Combat Practice

[Arthur's Pov]

"Hupp!"

*Bam!*

Sebastian glided backward a few feet as a result of my attack, his hands trembling a bit after blocking it with his spear. Not wanting to allow him to stabilize, I dashed forward, quickly making my sword glow as I enhanced it with mana.

However, instead of panicking, Sebastian threw his spear into the ground and let his mana flow into it. The next second, I felt a lot of energy conglomerating beneath my feet, warning me of what was to come.

*Ching!*

Jumping into the air, I managed to dodge the army of metallic spears that rose from the ground, threatening to turn me into minced meat. Unfortunately, this meant that I was now open to a counterattack, an opening the spearman wouldn't miss.

Sending his spear out and extending it with his skill, it was speedily racing towards my heart, intent on ending the fight right here. "Ain't gonna happen! Happ!"

Through a twist in my body, I managed to dodge and strike the spear with my sword, sending me away from the trap of death beneath my feet. As soon as my feet landed on the ground, I dashed forward again, raising my sword.

"Shit..."

"[Arc of Light - Strengthened]!"

*BOOM!*

There was no need for me to attack anymore after sending out my arc, as our stand-in teacher clearly showed the winner by blocking the attack. "Decent match. Take five before you find another sparring partner."

With Mr. Brown away to teach the freshmen, Mr. Abbas was instead the instructor for us sophomores who had, just like the freshmen, also been forced to have basic combat practice.

"Hey, you two. Stop doing things half-assed, just beat each other up."

As Mr. Abbas walked away, berating Adriana and Bellatrix for going easy on each other, I and Sebastian made our way to the side of the training room. Leaning our backs against the wall, we both spectated our classmates fighting each other.

It was pretty cool to see that every single one of us was now actively training to make sure we would be ready in case of war, with everyone fighting in their own way. Even Sarah, who was a healer, was fighting with her staff, not limiting herself to magic but also practicing melee combat.

'She still looks so sad...'

There was no doubt that she was trying to make herself seem fine, and it appeared that almost everyone believed this to be the case. However, behind her smiles, behind her resolved eyes, I couldn't help but feel an ocean of hopelessness.

Sadly, I couldn't bring myself to talk to her about it. After the incident with James, she consciously distanced herself from everyone, making sure that no one would be able to penetrate her defenses. Therefore, I knew that I couldn't be the one to do so. We didn't know each other well enough, so most likely she would just distance herself even more.

I knew that Sophie had made some attempts to reach her, but because of their differing opinion about James, there was always friction hidden under the surface and it didn't seem to work.

In the end, she was fighting alone and would continue to do so until she came to a point where there was no other choice but to depend on someone or get crushed. Now, I had already made a decision to intervene if I saw signs of her faltering, but I would only act when I didn't see any other way.

Dismissing my worries, I turned my head to Sebastian and was just about to open my mouth when I saw him scanning one of the arenas intently. In it, a spar between two people was in full swing, and it wasn't hard to notice who exactly he was looking at.

An energetic girl with yellow hair, brilliantly wielding her katana as she was mimicking a bullfight with Brad.

My heart sank as I remembered the situation he was in, the situation that James had put him in most likely just for entertainment. Unable to control myself, I could feel my knuckles whitening as I tightened my fists.

'James... What the fuck are you doing...'

****

[Zero's Pov]

"Huff...huff..."

'Man, this sucks...'

After running around the tracks for more than an hour, I felt like this course was kind of missing the mark in introducing us to basic combat, but Mr. Brown who was responsible for the lesson didn't share the same sentiment.

Worse was that none of my dear classmates seemed to struggle much, with the only exception being Gomerick, but even then he was only breathing a bit more heavily.

I, on the other hand, struggled. A lot. Something that my stamina stat should have made impossible due to the fact that as long as I had mana, my body should be working properly. Combined with [Bottomless Vessel] always passively giving us mana, there was no reason or logic behind my ragged breath.

Yet, somehow, here I was, feeling like even though I still had energy, my body was about to give up on me. 'Physical bodies suck...'

Before the lesson started, Jessica had even asked me if I wanted to sit it out, worried that my body might not have recovered yet. Naturally, Saint Zero wouldn't sit on the sideline while his friends trained, so I declined the offer, but now I truly regretted my choice.

Seemingly completely unbothered by the physical strain, Stella had slowed down a bit so she could run beside me as a means to cheer me up, but seeing her completely fine only made everything worse.

At least she had the decency not to talk to me, probably aware that I needed every molecule of air to keep my body moving forward. As my vision started to blur, I was surprised to feel a hand suddenly taking hold of the back of my collar, and before I knew it, my feet had left the ground.

"Hahaha! Good effort, Zero, but from the looks of it, you have done enough!"

Mr. Brown was the one who had ninjaed his way behind me and, without care for manners, lifted me off the rubbery running track. In the end, I had no choice but to let myself get carried away from the field to the ledges, where he put me down with a smile.

Not unexpectedly, I could see Jessica trying to subtly hurry to come to my side, without showing the other students how worried she was. However, Mr. Brown just dismissed her by shaking his head and taking a seat next to me.

Without speaking, we both let our gaze rest on my classmates who continued to run, with Stella now running a lot faster due to having lost the one who dragged her down. Finally ending the silence, the moron of a man spoke.

"You know, this is the first time I get the opportunity to talk with you. Granted, you have only been here for a couple of weeks, but I have been wanting to speak to you for a while."

Somehow, the words he spoke were not just true for Zero, but they could also be translated for James. Except for that one conversation where I asked for permission to leave the school for a week, I had never really talked to him.

Disregarding that, I still felt like this was a good chance to try and get him to see Zero in a good light. So, as I so often did nowadays, I smiled brightly, "Is that so? I don't know what would make you want to talk to me, but I am glad."

"Haha! Don't be so stiff, Zero! The reason why I wanted to talk with you is that even though we might look different, I think we are very similar!"

'No. No, we most certainly are not, you monkey man.'

"Hmm... I don't think I understand what you mean. Wasn't my performance on the field just now to show how different we are? Ah! Not that I think it's bad, but I just don't see the similarities."

'Because even if I look past our physiques, I don't think we are similar in any kind of way...'

Yet, the big man didn't yield, "It's true that you are a bit... frail? But I am not talking about that! I am talking about something deeper. Something that more relates to your soul than your body."

I felt a headache emerge as I braced myself for whatever stupidity he was about to throw at me, and just like I expected, he did not disappoint.

"It's about the passion of a man! We are both burning bright with passion, relentlessly working for what we believe in! And that, young Zero, makes you just as manly as me!"

Subtly turning my head, I tried to meet the eyes of our homeroom teacher, desperately trying to send her a signal.

'Jessica! Please, save me!'

But I was just met with a sad smile followed by her turning around and walking out to the other students. At the same time, Mr. Brown had fully committed to talking about his manly ways, and the great things he had done in his youth, leaving me with no other choice but to smile and nod energetically.

"Back then, I had a head full of luscious hair. Haha, you should've seen it. Anyways, that was when I threw myself at..."

'I will not forget this betrayal. Jessica, I believed in you...'