"You can go all out if you want, the barrier will surely preserve your life but don't expect that you won't feel any pain because it wasn't designed for that after all"

"If you are aware of that, you may start as you like. Others need to get their turn too"

Garret stated as he leaped out of the arena, as soon as he touched his vrace, the barrier for the area and for the participants was activated.

Inside that circular space, only me and the elf princess was left. Without Garret within the vicinity, we laid out the terms.

"The loser will do what the winner will say, no questions asked. If I win, I'm going to kick you out of this place " she said as her piece of the bet.

"And If I win? You'll be-"

"Don't even bother you lowlife, as if I'll lose to someone like you" she cut me off, not wanting to hear the other end of the bet.

"....Are you sure?"

"....." she just glared at me in response.

'....This chick doesn't understand how bets work huh. Accepting even before hearing the terms..' I thought, fed up with her stuck up attitude.

We stared right at each other, the other party clearly bearing some clear negative emotions as she held her elegant bow.

It was most likely due to my proposal of a bet however-

'I couldn't care less about how you feel about me. I could have refused but this is a great chance to kill two birds with one stone'

There was a still atmosphere between us both and as I waited patiently, the moment came-

"[Guided Winds]!"

Two arrows was quickly released from her bow as it traced through the wind, making ear piercing sounds that boasted great power.

I could clearly see it even without using my innate skill and that fact just affirmed the outcome of this fight.

"[Reload Belt]"

Sparks flew on my gun's cylinder as I began to run straight right at my opponent.

-----

Everyone watched with bated breath as they saw a very skewed matchup from the get go.

Students with at least some sort of awareness of classes knew that archers were more dominant in long range battles than gunners.

Archers were more specialized in reaching far greater range and boast more power than gunners in general.

It would be a different matter if it were a mid range fight but alas the current situation was favorable for the archer.

Gunners were more focused on instant burst of barrage and fast draw but that would be irrelevant since the opponent was a spirit archer.

"What an idiot, letting the archer attack first. You've let your only advantage go to waste"

Brian mumbled as he watched the match unfold.

The heir of the Silvious family keenly observed the first layer achiever as he stupidly charged straight at her destructive arrows.

Brian expected more from what he heard from the rumors but it seemed that it would end more quickly than he imagined.

However contrary to what he thought, an unexpected sight revealed itself.

"...What?"

Similar questions left the other students mouths as they saw the pink haired youth evade her two shot flawlessly.

Not only that, even the elf herself widened in surprise since she expected at least a counterattack as she built up mana for her next shot.

If that wasn't enough, the boy pointed his gun at his back as two gunshots reverbated in the arena.

The two arrows that had missed turned it's direction towards him which surprised most students that was unaware of the spirit's archer spirit infused arrows.

Although it was a futile attack for the gunslinger as he shot the two projectiles down without looking back.

In addition, he had never stopped advancing until he got into his effective range.

*Bang Bang Bang

His bullets travelled in speeds that Amana couldn't see and had cancelled her charged arrow to build a wind sphere around her instead.

In that split moment she fled from her spot as soon as she felt her air shield starting to break.

She already prepared to knock three spirit infused arrows in retaliation but when she turned to the front where she suspected her opponent would be, she found that there was no one in her sight.

Another three streak of light came towards her, surprisingly it came from where she fled, her air shield by now had been completely broken.

That slight gap became a turning point for both of them, the match going down a quick draw route.

She released two of her uncharged arrow while keeping one on her hand. The two arrows weren't that powerful as they were evaded easily.

In a last ditch effort, she tried to release her last arrow but it was impossible since the bullets had already hit her hand holding the bow, in addition to hitting her two shoulders.

Every student saw her weapon fly away from her grasp as she fell down on her butt in pain and in the next second, her opponent was right in front of her.

The muzzle of his gun pointed right at her skull.

An unbelievable sight was right in front of everyone's eyes as they saw the favorite to win this match was on the ground helplessly looking up to her enemy.

"...How can he be so swift?, furthermore, his ammo should have run out by the time he closed the distance. How was he able to replenish his bullets that fast?"

Brian asked in confusion as he saw the entire thing pan out in under three minutes.

It was hard to believe that a gunner could move like that and have a seemingly perpetual source of bullets.

The prodigy's eyes sharpened as he looked at the young master of the Irisville family, his hands clenched in frustration thinking that another one would be a likely obstacle to the top.

"..Ray Irisville..interesting" 

Brian mumbled which also represented everybody else's impression of the match.

-----

'...Wha-what just happened?'

Amana thought as she felt the cold steel touching her forehead.

Her shoulders were in pain and specially her hand that had held her family's bow. Her bow however was still in great condition which was the relieving news although it was a great distance away from her.

'Why am I on the ground?'

She still couldn't believe what had transpired earlier, from the time she shot her two arrows from the start, she already predicted that he would be shot down even if he evaded it the first time.

However she never expected that he was aware of her tracking abilities and that he was capable of such speed and accuracy.

By the time he was close enough to her range, her chances of winning had gone down drastically.

Even the fact that he would charge straight into her air shield is lunacy in itself since it could have shredded him to pieces instead.

'How did he even break it, I could have sworn he only had one more bullet to shoot?'

As Amana's thoughts was swirling, Ray opened his mouth.

"Hey, seems like I've won the bet princess"

The elf princess looked up in dismay as she saw the vile grin on her opponent's face.

'Wait, I...lost the bet. How could I forget!?. What was he going to make me do....No...No!'

"The b-bet!..No...no..."

She shook her head in despair as tears started to form in her eyes.

"Hey...stop crying, I already said I'm not going to request the absurd things going inside your head"

She sniffed as she tried to hide the tears coming from her eyes.

'...My barrier is still up so maybe I can..' Amana mused as she replied to Ray.

"L-lies! I know you want to ravage this body so stop giving me false hope you fiend!"

"....Stop saying things that could make my reputation worse than it already is....royal crybaby"

"What!?" Amana shouted as her face went red.

"[Reload Belt]"

Sparks flew as Ray's gun had one bullet reloaded.

The sight of Ray reloading his gun made Amana tense once more.

"The fight isn't over until your barrier breaks so stop trying to call spirits"

"....." she gulped hard, trying to not break apart at the moment her scheme was seen completely through.

"You're a stubborn one, I'll give you that but I'm not that soft"

"I'll tell you my request once this class is over, so find me after school" Ray whispered.

Amana just listened on as it dawned on her that she had really lost to Ray of all people.

'I really lost...'

As Amana thought that, the final bullet shot out as her barrier broke signalling the fight was officially over.

-----

Garret then stood again on the arena as he declared the winner.

"Ray Irisville is the winner of this match"

Most of the reaction from that declaration was silence, everyone was still likely processing the match.

"You're quick on your feet kid but-"

Garret then touched my right arm as I winced in pain.

"Trying to break that air shield at point blank, you've got crazy tendencies. Well I'm not going to lecture you on your methods since you won anyway"

'So he did notice afterall...'

I gave Garret a shrug as I recalled the pain of those wind blades exploding at my body.

If I wanted to get a surprise attack on her and clear the distance right away, I thought that was the most probable route to take.

Although it was still risky, the payoff was worth it.

"So what are we going to do with this kid?"

The professor and I looked down at the passed out elf princess who likely couldn't bear the pain of being shot in the head.

"Sir let me take a look" a familiar voice came from the end of the arena.

Running towards us was Emily as she equipped her staff. She immediately crouched down as she healed Amana.

"Oh a healer huh. So you must be the saint"

"Emily how is she?"

"....Ray she's allright because the barrier protected her but I think we still need to bring her to the infirmary"

'Did I overdo it..' I thought wryly.

"Hmmm the class still needs to go on so...you"

"Sir?"

Garret pointed at me.

"Take her to the infirmary"

"....Uhh can I not?"

"You do realize that you sound like some thug right now. Anyways you can go ahead and leave, you're already done with the demonstration"

"...."

I was reluctant to do it but I guess I had gone overboard on shooting at her head at point blank.

'Might as well get my reward there'

I then held the unconscious elf in a princess carry and right before I could leave the arena, someone tugged at my shirt.

"H-hey I'm going too" Emily said as she grabbed the end of my shirt.

'What is it this time...' I asked inwardly as I looked at Emily's glare.