I Alone Am The SSS-Rank Regressor-Chapter 38: Where It All Goes Wrong

It was finally time.

For the one-on-one spars.

Unlike what one would expect, this wasn’t a whole tournament.

After all they were just evaluating the progress of the men and these were simple assignments.

The process was simple.

Every man was pitted against two other men of closest strength to him.

Each fight earned you a score.

50 for winning the fight or 25 if you lost. And the rest 50 was for how fast you beat your opponent, how much damage you took yourself and other factors.

There weren’t many men on the hold so it didn’t require many people to supervise the fights either.

2 fights would be overseen by one single higher up which were further overseen by a Master, who would be overseeing 10 fights.

The score would be given by the masters. The higher up was just there to ensure no cheating or something bad would happen.

So in a sense, Mikhail could only fight 2 people too.

Whether they would be from his squadron or not, it would be seen later.

The matchups were decided through a mutual agreement by the Masters.

Reporting to the drill grounds where the fights would take place, Mikhail saw several pieces of papers pinned to the wooden pillars.

They were the matchups for every cadet.

Mikhail and his squadron waited for the crowd to disperse before going over to look for themselves.

And they were quick to find their matchups.

For Mikhail, it was:

Mikhail Hendrix vs Loriel Marthford

Mikhail Hendrix vs Modric Sylbane

Oh.

Loriel was the Commander of Squadron 19, he was famous as the best spearman in the castle.

As for the other matchup, it was the one Mikhail was most excited for.

His fight with Modric.

Mikhail looked at his squadron’s matchups too.

Modric was apparently matched up with James for his second match. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Oscar and Icarus were paired against each other so that would be an exciting battle.

Yvan was paired against someone from Squadron 17 and against Julian.

Even as a supporter of his own squadron, Mikhail could see very little possibility where he could squeeze past Julian.

The latter had jumped a lot in strength.

But he still believed in Yvan.

However, despite all their interesting matchups, Mikhail still saw a sad expression on their faces.

And he knew exactly why.

"It’s fine, these assignment tests aren’t the only time we can fight against each other." He tapped them on their shoulder.

"Cheer up," he said.

"Yeah he’s right, remember the stronger you get, the more chances you have. This should be a source of motivation for us." Oscar tried to be positive.

"Oscar’s right. This is why you should train more Mikhail, so you can hopefully get a chance to be paired against me next time." Icarus tapped him on the back.

"You pipsqueak." Mikhail smiled at the joke.

The group laughed together, the mood considerably better now.

As everyone was now confirmed about their matchups, the door to the central building opened finally.

And all the Masters walked out, directing everyone’s attention to them.

"It’s time for the final stretch of the assignment tests, the one-on-one spars." Avalon announced.

"Hopefully, after all these results, you all will continue to improve upon your results for the next time."

Vlahovic nodded.

"Indeed, we hope that the castle will be back to its full capabilities soon too so we can resume our normal operations," he said.

"Now, without further ado,"

Avalon nodded to the higher ups standing below.

"Start the matches."

***

[After Some Hours]

Mikhail saw multiple matches pass by, but none of his own yet.

The scores were to be told to the men as a combination of both fights at the end.

Modric had to fight against James whom he was able to beat in a span of 5 minutes.

While he did have a physical edge against him and put Modric in considerable difficulty, the latter was able to lure him into his traps effortlessly.

It was only a matter of time before the knight fell.

Unfortunately, the time could prove costly to his scores.

At the same time, the same couldn’t be said for Yvan.

Though he beat his first opponent in the snap of an eye, he struggled to adapt against Julian.

As a Magus who focused on Materialistic Essentia, it was expected for him to win against Julian, the opposite.

Unfortunately, the skill gap was too big.

That didn’t mean Yvan went down without a fight though.

In fact, in some parts of the fight Julian was forced into very tight situations that Mikhail could barely see anyone else getting out of.

However, Julian being the quick shadow he was, was able to squeeze past.

Though he did win, it wasn’t an easy fight.

And Mikhail was proud of Yvan, giving him his support.

Currently, it was Oscar vs Icarus going on.

And it was safe to say none of them were willing to give up.

Both of them being exceptional Cindralis users, the whole area was turning into a battle of flames.

Even the other spectators had shifted their attention to the fight.

Watching them all made Mikhail realize that they had gotten stronger.

Stronger than they were at this point in his last life.

And the reason for that was obviously him, though he didn’t know at what point he made it.

All in all, he was very happy with all of them and their development.

However, there was still something nagging in the back of his mind.

At this point, everyone in the ground had faced their first match.

Everyone except..

Mikhail.

Something wasn’t normal, though he was unable to tell what.

Taking his eye away from the fight, he looked up.

Straight to the Masters.

And then..

’..!’

He found Vlahovic looking right back at him through the flames.

He knew it.

Something was definitely not right.

But he couldn’t pinpoint what.

Was the man trying to tell him something?

Mikhail saw a deep sadness in his eyes. He didn’t know what it meant.

It was as if he was apologizing to him.

Mikhail’s heart pounded against him.

All this time, everything had been going right in the assignment tests.

At what point did something turn wrong? What had he overlooked?

’Shit, I’m panicking.’

Mikhail tried to calm himself, taking a deep breath.

It was alright.

Maybe he was just stressing too much over it.

Even if it was an issue, Mikhail didn’t see it being anything like the previous attack.

If so, Vlahovic wouldn’t have been sitting still. He would have known and he would be ready right now.

If it was just something minor, Mikhail could handle it.

He was certain he could.

Suddenly, a voice shook him out of his reverie.

"Winner, Icarus Heliarke." The announcer raised Icarus’ hand as everyone started clapping.

"And now for the next fight, Mikhail-"

"That won’t be needed." A sharp feminine voice cut right through the grounds.

One that had everyone shaking and rooted in their spots.

Mikhail’s eyes trembled at the thought.

Everyone knew that voice. It was all too familiar.

It had just been with them not too long ago after all.

Strengthening himself, Mikhail raised his shivering eyes to look up.

And there she was.

Celine Strathorne.

’..!’

With her violet eyes staring right at him.

_______________

This is the last free Chapter folks.

I hope you enjoyed the ride till here and keep supporting the novel!!