Finding Avalon: The Quest of a Chaosbringer Volume 2 [Parts 1 to 5] by Akito Narusawa

Author:Akito Narusawa
Language: eng
Format: epub

Chapter 9: Kaoru Hayase - Part 1

Kaoru Hayase

Fear gripped me when I saw how much more skilled Kariya was than Yuuma, and the ridicule from Class D stung my heart. I had to close my eyes when Kariya’s longsword struck Yuuma’s side.

With every passing second, another fragment of my faith chipped away, and no matter how I tried to mend the damage, it continued to fragment and crumble away to nothing. The class had cheered him on when he’d gone out to fight, sure of his victory, but now he’d lost in the most demeaning way possible.

Maybe they were right to call us Class E students losers. Maybe that was why even the long hours of grueling training hadn’t made a difference and let Yuuma win. Maybe all our dreams about this school had been unattainable nonsense from the very beginning.

***

I struggled to pay attention in class the days after the duel. Nights were impossible to sleep through, and I’d stopped my daily routine of morning runs and evening dungeon raids.

Once class ended, I heaved a deep sigh. As I tidied up my desk to leave for the day, Naoto whispered over to me.

“We need to talk,” he said, with more urgency than his calm demeanor usually allowed. It had to be important.

He led me out into the hallway so the Class D students in our classroom wouldn’t overhear. The sky outside was a sullen gray, ready to weep—just like me.

“Kaoru, we can’t give up,” said Naoto.

“Give up on what?” I almost said, instinctively trying to avoid what I knew was coming. But his compelling, kind look directed at my eyes cut off my escape.

“We have to keep going,” he urged. “For the rest of the class and ourselves, most of all.”

For myself, I thought. How could we overcome the other classes that had three years of experience? I recalled the skilled way Kariya had fought. Yuuma might reach that level of expertise, but how long would it take me? I wasn’t sure I could any longer.

“That’s what they want you to think,” spat Naoto.

I knew how much they despised us; they had made it clear at the club fair. None of their clubs attempted recruiting Class E students, and those who signed up anyway weren’t welcomed.

“Ask yourself this. Why did they single out Yuuma for a duel on our very first day here?” inquired Naoto.

From his perspective, Class D’s intrusion on our first day had been a meticulous plan.

Yuuma had joined the school as the external student with the best grades, and had become the face of Class E. He was the charismatic figure everyone else followed. Kariya and his Class D bullies had come along and picked a fight with him for no good reason.

Class D hadn’t been twiddling their thumbs for three years of middle school. No, they’d been just as desperate as everyone else to level up and become powerful nation assets. And they’d singled out Yuuma, a student with no dungeon experience, to challenge to a fight.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.