Chapter 4: Your Friend Is Really Laid-back, Isn't He?
Black smoke enough to cover the two of us is the aftereffect of the fireball being destroyed. The fireball created a little explosion after being cleanly cut but it didn't do much damage, similar to a firecracker soaked in water. I used the smoke to my advantage, to regain my footing and change my approach. I can't create an opening at all with straightforward attacks because his defense is flawless and he doesn't make even a single mistake.
It is better if I create an attack he can't avoid by dodging and blocking, I racked my brain for a plan. With the smoke dispersing I can't really create a proper strategy, time is not on my side so I guess a two-sided attack will do.
I took a breath for a second to compose myself, then I shot another fireball from my location inside the smoke towards my front. I didn't hear any movement from him that's why I'm sure he's still in the same spot. As a follow-up offensive I emerged from the smoke, with a fireball coming from the front and a different attack coming from the left side, even he would need to move...
"..."
...or not, he made a slashing motion with his left hand and cut the fireball with it, and easily blocked my follow-up attack with the sword on his right hand..... incredible... but a man as I am, I refuse to yield. Yes, I'm not doing this because I have indecent thoughts, not at all.
Without waiting for his counterattack, I immediately casted another fireball but he instantly grabbed hold of my hand that is casting the fireball, and pointed it upwards. I already expected he'll do something to interrupt my skill so at the same time he got a hold of my hand, I let go of the sword that is held by my other hand and casted fireball with it, a double fireball.
*Boom*
The first fireball flew towards the sun or the ceiling in this case but I'm sure the second one is a direct hit. If the first surprise is a failure, then the surprise after the surprise might work, but if it fails again, just add another surprise until it works. It might not hurt because he have high stats but leaving a scratch on his armor isn't a bad way to end the match.
I waited for the smoke to disperse while dangling... yeah, he didn't let go of my hand even after he got hit by my fireball, the skills of a level one is too weak to the point that it didn't even made him flinch. The scene that appears right before me after the smoke disappeared is...
Already I expected but I can't believe there isn't even a single scratch on him, is his armor too high level? Ohhh, it's not, I looked at the ground and there's a small crater beside his feet, he deflected it, I didn't hit him at all.
"Urgh." Fuck, I'm gonna puke.
Fio, our handler gave us two warnings earlier that we shouldn't forget in order to survive in this world. First is absolutely avoid depleting your HP, well because you're literally dead if that happens. Second, is avoid exhausting your mana, because mana deficiency makes you unable to do anything. If someone used up all their mana, he/she'll experience nausea then sleepiness right after. If that happens in the middle of battle, for example with monsters, if I'm solo, escaping would be impossible and I'm dead, if I'm with a party I would be a deadweight. So it is advised to manage your mana and leave even if it's a little to survive. Experiencing mana deficiency frequently can also cause different random illness, like memory loss, crystallization and many others, is what he said.
I've already used up all of my mana but my skill still couldn't reach him, the difference between practical skills and level is nothing I can do about. Maybe in the future I'll level up, learn how to fight properly using my class and get strong enough to challenge him, but that's for my future self, for today I can only use cheap tricks like this. If he's really that certain man from that game, that same man who's a very calculating and cautious fighter, never underestimate his enemies even if it's the low-level ones and always focuses on their every single movements until the end of the battle. Also have a kind heart for his comrades and the merciless power to crush his enemies, loyal to the second princess and one of the most overpowered character in the game... then this could work.
"Hey, are you okay?" He asked after letting go of my hand. "Mana deficiency huh? You should take a rest."
I feel I might throw up but I can't since I haven't eaten anything, my sight is getting blurry and my legs are gradually losing their strength but before I pass out, I turned my look in front of me. Curious what I'm looking at, he followed suit.
"Hard on the newbies as usual, Captain." I can barely see a silhouette of a man and a woman... but that doesn't matter.
"..."
"One point." After I heard the clanking sound, my eyes slowly closed and after that I felt my head falling.
√•√•√•√•√
The sound of the wooden sword hitting the knight's chest plate is heard by everyone that is watching, albeit not loud but it's enough for the people who's actually paying attention to the match to realize that he's the first one to actually land an attack on the once untouchable knight.
"One point." He said before outrightly falling to the ground and losing consciousness.
He knew his only chance is to believe the knight he's fighting and the knight from the game is the same character, that's why he lifted his face and look somewhere, and by chance there are two people that came up and talk to the knight. In actuality, he only needs the knight to look away from him, the two people talking to the knight is only a coincidence but it increased his chance by a large margin. The moment the knight looked away and his attention were divided, he weakly get a hold of his sword and tapped it on the knight's armor, without looking at him, before the referee announce his defeat.
As genius in battle and cautious the knight can be, he's also too kind. He doesn't fight someone who's too weak and can barely hold a sword, he doesn't necessarily torture his enemies that already gave up, in others words his consideration for the losers knows no bound. That's why June exhausted his mana, to appear in front of him as an opponent who is realistically incapable of fighting, he used mana deficiency to show he had already been defeated, and because the knight can look at his status, he also thought the battle already ended. If he acted weakened, his plan wouldn't work because he's bad at acting and at the same time the knight's intuition is good at that kind of situation. June also focused only on getting an attack in instead of defeating him, he only thought of it as a game that's why the knight couldn't sense any hostility against him throughout the match, unlike Souma who outright thought he can beat him.
He didn't sense the attack and couldn't understand what the opponent is thinking, that's how he died a boring death in the original game, and how June won the bet.
After June's match, the few remaining students fight the knight but everyone received the same fate. Fio retrieved the unconscious June off the field, only a few is bothered of the cowardly way he fought and since he also received the same fate along with the others, most of them didn't care much about him.
"Thank goodness, he only suffered from minor symptoms, I was worried because he kept activating his skill continuously, did he forgot about the warning I gave him earlier?" Fio cutely tilted his head to the side.
"No, I think he did that on purpose... does this pervert really want my kiss that much? He's putting all of his motivation in the wrong way." Haruka exasperated rubbed her forehead. "...and look, how he can sleep without a care in the world, as if he didn't make us worried."
The two looked at the guy who's peacefully sleeping, drooling and snoring while being carried by the knight clad in black on his right shoulder.
"Your friend is really laid-back isn't he?" A sweet gentle voice came from the knight's side. "Even I can't rest if I'm being carried like a sack."
"He's usually like that, he can sleep pretty much anywhere but he's reliable when it comes to." As much as Haruka thinks how annoying he is, she can't help but remember the several times he saved her.
"I don't approve it, the way he fights insults the knight's code, if you're a man you should fight face-to-face properly without tricks, right Captain?" An energetic voice came from the other side of the knight.
"But he's not a knight." Fio retorted.
"Fio is correct, he's not a knight so he doesn't need to honor the way a knight fights..... and in real battle, survival is what matters anyways." The knight said with a faraway look. "The one who gets to go home at the end of the day is the winner and that's all that matters, no one will honor your fighting style after your death, only grief and regrets will be left." He said with an unchanging tone. "Maybe... just maybe guys like him are the ones who can survive and conquer this harsh world." Although he didn't remove his helmet, they felt that he smiled a little.
"..."
"We're here." The girl with a sweet voice interrupted the conversation and easily eases the mood, she informed the class of their destination.
After going along with their instructor, following him inside the large hallways of the castle and walking for so long, they stopped in front of a black gate. Yes, a large black gate inside the castle.
They waited for the guards to open it and after a few minutes, what lies beyond the gate... is a city.
