Chapter 779: They Think I'm Hiding Behind Her
"So… Do you know them?" I asked Odeta.
She scratched her head, "I kind of have a feeling I do, Sister Aster… But I can't remember… Their moves seem familiar to me at least…"
I raised an eyebrow, "So… Are they like… Trained in the same place as you back before you met me or something?"
"Hmm? Oh not like that kind of familiar. It felt like I fought others who could do what they did before. Even the coordination kind of felt familiar…"
I frowned, "Former enemies then?"
She tilted her head, "Mmm… I don't think so either. I don't sense any killing intent from them so probably not? I dunno."
I guess I'll have to ask those boys directly then…
I went over to the group of boys who were still collapsed in a pile on the ground, all of them still lacking the strength to get up from where they lay.
"Hey, who are you guys?" I asked, poking one of them on the arm.
Another boy answered me instead, "We have nothing to say to you…"
I turned to look at the person who said that, realising it was the first boy that Odeta had knocked down and also the one whom she had started to chase first.
What was his name again? Oh right, Haddock.
I tilted my head, "Why are you so hostile to us?"
He laughed, "Haha! Hostile to 'us'? No, no, it's just you that we don't like."
I frowned, "I don't believe we've met, have we?"
"Tch… Of course we haven't! If we met before… You wouldn't be showing such an attitude right now! We would have already beaten you long ago!"
"Huh? I don't understand… If we've never met before, why would you have any reason to be so hostile towards me then?"
"Shut up! We don't need to tell you any--"
Odeta picked him up by the scruff of his neck so that he was now eye level with her, his feet dangling above the ground.
"What did you just say to Sister Aster? Do you want to die or something?"
Err… Odeta, let's not kill our classmates, ok?
The boy's attitude changed almost immediately from being dismissive to absolutely terrified.
"Eeek!! N… No! Big sister Odeta!!"
Odeta's brows furrowed even deeper, "Who the heck is your big sister? Did I allow you to call me that?"
"N… No! I'm sorry!"
"Isn't there someone else you should be apologising to as well?"
He looked confused by that, "Som… Someone else? I… I don't know?"
"You insulted Sister Aster! Of course you should be apologising to her!"
He surprisingly recovered back to his dismissive attitude again, "I don't apologise to weaklings."
Oh… Oh shit…
I rushed forward and grabbed Odeta's arm right as she pulled it back in preparation to punch the guy in the face.
"Waaaiiiiit!! Odeta, stooooop!!" I cried, managing to stop her from actually punching him.
Odeta turned to me, "But Sister Aster! He insulted you!"
"I mean… He hasn't met me before, right? So he doesn't know!"
"That's no excuse, Sister Aster! He deserves a good beating!"
The boy scowled at me, "Look at that… Typical… Hiding behind Big Sister Odeta like that…"
Odeta turned back and shook him up and down, "What did you just call me again?! Do you want to get beat up that badly?!"
I tried to look for Instructor Henry for help and I realised he was intentionally looking away from here, as though saying that he was letting us handle it ourselves.
Ugh… Fine.
I turned back to them, "Odeta, let him go."
Odeta gave me a shocked look, "Eh?! Why? I should be beating him up right now, Sister Aster!"
"Just let him go."
She frowned but did as I asked anyway.
Unfortunately for this boy, Odeta did not lower him back down onto the ground first before letting go so he ended up falling flat on his butt when the Amrap released her grip on him.
I faced the boy while crossing my arms in front of me, "So what made you think I'm weak?"
He grumbled before answering, "Why else will you hide behind Big Si-- Ermm… Behind Senior Odeta?"
Odeta blanched at his words but I placed my hand on her arm before she could say anything, prompting her to snap her mouth shut albeit unwillingly.
I sighed and started chanting, "By my will and power, what is broken shall be mended all at once. Mark this area as my sanctuary and revitalise all that I deem to be my own. [Area Regeneration]."
The ground below the boys started to glow and my magic started its work on healing all of them back to perfect health.
The boys seemed surprised by my sudden healing spell but they quickly gathered together again once they found the strength to do so, all of them glaring at me with quite unfriendly faces.
Hmm… I think I know what's going on now…
These guys probably respect strength over everything else and most likely trained together to get to their level of strength. They probably idolised Odeta for her strength because of her Amrap lineage and saw me as nothing but a parasite leeching off her.
That's why they're so hostile towards me…
But that doesn't explain why Odeta felt familiar with them though… Maybe they've met sometime in the past and fought before but Odeta forgot about them?
I can actually see that happening.
Well, I can ask that later if I still want to know about their circumstances since there's something more important that I want to do now.
I pointed a finger at them, "Fight me. All five of you. Let's go."
The Haddock boy whom I now believe is the leader of the group sneered at me, "We're not going to do that. Otherwise everyone is going to think we bully the weak."
"Have you not been paying attention in school or something? You do realise that first of all… I am a Special Class student? Second of all, I'm literally in the same class as Odeta for close combat? Don't you think that says something?"
"Doesn't change the fact that Senior Odeta can snap you in half and beat you up in a real fight though."
Odeta opened her mouth again but a quick tap from my hand prompted her to shut it again.
The boys were definitely not liking the very obvious dynamic between their idol and myself right now.
I cracked my knuckles before picking up a wooden sword of my own to twirl it around, "It kind of sounds like you're just looking for an excuse to run away from a fight with me, doesn't it? Odeta wouldn't run away from a challenge like this and yet here you are making excuses instead of shutting your mouth and accepting it. Pathetic."
I successfully triggered them and that Haddock boy pointed his sword at me, "Let's do it then! I'll make sure you regret it!"
"How long do you still want to talk instead of just coming at me? Do you want me to tie a hand behind my back first or something?"
He let out a warcry and charged towards me, prompting the others to run after him as well.
I gestured for Odeta to step back and she did not even utter a word of protest before she quickly leapt away to give more space for me to move.
I lowered myself into my stance just as the boy raised his sword in preparation to swing it down towards me.
Just as the sword went above his head, I stepped towards him before he could bring it down, my hand reaching up to grab his wrist and twisting it to the side, forcing him to stumble to the side and drop his sword.
I then used him as an impromptu shield to block against the second boy charging towards me from the left while I stabbed my sword to the right at the third boy.
Both of them did not expect me to do that at all as my blade smacked the third boy in his abdomen with enough force to send him flying back.
The second guy ended up smacking their leader across his face with his sword as he was unable to stop his sword swing in time.
I then went ahead to kick his 'dead' friend towards him, letting the first boy crash into him and sending both of them tumbling onto the ground.
The fourth and fifth boy attempted to leap towards me at the same time and I showed them how dumb the idea was by kicking the sword the first boy had dropped towards the fourth boy and throwing my own sword towards the fifth boy.
Both of the wooden swords smacked both of them in the face, leaving them to crash onto the ground before they could even reach me and left them clutching at their faces in pain.
I then went over to the second boy who was still stuck under their leader to raise my foot right above his head.
He was looking at me with wide eyes before I stomped down hard onto the ground right beside his head.
The ground ended up cracking from the force and he said nothing, realising that I could have killed him if I wanted to.
And just like that, all of them got wiped.
Who's the weak one now you bastards?! You couldn't even last a minute!
Ok, ok, you can stop clapping now Odeta, that is actually quite embarrassing…