Haystack vs Akira (2)..

“Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him:
how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?”
— Matthew 12:3–4

I cleared my throat. The seconds before deciding to cross this line, I was disgusted by the thought of it.

"You're right.."

"Huh?- ARRGGHHHHH!!!" “

Itsuo screamed in pain as I bit into his shoulder, leading him to bleed profusely.

I planned every possible way to counter his attacks, but this is the only way that would result in my absolute victory. 'And it's all that matters, huh... That's who we are.'

My absolute victory.. I've become less than human. Sub par.

"You demon!! let go of me!!"

Ah.. I expected the taste of blood to be salty iron..

but in reality, it was far more repulsive. His skin was chewy, the sweat, the smell... I'm drinking his blood. This is the only way for me to win.

Lee sensei jumped to Itsuo's side, to pull him out of my clutches.

Everyone gasped in horror. I hear them murmuring among themselves.

"Is that even allowed?"

The school who were watching the fight between Me and Itsuo are astonished by this sudden development.

"What's going on here?"

"This is attempted assault now... How awful.."

"Shut up. Everyone." I shouted. I didn’t want to break this line. But he gave me no choice.

"Akira, stop!! you're not being yourself! This is too extreme for a 1v1 with a fellow classmate!" Lee sensei told me, while healing Itsuo's wound temporarily to stop excessive blood loss.

"Sensei, Don't interfere in this fight.."

"Huh..?"

"This is now a personal matter to me. As he is my significant other, after all." I replied.

The attacking hay in my neck and legs were absorbed into my body. I stood up on the bed of haystack, which immediately dissolved into pure mana that I further absorbed into my body and gave a sharp punch to Itsuo, who flew head first and fell onto the ground.

"You're done!!"

I was going to pummel Itsuo with 10 more punches, but suddenly, I felt my arms stop.

I felt the tug of threads all over my body, pulling me back.

"That's enough. He lost."

“Huh..?”

I turned back to see King Spider, Takamasa, along with his group standing behind me. They retrieved Itsuo.

"You won against Itsuo, fair and square. I had fun watching you fight, Akira. Or, should I say... I had fun watching you, Itsuo?" Takamasa said, pointing his finger at me.

This came as an odd surprise. "Huh, Itsuo?? What is he talking about?".
I hear some people are confused by this conversation.

For the King Spider to refer me by his friend's name in our first conversation.

I laughed.

For a brief moment, I was not Akira. At least, not mentally.

My transformation... It's going to wear off soon.

"That can't be possible!! No way! How did he do that?!"

A moment before Takamasa's arrival, everyone saw me in the light of a villain. I got the impression that something of a dark, foreboding fate awaited me.

But, after Takamasa addressed me, it changed everyone's opinion of me, in an instant.

Of course, some people had already noticed what was the purpose of drinking his blood, beyond dwelling on the morality of the act. Like Lee sensei, and a few other students who weren't surprised by the reveal.

Takamasa declared that I had won the fight and left, along with his group, who were absolutely pissed off by my presence. I could tell by their facial reactions. An odd, condemning look that you give to the inferiors... They all showed it in their faces that they hate me.

The whole class hesitated for a while.

But after Lee sensei's confirmation, that i had indeed won the match.. they roared in applause. They're in awe again.

"I still don't understand.. How did you absorb his power?" Someone asked me from the crowd.

"I'll explain." Lee sensei intervened. "The hay reacts to the movement of mana, isn't that correct, Akira?"

I nodded.

The hay he created is a pure mana creation and mana has no consciousness, it only reacts to the flow of energy.

"The primary goal for the hay was to return back to its user, 'Haystack' Itsuo. But.. Itsuo had removed himself of all mana traces when he formed the hay." Lee sensei said. "Giving up all his mana temporarily, to create the hay was the cost that he was willing to pay. That is the condition of his 'bond' that Itsuo had set, as a producer affinity magic user."

Since the hay cannot return to its user, it tried to merge with the second best option, which is my body. But, my own mana refused all merger attempts, leading to severe body damage. He exploited this mana behavior to make his hays lethal.

I got to say that was a very smart play on his part. Even though he uses cheap tricks to fight, his battle knowledge is pretty high to come up with this kind of magic.

To avoid taking damage from his hay, all I had to do was move before the hay could react, which is impossible as it is a pure mana creation.

So, I had to think outside the box and trick the hay into believing that my body is the same as Itsuo.

Thanks to Itsuo himself for calling me his 'significant other'.. I took it as a clue and figured out the way his power worked.

"By drinking Itsuo's blood, Akira temporarily reversed his own mana pattern to match Itsuo's mana. That led to the successful absorption of the hay back to its pure mana form.” Lee sensei said. “Akira was able to do this, because he is a Generic affinity magic user, capable of mimicking the properties of elements and things. but.. I couldn't believe that he could mimic living things too."

I drank his blood, not for shock or out of hatred. It was the fastest way to mimic Itsuo's identity itself.

Still, I have done wrong. I know it better than anyone else.

"Class dismissed. Akira. Meet me in my office. now." Lee sensei said in a cold, neutral tone. I can't see his eyes. I had let him down.

My head sunk low.

People are easily swayed. Their opinions, their taste of preferences, even their moral values..
I couldn't care what anyone thought about me.

I was just ashamed of myself.

I put my hands into my pockets and felt the touch of the clock pendant, Virgilia said nothing.

I followed Lee sensei back to his office in silence.