The Extra's Reincarnation

Each mirage was indistinguishable from the original, down to the contemptuous curl of their lips.

"Let's see how funny you find this," all five Marcels spoke in perfect unison.

Julian barely had time to brace himself before the assault began.

BAM!

The first strike came from behind—a vicious punch to his kidney that would have dropped most fighters instantly.

BOOM!

The second followed immediately, a hammer blow to his shoulder that sent shooting pain down his arm.

BAM!

The third and fourth attacks struck simultaneously from opposite sides, compressing his ribcage with bone-jarring force.

SHHA!

The fifth blow, a brutal uppercut, snapped his head back with enough power to blur his vision.

Five consecutive hits in less than two seconds, each delivered with precision and unrestrained power.

Julian staggered but remained standing.

"Is that all?" Julian asked quietly, wiping the blood with his sleeve.

Marcel's eyes widened, the wind armor around him intensifying as his temper flared.

The five duplicates faded back into him as he stalked forward, his face contorted with growing frustration.

"You think you're special, don't you?" Marcel spat, circling Julian like a predator.

"If you were truly worthy of that special admission, you would have been able to stop my attacks, not just endure them."

Julian said nothing, which only further enraged Marcel.

"Let me show you the difference between us," Marcel growled, drawing his hands back as swirling currents gathered between his palms.

The wind spiraled faster and faster, compressing into a sphere of destructive potential.

"This is what real power looks like!"

"Spell Arts Of Wind: Hurricane Blast!"

The compressed wind exploded forward, expanding into a massive vortex that tore through the space between them. Julian barely had time to cross his arms before the blast hit him square in the chest, lifting him off his feet and sending him hurtling backward through the forest.

Marcel didn't waste a moment. He dashed after Julian, wind propelling him forward at inhuman speed.

His face was alight with savage joy as he closed in on his prey, ready to deliver the finishing blow.

"It's over!" Marcel shouted, arm extended for a wind-enhanced strike that would surely eliminate Julian from the competition.

But something changed in that instant. As Marcel's hand shot forward, Julian's eyes suddenly blazed with an inner light—a luminescence that seemed to come from somewhere deep within.

Marcel faltered for just a fraction of a second, but it was enough.

Julian's hands snapped up, catching Marcel's extended wrist between them with surprising strength.

"What—?"

With a fluid motion that defied his previous passivity, Julian pivoted and heaved, using Marcel's own momentum against him.

The second-year found himself suddenly airborne, his wind armor disrupted by the unexpected counterattack.

"Impossible!" Marcel gasped as he tumbled upward, momentarily disoriented by the reversal.

Julian didn't hesitate. With a powerful push off the ground, he leapt into the air after Marcel, his movement so swift it seemed almost supernatural.

As gravity began to reclaim Marcel, Julian appeared above him, silhouetted against the forest canopy.

Julian extended his right arm, index finger pointed directly at Marcel's chest.

His thumb raised in the unmistakable gesture of a makeshift gun.

A brilliant blue light coalesced at Julian's fingertip, swirling and condensing into a perfect sphere that pulsed with raw mana.

The glow illuminated Julian's face from below, casting strange shadows that made him look almost otherworldly.

Marcel's eyes widened in confusion and the first traces of genuine fear. In all his years at the academy, through countless duels and training sessions, he had never seen a technique like this.

There was no incantation, no elaborate gestures—just a finger pointed at him and that growing sphere of concentrated power.

"What the hell are you—" Marcel began, but Julian cut him off with a single word.

"Bang."

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!

The mana sphere shot forward, transforming into a streamlined projectile that cut through the air with impossible speed.

A trail of luminescent blue particles marked its path as it closed the distance between them in a heartbeat.

"What the fuck-"

BOOOM!

The mana bullet struck Marcel directly in the center of his chest, disrupting his wind armor instantly.

His body convulsed as the concentrated energy dispersed throughout his system, overwhelming his natural defenses.

With a strangled cry, Marcel plummeted toward the forest floor, his limbs limp and unresponsive.

As he soared downwards, Marcel crashed through the branches before slamming into the ground with enough force to create a small crater.

BEEP…Beep?

The monitoring drone above Marcel flashed a warning yellow, indicating he was dangerously close to elimination.

For a moment, he laid still in the crater, struggling to keep himself conscious.

AK…AK…AK

"Impossible," he wheezed, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

"A first-year... can't be this strong..."

Every breath sent daggers of pain through his chest.

The mana bullet had torn through his defenses like they were nothing more than tissue paper.

"Looks like I overdid it again…"

"I need to make up for it somehow."

Julian landed softly on the forest floor several meters away, his expression unchanged.

He watched Marcel carefully, as if observing an experiment rather than participating in combat.

"You..." Marcel coughed, pushing himself up on one trembling arm.

"What are you?"

Julian tilted his head slightly.

"Dude, I'm just a first-year student."

"I refuse to believe that! You must have some kind of twisted technology making you like this! You're nothing but a filthy cheater!"

Marcel screamed, forcing himself to his knees.

Something in Julian's calm demeanor ignited a rage within Marcel pride.

He'd been humiliated—not just defeated, but made to look utterly outclassed by someone who should have been beneath his notice.

His reputation, his standing among the second-years, his future aspirations—all threatened by this nobody who'd appeared from nowhere.

"I refuse to accept this."

With a pained groan, he raised his hand skyward, channeling what little mana he had left.

WOM!

The air above him began to shimmer with an unnatural light.

"Flecko!" he called, his voice cracking with desperation.

"Come to me! NOW!"

The air rippled and tore as the wind familiar was forcibly summoned back to the battlefield.

Flecko materialized above them, his translucent form trembling visibly as he recognized Julian standing below.

-M-Master…

Flecko's voice quavered in Marcel's mind.

-Please... I cannot fight him. Whatever he is, he's beyond my capabilities. Even with all my strength, I could barely graze such a monster.

Marcel's face contorted with fury.

"I don't fucking care! I command you to attack him with everything you have!"

"But Master—"

"NOW! Use Steel Descender!"

Flecko's form shuddered with reluctance, but the familiar bond compelled obedience.

The wind bird began to ascend rapidly, climbing higher and higher above the battlefield until it was barely visible against the sky.

Julian watched the familiar's ascent with mild interest, seemingly unconcerned by the impending attack.

"You should have stayed down," he said softly, though Marcel couldn't hear him from that distance.

-Oh no… He's going to kill me!

High above, Flecko trembled as his body began the transformation necessary for his ultimate technique.

The wind familiar's translucent feathers hardened into metallic plates, his form condensing into a sleek, aerodynamic missile.

Light glinted off his newly armored body as he reached the apex of his climb.

"Steel Descender," Marcel whispered, a cruel smile spreading across his bloodied face.

"Not even a third-year can withstand this."

WHOOOOOOOSH!

From the highest point in the sky, Flecko tucked his wings and plummeted toward Julian.

The familiar's descent created a piercing whistle as air molecules split before his razor-sharp form.

With each passing second, his velocity doubled, the kinetic energy building to catastrophic levels.

For a moment Julian stood there staring up at the sky.

He made no attempt to dodge, no effort to move, he didn't even prepare a defensive spell to counter Flecko.

He simply watched.

"Yes!" Marcel hissed, dragging himself to his feet despite the searing pain in his chest.

"It's over for you."

In the final moment before impact, Julian's eyes tracked Flecko's trajectory.

The familiar adjusted his angle slightly, aiming to strike at the precise forty-five-degree impact point that would maximize damage without sacrificing momentum.

WHAM!

A shockwave rippled outward, flattening the surrounding vegetation and sending trees within a 10 meter distance flying from the ground chaotically.

"YES!" Marcel roared, raising his fist in victory despite the agony that ripped through his torso.

"I knew it! I knew no one could withstand Flecko's ultimate technique!"

Marcel staggered forward, squinting through the settling dust cloud with triumphant anticipation.

When the air finally cleared, he saw Julian's body skidding backward through the underbrush, carving a trench in the forest floor.

The first-year tumbled kept tumbling endlessly through the woods.

Marcel couldn't hold back his smile happily fisting his air to celebrate in victory.

"You've done well, Flecko," Marcel declared, his voice hoarse but jubilant.

"Tonight, you feast on the finest mana orbs in my collection—grade-A crystallizations from the Kael continent itself."

Flecko circled back, landing unsteadily beside his master. The familiar's normally graceful movements seemed oddly stilted, but Marcel was too consumed with his apparent victory to notice.

"Th-thank you, Master," Flecko responded, his voice oddly flat.

It was only then that Marcel truly looked at his familiar.

Flecko's head was... wrong.