Chapter 13: Sky Fall
In the sky-forest island, northern of main island of the academy. There exist a large forest where most activity are conducted or where some of the quest are located. It is also where some of the resources in the academy are harvested. Near the edge of the island, where the sky-ferry port is built there is a large clearing.
Curretnly, in that clearing is hundreds of student. Some were wearing a gi, while other wears their uniform.. half of them carries a weapon, while the other half carries nothing and are even barefooted.
And currently almost all of them are heaving deeply and are panting. Although there are some who doesn't seems to be affected.
"NOW THAT THE WARM-UP IS OVER, ALL OF YOU WILL BE GIVEN A FEW MINUTES OF REST.. AND WHILE YOU ALL ARE RESTING.. I WANT YOU ALL TO LISTEN UP." An overbearing voice echoed throughout the clearing.
"THE NEXT ACTIVITY WE WILL BE DOING IS A SPARRING SESSION IT WILL BE A SPAR BETWEEN THE UNARMMED COMBAT AND WEAPON COMBAT STUDENTS.." The man continue to speak, but what he said caused some student to be confused and shocked.
"YES YOU HEARD THAT RIGHT! YOU UNARMED SPECIALIST FUCKERS! LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING! IN THE BATTLEFIELD, NO MORON WILL DROP THEIR WEAPON TO FACE YOU JUST TO MAKE IT FAIR FOR YOU, SO ILL MAKE SURE YOU ALL LEARN THAT FROM ME."
"WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD EVEN JOIN A WAR WITH JUST HIS FIST? THAT IS SUICIDE! SO SINCE YOU ALL ARE STUPID ENOUGH TO TAKE THAT STUPID COURSE IM PRETTY SURE YOU DONT MIND GETTING FUCKED IN THE ASS BY MY CLASS! NO?" He asked, looking around with a sneer.
Sudennly the unarmed combat student realized..'wait..why is he talking shit to us and the path of body mastery? isnt he our teacher? ' they have a bit of suspicion but cant really accept that fact.
"Dont listen to him, my cute children!.. Don't worry, I'll train you all to death to the point that your bodies become weapon themselves.. Once our curriculum is finish I will bet my entire right arm that no half assed attacks will penetrate your skins at all... so... cheer up! kay?" Suddenly the lady besides the hulking man replied.
"WENCH! I TOLD YOU ALREADY! STOP SITTING ON MY WEAPON!" The man wearing a gi spoke to her.
"Oh my, Mr. Barry.. please dont call me that! My name is Winch! its an 'I' not 'E' you're being rude right now" Winch replied feining hurt as she 'cutely' held her hand to her heart.
"YOU WENCH! ONLY MY MOTHER GET TO CALL ME THAT! CALL ME KING YOU STUPID WENCH!" Barry King yelled at her even louder.. at this point everyone are worried the two would brawl it out.. but fortunately.. ms. Winch hopped off the war hammer and stretched before walking to the side of the clearing.
"Ah, alrighty.. those who belonged to the unarmed combat course, please gather on this side of the clearing" Winch spoke, and with her word. Her class made their way in her side.
And thats when it was confirmed. The fragile lookinng woman infront of them is the teacher of the Unarmed Combat.. While King, the hulking man across them is the teacher of weapon mastery.
Even Arteus was surprised by this. Currently, he took his uniform's suit because it's quite hot, and currently he's only wearing the polo long sleeve with the vest while sitting somewhere in the back...again. Because, first he doesn't like it when someone is close to his wings.. and second.. its too cramped and it smell's like sweat there.
'it's too gay for me' he thought as he looked ahead, looking at the young sweaty dudes in the formation and shivers.
"ALRIGHT! LET'S GET STARTED.. YOU! SINCE YOU'RE IN THIS SIDE OF THE CLEARING I'LL ASSUME YOUR COURSE IS WEAPON BASE COMBAT TRAINING?" Suddenly, King yelled pointing at someone in the crowd.
"....Me?." Arteus looked behind him, expecting someone else is there. Only to see a tree trunk.
"NO DIPSHIT IM TALKING TO THE ANT BESIDES YOU — WHO ELSE AM I TALKING TOO? DO YOU THINK OF ME AS A MORON?!?!" King yelled, thick veins popping on his forehead as he speaks.
"YES!" Arteus replied.. making the entire class quiet down..did he just say that? Does he want to die?.. murmurs spread around as they looked at him.
"I MEAN YES, THIS IS MY COURSE PLEASE DONT MISUNDERSTAND!" Arteus yelled again, trying to fix the possible misunderstanding as he doesn't really want ro get expelled or get into trouble where a teacher is involved.
"....GWAAAHAHAHAHAHA! THAT'S THE SPIRIT! LITTLE CHICKEN! I LIKED THAT! COME HERE! " After a long silence.. people started imagining how the boy with wings would die.. only to find the instructor to be laughing his ass off.
Hearing him, Arteus looked around.. and realizing that he'd have to circle around to get in the center clearing he decided to fly over with one single flap of his wings.
Of course he doesn't care if other bastard eats dust.. that's not really his problem. And of course this cause some people to cursed out as they shield themselves from the wind.
Arteus meanwhile landed and had to brace his hand on the soil to steady himself. Since he used only a single flap he basically just lunched himself forward, making the landing quite rough.
Standing Infront of the instructor Arteus had to strain his neck to look at him. While the instructor looked down and assess him with a raised eye brow.
"Before we start l'll ask this... Why chicken wings?" King asked him, confusion and wonder etched on his face.
"Huh?" Not understanding his questions Arteus just looked at him with a strange face.
"Why would you choose those wings to manifest? That give you so much disadvantages.. I dont see the reason why you would choose the form of flight" the hulking man in front of him said.
"I dunno, it's not like I deliberately chose this.. it just came to me when I needed it the most" Arteus replied, although he still doesn't understand the question he gave an answer that he thought thw instructor was looking for.
"ah... So a desperados huh? Interesting... Now, go kid.. entertain me..get up there and get ready while I choose your opponent" King replied as a low chuckle came from him.
Then, he began looking around. Until his gaze fell into someone from the unarmed combat class.
Smiling even harder he pointed at him. "YOU! COME UP HERE!"
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Arteus stood, his body tense as he looked ahead.
Across him is another guy.. definitely older than him by a few years.The guy stood 6'5 and covered in bulging muscle.
He almost looked like the mini version of instructor King.
Suddenly while thinking of what to do, the man across him sprinted and jumped and spun mid air to perform a spinning kick.
Arteus reacted he braced his leg behind him and had his wings moved to cover him.
*PAH!*
The sound of the kick rang out as Arteus stumbled back, groaning in pain.
'Shit, I need to get some distance! I can't win this!' he yelled in his mind.
When he suddenly felt his center of gravity shift. He didn't notice the man had swiped his legs off with a leg kick.
And before he could further react. The man grabbed his wings and pretty much slammed him overhead into the ground before he started spinning him and throwing him into a tree from a distance.
*GUAH!*
"URG..fuck" Arteus groaned as he slammed on the tree.
"Jakecove, dear! You shouldn't have thrown him and instead slammed him in the ground, then step on his chest while your other hand stomps on his face until he passed out or die! You wasted an opportunity!" Winch who was watching on the side place both her hands around her mouth while shouting and giving advice.
Jakecove turned at her and nodded slightly before running after Arteus who is still haunched over by the tree.
"HAHAHAHA! YOU STUPID FUCKER! NOT ONLY DID YOU HAVE A CHICKEN WINGS YOU ALSO HAVE A CHICKEN BRAIN YOU STUPID BASTARD! IF YOU WIN THIS ILL GIVE YOU SOMETHING GOOD! SO STOP EMBARRASSING ME YOU USELESS SHIT AND GET MOVING!" King on the other hand didn't really give an advice and even went to insult his supposedly student.
'Fuuuck.. I needed a weapon! Since this was a weapon mastery class i thought they'd provide us with a weapon to choose from! So I didn't brought anything!' Arteus had already began running.
When he suddenly stopped.
"What the fuck have I been doing?" He spoke..
And suddenly a surge of dust blew back all around him as he finally took off.
"FINALLY! YOU STARTED USING THAT USELESS BRAIN OF YOURS! I THOUGHT YOU WOULDN'T EVEN FLY THE ENTIRE MATCH LIKE A MORON" King's yell echoed out as he laughed hard.
"Now win for me chicken boy" he said as he watched the young man hovering in air as his wings flaps behind him.
"Just because your student can fly doesn't mean mine wouldn't be able to fight back.. Not only did that boy is way smaller, I believe he lacks the experience with those wings of his.. whats more you chose the one who have been training hard before they got in the academy." Winch began speaking to him while she stood besides him with her arms crossed.
Their side difference was so immense that it look silly.
"Shut up wench.. You already made the bet earlier.. if you loose you better keep your word" King looked down and smirked at her.
"It's WINCH! W-i-n-c-h! Winch! And no! I won't loose! And I never break my word! Who do you take me for?" Winch replied her brows and her nose scrunch up in annoyance.
"Whatever pipsqueak"
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'Now that I'm using my wings..how should we fight with it?' he thought.. looking down towards his opponent. Who despite him being able to fly kept his cool and stayed in his stance. Which appears to be similar to a Kata stance.
'How do one even fight with wings?' he asked himself only to recall how some bird hunts when he was observing them before.
"Maybe that can work?"
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The students below the ground kept their eye's on the large clearing in front.
"Who's that bitch? Come down already and fight Jakecove! Coward!"
"Are all weapon mastery class pussies??"
"ugh this shits boring..why do we even have to watch this?"
All kinds of whispers and murmurs echoes throughout the crowd. While one person remained fixed on the fight.
'what is he doing? we're getting embarrassed in here! Instructor should have chosen me first before that rude boy!' Amelia clenched the spear that was laying on her lap. As the fight in front of them remained in a stand still.
And finally someone made a move after a long pause..
Their attention was called back into the field and watch as Arteus soared into the sky and..... — vanished?
"Is he running away? Hahahaha fly away little pussy!"
"Is he a noble? I can't see since he's not wearing his complete uniform..but whoever he is, he's embarrassing his family!"
"Boooo!!!"
Complains began growing as more people got bored and annoyed in the match. Some of the Weapon mastery students are complaining too..
"Fuck.. why did teacher chose a late enrollees anyway? He's shitting in our image!"
"Ughh I'm cringing so hard right now"
Amelia who was getting increasingly annoyed was about to stand and call for instructor King when she saw him smiling in anticipation.. he was smiling so hard that he looked like a crazy psychotic maniac in an episode.
But she knows what that mean.. something is about to happen....
.....
A long silence.. Even Jakecove who have been keeping his stance and alertness active is slowly relaxing as he started thinking that Arteus have left.. even his respect as a fighter towards the little guy is decreasing..
But then — they heard it.
A whistling sound... Accompanied by roaring of the wind.. the similar sound earlier when that winged boy landed.
He's doing it again..
'An attack? Or a feint? What kind of attack? Directly from ontop? A punch?? But why? The impact would definitely injure him as well if he decides to do any kind of assault'
Jakecove who had his senses flared up to the max kept thinking and anticipating his opponents move was slowly moving around the clearing..
He was slowly walking around, looking around, his entire body ready for the next
atta —
*BOOOM*
First, Jakecove saw a split moment of something blurry coming from the front of him which came out of the treelines.
Then..
A sudden impact came and Jakecove was sent flying across the dirt and rolling a few times before he landed on a flip.
A blood ran down his lips as he kept his stance unbroken
They didn't know what happened.. they only heard a whistling of the wind and a sudden wind gust, then they saw Jakecove getting sent flying.
"Hoh.. that's pretty devastating" King spoke his eyes locked on Jakecove's figure.
Unlike the rest of the students Winch and him saw what happened. Arteus who dived from great height flew into the forest, evading tree and coming out in the clearing.. he seems to have done it because he knows everyone is expecting him to come from the sky..
And when he got out of the treelines he flew directly straight to Jakecove and used his wings to do a front flip while flying and pretty much dropped kick Jakecove on the upper abdomen.
Before flying up once more. He was surprised to see Jakecove didn't pass out from that.
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.
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On the other hand, Jake kept his stance up as he warily eyed the treelines.
'The trees! H-he can fly accurate enough to evade the trees in the forest!.. I.. need to keep an eye out in those direction' Jakecove gritted his teeth.. he feels like passing out...but sheer determination and adrenaline kept him powered up.
The entire place is quite..those who were complaining earlier shut up.. and some even tried to make sense of what just happened.
And it wasn't long before they heard the familiar sound of whistling wind.
Hearing this Jakecove began running.. running in an uneven pattern and turns while keeping his guard up, his senses focused on the trees around him.. picking up any sound that came.
He ran further away from the crowd away from the teachers.. but when he looked back everything slowed down.... he saw them staring at something ... Over him?
His eye widened his heart sank.. the attack he was expecting to come from the tree line didn't came.. Arteus went directly above him!
'Shi —
But it was too late....
*BOOOM*