In the meantime, a warning was given to Percil.
It was because he had not gone on the offensive even once since the match had started.
"Good! You're doing great! Doug!"
"That's how you do it!"
The boys of the Northern Dormitory exploded with excitement.
Staying on the defense was no longer feasible. Percil would have to go out in an attack.
Any further warnings would result in losing the match. And even if the match was not settled within the time limit, he would still win. The situation had suddenly become quite advantageous.
Or so he had thought…
The match commenced with the call of the referee.
Doug gained speed again and continued his attacks. The succession of attacks had the speed of a gale, however, it was clear that things were different from before the warning.
Percil had slowly begun to slip his sword into openings in the attacks.
"He started to attack after the warning!"
"Then Doug's attack will definitely land!"
The boys of the Northern Dormitory thought that this was a good thing.
However, it was obvious to those that were experienced. It wasn’t because Percil began to go on the offensive that he was able to sneak in the attacks.
It was that Doug's speed had slowed down.
It was a very subtle difference that only a veteran like Gorms would be able to recognize. But it was true, Doug's speed was definitely falling.
As moments past, the attacks that Percil would deal for every opening went from one to two. When his defense slowly changed to the offense, Doug lept far back to create some distance between them.
Percil did not follow, but just quietly whispered.
"I thought so…"
Beyond Percil's cool gaze, Doug was sweating profusely with a distorted expression.
The air that he was exhaling came out loud and rough.
Percil saw this and talked to Doug in a quiet and emotionless voice.
"I had been suspicious about this for a while. You are able to defeat just about any opponent in under one minute.
It was said that this was because there was no one who could withstand your attacks. But is that truly the case?
Of course, that could be one reason. However, I speculated that there was a reason that you had to beat them in under one minute."
The black eyes behind the glasses inspected Doug.
"Your speed dropped to 95% once a minute had elapsed since the beginning of the match. And when the warning came, it was 90%. When it started again, 80%. With every minute that passes, your weapon, which is your speed, drops.
It must be due to that abnormal speed that explodes from such an average frame. Perhaps you have some fatal flaw when it comes to stamina. You cannot fight longer battles."
Doug could only stand there and breathe roughly as if admitting to everything that Percil had said.
And then Percil took one step forward.
"Ku…!"
Doug had accelerated once again and attacked. However, his sword was blocked, and the fight that commenced was even closer than before.
"You've fallen another 2%. Your stamina recovery must be slow then. No, perhaps you lose too much from even a little movement?"
After trading several blows, it was Doug who pulled back.
With some distance between them, Doug went into a lower stance and glared towards Percil.
However, there was an un-maskable impatience and agitation there.
At this point, even the boys of the Northern Dormitory could tell that something was wrong.
Among them, Gorms had been the first to notice it. His face looked like he had just eaten something very bitter.
In fact, Gorms and several others had already noticed that Doug had a weakness in terms of stamina.
His marks in running were very low. And in spite of having such impressive physical abilities, that would rarely be seen during other training activities.
But since he showed such incredible strength during mock battles, most of the boys had just assumed that it was Doug's way of doing things.
Translator’s Note: This caught my eye recently. Not sure I’ll do more. Depends on the reaction and if someone could help with the English spelling of names, as most of the chapters are missing?