Chapter 72: Steamroll

Leo tore through the next few fights with ease, overwhelming his opponents with sheer dominance.

He did not need to use any flashy techniques or skill moves— in fact he did not even consider using them after the second fight. Not because he did not want to test out his newly recalled skill moves, but simply because he found his opponent’s to not be at his level.

His opponents were skilled and strong.

Yes.

And the gap between them was not in terms of raw power.

Infact, most of the students of the Elite Class were at-par with him in terms of speed, strength and endurance, with some even being stronger in a few areas.

But the difference in their understanding of combat? That was a chasm the students in this class could not hope to cross in a short time.

Leo had a sea of combat information in his brain.

Experience so deep and rich, that gave him a way out of almost any perceivable combat situation at this level.

Which was in-stark contrast to most of his opponents, who were young elites, raised in noble families, that were although groomed through rigorous physical training regimens since childhood, still lacked knowledge of actual practical combat.

They had sparring experience, polished techniques, and textbook-perfect form.

But they had never fought for their lives.

And it showed.

Their movements, while technically sound, lacked killer instinct. They still treated combat like a sparring match—measured, predictable, hesitant.

None of them knew how to properly leverage their weapon advantage, like a proper seasoned warrior should.

Leo used daggers—the shortest melee weapon on the battlefield. Hence by all logic, his opponents, wielding longer swords and polearms, should have had the reach advantage. But they had no idea how to press that advantage.

For they lacked the fundamental understanding of how human anatomy worked, and what exactly was the most lethal range of their weapons.

Every weapon had a ’Kill-Zone’.

The area where it could dish out the maximum damage, and it was fundamental for a warrior to fight and hold their opponent within this ’Kill-Zone’ so that at any opening shown, they could move-in for the kill.

However, the noble-borns did not understand this concept as well as Leo did.

And while Leo did not remember his teacher, nor did he recall what kind of life he had lived up until now to possess such a deep understanding of combat—

He still understood how to render his opponents’ range advantage useless.

He knew that if he slipped past their guard and fought at extreme close range—separated by no more than half an arm’s length—their ranged-weapons turned powerless.

The human elbow cannot bend backward.

Making a sword useless at that range, simply because one did not have enough space to swing it with any real force that could produce damage.

And Leo gave them no space.

He stuck to them like a shadow, fighting in such tight quarters that their own weapons became a liability.

Meanwhile, his daggers—small, compact, and designed for close-quarters combat—became instruments of pure destruction.

It was a simple trick. Basic.

But for these pampered nobles, who had never fought in real battle, it was an unsolvable puzzle.

They didn’t know how to create distance. They didn’t know how to reset the fight and regain control.

And because of that, they lost.

Every. Single. One.

**********

(1 hour later)

An hour later, Leo defeated his tenth and final opponent without so much as breaking a sweat, as he became one of only four students in the class to complete the day with an unbeaten record alongside Su Yang, Mu Shen and Teevo Drakos.

To be fair, he had only faced the lower percentile of the Elite Class today, with his matchups being the easiest ones on paper.

However, completing the day with an unbeaten record still did well to cement his legacy as one of this year’s strongest students, as if anyone had any lingering doubts about his true potential, they no longer possessed those ideas anymore.

"Fuck— look at Skyshard, he’s not even breathing heavy…. He’s completely fine after winning 10 fights!"

"There’s not a bead of sweat on his forehead, nor a scratch on his body. Even Su Yang has a scratch on his face, but Skyshard is untouched"

"Freak…. Skyshard is a goddamn freak, I faced him in combat for my seventh fight, and he completely out-classed me without ever needing to activate a single skill.

Fighting him felt like fighting an immovable wall, he’s a true freak unlike anything I have ever seen before"

Murmurs began to spread around the class regarding Leo’s performance in this first class, as looking around, there was not a single student who had managed to come out of this class unscathed, except for him.

Most of the students had suffered significant injuries…

Broken bones, bruised ribs, dislocated joints, swollen eyes—

However, even those who were good at defence and did not pick up any major injury, looked to be completely exhausted after ten fights, as they found themselves collapsed on the floor, their chest heaving heavily, while Leo stood tall, unbothered.

Unlike these fools who went all out in every fight and expended every bit of mana in their bodies, Leo never went all out, nor did he use too many skills, as he fought the fights with his brain and conserved most of his energy by not performing any useless movements.

He felt like he could easily go for an hour more before his breathing became unsteady, as just this much action was not enough to tickle his bones.

"Alright class, that’s it for today. I hope you have gained a lot of new insights by facing your fellow classmates today.

We will repeat this process tomorrow, day after and the day after tomorrow as well, before holding a rankers exhibition match on Sunday.

If you think your performance today was not up-to the mark, then I suggest that before you go to bed today, you think about your fights, how they played out and what you could have done differently to avoid a defeat.

Introspection is the most important aspect for improvement, but it’s not something that can be taught and only something that can be experienced through enlightenment.

Anyways, that’s it for you all today.

Dismissed—" Major Hen said, as he turned on his heel and walked out of the practical combat grounds, leaving the students rolling on the floor to their own devices.

"Big brother! You were on fire today! I never knew you could move like that—" Mu Ryan said, as soon as the class ended, as she immediately rushed beside Leo and grabbed him by the arm.

"You’re going to face me tomorrow, please go easy on me…. I don’t want a bruised cheek—" She said while pouting, as she tried to appear cute, and appeal for leniency.

"If you don’t want to end up with a bruised face, then just throw your weapon to the ground as soon as the match starts, declaring a forfeit.

If not, then don’t blame me for what comes next" Leo replied amusedly, as he gave her the evil side-eye.

"Mean! Big brother is a meanie—" Mu Ryan complained as she feebly hit him on his arms, causing Leo to burst out in laughter.

An interaction, that did not go unnoticed by the class.