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Part Thirty-Four

Watching Matthew’s battle was interesting for Cassandra who was leaning on the rails in the stand. Unlike Nick who had a very smooth and balanced style when fighting, Matthew was like an unpolished gem. She thought he have a lot of potential.

Being able to control gravity was a very rare EXO ability, so she couldn’t give him guidance. However, with proper training he would learn on his own. No one can say what his limits were as they did not know either.

She bit her lower lip as she focused on the battle below.

Matthew used his gravity EXO ability in a very basic way, but it worked. Put pressure on his opponent to make their weight heavy, making them work twice as hard to move. This wore them out because they had to exert more energy and it slowed their movements. Matthew himself was not affected by the gravity so his movements was normal. Picking off his opponents was easy.

Matthew was moving at his own pace, when he encountered a group of individuals he already placed an area of gravity around them. Entrapping them and leaving them to their fate.

The weapon he used was also unique, a kusarigama. He swung it around and kept his own distance from his opponents. Easily tangling them up as he tightened the chain around them. Forcing them to give up, or knocking them out.

At other times he’d rush in and use his kusarigama in a melee fight. However, he rarely did such a thing.

“Interesting.”

Fred only said one word, but it caused Cassandra’s ears to perk up. He was always so full of himself and the amount of people he gave compliments to could be counted on two hands. Although ‘interesting’ wasn’t really a compliment, it was still high praise coming from Fred.

Cassandra thought he was interested in Matthew, maybe bring him aboard for their nightly activities.

“I like his style, he could work on his footwork more. With his ability, it is best to focus on speed rather than power. I’m curious to know whether he could use it to lighten himself. If he could and was proficient in it, he’d be a speed demon.”

Cassandra gave her opinion on Matthew as she watched him. She threw a few quick glances at Fred to see what expression was on his face.

“He’s not bad, and yes he could use more work. I think he’ll find his own path. I just find it interesting as for his weapon of choice. A kusarigama, a medium and close range weapon. Something different from all the others in the academy, I believe once he learns how to control the weapon it wouldn’t matter what path he chooses. His name will spread, it’ll be good if he could learn his own weaknesses.”

Fred spoke, explaining what he thought about Matthew and his style. His vision wasn’t set on Matthew, unlike Cassandra his eyes wandered over the stage.

‘This years talent is golden, a pity I was among them.’

Fred thought to himself as he wished he was younger. If he was he’d be able to fight amongst them and challenge himself. His younger self could only fight the strong students of the other academies. The amount of students that could challenge him here when he first entered was basically zero.

He was actually surprised to see how far they’ve come in two years. From arrogant freshman who thought they were the best in the world, to young talented juniors.

Entering the academy he always this notion that he would learn nothing, but he was wrong. There were a few things he picked up over these two years that he was grateful of.

“Argh! First there was Nick and now this guy? I claim him!”

Cassandra almost pulled her hair out as she grabbed her long brown hair and gave it a slight tug. She was interested in Matthew, his ability, his weapon. All of it was so new to her she needed to find out more about him.

Fred raised his eyebrow as he looked at her.

“Going after younger guys now?”

Cassandra was stunned for a moment and understood how her words could be misinterpreted. She didn’t mean it in a way of romance, but in another way.

“No, he may be handsome but I don’t think he’s my type. I’m going to take him as my disciple.”

Cassandra said clearing up the misunderstanding between her and Fred.

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She enjoyed more muscular men who could take control of the situation. Matthew wasn’t, or at least he didn’t seem like that. Fred was more of her type, but… they were not a thing.

“Ah, I see. He’ll probably decline though.”

“What do you mean? He has no reason to decline.”

Cassandra pouted a bit. She was more experienced than him and willing to teach him, why would he decline?

Fred pointed down at Matthew.

“He just doesn’t seem like the type that would pay attention to the teachings of a girl.”

“How do you know?”

Cassandra asked as she was curious where Fred got that from.

“Just a feeling.”

Fred answered as he shrugged his shoulders. He started to yawn as he stretched his arm.

“Anyways, that girl is much more appealing and interesting.”

Pointing towards Katherine who was walking in the dessert seemingly aimlessly.

“She’s actually moving in a way that she is avoiding all the fights.”

“Pft. Just a coward.”

Cassandra commented on Katherine as she turned her attention to her instead of Matthew. She wasn’t really paying her any attention, but since Fred mentioned her she started to.

“No, it just feels like she’s looking for something and would rather not be distracted from it. Anyways, i’ve seen enough of this, i’m heading back.”

Fred said as he turned around and began to leave.

‘I’ll show you.’ Cassandra said to herself as she wanted to prove Fred wrong. She could become Matthews teacher and when she did she would gloat in front of Fred. She couldn’t wait to see his face when she did.

Childish as it may be, she couldn’t accept the fact he had didn’t believe in her skills.

She continued to watch the math below as there were only a handful of competitors left standing.

Matthew felt a change in the air as he continued to stroll forward. He thought he would get more of a work out, but he barely had to do anything.

‘Alright, let’s not use my EXO’, is what he told himself as he continued straight. Without using his ability it would hinder his combat ability, but maybe then he’d put in more work.

Thinking about it now caused him to sigh. He should have done this from the beginning!

It was not long before he spotted two groups fighting each other. One group had two while the other had three. You’d assume the group with more numbers would win but so far from the looks of things they were evenly matched.

“Mind if I join in?”

Matthew asked.

He didn’t really care if they said yes or no. This was a good opportunity for him; one which he would not hesitate to take.

“Screw off!”

A male with a large nose yelled out as he parried an axe blow coming his way. He didn’t even glance at Matthew, he was more absorbed in his battle.

Suddenly he felt the weight of the world on his shoulders as his feet began to sink into the sand. His arms felt heavy. It wasn’t just his arms, his entire body felt like a rock.

What was this pressure?

‘Opps.’ Matthew did not mean to exert pressure, it was just a habit. One that would be extremely hard to break. He was just so worked up at that he nearly forgot he would not use his EXO ability. Quickly he released it, but the young male who told him to screw off was knocked back.

Matthew swung his kusarigama at the closest person to him, which happened to be a short haired female. She noticed Matthew and saw his attack coming in which she prepared to block it with her sword.

His kusarigama wrapped around her sword and he easily yanked on the chain to disarm her abruptly. As the kusarigama came back around he used its momentum to swing it over his head and launch it at her once more. This time it wrapped around her. She tried to struggle but the chain became tighter. Somehow the chain wrapped around her chest, leaving just a space for her breast. The tighter the chain became the more emphasized her breast became. Her face became beet red. This moment was so embarrassing for her.

She looked at her comrade with pleading eyes, but he was not looking at her eyes. His eyes were focused somewhere else.

“A little help here!”

She couldn’t help but yell at him. He was staring at her chest, but she was in trouble. How could she not be angry at him?

Her partner nodded his head as if he understood but he didn’t move. His eyes were glued to her.

Matthew pulled the chain which caused the girl to fall to the ground. Her face getting dragged in the dirt as her body moved towards Matthews direction.

“Hey, leave her alone!”

Her male partner seemed to come to his senses as he left his battle with the other group.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

A voice called out as three people surrounded him.

Was he going to lose? He came so far. He worked so hard, it couldn’t end like this.

Right as the three students surrounding him began to move the buzzer went off notifying everyone that the match was over.

Matthew walked over to the girl as he bent down and helped her unchain herself. He gave her a sweat smile as he lended her a hand to get up.

She was hesitant at first but seeing how honest he seemed she accepted his offer.

“I hope you’re ok. I meant no harm, I just wanted to test myself.”

Matthew explained the reasoning as to why he targeted them. Not that he needed it, it was a competition and there was no rule against attacking a group that was already fighting.

“It's fine, it was my mistake for getting caught in the first place. I should have known better when fighting against the ‘Arena Prince’.”

Matthew made a strange face as he heard her. She knew who he was, many who did ran at the first sight. It might have been because she was already fighting that she did not run away with her friend.

Matthew rubbed his nose, which she found to be oddly cute.

“Just call me Matthew, titles are overrated.”