Chapter 171: Chapter 162 : Introductions (Part 2)

The group of students didn’t have to walk long; the training hall was close, just a hundred metres away.

The venue had a five-metre wide entranceway. Passing through it, one would meet a short platform just as wide and then a descending flight of stairs. On either side of said stairs, one would find stairway-like stands. The training hall was huge, twenty-three metres wide, fifteen metres high and sixty-five metres long. On the opposite end, the same stairs-platform-stands setup could be seen.

The white and red hall was completely enclosed. With no windows and no natural lighting, the place was entirely lit up by long columns of large rectangular electrical panels on the ceiling while fresh air was circulated via a sophisticated ventilation system.

Upon entering - no, even before entering, Ralf and every other student knew the nature of the battle they would be doing. The discovery brought a smile to some while bringing a grimace to others. Ralf belonged to the former group, being all smiles at the discovery, even chuckling to himself as he realised Gerard’s - no, the Hunter Academy’s cheeky ‘prank’.

Gerard being a Basic Psi Combat instructor had led the students into thinking that they would be doing Psi combat…but this wasn’t the case, as the various squares made clear.

Black squares with red outlines decorated the place’s floor. They were all 7 x 7 metres. They were arranged in a two-row, five-column arrangement, spaced two metres away from the walls, and five metres away from each other and the stands. Importantly, each of these squares radiated an oppressive aura. Ralf and the other students recognised the unique sensation at once.

‘Draconian stone, and so many. Ahaha, guess we’re going to do battle the old fashion way. Norin combat, perfect.’ Ralf’s gaze moved over the many pale faces to land on Gerard. ‘What a trickster, you are. I see I see, so that’s what those smirks were for, I knew there was something up,’ Ralf thought with a smile, remembering the oddities he captured in the middle-aged man’s expression during the introductions.

Where Ralf took the switch-up in stride, most of his classmates didn’t. They had been raring to go and confident due to their Psi talent and prowess. Now that Psi was out of the equation, their previous confidence dissipated from their beings. Norin combat: only a quarter of the students could claim to be skilled in the domain - and this statistic showed itself in the students’ body language, most saying ‘flight’ instead of ‘fight’.

If their opponents were just regular Joes and Janes, the students’ attitudes wouldn’t be as grim, but looking at their likely opponents, the students knew that they wouldn’t be facing amateurs.

Ralf, after having his fill of his fellow students’ dire expressions, looked to the three new faces down below.

On the square to his right was a muscular male and on the square to his left, a similarly muscular female. Both looked to be in their late twenties and both were wearing Gis, though instead of the blue ones Ralf had seen earlier, this pair wore red ones.

Both radiated a strength and poise that belied their identity as excellent fighters. Ralf gave them a once over before focusing on the elderly man standing in the aisle between the squares. He stood straight, exuding calm and elegance in his slim black and red robe.

With one hand behind his back and the other stroking his lengthy black beard, his keen gaze swept over the students, appraising them one by one. Interest, delight and a sliver of a smirk painted his expression as he watched their expressions rise and fall.

*Clap*

Reaching the bottom of the steps, Gerard turned and spoke up. “Okay, students, take a seat in the stands. It doesn’t matter where.” He waited a few seconds until all were seated and continued. “As you might have guessed, we’ll be doing norin battle.”

Both groans and excited squeals sounded at the confirmation, though the former was significantly louder.

Gerard smiled regardless and gestured to the two in the squares before explaining. “Adrian and Roxy, the two in the squares will be your opponents. They are both senior practitioners from the Kuling Martial School. Just to touch on that, this Academy houses six Martial Schools, with the Kuling Martial School being one of them. All of them can be found by an artificial peak. At these places, one trains and masters norin martial arts. Barring a few special exceptions, every student is required to join a Martial School before June, so I advise you to do your research.”

Finishing up, Gerard walked over to the elderly man. After showing an appreciative look and nodding, he turned around and informed,“ This elegant gentleman you see here is named Yu Ling. He is the Head of the Kuling Martial School, a Martial Master and also a Silver Fang Hunter.”

The string of titles caused respect to bloom in the students’ minds.

“Aha, greetings young ones,” Yu Ling started, his Rank 8 Telekinetic Psi oozed out, furthering the looks of admiration he garnered. “I’ve been told this batch is something special, so I came to check it out myself. Hmm, yes, I definitely sense potential here. No doubt, many in this lot will be among the brightest stars of humanity in due time.” He nodded at the words before concluding with, “Do your best and…good luck,” he said barely hiding his rising smile towards the end.

*Clap*

“Okay, thank you, Master Ling,” Gerard said. “Now, for the conditions. Guys will fight Adrian and gals will be fighting Roxy. You’re not expected to win, they are experts after all. If you get knocked unconscious or knocked out of the ring, you lose. If you knock your opponent out of the square, knock your opponent unconscious or manage to stay in the square for two whole minutes, you win. Those are the condition, very simple. We can go two at a time, so…any volunteers- ah, excellent that’s what I like to see,” Gerard’s smile widened as he caught the hands that immediately rocketed up. “Okay…you and you, come down here and show your stuff.”

The second part of the introductions began.

***

Roxy casually dodged Illuya’s wayward strike before slapping the other’s already crimson cheek. The Western Region royal let out a pained welp as she fell onto the hard floor.

In the distance, a similarly crimson Vorusu was going off with clenched fists as he watched his mistress get helplessly beaten. He attempted to interfere earlier in the match only to meet with Yu Ling’s Psi barrier and disapproving gaze. Forced to give up, he nevertheless made his fiery feelings known from the stands.

To Roxy, there was nothing better.

She had grown up poor and lived a hard life. Growing up, she always dreamed of becoming a strong Hunter. However, things weren’t meant to be. Not only did she not become a Hunter, she hadn’t even awakened any Psi power. The fact left her incredibly bitter. She didn’t wallow in this feeling though. Instead of lamenting the cards she was dealt, she made the best of them.

She focused on training her body and becoming a skilled martial artist. After making a name for herself, she applied to be an Assistant for the Grey Wolf Academy. She was accepted and joined the Kuling Martial School. She couldn’t become a Hunter, so she satisfied herself by crafting them. This was her initial thought process but it turned out that this only made her more bitter. Thankfully, she found a perfect outlet: this.

These norin fights after introductions were standard practice at the Academy. Most students entered this place with overinflated egos and a mismatched sense of confidence. These norin fights were a reality check meant to correct this, as well as set a precedent on what lay in store for them. While nowhere near as spartan as the Setsuna Guardians, the Hunter Academy’s training programme was still gruelling nonetheless. Students quickly caught up to this fact.

Looking at the stands, one could see a slew of hung heads and darkened expressions as a deep gloom shrouded the area. Most had already gone up, and all without fail had lost to the pair.

The pair’s dominance came down to two factors: their incredible martial prowess and the fact that both of them took very potent inheritance potions that greatly enhanced their physiques and senses.

To even compete, one needed both qualities and very few students did. And of the few that did, like Elena, Vorusu and surprisingly Leonard, none had enough of them to best the pair. These fights were close encounters but in the end, the pair’s experience prevailed.

These bouts were respectable showings, but the others, well, not so much. The pair didn’t just beat their opponents, but also went out of their way to taunt and mock them during battle, with slaps being the primary method of attack. This was done to humiliate and frustrate. It was a Hunter Academy tradition, and for good reason. The whiplashing students experienced during this event had caused no shortage of level-ups, and in fact, one student had already done so, levelling up from a Rank 4 to a Rank 5 Telekinetic.

Gerard noted this with an approving gaze.

The pair of fighters, not so much. In truth, while they understood the reasons behind this practice, most of their reasons for doing it were pleasure-related. To them, this event was the greatest catharsis.

When the new year came around, the pair would always be the first ones to put their names down to do the task, hoping to slap around the so-called ‘elites’ of the world. To slap around these untouchables and face no consequence was exhilarating to them - no, more than that, it was fulfilling.

Right now, Roxy was bathing in this unique concoction of positive emotions.

‘Honestly, I’ll never get tired of this. My only regret is that I can’t fly over to the other Academies and do this to the other two batches as well, a shame. Hmm,’ her thoughts were interrupted by Vorusu, who had moved to just outside the square’s border.

She took a moment to flash a smirk at him before returning her gaze to the downed Illuya.

“Nothing left in the tank, sand princess?” Roxy asked in a mocking tone as she approached her opponent. Now shadowing Illuya, she eyed the other’s extensive jewellery with a look of disdain. “All this jewellery, how foolish. Where do you think you are? Unless you’re supersonic, these would do nothing but give away your position and hinder your movements. Not only that…”

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She paused her speech to stomp down on Illuya’s slowly rising back, returning her opponent’s face to the floor with a nasty squish.

Roxy then lowered herself and thrust her right hand towards the other’s necklace, grabbed and pulled up.

“-Uwaagh!”

Illuya’s face twisted with pain and tears instantly formed in her eyes as she was yanked up from behind. The metallic necklace punctured her neck, drawing blood while cutting off her oxygen supply.

“...but it can also be used against you like this,” Roxy continued with a smile as she dragged the royal to the square’s border. Once near, she tugged hard and threw the other out.

“Urrgh aargh uaa…”

“Luya!” Voruso cried out as he caught his mistress. Not a second later, he fired a glare at Roxy.

Roxy met the look with a smile and gave a ‘shoo shoo’ gesture with her hand. She then turned to her fellow Kuling practitioner’s square. There, a similar scene played itself out. The Yeador prince endured his own string of stinging slaps.

‘Damn it damn it damn it…’ He cursed on end as his attacks continued to miss. ‘This insufferable cur, I’ll kill him. How dare he humiliate me like this, I’m Anton Valois and this nobo- ah, fuck!’

Overflowing with anger and killing intent, Anton moved to gouge out the other’s eye with a finger stab. The senior practitioner didn’t falter before it and after stepping out of range, met the attack with his iron fist. Faces twisted up as they heard the resulting crunch that sounded from the collision. Following the punch, Adrian kicked the prince in the chest.

After a brief flight, Anton crashed onto the floor. ‘Fuck fuck fuck…’ Through blurry vision, he spotted his now-broken fingers. The sight brought forth boundless anger. Just anger. With his telepathic self-suggestion active, flooding his mind with sensations of serenity, he felt no pain.

As such, he quickly sprang to his feet, eager for another attempt…but Adrian denied him the opportunity. As soon as the prince got up, another kick struck him. Slamming into his chest again, it sent him rolling backwards. He jolted back up, about to charge forward, but a Psi wall obstructed him. Only after crashing into it did he realise that he was already out of bounds.

“Match over. Anton, you lose, back to the stands you go,” Gerard announced the result, a slight glee clear from his voice.

Anton stood motionless for a few seconds, his expression livid. His venomous gaze moved over Gerard, Adrian and even Yu Ling, intentions clear as the sun in a cloudless sky. The trio read his thoughts like an open book but weren’t worried at all. Adrian even donned his smuggest face and sent a dismissive gesture.

‘Bastard!’ Anton clenched his fist and his Psi began swirling menacingly. This went nowhere though. In the end, he chose not to act on his feelings. After one last glare and silent declaration, he turned around and headed to the stands. Seeing the plethora of eyes on him filled him with indignation, especially when he caught a pair of violet eyes looking his way. He quickly averted his gaze.

‘These ingrates…I swear I’ll kill them for this. These bastards won’t get away with this.’

The prince didn’t join his previous group but found an empty spot and smouldered with negative emotions.

‘Aaaa, what an expression,’ Roxy thought with delight as she observed the Yeadorian royal. ‘Too bad we’re not recording this, I’d watch this every day for the rest of my life. Now, who do we have next? Oh, the ice Mimic.’

The female martial artist adjusted herself as Yuki entered the square. The Xinian took no stance, not even when Gerard announced the match was underway.

Roxy squinted. “What’s up, princess, scared?”

Yuki responded with silence and a frosty gaze, clearly not amused by the other’s question.

Roxy flashed a toothy smile in return. But this smile would freeze in place as she took in the ice Mimic’s next actions. Instead of approaching or standing her ground, her opponent turned around and moved to exit the square.

Yuki was no masochist. After seeing so many of her fellow students getting beaten up, she wanted no part of it. Norin battle wasn’t her speciality, in fact, it was the opposite. She lacked in both martial ability and physical enhancements.

Yuki knew that if she fought, she would just get beat up and so she decided to do the smart thing and flee. But this wasn’t meant to be as a freshly conjured Psi wall barred her path. She frowned at the sight before directing a questioning gaze to Gerard, who merely shook his head.

“Miss Bai, that won’t do. Running away isn’t an option for this test…and most tests at this Academy for that matter. If you insist on quitting, this will be your last day here.”

Yuki’s face twisted in displeasure. She badly wished to return to her sister’s side, but being expelled wasn’t an option. With great reluctance, she turned around to face her opponent, who was amidst a cackling fit of laughter.

“Priceless…your expression, it’s simply priceless. You must have thought yourself so clever before stepping into the ring, what now huh, going to piss your panties, go ahead, throw a punch, I know you want to, go ahead…go ahea-”

Set off by the words, Yuki rushed in and threw a punch fueled by pure emotion. But emotions alone would do her no good in this domain. Roxy sidestepped her with ease and slapped her across the face.

Yuki recovered quickly and fired off another punch but again, the exchange ended with a fresh handprint across her cheek. This pattern would repeat over and over and over and…

The difference in physical stats made it appear as though the two fighters were moving at two different playback speeds.

Only after ninety seconds of toying with Yuki as a cat would a mouse, did Roxy finally have her fill. She tossed her opponent out, but not before saying, “Of everyone here, you’re the only one who was cowardly enough to escape. The others, weaklings they may be, still had enough courage to put up a fight. Instead of ice, try mimicking them, yellow-bellied princess.” Following the cutting words, Roxy released her chokehold and kicked Yuki out of the square.

*Tssss*

Out of the oppressive square, Yuki summoned Winter Empress and caught her falling form before floating herself upright.

“What, something to say, princess?”

Yuki didn’t respond, at least not verbally. A strip of ice fell off her white mask to expose her eyes. She did a slow half turn before directing a frigid glare towards Roxy. The female martial artist merely rolled her shoulders in response.

Yuki maintained the look for a few more seconds, before reforming the mask and turning away. Body stinging and throbbing, she relied on her Psi to move. She flew over to the stands, choosing an empty section to brood all alone. She didn’t dismiss the armour once seated but instead conjured even more ice to obstruct the world from view.

Roxy admired her work for a moment longer before being forced to admire another. Her face curled into a cold smile as she took in her next opponent.

‘Ha, I’ve been waiting for you…Lightning Princess.’

The introductions continued.

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