Chapter 20 Sneak Peek! - Stormweaver II (Patreon)

Rei’s specs, on average, were closer to C3 or C4 than his actual C7 Rank. Add that to the fact that Shido was indeed not called around his limbs, and his potential in a fight might have been very similar to Bigg’s with his CAD called, at least a paper.

The reality, though, was that even if Rei didn’t suspect he was the much, much better fighter, he knew, at the very least, that he was the faster one.

By lightyears.

With a sweep of his left hand he redirected Biggs’ leading punch outward, letting the steel gauntlet slip by his left cheek by millimeters. At the same time, Rei’s right hand snapped up to take a fistful of the Mauler’s combat suit, just above where the green mirrored lions of Marston’s had been stitched into the ICSM standard first-year grey. Then, twisting into his deflection and using Biggs’ lunge to advantage, Rei rolled and hauled as hard as he could on the cloth. It said something about the quality of the fabric that it didn’t tear.

It said something else entirely about Rei’s improved Strength when Biggs yelped in surprise as he was bodily thrown almost some 15 feet down-stream, landing in an explosion of cracked ice and frigid water near where Rei had first dropped from the cliffs above.

“Pathetic,” Rei muttered under his breath, angry at Biggs for not having taken the opportunity to be decent about things, but angrier at himself for having give then boy the opportunity in the first place. It probably would have been better for everyone if he’d just taken the Mauler’s head the moment he’d dropped into the gulley, or if Grant had seen it done without these theatrics.

But Rei was getting sick—so sick—of being treated like shit just because he didn’t look the part.