Chapter 33: The Three Freshmen

Translated by: Reiji

Even Belo stared blankly at Ayrin's behavior, even while he landed a ruthless punch on the belly of a Yurou who was hugging his head.

“Let's watch first.”

Amidst Yurou's miserable yell, he stopped in place and watched in high spirits, rather than running as fast as he could to Dyfer or to Arin's side.

“Dancing Willow!”

Kybaver's body suddenly appeared on Ayrin's left side, but the next instant, he appeared on Ayrin's right instead.

Because the speed was too fast, three Kybavers appeared at the same time in front of Ayrin, to his left, and to his right.

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

“He's going to fly again.”

“Looks like he shouldn't get back up this time.”

As soon as Belo saw Kybaver using a technique of this level, he immediately shook his head and even muttered to himself, as if gloating about Ayrin's misfortune.

There was not a single Kybaver in Ayrin's eyes right now.

Because he couldn't see him fast enough in any case.

His eyes were entirely filled with the blaze of a raging fighting spirit.

His body was in pain at this moment, as if it were going to crack into several hundred pieces. Yet he still stood there, braced and ready. He was waiting.

“He's coming!”

His sensations were keener at this moment than at any time before.

A fist brought with it a raging gust of wind from his right, violently striking at the right side of his belly.

This was the opportunity he was waiting for!

“Ah!”

He shouted out loud. He paid no attention at all to the punch flying toward his belly. His left leg, along with the tension accumulated inside, ferociously kicked out with the entire strength of his body.

He couldn't dodge anyway, so he might was well disregard what his opponent did, strike his opponent at the same time his opponent struck him!

This was the double ko plan Ayrin came up with at the time he was standing up, remembering the scene of the fight between Chris and that Crewe guy.

“Pa!”

Kybaver's punch landed on Ayrin's stomach.

But almost at the same moment, Ayrin's foot also cruelly kicked Kybaver's waist.

“Ah!”

The only thing Kybaver felt was a heart-wrenching pain quickly radiating from his waist to his entire body, rushing inside his mind. His body previously swayed with the grace of a willow, but now he entirely lost control of it. He toppled and flew backward.

Two bodies split apart and flew backward at the same time.

“...” The gloating Belo immediately froze and blanked, his mouth gaping wide. It seemed very comical, matched together with his blood-red eyes.

Kybaver fell heavily on the ground.

Almost like a conditioned reflex, Kybaver immediately tried to leap back up when he hit the ground.

“Hiss...” The next second however, as soon as he stood up, his hands immediate pressed on his waist and belly, and he went down on the ground on one knee.

This senior student who'd spent countless hours training the strength of his body and his close-combat techniques had a ghastly face filled with endless shock.

His opponent's strength far exceeded his imagination. With a single kick, the muscles of his abdomen seemed to have been torn. He was simply unable to stand up for the moment.

Ayrin's situation was also a hundred times more miserable than during his usual tree-crashing exercises.

He was in so much pain his eyes were filled with golden stars. He had no idea anymore where his opponent was, he was even a little confused where his own hands and feet were.

Lying on the icy-cold ground, he didn't even have the strength to lift a single finger. His body didn't seem to belong to him anymore; he couldn't even sit up at this moment.

Wave after wave of dizziness charged unremittingly into the depths of his brain.

“You can't go on anymore, hurry up and properly lie down. Lying down's so comfortable, there's no way you can stand up...”

The tempting voice of a devil seemed to echo again and again in his mind.

“Bastard! I don't believe you, I'm sure I can stand up!”

“Stand the hell up!”

The more unable to stand he was, the stronger this desire revolved in his mind, the more determined Ayrin was. Something seemed to have caught fire inside him, as if there was a flame burning every minute particles inside his body.

“I have to beat the academy's team members, I have to join the team!”

“Stand the hell up!”

His body trembled unceasingly, his face was a little distorted. However, his hands pushed on the ground, and, bit by bit, he sat up. Then, his hands still propping him, he stood up, bit by bit.

“He can still stand up?” Belo rubbed his eyes. Just one second ago he was still gleefully gloating about Ayrin's misery, now he thought his eyes were betraying him.

“What!”

Unable to stand up yet, Kybaver watched Ayrin full of disbelief, a feeling of absurdity filling his heart.

Even an arcane master like Dyfer who could already condense arcane particles wouldn't be able to stand back up and be ready to fight after taking so many hits from him in quick succession, to say nothing of the fact his opponent was a freshman who'd just joined the academy and was still undergoing Huston's foundation training!

“I'm going to beat you!”

The Kybaver kneeling on one knee on the ground was the only thing in Ayrin's vision at this precise moment.

He approached Kybaver step by step, his entire body burning with the will to fight. His steps were very slow at first, but then they became faster and faster. He began to run.

Under the oppression of the intensely dangerous atmosphere, resisting his pain, Kybaver also stood up.

“Reverse Pile!”

He suddenly turned around when Ayrin was only a few meters away from him, seemed to fall forward. His hands pressed fiercely on the ground, pushing his body backward, almost standing upside down. His feet kicked backward in Ayrin's direction.

This was a very baffling close-combat technique. The opponent would often be at a complete loss when they saw the turn-around and the fall at the beginning.

“What?”

In Kybaver's view, just like he hadn't been able to dodge his “Gale Spin,” his “Dancing Willow,” or the other combat techniques, Ayrin couldn't possibly evade this blow either. But what made his mind immediately go blank was, his rearward kick kicked the air!

“Ah!”

Ayrin's loud yell flooded his ears.

A punch struck upward and landed viciously on his body.

An intense pain filled his mind with an explosive bang. Only then did the scene of the exchange right now subconsciously float into his mind: Ayrin shrank his body down and dodged past the kicked he aimed at Ayrin's head, then bombed his fist forward with sudden force and struck his belly.

“How's that possible?”

He crashed heavily on the ground, in so much pain he couldn't even breathe, his body twisting on the ground. Even at this moment, he couldn't understand how Ayrin escaped from his attack.

Ayrin rested his hands on his knees, just like Chris. He heavily wheezed nonstop.

Kybaver lay face up on the ground, his body twisted. He couldn't stand up, and his eyes were a little glazed.

“It's because of the pain, it caused the movements to slow down...” At the other side, his face looking just like that of a savage beast, Belo examined Ayrin once again. “But Ayrin suffered several more painful blows, this means this guy has a strong capacity to withstand hits... And maybe he already progressed a little in this short amount of time and got a little used to his opponent's speed, that's why this guy was able to dodge this move.”

...

“Kybaver actually lost to a freshman?”

Dyfer was still continuously evading Rinloran's attacks. Seeing Kybaver hit the ground once again, completely unable to stand up, while Ayrin was still standing after knocking him down, the cold sweat on his face immediately flowed like a river.

He was the only one left now, while the other side still had a seemingly intact Belo. That was why there was no way for him to win today, no matter what happened.

He immediately yelled as a result, “I admit defeat!”

“Trash!” Belo snorted coldly in contempt as soon as he heard his loud shout conceding defeat.

Rinloran didn't stop however.

Dyfer's cold sweat flowed even harder. His heart was more and more afraid. “I already admitted defeat!”

“I told you to leave at the beginning, but you didn't leave. Now it's too late to think about throwing in the towel and walking away,” Rinloran said in a cold voice.

“He's cold and arrogant enough.” Belo glanced at Rinloran's silhouette that moved so fast it seemed to vanish. “I'm admirative though.”

Dyfer had entirely lost the will to fight. He panicked, and his movements immediately slowed down a step.

“Pa!”

Rinloran's kick landed on his back.

He immediately yelled miserably, falling forward and sliding on the ground. His face became thoroughly muddy from the fall.

On the periphery of his vision, he saw Rinloran once again leap up high, fall down like a flash of lightning, kick toward his face.

“Ah!”

His hands immediately hugged his head, but Rinloran's kick actually landed ruthlessly on his belly. With a wretched scream, his eyes bulged, and he immediately fainted.

This clearing inside the forest of huge trees suddenly recovered its calm.

Those like Sneijer who weren't passed out didn't even dare make the slightest sound of pain.

Belo watched a cold Rinloran go back and take the arcane master weights. The red light began to fade from his eyes, and his body went back to normal. Only his eyes glinted nonstop. Who knew what slyness he was plotting.

“Ah? The fight's over, we won?'

Ayrin's voice rose at this moment, a little out of touch with the mood. He struggled to lift his head, looking like he just came back to his senses.

Belo wore his glasses back, nodded to the people on the ground who couldn't get up, and said, “Idiot, you can't even tell if the fight's over. Or maybe you could give them another beating?”

“We finally won!”

Ayrin planted his ass on the ground, then he immediately laid down on his back.

Belo shouted at him, “Are you dead yet, you want me to take you to the infirmary?”

“No need.” Ayrin lay like a dead snake, but his tone suddenly turned excited. “I thought of another way to condense arcane particles as fast as possible.”

Belo frowned. “What way?”

“I'm so hungry...” Ayrin wanly said, “Too hungry... I forgot already.”

“...” Belo and Rinloran immediately turned to stone.

“Rinloran, you're pretty good. What do you say about joining us and becoming the Three Freshmen?” When Rinloran was done wearing his clothes and about to leave, Belo said full of zest, “We can do many interesting things together.”

Rinloran didn't turn back, merely sent an icy “Not interested.”

“This guy's anti-social indeed, very haughty.” Belo pushed his glasses, white light flashing on the lenses under the light of the stars.