Chapter 28: Chapter 28: Lost Technique, Pankration
"Hmph, Amleth, do you think that under my personal supervision, Moran and Waver could have cheated? Or are you saying that my Lord El-Melloi's eyesight is inferior to yours?"
"No! No! I didn't mean that!"
Kayneth's personality is very aristocratic and arrogant.
However, he hates mages who don't follow the rules even more.
Especially mages who violate etiquette.
Fortunately, Amleth is just a little lacking in eyesight, and he won't argue with a mere student.
Unless the student wants to argue with him.
Like Moran.
"Damn it! Damn it! It's all you guys! As long as I defeat all of you! There won't be any problems!"
Amleth's brain gave up thinking.
He really couldn't figure out how Moran had dealt with Caimir.
However, he could figure out one thing.
He must defeat Waver and Moran here, otherwise he might lose all his past honors.
Even his future as a mage.
"Waver, stay away."
"Huh?"
"That guy Amleth is coming, don't ask me for medical expenses if you get caught up in it. I'm poor."
Upon hearing this, Waver immediately retreated and gave way to the battlefield.
In this battle, he wanted to help, but his heart was willing but his strength was insufficient.
Exactly as Moran said.
"Give me! Get down!"
Amleth launched an offensive against Moran first.
The wind stirred up by his fist roared like it could tear eardrums.
It roared and pounced at Moran.
"Heh, I'll play with you."
Moran was as carefree as if he were frolicking in a flower garden.
He didn't choose to end it with a single punch like he did with Caimir.
He seemed to transform into a butterfly dancing in the wind, dodging Amleth's furious barrage of punches.
A crescent-like, profound smile was plastered on his face.
To Amleth, this was mockery.
"Dodging and dodging! Are you a fly!?"
"Oh, so you can't even hit a fly? Or are you expecting me to be an idiot and take your punches with my face?"
"You die!"
Amleth clenched his teeth so hard they nearly shattered.
If he wasn't in Kayneth's classroom and unable to curse, he would have given Moran's family a piece of his mind.
This bastard, he's too hateful!
Seeing Amleth on the verge of exploding,
Moran gradually restrained his smile.
He leaned back slightly, dodging Amleth's flying knee strike.
"Got you!"
Amleth revealed a fierce smile.
He twisted his body, as if releasing all his pent-up resentment, and stomped down with his right foot, channeling magic power into it.
His conical right toe aimed directly at Moran's chest.
"Moran!"
Camus's heart tightened at the sight.
She hoped that the miracle of Moran defeating Caimir would manifest once again.
His right leg shot out like a bullet.
It looked as if it was about to hit Moran.
However, Moran preemptively reached out and grabbed his ankle, stopping Amleth's further attack.
It was as if he had anticipated this move all along.
Their combat experience was on completely different levels.
Crack—!!
The crisp, ear-piercing sound of bone breaking.
Immediately following was the loud thud of flesh hitting the ground.
Moran grabbed Amleth's right foot and slammed him violently onto the ground.
At the same time, his ankle was crushed.
"Guh… bastard…!"
Amleth could only land on his toes.
Moran had crippled half the mobility of his right foot.
Not only was his attack ineffective, but he was also countered.
"Heh, thanks for the compliment. This is an ancient Greek martial art that a verbose master taught me, one that has long been lost. The most memorable thing he said to me was—once you grab them, you must destroy them, and that is Pankration."
Moran explained with a nostalgic tone.
The centaur sage had put him through a lot of tough training to learn it.
Thanks to him, he became a hero.
He was still using the martial arts he taught him to this day.
"This body is still a bit rusty to use… I'll have to review all of Chiron's lessons later…"
Moran said with a helpless expression as he stretched his muscles.
His simulated body had been through countless battles, and he could use Pankration at a master level with just his subconscious.
Now, this body was using Pankration for the first time.
It was only at most twenty percent of his power from his heroic days, and it would probably take several years of retraining to reach the strength of that time.
To a master's eye, his movements were full of flaws.
But, that wasn't the case in the eyes of others.
"Pankration…?"
Kayneth muttered in confusion.
He wasn't very skilled in self-defense.
But he knew a little about Pankration, a martial art that even Alexander the Great and the soldiers of the Spartan army had spent twenty-five years fully immersed in learning.
It had long been lost in modern times.
Only books mentioned this martial art.
In ancient Greece, Pankration had another meaning, which was—"all the power."
From Moran's movements and techniques,
his level seemed to be that of a master who had reached the pinnacle of skill, and it was unclear how he had inherited this ancient and mysterious style.
Although the definition of the older the stronger was ambiguous,
magicians were accustomed to being in awe of ancient things.
How many more surprises was Moran going to bring him?
"I don't care about your Pankration! I'm going to kill you—!"
Amleth's reason was overwhelmed by anger.
He was the top student recognized by everyone from the beginning, while the other was a low-grade student considered trash.
Now, why were those people
looking at him with such pitiful eyes?
Anxiety to regain past honors, anger at encountering incomprehensible things. Amleth could feel something constantly being lost, but he could only be angry and unable to take it back.
He charged at Moran once again.
But the result was still cruelly laughable.
Although his magic circuits were much better than Moran's, their quality was far inferior to Moran's.
Not to mention, Moran knew how to control them precisely.
Just five magic circuits were enough for him to crush Amleth.
"Guh! Aah—!"
Amleth was countered by a storm of attacks.
Unexpected developments came one after another, and his conscious reactions were almost unable to keep up.
It was like a fragmented, jumbled film.
Moran's figure continuously throwing punches in his eyes.
Like a waterfall, like a rainstorm, a torrent of ever-changing attacks.
He even suspected that his heart rate had changed drastically in the middle, but Moran still held on and continued his attacks.
He had already been beaten bloody in this rain of fists.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he was bruised and swollen.
At this moment, Amleth realized.
Moran hadn't even applied magic power to his fists.
He only injected magic power into his limbs when moving, like a steel giant showing compassion to kittens and puppies.
It was a humiliation that made him want to grind his teeth again.
This couldn't be called a battle.
Moran was relentlessly suppressing Amleth.
Different experience, different perspective, different dimensions of existence.
Vulnerable, this was what they called invincibility!