"Coach, I want to fight you again. This time, it's one on one."
"!!!"
Before he could finish giving me a rundown, I blurted out something so ridiculous that everyone around me couldn't help but be shocked.
Coach Ben blinked once, then set his clipboard down like it was an afterthought. The other students murmured; a few pushed forward to watch.
He put his hand on my shoulder, and looked at me silently. He knelt down to make direct eye contact and opened his mouth to speak.
"…My boy," he said carefully, placing a heavy hand on my shoulder, "by chance, did I also happen to hit your head?"
"What? No!"
"Ahhhh.... Lucy's going to kill me!" His teeth started shivering, biting his nails.
Ben's worried face was so earnest it almost looked like a kid's. He patted the side of my head like he was checking for a bump, then straightened up in a flurry.
"Coach Ben, I'm fine!"
"Then why are you saying something so crazy?! Brain damage! It's gotta be brain damage! Or is there someone forcing you to do this? Give me a name!"
'He's really panicking now.'
I looked at Coach Ben straight in the eyes and grabbed his wrist.
"I'm saying this out of my own volition. This choice is mine alone."
"....."
"Coach. I'm serious."
He looked back at me as his panicked expression disappeared.
Whatever he saw made him stop talking. The tension in his shoulders eased, his tail went still.
After a long pause, he exhaled through his nose.
"…Alright. Okay. But why though?"
"To prove to myself that I didn't just waste the past three days."
That answer seemed to reach him. For a second, there was a glint of approval in his feline eyes.
"…Heh." He stood up straight and cracked his neck. "Alright then, kid. Show me what three days of doing 'nothing' taught you."
From the corner of my eye I saw everyone's worried expressions with a mix of shock.
Elio looked serious, Kristina looked really worried, and...
Senior Pheobe was too.
I turned towards her and smiled.
"I'm most likely gonna get hurt, so sorry for troubling you if Ms. Lucy ends up asking for your help again!"
"Aran, wait!" Elio tried to call out before being shushed by Coach ben.
"It is his decision, Young Tonitru. I must expect this young warrior's resolve!"
It looks like I touched one of his Martial Artist nerves. He's suddenly talking like one of those characters from those Kung Fu comics I read.
I nodded and bowed. "Thank you!"
________________________________________
A tense atmosphere was gathering in the training area. A large group formed around Ben and Aran as they prepare to fight.
"You idiot..." Kristina muttered as she closed her eyes.
"He's got a death wish..." Pincer wrinkled his brows, watching intently.
Coach Ben, who was stretching his arms was deep in thought as he watched Aran stretch too.
At first glace, the boy didn't look that remarkable. If he was being honest, he was shocked when Aran performed well during the physical training exercise three days ago. He even forced him to react on reflex as a feeling of danger surrounded him at that moment.
And despite being injured not too long ago, why is he so calm?
The courage and fighting spirit to challenge someone who is stronger than you drew a deep level of respect from Ben's heart.
His muscles feel tense and his heart is beating like he's about to have a decent fight.
'Although I should hold back to not injure him again, I have a feeling I shouldn't...'
Above all else, there is one thing that is running through Ben's mind the most.
His calmness and what he triggered from Ben...
There was one conclusion to point to. The boy standing in front of him...
'Aran Aranea is dangerous.'
There is nothing here that can change the outcome. Aran is clearly outmatched.
Feeling bad for him, Ben gave Aran a handicap.
"The rules are the same as before. If one of us surrenders or can no longer continue the fight ends. You need to land one good hit on me. It doesn't matter where, as long as I get hit. It won't count if it is blocked or parried. I need to actually feel it. Is that clear?"
"Yes, I understand. Is there nothing else?"
"No, so do your best." Coach Ben said.
Aran nodded. "I will!"
Without further ado, both fighters got into fighting stances. It was as if the temperature was rising, feeling like something was about to explode.
Coach Ben flexed his calves, ready to dash.
"Here I come!
In a burst of speed, he quickly closed the gap between him and Aran, however Aran reacted quickly and duck and rolled and sprinted away.
It was a strategy that has always worked for him. He kept his distance and waited for his opportunity to strike. However, the opportunity he's looking for will be rare. He's not just fighting anyone. He's fighting against one of the strongest martial artists in the world who additionally has superhuman speed, strength and agility that of a tiger.
To everyone who was watching, this is a hunt, not a fight.
Coach Ben threw a strike, Aran dodged but couldn't counter attack due to the difference in reach and speed.
Aran's elite level reaction time built from repeated death loops becomes useless in the face of absolute power.
He fought a monster before, but he doesn't have any retries here. If he loses this match, that's the end of it.
There's no possible way for Aran to win a fair and clean fight against Ben. And that's why—
"Huh?! What the?!" Aran hid behind a spectating second year student, Simon, and used them as a human shield.
—He chose to fight dirty.
"Eeek!" Simon screamed and closed his eyes when he saw Ben approaching.
"!!!"
Just before his fist could hit, he stopped in his tracks inches away from his innocent student's face, shocked at how Aran casually put someone else in danger.
In Ben's surprise, Aran seized the moment and threw a fistful of sand at Coach Ben's face, but was blocked.
"This trick again? Aranea, this will not work a second time— ?!"
As Ben spoke, his body suddenly started to feel strange. His senses were becoming dull as a state of euphoria crept in.
"Ooooh... I feel... A little strange...".
*Thud*
The next moment, Ben laid down on the ground and purred, rubbing his whiskers in the sand.
"W-what the—?" A nearby student blurted out at the unusual sight.
"Wow, I didn't expect that to work..."
"Did you drug him?!" Flint who was next to Simon yelled at Aran.
Panicked, Aran answered quickly. "No, no! I didn't drug him!"
"Then why the hell is he laying on the ground like a little cat?!"
"Well..." Aran put his hands in his pockets and took out a bottle. "Tadah!"
Reading the label, Flint squinted his eyes.
"...Catnip...?" He looked at aran with deadpan eyes as if to say this situation can't be real.
"As I can ever be."
"No! There's no way this can be right! You're telling me someone this formidable can be taken down by some catnip?!"
"Convenience store catnip to be specific—"
"NOT MY POINT!"
"Hey, I'm just as surprised as you. I didn't actually expect it to work on him..."
In truth, Aran went into this fight fully prepared to lose. But even if he did, he resolved himself to try and find a weakness to Ben's abilities through the next few days.
'Do what you're best at—thinking' was what Brok told him.
He contemplated what he meant by that until realizing that his greatest strength isn't physical ability or his infinite regression. It was his ability to learn through trial and error.
Taking advantage of the fact that Ben would most likely try to avoid injuring another student, Aran used Ben's carefulness against him and found a human shield before using that split second opportunity to throw the catnip.
In other words, this entire fight has been a gamble on Aran's part. Betting his victory on the catnip having an effect.
All else fails, he'll keep challenging Ben everyday after training until he finds a weakness to exploit.
Punching the ground, Ben regained a bit of his fighting spirit and struggled to get up.
"D-don't think you have won yet, Aranea... I have not- Argh!"
Aran threw another fistful of catnip at Ben and took out a cat toy, moving it side to side.
"Who's a good kitty?"
Ben roared happily, pawing at the cat toy Aran was holding. But inside, he's torn between enjoying the toy and the embarrassing moment.
"Coach Ben, do you suwwendew?"
"Nyah-ver!!!"
Everyone in the crowd watched on in horror. One thought echoed unanimously in their mind.
'What the hell are we looking at right now?'
________________________________________
"Pfft!" Lucy, the nurse covered her mouth, trying to conceal her laughter.
"Q-quiet!"
Ben yelled.
"S-sorry about that, coach..."
Aran told him, trying to avoid eye contact as the two of them were sitting close to each other.
After everything had calmed down, Ben returned to normal but was no longer in the mood to fight. Rather, he had an intense urge to crawl into a hole and die after showing such a shameful side to his students.
"A-and after all talk about being a 'Strict and wise mentor' and this happens to you!" Lucy wheezed and cackled, no longer able to contain herself.
"Please just stop...." Ben covered his face with his hands.
'Who would've thought that the scary teacher from the opening ceremony would be such a fuzzball...'
Aran thought.
Pheobe who was checking Aran's condition tilted her head, listening quietly.
"Then this whole time, his coach personality was just an act?"
Calming herself down, Lucy wiped a tear from her eye.
"Yep! This big guy just wanted to look cool infront of his students!"
"H-hey! Now you're just adding salt to the wound!"
Ben exclaimed.
"Oh c'mon, relax. This is a good thing isn't it? Everytime I pass by you guys training, there's always a tense atmosphere around your trainees. Honestly, just watching felt suffocating..."
"What?! It can't be... Was I really that scary?!"
Coach Ben looked at Aran and Pheobe.
"W-well, I've been absent for the last three days so I can't say for certain..." Aran told him, trying to not be rude.
Meanwhile, Pheobe was more blunt.
"Yes, you were. Everyone keeps saying things about being intimidated and some deliberately avoid you outside training..."
Ben looked distraught and covered his head with the blanket that was too small for him.
"Yeesh..." Aran felt bad.
After a slight pause, Pheobe continued.
"However, I have observed some students like Elio and Pincer showing expressions of respect snd admiration. Perhaps it is because both of them fit your teaching style more than others."
After hearing Pheobe's comment, Ben's ears perked up and he removed the blanket from his head.
"R-really...?"
"Yes." Pheobe nodded.
Ben smiled proudly as Lucy and Pheobe finished checking up on their respective patients.
Both were in good condition and there were no physical injuries. Just some wounded pride.
"You do still have to take responsibility for ruining the schedule though..." Lucy bluntly told Ben.
"Oh right..."
"Schedule?" Aran asked.
"Oh right, you were absent. Pheobe, would you kindly explain to Aranea here about the schedule."
"Yes sir."
Like Elio talked about with Aran on the phone, groups of students were separated into different groups based on their Perk type.
There are different types of perks
Kenisis type, Enhancer type, Mutation type and Emission type.
Kenisis type Perks are abilities that can control different things around a user or control the laws of nature. An example of a Kenisis user is Isaac, who can control gravity inside a certain radius.
Enhancer type Perks, like the name suggests, are abilities that enhance an individual's own abilities or other's abilities. An example of this would be Nurse Lucy's ability to speed up the healing process of injuries.
Mutation type Perks are abilities that can affect the physical abilities, appearance, and physiological processes of a person. One such case is Ben and Pincer who have perks that emulate the abilities of animals and enhance their strength, speed and senses. However, Mutation type perks are not just limited to animals.
Emission types are some of the most powerful Perks a person could have. This type of perk allows the individual to create objects or generate different kinds of energy for different purposes.
Kristina, Elio and Pheobe have Emission type abilities. All three are valued by the school for their immense potential. It is said that Luke also has this ability.
However, perks are not just limited to one type.
Elio mainly has an Emission type perk, being able to generate electricity, but it can also be used as a Kenisis type perk and an Enhancer type perk.
For a case like his, he has a schedule unique to himself.
"Whoa, so Elio's a special case, huh?"
"It would seem so. Perks a thousand years ago used to mainly be Enhancer types but have become more complex as generations go on.
"I see..."
Aran said before spacing out... His expression looked serious.
"Aran...?" Pheobe called out.
"Oh, yes?"
"Your expression changed. Is there something wrong?"
"It's nothing. It's just..." Aran paused, looking Pheobe in the eye.
"Hypothetically, if there was some out there who can return to the past several times... What would his perk type be?"
"Where is this coming from?" Pheobe asked, curious. "I don't believe there has been an ability like that in recorded history... Perks take existing parts of the universe and are formed as abilities. Even the gods do not have dominion over time."
"You're right, It's just a thought." Aran chuckled...
"But if there were someone with an ability like that.... Then they would be an anomaly..."
Pheobe told him.