"Kai, wind affinity, augmenter. Now shut up."
Seeing that she struck a nerve the woman grew smug, she was going to eat this mage for breakfast.
-ding, ding, ding-
"Fighters! Round one— START"
Kai launched forward the moment the match began, Keldreth gleaming on his left hand.
The mage reacted fast, conjuring a shimmering blue shield.
"Waterfall!"
With the flash of marine mana a torrential downpour washed around the navy haired woman.
This completely cut off his advance.
-ssshhh-
Kai let the mana in his body burst out in an instant, by now he had managed to control the escape of mana— not just to heal, but also being able to expel it as a physical force.
This allowed his neutral mana to push outwards in a bubble around his body for a few seconds—
enabling him to simply pass through the waterfall unhindered by the downpour!
The blue eyes of the caster narrowed when she saw this.
'Scary intuition and battle creativity.'
Her mind was far faster than a mortals but Kai's augmentation allowed him to move even quicker than a professional athlete would.
Meaning that she barely had the time to react still— shooting a compressed beam of water at him.
It was about to hit him but— Keldreth shot out! Kai's weapon had finally made an entrance.
The silver blade struck the ground a few feet to his left and Kai shot away from the beam, in a second his momentum was back—
This time Kai's weapon had latched onto the shield of the mage, the mana acting like a magnet for the weapon.
He compressed his stance and rammed into the shield—it flickered, dimmed.
The mage inside was panicking, summoning a flood of water to try and flush the amber eyed menace out of melee range, but Keldreth snapped in place once more, finding a firm hold on the ground as Kai weathered the torrent.
Releasing a punch a kick to the shield before stepping back— his hips twisted, lowering his body into a deep stance,
-ssshhh- mana burst out of his back in a harmless wave as Keldreth found purchase on the shield again, the combination of the two forces, one pushing Kai forward— the other pulling his arm at breakneck speed into a devastating punch!
The strike carried the full weight of Kai's body, amplified by a burst of speed only someone at his level could reach.
At the last instant, Keldreth disengaged, spinning cleanly around his fist…
Without increased durability all this would do is injure his hand, but since the young man's skin was so tough it acted as yet another force amplifier!
-kkkrck- -tktktktk-
-kkkrck-
-tktktktk-
The mana shield cracked—and splintered.
Kai's fist slammed into her chest.
She flew backward, crashing into a tree with a wet gasp, choking up blood.
-
Her eyes rolled back as the young man came to a stop—
Complete domination, Kai was the one in control this entire time.
As her mind dimmed, she thought,
'This is too much for a mere augmenter!'
-
Vaelric had finished off his opponent in a matter of minutes as well, but he was the most talented Mage of their generation.
How could this country orphan compare to the likes of him!
-
Unaware of the commotion his fight caused, he cracked his shoulders— adjusting them.
-ssshhh-
Mana-Neglection washed through his body once more, healing his cracked and bloodied knuckles.
'Man. Elite academy, huh? If that's the best they've got, I guess I've been spoiled by the top physi in the country.'
Content with his conclusion he let Keldreth slink back into the wrist cuff, the weapon returning to its dormant state.
'I hope there are more exciting battles to come…'
The fight was interesting, to say the least, but Kai was too accustomed to utilizing Keldreth to dodge— so much so that his shifting momentum alone could completely change the outcome of the battle.
With time the other students would learn from his battles and grow accustomed to that as well, but for now it was just way too weird!
Whispers were already spreading.
"Did you see the way he moved?"
"He broke her shield in three hits."
"What is that weapon?"
Kai just yawned—
'This place might not be so boring after all.'
-
Midday-
Three battles later…
His muscles were a bit sore, and he felt some minor fatigue but besides that–
'No this place is definitely boring!'
His last two opponents had been even worse than the first.
They weren't weaker– but their abilities had been too easily countered by him.
The second opponent he faced that day was a young man with orange eyes and a flame affinity.
Sure the fires had been annoying but he had just boosted himself into the air with his legs and blasted over the flames with Keldreth, the combined weight of gravity and the acceleration of his descent by the weapon ended the fight with a single devastating blow.
In the next, the young lady he fought had a metal affinity, which was interesting, but Kai had trained with a master swordsman, he definitely knew how to counter blades.
A mixture of deflecting shots by Keldreth and shifting momentum, he took her down as well.
The pulse of Mana-Neglection washed away the sharp wounds littering his body.
'That was just annoying, it hurt way too much— Those blades had barely nicked him!'
Performing a few light stretches, Kai worked out the rest of the small aches and kinks in his body that Mana-Neglection had neglected when healing him.
'I can see why so many people enjoy the effects of mana saturation… no soreness would be a godsend.'
He looked up at the magical scroll plastered across the sky–
It started with over 128 brackets, then dipped to 64, then 32, his next opponent would be in the top 32 of the fighters in this particular group of the exam.
If Kai won against this opponent he would be in the top 16, with the next the top eight, then the semi-finals, and Finally if he reached it, Vaelric would meet him in the finals– Kai had no doubt the silver-eyed boy would reach the top.
As for himself well he would see–
-
It was time for his next fight, and this time he was greeted by an augmenter with the same affinity as himself– Wind!
'Oh now this is going to be interesting, I might even be able to learn how to use my affinity in this fight.'
"Hi, My name is Yun. Wind-affinity."
A man of few words, Kai could respect that.
"Kai, same here."
Both men nodded before readying themselves, the man held two daggers in each hand.
Kai only adjusted the cuff of Keldreth, making it more comfortable.
"Fighters! Ready– and START!
The two boys burst forth–