The blind villain of the academy

Chapter 243

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Episode 61 - Regular Classes [3]

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"Now, begin."

At Professor Joseph’s shout, the pairs of cadets engaged in close-quarters combat.

Since my senses remained intact even after using the bracelet on my wrist, I was able to feel how the cadets began.

Even so, the opponent standing before me was a regressor who had not only mastered countless Sword Arts, but Martial Arts as well.

".....?"

Just then, I realized something.

’W-wait a second... I never learned how to fight hand-to-hand.’

From beginning to end, all my training had consisted of learning how to use my Traits and learning how to wield a sword.

And, of course, improving my mastery over Mana manipulation.

But I had never actually learned how to fight using nothing but my fists.

’The usual thing has always been to throw a simple punch using brute strength, along with Mana.’

But that was where it ended.

All I knew was how to move my fists the way anyone without knowledge or formal training would.

’Master, I’m in trouble.’

I finally decided to speak to my master.

’Now, what’s wrong?’

’Why did you never teach me how to fight hand-to-hand? What happens if I ever lose my sword and run out of Mana?’

Only then did I realize just how enormous my current weakness was.

From the very beginning, I had always relied on Mana and my sword.

Of course, I also relied on most of my Traits, but generally, almost none of them were designed for combat.

Even so, now that I had finally realized my greatest weakness, I couldn’t help but complain to my master.

’Um, about that...’

’Did you really forget to teach me at least one decent way to fight without a sword?’

’T-that’s also your fault. You’ve become far too strong in such a short amount of time, and you’ve even practically mastered the Third Form. Besides, you have the ability to see the future and can plan ahead.’

’Even so...’

Before I could retort, she continued.

’And, anyway, I don’t know much about Martial Arts either, just so you know. I only know enough to get by.’

".....?"

’This may be embarrassing, but if I’m being honest, I was obsessed with the sword, and I thought Martial Arts were useless. I didn’t see the point of learning them back then, when I was immature.’

"..."

’No way.’

My mind couldn’t even figure out how to categorize my master.

Who was she in the first place?

Back then, she had been one of the Five Swords, and nothing less than the strongest among the Five Swords.

And, above all, who was the only one to defeat two Abyss Lords?

’Are you telling me you never learned Martial Arts, and that’s why you never taught me?’

"..."

There was no response. Judging by her silence, that was an unequivocal yes.

"Aah."

I let out a weary sigh.

Just then, Lumina’s voice reached my ears.

"Why are you sighing?"

"....."

Coming out of my thoughts, I briefly forgot that I was in the middle of a fight.

"Huh... Nothing, just... thinking. No, preparing myself in advance."

Although she didn’t show it, I could barely sense a flicker of confusion in her emotions for less than a second.

"Preparing yourself for what?"

"...."

"That is..."

At that moment, unable to find any way out, my expression became completely serious as I said,

"Could you go a little easy on me? I actually don’t know how to fight."

".....?!"

For a second, her expression remained unchanged, but then, whether it was merely my imagination or not, I saw an emotion in her eyes that instinctively made me take a step back.

In that instant, a thought crossed my mind.

’Now that I think about it, Lumina never specifically told me what our relationship was before I died in her previous regression, did she?’

In the meantime, she had told me what kind of relationship we had, or at least how everyone else viewed me.

With the exception of Clementine and, of course, herself.

And seeing that emotion appear for less than a second only made my heart skip a beat.

However, I quickly denied it.

’No, that’s impossible.’

Indeed, that was impossible, so I erased the thought from my Mental Palace.

Then, just at that moment, Lumina said,

"I’m sorry, but that’s not possible."

"Why not?"

"Because that’s what the professor said. This class is meant to evaluate the cadets, so it wouldn’t be right to go easy on you."

"Better than what?"

"If you don’t know how to fight, then that’s even better, because Professor Joseph will train you. Isn’t it obvious?"

"...."

There was no way to refute her words.

’Aah, let’s just forget about this.’

In this case, I imitated Lumina’s stance.

’Let’s just copy her movements.’

Thanks to my senses and rapid thought processing, I perfectly copied Lumina’s combat stance.

In any case, wasn’t she basically a Grandmaster of Martial Arts?

So it was better to learn from her by copying all of her movements, then combine them to create my own Martial Arts.

Of course, that was merely a fleeting thought. I highly doubted I had the talent to create Martial Arts or Sword Arts in the middle of a fight within a matter of seconds.

’I’ve only ever read about that in web novels.’

I didn’t think I actually had that ability, since I’d never tried to test it. Even so, I was capable of copying everything I saw.

Not perfectly, but regardless of how complex it was.

"Are you copying me?"

Lumina asked, and this time, without even bothering to hide her emotions, she spoke in a curious and amused tone.

’Her personality suddenly changed.’

Come to think of it, a regressor who had experienced the same life over and over again should develop changes in personality, abrupt emotional shifts, madness, and strange mood swings.

"It’s the only way I can fight, so I’ll copy you."

Lumina briefly looked at me before lunging at me.

Because of my senses and perception of time, her movement was extremely slow.

Using my senses, I read every movement of her muscles and every change that occurred in her body.

I didn’t miss a single detail.

Lumina quickly closed the distance between us and moved her arms.

"..."

The palm of her hand suddenly struck my shoulder. Then, using her other hand, she grabbed the back of my head and forced it downward.

Then, her knee entered my field of perception and slammed into my face.

Bang!

"....."

My head snapped backward, while my mind became slightly disoriented for a second.

’What the hell...’

Naturally, I didn’t feel any pain. My surprise came from the strange movement of her hands just before she landed her first strike.

This was because, somehow, she had deceived my senses and made me think it was nothing more than a simple hand movement.

As a result, I had acted by copying those exact same movements. However...

"What was that?"

At my question, Lumina replied.

"It’s called the Deceptive Illusion Art. I created it specifically to deceive your senses during my previous regression."

"....."

’You’ve got to be kidding me.’

The biggest question at the moment was a simple one.

Why the hell had she created it specifically to counter my senses?

’There has to be a reason.’

I couldn’t deny that, but even so, this was completely absurd.

’She managed to deceive my senses without using a Trait.’

The first time Lumina had escaped my senses, I initially thought it was solely because of her Traits.

However, this time, she hadn’t used any Traits, much less Mana.

It was simply a Martial Art that utilized Will. Naturally, I noticed that there was something different about her fists.

And that something was Will. Naturally, Will was a way of using Illusion Magic in general, but it wasn’t limited to Magic alone.

It could also be applied to Sword Arts and Martial Arts.

’If she can deceive my senses, then I should use Weakness Detection... no, this is supposed to be a fight based on Martial Arts.’

So I couldn’t use Weakness Detection.

In other words, I had no effective way to copy her Deceptive Illusion Art.

I simply had to rely on my natural talent at 100%.

’Then...’

I accessed my newly acquired memories and tried to copy what she had done with her Will.

I guided my Will the same way Lumina had, then imitated the exact movements she had used.

Then...

Whoosh...!

I moved my body at high speed and, copying the same movements Lumina had made, tried to do the same.

However...

"....."

Lumina moved her body, easily dodging every movement of my arms and fists before unleashing an entirely different series of strikes.

"....."

She struck my chin, forcing my head backward. Then, she struck me directly in the chest with the palm of her hand.

I felt as though my insides had been shaken. Although it didn’t cause me any damage, if she had actually wanted to hurt me, I probably would have been seriously injured.

Finally, she moved her legs and struck mine, causing me to lose my center of gravity and fall to the ground with a heavy thud.

".....?!"

My mind processed everything she had done, and naturally, I identified my mistakes instantly.

’Damn it...’

Even if I copied every one of her movements, she would probably counter me with ease.

That meant that even if I completely copied her Martial Art, she could simply switch to another one and counter it.

And while I was lost in thought, Lumina said,

"I know you can copy me, so I also created other Martial Arts to counter the others I had created, since I know you can copy both Sword Arts and Martial Arts within a matter of seconds."

"....."

I couldn’t help but hide my disbelief as I thought,

’What the hell did I do to make her create Martial Arts specifically to fight me?’

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