Refining the Heavens (炼天)

Chapter 19: D rank

With each wave of attack, Alan fought back harder. His tonfas rapidly spinning, countering and striking at his enemies. Though his weapons possess little firepower, they are perfect for blocking and counterattacking from all angles. Each thrust from his blunt weapon is aimed at the weak points of his opponents, as he easily endured any attacks at him. Against foes mad with anger, and did not even defend themselves, Alan wasn't in any real danger.

Jim's twin daggers flashed as he attacked his foes at their joints and tendons. Every attack he lands cuts off the strength in his opponents' bodies. Drugs or no drugs, none of his enemies could properly utilise their power.

Tommy towered above most at his age. Those supporting him in the formation, stared at his tall figure, as though a wall protected them. He attacked with tremendous power behind each blow, and at such speed that his studded leather gloves became a blur from the amount of punches he threw out. And, indeed as he declared previously, those who challenged him have all fallen by his feet.

Even between F ranks, there are differences; Entry, Mid and Peak. But, the main reason they could fight against those who ate the Berserker's Pill is because of their soul perception.

With this ability, they are flooded with a vast amount of information from their surrounding area. Every breath that their enemy took, every muscle that strained with movement, even each glance that was taken, did not escape them.

It did not matter the drug-induced nobles are far stronger and quicker than them when they could accurately predict their enemies movements and make a move before hand.

As long as they can keep up, how could anyone land a blow on them?

And conversely, how could any opponent escape their attacks?

At this moment, the one most surprising and also the one most truly shining is actually the archer.

The moment he faced his attackers, his training had kicked into gear. Forgetting his nervousness, Edward automatically reacted to every attack, swift and powerfully.

On his wrists, two blades are strapped under each arm. By flicking his wrists upwards, a small trigger will be pulled, and the blade will protrude from his sleeves, reaching a full length of half an arm. Not only is the contraption useful with its piercing force, but it can also be used to parry attacks like long daggers.

Co-designed by Edward and Jim, the hidden weapon is made in a way that the blade will not injure Edward when activated, and it allows him to fight while holding his bow. Even nocking an arrow will not hinder him.

As more attacked his position, Edward countered fiercely using the simple fighting style that Kairos has given him.

He aimed for their temple, solar plexus or Dantian using the openings between the enemy's guards. Fortunately for the archer, those that consumed the pill could hardly think straight, and his unpractised, awkward movements could actually connect. He began to use this as practice, disregarding that a small mistake could become his last.

At the last moment, before he struck the enemy, he would flick his wrist, palming his enemies. At the same time, a gel-coated blade juts out from his contraption and sends a dangerous thrust outwards.

Even with the gel heavily absorbing most of the impact, the speed of the blade quickly extending from the wrists and Edward's own attacking speed causes a lot of damage. With such power, all of his foes are knocked down by a blow or two.

The places Edward attacks not only will easily knock out the target but also are their Ki gathering points. By striking those weak spots, the drugs induced energy will disperse out of the body. Even the effects of the Berserker's Pill will quickly dissipate as the targets fall into a heap in front of Edward. Similar things are happening at Alan, Jim and Tommy's side but on the other hand, the four red teams' captains are barely surviving and shaking from the effort.

Without soul perception and being a full rank lower they are having a much harder time than Snowdrifts' members. They are only surviving thanks to the Bagua Formation taking away the bulk of their burdens. Kairos who is at the formation's heart redirected every resource for them.

Sweat poured down their faces and regardless how they attack, as long as they are unable to hit an opponent's weak point where the Ki is gathered, their enemies will not fall and continuously attacked them.

Yet even as their teammates watched them worriedly, they are helpless to replace their captains' position; none can withstand the initial impact of an enraged F ranker.

As the captains weakened under duress, those in the formation started accumulating damage. Even the Snowdrifts couldn't keep up with the damage they are taking. While no one is incapacitated yet, when one of them fell, the others who share the damage will fall at the same time.

The beauty of their formation allows them to fight until everyone is completely drained of energy, unless, their vanguard is taken out then their array will break. But on the other hand, this means that the strongest among them have to bear the most burdens.

After nearly half an hour of battle, when they are on their last legs, their foes are finally defeated.

Most of Calculus' team have already run out of juice and sat blankly on the ground, or otherwise incapacitated from battle. Many who were knocked unconscious are already feebly waking up feeling empty of energy. They are the lucky ones that suffered the least of the pill's side effects, but they still paid a great deal for their choices.

However, none of them cared for the nobles. If not for their persistence, everyone would be dead by now.

The academy's instructors who saw all these could only stare with disbelief. The difference between the two parties is huge. Superior cultivation ranks, martial techniques, equipment and even using drugs, yet they could not defeat their weaker opponents.

They could see the Bagua formation from their screen, but those learned and wise instructors found themselves unable to understand what just happened.

The group stood valiantly in the midst of the tall yellowish grass of the forest, they are worn from the battle, yet as the sun poured down between the sparse forest's leaves, every one of them appeared glorious and heroic. Even when covered with blood and wounds, they did not back down. They understand that even if one of them cowers, their friends could lose their lives.

Although the Berserker's pill also raised fighting abilities and caused tremendous damage to Kairos' side, it was a double-edged drug that created an imperfect fighting style. Because if not for drug causing their enemy to disregard strategy and safety, it would have been their loss.

Not only will they be unable to find openings to attack as easily, but their foes also would not stop attacking until defeat.

Now, only Calculus himself and his slave guards are left to stand against Kairos' group. The five of them had not taken that drug, leaving the hard labour and the dangerous stuff to the others.

As someone who believed himself to be superior to everyone else, Calculus felt no reason to jeopardise his own future against peasants. Though he was angered beyond senselessness, at the last moment, he did not swallow the pill, and he told his slave guards to do the same.

Those four bodyguards of his are all young orphans picked for their incredible cultivation talents out of all the other young slaves. Losing even one of them would be a huge setback for Calculus.

Kairos, being in the middle of the formation is forced to lean on his friends. He had suffered the most pressure redirecting the impacts their group received away, but knowing they have survived the attacks was enough.

Suddenly, a loud roar erupted from Calculus. Defeated time and time again had bruised his young pride.

Behind him, his slave guards stood expressionless as always while Calculus invoked a secret technique and broke a seal that was keeping his true abilities concealed.

While Kairos and the rest looked on grimly, his aura rises rapidly, and in a blink of an eye, he broke through the peak of E rank.

D Rank!

Except for one other remarkable person in their year, there is no one else that reached this rank. The numerous tests in the academy had verified him to be an E ranker, but no one knew that all along, Calculus already has this level of cultivation, and had been pretending to be weaker.