Chapter 62: Ch101. Closing in
As soon as Kurt closed the door to the roof behind him, Lester’s elbow came flying towards him, but he deflected it by parrying the attack up and moving forward under it.
Kurt moved so fast that Lester could barely see his afterimage until Kurt kicked his knee, making Lester stumble.
But the student was not just apparently stronger, he was faster, too.
Lester got up in the blink of an eye, and in a swift movement, he punched Kurt’s chest and pushed him away.
"You’re something special, I gotta give you that!" Lester huffed, grunting.
"You’re not bad, either." Kurt complimented. "But how did you manage to heal so fast and get stronger?" He asked, wiping the blood off his lips.
"What can I say?" Lester grinned. "The academy has its favorites, I guess?"
Lester’s eyes glowed in bright blue, and he began exuding power.
He was emanating high levels of energy, but after a few seconds, it stopped.
"I don’t think I ever showed you my awakened treat, did I?"
’[PRYING EYES]!’
Kurt activated his skill, and when he did, his jaw dropped as the system’s voice sounded in his head.
[THE SUBJECT HAS NO WAKENED TREAT.]
[INSTEAD, HE HAS AN ARTIFICIAL SET OF SKILLS IMPLANTED ON HIM NOT TOO LONG AGO.]
’And what are these skills?’
But before the system could answer, Lester took two pocket knives from his pocket, and the energy that oozed from him just a while ago, began showing in the air, being absorbed by the tiny knives.
’Oh...’
[ENHANCED STRENGTH]
[ENERGY INFUSION]
[ITEM MANIPULATION]
"So that’s how your skill works..." Kurt charged forward, trying to catch Lester off-guarded while the transformation of his weapons were still underway.
"I can see why professor Rodrick seems to have taken a liking towards you, but it won’t be enough this time." Lester grin became even larger.
He stomped the ground, and just as his pocket knives became bigger, he closed his eyes.
[WARNING]
[THE SUBJECT HAS INCREASED HIS SENSES]
’I thought he might do something like that... Shall we try it?’
Las time Kurt checked his stats, they were higher than the average for a low level wielder like him, so he had decided to try to do one thing he had done only back in the [HIDDEN ROOM].
As soon as he got close enough to Lester, he moved his support foot to the left, applying all his strength and impulse to the movement.
Even before Lester could hit him with his elbow, when his pocket knives had already turned into short swords, everything the student was able to hit, was nothing but Kurt’s afterimage.
’It worked!’ Kurt celebrated, still moving.
He went left, right, forward, backwards, and in a matter of seconds, the whole roof around Lester was taken by Kurt’s afterimages.
"What? How..."
"Let’s play a little game, Lester Hill..." Kurt’s voice sounded everywhere. "You land a blow on me at least once, and I’ll consider it your victory, how about that?"
"I told you already. If I win, I’ll kill you."
"No problem with it." Kurt smirked. "But only if you can catch me!"
Every single after image turned towards Lester, and prepared to charge against him.
’I can’t believe I’m actually using [GHOST STEPS OF A THOUSAND FEET] in the real world!’
Lester assumed a defensive posture, and prepared for the impact, but Kurt was smarter than just to swarm around his enemy.
He sharpened his senses to a point where he could hear a single needle falling to the floor, and just as his hearing became sharper, his vision was enhanced, too.
He looked at Lester’s body from countless different directions due to his movement speed, and...
’Judging by his posture, he could let go of the blades if I attack right...’ "HERE!"
Kurt punched with just his knuckles, right at Lester1’s shoulders and the base of his elbows, getting away from him right when the student turned around with all his strength, and punched the air.
But he did so only with the dead weight of his arms, that a second later, fell to his sides.
The daggers fell to the floor not long after that.
Lester looked at Kurt’s afterimages, confused.
"What-"
"Don’t turn your eyes away from your enemy." Lester heard Kurt’s threatening voice behind him.
Lester prepared to beg for his life, but before he could say anything, he felt the impact from Kurt’s blows in the back of his knees, middle of his back, thighs, and shoulders again.
He was still conscious enough to see his point of view shifting, falling to the floor like he was nothing but a rag doll.
"What... What did you do?" He asked, his eyes wide and his lips bobbing up and down.
"I told you, I want answers. So before I kill you, I’m gonna hear you out."
"You promise you’re going to kill me?" Lester begged.
Kurt raised his brow, a little confused.
He wasn’t intending to kill him, because he wanted the student to suffer for what he did to his friends.
But the way Lester pleaded for death...
Something was very off there.
"Yes, I promise." Kurt answered, playing Lester’s game. "Now, how did you manage to suppress my friends’ powers?"
Lester was silent for a few seconds, but after a while, he began talking.
"It wasn’t me. I just drew their attention. My role was just to gave way to who was going to inject them with the serum."
"And what is that serum? Who ordered you to do it?"
Lester’s breathing became erratic, but the boy kept speaking.
"The serum is a compound created with Calamite, you know... The stone from the meteor that started the Calamity... The headmaster... She told me to test it... In the irregulars."
Suddenly, Lester’s body began churning, and he started screaming.
"PLEASE! I TOLD YOU EVERYTHING I KNOW, NOW KILL ME! PLEASE! PLEASE! KILL ME, PLEASE!"
Kurt grinned.
"If you’re so scared of being alive, after telling me all this... I can only imagine what the headmaster will do to you if she finds out..." Kurt’s grin got even larger. "I guess it’ll be enough of a price for you to pay for what you did to my friends... Goodbye, Lester Hill, it was a pleasure to test my powers on you."
Lester’s body froze immediately after Kurt’s words.
"What? No. No, no, NO, NOOOO! PLEASE! YOU HAVE TO KILL ME! YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT SHE’S CAPABLE OF! PLEASE!"
Lester’s words became muffled by the heavy door to the roof, as Kurt closed it behind himself.
He went down the stairs, and left the cafeteria as fast as he could.
His first stop was at Evellyn’s room, to check if everything was okay with her. Then he went to Nikolai’s, and to all other irregulars in Indigo.
When Evellyn asked what happened, he didn’t answer. He just said.
"I hope you guys find a good excuse to get a few days off, because things here are going to get a bit complicated, and you can’t help me like this."
Evellyn frowned, silent for a moment.
But when she was about to say something, Kurt had an idea.
"Ask Nikolai if he knows someone called Nadia. If he does, tell her everything I just told you, and ask her for help. She might be able to find a way to restore your awakened treats."
"But... How do you know that?" She asked, but Kurt pressed his index finger against her lips.
"Told you, it’s a complicated story, and I might tell you one day. But not now... Just go, and find a safe way out of this academy for a couple days."
"But what about you?" She looked concerned.
"I just had a fight with Lester, and judging by how it ended, it seems I’m immune to the effects of that drug, so I might be the best chance for the other irregulars here."
She stared at him, but eventually, she nodded and went straight to Nikolai’s room again.
Kurt turned around, and went back to his room.
’Headmaster, huh? Time to find out what you’re up to...’
