Chapter 45 - Mini-tournament

"He~" Souta charged towards Lumilia. He reached out his right hand and opened his palm attempting to grab her face.

"So fast!" Lumilia was shocked when she saw him instantly appeared in front of her. She quickly reacted by shifting her head sideways barely avoiding his hand.

Swoosh!!

"Kuh! What a speed?!" Lumilia gritted her teeth. Suddenly, she felt a pain in her side.

Bang!

Souta kicked her side and Lumilia was flung away.

Swoosh!

Lumilia rolled on the ground a few times before she stopped. She held her side and looked at Souta with a frown.

She couldn't believe what's happening right now. Her nameless classmate was overwhelming her with boundless strength. She felt that Souta wasn't a student of mage class but instead a brawler. She was quite confident with her skills since she practiced sword skills when she was a child.

'I finally understand why he didn't bother himself to look at me, his opponent.' Lumilia finally understood why Souta was only looking at the student of shield class because for him she wasn't his opponent. She was arrogant to think that she could fight someone with low-level skills.

...

The students watching from the sidelines were surprised when they saw Souta's speed.

"Is he really a mage?"

"Yeah, I really doubt if he's mage!"

Only the first year doubted if he's really a mage. The other people were just shocked and surprised. They knew that in this institute the mage will have to train their bodies to the point that they could rival some of the strength base class. It was just surprising to see a first year to have this kind of speed when he's just a new student.

...

"Both of them are your students, right?" Kanda, the teacher of sword class 2-C, turned his head and asked the man beside him.

"Yeah." Bargan nodded his head while looking at the battle between Souta and Lumilia.

"That boy showed some impressive speed rivaling some of my students who excelled in speed," Kanda said as he turned his head and looked at Souta.

"I don't about that until now as he was one of the new students," Bargan said in response. From the information he gathered, Souta was an adventurer and that proves his close combat skills.

"A strong new student, huh?" Kanda muttered and he casted a glance at Bargan.

...

Souta walked towards Lumilia and said, "I'm not going easy on you just because you're a girl. Remember on the battlefield there's no girl or boy there's only life or death. So do not expect your opponent to go easy on you because of your gender."

Lumilia gritted her teeth and she slowly stood up. She pointed her sword at him.

"Oh? Still fighting." Souta grinned and once again he dashed toward her.

Swoosh!!

In just a second, he arrived in front of her.

Lumilia slashed her sword horizontally.

Swoosh!!

Souta quickly moved aside dodging the sword before he delivered a powerful blow on her belly.

Bang!

"Kuh!!" Lumilia felt the pain in her belly. She kicked the ground trying to distance away from Souta.

Souta chased after her and lifted up his feet. He kicked her stomach and she flew ten meters away from him.

"Guh!" Lumilia spat a mouthful of blood. She stood up and she looked at Souta with a fierce expression.

"Oh?" Souta was surprised to see her face. Judging from her expression, she clearly doesn't have a plan to surrender.

"Hais..." Souta sighed and he scratched the back of his head. "After all the things that I've said before I'm still doing this. Well, it doesn't matter as this is just a mock battle."

Lumilia doesn't have any idea what's he's saying.

Souta looked at her and he stepped forward causing Lumilia to flinch. He increased his pace and Lumilia readied herself. She gripped her sword tightly.

Swoosh!

Souta stopped in front of her and threw a punch, and Lumilia slashed her sword in response to his punch, but Souta opened his palm midway and grabbed her sword.

"Wha-" Lumilia was shocked when she saw him grabbed her sword. She could see blood come out of his hand.

While she was busy looking at his hand, Souta pulled back his other hand and threw a punch on her stomach.

Bang!

He then released his grip on her sword and grabbed her wrist. He followed up by chopping the back of her neck knocking her out.

"Wha-" Lumilia didn't even manage to finish her words as she lost her consciousness. She fell down but before she reached the ground Souta caught her.

Souta checked if she was really unconscious before he sighed and placed her on his shoulder. He walked to the corner ignoring the gazes around him. Everyone watched him placed Lumilia in the corner.

'I said that I wouldn't show her mercy but in the end, I still show her mercy.' Souta thought as he stood up and patted his clothes.

"The winner of the first match is Souta!!" Alex's voice sounded in the whole training ground.

"That's it, huh?" Souta glanced at Alex before he went towards the direction of Bryan and Alice.

"You didn't show mercy, Souta!" Bryan said to him.

"Ah? I showed her mercy in my opinion. If not, then she would at least be put in the hospital with a few broken bones." Souta shrugged his shoulder. He caressed the sword on his waist.

Actually, that was a cheat. With the added stats of the [Vajra Sword Saya], his stats were two times higher than his base stats. It's not surprising that she couldn't react in time. After all, his dexterity and agility were 295 and 308 respectively.

Also, Souta guessed from the battle before that she wasn't that proficient in close-quarter combat. Although she has high magical power her physique was too weak. A Rank F Adventurer was even stronger than her.

'Still, the first year students here in the institute are stronger than some Rank D Adventurer.' Souta thought. This was what he concluded after comparing the strength of the two. It just that the student here don't have much experience, unlike those adventurers.

...

"That's something from a mage class student," Kanda said while looking at Souta.

"Yeah, his speed isn't something that ordinary mage students could possess." Bargan nodded.

"What about his mage skills? You're his teacher, right?" Kanda asked. He was curious if Souta's mage skills were higher than his close-quarter combat. If that's the case then Souta would be able to put up a fight to those third year students.

"I don't know, I'm still discussing them the basics. I think it will be a month before we went to practical." Bargan shook his head.

...

"Oh? A strong first year appeared." A man with shoulder length black hair said. He has pitch black eyes and his skin was pale. He's Rein Ventogram, the top ranker of the Ladro Institute.

"If I'm not wrong when you were still a first year you won this tournament, right Rein?" A man with rabbit ears and tail said. He has messy red hair and his build was average but one could see some scars on both of his hands. He's called Zac Triton, one of the top ranker of the Ladro Institute.

"Don't talk to me, you trash!" Rein snorted.

"As usual, your attitude is really bad." The man laughed at his words.

...

Souta noticed that some people were watching the tournament. He looked around and noticed some powerful presence that didn't bother to hide their aura.

"It seems that this tournament is more famous than I could imagine," Souta said in a low voice.

"Yeah, a lot of teachers and students came here just to watch the tournament." Bryan nodded at his words.

...

The second match already started and it was between a girl from shield class and a boy from the mage class. It was a one-sided battle from the girl of the shield class. The boy from the mage class was beaten black and blue to the point that Alex sent him to the clinic.

As time passed by the people in the training ground kept increasing. The words about the mini-tournament quickly spread around in the whole institute.

Souta saw how powerful were the students of the shield class compared to him as most of the students who won the match came from the shield class. It was really a sight to see. It feels like they were bullying the students of the mage class just because magic was forbidden to use in this tournament. He was pairing himself to the people who won their match inside his mind.

After the fourteenth matches, it was time for Alice to fight.

"Good luck, Alice," Souta said to her.

"Good luck, Alice! Beat them up just like what Souta did before! Show them what you've got! Beat them! Defeat them!" Bryan said in a loud voice as he raised both of his hands in the air.

Alice turned her head and looked at them fiercely. "Oi! Stop doing that your ruining my concentration!"

"Oh?! She talked!!" Souta said.

"Oh?! She talked!!" Bryan said.