Lightning Step

A brown-haired mage and a dark-haired swordsman, both being males, faced each other in the arena.

*BEGIN*

As the signal came out, the swordsman instantly charges forward, trying to keep the magician from casting any spells. Unfortunately, he still had enough time to create a wall of fire, creating an opening for another spell.

He shot out his hand, and a huge ball of fire flew towards the swordsman from behind the wall.

In response, he chose to try and meet it head-on.

Blue energy was imbued into the sword and he swept it through the flames, creating a massive burst of steam.

Although successfully fending off the attack, his body was covered with burn wounds and some blood.

Enveloping his body in water, he charged through the wall of fire with a jump and attempted to end the fight right there with an overhead attack.

As he swung his sword downwards, towards the mage, appearing to have victory in his grasp, a small explosion blew him away.

He had been baited by the mage. The mage had, seemingly, already predicted that the swordsman would try to end the fight quickly. With that, he had prepared himself to fire another fireball at the charging man who had then been defenseless in the air.

The aftermath was that the swordsman was knocked out, with his body bleeding and covered in soot.

Thankfully, all duels were monitored by experts who would end the duel if there were any dangers to one's life.

That being said, as long as there wasn't a life-threatening danger or acts of unnecessary cruelty, the match would continue.

Even if one were to experience a lot of pain, they always had the option to surrender, meaning the students always continued to fight until one either got knocked out or chose to give up.

****

Four very different humans were sitting together in the cafeteria once again, after spectating a duel between two lesser-known third years.

"Man, that was disappointing. He just charged in like an idiot and got blasted. Why would they even show such a display in the arena?"

Sarah expressed her discontent while we were all enjoying our hot coffees, except for Brad. Brad had instead grabbed a beer, something only available during Saturday nights on academy grounds.

Brightly smiling, James tried to soothe the golden-haired girl.

"I think it was a good match, even if it was short. To me, it looked like the mage had a clear strategy and the bravery to face the swordsman's attack to counter it elegantly. You also have to remember that their ranking wasn't that high, and the reason they got to fight in the arena was that it was the first challenge to be made."

"I guess you're right... Maybe my expectations were too high."

It had to be said that most freshmen did not have such a high starting point as the monsters around me, most of them had an M.G. II [Middle]. with only the geniuses having a rank II [Higher].

Brad also joined the conversation.

"I agree with James, even I, as a tanker, would have been in trouble if I faced that fireball without my defenses up. They were both strong."

Cornered by the two young men, Sarah sought to find some sort of reassurance from me.

"Miren! What do you think? They weren't that great right?"

'Why are you asking me, woman?! I know nothing about anything!'

"Erm... I think they were strong? The fire was pretty cool and I really liked when he made the sword go swoosh..."

'Fuck! Am I retarded or something?! I just wanted to say that it was a good move to make time with the firewall, and the swordsman defended himself quite nicely from the first fireball!'

Thinking about my lacking, combat-related, eloquence I was suddenly enveloped in Sarah's softness, just like the night before.

"Mireeeen! How am I supposed to not call you cute when you act like this?!"

James stepped in to save me from the prison of heaven.

"Sarah, let him be. He clearly said yesterday he didn't want you to act this like towards him. You should try to respect his wishes."

Sarah released me with a pout and changed the subject.

"Anyway, I feel quite tired. I think I'll be heading out for the night, even if it isn't that late yet."

We all agreed, because of our night before, we all felt quite tired and it would be a smart move to get some early shut-eye.

As such, we finished our drinks and ended our night by going back to our rooms.

****

"Control panel up."

At my command, the familiar screen showed up in front of me.

As I had already decided that I would use up the remaining time I had in the time capsule today, I had made my way there directly after breakfast.

Before I started my practice, I needed to make sure everything was ready.

"Endless mana, on"

*Endless mana activated*

"Measured track, appear"

Instantly my surroundings changed, from the completely white room, I was now standing on a running track with its distance written down beside it. The reason I wanted to be able to see the distance was, of course, to see how far my [Lightning Step] would reach.

Taking a few seconds to stretch my virtual body, I summarized what I needed to do in my head.

Firstly, I needed to figure out how my [Lightning Step] worked, how to activate it. Secondly, measure its reach, and try to figure out if I could choose the distance I moved. Thirdly, practice it both in the air and on the ground, so I could activate it reliably during battle.

Lastly, figure out how it could be practically used in actual fights. If I didn't have a clear vision of what I wanted to do with it, it would be useless anyway.

Having figured out the sequence of my training session, I got started.

I started to focus my lightning into my legs, trying to find the right sensation. The problem wasn't to congregate the energy in my legs, it was to somehow activate my martial technique with it.

As my legs were surrounded by purple sparks, it felt like something clicked inside of me. Without needing to practice for a long time, it was as if the process of activating my [Lightning Step] was automatically recorded into my brain.

With my legs now ingrained with lightning, internally instead of externally, I took a step forward.

Suddenly my vision blurred, and I exploded forward. In what felt like less than a millisecond, I had now stopped about 10 meters from my starting position.

"That's crazy..."

I had, just like I surmised earlier, pretty much teleported forward. This was just like a mini teleport in the game.

Then I felt a slight burning sensation in my legs. Having learned from my earlier lesson, when experimenting with my Battle Art, I had left the pain simulation on as to know what to expect in reality.

'This isn't too bad... Without overclocking myself I could probably use it around ten times before my legs start to cripple.'

The first goal of my practice had been accomplished way faster than I thought it would, and so I moved on to the second.

Standing on the track, I used it repeatedly, making sure to repair my virtual body in between uses, trying to increase and decrease the range.

The results were pretty clear, using it without thinking of shortening it made me automatically move ten meters. Thinking about shortening it, something that also appeared to be ingrained in me, made me able to move exactly the distance I wanted. Nine meters, eight meters, etc. Trying to increase the range though? It was impossible. Ten meters was both the normal and the max.

Moving on, it was time to try using it to its limits.

'I'm so excited!'

This was it, one small step for mankind, but a huge step towards my goal of flying!

I began with a normal jump, just to get myself up in the air, and then I activated my [Lightning Step] with a vertical destination.

A web of lightning created some sort of footstool underneath my right foot, and with it, I shot upwards. Just like earlier, my vision blurred and when my momentum stopped I was ten meters in the air. Excited by the sensation of being suspended in the air for a second, I activated my movement technique once more with my left foot.

*KRZT*

With the brief sound of lightning, I was instantly positioned another ten meters up. Looking down at the, now small, track I felt on top of the world.

'Amazing! I really am learning how to fly!'

As I was thinking this, my small mistake started to show. I was not flying in the air. After my momentum had ended, I was now falling in the air.

Quickly my mind began to spin for eloquent and well-thought solutions.

'I'M SO FUCKING STUPID!'

*Crasssshhh*

I crashed elegantly into the ground. All the bones in my body seemed to be broken, and blood was flowing everywhere. Luckily, as I was used to pain, I could still restore my physical condition using voice commands.

Still lying on the ground, I wore a giant smile.

'I'm going to need some practice with this, but man! This is fun!'