novelraw Chapter 61 : Chapter 61
Chapter 61 : Chapter 61
Chapter 61 : Secrets
Sal watched in horror as Divinity took down the team members one by one.
This training was about blocking random attacks using basic stances and fighting techniques, but no one was prepared to block her fury.
At first, every attack was slow and the signals were clear, giving them time to respond.
However, Divinity gradually increased her speed and reduced her telegraphing movements.
Sal barely managed to block the first four attacks but fell to the fifth.
Before he could even get up, Divinity headed straight for the next opponent, Barry.
Surprisingly, Barry held out until the seventh attack but was eventually thrown over her shoulder.
Jack fell in two moves, Anthony in the third, and Blanid couldn't even withstand the first attack.
Sal's team could only catch a brief rest while Divinity fought with her own team members.
This combat training was conducted separately from the formation class and was structured to allow them to learn cooperation within their respective teams.
At Divinity's insistence that everyone had to taste actual combat before the next combat class, they pushed ahead with night training.
At first, it was filled with many complaints, screams, and fear-filled reactions from the Support class members.
But Divinity persuaded them, saying this method was the most realistic countermeasure.
In fact, as time passed, Sal felt Divinity's attacks becoming less terrifying.
The torrent of anxiety and adrenaline slowly subsided, and he was able to react calmly while focusing on each attack.
However, the most surprising thing was the strange rivalry that formed between Sal and Barry.
He, who had complained so much, surprisingly adapted the fastest and blocked Divinity's attacks longer than even Sal.
Sal moved his body harder to beat him.
Between training sets, Barry spoke to Sal.
“Professor Lombardi said you're a Replication Type user? They said it's an ability on par with Body Manipulation, so why are you so weak?”
Then, watching Divinity approach again, he added one more word as if rubbing salt in the wound.
“Oh, looks like it's your turn!”
Barry left those words behind and stepped back, clearing the way.
Until now, Divinity hadn't said much to Sal other than correcting his stance, but this time was different.
She approached with a smile.
“You're thinking of using Professor Rust's ability, right?”
Sal hesitated for a moment and opened his mouth to apologize, but Divinity continued speaking first.
“It's a good idea! I can test my ability too, and you can show your team members that you have hidden skills.”
At her words, Sal smiled and replicated the ability he had memorized last week exactly.
Seized by the fear of having to fight Dominic, he had woven Rust's Absolute Counter ability dozens of times, and now it was practically engraved in his body.
As he completed the pattern, he activated the ability without hesitation.
A sensation of powerful energy piercing through his body engulfed him.
It was a similar sensation to when he replicated the Speedster's ability before, but something was different this time.
Sal intuitively knew that he had reached a much deeper level of ability thanks to the Essence points he had recently passed.
He was now controlling it in a much more refined form without being swayed by the ability.
Divinity sent a look asking if he was ready, and Sal could see at least twelve openings in her stance.
He tried to respond with pure technique, withdrawing Essence from the ability.
Even so, he felt invincible.
When he nodded, Divinity charged like lightning, and the speed made the people around them hold their breath.
Her knee flew toward his jaw, but Sal was already gone from that spot.
Barry opened his mouth, unable to speak, at the sight of Sal smoothly dodging all of Divinity's attacks.
Sal pushed away the flying fist with one palm and deflected the lower body attack with his foot.
Divinity's eyes turned cloudy, and her attack speed skyrocketed.
Matching this, Sal also drew up more of his ability to catch up with that speed.
Now he had abandoned his loose defense and was dealing with Divinity's attacks in earnest.
Divinity moved to avoid his punches and kicks, and Sal flexibly slipped out of her takedown attempts.
Divinity tried to foresee what attack he would make and respond, but Sal's ability perfectly neutralized all her attacks.
Consequently, the two engaged in an unbelievably high-speed confrontation, nullifying each other's attacks while aiming for a single opening.
Sal drew out the ability deeper but was careful not to make his attacks too strong.
He just needed to be faster.
Divinity's laughter almost broke his concentration.
In that short gap, Sal's body reacted, quickly turning back and widening the distance from Divinity.
“Want to call it a draw?”
Divinity asked, releasing her power.
Sal nodded, deactivating Professor Rust's ability.
He closed his eyes and clenched his teeth to endure the pain flowing through his whole body.
Sal was able to utilize his body to the maximum thanks to the ability, but Sal's physique could not yet keep up with that agility.
Because every single muscle and joint was screaming, he wanted to lie down on the ground and curl up right now.
Barely suppressing that desperate urge, he opened his eyes to see Divinity holding out a cup.
“It's recovery juice. It's amazing for muscle pain. I'll take your thanks later!”
Sal downed the contents of the cup almost in one go and felt the encroaching pain dull immediately.
“Seems you've got some fans?”
Divinity said playfully, gesturing with her chin toward the two teams staring blankly at them.
Barry approached with a bitter smile.
“It's a relief our team leader isn't a total scarecrow. Maybe we can avoid demotion?”
“What?”
Divinity said, raising an eyebrow.
“You want to fight more?”
Barry's face instantly turned pale and he started backing away.
But Divinity had already taken a combat stance.
“Start with defense!”
Barry spat out a curse and automatically took the correct stance, beginning to defend against Divinity's continuous attacks.
Sal admired anew how quickly Barry was adapting to the training.
That wasn't just Sal's thought.
All team members were watching that sight with concentration.
When Barry blocked the twelfth attack, everyone, including Sal, clapped and cheered.
Whether she mistook that cheer for a signal to increase the attack, or if there was still some resentment left from the fight that ended in a draw earlier, Divinity suddenly ramped up her speed further.
Eventually, Barry was thrown right over Divinity's shoulder and fell next to Sal with a THUD.
Sal reached out a hand to help Barry up, and Barry reluctantly took it.
By the time Barry got up, Divinity addressed the two teams directly.
“Today was the first training, and you did really well. You did formation training in your respective teams, and you also tried 1-on-1 sparring tailored to yourselves. Of course, you also trained beyond those limits. Right now, theoretically, you are three weeks ahead of the combat class, and in terms of practical ability, you are a month and a half ahead. If we continue training every evening at this pace, you will become quite a powerful team no matter who the opponent is.”
Divinity turned toward Sal and nodded.
It was a signal to hand over command.
Heavy pain spread throughout his body, but Sal clenched his teeth and straightened his back.
“Send me your uniform sizes, everyone. I'll try to prepare some decent armor.”
Surprisingly, Blanid was the first to raise her hand.
“Can I help too?”
Jack also glanced at Blanid, then looked at Sal and raised his hand.
“If it's okay, I want to help too.”
Just as Sal was about to accept, Jack added, pointing at the two of them.
“She makes equipment really well. And I know how to do things like Runes, engraving, and enchanting.”
Blanid gestured toward Jack and grinned.
“We want to be helpful to the team too. We hate just being a burden.”
Sal also smiled and nodded.
“Alright, you two help with the equipment. Maybe we'll just end up buying from the credit store, but in that case, I'll pay for it, so don't worry.”
Jack and Blanid sighed in relief at the same time.
Then Anthony suddenly raised his hand high.
As Sal looked at him, he was still scratching his chin.
“I can enhance item performance… but only temporarily. Also, I have to be holding it. So that Rare rank sword would become something like high-tier Rare performance if held in my hand. I don't know if it'll be useful, since I've never used a sword for ranged combat… but I wanted to mention it.”
Sal slowly nodded.
It sounded similar to the ability Upgrade used when transforming his gloves into a mechanical arm.
“Thanks for letting me know. Barry, do you want to share your ability with the team too?”
Barry gave Sal a thumbs up and answered.
“I'll let you know as soon as I figure out what my ability is.”
All eyes instantly focused on Barry, and Sal went a step further and activated his eyes.
“Are you serious right now?”
Sal said, looking at the perfect weave woven into Barry's core.
It was a perfect Essence structure without a single Knot.
It was clean, as if it had never been used.
Sal looked at him and asked.
“Can you do Essence Control and Refining? Or do you not know that either?”
Barry grinned and answered.
“No, that's easy. I think I've opened up to about the sixtieth gate?”
Sal looked toward Divinity to ask for help, but she was already busy clutching her stomach and laughing.
“Sal, your face right now is priceless!”
Anthony turned his head to look at Barry.
“Then what about skill registration? You would have known the ability name when registering. You don't know that either?”
Barry shook his head, still wearing the same smile.
“No. You have to have the ability activated to register… but I didn't know how, so I just got a blank card.”
Barry received a few more additional questions, but eventually, his shoulders slumped.
Everyone was bewildered by the fact that he had entered this academy without even knowing his own ability, and Barry himself considered it nothing special, throwing everyone into confusion.
And so, the first day of training came to a truly impressive conclusion.
Divinity walked out of the training ground, standing side by side with Sal.
She looked back and watched Barry walking with the others.
Then she spoke to Sal in a low voice.
“He's lying…. He knows exactly what his ability is and knows how to use it.”
Hearing that, Sal quickly turned his head to look at her, but Divinity shook her head slightly.
“I'm only telling you. Don't try to copy him for no reason. Got it?”
Sal nodded.
It wasn't as if that thought hadn't crossed his mind.
Replicating an established ability was dangerous enough, but trying to replicate an ability whose identity was unknown was literally tantamount to suicide.
Since when had he lost his caution and started using his ability?
Only a few weeks had passed, but he must have replicated over a dozen abilities already.
If his mother knew this fact, he might have been dead long ago.
Sal smiled at Divinity to reassure her.
“I won't replicate it. I promise. Do you happen to know what that ability is?”
Divinity glanced at Barry once, then shook her head at Sal again.
“I've only seen it once. But it was a truly incomprehensible ability. The Doom Society is handling the future related to it. Remember the vision entangling Sinclair?”
Her face darkened.
Sal suppressed the goosebumps as the scene of Sinclair dying flashed through his mind.
Wanting to change the mood, Sal shook his head and spoke.
“But… that can't be the only instance of use, right? How far into the future did you see?”
Divinity looked at Sal with a smile close to expressionless.
“You're underestimating him too much. For the entire three years at Quest Academy, he never reveals his ability once. It's an ability that can only be used in life-or-death situations. Actually… isn't it kind of cool?”
Sal glanced at Barry, who was still smiling.
Then he reluctantly sighed and said.
“Honestly, it is kind of cool.”