Reverse Transmigration: From F-rank to SSS-rank-Chapter 22: A worthy opponent, A real fight

Chapter 22

I made sure my clone was hidden behind the tree, away from the eyes of others. The guy who my clone had a knife pressed tightly to his neck remained frozen, clearly taken by surprise.

His teammate realized what just happened and attacked my clone with a kick, but his attack passed right through and only hit the tree, denting it a little.

"What the hell is that? Take it away from Bruno." The aura farming dude barked, glaring at me, surprised and confused as to why his attack had no effect. Then he tried to attack me, swinging his arm straight for my face.

"Touch me and I slice his head off." I warned coldly, but i also knew he wouldn’t listen, after all...they were only teammates and had no real special connection outside this exam.

His fist formed blue flames as his attack came my way, but I teleported effortlessly straight for behind him, holding the wrist that was meant to punch me and twisting it hard enough to rip his feet off the ground and hurl him hard against the ground, dislocating his wrist in the process.

High rank ability was one thing, but if you had no fighting skills to back it up, you were more or less weak. Now I understand why they would go through such lengths to cook up an ambush. They had S-rank abilities but were still at level six, weak combat skill, little to no experience in actual fights, and fucking stupid.

"I overestimated pathetic weaklings once again." I grunted, twisting his wrist harder while my feet crushed against his chest, he screamed, his other hand clutching and trashing against my hand that held his wrist, forcing it to let him go.

"So what do you say? You dwell with your teammate, or still wanna fight me." I asked, looking down at him with a cold gaze that I’m sure sent a chill down his spine.

"We dwell, now let him go." His other teammate barked, although he still remained captive to my clone, otherwise I’m sure he would have butted into the fight.

At this point, the low whispers of mockery and laughter had died down as they all seemed invested in the drama unfolding before their eyes.

Just right then, when I least expected it...i felt a sharp pang of pain cut through my right chest. Since coming here, this was the first I’d gotten injured. I looked down to where I felt the pain, and right there was a gaping round hole. Whatever had attached me had passed right through, leaving a whole behind.

I looked up to where the attack came from, and there stood a tall pale dude with flowing silver hair, blue eyes and neatly ironed uniform. His silver hair cascaded down his shoulders, flowing with the wind, and he held a bow made from pure ice. Which meant that he’d just shot me with an arrow made from ice.

He could have had my heart if he wanted, but he intentionally missed it. Interesting.

A smirk curled on my lips as I let go of the wrist of aura farming dude, my attention now focused on the guy who’d just attacked me. He was strong, I could sense it. I hadn’t sensed his attack until it hit me, and most of all...the aura pouring out from him was different from all other opponents I had fought at Voldrak.

The wound on my chest was beginning to heal, my demonic powers stitching the skin together, although it still bled a little, staining my white shirt.

"You made a mess on my shirt, silver boy. And don’t you know it’s rude to interrupt others?" I asked, raising a brow as I observed him. He seemed confident, but slightly tensed. Not from intimidation, but anger.

A let out a soft mocking chuckle, "what’s with that look? Is he your brother?" I asked, gesturing to aura farming dude still laying on the floor and clutching his broken wrist.

But silver hair dude didn’t say another word and lunged towards me, using ice to support his speed and sliding faster towards me. All the other students who’d been watching began moving away, like they were running from danger.

Lilian’s voice cut through my head, "I just realized who they are. They’re the mute brothers, the one with the silver hair is the highest ranking student of Voldrak. I’ve only heard rumors but I’ve never seen him. For some reason, they’ve never spoken, so people call them the mute brothers."

"And how high is his rank?" I asked in my head. I needed to know what I’m dealing with.

"S-rank level three."

The moment Lilian’s words ended, the silver-haired bastard was already on me. His ice skates scraped across the ground, sending shards flying in every direction as he closed the distance with frightening speed.

I braced, forming a quick barrier across my chest. The instant his blade-like ice construct came swinging, it clashed against the barrier with a clang sharp enough to make my teeth rattle. Cracks spidered across the barrier, and the force shoved me back a good three steps before I dissolved it and teleported behind him.

My fist shot forward, aiming for his ribs, but he spun unnaturally fast, ice exploding outward from his back like spikes. I barely had time to reinforce my arm with telekinetic force before the shards pierced through, I was still new to this ability so it was challenging to use mid combat. The impact of his attack still tore into my skin, blood spraying as I grit my teeth and powered through, smashing him in the side with my elbow.

He slid, heels carving into the dirt, but he didn’t fall. He just smirked.

Cold mist rolled off his body, lowering the temperature in the area so fast the stream beside us started frosting over. Some of the onlookers cursed and stumbled back, the air turning sharp enough to burn lungs.

I raised my hand, telekinetically ripping a rock from the ground and hurling it at him with enough force to crack bone. He didn’t dodge. He raised a wall of ice, the rock shattering into dust before it reached him. Then he lifted his bow again, faster than I expected.

The arrow came out of nowhere, I barely had time to raise a barrier. The icy projectile slammed into it, splitting the air with a shriek, and my barrier shattered like glass. The arrow still cut across my cheek, leaving a cold sting.

"Not bad," I muttered, swiping the blood away, the cut already healing. My eyes glowed faint purple as my eyes glinted with a thrill I hadn’t felt in a long time. "But you’ll have to try harder."

I teleported, appearing right above him, and stomped downward. He reacted instantly, a pillar of ice launching him up to meet me. Our collision sent a wave of frost and raw force blasting outward, shaking the trees around us.

He caught my leg mid-kick, ice crawling fast up my shin. The cold burned deep, threatening to freeze bone. My hand shot to his wrist, telekinetic force exploding outward like a shockwave, shattering the ice and forcing him to let go.

I didn’t give him time to reset. I twisted midair, slamming a kick across his jaw, sending him crashing into the ground. But even as he landed, he stabbed his hand into the dirt. The ground erupted in a forest of jagged ice spears, shooting up in every direction.

"Shit—"

I teleported again, reappearing on safe ground, only for another arrow to whistle toward my chest. I flared my barrier, catching the arrow, but it didn’t break. The arrow froze against the barrier, then shattered into a storm of smaller shards that exploded outward.

One shard drove into my shoulder. Another cut across my thigh. I staggered back, blood running warm down my skin.

He rose from the field of ice like a demon, his silver hair whipping in the wind, his eyes locked on me with that same cold fury.

This wasn’t going to be easy.

I spat blood, grinning anyway. "Finally," I said, cracking my knuckles as my aura flared. "A real fight."