Chapter 74 – Oaky, the unbeatable 1

In the morning, right after breakfast, Taisetsuna pulled Nozomu aside when they were going to the open field, and she whispered, “Do you think the ground shaking last night was a sign? You know, that God… I mean, that Raluth is awakening?”

“No idea. Maybe Hinotsume knows. Talking about him…”

The wind from the Dragons landing messed up his hair, and Nozomu signalled for the enormous Fire Dragon to approach while Mizukonta was going to meet the others who were near the Unicorns.

Hinotsume whispered when he lowered his massive head. “I know what you want to ask. You felt it as well, I suppose. It was small, but it is what you think it is. Raluth moved. I don’t know if he is going to awaken soon or if he was changing positions during his sleep. This movement of the ground happens every couple of centuries. You should worry when they happen every day, and get stronger each day. A slight movement like that one is normal; there is no need to worry or fear for your life.”

“Thanks, that helps a lot. By the way, this morning we are going to have a few more fights during our fighting class, and I am sure you will like to watch.”

“Really? I hope I see someone kicking your butt, because that will surely be funny!”

Teacher Muse Sirel interrupted Nozomu’s answer, when she called the students to join her on the open field.
When they got to her, she had Teacher Egar Gage at her side, meaning that once again, there would be weapons and unarmed fights.

She waited for all the students to stand in front of her, and she then asked, “Tresuria, that big plant of yours, does he know how to fight?”

“This one believes so, Teacher. Oaky shares the knowledge this one has, so he knows how to use swords, daggers, or fight unarmed.”

Teacher Muse grinned. “Good, because today, every single one of you will fight Oaky in an unarmed fight, and me, with weapons.”

Nozomu disguised a smile when he saw her tapping the frying pan she had at her waist, and he asked, “Teacher, are you by chance going to use that as a weapon, or did you forget to leave that in the kitchen?”

“This will be my weapon this year. None of you would survive if I fought with a sword, so to prevent any deaths, I am going to use this. It will also serve to show you that, in the right hands, anything can be a deadly weapon. But make no mistake, this is still perfectly capable of killing you.”

To demonstrate her point, she removed the leather cover from the hilt and poked the sharp razor on the handle with her finger. She put the cover on the hilt again and explained, “I don’t want to take this protection off, but be aware that it is here, and if needed, I can use it to pierce you.”

“You know, that’s not very reassuring. Threatening to kill your students right on the second day? Are you sure you had a good night’s sleep? Because you don’t seem to be in a good mood!”

Muse Sirel gave a big, weird grin as she answered, “Oh, but I am in an excellent mood, Nozomu. Thinking about knocking the heads of stupid new students that think they are amazing because they entered this Academy is what makes me get out of bed in the morning! And since you are being so chatty, what about if you start? Unarmed fight, you against that big tree near Tresuria.”

“Oh, come on! Does it have to start with me? Why not Suna? She is the one that likes to fight!”

“She will have her turn, but first it is you. Go to that open field! Chop, chop! A fight stops when one of you is unconscious, quits, or loses by first blood.”

“Hey, that is not fair! Trees don’t bleed, and I seriously doubt I can knock him out!”

Teacher Muse shrugged. “Not my problem. It is up to you to last as long as you can.”

“That means there will be a time limit, at least?”

“Did I say that? Because I don’t think I did! Start the fight already, geez! You are so annoying! This exercise will show you that you can’t always win. Sometimes you have to decide on a different approach!”

Nozomu frowned at the still grinning Dwarf woman, and he then faced the enormous, muscular pet plant. He lowered his body a little and clenched his fists, wondering what he could do to fight such a weird opponent.
The moment Muse Sirel gave the order for them to start, Oaky remained still, waiting.

After some seconds, Nozomu ran to Muse Sirel, and she shouted, “What are you doing, moron? Run to him, not me!”

“Shut up! I am not going to fight him! I am retreating!”

Then a wall of vines appeared before him. Nozomu looked back and saw that Oaky had his hand stuck in the soil, and those vines were his fingers, growing to get him. Nozomu ran in another direction, and more vines appeared in his path, trying to grab him.
With a somersault backwards, he evaded the stretching vines and ran in another direction, only to see his path blocked again.
Another somersault to evade, and Nozomu snorted because he had no other choice. He ran straight at the muscular pet plant that now had his two hands stuck in the soil.
When Nozomu was almost near him, Oaki took his hands off the ground and grabbed him. He then pulled the surprised young boy against his body and squeezed him.

Nozomu laughed and said, “Ahahah! Stop that! It’s ticklish! Ahahah!”

Oaky tilted his head and looked at Tresuria. She pointed up, and as an answer, Oaky threw Nozomu up in the sky with all his strength.

The surprised Nozomu screamed all the ten metres he flew into the air, and Teacher Muse shouted at the smiling Gailie, “Tresuria, are you nuts? If he dies, the Principal is going to kill me!”

“No need to worry, Teacher. Oaky got this. He won’t let Nozomu die. This one has a plan, and Oaki knows what to do.”

While Nozomu was falling and still screaming, Muse Sirel answered, “I hope you are right, because things don’t look that good for him!”

Taisetsuna was already gathering her Magic to stop Nozomu’s fall, but she then noticed that Oaki stuck his hands on the ground again, and huge pointy spikes grew, almost to three metres high, forming a dangerous landing zone for the screaming young man.
She glanced at Tresuria, who winked at her with a smile, and when she looked at the horrible scene again, she saw Nozomu rolled his body and used both hands and feet to slide down one spike, and when he was above Oaki, he intertwined his fingers of both hands and hit the large round head with such force that the enormous pet plant got stuck to the ground, leaving only his head above the soil.
Nozomu landed with both feet and hands on the soil, and he immediately kicked the large head, detaching it from the rest of his body, and it went straight at Hinotsume, who was seated on the floor near the students, watching the show.
He grabbed the wooden head and looked at it, surprised to see the large mouth opening and closing, as if he wanted to bite his fingers.
The big red Dragon faced Nozomu again and smiled, for Oaky was not done yet. A huge piece of soil went straight to Nozomu and hit him straight in the face, knocking him out.
Oaky lifted his hands and used them to get out of the hole. He then leisurely went to his initial position again and signalled to Hinotsume, who threw the wooden head at him. Oaky grabbed it, attached it to his torso, and faced Teacher Muse Sirel, who, like everyone else, was staring at him, speechless.

Except for Tresuria, who was clapping and cheering for her pet plant. “And Oaky wins! Yay! That was very good, Oaky! Who’s next, Teacher Muse?”

Taisetsuna ran to Nozomu and poured some Healing Magic on him. When he blinked, she made an awkward smile and said, “You underestimated Oaky, didn’t you? And you got crushed!”

“Hey! I didn’t! I tried to run away! I knew he was dangerous, but I wasn’t counting on being thrown into the air or getting hit by a piece of soil! Darn it, that thing is dangerous! Tresuria is completely nuts! Why did she make such a pet plant?”

While Taisetsuna was helping him get up, she answered, “She told you. She wanted a strong pet plant. I guess Oaky is strong enough.”

Nozomu stumbled to get near the other students, with Taisetsuna grabbing his arm to prevent him from falling.

Muse Sirel tapped Taisetsuna’s back and pointed at the enormous pet plant that was waiting for his next opponent. “Since you are already here, it’s your turn now. Go on!”

Taisetsuna gulped and turned back. She stopped five metres from Oaky, thinking about what she could do against him.
As soon as Muse Sirel told them to start, she hit the big pet plant with four Wind Slashes that cut off his legs, both arms, and head.
Then, a Fire Ball hit Oaky’s torso and burned him into ashes. She gasped and looked at Tresuria, but when she was about to apologise for killing her pet plant, she saw the shy Gailie smiling.
Taisetsuna frowned, wondering why she was not sad about losing her pet. Then a noise called her attention. She looked forward again and saw vines growing from the severed arms, legs, and head, and a new torso appeared.
Oaky was in one piece once again, and then the lights went out because Taisetsuna was hit from both sides by two enormous chunks of soil that squashed her, making her faint.

Teacher Muse rubbed her eyes, unable to believe what had just happened- Hinotsume and Mizukonta were laughing, and Tresuria was jumping and clapping. “Yay! Oaky wins again! Next! He will defeat everyone! Hihihihi!”

Teacher Muse was bumping her foot on the ground as she shouted, “Argh! Stupid moron! Unarmed fights mean you can’t use Magic! Someone go get her before I split her head! The next one that uses a weapon or Magic, I am going to kill him! Or her!”

Nozomu rushed to help the fainted Cat-kind girl and carried her in his arms out of the field. He carefully seated her on the floor with her back against the wall of the Academy building and took a vial with a Healing Potion from his bag. He gently slapped her a few times and forced her to drink the liquid.

When she opened her eyes, she frowned. “What the heck! Did I lose?”

“Yup, faster than me, actually. And you cheated as well. Teacher Muse wants to kill you for that. Unarmed fights mean no weapons or Magic.”

“I know, but I didn’t want to get hurt! I guess that didn’t work!”

When Muse Sirel looked around to choose a new victim, Chujitsuna Hito stretched her arms as she was slithering forward. “Might as well show everyone how to do this.”

Chujitsuna stopped a mere three metres from Oaky, who remained still while facing her. Teacher Muse told her to back away a bit, but she shouted she was right where she should be.
Chujitsuna slithered over to Oaky and delivered a straight punch to the face as soon as the order to begin was given. He didn’t even budge. Instead, he grabbed her and pulled her against him, trying to squash her.

Chujitsuna smiled and said, “Two can play this game, Oaky.”

She wrapped her lower half around the pet plant’s legs and crushed them. As he was falling backwards, he let her go, and Chujitsuna took that chance to wrap him again, but by his waist.
She smirked at Tresuria, who wondered what she was going to do until she saw in horror that Chujitsuna had thrown the enormous pet plant at her.
The students jumped out of the way, Tresuria laid on the ground, and Oaky smashed against the Academy wall.
The surprised Gailie looked up, only to see Chujitsuna pulling her up by grabbing her arms and wrapping her lower half around her.

She squeezed a little and asked, “What about if you tell Oaky to give up? I don’t want to hurt you, you know? But I won’t lose this fight either.”

Tresuria faced her pet plant, who was growing a new pair of legs, and he immediately raised both arms, showing that he was forfeiting the fight.

Chujitsuna released Tresuria and made an awkward smile. “Sorry about this...”

“No... That’s okay... You did what you had to do to win…”