63 Chapter 63: Glacial Battle (1/2)

When Jie Bing glanced at the holographic image of Teacher Fielding, I also turned to look, only to catch sight of a familiar figure at the corner of my eye.

To my astonishment, Alicia Violet was present, along with a crowd of spectators. For some reason she had joined Harvey and the other members from Ultimate Outcast Society to watch my match. She smiled when our eyes met, and waved at me. I blinked, and then turned my head away, feeling embarrassed.

”Ahem…” Teacher Fielding coughed, bringing me back to reality. ”Student Richard, are you ready?”

”Oh…yeah. I am.”

I was still wondering why Alicia was here, but I guess it didn't matter. I could ask her later. For now I should focus on the match.

”Ready…fight!”

Teacher Fielding swung his hand down, and began the match. Jie Bing was regarding me from a distance, and he politely signaled me with a hand.

”Please,” he said. I tilted my head to the side, and smiled, before reciprocating the inviting gesture. After all, I was a summoner. I had no business launching the first attack. Besides, the more time I could buy for myself, the more advantageous it was for me. Especially since I would be able to summon my soul beasts soon.

However, Jie Bing wasted no time. When he saw that I had no intention of attacking, he launched himself forward, kicking off the ground with a thunderous noise. His explosive dash almost took me by surprise, his ferocious momentum carrying him forward and allowing him to cross the relatively huge distance between us in a single bound.

”Whoa!”

I dodged Jie Bing's first punch, spinning to the side and avoiding his fist. However, Jie Bing displayed surprising dexterity by flipping himself over my head, twisting around and smashing his other hand down toward the top of my head.

”…what?!”

No, that was not from me, Jie Bing or the spectators. That was a cry of shock from the existences beyond the fourth wall. You guys seemed taken aback that I started the duel between Jie Bing and me so soon.

What? Did you really think I was going to spend three whole chapters on needless exposition, listening to annoying comments and remarks from the ”crowd” about my low chances of beating Jie Bing, give cameos to various beautiful girls who had thus far nothing to do with the story, make fun of their jealous male subordinates who were trying to trick their beautiful captains into going on dates with them, as well as drop a gigantic info dump upon the readers detailing the big clans, the duel system politics, boundary field technology or a dossier about how talented my opponent was and how he was going to force his way into Jing Tian Academy's team of representatives?

Fuck all that. I wasn't Skeleton Wizard, and there was no point dragging out exposition and throwing loads of info dump for the sake of it. People claimed it was ”world-building” but honestly did you need three whole chapters of exposition, explanations, and crowd reactions before you finally started the actual duel?

In any case, I wasn't stupid enough to stand around and block the attack. Instead, I slid to the side, jerking my head away before his hand could land on my skull. Jie Bing landed and rammed his elbow upward, almost cracking my jaw, but like Dad did the other day against Troy, I deflected his strike by hitting the inside of his arm and altering the trajectory of his attack. We broke apart, but Jie Bing was not done yet.

Whirling around, he sent a roundhouse kick toward my chest.

”!”

I managed to cross my arms and parry the kick, but the force behind his attack send me skidding backward a few meters. Heaving, I lowered my trembling arms to study my opponent.

Amazing…and he hasn't used any magic or spells yet…

This was exactly the kind of training and results my Dad had emphasized. To master martial arts before magic, so that you would have a solid foundation for combat instead of relying too much on magic. This was simple martial arts, and right now Jie Bing was overwhelming through basic techniques alone.

”Hu…”

I exhaled and shook my shaking arms before reasserting my stance. Tilting my left hand so that my palm faced upward, I gestured him to come at me again.

Jie Bing wasted no time charging rapidly at me. He punched at me again, but this time I stood my ground. Deflecting his fist to the side, I then hammered a few sharp, rapid blows into his chest while moving my assault up to his face. Jie Bing staggered, but he managed to shield his face. Twisting to the side, he lashed out with a kick, but I blocked his foot with my leg before he could complete his attack, and then forced him backward, causing him to stumble.

While he was off balance, I seized the opportunity to ram a fist into his midriff, causing him to double over. Jie Bing gritted his teeth and countered with a right book, but I managed to parry it with my forearm. Deflecting his next punch, I then struck, my hand moving like a serpent and weaving through his defenses to flick his head.

”Gah!”

Jie Bing blinked as his vision exploded. But as he fell, his leg shot up in a powerful kick that forced me to retreat. I twisted to the side to avoid his foot, and then rammed my knee against his falling body, causing him to hurtle several meters away. Jie Bing hit the ground, but he immediately rolled back up to his feet and restored his stance.

”…”

Now it was Jie Bing's turn to take a deep breath. Shaking his head, he sighed.

”You really are similar to me, aren't you?”