The whole room suddenly went
pin-drop
silent.
A sharp, echoing slap had just rung out loud and unforgiving.
Maria stood motionless, her face turned to the side, the echo of Razealâs hand still hanging in the air. For a moment, it was as if her body hadnât caught up to what had just happened. Slowly, almost delicately, she raised her hand to her cheek.
Her fingers brushed the skin hot, flushed, stinging.
Her eyes blinked. Once. Twice.
She looked at him, but not like she was seeing him. It was as if reality itself had glitched for her.
Across from her, Razeal shrugged, spreading his hands in a "What did I say?" gesture.
"I warned you." He said
But suddenly.. even before he could exhale, his
Killing Perception
flared violently in his mind pulsing, trembling, like a mental alarm screaming in his skull. He didnât need the system to explain; he could
see
it for himself. The red fog around Maria which was normal just seconds ago suddenly started growing denser by the second. Red tendrils curled around her shoulders, creeping upward like smoke, thick and alive.
"Really? Just one slap and sheâs losing it like this?" he muttered under his breath. "Iâve got a system set to âArrogance Issuesâ and still donât pop off this hard."
He shook his head in mild annoyance, but then her body moved unnaturally fast. In a blink, she tilted her torso, fingers flashing through the air.
SHHHHK!
A razor-thin blade of water ripped through the space where Razealâs face had been, missing by mere inches.
But for Razeal, it was nothing. He had already perceived the trajectory before the spell even took shape. His training over the past thousands of simulated hours. made this feel like childâs play. His reaction was minimal, precise barely a backward step. If anything, he had moved
more
than needed... only because he was already predicting the nature of her ability and knew he needed space between them. For better safety
Yeah this he learned from training grounds too.
She stood there now, her chest heaving, eyes wild. The air around her shimmered unnaturally.
Then her voice cut through the air sharp, high-pitched, and laced with murderous intent.
"
Today, youâre going to die by my hands!
"
The air vibrated as her killing intent surged. A violent splash of aqua-blue energy surged out of her, water beginning to swirl chaotically around her, pulsing with her rage. It rippling through the room like a tsunami. Water swirled around her from seemingly nowhere, pulled from the very air itself, orbiting her in an ever-growing storm.
"IâLL CUT YOUR LIMBS OFF, YOU.. C!" she screamed, her eyes blazing a dangerous, cold blue that gleamed like sharpened steel. She threw up her arms.
In response, the water floating around her began to harden, shaping itself into dozens of sharp, narrow spikes. They hovered, trembling in the air with latent energy ten, twenty, maybe even more, forming a circular perimeter. And then, they started to
spin
violently. Fast enough to make the air warp and distort, like they were surrounded by their own gravity. Each spike looked like a miniature, floating drill deadly and razor-focused.
Razeal could hear the high-pitched hum of the rotation.
She was serious.
She had lost it.
At her sudden, aggressive shift, Razeal just cracked his neck.
"So thatâs how far gone you are..." he murmured, almost disappointed. "Alright then. Letâs see how much Iâve improved."
With a thought, he reached into his system space. A thin shimmer of light formed in his right hand, and a long, plain, perfectly straight blade emerged.
Nothing special. An E-ranked weapon. Heâd taken it off Levy hourâs ago because, honestly, he didnât have a weapon of his own in the real world well.. he had one but sadly someone just robbed it. And well perfect time to use it.
With casual ease, Razeal spun the blade in his palm before gripping it backhanded a style he had naturally adopted after countless fights with the Skulltrites. Maybe it wasnât a conventional technique, but for him, it worked. Holding the sword like one would hold a fist, the handle resting in his palm, allowed him to rotate and swing the blade in almost any direction. Defensive or offensive linear or unpredictable he had adapted the motion to fit his needs.
He didnât know if others would struggle with this grip, or if it went against swordsmanship norms, but to him, it was fluid. Natural and good. He had trained in it with instinct rather than theory.
And now, standing there calmly he stared at her, eyes steady, breaths calm.
He wasnât afraid.
He wasnât even tense.
This wasnât ego as most of times. This was certainty born from pain, experience, and thousands of deaths inside the systemâs simulation space.
The sheer amount of battle experience he carried now... it was no longer something that could be ignored it wasnât that he trained for long but he definitely gained more then most people doin there life.. being able to die and come alive? and just that feeling alone makes you stand at different prospective then most people. Also he wasnât worried about anything. He
knew
heâd handle it. Whatever way it came.
[Host, be careful.]
[That girl in front of you is at C-Rank reak level. I repeat: sheâs at the
peak
of C-Rank. There is a
qualitative
difference between D-Rank and C-Rank, you remember that right?.]
[And also donât forget this is the real world now.]
[Also note: this is the real world. Your reflexes from system training may give you muscle memory but they wonât save you from death. You wonât respawn. You wonât regenerate.]
[Do not exchange injuries. This isnât the arena. This isnât for exp. This is survival.]
The system gave a direct warning just the facts. No panic, no lectures. Strangely, itâs not freaking out about Razealâs suicidal moves right now. Why? Simple. Most of the time, it doesnât care. It trusts heâll handle things one way or another. And even if he doesnât right now? The fight will probably be interrupted before it gets fatal. Thatâs what its calculations say, anyway.
The system only really loses its cool when thereâs zero way out or just pure stupidity like last time, when Razeal acted like an idiot in front of Nova. That wasnât just reckless. That was straight up unreasonable childlessness. Yes it could understand Razeal emotions
The system knew it Razeal could control it. And Razeal himself was fully aware of the consequences and gains tied to every action he made. He wasnât blind. Maybe, back then just by agreeing he couldâve wiped out most of his problems and walked away from everything.
Sure, it mightâve felt a bit dirty using the help of people who were technically his enemies. Maybe it felt wrong, even a little dishonorable. But thatâs exactly where the true challenge lies. Strong people are strong not because they fight fair, but because they make the choices others canât stomach. It might look shameless. Might even be disgusting. But sometimes, using your enemies
even respectfully
is the smartest thing you can do. It gives you room to grow. And when youâre finally strong enough, you get to choose your own path.
Thatâs how itâs always been. History isnât written by the most honorable itâs written by the ones who win. The ones who cling to their pride die early. But the ones who are cruel enough, even to themselves, the ones willing to go to any length for their goal
they
get the victory. Not because theyâre right. Because theyâre relentless.
The system understood this, even if it didnât like it. Maybe last time, Razealâs reaction wasnât the best from its own prospective. Maybe it just let fear creep in. But fear of death is powerful
even for the system
. Because if Razeal dies, it dies too.
It hated the way he made reckless moves, the way he sometimes acted without control. It made the system lose its composure too. After all, just imagine your life and death depend on your dog living or dying. A dog that barks at everyone, misbehaves constantly, and especially lashes out at people it had a bad history with. Wouldnât you at least try to teach it, or desperately convince it, to stop barking at those people? To save both your lives?
Outside system thoughts.
Now, Razeal exhaled slowly, steadying himself as he stared down the dozens of floating water drills spinning in the air each one aimed directly at him.
He took a series of system warnings in his head but even then, it didnât take him long to brush them aside.
He had much more important work to do right now.
He tightened his grip on the blade, letting his muscles relax. His breathing slowed.
He was going to win.
He could feel it.
Thalia watched from the front of the lecture stand, arms crossed. She didnât move. Technically, students werenât allowed to fight inside classrooms, but she was letting it happen. Everyone had their rights. And besides, this wasnât just a fight it was just sparing between students which is allowed by academy itself.
Thought her eyes narrowed, locked onto Razeal. In just a few seconds, she had noticed too many strange things. Something didnât sit right.
Did he just?.. Umm
Then Maria shouted, voice rough and wild:
"
Fuck off, Perverted bastard!
"
And in the same breath, she released all the spinning water spears at once. dozens of them ripping through the air at high speed. They were only a few feet away now. There was no margin for error.
Razeal moved slightly, drawing his sword back, trying to shift his stance, create the right flow for a counter.
But then he paused.
The projectiles were coming fast. Too fast. He could die here. Maybe if he didnât took it seriously.
And yet suddenly
"
My, Myy~
" came a voice, authoritative and calm.
---
Yeah... itâs the last day of this broken "one Chapter a day" schedule. Hopefully, starting tomorrow, everything will finally be back on track.
sigh Honestly, I donât like it either.
Just... rough times lately.~
Anyways thanks for reading guys
---