Extra's Ascension To Power Chapter 18: Secret technique

Derrick regained his footing, then began to walk toward Cole. He kicked the empty chair out of his way and stood directly in front of the short guy. "I’m going to punch you."

Cole blinked in surprise, then smiled. "Can you hear that? He said he’s going to punch ! Is this how you are trained? If you are trash, then the best you can do is listen in class. Why would you tell your opponent what you are planning to do? You’re actually so dumb—I thought it was just a stereotype on my side."

Derrick didn’t say anything. He rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and showed his hardened muscles. "I am telling you this so that it won’t seem unfair, Class Four student Cole. Prepare yourself!"

"You bastard. I’m going to take my ti and make you pay...."

Suddenly, Cole reacted. He covered himself with a bubbling water shield that appeared around him through instant summoning. His eyes widened because the pressure that suddenly ca from Derrick had changed—from that of prey to that of a predator in an instant.

Derrick crossed the distance between them in a blur. His eyes flashed with red light, and his body took on a red luster. He was instantly in front of Cole, and his punch snapped out—straight at the shield, through it, and at his head.

Bam!

Cole’s head snapped back as he yelped. His eyes widened, and the punch knocked him away from the place he was standing. He slamd into tables and chairs as he skidded across the floor.

The only sound then was that of tal plates clanging on the floor.

The silence that followed was even worse than before, because it seed as if reality had been twisted right in front of them. Derrick should be on the ground, shivering in fear. Cole should be above him, stepping on him.

But it wasn’t so. Everything—everything was now upside down.

Even Derrick seed surprised by what had happened. He stared at his fist, then at Cole, who was picking himself off the ground, covered in pasta. "I... I did this."

Derrick clenched his fist. "I am strong."

And then he finally trusted, believed that what Ace had given him wasn’t a fluke. It was real. He smiled. "I am so going to punch your face in, little guy."

Cole touched his cheek in disbelief, then his eyes narrowed. "You bastard, you’ve sohow pumped yourself full of illegal drugs! I’m going to let you know the difference between—!"

Derrick didn’t wait for him to finish his threat. "Stop talking and show results!"

A single leap, and he had jumped the distance. Cole reacted fast this ti, no longer underestimating his opponent. He gestured, and several droplets of water ford into larger ones the size of a child’s fist in front of him.

Then he pushed, and they shot forward like bullets, howling in the air.

Derrick crossed his arms in front of him, and the droplets slamd into him with enough force to fell three elephants—but all that happened to the big guy was that his shirt got torn.

He ripped the rest of the torn shirt off and began to advance again.

Cole took a step back, his eyes finally filled with a flicker of fear. "That had no effect? What type of talent do you have, you bastard bull!"

Water gathered around him, lit by a blue light. The waters then wove into each other like drills. Four of those drills lurched forward, leaping like whales in water.

Derrick danced between the drills, his punches shattering them as he struck them in the middle. He was getting angrier because Cole just kept running back while he advanced.

Now that they were on equal footing, the difference between their Talent Abilities would determine who was stronger. Derrick was pure physical power, while Cole was better at manipulating elents.

"Get here, you lousy rat!" he growled.

Cole, regaining his confidence, smiled. "Why should I? I’ll just beat you from here. Using my waters in a long-distance way will help —!"

"What are you doing?"

Derrick crouched, then picked up a table and folded it in a squeeze like a paper ball. "Hmm. This should work. This is my long-distance technique, you dimwitted rat!"

Derrick pressed his legs so firmly on the ground that it cracked. His muscles seed to double slightly in size before he threw it.

The folded tal blasted from Derrick like a bullet, covered in a red glow. It shattered the shield that Cole had made, slamd into his stomach with a fleshy thud, and flung him back like a doll.

Cole ramd into the wall, breaking more tables and chairs on his way over. He bounced off the wall and hit the ground face-first.

Derrick looked at him in disappointnt. "I thought you were that strong. But it’s over already?"

Ace looked on with an impassive face, deep in thought. "...This is also an experint... I see... Derrick is already a strong E-ranked Talent Ability, but now that I’ve applied my own power, he should be firmly at the top of C-rank... So Cole is like the average C-rank..."

But Cole was still a student of the Zenith Hero Academy, and he wouldn’t go down that easily.

He struggled to his feet. His mouth was bloody, and he was clutching his stomach. His eyes were red. "To think a thing like you would force to the point of using my secret technique... Just what is wrong with the world today?"

"Secret technique...!"

"I’m not interested," Derrick said softly.

He was now standing in front of Cole. He had used the mont when Cole was yapping to fling himself over. "I thought you short guys were supposed to be smarter than us with muscles for brains?"

"Wait, please wait!"

Derrick’s fist smashed into his face with a crunching sound as his nose bent. The short guy was sent flying to the wall once again, but Derrick didn’t let him bounce back. He kept punching him against the wall.