Evil Avalon - Volume 1 - Chapter 17

Chapter 17: The Kariya Duel

We got to school a little early, and I understood why the moment we entered the classroom. My classmates flocked around Akagi’s desk, giving words of encouragement.

Akagi smiled and thanked each person. He was resilient, showed no signs of nervousness, and had no trouble participating in conversation despite it being the day of his duel.

When Kaoru stepped through the entrance, she slid into the crowd and cheered Akagi on. I knew she’d been working with him this past month, joining him on raids late into the night. Though her nerves must’ve been tearing her up inside, she didn’t let it show, remaining cheerful and supportive. She truly deserved to be a heroine.

The intimacy both shared didn’t sting Piggy’s mind as much as before, but it was still tough to watch. Love wasn’t easy to forget, and Piggy’s mind was the proof.

A thin weapon in a cloth cover stood on Akagi’s weapon rack. Despite not seeing it, I was sure that was the weapon he’d use in the fight. He wouldn’t use the strategy from the game, would he? It would likely work against this world’s Kariya, but...

If that weapon’s what I think it is, does he have knowledge from the game? I thought. As I pondered the possibility, the classroom door burst open.

“What’s up, Class E losers,” sneered Kariya with a condescending look. His cronies piled into the room alongside him. “Remind me, which of you is the idiot that thought he could pick a fight with me?”

Clearly, nobody had ever taught him the phrase “Pride comes before the fall.”

Akagi remained undaunted and eagerly asked, “Where’s it gonna be?”

“Hmm?” said Kariya. “Oh, you’re the one. I reserved the fourth room of the Arena after school. Don’t wimp out.”

“Ah!” one of Kariya’s cronies called out. “I remember this kid’s name. It’s Akagi. Kariya, pound this loser so the rest know what’s what.”

How could they act like this against fellow students at a time when we should all have been working together toward doing well in this school? They might have been strong, but I didn’t know people could stoop this low. Class E was weak, but they only had a month to raid the dungeon! It was like an older colleague bullying a new hire.

“The rest of the Class E losers better come to watch,” said Kariya. “I’ll show you your place in this world.” He emitted his Aura, and the atmosphere in the classroom grew harsh.

It seemed like he was level 11, the same as in the game. But I couldn’t know for sure because his information wasn’t available in the school’s database. I could use Basic Appraisal, but I wasn’t going to. People could tell when you used it on them, so one couldn’t use it on a whim.

My classmates cowered in Kariya’s powerful Aura, a few lowering their heads. Even though I was level 8 and not as intimidated as before, it pissed me off that he threw it around so often.

Level 7 or 8 is the threshold to have a chance against Kariya, I thought.

I checked my terminal, and Akagi’s displayed level was only 5. He might have been concealing his real level, but assuming he wasn’t, only the best players would’ve had a winning shot against Kariya in that position. Class D could force us to do menial jobs if he lost, so I hoped he’d win.

***

Class D’s mockery continued at lunchtime.

“Do those Class E losers really think they can stand up to us?” one student jeered.

“Right?” another added. “They don’t have a hope in Hell of beating Kariya. Who do they think they are?”

“Maybe we should help knock them down a peg?” a girl suggested.

“Ha ha ha!” another laughed. “Maybe we should.”

The Class D students in the cafeteria spoke loudly to make sure Class E would hear their insults.

One of my classmates, a girl who wanted to be a Fighter, was shaking with stifled rage. Oomiya and Nitta talked with her to take her mind off of the bullies and calm her down.

After Kariya’s visit in the morning, the class had a discussion and decided to ignore Class D’s taunts throughout the day. But not everybody in Class E possessed enough self-restraint.

“Shut the hell up!” yelled Majima. He was of samurai ancestry, which made him proud and hardworking, so Class D’s cruel arrogance had struck a nerve. “Isn’t your class the worst-ranked of the middle school bunch?!”

While Class D was the lowest class of internal students, their power was much greater than the external students of Class E.

“Hey,” said a Class D student. “What’s this guy’s problem? We ought to beat him senseless here and now.”

“Maybe we should,” said another. “I’d enjoy my meal a lot more if we didn’t have to sit next to Class E.”

“He’s got a big mouth for a Newbie.”

The other Class E students frantically apologized to Class D and tried to calm Majima. Winning a fight now wasn’t possible, so we needed patience.

***

“For God’s sake!” whined Majima.

“We need to get stronger soon, or they’ll never leave us alone,” someone said.

Majima had been one of the students pushing for Class E to get stronger, so this must’ve been humiliating. Class E had a powerful student, but she wouldn’t reveal herself anytime soon. I wasn’t about to draw attention to myself over a few taunts either—I had to keep my game knowledge a secret.

But why were they so aggressive toward our class? Kariya and his cronies didn’t act alone; their class was out to get us. It made no sense. If they aimed for the top, why would they care about what happened to the people below them? It felt like there was a purpose behind their actions.

I thought back to the Kariya duel in the game.

The main story occurred through the eyes of one of the protagonists, Akagi or Pinky, and any character who didn’t play a role in the story was largely left out. Kariya was just a mid-stage boss of the game’s opening scenes, and he barely appeared after his defeat.

At least, that’s what I thought. Honestly, I’d only skimmed the conversations in the opening scenes of adventure mode and hadn’t bothered to memorize the life story of some mid-stage boss who had his ass kicked right away. If I’d known I would be in this situation, I might have taken more time to read the text.

Either way, they must have had a reason to antagonize Class E so much, and I wanted to investigate once the duel was over and things had calmed down.

***

After the school day ended, tension hung over the classroom. Just as Murai announced the end of homeroom, Kariya and his cronies entered the room.

“Hey, Akagi!” yelled Kariya, bellowing. “And the rest of you losers! Get your asses down to room four in the Arena.”

Murai watched this quiet, declaring his impartiality, and exited the classroom. Perhaps he saw this as an educational experience for us.

Saying nothing, Akagi picked up the cloth bag that contained his weapon and left the classroom with his head high and his pace steady. His unwavering confidence in such an awful situation gave Class E hope.

“Good luck, Akagi!”

“We’ll be watching!”

“You show those punks in Class D!”

The class followed in one large group and headed for the Arena, telling each other everything would be okay. I understood why they wanted to be optimistic, but I didn’t have high hopes about the outcome.

After a minute, I stood up to go to room four of the Arena and watch the show.

***

The Arena was within the magic field, and the school had designed it to withstand the battles of physically enhanced students. It had four rooms, the first being the largest and the fourth the smallest, although still spacious enough for dozens of students to train. Many of the usual features of standard magical training grounds were present, including the ability to cast a protective shield using magic gems.

It was odd that Kariya had reserved the fourth room since plenty of clubs practiced here. So why had they given up their space for a mere duel between the lower classes? When I thought back to the game, I remembered a student in Class B who called the shots with anything concerning Kariya.

“Well done for not chickening out, Akagi,” said Kariya.

“Run from you? Never.” responded Akagi.

The two students stood facing each other in the center of the Arena room. Kariya, who stood taller, glared down at his foe. Even though Akagi was not short, he looked it when compared to the hundred-and-ninety-centimeter mass of muscles that was Kariya.

“Kariya, give Class E what’s coming to them!” a Class D student cheered.

“Put them back in their place!” another yelled.

I wished they would shut up. But I’d always assumed that Kariya was a bully who intimidated everyone else into submission with his high-handed scare tactics yet seemed popular in Class D. Maybe he was like Gian, soft on the inside.

Akagi candidly watched Kariya, unfazed by Class D’s taunts. He appeared confident enough, but was he a high enough level?

My experience raiding the dungeon in this world had taught me that reaching Kariya’s level in a month would be tough, so taking him down with no tricks wasn’t viable. A DEC player would know Kariya’s fighting style inside and how to combat it, but Akagi didn’t have that advantage. Had he come up with a plan?

The duelists finally turned away from each other and returned to their sides to suit up with armor.

Kariya undressed from his school uniform to put his armor on, revealing his muscular body—and it was hard to believe he was a kid fresh into high school. The bulging muscles around his neck and shoulders proved this wasn’t merely the result of physical enhancements. He must have put in lots of weight training to get to that point.

He had equipped leather armor with metal plates affixed at every possible place. Its weight would easily surpass twenty kilograms, which didn’t present a challenge to mobility for a level 10 adventurer inside a small training ground.

The weapon he pulled out was a particular two-handed longsword called a Zweihänder that could weigh over ten kilograms and was about a meter and a half long. Accounting for the length of his arm and step size, Kariya would have a three-meter reach with the sword. Akagi needed to be careful when judging Kariya’s attack radius.

As for Akagi, he was wearing black demon wolf leather light armor, which was a popular choice due to it being well-made, lightweight, and cheap. The armor had metal reinforcement in the lower chest area to protect vital organs. He pulled his weapon from its cover, and it was—

Yep, he went for the Static Sword. So, he must be trying to use the strategy from the game after all, I thought.

He pulled out a sword that was thin and sharp—a backsword. Backswords had straight, single-edged blades and looked similar to rapiers but broader. Although Akagi had dulled the cutting edge, the tip would still be sharp and deal moderate damage when thrust by someone with physical enhancements.

But the Static Sword was not ordinary as it was a magic weapon. A hit from it would lower the opponent’s agility stat and have a random chance to impair them with a paralysis status effect. Weapons like this that turned up in the game’s early stages wouldn’t work against high-level adventurers. Kariya was still vulnerable at level 11. The Static Sword was an item the protagonist received as a reward for completing one of the game’s subquests.

Kariya’s most common attack in the game had been the Slash sword skill, which used a sweeping arc, and the key to beating him was countering that attack. Exploiting the vulnerability induced by that attack was difficult if there was a gap between your levels, so it had become standard practice to use a weapon that reduced his agility and paralyzed him. The agility stat influenced movement speed and the time required to perform regular attack motions and activate skills.

It would be easier to land a counter on Kariya’s Slash attack if you hit him with the Static Sword and reduce his agility. The fight would become manageable if it paralyzed him.

However...

You need to go through many convoluted steps to kick off the subquest to obtain the sword, I thought. Did somebody tip Akagi off about it?

Knowing about the sword and intentionally triggering the subquest to use it in the duel against Kariya was simple. But not being aware meant it wouldn’t fall into your hands. Plus, the whole strategy of defeating Kariya with that sword was a shortcut in the game. Most players fought him head-on, learned how hard the fight was at a low level, figured out how to level up efficiently in the time limit, and eventually defeated him fair and square. The Static Sword method didn’t require much leveling up, and you wouldn’t devise the plan unless you knew what the fight was like.

Of course, I couldn’t rule out the possibility that Akagi had gotten his hands on the sword by chance. He would have known, through his analysis, that Kariya used a longsword vulnerable to counters. Akagi could decide on a strategy using the Static Sword to reduce Kariya’s agility and make counters easier.

Akagi seeking the sword would imply the presence of another DEC player feeding him information. Or was I overthinking things?

Both students had donned their armor, readied their weapons, and were once again squaring off in the center of the room. Duels in Adventurers’ High always worked under safety rules where duelists could surrender, passing out would forfeit the match, and killing was not allowed. Because this was an official duel, a student council member was present to observe, and a Priest on the teaching staff would attend in case of injuries.

As I looked at the stands, I noticed not all of the audience was from Classes D and E. My own classmates were watching with bated breath.

“Hmph. Are you ready?” asked Kariya, brandishing his Zweihӓnder. He was half-crouching, lowering his center of mass to prepare for a horizontal sweep. It seemed he was planning to use Slash right away.

“Ready whenever,” replied Akagi.

The contrast between them was almost comical since Akagi had a thin, light sword while Kariya used a huge one. Even if Akagi’s sword was magical, he had to avoid clashing blades. He could forget about exploiting Slash’s vulnerability; his priority had to be landing a hit on Kariya to reduce his agility.

“Then here...we go!” declared Kariya.

Against all odds, Kariya used a regular horizontal swipe instead of the Slash skill for his first attack. Despite his earlier arrogant attitude toward Akagi, it appeared he was being cautious. Afterward, he used an impressive technique of keeping Akagi in check with simple jabs and maintaining a constant distance.

This isn’t looking good for Akagi, I thought. There has to be a huge level gap. Akagi couldn’t have reached level 10 from the looks of things. He must be around five or six.

Though Kariya’s attacks only restricted movement, Akagi couldn’t afford to get hit by that longsword since he was clearly struggling to fend the attacks off. Akagi fought with a single goal: to land a hit. He leaped out of the path of the longsword, always poised to counter Kariya’s Slash skill. But Kariya succeeded in keeping his foe at a favorable distance, and Akagi couldn’t get close enough.

Akagi attempted to retreat and come at Kariya from another angle, but his enemy responded by stepping forward together with a long-reach thrust. Besides, Kariya drew Akagi closer, masterfully maintaining him at the best distance.

In the game, Kariya underestimated the player and frequently used large, sweeping attacks that were easy to counter. I’d felt certain that Slash would be almost the only kind of attack he’d use. But it wasn’t happening. Why not? Did he know about the Static Sword?!

“What’s the...matter...Kariya?” asked Akagi, panting. “Are little jabs all you’ve got? Don’t tell me you’re scared.”

“What about you?” shot back Kariya. “Are you ever gonna make a move? You’ll run out of steam otherwise.”

“Ask...and you shall...receive!”

Akagi’s attempt to taunt Kariya into using Slash failed. So, he used a thrusting skill he’d been saving for the right moment to break the deadlock called Double Sting. He used Automatic Activation to wield it.

Double Sting was a Thief skill that comprised two consecutive weapon thrusts. The data in the terminals showed Akagi had recently obtained the Thief job and still had a job level of 1. Kariya couldn’t have expected him to use a skill that became available at a job level of 5.

Kariya almost immediately jumped back several steps in shock at this development. But Akagi grazed him with his blade in that brief window of time.

“Now you won’t be so fast... Aaaah!!!”

“Ha ha! Won’t I?” answered Kariya.

The thrill of landing a hit caused Akagi to drop his guard for a moment, which Kariya seized, sending Akagi flying with a counter of his own. Somehow, Kariya hadn’t become paralyzed or had his agility drop.

Akagi’s face became a contorted mess of surprise and despair. If Kariya’s agility was unchanged, then Akagi’s entire strategy had gone out the window. The enemy had come prepared with a countermeasure for Static Sword. But that meant...

The Arena erupted into a blend of cheers and shrieks.

Kariya attacked mercilessly and with no pause. He had already broken one of Akagi’s arms and would soon leave him unable to stay on his feet. No longer was this a duel; it was torture.

Class D was cheering like this was a baseball match.

“That’s our Kariya!”

“Go on, Kariya!”

“I thought there had to be a bite to back up his bark, but I guess it was just a bluff?”

“Well, duh, he’s a Class E loser!”

In contrast, Class E was in despair. A few of the girls covered their faces and sobbed. I saw Oomiya stand up to break up the fight, but Nitta held her back. Kaoru had her eyes shut and gritted her teeth. Would she make a move?

“No more...” said Akagi, moaning. “Stop it...”

“You’re giving me orders now?!” shouted Kariya. “Where’s your ‘please,’ eh?!”

Akagi screamed as Kariya swung his sword into his side. He must have broken a few ribs, even with the metal pad reinforcing his armor.

I felt bile rise in my throat and got up from my seat to stop Kariya, but just then—

“Just stop! Stop hurting him!”

Pinky, Sakurako Sanjou, jumped in to stop the fight, as she was a part of Akagi’s party and had trained with them over the last month. It would be unthinkable for her to sit and watch as this cruelty carried on, but standing up to Kariya was risky.

“Say what?” retorted Kariya. “So now you think you can boss me around too? You have a death wish.”

While she endured a lot, Kariya’s animosity frightened her and made her tremble. However, she stood between them, stretching her arms to shield Akagi.

Kariya pointed his sword at her.

Sensing danger, Kaoru, Tachigi, and other classmates stood up and headed toward them.

“Listen up, Class E losers!” roared Kariya. “Don’t you get it yet?” He emitted his murderous Aura at the class, just as he’d done when he introduced himself on the first day.

The students who’d gotten up to help Sanjou stopped running as they were rightfully scared. Kariya was at a higher level than them.

“At this school, you’re the lowest of the low,” he continued. “A few of you might rise to Class D before you graduate, but that’s the best you can hope for. This little lesson has taught you which of us is stronger, is better, and who you should obey. Or do I need to spell it out for you?”

Nobody said a word. Akagi had raised his level and had grown stronger than anyone else in Class E. He’d demonstrated extraordinary technique in wielding his sword and dodging Kariya’s longsword. But that had been too little to overcome the hurdle of facing a level 11, and Kariya had beaten the stuffing out of him. This gruesome spectacle had shattered Class E’s will to resist.

“On that note, you can start obeying me now,” said Kariya. “The upper classes want people to do all the boring jobs, and they’ve asked for my help. So, none of you will join the club started by Class E. If you do, I’ll put you in the hospital myself. Got it?”

With that, Kariya left the Arena.

“I knew Class E wouldn’t be worth shit,” said a Class D student.

“Yep,” another agreed. “They talked big but didn’t impress.”

“Hey, losers!” a third mocked. “Get your mops ready now. We’re gonna work you till you drop!”

Those in Class E had no reply to the mocking taunts as they witnessed how much weaker our class was. The truth, which the students had to accept, was that they weren’t even fit to be Class D’s rivals. It was a refutation of everything about Class E.

At least I knew why Kariya had reserved the Arena’s fourth room with no effort. The clubs the upper classes joined wanted drudges to do the menial work for them, and they wouldn’t find any if we joined the club the second-year Class E students had created. Hence, they set their lapdog Kariya and the first-year Class D to frighten us into submission. I’d discovered another mastermind pulled Kariya’s strings besides the head of Class B—the upper year classes were meddling too.

The whole thing was frustrating, seeing that the student council and teachers might be turning a blind eye. I’d suspected as much while playing the game, but experiencing it firsthand was dreadful. If they had always been planning to go to these extremes, why bother accepting external students in the first place? Why fill the heads of fresh-faced kids with dreams at the entrance ceremony to crush them here?

Regardless, I didn’t want to take any revenge, get promoted to a higher class, or be interested in reforming this school. I wasn’t all that close to my classmates. Besides, this wasn’t arbitrary bullying since Akagi had accepted Kariya’s challenge. And Kariya’s actions were excessive, but Akagi should’ve known what he was signing up for. There was no need to let our feelings rule the day. If they wanted one or two people to mop their floors, let them have them.

I had a greater problem: who had told Kariya how to fight against the Static Sword strategy?

I also wanted to know who’d taught Akagi about the Static Sword strategy, even if his party had devised the plan. If a DEC player was involved, they didn’t act maliciously and could be dealt with later.

The only explanation for why Akagi’s attack hadn’t affected Kariya was that he had equipped items with resistance to lighting and paralysis. Otherwise, Kariya’s attack speed would’ve plummeted the moment Akagi’s sword scratched him and made him stop moving.

Kariya had fought differently than he might have in the game, keeping Akagi at bay and observing instead of madly attacking. In the duel, he only used Slash once. There was a high probability that a player had tipped him off.

This player was a threat and had it in for Akagi. Did he want to monopolize all the game’s secrets? Or was he pissed off that Akagi had teamed up with Pinky and Kaoru? Or did he just enjoy the thrill of it? In the worst case, he might kill other players.

They were probably a Class E student, though I wasn’t sure. I could ask Kariya directly, but he wouldn’t give me the time of day.

I messed up, I thought. I should have thought about how I could fend off other players. I didn’t imagine another player might be a threat.

To sum up, it was likely that the players who advised Kariya and Akagi were different people.

How many players were out there? There was me, Kariya’s tipper, and Akagi’s tipper, which made three. Were they like me, playing as existing characters? Were they students never featured in DEC’s story? I couldn’t conclude that Akagi, Pinky, or my classmates were players. As such, I needed to level up faster to protect myself.

Just then, the Priest teacher had examined Akagi’s injuries and stated that he had some fractures but nothing that a magical operation couldn’t fix, and there’d be no lasting damage. He had Akagi carried off to the infirmary to get an X-ray to be safe. All injuries sustained on school property and managed by Priests were free, which was good to know.

Akagi could’ve fared worse, but that showed that Kariya had held himself back to an extent.

I got to my feet and looked at Akagi’s stretcher in the distance as my classmates gathered around it. Class E had two options: improve to stand shoulder to shoulder with the higher classes or accept their weakness and submit themselves to the strong. I wouldn’t influence their decision.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t passionate enough to care and was too busy to help.