The Over-Break System

“ON MY MARK…BEGIN!”

Unlike the battle between Cynrik and Dr. Effrin, neither Brance nor Mr. Kein moved when Professor Hues started the fight. Instead, they both stood as if frozen in time, waiting for the other to flinch. The two stood still, feeling out each other for 30 seconds before the first person grew impatient.

Mr. Kein thrust both arms downward and equipt two solid metal gauntlets that covered his arms to his elbow before punching the air in Brance’s direction.

Brance’s eyes narrowed as he witnessed a slight ripple effect in the open space and raised his left shield up, protecting his body. Half a second later, a loud CLANG rang out in the training room, the impact of which forced Brance to slide back several steps. Then, flinging his left shield to the side, Brance went into action, raising his right-handed shield parallel to the ground; he accumulated the Ambient Wind particles onto the point of the CS Tear and fired off an [Air Missle].

The swift counter-attack didn’t catch Mr. Kein off guard as he side-stepped the attack before punching two more wind-based skills at the young boy as he went on the move.

Seeing his opponent circling around the ring and trying to gain advantageous positioning on him, Brance countered the movements by mirroring Mr. Kein’s steps. All the while, both combatants fired off consecutive skills.

Mr. Kein cursed under his breath as he picked up on Brance’s accurate placements. He could see that every time he moved, the boy followed, never allowing the initial space between them to close more than half a meter before opening it back up.

Like this, the two circled around the ring several times, firing off attacks like they were machine guns. The main difference between them was Brance would take the attacks head-on, either deflecting him away with one of his shields or full-on blocking it, while Mr. Kein kept narrowly dodging the attacks.

Professor Hues, Cinyah, and Dr. Effrin watched in silence below the ring as the two on the above put on a ranged battle clinic; based on their weapons, it was clear that the two fighters were supposeded close-combat fighters. However, as the first round progressed and neither combatant gained ground on the other, it became a strange back and forth battle of Affinity skills.

Cynrik ignored the reactions of the peanut gallery and focused on his brother’s fight; if anyone had looked close enough, they would be able to see the colorful shimmer rippling around his pupils, signifying the use of [Mana Sight].

‘Even though Brance is good on the offensive, he prefers to be a counter-attacker. It isn’t surprising that Kein is steadily gaining the advantage, though, but odds are this is something Brance wants. To lure him in close before popping off like a grenade, the only problem is, Kein is too agile. My own movements are far from his, but only because of the Stat difference.’

As Cynrik observed the quick adjustments Mr. Kein made as he flitted around the ring lightly, the fight shifted gears.

Like Cynrik predicted, it was Mr. Kein who changed the pace. Planting his right foot down and changing directions suddenly, he contorted his body, kicked off the ground, and blurred out of sight.

BANG, BANG! BANG!

Brance grunted loudly as he shifted his body weight and braced himself against the metal gauntlets slamming against his shields. Since Mr. Kein was moving too fast for his eyes to keep up, Brance’s only option was to turtle behind his shields. Knowing he was at a massive speed disadvantage, Brance’s mind spun as he tried to come up with a solution, but it was increasingly more difficult as time went on because he was being rocked back and forth each time Mr. Kein struck him.

Having no other choice, Brance used his [Earth Shield], which created a 2×2 meter rocky dome of protection encasing himself inside. Knowing this wouldn’t buy him much time, Brance slammed both CS Tears into the ground and started placing traps all around himself.

‘Don’t use [Mana Sight], he says; we need the practice he says. FUCKING HELL CYNRIK.’ Trying his best to keep calm, Brance scattered several small rocks the size of a thumb all around himself. To call these little pebbles traps was a bit of a stretch, but he had come up with an idea on the fly and could only execute it as such.

CRACK, CRACK

Feeling the [Earth Sheild] was about to shatter, Brance took a deep breath and began cycling Light Mana through his codex and into his arms.

Under his hood, Cynrik smirked as he caught on to what Brance was about to do, almost feeling sorry for Mr. Kein…almost.

CRASH, FWOSHHH

Finally, after nearly 20 consecutive strikes, Mr. Kein was able to break through the rocky dome, but just as he did, he was forced to lean as far as he could due to a sudden blast of air shooting out of the torso-sized hole in the dome.

Wasting no time, Brance punched out with both shields and shattered the dome, sending chunks of rock at the man like missles and dashed out of his skill’s remains. Crouching low to the ground as he ran, Brance dragged both of his CS Tears along the ground, stealthily scattering more rocks as he bore down on Mr. Kein, who had backpedaled away.

Taking control of the ring, Brance expertly juked to and fro, forcing his opponent to constantly stay on the move as not to allow the young boy close. But unfortunately, Mr. Kein had yet to realize he had already fallen into Brance’s trap.

Suddenly coming to an abrupt stop and piercing the ring with the tips of his shields, Brance looked up, smiling brightly at Mr. Kein.

“That’s checkmate, Mr. Kein.”

“Huh?” Mr. Kein said in a stupor, but the next moment his heart sunk, as dozens of small rocks floated up into the air and started squirming as if made of liquid. Then, feeling a piercing pain in his ankles, he looked down and noticed that he had been locked in place just like Cynrik had done to Dr. Effrin. But instead of shadows, stone had covered his legs almost up to the knee.

Not wanting to admit defeat, Mr. Kein made a split-second decision and forcefully struck the stone covering his ankles, freeing himself. Still, soon he was stunned as those little floating rocks shifted into spikes, surrounding him in a floating wall. Feeling something was off, Mr. Kein looked up above his head and what he saw caused a shiver to run down his spine.

Floating above his head like the sword of Damocles were three massive shining ethereal greatswords. With constricted pupils and sweat soaking through his clothes, Mr. Kein slowly looked at Brance, standing confidently with his hands raised in the air like a puppet master.

“I don’t wish for you to be the first to taste my Light Affinity Skill [Swords of Judgement], but if you don’t concede, Mr. Kein, you will force me to act.

From the beginning, Brance never expected his Earth trap to hold the man for long; he only needed enough time to congregate enough Mana to form his only Offensive Light Affinity skill. Although the floating spikes formed by his Wind and Earth Fusion skill [Surging Earth Spike] and the entrapment with [Rock Form] were a diversionary tactic, the actual checkmate was his [Swords of Judgement] hanging above Mr. Kein.

Clap, Clap, Clap

“The winner is Young Brance Jetlensr; Mr. Kein, this is your loss.”

Hearing the voice of Professor Hues announcing him as the winner, Brance exhaled and waved his hands, releasing all the Wind, Earth, and Light Mana, dispersing his skills.

“Tsk, couldn’t draw it out to the second round, just had to show me up,” mumbling under his breath Cynrik uncrossed his arms and glared at his younger brother.

“Young Brance, Young Cynrik, I need both of you to come over here for a moment. Now that the sparring matches have concluded, I need to measure your Stats to complete your Academy profiles.”

“Yes, sir.” Brance, as obedient as ever, climbed down from the ring and stood in front of Professor Hues at attention.

“Heh, I guess.” Cynrik, on the other hand, lazily walked over with his hands behind his head.

This was the part he was most worried about. Fighting was easy, but allowing others to get a full readout of his and Brance’s Stats spiked his anxiety considerably.

Ignoring the reactions of the two young boys, Professor Hues waved his hands and removed a large device similar to the ones used during the Physical Exam and placed it gently on the ground.

“Now then, this device is slightly more advanced than the ones you’ve previously used. It will allow us to get a complete view of your Status Profile, Stats, etc. Therefore, Mrs. Jetlensr, I require your permission to administer this test.” After making sure the machine was up and running correctly, Professor Hues waved Cinyah over; a few seconds later, she gave her approval officially and signed a document stating such.

However, when she turned around and saw the look on Cynrik’s face, she knew he was about to be difficult. Going as far back as when they were very young, Cynrik had always been determined, for some reason, to keep his information hidden from anyone, even herself and Rikard. So how could she not know he was about to kick up a fuss. Seconds later, she was proven right.

“Is this really necessary? I don’t see why something as private as our personal Status, Stats, Skills, and Affinities are required by the Academies for enrollment.”

Gripping Brance’s shoulder to stop him from walking up to the machine, Cynrik spoke with one eyebrow raised.

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