Displayed in the wide transparent magical thin screen were the vital statistics of Kesha and Maena.

Both were at level 4. But had a noticeable gap in their health points.

Kesha's total health points were 2,000 and Maena was 1,250.

And besides their names, the kind or class of warrior (Profession) they are, is being displayed.

Kesha was a Gun Shielder and Maena was an Archer. Although these professions were just temporary since they never even received serious training yet. The instructors were more inclined to basic training first. It was better for the trainees to build their foundation before the proper training of their magic and chosen profession began.

It must be because Kesha was holding a shield that right now she had more total defense than Maena. And actually, her attributes were leaning more in Vitality and Dexterity. Whereas Maena's attributes were more on Dexterity and Agility.

The three arrows that Maena fired successively tore the space as it appeared in a second in front of Kesha.

'Pft, don't think that shabby attack can hit me!' Kesha inwardly snorted and raised the shield in her left hand to guard herself and block the fired arrows.

Thud, thud, thud!

It was followed by three consecutive dull heavy sounds when the arrows landed on the shield.

With her defense, such an attack is child-splay.

Kesha reacted fast by aiming the magic-based pistol at Maena. A second after feeding it with her mana. She pulled the trigger continuously to return the fire.

Bang, bang, bang!

It hit the curve shield that covers the whole space like a dome. This shield was a defensive barrier, it was generated by magic tools known as Defensive Plates.

The sudden loud and sharp noises from the pistol reverberated in the area.

And the seemingly laser-like bullets in greenish hue travel the space much faster than the arrows.

It hit nothing, except the defensive barrier, when Maena managed to evade the bullets by swaying her body left and right in a hasty motion.

Maena forthwith ran to his right while releasing arrows one after another. This was a known tactic of most archers like her. They orbited on their enemy while kiting them.

Because of her agile movements, Kesha was having trouble aiming at her. Yet she was able to defend herself from Maena's kiting attack.

But a moment later, an arrow managed to graze her leg. Kesha frowned. 'Heck, Mina was right, this blonde is really strong. But no matter what, I won't lose without a fight.'

After pursing her lips, she yelled a war cry.

"Haaaaah!"

Almina who was spectating together with the other trainees knitted her brows.

Around Kesha, the soil raised at the knee-length level. As of now, this was the only she could manage. She was not proficient yet at using her earth element. What she had practiced more since before was her light element. So as of now, she could only raise an earth shield at this level.

It was enough to cover the lower part of her body where the blonde might be aiming.

All the spectators narrowed their eyes. The military chief Henderson's mouth extended into a smile.

"Ohoho, incredible, these two lads are not only beautiful but also talented." Mayor Chan exclaimed.

"Mhmm!" The chief nodded slightly.

On the other hand, the Principal Mar Mari grinned.

As expected, Maena's arrow landed on the shield and some are on the soil that protects Kesha.

Without wasting time, Kesha's hand and the pistol were suddenly enveloped by green brilliance, then she fired once again.

Ironically, the bullets traveled much faster and more destructive than before. It even plowed the ground and the shield that protects the spectators shook vehemently.

Maena evaded all the bullets in a very small margin.

Then she leaped to the right and released another arrow.

Twang, Twang! And yet again, it was caught by Kesha's shield. She even reinforced the shield with her strengthening ability to make it more durable.

"Wooah!!! What an epic battle! As expected of Miss Almina's friend, she wasn't an ordinary girl also." Bob commented on Kesha's skill.

The other trainees immediately broke into a loud cheer, cheering for the two girls.

The two were exchanging fires. But in the current situation, it was clear that Kesha has the upper hand because of her shields.

Yman who was watching the duel thought that the ponytail girl did a good job combining a shield and a pistol. The arrows fired by the blonde could easily become a no threat by the shield. And while she was blocking the arrows, she could also return the fire.

Although Miss Blonde easily avoided the bullets, it was only a matter of time before she tired herself.

Regardless, are these two even a beginner? If they are, then what am I? A super beginner then. I'm sure these two can easily pass as junior trainees.

Someone who was capable of evading the bullets at such a degree could only be said as remarkable. And the other one was having spotless defense! Like hiding herself in a turtle shell.

He could only admire the two. Although both of them were nasty towards him. Regardless, he was not the type to be easily affected by verbal abuse.

Kesha continued firing while shielding herself like a turtle in the shell. Not only did she have a shield, but she also had a cover-up. She looks like a real soldier in this regard who was battling in a war.

Everyone could tell that in the current situation, the blonde was at the disadvantage.

It is only a matter of time that Maena will tire out her stamina from running and evading Kesha's attacks.

Kesha grinned and thought that if she kept doing it, she might have a chance to win.

Somewhere in the spectator side,

Kiko's eyes were fixed at the front but he was not looking at the two ladies battling in the duel. His eyes went through them and fixed to a person watching the duel in silence. It was Almina Amulet. However, even though they were facing each other, Almina's gaze was on the duel. Maybe she did not notice him yet?

A moment later Almina felt someone was staring at her and her eyes landed on that person known as Kiko. One of the talented trainees on this year's batch. The young master of the Sun family. A potential rival for being an ACE of this academy.

Almina was dead set on becoming the ace. Because being an ace comes with many benefits. And it was easy for her to prove her brother's innocence to the top 10 outstanding families on the Outerworld.

Kiko was more than happy when he felt Almina's eyes on him. He was right after all. Seems like Almina could not resist the urge to glance at him.

"Hehe." Kiko giggled.

From time to time he also was sneaking glances at the blonde. But this blonde although exquisite young lady, yet Kiko felt that she was the type of girl that was having a superiority complex. He finds it cute though.

However, his heart was dead-set on Almina Amulet. But even a king of a Kingdom had many concubines. What's more, him. He could also get one or two.

In any case, if he could manage to attract the blonde and Kesha also, then wasn't it more fun and successful of him? He could get more lovers if he wanted, but he would let the number 1 spot for the dearest, Almina Amulet.

Kiko grinned at the thought.

In this era, where humans civilization is at the lowest, polygamy is allowed.

POLYGAMY IS ALLOWED...

POLYGAMY IS ALLOWED...

POLYGAMY IS ALLOWED...

The words reverberated in his mind.

IT was only natural to someone like him who was born talented and the man who was destined to lead the academy to the highest podium would captivate all the beauties. Someone like him who was not only born handsome, rich, and strong as well, must claim all that he wants.

Not only in this academy but also in the whole world. When his name spread widely as he triumphantly endeavored to the apex of power.

Such thought was inside his head at the moment.

He could even feel that at this moment, Almina and Kesha were already attracted to him. He could let Almina as his number one and Kesha as his second. It only a matter of time that the blonde would also fall on him.

Only a little show-of of his ability is enough for the girls to scream his name in excitement.

And for his most hated person, the waste, he would give him a slight pity by making him a slave. A loyal dog that would only bark whenever he was told to.

Kiko grinned once again as he wetted his lips. Such a dream was not impossible for him to achieve. After all, he was strong.

Beside him, his friends were loudly screaming for the girl's name.

Suddenly,

"Ahaha, looks like the duel will come to an end much sooner," Keremi mumbled in a descending tone.

Yman's brows slightly raised and focused his eyes on the two who were in a duel.

If he remembered correctly, wasn't the blonde had some kind of ability that enables her to easily deal damage even with the stone-body of golems?

As expected. After Yman remembered it. The wind was gathering on the tip of the arrow on the blonde's bow that was aimed at Kesha's direction.

Yman with wide eyes was staring at the arrow. Weirdly, he felt some similarity when he was channeling mana.

The wind gathered on the tip of the arrow, and when Maena released it, it tore the space in an instant but Kesha immediately raised her shield, then the arrow bore on the shield with low piercing noise.

It was defended?!

Most people thought in their minds. The arrow that looks so intimidating was successfully defended by the lavender haired beauty in a ponytail.

But the crowd suddenly went into a deep silence.

When they noticed a big hole in Kesha's stomach. Yet no blood could be seen. Only pieces of light particles that were slowly dropped onto the ground.

It was one of the best effects of resonance. Their body was just a copy of their original.

In this state even if they pierced their body, as long as there were still health points left, they wouldn't die immediately.

Well, they won't particularly die, they just reverted back into a normal person when HP reached zero. And could not use resonance again for approximately 1 month longest period.

However, they could still feel pain. The same pain was felt by Kesha when her body was pierced.

Kesha was agonizing from the pain of having her stomach being pierced by an inexplicable force.

Her complexion immediately turned pale.

She groaned. And her knees trembled.

"Kesha!" Almina screams her best friend's name worriedly.

... Kesha's health points plummeted to 800 HP in just a hit. Thanks to her high defense, her HP is still above the limit.

Her vision turned hazy. If she won't do something, she was certain that she would lose consciousness in a second.

Kesha in difficulty — bit her lip and summoned more mana from within her body. Then, "Heal!" She shouted and next second, her body was enveloped by brilliance. It was her healing spell from her light element.

The hole on her stomach slowly went back to normal as more light particles were gathering on it like they were covering or reinforcing the wound.

Just a few seconds had passed when the wound was totally healed. In Kesha's mind, she could not let herself be defeated easily, after all, Kiko was watching. Although that attack from the blonde was unexpected to her.

"She really was above of my league," Kesha mumbled.

Finally, the hole on her stomach was fully healed. And her health points went up once again.

However, before she could act again, another arrow that was also covered in the wind element came faster than the first one. Faster and more wind was visibly coating it.

Out of reflex, Kesha covered her body with her shield in hand.

Whoosh! Thud! Another low dull sound was heard when it landed on Kesha's shield and bore its tip on it. Kesha's shield already had 10+ arrows sticking on it turning into something like spikes.

Yet...

"The battle is over! The winner is — the archer Maena Hex!" Goki's loud announcement was heard.

The other trainees, even the mayor, had knitted their brows, wondering why the battle had been stopped so suddenly.

The girl with the shield was still fine and still standing within her defensive wall. And the arrow only hit the shield!

But when the judges showed the vital statistics screen. Kesha's health points were left with 500 only.

They also noticed a bigger hole in Kesha's stomach once again. Bigger than before.

They could not let the battle continue like this. If the health points reach zero, it will take longer for the magician to use resonance again with their deity if not using an expensive medicine which the academy did not want to waste their finance in mundane things.

And the instructors could not approve that a trainee will be absent at the training for long. Because the real magic training will begin soon.

So 500 HP is the boundary for a player to lose the match.

A second later, Kesha fell on the ground and lost consciousness. Then the resonance has been canceled. Her body went back to normal. The greenish glow from before is already gone. And a deity was floating beside her calling her name anxiously.

"Kesha! Kesha!" Almina immediately rushed to her side.

"Ha~haaa~! I never thought to see such a skill in the first duel. Indeed, this year's batch had much promising youth. Kudos to you Principal Mar for finding such a magician." The Chief let out a yelp and praised the principal.

Principal Mar Mari cackled.

"Hmm...In any case, what kind of skill is that?" The mayor who was not proficient with magic matters asked in puzzlement.

"Ah, it was one of the signature abilities of one of the heroes who fought the Dominion Devil inside the infernal regions, the Netherworld or Abyss. (The chief face turned grim slightly.)" Then he continued saying: "That skill is known as—"

"The Arrowbites?!" Yman exclaimed after Keremi explained the skill used by the blonde.

"Yes, my prince."