Chapter 137 Sparing 4v1
Jett stood perfectly still, hands by his sides, completely unfazed as his four opponents circled him. He didn't even bother getting into a stance, just staring at them with a slight smirk on his face, as if daring them to strike first.
"He's mocking us," the beastfolk girl, Behan, muttered under her breath, her hands tightening into fists. Her companions exchanged glances, hesitant, clearly wanting to see what Jett would do before committing to their own moves.
The arena was dead silent, the tension thick in the air. Students watching from the stands and outside the arena began to grow impatient, yelling for them to start already. The whole situation was unsettling.
"C'mon now," Jett's voice broke the silence, calm and taunting. "You wouldn't want to keep the audience waiting."
"That's it, kid," Behan growled, her patience wearing thin. "Don't blame me for being rough with you. Orpa, take the left. I'll take the right. Gleen, protect the mage, and you…" she pointed at Lyla, her tone sharp, "don't drag us down."
"You got it, Behan," Orpa, the elf, replied first, moving quickly to find a vantage point for his next attack.
"Just stay behind me," Gleen, the dwarf, instructed Lyla as he hefted his shield, positioning himself defensively in front of her.
"Wow, all this planning just for little ol' me?" Jett grinned, his mockery cutting through the air. "Please be gentle."
That was all the provocation they needed.
[Razor Claw] Behan charged, her claws gleaming as they extended.
[Snipe]! Orpa unleashed a flurry of arrows from his bow, aiming directly at Jett.
{Rain of Thunder} echoed through the arena as Lyla unleashed a crackling bolt of lightning from above, adding her magic into the mix.
The attacks came simultaneously. First, the sky darkened as the lightning struck down, enveloping Jett's position in a crackling explosion. Moments later, Behan's claws and Orpa's arrows followed, tearing through the dust that kicked up, leaving nothing but debris swirling in the air.
"It's over," Lance muttered with a sigh, though he still wore a faint smile. "He didn't even last a second."
'How disappointing. What's so special about him?' Ross thought to himself, visibly unimpressed as he adjusted his glasses.
The arena buzzed with murmurs. Some students whispered in disappointment, others nodded smugly, claiming they knew Jett was just all talk.
"He's still standing," Lisa murmured, interrupting the pessimism that had begun to spread among the students. Her voice cut through the noise, drawing immediate attention. As she spoke, her eyes glowed faintly with a soft, eerie red light.
Dana, Lana, and Lance exchanged quick, knowing glances. 'Those eyes again…,' they all thought at the same time, recognizing the strange and rare trait within their sister's eyes. It was a unique ability, one that even Lisa herself had little control over. The exact nature of the power was still unknown, and it only seemed to activate sporadically under certain conditions.
'Why now?' Dana's thoughts raced. 'She still can't activate it on her own, so how?'
Meanwhile, on the battleground, the dust began to settle, revealing Jett, still standing, completely unharmed. His smirk grew wider as he raised his hand, revealing that he had casually caught a few of Orpa's arrows between his fingers.
"Don't tell me that's all you've got," Jett gloated, his voice dripping with condescension.
Orpa's eyes widened in shock, his disbelief evident. "How…?"
But Behan and Orpa weren't giving up that easily. They quickly activated their enhancement abilities, determination burning in their eyes.
[Boost]
Behan roared as her muscles tensed, her aura flaring up. Her claws lengthened even more, glowing with a dangerous light as she unleashed her next attack.
[Raging Claws]
She growled, her claws slashing through the air with even more ferocity.
At the same time, Orpa knocked another arrow, his speed amplified by his own boost.
[Snipe]
He shouted, unleashing a precise shot that was immediately followed by
[Scatter Shot]
Sending multiple arrows flying toward Jett in unpredictable trajectories.
[Warp Arrows] Orpa added, and his arrows bent unnaturally in the air, curving and twisting to make them even harder to avoid.
Jett, however, was completely unfazed. He dodged each attack with an almost lazy grace, moving just enough to avoid the projectiles. But he was careful to make it seem like he was putting in more effort than he actually was, taunting them all the while.
"You'll have to try harder than that," Jett said with a smug grin as he sidestepped another swipe from Behan's claws.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, an iron bullet shot toward him with incredible speed, much faster than anything Behan or Orpa had thrown at him.
For a brief moment, it seemed like Jett wouldn't be able to dodge in time, but at the last second, he raised his hand and caught the bullet with his bare fingers, stopping it in its tracks.
"Nice, that was a close one," Jett said with a smirk as he twirled the bullet between his fingers before tossing it aside.
The crowd gasped, their eyes widening in disbelief.
"He caught that with his bare hands!" one of the spectators exclaimed, the awe spreading like wildfire among the students.
Jett, now clearly enjoying the attention, turned his gaze toward Lyla. "Interesting. It seems our shy little mage here isn't so shy after all," he said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "You used a combination of lightning and wind magic to boost that iron bullet's speed toward me. Not bad. Your precision still needs work, but the attack itself… well, it's way above your current level."
The crowd murmured in surprise, impressed by Jett's casual breakdown of the technique.
"Impressive," Jett added with a nod, still wearing that same infuriating smirk.
'He knew I used wind magic? But he doesn't even know what I can do,' Lyla thought, shocked by Jett's quick analysis of her technique. She couldn't understand how he had figured it out so easily.
As she stood there, trying to process it, she mentally replayed the skill she had used. The iron bullet had been her idea, combining wind and lightning magic to maximize its speed and impact. She had studied the science behind it to make the technique work more efficiently.
"The wind magic works like a compressed jet stream," Cedric explained to the others. "By channeling the wind in a narrow, focused direction, I can propel a small, dense object like iron much faster than normal. Add lightning magic to it, and the air around the projectile ionizes, reducing air resistance and creating a sort of electromagnetic field.
That's what gives it the crazy speed: it's like using lightning to supercharge the wind, making the iron bullet move with almost no drag."
Lyla knew that this was what had made her attack dangerous, even though she hadn't mastered the precision yet. The science behind it was sound, and Jett had picked up on that instantly.
'But how did he figure it out?' she wondered, still thrown off by his insight. 'He didn't even hesitate to explain what I did.'
As Lyla wrestled with her confusion, the rest of the group started to understand what was happening. They had underestimated Jett from the beginning, thinking him just a cocky first-year. But now, with him effortlessly dodging their enhanced attacks and calmly analyzing complex magic like it was nothing, they realized they had bitten off more than they could chew.
The expressions on Behan, Orpa, and Gleen's faces shifted from confidence to frustration. They had hoped to overwhelm him with sheer numbers and power, but now they could see that they weren't dealing with someone who was just talk. Jett was far more dangerous than they had expected.
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* Chapter Discover:
I hope the explaining part wasn't considered info dumping.