BXBX NOVEL Chapter 67: Battles (2)
Trevor laughed. "Suit yourself kid." he pointed at Natsu Mori. "You there. Go on up."
Natsu Mori sighed. He was hoping to be the last to fight, but luck wasn\'t on his side. Natsu stepped into the Arena and pulled out the flute strapped to his side. Trevor initiated the battle without waiting for their confirmation.
Neither disciple made the first move. Natsu wasn\'t a close range type, so he wanted to see what William would do. William lacked battle experience, so he was just completely clueless. He didn\'t want to rush forward and fall into Natsu\'s trap.
How come I got all the weird ones? he complained. The other battle arenas were very standard, where both sides clashed with swords or daggers. Gunther was probably the only other Manamatus in the group, while Natsu Mori was the only disciple using an instrument as a weapon.
Natsu noticed William looking at the other arenas and became slightly angry.
"If you\'re not going to make the first move, don\'t mind my rude behavior!" Natsu placed the flute to his lips and released a low note.
The soundwaves spread throughout the arena and slammed into William, forcing him back a step. Before William could recover, a second note was released, knocking William off his feet.
William wasn\'t just idly taking hits though. His mind was working to figure out the secret of Natsu\'s weapon, and the second note might have just revealed a flaw.
William stood up quickly and instantly prepared a Basic Barrier Array. The third soundwave crashed into the Barrier, but caused no significant damage even though the Barrier was very weak.
Natsu was surprised at William\'s thinking speed. Only a few seconds had passed since the start the fight, yet William had already discovered a way to counter the Ancient Flute. He smiled and changed the arrangement of his fingers on the flute. "Let\'s see if you can block this!"
Hearing Natsu\'s words, William set up a second Basic Barrier in advance. He wasn\'t worried about losing the fight, but he didn\'t want to risk being knocked out of the Arena.
The note played this time was a higher pitch and much faster than before, but it didn\'t carry the knock back effect of the previous notes. William felt his Array disintegrate as the sound waves pierced the first Barrier and destroyed the Runes from the inside.
The second Barrier was also destroyed, and the note continued traveling until it reached William\'s Forcefield that he had activated at the last second.
The note tried to destroy the Forcefield, but it was too weak after going through the first two barriers and dissipated after only causing a small amount of damage.
This still surprised William, as his Forcefield was almost as strong as an Advanced Barrier Array, yet the note caused some damage. It seemed that the Basic Arrays reduced its piercing power for each one it went through, because of William had just used his Forcefield to defend, he might have received serious injuries.
"What is that flute?" William asked warily. Even Trevor took a second look at Natsu\'s mysterious weapon. He could clearly see the notes targeting the Runes of William\'s Array, almost as if it was the bane of Array Masters.
Natsu smiled. "That\'s not for you to worry about!"
His stance changed again. He played four soft notes in quick succession, resembling a lullaby. The soundwaves merged in midair, becoming a miniature tsunami.
William set up four Basic Barriers in quick succession, but it turned out to be useless. When the soundwaves reached the Arrays, it was as if they fell asleep. The Runes were still present, but the Barriers fell one at a time. Even William\'s Forcefield was useless.
The soundwave hit William directly, causing him to stagger. His eyes became heavy and William felt very tired. Even so, William had just enough time to realize what was happening and quickly communicate with the System.
System, upgrade my Sleep Resistance Talent.
———
TALENT UPGRADED
Sleep Resistance: (E --> D)
Next rank up: 25PP
———
The upgrade was almost instantaneous. William\'s body received a burst of stimulant that allowed him to dodge a dangerous note from Natsu at the last second.
Natsu raised his eyebrows. "I saw you ignore Filipe\'s Mind Vision earlier, but I was still skeptical. It seems you have quite the willpower to stay awake after my Melody of Sleep.
It seems I can\'t afford to go easy on you. Prepare yourself, William." Natsu\'s expression turned serious.
His fingers began to dance across the flute as an intense song played, launching dozens of notes.
William realized he couldn\'t just take Natsu\'s attacks like this. He created a dozen Basic Barriers to deal with Natsu\'s onslaught, then adjusted his speed to the Foundation Establishment Realm.
William noticed a flaw in Natsu\'s ability. After each series of notes there was a pause that increased in length depending on the number of notes played. It seemed Natsu needed some form of preparation before his next attack.
Once the notes and Barriers canceled each other out, William took the opportunity to attack. He rushed forward at a speed that Natsu couldn\'t react and delivered a simple punch just like how he dealt with Filipe.
Natsu tried to resist the punch with a final note, but it was cancelled out by William\'s Forcefield. Natsu was punched a second and third time before he was finally pushed out of the Arena.
"William wins again!" Trevor announced. His mood has greatly improved since the first battle because of these disciples. A Manamatus, an Array Master with unnatural speed and strength, and a Bard with an Artifact. This year is full of talented newbies.
Trevor couldn\'t compare to any one of them when he was in their position. His talent only skyrocketed when he started Cultivating and awakened his Elements.
He flashed a miscievious smile at William, who was pretending to be exhausted. "Since you decided to stay another round, why don\'t you finish it off?" he pointed at Carl. "Do I even need to ask you to go? Everyone else has fought at least once."
Carl became grumpy. No one ever talked to him like this back home! He held his tongue though, since Trevor was in control of his grades. He walked into the Arena with a calm smile and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"You have a lot of talent, friend. You\'re an Array Master and have trained your body well.
Unfortunately you haven\'t awakened that powerful Magic of yours yet. How about you give up this fight? I don\'t want to waste my trump card on you, but I will if I have to."
William normally would have given Carl a piece of his mind, but seeing his luxurious clothing and noble elegance, William felt he had something to gain. "What\'s in it for me?"
Carl was surprised at William\'s reaction. "I can give you 100 Gold Coins! How about it?"