Luiz and Remko faced each other at the platform. Remko had a medium build and height. Luiz’s stature paled in comparison to him.
“Go Luiz!”
“Go for it, Remko!”
The students cheered from the sides.
Luiz was holding a quarterstaff while Remko used a spear.
Luiz struck first. He stepped with his right foot and swung his weapon. Remko followed up by dodging to his left instead of parrying the attack.
Remko stabilized his posture before thrusting his spear towards Luiz. Luiz quickly reacted by stepping back with his right leg before deflecting Remko’s strike with brute strength.
`Chance!`
Remko was caught out of position due to the force generated from Luiz’s deflection. Remko did not expect Luiz’s reaction time and agility to be that excellent.
Luiz used this moment to gather strength in his arms, stepped forward with his right leg, and thrust the quarterstaff into Remko’s throat. Remko could not react against it.
“Stop!”
Luiz’s quarterstaff paused mid-air, nearly crushing Remko’s throat.
“The winner is Luiz Carrico!”
“Wow, so fast!”
“Luiz is so good!”
The students were astonished at how fast their match ended. “Luiz, nicely done.”
“As for you Remko, although your first move was the most optimal way for spear users to do when fighting against someone who uses quarterstaffs, your next move was a huge mistake.”
“Luiz is an agile and fierce fighter. Reacting to your dodge and counterattack is no problem for him, especially when combined with his agility. You should have waited for him to waste his energy while you dodge or deflect his attacks as long as possible. A spearman should always distance himself from his opponent until the opportune time comes.”
“Instead, you proactively approached him, making him deflect your spear thrust, then caught you out of position that led to your defeat. Furthermore, you even forgot to use your light essence to blind or distract him while you prepared yourself to attack.”
Remko listened well to Instructor Rufus’s remarks. He really forgot to use his light mana essence during the fight earlier because he was so focused on his spear. Light was a very good element for blinding and distracting enemies, as well as reflecting the enemy’s attacks.
“Thank you for teaching me well, Sir Rufus. I will remember it well.”
“Good. Now get off the stage. We’ll continue with the next match.”
The two of them shook hands before jumping off the platform.
“Luiz, nice job!” Luka congratulated Luiz by performing a high-five with him.
“Thanks Luka. Good luck with your match later!”
“Next match! Ksenia Saralze vs. Kaela Jeldane!”
The two girls arrived at the platform. The boys whistled while the girls cheered enthusiastically.
Ksenia was holding two chakrams in her hands. Her beautiful diamond-shaped face and long red ponytail hair made her look like a goddess. An almost invisible string connected her hands and the two chakrams. It was made from the sturdy silk produced by the White Beam Silkworm, cultivated by the Ancillary Guild. It was her own personal weapon.
Her brown eyes eagerly looked at Kaela.
Kaela was holding a long scythe, where the blade was 1 meter long, and the handle with a length of 1.5 meters. Her figure was akin to the death reaper when paired with those black blouse and skirt uniforms, purple wavy hair, and a rectangular body shape. Her purple eyes also looked backed at Ksenia.
“Say, who do you think will win?” Luka was talking with Luiz.
“Definitely Ksenia. She could bully Kaela at a long range in multiple directions. Furthermore, her dark mana essence could be used to absorb any spell or skill that Kaela would execute.”
At the top of the platform, the two girls stared against each other.
Kaela suddenly swung her scythe towards Ksenia. Her scythe was engulfed in flames, and she launched a skill.
`Slashing Wave!`
A fire wave was sent to Ksenia. She nimbly dodged it but was met by another slashing wave from Kaela. She dodged again and sent out a version of her own dark slashing wave with her two chakrams, followed by hurling the two chakrams to Kaela as well.
Kaela remained calm. She jumped to dodge that dark slashing wave, then threw her scythe to meet the two chakrams. The scythe perfectly deflected Ksenia’s two chakrams.
Ksenia’s mind was thrown into a mess right after that short clash. Before she could retrieve back her two chakrams, Kaela had already jumped again after landing back from her previous jump, regaining her hold on the scythe. She swung her scythe, entangling the strings embedding Ksenia’s chakrams, then pulled it towards herself.
Ksenia did not expect Kaela to be that fast. She was pulled towards Kaela.
“Stop! The winner is Kaela Jeldane!”
The students were in awe of Kaela’s dominant performance. To think that she had gained the upper hand against Ksenia who could have attacked her at a very long distance.
“Hey, didn’t you say Ksenia would definitely win?!”
Luka doubted Luiz’s intuitions. He felt that Luiz’s “good luck” earlier was a sign of a curse instead of a blessing.
Luiz twitched his lips. How could he know that Ksenia was that careless? She didn’t use her dark slashing wave to absorb Kaela’s slashing waves but dodged them instead. What kind of logic was that?
“Ksenia, you didn’t use your dark mana essence to absorb Kaela’s slashing wave earlier. In addition, you didn’t even make the first move to control the situation. Your long-distance attacks with your chakram could’ve easily pressured Kaela, and you could’ve won in the long run.”
“Even if Kaela tried to close into you, you could’ve made her preoccupied with your chakrams while you distance yourself away from her. A prolonged fight was your best bet, but you lost the chance when your opponent attacked first.”
Ksenia blamed herself for being too careless. She forgot that the dark mana essence could absorb the attacks from other types of mana essence as long as one could handle the absorbed power. She also didn’t make use of her attack range advantage to kite her opponent.
“Thank you, Sir Rufus.”
The two of them shook hands and vacated the platform.
“Good, next match! Vargas Mendez vs. Buvalu Anu!”
Vargas carried a big war hammer with him. The ground would tremble every time he took a step.
The students were intimidated by this scenario. `Isn’t that a bit too much?`
Even Buvalu started to sweat just from seeing his opponent march up to the platform.
He was using a glaive polearm that was 2 meters long, including the blade at the tip. However, seeing that war hammer made him feel despair. One hit and he would be knocked out.
His dark mana essence looked useless too. Absorbing that kind of power would be stretching his abilities too much, and may even backfire on him.
“Start!”
Vargas charged at Buvalu with great momentum. Buvalu readied himself to dodge any moment now.
Vargas stretched his arms backwards to his right, then swung the huge war hammer into Buvalu.
`That’s fast!` Buvalu hopped away with the war hammer nearly hitting his body. The force of the swing generated so much pressure that Buvalu was pushed away a few more meters behind him.
Vargas did not stop the momentum from his swing and rotated counterclockwise, hammering it down to where Buvalu was.
Buvalu did not hesitate to get out of there. When the war hammer struck the ground, it generated an intense force that the platform started to crack. Fortunately, it was reinforced and repaired itself.
`You rat!`
Vargas was clearly angered against Buvalu slipping away. Buvalu immediately attacked with a dark slashing wave. Vargas blocked it entirely with his war hammer and remained steady.
`What the?! No effect?!`
This time, he performed a thrusting motion with his glaive then gathered his mana essence. `Try this new skill of mine, Piercing Wave!`
A dark arrow-like object was released from his glaive. It carried a huge momentum as if it would pierce through everything in its path.
Vargas raised his war hammer then swung it, casting a skill to counter that wave. `Earthen Blast!`
A huge earth essence was generated from his swing. It clashed with the arrow, negating both of the attacks and generating a massive shockwave.
Vargas suddenly raised his war hammer and hammered it down to the ground. `Earthen Spike!`
The ground rumbled towards Buvalu. He was caught off guard against the sudden attack. The spike flung him out of the platform. Luckily, he only suffered light injuries.
“The winner is Vargas Mendez!”
Everybody was astonished about how domineering Vargas was. He was so confident about his Earthen Blast that he immediately casted another skill right after the clash of their attacks.
`I don’t think I could survive that!` Luka was afraid of Vargas’ power. How could Luiz block his punch a few days prior?
Instructor Rufus came to check Buvalu. He was unconscious, better than he had expected. He brought Buvalu to the medical room inside the training area and put him down on one of the beds. Buvalu was being healed slowly.
The match in the platforms resumed.
“Next match! Diega Tarella vs. Narek Mher!”
The ground trembled again. Everyone looked over to Diega and was stunned to see the weapon she brought from the armory.
`That’s a huge great axe! How could a little girl have such strength?!`
Diega’s axe trailed on the ground. Her small stature and the large great axe were something they could not fathom to comprehend. She looked cute with that cyan-colored hair and eyes.
Narek stood there unperturbed with his thin body frame and long hands. His medium-long hair that covered his eyes and his oval face complemented his nature of being a covert person.
He was confident when battling against muscle heads like these. He had already learned how to use Shadow Steps. Dodging and moving around was not a problem for him.
He wielded two dual crescent daggers. Each was 25cm long.
“Start!”
Diega, with a shy expression on her face, immediately casted Earthen Spike. It looked like she was afraid of hurting Narek with this move.
Narek went sideways, then forward to where Diega was. `Let’s see who’s faster than who!`
He casted Shadow Steps and his figure became a blur. Everyone was shocked to discover that this introverted student was a talented one. Learning this skill takes a lot of time and comprehension on how to continuously apply dark mana essence to one’s legs while they were moving at various angles and speeds.
Diega had a flushed expression on her face. She was scared when Narek approached her closely. She closed her eyes then rapidly swung the great axe as if it was a spinning fan at max speed. “Stay away from me!”
Everyone was dumbfounded. `What kind of move is that?! She even said stay away!`
`Stop screwing with us, little girl!`
That move was ridiculous. The great axe became a blurry figure, even faster than Narek’s Shadow Steps. The ‘spinning great axe’ surrounded everything within 2 meters of Diega. It generated turbulent winds, and the air shook in horror.
`Guess who’s faster now, Narek?` He mocked himself for being overconfident. Even if he was to cast skills now, Diega’s ridiculous strength and mana core grade would make that a futile attempt.
Furthermore, approaching that great axe would be death itself. He doesn’t know how long would Diega last, but if she could do this as he approached her every time, that would be a nightmare.
“I surrender!”
He chose to forfeit the fight. What can he do? Observe that swinging great axe with an amused face while he waits for her to finish? What if she would never get tired even after all of that exertion?
“The winner is Diega Tarella!”
Everyone was speechless. They would surrender too if they were put in that situation. To think that Diega, who already has great strength, also possesses great agility and flexibility.
Vargas narrowed his eyes. `What an interesting opponent.` He had finally found a match of his strength. Their battle would surely be interesting.
Instructor Rufus had nothing to comment about that. He nodded in approval when Narek surrendered. One should know when to retreat if the odds were too great. That was one of the fundamentals when fighting.
Furthermore, Diega didn’t look like she would be getting tired soon. Diega stopped swinging her axe after the match concluded. She sighed with relief as if she had escaped a calamity.
Everyone saw this and cursed her in their minds.
`Little brat, you’re sighing with relief as if that match was a close one?!`
“Off to the platform now, the two of you. Next match!”
