Chapter 84 - Lunacy Sees No Common Sense (2)
Basil patted Deacon's soft fur, while still looking at the petrified Kimberley. He wasn't the least bit offended when Kimberley had laughed at him, he wasn't petty. Furthermore, compared to him, Kimberley was still a kid, and kids tend to not know what they're doing.
"So, shall we continue the match?" Basil asked casually.
Sadly, in Kimberley's ears, it sounded condescending. Therefore, Kimberley clenched her fist, then mounted her Unicorn, Acacia. Facing her right palm upward, her Spatial Bracelet flashed, before an armour helmet appeared in her hand.
"Let us see who is better between us!" Right after saying that, she put her helmet on.
Instantly, her aura changed. With her lance pointing at Basil, she posed mightily like a gallant warrior. To support the mood, Acacia spread her wings. Thus, a scene where everyone could only see in a painting was created.
"Hmm... No wonder she is familiar. So, she is the Lance Valkyrie. To be exact, she will be one in the future."
Surprisingly, Basil had met Kimberley before. Although it hadn't been a meaningful encounter, Basil knew some things about her. The Lance Valkyrie had been Kimberley's moniker in the past. She had been called that way due to her attire that resembled Valkyrie, and her skills in using lance.
Surely, to be called that way, she had been an exceptional Battle Mage. Her valiance, and boldness to charge first in every wars against the Monsters — Demons — had managed to gain everyone's admiration.
She had even become everyone's leading figure. She had led many battles, and eventually died in one of them. Surely, the cause had been her 'people' leaving her behind. That had always happened whenever a 'hero' had emerged in the past.
People. They will be with you, when they can profit from you. When you seem to drag them down, they will unhesitatingly leave you.
Such hypocrisy from the people had been so sickening that Basil had never wanted to be a hero. It had been the reason why he had always refused any help request. His answer at that time had always been the same, "The best person to help you is yourself."
Now that he had recalled the past, he was constantly reminded with the people's hypocrisy everytime he looked at Kimberley.
"Hmph! Stupid girl," Basil snorted softly to himself.
With grace, Basil mounted Deacon who had lowered his body. Infusing Qi to his Spatial Ring, he took out a spear out of it. He spun it in his hand a few times, then pointed it at Kimberley.
"You can wield spear?" Kimberley asked in surprise. Basil merely quirked his eyebrow, before replying, "You can tell?" Unsurprisingly, it irked Kimberley to no end.
She sighed, before shifting her body for a comfortable position.
Whoosh!
Acacia opened her wings. She flapped them once, before taking off to the air. The audiences gasped in amazement at that display. Eyeing Basil like an eagle from the air, she tried to look for a gap to attack him.
Surprisingly, she found none.
"Hmm... What do you think, Buddy? Should we fight airborne too? No? Why? Ah, I see. You are afraid of height."
Instead of minding Kimberley who was flying above his head, Basil chose to converse with Deacon instead.
After being with Basil for eight months, Deacon could already grasp his Master's antics. One of his master's antics that he remembered the most was, his Master liked to experiment.
A few months ago, his Master had had an enlightenment in Wind Magic. His Master had said that he had found a way to fight whilst airborne. Excited, Deacon had immediately requested to practice that together. To conclude the event simply, Deacon had been left traumatized.
"This is bad. We can't just stand here, while shifting continuously to avoid being attacked."
True to his word, Basil and Deacon were constantly shifting to avoid any gaps from forming. Kimberley was left frustrated due to it. Suddenly, Deacon suggested something, and Basil nodded his head in agreement.
"You are right, Buddy. I can just use my Aura. However, let me check whether anyone would notice it, first... Alright, all of them are imbeciles."
No, he wasn't being rude. He was just stating facts — with his standard as the reference. In his opinion, anyone that didn't know anything aside from their own area of expertise was an imbecile. Just like a Mage who couldn't know the moment of Qi utilization.
One needs to know many things, not master many things. Therefore, no one can give an excuse that they know only this, because they are good at that. No one ask you to master anything, but you need to know as much you can.
Basil's Spatial Ring flashed, and weapons floated behind him. To be exact, 3 swords, 5 spears, and 6 short swords floated behind him.
The audiences were bewildered. Such a display of [Telekinesis] from a Third Circle Mage was unbelievable. They had thought Basil could only control up to three things — like what he had showed in his fight with Kinsey. Surely, they didn't know it was Basil's Aura Ability, [Master of Weapons].
That was the advantage of Knight. They were weak in the early stages, compared to Mage. However, when they developed Aura, their growth exploded until they finally encountered a bottleneck, the Purple Stage. Before that, they were normally stronger than most Mages.
Deacon puffed his chest in pride at his Master's display of might. Glaring at the flying Unicorn murderously, he growled threateningly. Now, his Master would make a porcupine out of the flying duo with his weapons.
Sadly, Deacon's thought was wrong. It didn't take long for him to notice the cold steels pressing again his body. Tilting his head to look at Basil, the latter responded calmly, "You are right, Buddy. I should have controlled these weapons to help us fly instead."
If crying without shedding tears was a thing, Deacon was demonstrating that perfectly. Resigning his fate inwardly, he followed his Master's instruction.
Surely, Basil did that just to mess with Deacon.
Howl!
Whoosh!
Wind waves were sent at the flying Kimberley, and her flight was disrupted because of them. In the next moment, Deacon and Basil also started floating with the help of his [Master of Weapons]. Even if he could only perform telekinesis on weapons, there was no saying he couldn't lift things with said weapons.
Thus, thinking out of the box beats the rule!
Out of the 14 weapons Basil was controlling, it took 8 to lift the heavy deacon to the air. Basil's Qi was quickly depleting, and the mental energy it consumed was enormous. However, Basil was used to that. Furthermore, he didn't think fighting Kimberley would take a long time.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Weapons were thrown at Kimberley, and she did her best to avoid them. Still, dodging them didn't mean free from them. They kept chasing her, and eventually led her to Basil. She wasn't even aware of that.
Clank!
Lance met spear. The difference in movement was apparent. Basil was waving his spear wildly yet graciously, while Kimberley was thrusting her lance toward Basil's vital point.
Basil did a great job at fending her attack, however Kimberley was overwhelmed with Basil's attack.
'Such ferociousness! What is this power?!'
She was bewildered at the absurdity of the situation. Not only was Basil flying with Deacon, but he also fought with spear so well! Her hand got numb each time she fended his attacks.
Whoosh!
"Tsk!"
Kimberley clicked her tongue in annoyance, and flew away. Basil's weapons were coming at her. She didn't know how could Basil display such control over his power. It was maddening.
'Just how could he multitask that good?! Do you have two brains?!'
Kimberley lamented in her mind. She couldn't believe someone like Basil existed. He was talented, smart, attractive, and powerful. He was so blessed. He was a cheat-like existence in this world!
Sadly, Kimberley could never know. Basil wasn't cheating. He merely had a headstart. Anyone with experience should be able to pull that. Only idiots couldn't.
Clank! Clank! Clank!
"Wow...! Am I witnessing a fight between Knights? I have seen more swords than Grimoires in this tournament."
"Is that what bothers you? What about the fact that they are of our peers?!"
"Ah! Don't! Don't say it! I'm such a failure!"
"What is wrong with those two?"
"I don't know... What's wrong with you? You're crying."
"Ignore me. I'm wallowing over my inexistent talent."
The reaction was varied. Some gasped in amazement, some in bafflement, while some in envy. Surely, their interest was still put on the battling duo in the arena. No one wanted to miss the ongoing least gory, yet the strangest match.
Woong!
Clank!
Kimberley dodged a short sword coming at her, then charged at Basil. Their weapons clashed, and like always her hand trembled. It was within expectation. Basil practiced Body Forging, while Kimberley merely counted on her [Reinforcement].
[Annihilation Thrust]!
An Art was utilized. It belonged Kimberley. Her lance spun without her hand spinning it, and it was thrust at Basil. Sensing the destructive aura from the attack, Basil also utilized his own Technique.
[Boulder Cleaver]!
Art met against Technique. Basil raised his spear to the air, and swiped it down violently at the incoming lance of Kimberley. The power behind Basil's attack was so overwhelming that her lance was directed downward, and she was brought down too.
Boom! Boom!
Two consecutive explosion happened. The first happened when Basil's spear smashed against Kimberley's spinning lance. The second happened when Kimberley's attack was directed at the ground.
The ground where Kimberley's attack hit was dug, forming a large pit. In the pit, a spiral pattern could be seen decorating it. Not far away from there, Basil's earlier attack managed to make a trench on the ground.
Screech!
Surely, Basil didn't let Kimberley who was trying her best to regain her posture do what she was doing. Quickly coming at her, he jumped into one of the flying weapons, and delivered her another kick to throw her off of her mount.
"Gahak!"
Boom!
Surely, it worked. Kimberley was thrown off of her mount, and sent rolling to the ground. Acacia, Kimberley's Summon, was bewildered. However, her bewilderment didn't last long as it quickly developed into terror.
Deacon was coming at her with his spine chilling smile!
Deacon wasn't mean. He was normally a cute and chill guy. However, he was so stressed currently, due to his phobia of being airborne. Therefore, he needed something to distract him from his stress.
"Acacia!"
Kimberley who had just stood from her fall, quickly cancelled her summon over Acacia, and said Summon quickly disappeared right after. Surely, she would pay the price of facing her eyes away from Basil.
Bam!
"Kuhak!" Basil punched Kimberley in the stomach. "You savage, what are you doing to a woman?!" Kimberley shouted incredulously. Basil's response was simple, "I have told you that I am an advocate of gender equality."
Gritting her teeth, Kimberley did the thing she rarely did, "At least, don't hit my womb, Bastard!" She cursed. Basil was so infuriating that she was forced to curse. Surely, Basil didn't pay her any mind as he answered, "Don't worry, you'll be fine."
Clank!
Boom!
Kimberley was losing it. She lost her patience already. Coming at Basil with everything she got. She poured her pent up rage at him.
Clank! Clank! Clank!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Each time she thrust or swung her lance, either the air or the ground exploded. Her attack was more concentrated and more powerful than before. Sadly, Basil still could keep up with her. He moved with the same grace as before, and the strength behind his attack turned even stronger.
The audiences cringed every time the weapons of the two clashed. The power contained behind the attacks was even visible to the eyes. Countless of Arts were activated, and the fixed arena was ruined once again.
"You! I will finish you!"
Bam!
"This bastard! Why are you hitting me in—"
Bam!
"Gahak!"
Basil paid no mind to each of Kimberley's reactions. He kept attacking her whenever he saw a gap. Surely, her silent cry was also ignored by him. He kept repeating the same thing where he would punch or kick her whenever he saw a gap in her defense.
Until finally —
Sob!
— Kimberley was crying.
She was bullied so bad that she couldn't help but crying.
Thud!
She dropped to her knee, and covered her eyes with her hands. She was trying her best to hide the fact she was crying. Basil stopped his attack, however his attention wasn't on her. He was looking for something, her helmet.
He picked it up from the ground, and moved his feet toward her way. Upon arriving in front of her, he put his hand on top of her head, and patted it tenderly. Surprised, Kimberley raised her head. With her puffy and red eyes, she stared at Basil.
"A warrior shall never cry. They fight, and bear their lost without crying. Whenever they can not handle their pain, they will hide it to their very best. It is the reason why helmet is made." Basil put the helmet on to the bewildered Kimberley's head.
She was so bewildered that she didn't even notice she was gaping her mouth. At that moment, Basil looked like the prince form the fairy tales her late mother had told her.
Sadly, she met Basil.
"Therefore, you should wear it now."
"What do you— Gahak!"
Basil kneed Kimberley right in her solar plexus swiftly and precisely. She had some time to groan painfully and looked at Basil incredulously, before eventually passing out.
Thud!
Her body laid motionlessly on the ground. The referee who had heard their conversation, and clearly knew what had happened, had his jaw dropped. The audiences were also dumbstruck.
Surprisingly or rather unsurprisingly, Basil Pacifer was merciless toward any gender!