Chapter 57: Would You Stop Lumping Perverts and Humans Together!?
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The next day, five disciples, with Kaede-san newly added, stood before Kazuma. The morning was dedicated to practical combat training in a Virtual Space using VR machines. To put it bluntly, it was Kazuma’s show, and the five were merely there to be slaughtered.
“Um, well then, today, first, only the President and I will fight. The remaining four will observe initially. Please watch what we’re doing. Once the first match is over, you’ll participate, so please be prepared and ready,” Kazuma explained. Then, he and Hayato moved to the field and began their battle. The remaining four watched the fight between the two, displayed on a monitor projected in the sky above.
Against Hayato, who zipped around freely using his Threads, Kazuma moved like a parkour practitioner, utilizing obstacles and trees. The two moved almost identically, but something was off about Kazuma.
He wasn’t using Body Enhancement or any Gift. It was unbelievable that everything Kazuma was doing was with his raw physical abilities.
“What is that…”
“I can’t believe it…”
“Could it be… he’s manipulating the system?”
“Kazuma, amazing…!”
A fierce battle unfolded on the other side of the monitor. Hayato skillfully used his Threads, attempting to defeat Kazuma, but it didn’t affect him at all. Kazuma slashed through the Threads with his sword, stepped into Hayato’s guard in a single stride, and struck him down.
It was a sight that made one doubt if he was truly human. They had heard he was a practitioner of some killing art called Satsuki-ryu, but even so, it was unbelievable.
Frankly, Kazuma was in the realm of a pervert. His movements weren’t those of an ordinary person. They weren’t movements a mere Support Course student could perform. While they were movements at the very limit of human capability, an ordinary person wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
“Ah…”
Hayato died on the monitor. His head was crushed by Kazuma—a truly spectacular end.
The respawn point was where Shiori-san and the others were standing. Hayato, killed by Kazuma, appeared behind them. Seeing Hayato with a wry smile, Shiori-san and the others were starkly reminded of Kazuma’s absurdity.
Then, Kazuma returned immediately. Despite having just fought such a fierce battle with Hayato, he wasn’t even slightly out of breath and appeared before the five of them looking perfectly calm.
“Well, how was it?”
“Satsuki-kun was just too amazing; I didn’t understand anything at all,” Shiori-san said.
“I figured as much.”
Hearing the obvious answer, Kazuma flashed an annoyingly smug grin. Shiori-san and the others felt irritated, but as stated earlier, they hadn’t understood anything, so they held back their annoyance and waited for Kazuma’s words.
“Alright then, for now, I want to understand each of your combat styles and characteristics, so let’s start with one-on-one matches. After that, I’ll show you an example, so please use it as a reference.”
“Um… The way you said that, Satsuki-kun, it sounds like you can master our Gifts, but…?”
“I can, you know? In the Virtual Space, you can tweak various things, right? You can even become America’s King or Egypt’s Sun King.”
“That’s true, but…”
“Well, seeing is believing. First, let’s fight to determine your current abilities and what direction to take in the future!”
Since he had thoroughly beaten them in the real world, Shiori-san and the others wanted to protest that he should already know their abilities, but they gave up, figuring there was no point in arguing.
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“Everyone’s finished! As for your課題… or rather, for now, as I explained earlier, I’ll demonstrate using your Gifts, senpai-tachi, so please use it as a reference!”
Having the overwhelming difference in skill flaunted before them, Shiori-san and the others, who had such a traumatic scene seared into their minds, were utterly exhausted. Naturally, Kazuma had also mercilessly beaten Kaede-san, who was participating for the first time. She was uncharacteristically out of breath, her shoulders heaving violently.
“First up are flames, which I personally find easiest to use!”
Speaking of flames, that was Yukihime-san’s Gift. Being called first, she steeled her resolve. The pervert (Kazuma) was undoubtedly strong. She had experienced that firsthand.
That very Kazuma was saying he would use flames. I absolutely must make this my own, Yukihime-san stared at Kazuma so intensely it was as if she could burn a hole through him.
“First, shape manipulation.”
Kazuma changed his settings in the system to allow him to use flames. He produced flames from his hand and changed their shape at will. Kazuma formed a sword out of flames, the easiest thing for him to visualize.
“You can create weapons like this. Well, Himuro-senpai, you project spheres, needles, and spears you visualize, but I can also use them for close combat like this.”
Wielding the flame swords grasped in both hands, Kazuma performed a sword dance. As carefully and clearly as possible, Kazuma demonstrated by swinging the swords.
“This isn’t all there is to close combat. Himuro-senpai, since you’re a woman, your physical strength will inevitably be less than a man’s. So, let’s supplement that with flames to give you power that won’t lose to men or Ibinom.”
“Could it be… you mean using propulsion like a rocket engine?” Satori asked.
“Correct! We’ll use explosions like rocket thrust. Well, it’s faster to just show you.”
The idea itself had existed for a long time. However, if asked whether it was possible, it was difficult. Even if one could visualize it, actually doing it was extremely hard, and its realization was almost impossible. That said, humanity, not entirely reliant on Gifts, could use the power of science; with assistive devices, flame Gifted could fly through the air.
However, perverts were an exception.
“No way…”
Without any assistive devices, Kazuma was flying. He jetted flames from both hands like a rocket engine, demonstrating high-speed flight. At the unbelievable sight, Yukihime-san covered her mouth.
“And, like this, aerial flight is a piece of cake. Also, you can jet flames from your feet too, so you can increase speed even more, and it can be used for attacks, so it offers a high degree of freedom. Flames really are great, aren’t they~”
Moving freely in mid-air, Kazuma demonstrated martial arts like boxing, Muay Thai, and Taekwondo.
“Now then, shall we move on to the real thing?”
Saying that, Kazuma opened the system screen and summoned a training AI. A transparent, mannequin-like AI appeared before Kazuma. Its embedded combat data was that of a regular National Defense Force soldier. It was a considerably tough opponent for students, but for Kazuma, it was merely a scarecrow.
“Alright, Himuro-senpai. Watch closely!”
The battle began. Kazuma dodged the attacking AI’s strike, then accelerated by jetting flames from his heels like a rocket engine. Then, similarly jetting flames from his elbow, he delivered a propulsion-enhanced punch that finished the AI in a single blow.
“Hmm! Maybe I should have used data that offered a bit more of a challenge?”
At the anticlimactic end, the four, excluding Hayato, were speechless. Seeing their reactions, Hayato recalled that he had reacted similarly, and a dry smile touched his lips.
“It might have been a little underwhelming, but was it helpful as a reference?”
Helpful? As if! It was enough to make them want to scream that they couldn’t imitate it even if told to. They had thought it when shown the video of him fighting Hayato too, but Kazuma was nuts. He calmly demanded things that were utterly impossible for ordinary people.
Yukihime-san, the flame user, approached Kazuma, who was looking at her as if it were perfectly natural for her to be able to do it, feeling she had to give him a piece of her mind.
“There’s no way I can do that! What in the world are you! What gives you the right to say that!? This mouth, right here! This mouth is the bad one! Your senpai is angry now! I’ll shut it with a kiss!”
“Eh! By all means, please do!”
At such an unreasonable display, Yukihime-san was so flustered her speech pattern became erratic.
“In the first place, only someone like the Sun King can do something like that! Why can Satsuki-kun… no, at this point, I’ll also call you Kazuma-kun. How can you do something like that, Kazuma-kun!? When you’re not even a flame user!”
“That’s because Satsuki-ryu is all-powerful.”
“There’s no way I can be convinced by just that! Explain in detail! I’m lacking composure right now! If this goes on, I’ll burn you to ashes, Kazuma-kun.”
Taking advantage of Kazuma’s lack of resistance, Yukihime-san was squishing his cheeks, but her eyes were serious. It seemed she genuinely intended to burn Kazuma. Kazuma, sensing her seriousness, decided to try and persuade her, though it was doubtful she’d be convinced.
“W-Well, first of all. As a basic premise, flame users don’t get burned by their own flames, right?”
“That’s, well, yes. Indeed, we don’t.”
“Your clothes might burn, but your body remains completely unharmed. That means there’s a considerable degree of freedom. Try to remember. The Sun King has techniques where he envelops his entire body in flames, right?”
“Ah, the techniques that Japanese people arbitrarily call things like ‘Armor of Purgatory’ or ‘Robe of the Flame God’.”
“Exactly, exactly. I believe those probably involve emitting flames from the entire body. Normally, flame users only emit flames from their palms, but in essence, it’s a difference in thinking.”
“I see… It’s true that I’ve only been producing flames from my palms, but now that you mention it, it doesn’t have to be just my palms, does it?”
“Right? In that case, the rest is simple. What I showed you earlier was just a reference, so all you need to do is establish the combat style Himuro-senpai envisions. If you do that, you’ll definitely get stronger!”
“By the way, Kazuma-kun, can you produce flames from anywhere?”
“If I wanted to, I could.”
If it came down to it, Kazuma could spew flames from his mouth, or even his rear. The sight would be atrocious, but in terms of outwitting an enemy, it’s exceptionally effective.
“I understand. I’ll do my best.”
“Yeah! Please do your best!”
With that, the first person’s training was finished. Hayato was already done, so there were three left: Elec, ice, and Telekinesis.
“Alright, next up is ice. That said, it’s almost the same as fire at first. Since ice is a solid, it’s quite easy. However, it doesn’t have as much freedom as fire, so you can’t fly or anything, but you can jump high into the air.”
“Let me tell you, don’t do anything as absurd as you did with the fire, Kazuma-kun!”
“Since when did you start calling me Kazuma-kun…? Well, whatever. Ice isn’t that difficult, and it will only further emphasize Akino-senpai’s title, the Ice Dancer.”
And then, Kazuma demonstrated a dance worthy of a professional figure skater. He covered the entire vicinity in ice, formed blades on his shoes with ice, and danced across the icy field. Of course, he held swords made of ice in both hands.
Kazuma, flawlessly executing a triple axel, simultaneously unleashed shards of ice and evoked the image of tearing through enemies with ice blades formed on his feet. Finally, he used a jump ramp made of ice to perform a moonsault for the finish. Landing perfectly, Kazuma was covered in a refreshing sweat.
“How was it?”
“Idioooot!”
“Huh?”
Kazuma, being yelled at by Karin, couldn’t understand why she was angry. Karin began to explain to Kazuma, who couldn’t help but tilt his head in confusion.
“What part of that was easy! That’s pro-level stuff! And what was that at the end! That’s not a technique someone can do easily!”
“Huh? But based on how you fought earlier, I think it’s possible with your physical abilities, Senpai.”
“U-gh… I’m happy you rate me highly, but there’s a limit, isn’t there? I can probably only do about half of what you did, Kazuma-kun.”
“That’s not true! If Akino-senpai practices, you can definitely do it! I believe in you!”
“Uuuuh!”
Karin, facing such immense trust from her junior, felt pressured. If asked whether she could do it by the time of the actual Academy Battle Tournament, she honestly thought it would be impossible. That was Karin’s self-assessment.
However, Kazuma said she could. Kazuma, who possessed those freakish physical abilities, was giving her his seal of approval. Karin began to think that maybe she could do it.
“C-Can I do it?”
“If it’s alright with you, I’ll lend you as much help as you need! Well, I do have to train the other senpais too, so if our schedules align…”
Yes, that was the problem. It would be reassuring if Kazuma could watch over her practice constantly, but he had others to train, so that wasn’t possible.
However, she had her pride as a senpai. Relying entirely on her junior would completely tarnish her reputation as a senpai. Therefore, wanting to look cool in front of her junior, Karin puffed out her chest and replied.
“Alright! I’ll show you I can do it! But, um, it would be great if you could help me out sometimes.”
“That much is totally okay! Let’s do our best, Senpai!”
What a nice smile. He’s more demonic than a demon during combat, so how can he have such an adorable smile usually? It was incredibly puzzling.
“And so, next is Elec.”
“It’s finally my turn, huh? I won’t be surprised anymore. I’ve seen what you did with the other two, so I’m ready for anything!”
“First, I’ll have you master this Charged Particle Cannon.”
“Ngh…!”
“Next, you’ll learn Rail Action and what I’m tentatively calling Lightning Speed Movement.”
Sparks flew with a crackling sound, and Kazuma moved several tens of meters in an instant.
Seeing that, Shiori became furious.
“Don’t mess with me! That’s beyond what a human can do!”
“I can do it, so it’s possible for humans.”
“Don’t lump a pervert in with humans!!!”
“Th-That’s horrible…!”
Kazuma teared up at her harsh words, but there was no room for sympathy. After all, what Shiori was saying was correct.