Chapter 4 Electrifying!!!

As I was walking toward the arena to attend to the final match I taught to myself

Damn I should remember not to ever piss off that old man his presence is similar to my master’s

But that ability was quite interesting…the power to rob life…it sucked energy from everyone within the room, at first I taught it was some sort of an ice spell but after analysing it I am now certain that that spell is some sort of a death spell. I don’t know about the regulations concerning Alikh’s country on the use of Death magic but if I can remember the penalty for using it at Alsa was death…

Anyway the final fight is about to begin, and I really do need some rest, that fight with Lori drained me more than I could hope even using the Mana flux for that short of a time has strained my body.

Although I think I can afford to have a few more bouts I think I should speak to Vessma about the arrangements of the combat.

Oh speak of the devil she is here

Vessma hastily ran toward me and with a fidgeting pointing finger she said

“Y-you idiot do you know who that was? Do you have any idea what would have happen if Ryouka-sama has not intervened? Oh my god how many times do you have to prove that you are an idiotic brute that thinks of nothing but making trouble for others? Damn it”

Well that was not the kind of words I was hoping to hear

I answered her back calmly

“Well I had to do that I would hate if a stranger were to do this to a comrade, and before you continue ranting I would have done the same if he came after you.”

At the end of my words I saw a clear blush on Vessma’s face, I have no idea why that happen though.

I continued before this discussion get any more awkward.

“Now I just want to know, in what order will the fighters be in the next rounds. Should I start first and take out as many as I can? Or would you prefer that someone else make my job a little bit easier?”

She coughed a bit and spoke in a way that was much more professional

“Hmm I would like to send you first but it seems that you are still fatigued…I want to send Shiki-sama and Yuna-san first then you if they are to tire what do you think?”

She is asking my opinion? This is rare I taught that she was all bark and orders…

“I agree let them go first I think that Shiki wants a go as he only participated in the race. As for Yuna-san she needs not to stress herself I will tap in if she is to tire”

She walked away saying

“Good I think we agree on this. Good luck in the next game…I was supposed to win the group fight to make this easier…I think that we will have to rely on your brutality to win this…quite inelegant but this is all we have”

I keep wondering why does she always consider me as brute and barbarous yet she has a summon that is the epitome of savagery huh…quite ironic isn’t it…I’ll never understand this girl.

Passing the entrance to the arena I felt a wave wash over me heat and noise, the sound of thousands of people shouting in demand for battle, the smell of dirt and sweat…quite lovely actually.

Taking our seat at the booth that is next to the round platform I saw Shiki that was barely containing his excitement. What gave him away was his shaking hands and probably the sparks that were occasionally emitted from his hair.

The announcer then disrupted the chaotic noise from the audience with his boisterous voice.

“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I will be the commentator for this game as you can guess. This is indeed the final fight for the Alsian team and the team from Astora sadly the latter will not be benefiting from wining this game as much as will the Alsian team as they have a huge difference in points. But fear not ranking third is still far better than ranking last and will still gain them some favours and rewards from this competition. So Fight well and FIGHT HARD let the strong rise and the weak be trampled”

The first to walk up to the arena was a skinny girl from the Astorian team her blue hair was cut short barely reaching her neck while her vividly blue eyes and plump lips gave her a sweet looking allure.

Shiki walked up the stairs confident as ever with sparks still coming from his hair occasionally.

They stood in front of each other waiting patiently the for the judge to announce the beginning of the fight, until the commentator said

“FIGHT START”

Then just like a Deja-vu the announcer once again said

“FIGHT OVER, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN HERE???”

Shiki was still standing in his spot sow as the girl. But on a closer look the white of her eyes was showing while smoke was rising from her body

“Damn that was fast, what little monsters Alsa has brought us this year…too bad I cannot reveal the technique that Mr Youtaro has used without his consent so anyone who has saw what happen you are…wait, wait it seems that Mr Shiki also wishes that his spell to be revealed…what a weird bunch these guys from Alsa”

OH…another 1 second victory, hah, way to go Shiki.

The screen started showing what happened. It was almost instantaneous at first but after the replay ‘well I didn’t need the replay I already clearly saw everything the first time’ the scenes slowed down and showed what truly happened.

Shiki ignited his right arm with an electrical charge and had a small Mahojin on his other arm.

He crossed them in an x shape and pulled them apart with frictional force. This somehow created another Mahojin under the girl that had the same symbols of the one he had in his left arm.

After that she was out. A huge current of electrical discharge spewed forward from under the girl almost frying her if it was not for the barrier.

And what is amazing that all of this happened in under a second.

I would really suffer against a mage that could use spells with this degree of potency at this speed…I still wonder, if there was no spell limit at our school would I still have won all those games?

It seems that Shiki will be fighting for the second match his new adversary was a good looking boy almost as tall as Shiki with wavy short hair and a robust physique.

“Fight start” the beginning of the round was announced

The beginning of the game was almost a replay of the other one but with only one difference.

Shiki somehow missed. The guy managed to dodge at the last second while sending an air blast towards Shiki who surprisingly took it head on.

It sent him flying a few feet away but never did he loose his cool, he still had that creepy smile on his face as if he was beginning to enjoy himself.

And as if nothing happened he stood up and walked forward confidently. The other guy seems to be of level as he was able of a feat not many can mimic, the sole fact that he was able to dodge an attack at that speed was impressively beyond belief.

The other guy charged forward while zigzagging some of Shiki’s rapid lightning bolts’ attack.

I still had my hyper-recognition active when I noticed that Shiki began to charge his entire body with electric power.

This was the same magic he used when he fought against the twins on that day.

He began to walk slowly toward an almost frozen enemy as he started moving too fast for normal eyes to witness.

Once he was close enough he tightened his grip making a fist. With apparent exhaustion on his face that must have been caused by this obviously overtaxing ability he still gritted his teeth and swung a punch aimed at the abdomen of his enemy.

Alas that would have been a victory but surprisingly his foe disappeared from sight the instant the attack was about to make contact. Instantly appearing behind Shiki with a well-placed roundhouse kick to the side that sent Shiki rolling on the ground. Not waiting for him to stand back on his feet he charged again at him with a stomp to where Shiki was laying, a stomp that only met the hard platform but was strong enough to cave a huge portion of it in.

Shiki who was now wary of his opponent took a somewhat of a defensive pose. He had both his arms forward and his hands in a dragon claw like form with occasional kinetic discharges that sparked from finger to finger and from hand to hand. His posture was one of prudence and probably based on counterattack. Sadly if you can’t see an attack coming you can’t counter it.

He was now being tossed around. The man started appearing and disappearing from sight each time a hit was connected to Shiki. He was using the same tactic as me only his was not based on a spell like Shunpo…no it was pure speed. I taught that warrior-mages were a hard thing to become but this one was excelling at it.

Hit after hit Shiki was being toyed with.

After receiving a trashing Shiki shouted “ENOUGH!!”

And with it an impressive discharge of electricity erupted from his body making a shockwave that submerged the arena with its power.

The other guy who should have been fried received but a slight reduction in his hit points however Shiki was well in the danger zone.

After some of the dust cleared up his figure showed up. The guy was crossing both his arms in front of him. The cloth of his uniform that was on his arm was fully burnt. But he suffered little damage to his physical body.

But what was impressive that the amount of power that Shiki displayed was phenomenal. As even the platform started spewing some occasional sparks.

Shiki on the other hand looked completely exhausted. However I know that he is not someone that would give up that easily. Shiki begun to channel some of the Mana in his body to recreate a spell that I have seen before. The one where his aspect became lion like.

He begun to run near the rim of the arena circling his adversary. More and more sparks started spewing forward then the shape of the lightening beast begun to materialize.

Crackles and roars of a thunderous beast were blasting through the arena. Shiki increased his speed and began to enclose his encirclement on the guy in the middle of the arena.

This one however did not feel the least threatened as he was smirking and waited patiently.

Before Shiki could fully close in, the figure of the guy disappeared making Shiki pass on empty space. Shiki is now heading toward the rim of the stage with nothing to stop him from getting out of bounds yet he didn’t panic and somehow managed to slow himself enough to barely stop at the edge of the ring. Sadly his small success was met with utter disappointment as at that time and probably because of the lack of speed the lion shape figure disappeared and with it most of Shiki’s remaining strength.

Not to waste the chance he was struck from behind with a strong kick that sent him out of bounds and disqualified him on the spot.

The man now faced the audience and shouted loudly and proudly “WHO’S NEXT?”

***

I was sitting in our team’s private booth near the arena when Shiki came and sat next to me.

Shiki was obviously distraught, as he had a grim look on his face.

I asked him

“Common man it’s just a game. You lose some and you win some hey you even managed to destroy one of them in one hit.”

He looked at me then sighed

“It’s not that, this was a good opportunity to prove the might of our clan and to secure my seat as the next clan head…but man that guy was amazingly strong.”

I answered him with all honesty.

“I agree…it is rare to see someone move at that speed he even bested you …I can’t see myself beating him in a contest of speed… I hope that Yuna could do something Vessma didn’t want me to face him yet…I don’t know why though”

With another dejected sigh he said

“I hope so too…she seems to be our best chance against speed types and Vessma must have believed that too. Her ice is capable of hindering their movement and lowering their speed…she still needs to be extremely vigilant because with a speed like his, he can take her out the second the judges declare the start of the game…”

I snickered at his statement and reassured him saying

“Don’t worry man she is a tough nut to crack I am sure she can do something about him.”

He chuckled bit and his mood seems to have improved slightly then he said.

“Did you still not hear anything about Osfor-sensei?”

I frowned a bit at hearing that as I have totally forgot about him

“Nothing so far...he is still missing, we could really need his help. But let’s just believe in Vessma-san she seems to be quite capable even under pressure.”

Shiki started teasing me saying

“Oh so you can say nice things about her…did she perhaps seduce you in anyway?”

I snickered at his comment saying

“Like if. The beauty of a snake does not make it less lethal.”

“What was that about snakes?” said Vessma who just entered the booth.

We both looked away as if denying to have said anything but she only squinted her eyes then sighed.

“Yuna-san is up she should be able to at least tier him if not beat him…I could not believe they had someone of his calibre…he might even be a challenge to one of the school’s five monsters.”

‘she seems to be thinking highly of him if she said that…but if this guy was a challenge to her as she just said…what would Lori make. This guy is pure speed but Lori was an interesting girl as she was strong beyond belief…I really would like to have another match with her…I wonder where she is right now’

“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN as you have seen the earlier match was an epic display of speed and power. What would this game bring us? I can’t wait for it to start.”

The two contenders stood in front of each other and the game’s start was announced.

Without a second to spare Yuna casted her ice domain covering the entire platform once again in ice.

This should limit his speed as a slip will mostly result in him being disqualified.

The guy had jumped up before the ice reached his legs. And sent two air blasts toward Yuna that were repelled by two thin ice walls.

Once those walls shattered she willed the particles of ice to shoot forward and head toward the guy.

He pressed his right arm forward making a thin wind barrier repel most of the ice shrapnel.

Smirking he made a fist and struck at the ground. A wave of destroyed ice erupted and spewed all over the platform.

Most of the ice was cast aside clearing the platform and making Yuna’s situation a lot more serious.

The man lunged forward and disappeared only to reappear with his elbow in full contact with Yuna’s abdomen. Sending her rolling a few feats away, yet he did not stop he kept chasing her and each time he landed a hit it thwarted her backwards rocking her body from head to toe. The blows were hard and heavy I could almost feel them and I was not the one taking the beating…but for some reason I felt rage building up inside me.

I couldn’t care less if it was anyone else taking the beating but for some reason seeing her receive damage makes me feel bad, although it is but a imitation of the real one it still feels real.

She was not able to defend herself, she capitalised on a small opening and casted a small ice wall to stop his onslaught but to no avail as he broke through it like if it was glass and sent another hit, this one directly to her face.

Clenching my fist I growled under my breath at his methods were ‘savage’.

Perhaps I am a hypocrite, it was not long ago, I was going all out on a girl myself but seeing him doing that ticks me off.

She was close to the arena’s rim so another hit will ring her out.

But the bastard grabbed her hand and threw her inside the arena once more. A shocked expression was On Yuna’s face when she realised what he was trying to do.

Due to the fact that all of his attacks were mainly physical ones, the damage that he dealt to Yuna’s Hp was not that high. So it will mostly be a show of power.

In other words Yuna showed a high standing in magical aptitude and prowess with her versatile arsenal and multiple high grad spells. So he is trying to destroy her image using physical superiority….but to what end?

Not stopping his relentless assault he kept going at her withering her Hp bit by bit while pieces of her uniform shredded and her hair became a mess. She could cast a spell once in a while but to no avail.

As any spell she was able to use in that short period of time was nothing too threatening to this man.

Looking to my left I saw the grim looks on everyone’s face. Then Vessma said

“Asura-san…you are up next.” Then she looked in my direction with the most serious gaze and added “Destroy him!”

She then walked to the arena and signalled the judge.

The announcer then said

“THE Alsian team wishes to forfeit this round. The winner of this...”

“I CAN STILL GO ON!!!” Yuna shouted.

The announcer shocked at the strength behind that voice as it travelled throughout the entire stadium. Yuna was unrelenting and the spark of fight has not left her eyes.

She then turned to face Vessma and said.

“I will hate you for life if you force me to step down. I am not done yet.”

Then the man in front of her shrugged and said “You should probably heed their warning. You are outmatched here.”

She answered with a serious tone

“We will see about that. I never wanted to use this against a normal person. But you leave me no choice you proven to me that I am still weak and for that I am grateful but even so you will not win this round.”

The man smirked and took back his battle position

The judge then demanded the continuation of the fight.

I felt the temperature drop. It became so cold that I was able to see my own breath.

Yuna’s hair glowed white with an aura like never before seeping from her body.

Black clouds gathered and covered the once blue sky. She raised both her hands and shouted.

“ICE DRAGON LORD’S JUDGEMENT”

In an instant a massive Mahojin appeared in the sky covering almost all of the arena.

Then a ray of concentrated energy shot downward covering the entire platform with Yuna in it.

A blinding light followed then a ringing in my ear was all I could feel. Seconds passed like days

But when everything cleared ice covered the platform and the arena and was barely contained by the barrier.

Where Yuna was standing was a cocoon like tulip made of ice and she was inside it. The other guy had his arms crossed in front of his face and was facing upwards. He became a status like figure made of ice.

The tulip opened and Yuna walked out. Exhaustion and fatigue was apparent on her, I bet that she can’t continue anymore.

“I JUST CAN’T!!! ARE ALL ALSIANS GENIUSES!!! THAT WAS DEFINITELY AN S CLASS SPELL how was this young girl able to master such a spell at such a young age what a frightening country Alsa is.”

Amazing. An S class spell. This girl is something alright she was already strong enough now this just fortifies her standing as the strongest young magician here. As I was told by Osfor not anyone can reach the S class stage of a spell. His took years to develop and his SS class was something he wish not to speak about. Probably because it was way harder but to see Yuna casting a spell of that magnitude fills me with pride.

Although I’ve casted a spell an S tire spell it was only because the eye was helping; she however managed to master it after god knows how much time, effort and dedicating.

As a witness of the power of high grade spells I can almost assure that that man is long gone.

His Hp are not 0 but are 20% and rapidly declining. This must be the freeze effect.

However as the cruel fate can only decide the ice surrounding the man cracked and then shattered, enraged and wrathful the man shouted to the heavens.

I felt a strong tug once he shouted; my heart almost stopped.

He then spoke. In a way that made me remember that thing.

“You…are dead.”

How is this possible…why does he give the same feeling as that metallic demon.

He disappeared from sight and grabbed Yuna by the back of her head and smashed it downward.

She tried getting back up only to receive a kick to the side that sent her rolling. Clearly disoriented and in pain she still pushed her arm forward trying to cast a spell to repel the man only to have him disappear and grabbing her arm. Then like if she was a toy he swung her body smashing it to the ground.

At that instant her HP hit 0 and she was out. Yet the bastard was not satisfied and kept hitting her until the judge intervened stopping the man from further harming the girl.

All that time I stood and watched one of my friends getting hurt. She will probably recover. Although the barrier will prevent her from bodily harm she will still suffer an equivalent mental pain. And seeing my friends getting hurt is not something I like.

At that moment, I was sitting at the booth with both my hands clasped on each other and supporting my chin. I did not notice it at first but the amount of spiritual energy that my body was releasing was enough to make anyone shiver.

Calming myself a bit I stood and walked toward the arena

Yuna was carried out by men wearing purple I taught that she would have fainted but she was wide awake with her eyes watering up she was trying to stop herself from crying…was it that painful to her or was the loss in itself what made her like this. Doesn’t matter, today this man will suffer.