Chapter 299 - 1 V 3 [2]

The boy hadn’t expected Asher to react so quickly while he was still in the air. For a brief moment, his expression showed genuine surprise at Asher’s timing.

However, Asher’s trouble wasn’t over yet.

The archer girl had already fired another arrow, and it was rapidly approaching him while he was still in the air. Asher noticed it and immediately moved his sword.

He deflected the arrow with his blade and changed its direction at the same time, sending it directly toward the boy with the sword, who was still surprised.

The arrow completely caught the boy off guard. In his wildest dreams, he had never expected Asher to deflect the arrow straight toward him.

He was even more surprised that Asher had managed to do it in such a short amount of time, while still dealing with the other attacks coming from different directions.

The arrow struck the boy’s shoulder, forcing him to stumble backward. His balance was disrupted, and he struggled to recover while keeping hold of his sword.

The only student who was still in a position to attack Asher immediately was the boy holding the spear. Asher turned his attention toward him while still falling toward the ground.

Asher raised his sword and slashed downward toward the spear-wielding boy with all the momentum he had gained from his jump and fall.

The boy quickly raised his spear and used it to defend against Asher’s incoming strike. The weapons collided with a heavy impact as the boy tried to withstand the attack.

Both of them had the same strength because of the test’s equalization. However, Asher had an advantage because his attack carried additional momentum from his fall and the force of gravity.

The force of Asher’s downward strike pushed the boy down. His legs almost gave out, and he nearly fell onto his knees under the pressure.

Even so, the boy managed to maintain his balance and successfully defended against Asher’s strike. He tightened his grip around the spear and pushed back against the sword.

Asher was pushed backward. Though the truth was that he had intentionally allowed himself to be pushed back, using the force to create some distance before counterattacking.

As soon as he moved backward, Asher immediately swung his sword in a side slash toward the spear-wielding boy. The boy quickly moved his spear to block it again.

Their weapons clashed once more with a sharp sound. However, the moment their weapons collided, Asher suddenly moved backward again, creating distance between himself and the spear-wielding boy.

At that exact moment, another arrow passed through the space where Asher had been standing only a moment earlier. Asher looked at the arrow before turning his gaze toward the girl.

The girl’s expression was filled with confusion and frustration. She had already fired several arrows, but she still hadn’t managed to land even a single attack on Asher.

Before she could fire another arrow, Asher suddenly ducked down exactly where he was standing. A mana bullet passed straight over his head a moment later.

The mana bullet had come from behind Asher.

Asher calmly turned his gaze toward the direction it had come from. He saw the swordsman standing there, holding his sword in only one hand.

The boy had already pulled the arrow out of his shoulder. His shoulder was bleeding, and he clearly couldn’t use that arm properly anymore.

Because of that, he was now holding his sword with only one hand. Despite his condition, he had been the one who fired the mana bullet from behind Asher.

What surprised the boy even more was that Asher had somehow dodged the mana bullet without even looking backward once. It was as if Asher had known exactly where the attack was coming from.

The three students looked at each other before turning their attention back toward Asher, who was still standing between them. However, the situation wasn’t what it appeared to be.

Asher wasn’t the one who was trapped between them.

Instead, they were the ones trapped here with Asher.

All three looked at Asher with wary gazes. Their bodies remained tense, and they stayed completely alert, carefully watching every movement Asher made.

At that moment, all three of them had the same thought in their minds.

’Does this guy have eyes in all directions? How can he dodge every attack, even when the attack comes from outside his range of sight?’

None of them could understand how Asher was doing it. Every time they thought they had found an opening, Asher somehow noticed the attack before it even reached him.

While the three students were still thinking about this, Asher stood calmly between them. Then, a genuine smile slowly appeared on his face.

He suddenly laughed, and his tone was filled with excitement as he said, "This test is more than I ever expected it to be."

Asher continued laughing for another moment before suddenly stopping. He then looked down at his free hand with a slightly disappointed expression.

"Only if there were one more sword, it would have been more fun," Asher said, sounding genuinely disappointed that he couldn’t fight with two swords.

The three of them didn’t comment on anything Asher had said. Everyone in the class knew that listening to Asher and reacting to his words was more dangerous than his sword strikes.

Asher’s mastery in ragebaiting was somehow even higher than his sword skills, so they wisely decided to ignore everything he said and focused completely on the fight.

Asher then checked the timer. There was still plenty of time left because hardly any time had passed since they had started fighting each other inside the special area.

Asher then shifted his gaze toward the boy holding the spear. He was the only close-combat fighter who remained completely uninjured, making him the most suitable opponent to fight next.

Asher then strode toward him.

All three students immediately noticed Asher moving again. The girl quickly raised her bow and placed another arrow against the string, preparing to fire.