NOVEL NEXT Chapter 76: Against Five
"This…" Headmaster Mensa was momentarily confused as soon as he saw Hayden's reaction.
Normally, once he released his killing intent, especially to young people, they would immediately cower as if they encountered a huge beast threatening to kill them.
It was a normal reaction and he believed that Hayden would react the same.
From that experience, he believed that Hayden would respect him more and would beg for him to know more about the killing intent and how to resist it.
Well, he was sensing that Hayden was no longer looking up to him after quite some time. So, he wanted to teach him a lesson by showing something new to him.
However, as soon as he released his killing intent, Hayden only froze for a moment before his lips curled up!
This was not what he expected at all.
This young man actually smiled as soon as the killing intent was released. Furthermore, with his ability to sense the surroundings, he knew for a fact that Hayden wasn't feeling scared in any way.
Headmaster Mensa could tell that Hayden liked this method of training even more.
'What a weird kid…' Mensa thought to himself as he proceeded with the training.
At first, he was slow with his attacks…
Whoosh~
Hayden ducked just as Mensa's sheathed sword whistled over his head. Even if Hayden would get hit, it would only be the scabbard.
"Good!" Mensa said as he saw how Hayden easily dodged the attack. "Now, counter!"
Hayden then considered for a moment before he decided to use his fist, aiming where he felt Mensa's chest should be—
"Hah!"
A hand caught his wrist, twisted—and Hayden was almost flipped onto his back… But Hayden was able to control his body and landed on his feet.
"You sensed me…" Mensa said, "but you didn't predict me. Try again."
Hayden smiled and nodded at the Headmaster.
"Yes… Master."
"Good… Intent changes before movement," Mensa explained. "The moment a killer decides to strike, their Aura twitches. Learn to catch that twitch, and you'll always be one step ahead."
'Oh? There's something like that, huh…' Hayden mused as he worked harder and did his best not to rely on his Ocularis Lens.
Although the Lens could give him information almost without delay, he still wanted to train hard which would make his body react on reflex. He wanted his body to get used to such moments since he knew that this would be very useful in the long run.
For hours, they repeated the drill—Mensa attacking, Hayden dodging or blocking and they were actually getting faster and faster than even the Headmaster felt alarmed.
Hayden's senses were just too amazing. He couldn't help but feel curious how Hayden would fare if he just removed the blindfold.
Nonetheless, Mensa continued with this training and he planned to do this every day until they had to prepare to leave for the competition.
Indeed, this continued for a few more days as Hayden got used to a battle without seeing his enemy. It was such an interesting training that he had rarely experienced before.
However, he also knew that it was indeed effective. After all, his senses heightened and any wave of aura would be noticed by him.
'Amazing…' Hayden thought to himself as he realized how better he had become in just a few days of training with an Aura Knight.
He could track Mensa's footsteps by the way the air stirred.
He could anticipate strikes by the sudden tension in the Aura around him.
And then—Hayden landed a decent hit.
His palm struck Mensa's forearm and because of his eagerness, the impact sent a shockwave through the room.
Hayden actually released a bit more Aura than he should supposedly have as an 'Aura Initiate'.
However, Headmaster Mensa was just silent and looked at his forearm before looking at Hayden. Then, he shook his head as he felt that Hayden was indeed a great disciple.
'I guess if I'm going to take on my last disciple, he should really be this good.' Mensa thought as he knew that he made the right decision in choosing Hayden.
"You can remove the blindfold now…" Mensa said with a hint of satisfaction in his voice.
Hayden then yanked off the blindfold and noticed that Mensa was staring at his own arm, where a faint red mark could be seen.
'So I really hit too hard…' Hayden thought to himself as he gave the Headmaster a helpless smile on his face.
"…Not bad," the Headmaster admitted.
Hayden grinned.
The Headmaster then started teaching Hayden about various moves he could use to defend or attack better. Furthermore, he encouraged Hayden to just use his sword this time instead of using his hands.
Of course, Hayden's Ocularis Lens found some flaws in these moves because some of them weren't appropriate for his size. However, Hayden just listened and accepted all of it.
After that, Mensa ordered, "Put the blindfold back on… We're going to continue…."
Just as Hayden secured the blindfold again, the chamber doors creaked open.
'Hmm? Visitors?' He thought that the training was about to end early. After all, it was normal for the Headmaster to be needed somewhere else.
However, Hayden's guess was wrong.
"You didn't think I'd go easy on you, did you?" Mensa's voice was farther away now as he opened the door for the visitors.
"Meet your new sparring partners."
At this time, Hayden heard footsteps. Multiple of them.
Hayden frowned as he wasn't sure if he would do well sparring while blindfolded against multiple opponents. "How many? Five?"
Before he could protest, the movements in the air suddenly shifted. He immediately sensed five distinct Auras, all closing in.
'Five Aura Initiates?!' Hayden was a bit shocked as he realized that the Headmaster was truly brutal!
The first attack came from the left—Hayden blocked, but a second strike slammed into his side. He staggered at this as his senses started scrambling to separate the overlapping energies!
It was difficult!