"AH! It"s jealousy!"Cecil"s eyes brightened up when he thought of this. He was jealous! That was the only explanation.
Jealous at what you ask?
Well, this irksome feeling had actually started since Ainz"s match. After that, the feeling kept on piling up on each other with each subsequent match his friends had won.
During their training in the Academy"s Accelerated Time Formation, Cecil had taught Ainz and Fina his family"s weapon arts. When he saw his two friends using them to a sufficient level during their battles it caused him to feel proud, but yet there was that odd feeling.
Ainz"s show of might, coupled with his magic spells, then there was Fina who used her custom fighting style that integrated the Silvaria Weapon Arts with her familiar summoning magic which overwhelmed her opponent.
Then there was Eli who had actually awoken her Weapon Intent as well as the new combat skill she created on the spot following her awakening, the Crimson Skies Sword Skill. Then there were Yuna and Velicia, he was able to bear witness to the new magic spells and combat techniques the two learned during their training.
And finally... there was Lucia"s recent battle where she unveiled her new elements and spell, Apocalypse. They had all experienced a visible increase in strength. Their progress was clear not only to Cecil, but to everyone around them.
And he was jealous. They had all taken a leap in progress where he...had practically stopped in place. This was only his opinion though.
"GAAAHHH!!! I knew it!!! I was jealous! This...this disgusting feeling is actually jealousy?!"
Cecil exclaimed when he finally gathered his thoughts.
"EH?!"
"CEL?!"
"W-what?"
"???"
"?"
"..."
Everyone in the room had a face that read "what the h.e.l.l is this guy saying?"
Lucia"s face brightened when she saw that Cecil was finally willing to talk, but then it scrunched into a frown again when she remembered the words "jealous".
"Cel...what do you mean by "jealous"?" Lucia asked.
"I said I was jealous...because of you guys!!!" Cecil loudly declared.
"...eh?"
"Y-you...you all have had a substantial increase in power after our training in the Time Formation... I"ve taught all of you my family"s weapon arts, new knowledge and concepts that upgraded all of your strengths... but me? I"ve been standing in place... there"s no progress at all on my end!!!" Cecil finished, anguish clear on his face.
When he finally finished saying his piece, everyone in the room looked back at him incredulously.
"Progress?"
"Jealous?"
"Seriously?"
"This guy..."
"..."
The nerve... this abnormal idiot had the audacity to be jealous at their progress? At their strength? And what was this about standing in place? He could just stand there for all they cared and it still might not be enough for them to reach his level of power any time soon!
Yet, this idiot had the cheek to say he was jealous of them? Absolutely shameless! Although the other Kings in the room only laughed at Cecil"s declaration and explanation, the Little Kings however sat down together in silence.
It was their turn to stay silent and ignore this b.u.mbling moron. The pain, suffering, and effort that they had to exert to reach their current power levels during their h.e.l.lish training in the Time Formation...were something that this training freak was jealous of?
They were too speechless to even say anything. Even Yuna, their new member, had nothing to say in response at this unreasonable fool. There were many times during their training session where he would sometimes curse or blame his elders for putting him through such a troublesome childhood, yet here he was, still training! Training even harder than them even!
As Cecil"s weird tantrum had finally stopped inside the waiting room, the tournament"s announcer had officially started the last day of the Dueling Tournament. It was the Final stages, and by the end of the day. The Winner and Runner-up of the tournament would be determined, as well as the 100 individuals who would then continue on to partic.i.p.ate in the National Tournament.
The first match of the Finals was opened up once more by Cecil. This time he would be facing off against the Student Council"s Vice President, Alex Silverfang.
On the stage,
"Aiyah~ such bad luck...to be paired with the Combat King right off the bat!"
"..."
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Cecil still had his usual blank look as the two met on the stage. Although Alex sounded like he was complaining, the boy didn"t seem like he was upset at the match up at all. He was also a former King, so he had some confidence in his skills.
The referee asked if they were ready and the two responded with a nod.
"FIGHT!"
At the signal, Alex dashed straight towards Cecil while he activated numerous strengthening skills and spells. He waved his hand and summoned a large black-as-night halberd from his spatial ring and slammed it down towards Cecil.
Cecil braced himself. He lowered himself into a horse stance and raised his arms defensively. Once the halberd"s blade was finally in reach, with his hyper-sensitivity activated, Cecil shouted and caught it with his bare hands.
"HAH!"
"...you monster..." Alex said in shock.
Cecil had clamped down with both hands onto Alex"s halberd and stopped it dead in its tracks. All of this was done with no visible strengthening skills or spells used by Cecil. He solely relied on his body to do all this.
With the upgrade to his mana pathways into Mana Circuits in his arms, Cecil didn"t even need to use mana actively to enhance his muscles. Although, he didn"t want it, but Cecil"s mana had pa.s.sively and involuntarily activated whenever he concentrated on his arms.
As for the force caused by the sword"s downward swing, Cecil was able to disperse all that using his family"s martial arts and redirect it all into the ground. This was why the floor around Cecil"s feet had numerous cracks after he caught the blade of the halberd.
Of course, this redirection skill would place a heavy burden onto his body, but ever since he began baptizing his body with mana every day, Cecil"s body had undergone a qualitative leap in quality.
Although, his torso and abdominal pathways hadn"t evolved into Mana Circuits, the constant usage of mana had brought great benefits to his body. He could freely use the Force Redirection at will now.
Before it wasn"t plausible since he would put an enormous strain on his small body. His small body stature was what limited him in practicing this technique, but with his body being constantly changed by mana, he was now able to use and apply this technique in battle.
"HAAAAAHH!!!"
With a shout, Cecil twisted his hands and pushed away the black halberd. He followed it up with a roundhouse kick and smashed Alex right in the gut.
His kick was heavy and it caused Alex to momentarily blank out due to the pain.
"H-how does his kick hurt so much?! I strengthened my body with Vajra!!"
"GAHACK!"
Cecil"s kick blew away Alex, but he quickly regained his bearing while soaring in mid-air. He slammed his halberd into the ground and he was able to stop his body from flying out of the ring.
"D-d.a.m.n...you really are a monster."
"...here I come."
The battle continued, but it was obvious at a glance which of the two was at an advantage. The crowd loved watching Cecil"s fights. Although there weren"t any flashes of magic and skills, Cecil"s ingenious fighting abilities made him a crowd favorite.
The match was over once Cecil was finally able to land a clean hit onto Alex that finally broke through his protective enchantment.
"WINNER! CECIL!"
Cecil cupped his hands in respect towards his opponent and walked down from the stage. Alex had to be carried off from the stage since he sustained some pretty heavy damage.
When Cecil made his way back to the waiting room, everyone congratulated him on another spectacular win.
"Nice one, Combat King!"
"Yeah, it was a real spectacle, Combat King~"
"Hihi, the Combat King sure knows how to please the crowd," The Nature King said.
"Please the crowd, please the crowd, Combat King can~!" Nature Queen Anixia added.
Combat King, Combat King, Combat King. It was clear that everyone in the room was only making fun of him.
"...can"t you all just say my name?"
"No~pe! Now that you have a t.i.tle, it"s more appropriate this way~" Audrey insisted. "Now everyone, on the count of 3~ 1, 2...3~!"
"COMBAT KING~!!!"
"...give me a break." Cecil said with a helpless look.
They were totally doing this just to spite Cecil. He was jealous? Hah! He had no right to even think about the word, let alone say it! It was decided that for the rest of the day, as punishment, they would avoid saying Cecil"s name and only call him by his t.i.tle.