The SSS Ranked Villain's Return-Chapter 104: Usage of a Shield

Neraxis did not back down and prepared for the next attack.

Yet this time, Magnus did not swing his sword down and merely looked at Neraxis for a moment, as if gauging his reaction time.

In the brief moment when Neraxis blinked, however, Magnus managed to approach just close enough and swing his sword down again.

But this time, the result was not the same. Even though Neraxis was inexperienced with the shield, he had common knowledge of how it worked.

Therefore, the moment the sword came into contact with his shield, he tilted it at a certain angle, redirecting the sword down to the ground.

However, Neraxis wasn’t completely safe, as the sword suddenly traveled across the ground, leaving a massive scratch as it traveled back toward him.

From the looks of it, Magnus somehow managed to twist his body in a way that, even though his attack was blocked, counterattacking would still be possible.

This technique, in particular, Neraxis would try his best to remember.

Magnus’s sword strike was redirected upwards, soon coming down and hitting the shield again, yet at the same time being redirected to the side.

This process repeated several times until finally, Neraxis felt his arms growing numb to the point where he could do nothing but waste time until he got the go-ahead to stop fighting.

But no such go-ahead came, and after just a few more blows, Neraxis dropped his shield onto the ground, his arms red and swollen.

"That wasn’t half bad, to be honest," Magnus praised. "But you do have to work on your timing. Most of the attacks you blocked, then redirected right after. If you redirected them at the moment of impact, you wouldn’t be having these issues."

"I see... Thank you, instructor," Neraxis said, making his way over to Aella, who, even though she did not want to talk to him, kindly healed his injuries.

But now that this lesson was practically over and he had learned a few interesting tidbits, it was about time he started planning for the future.

As things stood, he would not be entering the Astral Tower next week, and maybe not even the week after that.

The mental strain he had experienced on just the second floor was way too much for him to simply shake off in a week or two.

Therefore, Neraxis planned on doing some training and maybe even a mission from Obscura.

Of course, the most important part was Saturday—the day he would go to Aella’s house.

He watched as the students fought one by one, their fights playing out almost the same.

But he was once again surprised by Kael, who was using the throwing knives perfectly and battling on even ground against Magnus.

Until eventually, he even managed to get a single hit in.

"Good job, Kael. As always, your performance does not cease to amaze me," Magnus praised.

Kael stared at him for a moment but soon walked back over to Neraxis before saying, "Do you want to spar later?"

Neraxis tilted his head, confused. "No? I’m going to be a bit busy."

Also, I’ll be training with Celina later.

"I see... Just a heads-up, but if you don’t spar with me in the next week, your 3-0 record will be reset back to 0-0," Kael stated with a smirk and walked away.

Hmm... Neraxis hummed with amusement as the lesson was soon deemed over.

He dressed in his academy uniform and was about to leave when Celina stopped him.

"About the training session..." she brought up, fidgeting. "We can do it at night; I have the keys to the academy, so..."

"Okay," Neraxis steadily agreed. "I don’t mind. Just send me a message."

"Will do. See you later, Neraxis," Celina said with a soft smile and made her way back to the classroom alongside Aurelia.

Seems like she didn’t bring the potion after all, he mused with suspicion.

[It does look like something is going on inside her family. What will you do?] Evangeline questioned.

Considering I have most of the day free, I might investigate, he glanced toward Celina. I just need to get Celina on board, and I’ll have a capable ally.

Soon, they all returned to the classroom, and Magnus began speaking.

"You all did a fine job today. We will be having this type of lesson every single week, and none of the weapons you use will be the same."

Noticing their confusion, he added, "This is so that when you are in battle, you know what kind of moves are possible, and you can better react to your opponent this way. And of course, having more weapon proficiencies won’t hurt."

"Now then," he finished, turning to the blackboard. "I will explain how the third floor of Dreamspire works now. Pay attention."

Magnus began drawing a straight line and below it, some squiggly lines.

"The third floor is called the Garden of Shadows. It’s a floor where all you have to do is cross a tightrope all the way to the other side, which, by our calculations, is merely a kilometer away."

"That’s a lot though. Is the line wide at least?" one of the students asked, and Magnus nodded.

"It’s the size of both of your forearms, so falling off of it intentionally would be difficult." He paused before adding, "Though, it wouldn’t be a trial if there were no interference."

The drawing once again resumed, but it only made Neraxis more confused.

"This floor is both the easiest and the hardest one for most, since it is a psychological floor."

At his words, Neraxis froze, being reminded of what he had just experienced a few hours ago.

"During the walk, you will be shrouded in pure darkness, with only the other end of the rope being visible. However, you will also hear the voices of the dead speaking into your mind, playing with your emotions and many other unsavory things," Magnus said with disgust in his tone.

"There is an annoying wind constantly blowing that feels real, but isn’t. Exactly like the voices, they are all in your mind—remember this." He tapped on the blackboard a couple of times to get everyone’s attention.

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"This is a trial which is not possible to be recreated in the virtual world, therefore, you all will need to do extensive research and actively listen to my advice."

Magnus turned around, staring at each one of the students, including Neraxis.

"Am I clear?"

"Yes, instructor," many students replied with an uneasy tone.

"Great. Now then, prepare for some theoretical learning." An eerie grin appeared on his face. "Because we’ll be revising math. Neraxis, to the board."

What? Fuck. Neraxis was startled, but nonetheless, stood up and headed over to the blackboard, which was now cleared of all the third floor’s doodles.

What replaced it, however, was one of the equations he had been assigned last time—the same one he did not even bother to check twice before throwing it away.

"I’m sure you studied it extensively, so please, solve it, Neraxis."

"..." Neraxis speechlessly picked up the chalk and looked over the equation.

But not even a moment later, he raised his brow and began tapping on the blackboard, writing all sorts of numbers and symbols, until eventually, the equation was solved.

"Done?" he questioned more so himself than Magnus.

"...Yes. Good job, Neraxis. That is the correct answer. You may go back to your seat now."

Neraxis put on a puzzled look.

Why was that so easy?

Yet he wasn’t exactly done, as he wanted to put his plan into motion, sending a text to Celina.

<Neraxis: Hey, did she bring the potion?>

He saw her furrow her brows at the sound of the notification, but once she saw who it was from, Celina relaxed.

<Celina: Nope. I asked her about it, but she seemed to not know what I was talking about.>

Yeah, something is definitely going on, he deduced and sent another text.

<Neraxis: I’m going to follow her and investigate. Want to come with me?>

There was a bit of a delay as he could see her staring at him from half the classroom away before turning to her phone.

<Celina: Okay... Meet me after class.>