I woke up, wincing in pain, reminded of the dumb decision I made to tank her hit.

  God, I should never tank hits like that again.

  “Che, you’re awake cri-uh, I mean Bennett.”

  “Huh, Mikasa?”

  “I’m just here to tell you that next time you won’t be so lucky. I’ll make sure to crush you like I did that guy. Hmph.”

  She leaves the hospital room just as Jason enters.

  “Hey, man, congrats on the win! That was a pretty close match. I didn’t expect you to take a direct hit. You could’ve just hit her in the back with that overloaded Cinder Fall.”

  “Ugh, as much as I’d love to do that, I only took the hit to lower her shield’s durability and make her drop her guard, guaranteeing my win. It was only a technical win, though. If it were a real fight and not one in an arena, I’d have lost.”

  “Haha, of course you would’ve. She’s got monstrous stamina, regeneration, and strength. Plus, she was doing the least amount of movement, so your speed would’ve eventually dropped, and you’d have gotten hit.”

  “I know, Jason. I was lucky I got her out of bounds. If it had been one of those no-out-of-bounds arenas, I’d have definitely lost, since they specialize in long fights.”

  “Ugh, but my chest is killing me.”

  “Haha, don’t worry. The medical care is covered by the tournament organizers.”

  “Thank God. I don’t want to spend money on hospital bills.”

  “Of course! And I also brought your grand prize.” He pulls out a high-quality quarterstaff. “Tadaa! I’ll leave you to it. Haha.”

  He left the room, and I relaxed for a bit before taking the staff and inspecting it. Then I grabbed my bag from beside the bed, took out the book, and retrieved a higher-quality rune, placing the book back in the bag. I started drawing the rune on paper, failing a few times before finally succeeding on the first try. Heh.

  I transferred the rune to the staff and filled it. As it filled, I thought back to the fight.

  “Hm... The skills I’m learning make the staff use more magic. They might have a fixed duration, but using special skills makes them drain faster and shortens the duration. So getting a second high-quality quarterstaff is a must. Good thing I’ll have enough money soon to buy a second one, but I’ll need to stay hospitalized until my wounds heal enough.”

  Two weeks passed before I fully healed and was finally allowed to leave the hospital.

  Sigh "Time to get back to my usual schedule."

  After the tournament, I gained a bit of reputation but nothing impressive. Most people still believe I cheated and refuse to accept that I won, clinging to their delusions.

  Three months passed quickly.

  I finally achieved full mastery of Savage Swipe and absolute mastery of Cinder Fall, which meant I could now start working on my third skill.

  At the same time, I advanced from Advanced Body Enhancement to High-Advanced Body Enhancement. That gave me a noticeable boost if I took that hit from Mikasa now, I’d probably walk away with just a cracked rib instead of multiple broken ones.

  As for the new skill it’s called Revolving Cinder.

  I spin my quarterstaff rapidly, and the mana inside it generates flames at the staff’s head, forming a ring of fire.

  This skill boosts the power of both Cinder Fall and Savage Swipe, enhancing their effects without using more mana.

  The downside? It drains the quarterstaff at a much faster rate while active.

  There's also a more advanced stance version of Savage Cinder just a new combat stance to switch into for more versatility.

  yawn “God, I wanna go to bed. Nothing new going on.”

  “Pfft, if I weren’t about to leave for the military academy, I’d drag you into a sparring match,” Jason said, stretching.

  “I’ll leave you to take care of this place. You could’ve enrolled too, you know but good luck, man.”

  “I’ll be seeing you around. Don’t worry you’ll know when I head off. Just need to handle a few things first.”

  “Make sure you do. See you around.” He steps into the taxi.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  I watched Jason leave, then turned and headed back into the sparring center. I entered one of the training rooms, took out the new quarterstaff I’d ordered, and started inscribing its runes. After testing it and comparing it to my older one, I found that together, they could last around 37 minutes assuming I didn’t use any special skills.

  Basically, one lasts 18 minutes, and the other lasts 19.

  Well then rings a number on my mobile

  "Hey Dad, hey Mom, I just wanted to say I’ll be registering for a military academy. I’ve even decided which one."

  "Yeah, yeah, I know about my illness, but I found a way around it."

  "No, I can't use mana outside my body, but I was able to learn to make runes that will extract my mana into a weapon. Since it's still my mana, just in another container, I’m still able to control it."

  "Haha, don't worry, Mom, I’ll be sure to take care of myself. I love you, Mom."

  "And Dad, don't worry. I found a more advanced form of body enhancement skills too. Also, thank you for your support."

  "Oh, the name of the military school I plan to sign into? It’s called Scorched Academy."

  "Yeah, I wanted to join the same one as you, Dad."

  "Haha, I'll show them there, Dad, that just because I’ve got this illness doesn’t mean I’m worthless. Love you too, Dad. Bye."

  Hangs up the phone

  That’s my family. Now, I’ve got to sort out my apartment.

  I made sure everything was fine and my attention wasn’t needed before nodding at the current manager of the sparring center the one Jason hired.

  I arrived at the apartment owner’s place and entered.

  "Hello, sir, I’m here to let you know and to pay you in advance, as I’ll be leaving the apartment in two months."

  "Of course, here’s the cash."

  I gave the money to the owner and left.

  Anyways, I’m a lot faster compared to a few months ago and have finally doubled my speed compared to last year. And that’s not even including my speed with the enhancement applied.

  I still use the weighted clothing, and I take it off once every week so I can get used to my speed before putting it back on. Unfortunately, its effect is quickly becoming limited again, so I’ll need heavier weighted clothes but I can’t afford it. Ugh.

  I drove back to my apartment.

  Two months passed quickly. Everything has been packed as needed, and I sent the majority of my things to my parents, only keeping clothes, money, and my quarterstaffs with me.

  I took a train and relaxed. My destination will take 6 hours by train, so I got nothing much to do. I already informed Jason, so he knows I won’t be at the sparring center either.

  Six hours passed quickly, and I arrived at my destination. I saw a massive wall that stretched endlessly, in my opinion, and a large building, which I knew was called Scorched Academy.

  I traveled to it and had already informed the principal of the military academy, the one who accepted me because of my father’s recommendation.

  But I still have to pass a battle test before I can be fully accepted. I was only given a chance.

  Soon after, I arrived at the school reception.

  "Hello, my name is Bennett Anderson. I'm here for the military combat test."

  "Hmm? Oh, you're the kid the principal told me to look out for. Well, welcome," he said lazily.

  "Such a great welcome. So where do I go?"

  "Well, leave your stuff here. I’ll get someone to bring it to your room. As for where to go, there’s the training field that way. That’s where your test will be."

  "Thanks, sir." I left to where he said, not seeing the glint in his eyes.

  "Hehe, this is going to be fun, causing some chaos. Wonder how they’ll react with him entering the current school tournament, even though his actual test area is the opposite way."

  A guy returns.

  "Jesus, principal, are you trying to get that kid killed?"

  "Nah, I just felt it was too boring, so I might as well test him myself by sending him to the tournament area. Right about now, they should be asking if there are any other challengers since the finals are done."

  The guy just facepalmed and informed the teachers of the principal’s decision, causing them to groan and hurry to the stage.

  "Have fun, Principal Theo Marlow," he said as the principal left, wondering how this lazy guy got the job and then remembering how he somehow runs the place better than the previous principal.

  Back with Bennett:

  I entered a large stage, and there seemed to be all the students of the academy. I heard a commentator.

  "OH! It seems we got a challenger! Someone unsatisfied with the result seems to have arrived. Well then, get on the stage!"

  "Wait, what challenger? Wasn’t this supposed to be a test?" I said, but was completely ignored by the crowd and commentator.

  "Come on, kid, we ain't got all day. Get on stage!" the commentator said.

  "Ugh, fine." I tiredly took my quarterstaff and went on stage.

  "Well then, what’s your name, challenger?"

  "Bennett Anderson."

  "Thank you. Now I announce the match between the challenger, Bennett Anderson!! And our current Champion, KAERIS 'THE OVERCASTER' ELARION!!"

  The crowd cheers, while others in the crowd were confused, as they had never met Bennett and wondered why he was here.

  Soon after, the principal entered his VIP area, which was seen by the students, and they realized the principal tricked some student into coming via the challenger area to fight Kaeris poor dude.

  The principal, meanwhile, was drinking his beer as various teachers came in and started complaining about what he did. They didn’t even know the kid’s capabilities because of his illness.

  The principal just smiled.

  The commentator saw the principal, nodded, and stopped the fight from starting, as he saw the principal enter.

  "Well, may the fight begin," he said awkwardly, since he had to stop it just before the two fought.

  "The hell, this looks like another tournament! Am I really at the right spot?" He looked around with a poker face, realizing he was tricked into entering the finals of another tournament. For God's sake, why?

  Kaeris looked at Bennett. "Tch. You must be the replacement the principal found to fight me, but damn, I can't sense anything from you. What, are you a cripple?"

  "I feel like there’s a misunderstanding here."

  "Hmm? What misunderstanding? You entered here from the challenger side, meaning you're unsatisfied with me and want to fight me. Hmph."

  "Uhh, if I told you I was told to come this way for my combat test evaluation by some lazy guy, would you believe me?"

  Kaeris just blinked and groaned. "For nature’s sake, so I’m being used for a combat test for some newbie? Well, fine, I’ll show him never to send newbies the wrong way."

  The crowd: Damn, he’s here for the combat test. His capabilities are unknown. The principal is really screwing him over.

  The principal: "Hehe, show them what you got, kid. This way, no one will underestimate you because of your illness."

  He watched the local tournament of the city’s old friends, including Bennett’s family, so he already remembered how Bennett fights and knows his abilities.

  The fight begins.

  Kaeris immediately covered the floor in water before freezing it, almost trapping Bennett in the ice. But he dodged just in time by jumping, giving Kaeris the perfect moment to attempt a strike by making a stone spear underneath him.

  "Stone Spikes!" Multiple stone spikes shot toward Bennett beneath him, forcing him to use Savage Swipe to break every stone spear. On the other hand, vines rapidly covered Kaeris as he made a barrier of vines Entanglement, as the skill was called.

  Meanwhile, on Bennett’s side:

  He’s under heavy pressure right away, different from Mikasa, who never used a named attack, meaning she held back, and Jason, who usually only uses lightning. This is the first time he’s against someone who uses multiple different mana skills.

  Cinder Fall! He shatters the ice on the floor, and the vines that attacked him got repelled by the shockwave of the attack. He sees that more stone spears are being sent toward him. He’s draining his staff’s mana too fast with how much pressure there is.

  The crowd: Damn, he’s still up despite all that pressure! Many of us would’ve lost by now!

  Back to Kaeris:

  He’s sweating heavily, using too much mana, casting all these skills which fits his title of Overcaster.

  Bennett noticed the rapid decrease in pressure and switched staffs. Even though there’s some mana left in the first one, he activated Revolving Cinder and went from Advanced Body Enhancement to High Advanced Body Enhancement, causing him to blur out of many attacks. He then used Savage Swipes to destroy the barrier of vines, taking multiple hits to his back as the vines wrapped around him, but the barrier was absolutely destroyed.

  Kaeris’s side:

  "What the hell? How is he still standing? Oh no, no, no, my barrier! My mana reserves are about to run out! Damn it!" He launches a bunch of ice spikes at Bennett the moment he breaks his vine barrier.

  Bennett’s side:

  "Damn it! Cinder Fall!" He strikes the ground, causing a shockwave that shattered or forced the ice spikes to deviate a few inches. Despite how close they were, one pierced his shoulder, causing him to wince, but he saw Kaeris’s eyes go unfocused for a second giving him the chance he needed to hit Kaeris out of the ring with a Cinder Fall attack.

  The commentator: "Bennett Anderson wins! He beat Overcaster Kaeris!!"

  The crowd was silent for a few seconds before cheering.

  They never expected to see one of the best mages in the academy lose to a newbie, but it felt good. Even though Kaeris is one of the weaker elite members, it’s still an achievement

  Chapter 4 End