2-4: Laugh with recoil

“Today we’re gonna do some basic exercises and practice the aim, so please everyone be careful.”

Physical Education class was basically like the Physical Education classes from my previous world. My actual body is really good for sports, so this was supposed to be a relaxed class where I could even practice for a new performance. But as everyone deducted after the previous chapter, someone had other plans for me.

“Teacher.”

“Yes?”

“Thomas and I wanted to do combat practice, we both need to learn more about offensive magic.”

“A combat practice…”

You would think that a good teacher wouldn’t let two students fight like that. You’re really underestimating this place.

“All right, we’re gonna apply some restrictions.”

“Thank you very much.”

There’s two reasons why they let us do this.They know that some students will act like they’re better than others, so it’s better letting them settle those things in a controlled place like this instead of letting them fight without rules.

The second reason is that they have some of the best healers in this academy, so most of the injuries can be treated.

Yes, however you look at it, it's irresponsible, but I guess they trust their healers a lot.

“Both, stay quiet.”

The teacher applied a spell on us that reduced our strength before sending us to death. That guy was looking at me with an evil smile during the process.

“All right, please fight in the designated area.”

While I was walking there I pulled out some strings. Surprisingly, they felt more fragile.

“So the spell reduces in general the way the mana gets out…”

“Hey, you seem a little distracted.”

“That’s an impressive spell.”

“Tch.”

In the designated area, we both did some stretching before starting. Some of my classmates were looking at us, so I wanted to be the first one to speak.

“What kind of fight do you want?”

“You’re scared of a fight without rules?”

“We’re in class, I don’t wanna smash your face like in a street fight.”

“Ugh, just, the first one whose back touches the ground loses.”

“Sounds good.”

I thought that a whistle would sound or something like that, but he just shot me a fire ball that I barely dodged.

“Hey!”

“Now you’re gonna complain? Fire ball!”

A lot of fire balls approached me, so I quickly dodged every single one trying to guess how to end this fight quickly.

“Maybe…”

I looked at his hand to see if he was casting without assistance, but no, he was using a wand.

“You’re using a wand?”

“Yeah, why?!”

“You’re the first one I see using one. My best friend and I prefer casting with our bare hands.”

“Shut up and attack! Also, this is way more comfortable!”

“All right all right.”

The most obvious move was trying to steal the wand, but that was too boring.

“Return to sender!”

Instead of continuing dodging I did a net with my mana, catching a fire ball and making it bounce back.

“Huh?!”

The attack came back at him with even more speed, so he countered it with another attack instead of dodging it.

“What kind of spell is that?!”

“You’re not the first one who tries to burn my face.”

Taking advantage of the confusion I attacked with my strings trying to tie him, but he burned them with a big flare.

“I thought you were only able to shoot fire balls.”

“You really know how to bother me!”

A fire arrow appeared on his hand and in a blink it was almost touching my face. Trying to protect me I did the same net but with more layers. Even when it was pierced, it caught the arrow before burning.

“I don’t know your stupid magic, but it looks like it works like normal strings and nets! If you apologize and beg, I'm gonna let you go!”

“Large punch!”

Our distance wasn't far, so I formed a fist with mana and extended it until it reached his face. The attack clearly surprised him, as he looked around as if wondering what the hell had happened.

“What was that now?!”

“You see, I wanted to use a different name, but I respect copyright laws.”

“I wasn't talking about the name!”

The number of attacks suddenly increased, and I continued to dodge and reflect them. Compared to Cloe's, his attacks were slow and easy to predict, so I was a little saddened by the idea of ​​attacking someone like him.

I could have extended the fight for a while, but I remembered where we were and looked to the right.

“Hmm…”

“What are you thinking now?!”

To my right was the academy, so I took a look. When I noticed that the advanced class had a perfect view of us I realized that the fight couldn’t be long.

“Dang it…”

My opponent laughed when I crouched, probably thinking that I was scared.

“That’s right! Know your place!”

“Why did I put this on my shoes…?”

When I took two purple gloves from my shoes my opponent was noticeably confused.

“The heck are you doing?”

“I need to use this, otherwise I can’t defeat you quickly.”

“...Fire arrows!”

After putting the gloves on my hands, I used some strings to catch four tiny branches from a tree. The arrows almost reached me but I just needed to move down. Looks like he really wants to reach my face.

“You’re gonna attack me with those branches?”

“No, I needed them for this.”

He was probably waiting for an attack, so his surprise must have been big when I started juggling with the branches.

“What the hell are you doing now?!”

“Something cool.”

He didn’t let his guard down, so I approached trying to scare him. The distance made it harder to dodge his attacks, so the tips of my branches were burned, starting to consume them.

“A close combat? I’m still having the advantage.”

“I know, but you’re looking at me.”

As I wanted, he continued looking at me, so I prepared my next act.

“Be prepared…”

“Huh?”

“For joining the show!”

He didn’t understand what I wanted to say, and his surprise increased when I threw my branches in his direction.

“What kind of angle is that?!”

“You’re able to see angles? That was a surprise.”

“Insulting me again? I’m gonna-.”

“You should move your arms.”

“What do you-.”

He looked down and panicked when noticed that his arms were extended, totally prepared for catching the branches.

“What?!”

“Jester trick one, forced playmate.”

When he caught the branches, his face only reflected pain. I know people who are experts in fire magic have fire resistance, so he must be really bad at it.

“What the hell did you do?!”

“A curse. That is the curse of attraction, usually used for monsters so they can attract animals.”

Five years ago when I was trying to learn about more special properties of my body, I discovered that I can naturally cure from curses just waiting, and with enough exposure, I can use them. This had some side effects, but we can talk about it later.

“You…”

“Don’t worry, once you catch the object I was using, you recover the control of your hands.”

“I’m gonna kill you!”

Instead of using a lot of fire arrows like before, he prepared a giant arrow.

“Hey, hey, I know we've been nerfed, but you're going a little too far.”

“Great fire arrow!”

“All right, let’s end this…”

I moved my hands and body rhythmically before doing a weird pose that luckily, he totally saw.

“What was that?”

“C’mon, shoot.”

“Is this a challenge?”

“Yes.”

“Then-.”

He was about to shoot, but suddenly, he started laughing.

“Ha…ha…ha…”

“Jester trick two, tragedy laugh.”

“HA HA HA HA!”

The arrow slowly disappeared giving me a better view of his laugh, and of his face slowly turning blue.

“HA HA HA HA!”

He started scratching his own face trying to stop the laugh, but he couldn’t do anything before falling on the ground, just then the laugh stopped.

“I think that was too much.”

I knew he was only unconscious, but I needed to apologize for using that one on him. Just when I was about to do it, I felt really bad.

“...Sorry!”

I quickly ran out to a lonely place where no one could see me. There, I hit my face against a wall several times.

“GAH!

Only after five hits did I finally calm down and sit on the ground trying to relax.

“...I guess I can’t control the hypnosis curse…”

I may be able to heal and use curses, but when I do, they come with a huge recoil and my stress level increases drastically. It didn't help that I used two curses in a row. Do you think my hair turned white just because I like the color? My body seems unaffected by most of the side effects of stress; I mean, I'm pretty sure I should have had a heart attack a few years ago, but I’m alive.

“Thank god I have my gloves…”

Trying to reduce the stress, I suggested myself to relax with these purple gloves, and yet, I still feel really bad when I use curses.

“I think I’m safe.”

The side effects are so huge that I never use them unless I want to end the fight quickly. The situations that could make me want to end a fight quickly are various, so I know this isn’t the last time I will be using this.

“...Okay! Nothing happened! I feel okay and I can continue the class!”

Being far from the class could cause more problems, so I went back trying to act like nothing happened.

At the time, all I could think about was the stress I was under, so I didn't realize how bad choking someone was for my reputation.