Seeing as how they both wore extremely thick armor, I wondered how they were going to do any sort of damage to each other.

The two of them walked over to their respective sides and tightly held their weapons in their hands.

"Ready? Fight!"

The moment the robot referee's hand went down, both tanks charged forward in a dash.

Rokas was slightly faster and thus had a bit more momentum. But it looked pretty even overall.

*bang*

Both shields crashed against each other. Two walls, both immovable forces.

The first to move was Mordriot, who used his sword to stab Rokas in his torso.

This was well received by Rokas, who in turn moved his slightly bigger shield to narrowly block the blow.

At the same time, he pushed against Modriot with the force of a truck.

"You are truly as strong as they say. Please allow me to give you an even harder challenge!"

Suddenly, Modriot's strength rapidly grew, and he forcefully pushed back Rokas.

Huh. Mordriot's strategy is to simply beat him in a bout of strength. How honorable.

Either one of them could take advantage of their awkward positions, but they haven't gone for it.

Even Rokas seems to want to play along with Modriot.

"Aaargh!"

With a loud scream, Rokas increased his power. His sudden burst of strength caught Mordriot off guard, and he was able to gain a more advantageous position than him.

Mordriot's body was now slightly bent backward, meaning he couldn't output as much force as he could when he was steady.

If he were to put too much of his time trying to push back Rokas, then his back would give up and he'd get pushed down instead.

If he were to do the opposite and push himself up, then… well, the ending wouldn't be different.

Another scream came from Rokas, and the intensity of the force increased, I believe, twofold.

Yet, in a surprising twist of fate, Rokas began to get pushed back. What should've ended with him forcing Mordriot off his feet suddenly turned into him fighting for his life.

"What happened?" I looked at the recording once again.

Rokas seems to weaken at this point in the video, but the cameras don't capture anything from Mordriot's side.

"Oh, dear. I wonder what happens next." Worried about Rokas, I continued watching.

The battle went on for a few more minutes. During this time, Rokas and Modriot had exchanged a few sword clashes and some more shield-bash competitions.

"Let us end this, Mister Rokas! Shield versus shield!"

"Very well, Sir Modriot. We will charge at the same time!"

What… is this?

A battle between two cadets seems to have turned into a battle of shields.

Anyway, I watched as both tanks headed to the very edge of their sides.

Throwing away their swords, the two of them firmly held their shields in their hands.

A short silence filled the arena. Not one of them moved.

It was only when ten seconds passed that they finally moved again.

Both tanks charged at each other like a pair of angry bulls. Who would win?

Well, I knew Rokas would, thanks to my teammates telling me, but it was still very exciting.

"Rarrgh!"

"Uraaa!'

*bang*

The sound of metal clashing in a loud collision rang across the entire Colosseum.

Smoke rose from the sheer intensity of their attacks, clouding the middle of the arena and blocking the view of everyone watching.

Then, the smoke started dissipating. And in the middle, all that was left was Rokas Hassan, standing beside a Mordriot who had fallen to the floor.

"I surrender. It was a wonderful fight, Sir Hassan."

"You too. Thank you for the match."

"ROKAS HASSAN WINS!" The announcer's voice filled the stadium once more, the screen showcasing Rokas in the middle.

That was a pretty sick match. I'll give credit for Rokas fighting Modriot the way he wanted to. I'll make sure to congratulate him on his win when I get back.

But now, the next battle would be John's. And it was one I wasn't going to miss.