As Kai felt mana coursing through his body, he felt more confident to take risks. After all, this was a simple yet effective application of mana, the life energy which all living organisms possess. Kai had used mana to empower his physical attributes, both in offense and defence, making him stronger, faster and sturdier. With a quick leap, Kai appeared quickly in front of the Duelbot and gave it an augmented punch, sending it flying towards the runic barrier which it smashed against.

"Impressive…" Scarlet thought as she observed Kai dodging and exchanging more blows with the Duelbot. Though he was still a novice in harnessing mana as evident in the near-transparent hue enveloping his body, Scarlet noted that the boy could already be considered above average compared to the other freshmen.

After all, freshmen were supposed to learn the basics of harnessing and refining mana in their first year at Zion Academy, which would then promote them from Beginner tier to Intermediate tier. Tiers were used to judge a combatant's strength, and there are currently 6 of them.

In ascending order, they were Beginner, Intermediate, Expert, Master, Grandmaster and lastly, Sage. History had recorded people who were far too strong as compared to the current Sages, but they were all nonexistent currently.

Returning her attention to the battle, Scarlet watched as Kai gained the upper hand with his speed, avoiding every attack from the Duelbot. Under Kai's fierce counterattacks, the Duelbot could only stagger backwards as it got repeatedly pummelled.

Kai thought, "Time to wrap this up." as he focused mana onto his right hand, giving it a more visible bluish hue. He leapt towards the weakened Duelbot, intending to deliver the finishing blow. BOOM! A loud sound could be heard as Kai's right fist crashed into the Duelbot, creating a miniature shockwave that caused the runic barrier to tremble slightly.

The students watching started to murmur among themselves; it was clear that the victor had been decided. Scarlet flashed a smile, impressed that a freshman could defeat a Level 1 Duelbot so easily. This proved that the boy was way above Beginner tier, the level which the Duelbot had been programmed to.

However, as the dust settled from the shockwave earlier, a sight that would shock them all slowly revealed itself. Kai's right hand was firmly clasped by the Duelbot, which Scarlet felt emanated a different feeling from earlier.

Following her instincts, Scarlet shouted to Mr Victor, "Victor, stop this match right now! Something's off about that Duelbot!" Mr Victor was trembling as he broke out in cold sweat, "Impossible…I can't deactivate the barrier nor the Duelbot!! This has never happened before, so what's going on?"

Scarlet then placed her hand against the barrier. "Not good, this barrier is at least Expert tier, wouldn't be easy to break through it without compromising the safety of the student within." Scarlet muttered to herself.

Meanwhile, Kai was bewildered by the events that had unfolded. Ordinarily, that attack should have defeated the Duelbot, given that he had practised smashing through iron armour with it, not to mention that it was one of his strongest offensive moves. It was simply unthinkable that a Duelbot that was previously getting overwhelmed by him could withstand his punch WITHOUT exerting mana.

Kai felt a shiver down his spine as he sensed something dangerous from the dummy; the intent to kill. It suddenly retracted the hand which was clasping onto Kai, pulling him forward and causing him to lose balance. Kai saw the Duelbot aim a kick at his left temple from the corner of his eye, so he instinctively raised his left arm to guard his face.

BAM! Kai was sent flying towards the barrier which he smashed against. Pain shot from his left arm as Kai realised that it was severely bruised from the kick. Before he had any time to recover, the Duelbot started channelling mana into its hands as the air around it became more chilly. Multiple ice shards started forming in front of it, all aimed at Kai who was still lying on the ground.

Mr Victor said nervously, "What's going on? T-That's [Ice Barrage], an Intermediate tier spell! Judging from its combat prowess, this is at least a Level 4 Duelbot, which we use to spar against Year 2 students. Shit!" [Ice Barrage] may not hold much power per ice shard, but its strength lies in its sheer number which are all sharp enough to pierce through leather, making dodging a near impossible task.

The duelbot swung its arm forward towards Kai, as the numerous ice shards flew in the direction indicated. Having no time to dodge, Kai could only supply more mana to cover his entire body. At the end of the attack, several ice shards could be seen embedded in the limbs and body of Kai, causing him to bleed profusely.

Kai thought, "It was the right move to shield my face. Darn, this really hurts, to shred my mana armour so easily. Guess I have no choice but to reveal my trump card." Kai reached for his pocket and drew a pen-like object.

Meanwhile, the other students were chattering excitedly about the events which transpired. While some appeared worried for Kai's safety, others were actively encouraging him on. Almost everyone was fixated on the duel except 1 person.

Adeline carried a worried expression, but she wasn't looking at Kai but rather a dark corner in the Training Hall. She muttered to herself silently, "Why are you here and why are you doing this…" Meanwhile, within the runic barrier, the Duelbot leapt towards Kai, its left arm turning into a blade as it intended to execute Kai on the spot.

Grasping the pen-like object tightly in his left hand, Kai muttered, "Extend and impale, [Cavalier]!" Upon its summon, the pen-like object morphed into a silver spear adorned with a white pommel like a traditional Chinese spear. Before the Duelbot could reach him, Kai supplied mana into his weapon which then extended in length in a flash, quickly piercing through its left shoulder and pushing it back.

With a quick swipe of his spear, Kai swiftly dismembered the left arm of the Duelbot before retracting his spear to its original length. The students watched in awe at Kai's weapon, even Adeline appeared surprised at his sudden revelation.

Scarlet whispered, "To think that he would possess a Grade C weapon, that's pretty impressive." Weapons in the world were graded from A to E, where Grade C and above were more likely to be magic weapons, weapons that exhibited a unique trait when fed with mana. Of course, there were very rare weapons beyond that of Grade A which bordered on the level of legends and myths. The duelbot glanced at its missing arm before looking back at Kai, unfazed about its predicament.

Mr Victor shouted, "Aim for its chest! That's the only way to manually disable it!!" Both Kai and the dummy started walking in circles round each other, each being cautious of the other. Kai gripped [Cavalier] with both of his hands nervously. This was a real death match and one mistake here could end it for him.

Seeing that the Duelbot was reluctant to make the first move, Kai decided to catch it by surprise. Supplying mana to his legs, he quickly kicked off from the ground while swinging his spear horizontally from left to right. The Duelbot, understanding that jumping backwards is futile as the [Cavalier] can extend its range sufficiently to slice through it, jumped up instead.

Kai, predicting his opponent's move, quickly tilted [Cavalier] upwards and fed it mana. It extended rapidly towards the chest of the Duelbot. Kai smiled as he thought victory was at hand. To his surprise, the Duelbot raised its hand towards the spear and from its palm, a circular disc which resembled a mirror was formed. Upon collision, Kai's weapon ricocheted back towards him.

"Drats!" Kai cursed as he quickly retracted his spear before it would strike him. Seizing that window of opportunity, the Duelbot leapt towards him, turning its remaining arm into a tomahawk before striking Kai with a downward swing. Kai barely avoided the attack, but not without a gash on his left arm near his shoulder. The Duelbot followed up with several slashes, putting Kai strictly on the defensive as the close proximity between him and the dummy meant that the ability of [Cavalier] was rendered useless.

Mr Victor fell to his knees and dejectedly said, "It's all over. What a disaster…to think that Duelbot used an Expert tier spell [Reflect], that means it's at Level 6 at least. The boy's gonna die and my career is finished…" Furious at his words, Scarlet grabbed Mr Victor by the collar and shouted, "As a teacher, how dare you give up on a precious student's life!! The battle's not over yet from what I can see! We should be racking our brains on how to destroy the barrier without hurting Kai instead of lamenting our misfortune!"

Scarlet then stormed towards the barrier, placing her hand on it. She thought, "If only there's a way to weaken this barrier such that an Intermediate tier attack could break through it, Heinrich or Samuel would be good for such situations…Wait, Victor!" Scarlet quickly called for the poor technician who was still on his knees in desolation.

Scarlet chirped excitedly, "I heard that you are well-versed in telepathy, can't you get into contact with Heinrich or Samuel? With one of them, we could break down this barrier!" Mr Victor shook out of his depressed stupor and replied, "Right away!"

He closed his eyes as he tried searching for them, however, something seems to impede his telepathy as he couldn't go beyond the training hall. "Something's preventing me from reaching to them…it's as though all communication has been cut! I guess the only way out now is to do things the old-fashioned way and find them physically! Hang in there till I return!" Mr Victor exclaimed as he bolted out of the training hall. Scarlet became slightly nervous before she turned towards the barrier and spoke softly, "It's all up to you now, Kai."

Kai was still getting battered by the Duelbot, which threatened to push him against the runic barrier and cut off his escape. Realising the need to stand his ground, Kai quickly stood firmly and started to either repel or parry every attack against him.

"Darn…this is going nowhere, I can't even find an opportunity to attack and I'm barely keeping up. My head's feeling lighter, looks like I'm losing consciousness soon. Is this the end?" he thought as he slowly resigned to his fate. His movements became sluggish and in one strong strike, [Cavalier] was knocked out of his hands and reverted back to its pen shape. The duelbot then raised its tomahawk to deal the killer blow as Kai's eyes started to close slowly as he leaned forward.

Kai's fellow students started screaming his name, but he could no longer hear them as his consciousness faded. Just as the tomahawk was about to land on his nape, Kai suddenly had a flashback of that incident with his mother 7 years ago. He quickly regained consciousness and barely avoided the attack, only suffering a nick to his right cheek.

Kai breathed deeply as he panted, "That's right…I promised Mom that I would become stronger to avenge her. I've yet to kill those demons yet, so I can't die!" Kai mustered all his remaining strength and mana as he let out a war cry, leaping towards the Duelbot that did likewise.

Within those few precious seconds, only a select few among the audience noted that the colour of Kai's left eye turned blue from black with a unique pattern surrounding his pupil. In that moment, it appeared as though a shockwave rippled in a 10m radius from Kai as its epicentre, halting the Duelbot in its tracks.

Scarlet, with her hand still on the barrier, suddenly felt that the barrier had grown thinner. Instinctively, she performed the Intermediate tier [Impact Shock] that shattered the barrier as the vibrations from her attack were too strong. Taking advantage of the momentary halt of the Duelbot, Scarlet quickly dashed forward and thrust her mana enhanced fist through its chest, blowing a hole through it. The dummy immediately collapsed, its core destroyed.

Scarlet then turned around swiftly and asked, "How are you feeling? I'll get you medical attention straightaway!" Kai didn't hear her as the last move he performed took everything he had left as he slumped onto her arms, unconscious.