Forest [4]

A slash from the side—only a simple side step was needed to avoid it. A thrust from behind, Thorn ducked to avoid it. A flying wind bolt spell came in front of him. Thorn used the [Switch] skill on some unlucky random student. A pained groan was heard from the unlucky student.

A vine spell grabbed Thorn's leg, and a punch from a girl with gauntlets landed on Thorn. He quickly cut the vine and backed up to avoid a stab from some swordsman. The boy stepped a little too far, but Thorn did not miss it and tripped the boy. A foot met the fledgling swordsman's face.

Thorn jumped over a lightning bolt spell. Thorn knew he shouldn't even enjoy this fight; he knew he had to fight as efficiently as possible, but a smile still tugged at his face. He grabbed the girl who managed to land a hit on him earlier and used his favorite battle move: the human shield! He slung the gauntlet-wielding girl into an incoming firebolt. Chains suddenly rose up from the ground and grabbed onto the teacher's body, keeping him in place for the two students who were closing in.

A boy with a mace and a girl with a hammer were about to attack, but Thorn used the [Switch] skill again and suddenly the boy with the mace was in chains instead. Thorn ignored the scream of confusion and grabbed the hammer-wielder, throwing the poor girl into the confused boy in chains. The chains broke, and both of them were sent back into the ring of students.

During the battle, a couple of kids managed to land a hit, but overall he had been treating them like toddlers trying to fight an adult. Normally, he would have run away by now, but he had to let the kids win some points, or what was the point of the activity?

Thorn raised his knee into the air and slammed it down with all might causing a shockwave which he enhanced with mana that pushed all the students attacking him back into the crowd.

BOOM—!

Arina walked into the ring, ready to fight, her green eyes determined and gripping the two daggers in her hands. Thorn's smile grew a little wider, and he welcomed her to advance by readying his spear.

Arina ran in to battle and sidestepped the probing thrust Thorn sent, trying to stab the battle maniac, but Thorn dropped his spear, pulled her arm to the side, and socked her right in the face. Among the ring of students, a female voice was heard.

"Curse of Sloth!"

A red glow surrounded Thorn, and he felt heavier. Due to losing focus for a split second, Arina was able to nick his chin with a blue line.

Thorn then kicked her away back into the ring. It seemed someone among the crowd had debuffed him. It was annoying, but he welcomed the challenge. These first years this time around were very interesting.

"Seems like you're having a hard time," Orion spoke as he caught Arina from falling. He emerged out of the ring of students, staring at Thorn with daggers in his eyes, with twelve various weapons floating around him.

Alongside him stood Kent, who was preparing what seemed to be another tri-bolt; Emilla, whose stone golem was ready to battle; and Edwards, who was holding his scythe and still looked a little salty from the prior exchange. A ding and a robotic voice were heard:

[5 minutes remaining]

With this announcement, many students rushed in to catch the 'god.'

**********

[3 minutes remaining!]

I woke up to the sounds of metal clashing and spells flying. I said, "Great, I got knocked out. Wait, did I just hear three minutes were left?" I immediately checked my bracelet for the top 5 leaderboard.

[1# Kent Windturner: 3 points]

[2# Orion Price: 3 points]

[3# Edward Smith: 2 points]

[4# Kain Adams: 2 points]

[5# Arina Stirnweaver: 2 points]

"Fuck! At this rate, I'll lose the skill. I need it!" I got to my feet and noticed the purple-haired girl who seemed to have been the one who healed me and who seemed familiar. I quickly shouted, "Thank you for the healing, gotta go!"

I ran past the ring of students who didn't want to join in on the battle but were content to act as human walls against Thorn.

I saw Edward's scythe swipe at Thorn, only to miss by a hair's length, and Arina, who shot arrows that Thorn dodged. Orion and Kent seemed to be helping from the side—Orion with his weapons and Kent by flinging spells.

I saw the white-haired girl from the station, who seemed to be commanding a huge stone golem that grabbed Thorn. But suddenly, said girl was in the golem's hands instead.

A lot of this fight was wrong. In the original novel, Edward wasn't supposed to fight in this activity—he hid and relaxed on some tree in the forest—and this white-haired girl didn't even show up in the novel at all. Is it a butterfly effect happening already? I pushed these thoughts aside for later as I had a skill to win.

I called up the information for my stigma.

[Absolute Mana Control: This stigma allows the user to manipulate any mana within a 10-meter radius, whether it be in a spell or in the atmosphere. This cannot be used to control the mana within a living organism. This stigma comes with a price, as using it will put extreme pressure on the user's mind and can cause brain damage or even brain death.]

I was reluctant to use it because the words "brain damage" scared me, and they still did. But since I learned sonar, I wondered, what if I use it all on my brain to make it more resistant to side effects? It would take internal manipulation, which is something I haven't even begun to master yet. I felt a pang in my chest as I realized that I would have to just use it as it is and take the burden on my mind head-on.

I stepped forward, trying to mentally prepare myself for the consequences of the choice I was about to make. I could feel the gazes of the rest of my classmates, and while back in my normal world I would have been slightly nervous, something about their gazes empowered me. No, literally empowered me. This was the same feeling I had at the train station and when I struck at the teacher first. Is this the second stigma? Is this the fourth gift the—?

A warning resounded from my bracelet:

[2 minutes remaining!!]

I focused back on the task at hand and activated my stigma.

[Absolute Mana Control activated!]

The blue crown appeared above me, and I could feel it all in my stigma's radius. I could feel the mana building Kent's spells, I could feel the strings of mana that Orion used to manipulate his weapons, I could feel the mana powering Arina's arrows and I could even feel the core of what I what I thought was a golem while it is something totally different. I could feel everything, and it was all mine to take and take, I did.