There was a special trait to the earring, other than that of the natural hardening effect. Over the course of the month, Simyon could feel somewhat his strength increasing, the outside of his body becoming stronger.
However, he didn't feel like there was any type of breakthrough. There was no sudden difference, or extreme increase in strength when using the powers of the earring. Right now, he had been using the powers of the earring, and yet Lisa was able to damage him beyond what his armour could protect him from.
Still, Raze had mentioned something to Simyon. That is, if he was in trouble, he should rub the bottom of the earring. Simyon had no clue what it would do, but Raze did.
The Mythical grade item, on top of being an item that could evolve the user's body strength, also had another effect. If certain magic was used on the earring, it would gain an additional effect that could be stored.
'I hope you weren't lying about this, Raze,' Simyon thought to himself, rubbing the bottom of the earring. A flicker of black magic ignited, too small for those who were far away or for Lisa to even notice.
[Rebound has been activated for the next two seconds]
Simyon didn't know what the skill or the effect of the item could do, all he could do now was hope.
Lisa threw out both of her fists at full strength, and had done so, twisting both of her hands. Right before she hit Simyon, she opened her fists and now had her fingers pointed like that of claws.
Her fingers had dug into Simyon's skin. It was shallow but it had been done. The next moment, she twisted it and all of the power of her Qi strike went right into Simyon.
'Wait, what's going on?' Lisa thought. She should have seen Simyon blasting through the air, sent off the stage. She had used nearly all of her Qi in that strike. She didn't want this embarrassment to go on any further, and now it had done nothing.
Soon, in her very own hands, right where she had struck, she could feel a gathering of energy. Before she knew it, she was the one that had been blasted away. Her hands detached from Simyon's body and she was flung in the air, landing on the ground, her arms shaking.
As Simyon looked at her on the floor, he was confused as to what had just happened himself, but he had no time for confusion. His eyesight was turning blurry, and he fell to one knee, catching himself.
'I guess the earring really did do something. You saved me again, Raze; somehow. You are one heck of a guy,' Simyon thought before passing out on the ground.
Having added the dark magic to the earring, Raze could see the skill rebound being used. In that small moment, all of the damage that the user received would be rebounded back to the attacker.
There were issues such as when the skill could be used and if they could survive the initial strike. After all, Simyon's skin was still exposed, and if a real sword was used, it still would have gone through his body.
On top of that, once the skill was used, the Dark magic would disappear, and Dark magic would have to be placed in the earring again. Still, it was a powerful skill that suited the rank of a Mythical item.
"What was the art that boy used? I've never seen anything like it before," the onlookers discussed among themselves. Feebie didn't say anything; she was too stunned to see her niece in the condition she was in.
She could slowly see Lisa getting up off the floor, which was a good sign, but far too much embarrassment had already been done.
"It seems the kid has used some type of body strengthening art and used a type of rebound technique," Murkel commented. "These children, all of them, are above the norm, and I'm not just talking about their skills. n-.01n
"You can see it on their faces, can't you? The difference between them and those from our clans."
The clan leaders watched the fights going on; they had been observing carefully but had no idea what the principal was talking about.
"All of them have a stronger desire than our own disciples. Whether it's to please someone, to protect someone, to prove something… or even a goal that is beyond that of what is seen right here.
"If we look at the state of our students and of the others without having seen the fight, you would still have guessed that there was a clear winner, but there is a great difference between the two, in their desperation."
Both Mada and Raze had their wooden swords drawn out. So far, Mada hadn't used his weapon even when he was going up against Safa, but it showed just how serious he was taking the opponent right in front of him.
'Foot of the water stride!' Mada had decided to use. He jumped from side to side, and quickly he was heading to Raze in a zigzag pattern.
The jumps in between each step, they were changing in size, making it hard for even Raze to guess where he was going to be. Dashing forward, Raze placed his sword to his side, blocking the attack, but he was unable to kill any of the momentum.
He had used the two-step shift to move to the side, yet the attack had still hit him, and hard as well. His whole body tumbled to the ground. He quickly got up, and with a sidekick, Mada had hit him right in the chest.
It sent him skidding across the floor. When Raze eventually stopped, he coughed a couple of times, holding onto the damaged area.
'He's a lot faster and better than when he was going up against Safa, and it looks like he's taking him a lot more seriously than the last disciple,' Raze thought.
Behind him, he could see that Dame was fully going against the two disciples as well. He had given up on the sword and was blocking both of their attacks with his hand techniques, with one student giving him more trouble compared to the other.
After deflecting two of their attacks, Dame jumped back, and now he was somewhat back-to-back against Raze as well.
"I told you that this wouldn't be as easy as you thought. Do you want a hand, and need me to deal with this all?" Dame asked.
At this point, Raze could see that Lisa was getting up off the ground as well; both Liam and Simyon looked as if they could no longer continue to fight. So it would mean that he would have to go up against two of the main disciples just like Dame was doing now.
If Dame did use his skills, wouldn't that make him stand out, and for the others to ask a lot of questions? If that was going to happen anyway, then it would be a lot more satisfying for Raze to do it himself.
"If I did something right now, do you think you would have the power to stop everyone here from attacking us?" Raze asked as he pulled up both of his sleeves on his uniform. It was clear, to Dame, he wasn't just talking about the disciples, but everyone watching them as well.
