Chivalry of a Dark Knight [Batman x Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry]

CH7: First Impressions (prt 1)

The female Student-Knight clutched her sword as she spun on the spot, slowly and tensely in the middle of her deciduous surroundings. Sweat dripped down the side of her face as her eyes darted from side to side as she kept up her guard. But nothing could prepare her for the bolt that pierced her leg followed by another that hit her shoulder. She cried out in pain and stumbled forward and then swerved her head to locate her attacker but no matter how much she tried, she couldn't see him. She wasn't given the chance to recover as she was sniped again and again. This wasn't a match between two contenders, it was more like one player at a shooting gallery.

Ikki frowned and then rewound the footage displayed on his room's TV and replayed it.

"I'm back, Ikki" came a voice at the door.

He turned towards the door and smiled seeing who it is.

"Stella, congratulations. I saw the results."

Despite her ordeal yesterday, Stella managed to convince the Committee to schedule her match today as opposed to later. Her scheduled opponent was an upperclassmen named Takeshi Momotani who equips himself with a heavy armor-type Device, said to have blown countless opponents off the ring. Ikki guessed that she was too fired up wait any longer, she was really a go-getter and not someone who gets discouraged easily; it was another quality of hers he found attractive.

"Yeah well, it wasn't much of a win. My opponent threw the fight right at the beginning. I had so much pent up energy, I had to later burn it off at the gym." Stella sighed warily in disappointment.

Ikki couldn't help but chuckle, he didn't expect anything less from her.

"I'm only disappointed that I didn't get to see your match." he said.

Stella looked sideways, a blush forming on her cheeks, and muttered while twiddling her fingers.

"You and me both."

"Hmm?"

"Nu-Nothing!" she spluttered as her blush spread. "S-So, what are you watching?"

Looking towards the TV, she took notice of the footage of the poor girl student being bombarded by glowing bolts shot from various angles. She frowned at such a sickening display.

"Oh, this. You've been watching this all day, haven't you?"

"Yeah." Ikki nodded. "I want to see what his timing's like."

"That's Area Invisible, his Noble Art, right?"

Ikki nodded again.

"Uh huh. An illusionary camouflage that grants the user absolute stealth, a feature of his Device Oborosuki."

"Attacking his enemy from complete concealment. How slimy! I don't like the way he fights." she spat with disdain.

Ikki glanced towards her with a knowing smile.

"Neither do I but I also wouldn't be so quick to judge. Both the ways of Samurais and Ninjas have their merits."

"What do you mean?" asked Stella.

"Take Alice for instance, he claims he's at a disadvantage when it comes to direct combat but he makes up for it in speed and tactics."

Like Stella, Arisuin also elected to have his match scheduled today. His was held in the fifteenth training arena right after Stella's and had defeated a second year E-Rank opponent in record time. Shizuku was indeed proud to have him as a roommate.

"Even Batman could also be considered as another example." Ikki further explained.

"Yeah but Batman isn't a coward like this Kirihara guy." Stella scoffed.