'It worked.'
Blight wasn't particularly skilled at close combat, weapon mastery, or anything else for that matter.
He lacked any kind of prior training, which many others had completed before attending the barracks, and he did not make any prior plans or efforts to learn what to do after his awakening.
His awakening and attending the barracks came as a surprise to him.
His plan in this fight was a simple gamble.
Blight believed he could utilise [Gaze of the Abyss] to defeat his enemy in combat, but he was going in blind, without any real plan other than reacting to whatever the ability showed him.
This was in no way how he could have won a fight against a horror. No, he would have been squashed like a bug.
But for such fights, where he only needed to land one strike or disarm the enemy, this underhanded tactic would work.
It wasn't a very good fight, either. In Blight's eyes, it was extremely unskilled.
However, it marked a precedent, and it proved to himself that he could use his ability to become proficient in combat. It wasn't just for utility but could be carved into a strong combat ability.
He would need to train hard and hone his skills, and if he did, he could imagine such a day when he would become untouchable and be invincible on the battlefield.
He had to work hard. He had a long way to go.
Blight was about to crawl off the ground when he saw Avil standing above him and offering a hand to help him up, and he took it.
Avil was looking at him with admiration.
"That was amazing, man!"
Blight only scratched his head embarrassingly.
His perception of the Avil had changed a lot since he first met him.
Blight had never allowed himself to read his mind, but he could tell that the kid was honest and meant well, only lacking some critical thinking ability and social tact.
Like Blight, he had also changed a lot in the short time since they joined the Barracks. He was at first quite round, but he was steadily slimming down and becoming fitter every day.
Shazbot came up and patted him on the shoulder. "Good fight, Blight. You saw right through me, the fight was in your hands since the very beginning."
He nodded his head at him.
"Your plan was well thought out and fooled me, I only grasped your intent at the last moment."
Blight also patted him on the shoulder.
He chatted with the others quickly after the first spar finished, and most of the groups who were already occupying this space dispersed and went back to sparring with each other.
His group continued to spar with each other until Dusk.
Since there were 8 of them, each person fought twice. After Shazbot, he sparred with Devin, but he was too weak and lacked any useful ability.
Blight easily won by deflecting all his strikes and kicking the sword from his arm.
After each fight, they would discuss the outcomes and input and share ideas, reflecting on how they could all improve.
It was the last fight of the day between Marsuu and Bernault.
"We should go all out and properly use our abilities," Marsuu said plainly.
Bernault gave a helpless smile.
"Okay, but go easy, man, don't aim above my neck."
"Leyhart, go and get us two real swords," Marsuu instructed.
Blight looked on silently. When he looked at Marsuu, he saw that his expression was distant, and it looked like there was a lot on his mind.
He didn't know much about the guy.
Marsuu was typically silent, not talking much about himself or of his life, but occasionally, he could see that there was a deep sadness or rage inside of him that would leak out.
It was the polar opposite of the personality he would usually display, which was calm and carefree.
The trainees from the other groups also came to spectate, Blight looked at the two groups that were led by Eldrich and Ray, who seemed to be allied with each other.
They also recognised that this would be a grand fight between two of the strongest trainees in the regiment and came to spectate.
One of the boys who should have been the one everyone called Yone noticed Blight's gaze and stared back at him, squinting his eyes.
He was quite striking with his short red hair, handsome face, and steel grey eyes. His posture was easily recognisable, he was no doubt a scion from a powerful family inside the clan.
Blight accidentally made eye contact with him briefly, activating his flaw.
Voices sounded in his mind. He understood that he was curious about himself, but he did not seem to have any ill intent or dislike towards himself or Marsuu.
He was just curious about their strengths.
Blight was also very curious about Marsuu and Eldrich. They both had strong combat suited abilities that could be used in many different ways.
Among them, many did not, for example, Avil, whose abilities were related to understanding and enchanting objects, or Shazbot, whose abilities were great for scouting and expeditions.
Blight felt some apprehension from Eldrich's and Ray's groups and could not help but feel that he would not get along well with them.
Now that they were all right in front of him, he could read all their minds and uncover some of their secrets, but just the same, he felt extremely conflicted.
He did not like to know anything beyond what people chose to show on their surface level.
Blight would much rather not know too much about them unless he had reason to believe they posed a risk to himself.
"Ready?"
"Ready."
It was Leyhart who officiated the spar this time. "Fight."
But they both remained still, calmly looking at each other.
All of a sudden, Marsuu shot out with his hand, manifesting a kind of chained throwing axe.
It did not look like a real physical weapon but an ethereal one made of ether with a greyish blue hue to it.
It travelled almost instantaneously, whipping through the air towards Bernault, who avoided it in the nick of time.
At the same time Bernault was focused on dodging, Marsuu waved his hand conjuring a few traps on the ground between himself and Bernault.
Blight recognised this was his boon. He could conjure these traps which, if stepped on, would entangle you with vines and root you in place.
They had a dark green and purple hue to them but disappeared, becoming invisible soon after.
"How interesting." Blight nodded his head and briefly scanned the others who were glued to the fight.
Marsuu waved his hand again, this time throwing two of these chained axes toward Bernault.
Bernault had only just recovered after dodging the first one when he saw two more flying towards him.
Because he was now nearing the left edge of the boundary, he had to move towards the right.
But Marsuu obviously knew this and factored it into his plan of attack, using the second chained axe to block off his escape.
Bernault did not have time to dodge both, he would have to get out of this corner and try to deflect one of them.
He leaped to the right, dodging the first, then reinforced himself with as much ether as he could and braced for impact with his sword attempting to parry the incoming flying chain.