The SSS Ranked Villain's Return-Chapter 103: Fighting With A Different Weapon

[Oooh! That’s some progress!] Evangeline said, clear sarcasm lacing her tone.

It took five minutes for all the students to gather, and during that time, Neraxis was still treating the axe as though it were a sword.

So, safe to say, he was not doing great.

Soon, Magnus spoke up.

"Neraxis, show me what you’ve learned."

Time’s already up, huh? Neraxis thought, stretching his back before walking over to Magnus, axe in hand.

"The rules are simple. I will give you the chance to land a solid first hit on me. After that, I attack you back. Most importantly, no usage of mana or skills," Magnus stated, pulling out his sword.

"You may begin."

At those words, Neraxis took a deep breath, preparing himself, and soon, with a kick-off from the ground, he approached Magnus rapidly.

This was his one and only chance to get a decent hit in, so he pooled all his strength into this attack and swung the axe downward like a lumberjack.

But to his surprise, once the axe came into contact with Magnus’s skull, it stopped completely.

A trickle of blood dripped down, revealing a small cut that, in the same instant, healed.

"One hit is up. Good luck, Neraxis," Magnus said with an ominous smile, and before Neraxis could even react, he struck him on the head with his sword’s hilt.

Fuck. Neraxis exclaimed inwardly before picking himself back up and slashing at Magnus as though he were a log of wood.

"Now, everyone, pay attention," Magnus stated, slightly confusing Neraxis before continuing. "What do you all notice? Why isn’t he landing a hit?"

Kael was the first to speak. "Because he’s weak, probably?"

"Not necessarily," Magnus said with an emotionless chuckle. "Anyone else?"

"Technique? He’s using the same footwork as when he uses a sword," Celina answered.

And that seemed to be the right answer, as Magnus nodded in confirmation. "That’s right. He lacks power because he swings the axe like a sword. His footwork doesn’t match someone who would be using an axe, either."

As his words rang out, Magnus walked up to Neraxis and slashed downward.

In response, Neraxis instinctively raised his axe to block.

Yet that did nothing, as Magnus’s sword went straight through the wooden axe’s handle and stopped just before reaching Neraxis’s neck.

"You tried blocking it directly. That’s not how an axe works," Magnus stated. "You are supposed to use the head of the axe to block or, in a similar case, use the shaft to redirect as though you were using a staff."

"As for your footwork? Well..." Magnus continued, sending a sweeping kick toward Neraxis, who evaded it by swiftly jumping upward.

However, that did not do much, as soon Magnus pierced him straight through the bodysuit’s collar, holding him up in the air.

"You need to work on your footwork to evade attacks like these. You yourself use a sword, so I expect you to learn how to counter a sword likewise."

With that, Neraxis was put back down onto the ground, his broken axe by his side.

[Well, you were one cool-looking guinea pig.] Evangeline giggled, making his brows twitch.

But before he could respond, another item was tossed to him. This time, it was a shield.

And soon, Magnus spoke again. "You will go right after everyone’s turn finishes. I want you to learn how to properly deflect and redirect attacks in the meantime."

"Yes, instructor," Neraxis replied and headed back to where the others were.

As he did, Aella walked up to him, raising her hands to his chest and suddenly healing him.

R𝑒ad latest chapt𝒆rs at freewebnovёl.ƈom Only.

"There. Now you can watch us suffer while you’re healthy," she said with a teasing smile and headed forward.

Aella was holding a pair of daggers, and from the looks of it, she was next.

Yet as he was planning to sit back and watch her fight, his phone’s notifications rang out, and as he went to check them, Neraxis froze.

<Shithead traitor: Sup, I’ve got some news or something. Alice and Lar added another person to their clique, a transfer student from abroad or something.>

Taking a deep breath, he replied. <Neraxis: Name? Skills?>

<Shithead traitor: Asher Longhorn, I think. Some assassin-type main skill, which I don’t know the name of, too. Aside from that, he looks equally as annoying as the rest of those bastard fuckers. I wish they’d just die and let me take over.>

Another hero transferred, huh... Neraxis thought with a conflicted look before muting Bale for the moment.

Asher used daggers and had a personality equal to Lar himself, so it was already a perfect combination of shitty people.

However, Asher in particular, despite his arrogance and all, was a coward through and through.

He was also one of the people Neraxis beat into shape, yet he betrayed him in the very end nonetheless.

Four heroes have already appeared, so aside from me, five more should still be out there. I got along with two of them, but the rest definitely need to go. Neraxis pondered while taking a glance at Aella, who was doing even worse than him.

She swung around in a circle with her daggers outstretched, yet all that managed to do was make her dizzy.

"...Aella, just use this stick for now," Magnus said with an exhausted sigh and took the daggers out of her hands.

"Yes, sir," she replied with a confident look and soon walked over to where Neraxis was.

"How did I do? Were you impressed?" she asked, her chin held high.

"I think you’d make a perfect ballerina," Neraxis responded truthfully, making her halt on the spot.

"Never mind. You are being ignored until this lesson is over," Aella said, avoiding his gaze.

Hearing that, he could only shrug.

Now, it gave him some time to think while, in the meantime, Celina stepped up toward Magnus with a pair of gauntlets on her hands.

Surprisingly, she was pretty good at fighting with them. Her movements were concise and minimal, and her footwork was nearly perfect.

But still, there were many flaws in her gauntlet technique, as she was making the same mistakes Neraxis had—fighting as though she were wielding a pair of daggers was certainly not helping.

Besides that, she got a good score—much better than Neraxis—and right after was Aurelia’s turn.

She was holding a sword, sloppily swinging it around, missing Magnus when he wasn’t even moving.

"Stop, stop... Aurelia, you can use a wand instead," Magnus intervened and handed her a different weapon since, clearly, she could not fight physically.

Now, only Kael was left out of the entire group, and to Neraxis’s surprise, he was given a bow to fight with.

But that was not even the most surprising part, as Kael seemed to be able to perfectly wield the bow, even nearly hitting Magnus’s vitals from time to time.

Is he good with every weapon or something? Neraxis wondered as Magnus suddenly stopped the fight.

"I’m giving you throwing knives instead. Your bow proficiency is too high."

Kael rolled his eyes and picked up the new weapons before heading over to a corner and lying down, attempting to sleep again.

After several more bouts between Magnus and the students, it was once again Neraxis’s turn.

"Neraxis, I hope you at the very least practiced the shield techniques in your mind, because all I saw you doing this entire time was lazing around and staring at the others," Magnus said sternly, but Neraxis ignored him and walked up to him, shield in hand. Explore more at novelbuddy

"Are you ready?" Magnus questioned, but before Neraxis could even reply, he had to raise his shield, blocking a heavy sword blow.

"Rule number one of using a shield—always be prepared to block."