Class Awakening: Working Hard Can Evolve My Classes

Despite the difference between them, Andrei couldn’t help but acknowledge Zeke’s strength. After a brief stare between the two of them, he lowered his daggers.

"Let’s stop here."

He spoke casually, as if wanting to break the underlying tension.

Zeke stared at him, sighing.

"You’re not taking this seriously yet. I thought you were finally going to get serious."

’If I do, then you’ll lose immediately.’

Andrei immediately thought, but he didn’t say it out loud... after all, Zeke might take it the wrong way. He wasn’t underestimating Zeke, but this was what he gathered after having a couple of exchanges.

Zeke was undoubtedly strong, at least, stronger than Franz.

But...

’It’s still not close to the top ten.’

Andrei went silent, then he replied with a smile. "This is just a sp—"

"I’m going all out. Stop talking."

Zeke cut him off, unamused by his attitude. He raised his sword and activated Heart Blade without a second thought, making his sword shine briefly. When the shine faded—he realized the skill was already running.

For thirty seconds, all of his attacks were guaranteed to hit his target as long as they were within range.

’Huh?’

Andrei was startled. His eyes squinted, sensing the vibe in Zeke to suddenly change.

’All-out...? What does he—"

At that moment, Zeke casually swung his sword.

There wasn’t any dramatic noise.

Nor were there any signs.

While Andrei was still wondering what he meant by that, his expression suddenly changed. A shooting pain erupted in his mind, causing him to be briefly distracted.

However, Zeke didn’t stop there.

He made multiple swings, all targeted towards Andrei.

Heart Blade guaranteed that his attacks would hit anything within range.

But make no mistake—his attacks could still be blocked with defense.

However, attacks from Sword Soul Manifestation cannot be blocked.

Sword Soul Manifestation allows him to attack over long distances by sending invisible spiritual attacks to his opponent. But attacking at long distances made it difficult to hit moving targets, which was why it was still better for him to fight at close range.

However, Heart Sword ensured all his attacks hit the target, removing Sword Soul’s Manifestation long distance inaccuracy. On the other hand, Sword Soul Manifestation’s unblockable aspect removed Heart Sword’s weakness of being able to be blocked.

’Both undodgeable and unblockable.’

Together, the two abilities fit seamlessly, each nullifying the other’s weakness. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

’How?!’

Andrei thought, a dizzying sensation overtaking his mind. He instantly used his movement skill to vanish from Zeke’s sight, but to his disbelief, a sharp pain ripped through his mind once more, stacking over the previous pain.

’What...’

Just as he thought it was over, the pain progressively worsened, as though his mind was being cut again and again.

"Ugh!!"

Andrei couldn’t help but screech in pain, his movements unintentionally stopping. He held his head high as his eyes turned red from the sheer pain. Spiritual attacks were known to be painful, but there was something wrong here—Zeke’s attacks shouldn’t hurt this much!

His mind was constantly throbbing, as if it were being minced into pieces.

He had taken a spiritual attack from Zeke earlier, and Andrei swore it wasn’t this painful, at most Zeke’s attack earlier was like a very painful ant bite—enough to momentarily put him in a daze, but not enough for the pain to linger this strongly.

’Was... he holding back... this much?!’

Unable to understand where the sudden surge of pain came from, Andrei realized he might lose if this keeps up. The pain tore apart his mental defenses, or lack thereof. He quickly made a decision to go all-out, activating one of his skills.

’If I don’t get serious, I’ll die...’

Andrei raised his head, staring at Zeke’s expression.

Contrary to his expectations, Zeke was indifferent to his pain.

But that only pissed him off more.

’Fine! I tried being the good guy here, Zeke!’

Without wasting another breath, Andrei forced himself to ignore the pain and swung both of his daggers, releasing a wave of darkness aimed at Zeke.

Woosh!

’An assassin class with an elemental skill?’

Zeke furrowed his brows and ran away, swinging his sword as he moved. Andrei couldn’t help but flinch every time a shooting pain erupted in his mind, but he didn’t slow down and teleported to Zeke’s back, appearing a few steps behind.

Woosh!

’A blink skill?!’

Zeke’s expression subtly changed, realizing that Andrei was finally taking this seriously. He instantly made a decision, knowing this was the final exchange. He turned around, shifted his body slightly, and swung his sword—

At that moment, Andrei’s daggers swung forward. One of them immediately reached his body, stabbing through his shoulders, while the other clashed against his sword.

Clang!

Zeke changed the way he held his sword. He activated Lethal Strike and blew away Andrei’s dagger. But then, his expression changed. He raised his head and met Andrei’s pupils, who was staring at him emotionlessly.

Then, he gazed below, seeing the dagger from his shoulders grazing his neck.

’A blink skill... I see.’

Zeke wordlessly dropped the sword in his hand.

He had lost.

But there was no sense of lost in his heart, only relief.

***

After their sparring match, the two rested for a few minutes before heading to the infirmary.

"Damn you, Zeke... you didn’t hold back at all..."

Andrei kept cursing under his breath along the way, but Zeke ignored him as if it were not his problem. He rubbed his temples as a dull throb pulsed through his mind, forcing him to grit his teeth.

Spiritual attacks were known to leave behind hidden injuries, as such, they were many people’s nightmares.

"Tch. If you used this on Franz, that guy wouldn’t even last a second. He’ll be so scared that he’ll probably cry if the two of you meet..."

Andrei clicked his tongue, glancing at Zeke. But Zeke didn’t reply, seemingly deep in thought. He shook his head and simply increased his pace. After a few minutes, they arrived in the infirmary.

They opened the doors and saw Dr. Mathilda tending a student.

Dr. Mathilda glanced at them and pointed at the seats near the door.

"Sit down first and wait until I’m done."

The two of them nodded and took a seat wordlessly.

Andrei massaged his temples, his eyes deep in thought. It was still a shock to him that not only was Zeke not as weak as he showed to everyone, but he was also incredibly talented.

’Combat-wise, he’s terrifying...’

In their sparring match, Zeke shouldn’t have been able to react to his attacks. But somehow, Zeke was able to block all of his attacks, granted Andrei wasn’t taking it seriously then...

But to even block the attack of someone far faster than you, that meant you weren’t reacting, but ’predicting’.

Predicting attacks...

’Crazy.’

Andrei only knew one person who could do it, and it was a greasy old man who had decades of fighting experience under his belt. He tried learning it once, but it was incredibly taxing to the mind and very difficult to use repeatedly.

The person would have to consider all possible angles and narrow them down to the likeliest possibility. But possibility meant uncertainty. Make one mistake and the match would be over in an instant.

Andrei couldn’t help but glance at Zeke, feeling another layer of mystery surrounding this friend of his...

He mumbled in his heart.

’Do you think he’s also like me?’