Rivers of the Night - Chapter 53

Chapter 53: Single Combat

Theron walked through the Exams one after another.

Sometimes he would stop to restock his Mana, but often he would continue through as though he had done nothing at all.

His clever methods seemed endless, and he was never unprepared. Smoothly transitioning from one Exam to the next, using unique methods that most never even considered.

With the Class One Ranged Assault, the fault had been obvious to Theron from the start. The formations weren’t like Mancers; the Mana they sent was consistent and didn’t have a Mancer’s intention or unique quirks attached to it.

Because of that, by studying the formations ahead of time, Theron could get the hang of the Mana he would be dealing with and even practice its manipulation before the Exam.

On top of that, Mana Bullet might not be the [Water Bullet] that he was familiar with, but its properties were nearly identical. Having reached the Consummate Boundary with the latter, he couldn’t have been more familiar with how to manipulate it.

Similar scenes played out in his next Exams, each one having a fault for him to take advantage of.

By the sixth Exam he passed with flying colors some began to wonder if he was planning on hitting 33 Credits today alone.

No… hadn’t he already?

The realization hit them like a ton of bricks—until they realized it didn’t count. Theron was of the academic stream, but these Classes, weren’t they all of the military stream?

They had been so shocked by the Class One Ranged Assault Exam that they hadn’t even realized this.

For some reason, Theron was taking one military stream class after another. Despite having already crossed the 11 Credit minimum requirement set by the new Academy rules, he was still going.

…

‘This will be the last.’ Theron thought calmly as he opened his eyes from his final meditation.

He stood.

This time, he was in a simple room. There were no fancy formations, no elaborate obstacle course, just him, four white walls, and the puppet across from him.

It stood in plain robes, waiting for the random parameters that it would be given.

This puppet would either turn into an Elemental or a Flux Mancer, but its specialty would be unknown. It could just as easily become a Fire Mancer or a speed-based Flux Mancer.

This was the one Exam that Theron couldn’t prepare for in advance. Well, he could… but that preparation would mean being ready for every possible combination of Mancer within the two large groups.

‘Not every…’

When some thought they couldn’t prepare, Theron still found some ways.

For example, he knew that this puppet could only properly simulate the four main Elemental Mancer Paths: Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth. He also knew that there were only four Flux Mancy Paths it could replicate: Strength, Speed, Defense, and Flexibility.

Of them all, Flexibility was the one Theron knew that he would have the greatest trouble with.

Flexible Flux Mancers sounded odd, but they were adept at manipulating their muscles and tendons. They were decent at absorbing and dispersing blows through themselves, making them half Defensive Flux Mancers, but they were also more unpredictable than Defensive Flux Mancers.

They often dual wielded weapons, could contort themselves in odd ways, and had erratic attack patterns.

For someone like Theron who liked to calculate his every step, and outwit his opponents to victory, taking advantage of their quirks to pin them into a corner, a puppet was almost too easy to defeat…

Unless it had such a unique quirk to it.

Walking over to the side, Theron picked out a short sword to use. His expression didn’t change in the slightest, but feeling the weight of the sword was almost like touching on the same weight in his chest.

He had been quite calm since the start of this excursion despite the risk he was well aware he was taking. If he was correct, the suspicions of those in the know about the undercurrents rushing through Thistle Brook City were already on high alert.

But being forced to use this unfamiliar short sword—feeling that it did not balance as nicely in his palm, missing the familiar warmth his own once gave him—by the time he stood in front of the puppet again, there was a deathly frostiness in his eyes.

“I’m ready,” Theron said lightly, his voice just as gentle as always.

The puppet, which had had its head lowered, suddenly raised it. It opened its palms, a pair of daggers manifesting in them as they were teleported over.

This wasn’t an ability of the puppet, but rather a unique mechanism designed to prevent the Exam taker from preparing more than they already had.

The mechanism didn’t decide that it was definitely a Flux Mancer, but Theron already knew that it was only one of two things.

Speed or Flexibility.

The moment it attacked, its arm jetted out in a wide arc as though using it like a whip, and Theron knew that he had gotten the one type he would fare the worst against.

The dagger slashed down, fast and quick, carrying an almost savage barbarianism to it.

It took all his attention, so much so that most wouldn’t notice the puppet drop its second dagger to its feet, catching it with its toes and readying a kick at the same time.

But Theron certainly did.

He had said a Flexible Flux Mancer would be the worst opponent for him.

He had never said anything about that making much of a difference to whether he would get the S-grade or not.

Theron lunged forward, sending his head under the whipping arm.

As though he hadn’t seen the first attack at all, his sword slashed toward the puppet’s leg.

The first attack was odd, hard to track, and it carried the motion of a flinging whip, applying a great amount of power at the very tip of the blade.

That was nice and all, but to Theron it was a movement that took too long to complete and left the puppet wide open.

It was a whip, so it got much faster during the end of the motion. But what difference did that make when Theron had seen it, deduced it, and made a decision before it could hit its top speed?

His blade slashed right at the puppet’s leg just as it was catching the dagger with its toes. Because of the motion, it was stuck in place, not having a chance to dodge.

Theron’s blade cut it in two at the knees.

The puppet tipped over, the momentum of its first attack sending it tumbling.

When it crashed to the ground, Theron was already standing over it, his foot on its head.

He looked down with an indifferent coldness, driving his heel into its temple.

The formation cracked, a pale layer of Mana over the puppet shattering.

Its head was just fine, the material it was made of far too strong for Theron to destroy in such a way. But the shattering of the Mana signified its death.

It snaked up, its severed leg reattaching until it was standing upright again. Its head fell forward and it stopped moving.

Theron had already returned the short sword, slowly opening and closing his now empty hand.

—

[Class One Single Combat Exam]

[Test Taker: Theron Galethunder]

[Result: 00:00:00:03]

[Grade: S]