Revamp (III)

  “I think you already know this but I'm a magician.” Olivia spoke nonchalantly, positioning herself beside the spatial fracture. “Deviants with arcane classes can’t use skills, but we can command a few of the monsters we’ve subdued—and summon them during battle. It's not really my style but it does come in handy for when I’m trying to tone it down a little, like right now for example.”

  “Then Principal; does that mean you’ll fight me for real if I’m able to defeat your summons?” Cyril asked, his eager smile directed at the silhouette emerging from the blue darkness.

  “I’d be willing to oblige.” Olivia responded calmly, pointing toward the large figure stepping onto their battlefield. The form was familiar to him—it was another humanoid. Unlike his last encounter, this particular monster wasn’t a walking inferno, but the creature still radiated an aura of dread nonetheless.

  The radiant lights overhead illuminated the monster's shadowy frame—its form was an abomination that defied the natural order of the world. The creature was a robust skeletal warrior standing at over three meters tall, fitted in cracked armor bristling with jagged spikes and countless scars. In one hand, it wielded a colossal shield—gnarled, splintered, and adorned with menacing bone protrusions—while the other equipped a rusted yet unyielding weapon in the form of a spiked gauntlet.

  “A death knight?” Cyril muttered, hardening his fists.

  “Yes, it's not exactly the most endearing name in the world but rest assured, you won’t die. Let’s see how you hold up against this one, it’s not quite as powerful as the infernal you fought the other day, but it's no slouch either. You’re going to have a hard time breaking through its defenses.”

  “Challenge accepted. This shouldn’t take too long.”

  Olivia chuckled lightly upon hearing that. She settled a finger on the young fighter’s stance and gave the monster one simple command: “Go”

  Wordlessly, the death knight advanced.

  A single step forward was all it took to make the room quake eerily from its power. One step, two steps, three and counting... The monster moved towards its target menacingly, drawing the large shield across the floor with a grating sound.

  “I feel like you would have given me a lot more trouble back then, but now...” Cyril smiled to himself upon recalling a certain memory “...not so much.”

  Bang

  The large metal shield slammed into the polymeric floor with a resounding thud—an unmistakable sign of the death knight’s charge. No longer listlessly sauntering across the arena, its demeanor had shifted completely. Now, the death knight charged across the room with terrifying speed, angling its massive shield with one arm while positioning its sharp gauntlet for a lethal thrust.

  Initially, Cyril’s eyes went wide for a moment. Not from fear or uncertainty, his shock stemmed from the disbelief of seeing a monster move with such precise form. Its center of gravity was lowered for better acceleration and the stance it took was one that aimed to make the most of both its offense and defense.

  So, she’s trained it too huh? Maybe this’ll be worth it after all. He thought, grinning slyly before blasting off to meet his opponent. There was no build up to his advance—no form of sprinting, dashing or charging had granted him access to that kind of absurd speed. One second, he was rooted in a combative stance and in the next, he made a casual surge forward, instantly accelerating like a rocket on a collision course.

  For a normal person, gaining access to that kind of instantaneous acceleration would have been impossible, however, Cyril's unique skill wasn’t confined to those predispositions. Juggernaut gave him the power to temporarily augment the action of any phenomena he made physical contact with—a power that could essentially amplify the magnitude of a given quantity.

  That went for anything from mass, to density, to velocity, and even the forces acting on his body. The minimal force he’d put into that surge earlier was instantly amplified by the law-breaking skill that launched him forward like a bullet.

  The room rattled from a loud impact; the kind commonly accompanied by explosions. A spontaneous reaction wasn’t the cause of that quaking tremor; the thunderous clash was instead the result of pure kinetic energy. A reinforced fist had just collided with an absurdly dense metal shield, resulting in a clash that left the room quaking.

  “GRRR!!”

  Shrugging off the impact, the death knight attacked again. A set of sharp, dark claws swiped at Cyril’s throat, forcing the trainee to hastily leap away from the armored skeleton. He found his bearing rather quickly, but the monster wasn’t done yet, before he could even properly adjust himself the metal shield that easily surpassed five meters in length came swinging at his head.

  He bent his body backwards to avoid the incoming swing that narrowly whooshed past his head with a ferocious rush of air. Quickly adjusting his stance, Cyril advanced, intent on exploiting the monster’s brief opening. It’s center of gravity was thrown slightly off balance from that overly forceful swing, so now, he only had its claws to worry about. The sharp metal tendrils of death reached for his throat again—an effort that was ultimately made futile by a swift palm strike that effortlessly deflected the wicked hand away.

  Now, the monster was open.

  Within a split-second Cyril’s mass increased exponentially, and he wasted no time in channeling that advantage into a furious right hook. His fist easily found purchase, burying itself into the death knights' armor and sending it tumbling away like a ragdoll. Pieces of rusted armor shattered and scattered from the blow, splintering like glass each time the monsters body bounced along the polymeric ground.

  It recovered a few seconds later, leaping back to its feet and staring down the young challenger responsible for the near complete destruction of its armor. Being disarmed and driven to the brink of defeat with a single blow left the creature looking hesitant, it stared ahead absentmindedly, as if it was struggling to process the latest sequence of events.

  “I must say Cyril, I’m impressed. Alice really did train you well, your prowess in close combat is nothing to scoff at.” Olivia’s words of praise echoed across the white battlefield. She hadn’t shouted; the room was simply quiet enough for even the slightest bit of sound to travel easily—hence the abundance of explosive sounds.

  [Notice. It is also possible to use your unique skill for dismantlement.]

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Hm? How so?

  Cyril sent the question to his assistant with a steady gaze. Although he currently had the upper hand, he wasn’t foolish enough to simply let his guard down after only one successful strike.

  [Answer. Your power of augmentation works on the ‘current state’ of whatever phenomena you make contact with, hence if there is already a given flaw present in the current state of a system, your augmentation will exacerbate the effects of that flaw as well.]

  Ah, you mean I can use [Juggernaut] to augment the damage on its armor and destroy it.

  [Affirmative. You are correct; however, this tactic is primarily effective on inanimate objects rather than living systems. The use of an aura can significantly hinder the effect due to their nature as ‘zones of interference.’ Unless your opponent's aura is depleted or weakened, this application of your unique skill will not take effect.]

  He would have normally felt a little startled hearing something like that, but for the moment, he decided to suppress those inclinations.

  Oh, I see. That certainly isn’t something I would have figured out on my own anytime soon. I guess I can finish this now. Immediately after ending his mental transmission, an alarm went off in his mind.

  Alerted by a series of bullish footsteps trampling towards him, Cyril leaned his body forward and viciously stomped on the ground. The resulting recoil—having been augmented by supernatural means—explosively increased in magnitude and produced an impact closer to a small tremor rather than a casual stomp.

  In response, the metallic shield he had plundered from his opponent flicked into the air as if it had been jolted to life. Cyril charged forward again, this time dashing at his opponent with a newfound intensity. The death knight couldn’t exactly be called weaponless since it still had those iron claws, but at the moment they were of little concern to him, his real target had been flicked through the air and was coming down along a perfectly calculated trajectory.

  Cyril snatched the falling shield just as it was about to smash into the ground, the weight of it almost sending him off balance. But with his earlier momentum, he initiated a violent full twist, his spine spinning like a coiled spring, unleashing the stored force. The shield became an extension of his body and skill, whirling through the air with brutal precision.

  The monster’s own weapon had been launched back at it—an outcome it hadn’t anticipated. The death knight slowed its advance, intent on reclaiming the swiveling shield. However, before it could even reach the defensive arm, it was struck with full force, the massive shield slamming into its body like a cannonball. The impact sent the knight hurtling backward, crashing into the ground with a thunderous clatter.

  Driven back yet again, the monster struggled to its knees, its movements jerky and unsteady. As it was about to regain its footing, the creature flinched at the sudden, firm touch of a human hand on its back. Its head snapped around in alarm, only to meet the calm yet unrelenting gaze of its high school foe.

  Cyril stood behind the armored monster; his hand firmly planted on its backplate. In the next instant, the death knight’s armor began to crumble. Sharp metallic fragments splintered and snapped out of place, scattering across the ground as if the entire thing had been dismantled by an invisible force.

  After losing its signature shield, mantle, and gauntlet, the monster was no longer worthy of the title "Death Knight." Now, it was little more than an exposed reanimation.

  [Notice. The opponent’s defenses have been successfully dismantled. Under current circumstances, there is a 98.2% chance of landing a decisive finishing move against the death knight.]

  Cyril drew in a deep breath to fuel his next attack.

  The broken, defenseless mass of quivering bones had no way of countering the incoming assault and could do nothing more than await its demise. Cyril brandished a thin coating of aura and sent the monster skyward with a furious high kick.

  Its ascent came to an abrupt halt when it collided with the ceiling.

  The instant gravity reasserted itself, Cyril unleashed a monstrous leap, augmenting the recoil from the force beneath his feet. The eruption of energy hurled him skyward, allowing him to intercept his opponent mid-descent. He met the battered monster halfway—and wasted no time winding up his next strike.

  He pulled his glowing arm back, focusing intently on the fundamental force he needed to augment. The image formed in his mind almost instantly; once it did, all that remained was to apply the effects of his unique skill to himself.

  [Notice. You have successfully augmented your gravitational coefficient.]

  Aria’s announcement echoed a split second before Cyril’s hardened fist shot forward, unleashing a devastating punch like a wrecking ball.

  The result was utter annihilation.

  Shattered by the force of Cyril's augmented strike, the monster's form disintegrated on impact, poofing into a swirling cloud of black smoke.

  Bang

  Cyril fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

  The impact sent a rumble through the polymeric ground, as though a giant metal ball had just fallen to the floor. From afar, the cause and effect of his descent must have seemed mismatched. It shouldn’t have been possible for the weight of a single human to produce that kind of impact simply by falling. He landed hard, bending his knees to absorb the impact, though his descent was far from graceful.

  Straightening slowly into a victorious stance, Cyril allowed himself the small luxury of a half-grin, clearly pleased with the results of his earlier experimentation.

  “Magnificent.”

  Olivia approached him, slowly clapping her hands together and allowing the weight of each applause to hang in the air like a judgment. Her heels clicked against the cold white floor, each step measured, deliberate, as though she were savoring the moment.

  “Well, well,” she began, her voice dripping with intrigue. “You’ve certainly gotten stronger that’s for sure. We won’t even bother questioning that anymore, right you two?” Her question hadn’t been directed at the young victor. Instead of his input, a response came as an omnidirectional frequency emitted by the myriad of microphones seamlessly integrated into the walls.

  “Indeed. I got some pretty good readings from that little spar earlier, so I have a rough estimate of his new baseline. I’ll run a few tests after you two finish up down there. Go easy on my patient, O mighty S-rank, we still need him in one piece.” the doctor’s proactive reply was swift and to the point, something both contenders appreciated.

  “Well, there you have it Cyril. Looks like today’s your lucky day, there aren’t many people who get to duke it out with an S-rank under such favorable conditions.” Olivia said simply, her assertive stance unchanging.

  “I owe you one, Principal. As you can see, I’ve still got a long way to go, but I’m sure that won’t be a problem for you, right?” Cyril asked with a wink, readying his form.

  Olivia simply chuckled at the boy's cheeky gesture; she waved it off as nothing more than the zealous whim of a precocious child.

  “I’m ready whenever Cyril. As a reward for that brilliant display of martial prowess earlier I’ll let you attack first. The method is up to you, come at me with everything you’ve got. I want to gauge the limits of your strength with my own two eyes.”

  “Alright, if you’re allowing it principal, I have no choice but to go all out.” Abandoning the need for words, Cyril reinforced his declaration through his aura. In response to his battle spirit, the ivory tint of aura hugging his form morphed into a wave of energy that enveloped his body in a condensed shroud of power.

  When compared to Olivia’s display from earlier, it could only be called a meager attempt at best, but from the beginning his aim hadn’t been to surpass her show of strength. There was no chance of that happening, the only thing he could really gain from this fight was experience with wielding a certain kind of power—one he had faced certain doom to acquire just three days ago.