Under the Veil of Night

After Patrick finished saying his words, he stomped on the ground and dashed straight towards Ayres, the bulky man. Seeing Patrick's movement, Ayres swiftly took out his sword and blocked the incoming spear. The metal clashed with one another, giving resounding sounds to the rest of them.

Yet, it was not finished.

Ayres pushed Patrick back using his sword, but Patrick had moved his spear in a circular movement before thrusting forward once again. He aimed for the heart of the man, yet Ayres blocked it.

His face green in anger at the obvious target Patrick showed to him. "Don't you kidding me!"

Kicking the spear from below, he sprang forward. Spear user's weakness was always close distance, so he hoped to reach Patrick before he could recover from the attack.

Patrick knew Ayres' intention, but he sneered. He circled the spear from the front to the back. It's point was now pointing to his back, but Patrick paid no heed. Using his other hand, he pushed the blunt side of the spear forward towards Ayres, who has closed the distance between the two of them.

The spear reached straight towards the man's finger.

Ayres' sword halted on the air, his eyes were filled with disbelief. Did this man has just disarmed him?

Fingers were the most important and fragile part for sword, blade, and many kind of weapons. It was the part that they needed to protect the most because injuries in them would mean that they wouldn't be able to fight that well.

As they were locked in their place, Patrick raised his knee and kicked Ayres. At the same time, Ayres jumped to the back, avoiding the attack. His face turned solemn.

"It seems, you're not all brawl," Ayres commented.

Patrick smirked. "Who tell you that I only rely on my strength? They must be dreaming."

Ayres's gaze narrowed. He knew that Patrick wouldn't be an easy opponent for him, so he had to prepare himself for the worst. Snorting, he readied his stance once again, this time he would not make the same mistake.

"Come here, you brat!"

Patrick's face darkened. "You're the bratty one! I'm older than you!"

"Hah? With this skill, dream on!"

"You're the one who dreams!"

While the two of them were engaged in a fight with insults thrown all over, Kanae headed straight to Anna. Her movement was halted when Anna raised her hand and the gravity around her was multiplied over and over.

Kanae gripped her sword tighter as she focused on the woman before her. It was then she realized that she had seen this woman before.

'She's the woman who stays near Iris, right?'

As her new friend in the school, Alan, loved to talk about Iris so much, she had grown accustomed to the news around that woman. One of them was the fact that there was one woman who almost never stayed away from Iris's side, Anna.

Although Anna appeared to be a normal high school student, Kanae had sensed that there was something different with this girl. However, she never guessed that she held this much power.

"You won't be able to get close to me!" Anna yelled. She exerted more of her power to make gravity field around her. Those unfortunate people who stayed rather close also felt the ground pulled them harder. It was so hard for them to stay standing on the same spot.

Kanae's eyes narrowed. She also felt her body grew heavier and heavier, but it was not above her limit.

'I can't lose.'

The limit of how many Anna could make the gravity was unknown and if the other party wanted to destroy her using this power, she had to think twice.

Kanae heaved a sigh as she waited for her body to grow accustomed to this body-wrecking pressure. Even though she had never told anyone, those who stayed close with her should have known about her real ability: adaptability.

Wherever she was, she would adapt to the new situation at the fastest speed possible. And if she actively tried to adapt, she would be able to cut the speed to make it even faster.

Stomping her feet on the ground, she dashed toward Anna. Surprised at the attack that Kanae gave her, Anna raised her sword. Her eyes dilated in surprise. She had made the gravity far heavier than usual. How could this woman move like it was nothing?

Gritting her teeth, Anna pushed the gravity even higher. From inside her body, she could feel that her brain felt hurt. She knew that it was already her limit, but she had to push harder or this woman would hit her.

Clang!

Forcing herself to move in the insane gravity field, Kanae pressed forward. Her movement became far slower than Anna, allowing the girl to gain advantage early on. Numerous blade wounds appeared on Kanae's arm as she tried her best to block the attack or evade it.  However, her movement started to become swift.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Their blades crossed with one another, and Anna could feel that she was the one at the losing end.

"You can't be this strong!" Anna roared angrily.

Kanae forced her feet to move even faster. No matter how hard it was, she pushed herself so that she could be faster and attacked the woman relentlessly.

On the other side, Kevin was facing Megara again.

"You won't defeat me, Kevin," Megara sneered. "I have grown even stronger than the last time we met."

The last time they fought was only two days ago on the island because Megara wanted to test his skill. Kevin knew that the only way for Megara to grow stronger was only by consuming the medicine.

"We shall see, Megara."

Megara grunted and sprang from his position. His long steel rod made its way towards Kevin, but the man blocked the attack easily. The rod quickly moved from the position and Megara launched numerous attacks towards Kevin.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound of metal clashing with one another could be heard loud and clear. There was no doubt that their fierce battle wouldn't end soon. Although Megara had only consumed a bit more of the medicine, his strength has indeed raised more.

But still, it was not enough to face Kevin.

Blocking the attack from Megara, Kevin parried the rod to the side. He twisted his body by making circular movement towards Megara and slashed his swords against the young man. Noticing the sudden danger, Megara managed to leap behind in time, allowing him to avoid the deadly attack, yet still sustained a heavy wound on his right arm, nearly cutting it off.

As blood flowed out from his wound, Megara stared at Kevin closely. He wouldn't be able to use his skill to the fullest anymore, but he didn't want to die yet.

"You'll die today, Megara," Kevin said coldly.

"I don't think so."

The voice didn't come from Megara, but from behind him.. Immediately, Kevin leapt out from his position towards the other side.