Ryo dashes toward her opponent with amazing speed. Her sword is carried with just one arm as she covers the gap between them in seconds.

Saori closes her eyes and bows as Ryo leaps into the air, readying her sword to crash into her opponent.

Saori's eye opens, and she releases the full extent of her blade from her scabbard, clashing with the aggressive attacker. They're both thrown back due to the force of the clash.

Ryo's sword grazes the ground as she does a full turn, slamming into her opponent. Saori turns to blocks using her katana and is pushed back.

Saori throws her katana to the side of Ryo and runs towards her. Ryo swings her large blade at her opponent's face.

Saori clasps it between her hands and jumps to the side, letting it go. She lands three fast consecutive blows to Ryo's stomach and chest.

The blue-haired girl gasped as the air was knocked out of her. She turns to face her opponent and thrusts her blade at Saori's face but was dodged.

Saori, now ducked down, kicks at her opponent's shin as Ryo falls to one knee on the ground.

Saori jumps, twisting in mid-air, and lands a solid kick to her face. She tumbles through the air and lands behind her foe, retrieving her katana, then running to their backside.

Ryo turns around and clenches her blade. She throws a slash at her challenger, and Saori stops advancing.

"Oh, so that's what it is." Tatsu's eyes widen.

Saori waivers her blade in front of her and is pushed back as if someone struck her sword.

Ryo throws multiple slashes with her massive blade.

Saori continues to hold her blade in front of her, being pushed back by some unseeable force.

I squint, trying to look for any sign of a blast.

"What's going on? What's she getting hit by?"

"That sword is using wind magic." Tatsuo answers with his arms still crossed.

Ryo displays the sword high in the sky then comes down for a more powerful attack.

The ground starts to tear toward Saori, with rubble being thrown in her path. She holds her sword steady and blocks the attack, but the power of the slash threw her into the air.

Ryo doesn't waste any time and dashes to her airborne opponent. She slams her sword onto her back, and Saori crashes to the ground.

A large cloud of smoke consumes the area she was in.

Saori then gets up with blood streaming from her forehead.

The crowd cheers roar throughout the stadium.

"Looks like Ryo Hirayama has obtained first blood!" General Calina announced on the intercom.

Saori blows a tuff of hair from in front of her face and glares at her opponent.

Ryo waivers her sword in the air gleaming at her in mockery.

Saori rushes to her overconfident opponent, dashing side to side. Ryo gets her sword ready but isn't quick enough as Saori takes a swipe at her head. Ryo ducks to the ground, but Saori twists in the air and kicks her face to the ground.

The ground below Ryo creates a brief ring of air as she's bounced from the ground. The ground below her shatters.

Saori grabs her by the collar and throws her across the ring. Ryo tumbles, carrying small rocks and smoke with her.

While mid-air, she faces her adversary and throws multiple air slashes. They all come toward Saori, but she's fast enough to dodge them at the last second, creating large blasts behind her.

Saori breaks the gap and throws a flurry of slashes at her opponent. Ryo has trouble keeping up with her speed.

Every strike Saori throws leaves a spritz of blood on the floor behind Ryo. Despite her efforts, she's getting hit.

Saori ends her fury with a large strike on her foe's legs. Blood spurts from Ryo's knees as pink meat and white bone are torn open, displayed to the crowd.

"Gah!" Ryo's legs give out, and she plunges toward the ground.

Before she reaches the ground, Saori grabs her by the hair and twists her katana in her hand so that she holds the blade in her hand. The sword's handle is angled at Ryo's face.

She taps Ryo's forehead, and a shockwave is formed around them. Ryo is sent flying back with blood following her as she slams into the stadium's wall.

"HYUCK!" She gasps as rubble breaks from her position.

Saori runs towards her; Not finished with her assault, she throws her katana ahead of her. The sword reaches the side of Ryo's face. Suddenly Saori teleports, holding the blade, and slams her feet into Ryo's stomach.

"HYUK!" Ryo gasps from the blow.

"Space Magic… Or to make things simpler teleportation magic." The white-haired girl looked with content.

"It's Level-3, so it's allowed, but the way she uses it makes it seem lethal."

Ryo's head looks toward the ground from fatigue. Saori holds her up by the hair.

"Concede." She holds up her katana to her neck.

Ryo opens her mouth and spits blood onto Saori's face.

"Guuh… Never..."

Ryo thrusts her sword into the ground, and a green runic symbol appears around it.

Saori's eyes widen as she backs away.

A blast decimates the area around them, and Saori is thrown away from her opponent. Smoke and debris fill the area they once were at.

Saori turns mid-air and thrusts her blade into the ground, slowing her momentum as her feet touch the ground. She stands up and looks over to the smoke.

A large runic circle appears below her, and she throws her katana to a spot a few feet away from her. The runic circle explodes, and she blinks to her weapon as soon as the sword touches the ground.

Ryo appears from the smoke running toward Saori with her blade behind her. Her sword making a cloud as it grazes the ground.

Looking down, her knees had their cuts fully healed.

"Is that healing magic?" I look towards Mimi.

"I'd hope not because that's Level-4. But who's to say, they don't seem to care." The white-haired girl pointed up to the podium.

I look up to see Calina and the other knights observe the fight from the floating platform.

Ryo closes in on Saori, and they clash blades. Ryo's face full of blood matched the red-aura protruding from her eyes.

"Ah! A hybrid-class!" The white-haired girl exclaimed.

"Hybrid?" Looking toward her for clarification.

"It's a rare occasion when someone gets a class but already had a skill or form in another," Mimi answers flicking her tail.

"She seems to be a Berserker."

"The more they fight and get injured, the stronger they become," Tatsuo adds.

"RAAAH!" Ryo pushes Saori backward while their blades still embrace. A cloud of smoke is made by Saori's boots.

With the built-up momentum, Ryo throws Saori into the air.

Before Saori could react, Ryo grabs onto her leg and slams her into the ground.

"GAH!" Saori coughs a bit of blood as she's thrown back into the air and released down again.

Ryo continues to slam her repeatedly into the ground, creating shockwaves each time she's hit.

Saori throws her sword to the ground, away from the brute. Ryo's right arm glows with a runic circle and blasts a burst of air at her sword, sending it plumbing in the air.

Ryo hurls Saori towards a nearby wall. A glint of silver is seen behind Ryo as Saori's sword implants into the ground. Saori takes the opportunity to teleport to her sword and throws it at her opponent. Ryo's hand resonates green as she releases another blast of wind. Before it reaches the sword, Saori teleports to her sword and throws it in another direction, dodging away from the blast.

"She's using the wind as a surface to teleport too, interesting," Tatsuo informs, shifting his eyes with interest.

Ryo continues sending wind blasts, but as soon as they reach Saori's katana, she teleports to her blade and throws it elsewhere.

"RAAA!" Ryo slams her blade into the ground and runs at Saori. Saori teleports her blade once more and throws it at the incoming opponent. Ryo deflects the blade, and it twists into the air.

Saori teleports her blade mid-air and throws it back to her opponent. Ryo looks above as the blade's sharp edge makes its way into her back.

The edge draws blood, but Saori switches with the katana as her hand lodges into her opponent's back. A large portion of blood falls from the hole as Ryo coughs up an enormous amount of red fluid. Her torso extrudes a hunk of meat as well as intestines, both falling in clumps to the ground.

Ryo falls to her knees, and the red glare in her eyes fades.

Saori gasps and places her sword at Ryu's neck.

"Con… Concede…"

Ryo holds her sword in front of her then drops it. The metal clanks onto the ground.

The crowd cheers as Saori releases her sword from her neck and looks into the sky. Blood dripping from her forehead.

"I'm one step closer… Papa…" The light blinds her eyes, and she closes them, collapsing onto the ground.

. . .