‘It’s his turn already? Damn…’
Elijah saw Henry walk towards the stage with light steps, humming a sweet tone, and joking with a few of the students along the way. Most of them cheered him on, those being the second years, of course.
The first years simply looked at him with interest, some with scorn as well. Elijah didn’t know why that was the case. He knew they came to challenge them, but at least have a good attitude about it!
Henry didn’t seem nervous in the slightest, though his whistling and casual jokes could be interpreted as a way to conceal or lessen his nervousness, Elijah knew that wasn’t the case.
Henry was just that type of man. He reached the platform and joked with the teacher on duty as he put on his protective gear.
“Come on, Sir, I don’t need this. Haha!”
His jokes didn’t really land, but at least the man had a good laugh.
“Senior, shouldn’t Senior Henry be a little nervous at the very least?”
Though some, like Gary, had misinterpreted his carefree attitude as a way to conceal his nervousness. Elijah looked at Gary, and shrugged.
“No.”
“But still, Walter is nothing to you, but I don’t know about Senior Henry.”
Gary had known Henry for a short period of time, but even he had an impression of Henry, though it wasn’t anything like the one he had of Elijah’s of course.
To Gary, Henry was a simple and funny man, who didn’t take anything seriously. Though such an attitude wasn’t wrong to have as a normal person… As an awakened, it leads to the death’s of many. The lives of awakened and normal people were very different, after all.
Henry was simply that type of man… despite being an awakened.
Whilst Gary may be skeptical, he still didn’t completely believe that Henry would lose, he was Elijah’s friend, someone who still ranked among the top 3… but the biggest factor that supported his belief was simple.
It was that he was Ezra’s brother, the only person to defeat the monster known as Alan Peccator. If he had even an inkling of his older brother’s talent, he was sure Henry would win.
… That was a very big if, however, in Gary’s eyes.
Elijah focused on Henry a little more, sharing some of the views Gary had. While he did agree that Henry’s attitude was a major issue, he also knew the truth many didn’t.
Henry walked up to the stage with nothing in his hands, imitating a few martial stances he saw in movies. Elijah cringed when he saw his friend.
|| ||
A few of the other students laughed, and Gary was now certain Henry would lose. His opponent, Walter, wielded a Zweih?nder, a fearsome weapon.
‘That’s unique.’
Although it was fearsome, one didn’t really see a lot of awakened using such a cumbersome sword. Elijah hadn’t, at the very least.
Though, he did know it would be terrifying in the hands of someone who wielded the [Fire] and [Electricity] attributes. The attack power would simply be monstrous, and if it was accompanied by a good and solid defense…
The opponent would be in a pickle, indeed.
Walter was a tall youth with black hair, and striking blue eyes, and he was well-built as well. Sparks flew around him, and the fire in his eyes was fierce. It seemed he really meant it when The said he would defeat everyone in Elijah’s year.
“He got this…”
Elijah said, calming Gary down. It didn’t work, though,
||
Elijah sighed, although he appreciated the vigor Walter had, in his proud act of challenging the strongest people in shield, he had to know his limits. While he may be talented for a first year, he should have only done so if he was to rank first, not rank second. If he was in Kazikato’s place, he may have taken his challenge seriously.
But Elijah knew he couldn’t… He had to suppress a chuckle when he even thought about it. He didn’t want to be rude, but is laughing at stupidity really rude?
Walter had claimed that he would defeat Henry, Lucas, Alexander, Elijah and Alan respectively, without any losses at all. That was what made Elijah so sure he wouldn’t be able to do it.
Had he perhaps claimed that he would challenge them as many times it would take to beat them, Elijah would have happily welcomed it. Hell, he would have even encouraged it.
There was nothing wrong in wanting to beat someone stronger, but to claim you would do it on the first try, was idiotic. In most real-life situations, you only had one chance, after all.
It was kill or be killed, if Elijah was being honest. To have the luxury to grow in an environment like Shield was amazing. Walter was careless for thinking that he would always have a chance.
The true essence of combat… as much as Elijah would have liked to deny it, was murder. It didn’t fit with his views, but even he had to agree it was the truth.
Therefore, he viewed Walter’s challenge as incredulous, that was it.
The match was about to begin, and the students couldn’t keep their mouths shut. They were
all talking about the challenge.
Elijah couldn’t help but hear them all, given his heightened senses.
‘Please speak quietly…’
The main point of their discussion was where Walter would stop, and it seemed most of the students thought Walter would stop at Elijah.
‘…’
He was a bit surprised to see that they thought Walter would beat Henry, Lucas, and Alexander. He could understand why they thought he could beat Henry and Lucas, since those
two didn’t really showcase their strength much.
They didn’t even have recorded footage about them, so it was understandable… But Alexander? Did none of them see the fight he had with Kazikato at the academic convergence?
‘Damn.’
That surprised him a bit, but he knew it wasn’t the case.
Walter was stopping right at Henry, even an unserious Henry was too much for the kid.
Elijah knew that even the aloof Henry had a serious side to him, the pressure of being compared to his genius of a brother had crippled Henry many times, and because of such a comparison… he knew the intensity at which Henry trained.
Until the bowstring would tear into his awakened skin, and clash against the bones of his fingers, he wouldn’t stop. He wouldn’t stop shooting at the same hole in the target that
moved at a great speed.
He knew the limits of Henry’s obsession, he knew it all too well. The aloof attitude was just an act in order to hide something.
It wasn’t to hide how nervous he was, it was to hide how stressed he was when compared to Ezra. Even with all his training, he wasn’t anything compared to Ezra after all.
Elijah himself had been forced to use almost everything he had at his disposal to defeat Henry
sometimes.
Henry was as crazy as Alan, but lacked the absurd regenerative factor. Henry would continue going until his bones broke, and his organs failed, but he couldn’t keep it up if it wasn’t for
Shield’s excellent medical facilities.
Elijah was terrified of the insane drive Henry possessed at times.
“Watch closely, Gary, that Walter guy is stopped right at Henry.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the roar of thunder and fire was heard in unison, rushing towards their enemy. The duel had begun, Walter had rushed in immediately. He knew Henry had the upper hand in speed due to his affinity.
Elijah looked at the weak fire with tired eyes, whilst everyone else paid rapt attention. Henry, in response to the large attack, simply waved his hand.
From his fingers, five win bullets were unleashed, and each and every single one of them pierced through the mountains of flames and tendrils of electricity.
The sound of a whistle was heard as they hit Walter’s unprotected liver one by one, making the student fall to his knees as his body suffered a serious shock, his fire was put out and his electricity was dispelled. Walter was quick to get back on his feet, yet the moment he did, he saw a wind arrow right at his neck, his lungs, his heart, and even one on his ass for comedic
effect.
He flinched, but the arrows did not move, his shields erected themselves a second later, but it
was too late.
Everybody knew if Henry went forward with his attack, Walter would be dead.
“Your lightning isn’t as strong as Sabrina’s, and your fire is pathetic compared to Elijah’s. freewebnvel.coɱ
But…”
Elijah had a bad feeling creep up when he saw the smile on Henry’s face. He knew his friend
was planning something.
“Oh my! So scary! I surrender!”
Everyone was in shock, only Elijah had a terrified look on his face.
‘You fool…’
He knew it! Henry did have some enmity towards Walter for choosing him first on the list! Oh,
no!
‘… Well, Walter is pretty much dead.’
He began to silently pray for Walter. Elijah and Henry both knew… that when Lucas came back and found out that he was placed before Alex on the list… he would be livid.
Walter would be lucky if he only lost his life, the worst case scenario would be him losing his
ability of having children.