Elias chuckled, shaking his head as he took his stance. "I don't know whether to call you brave or foolish for stepping up against me, commoner". His voice dripped with arrogance. "You should've forfeited and saved yourself the embarrassment".
Ronan didn't react. His fiery eyes remained locked onto Elias, unwavering. "Are you done talking?" His voice was steady, not a hint of fear.
Elias's smirk faltered for a moment before twisting into an amused grin. "Confident, are we? Fine. I'll enjoy watching that confidence melt away".
The academy staff raised a hand. "Begin!".
The moment the word left the announcer's lips, Elias wasted no time; an icy mist swirled around him as he instantly froze the entire stage. The ground shimmered with frost, and Ronan's feet were locked in place.
"Hmph! Let's see if you have the power to humiliate me!" Ronan scoffed, breaking the ice around his feet with a fiery burst. He knew his only chance was a swift victory; his limited mana couldn't sustain a long battle.
With a flick of his wrist, razor-sharp ice spikes erupted from the ground, streaking toward Ronan. Ronan swiftly dodged, but instead of countering immediately, his figure blurred. Using the Shadow Step, he burst forward at breakneck speed, appearing behind Elias in a flash. The crowd gasped. His fist, coated in a thin layer of fire mana for impact, cut through the air and slammed into Elias's gut.
The force sent Elias flying toward the edge of the ring. "Damn it!" he gritted his teeth, twisting mid-air and summoning a towering ice wall to stop his fall. He slid down, his breath ragged. It wasn't the pain that shocked him, but the speed.
That wasn't Flame Step, he realised, his eyes narrowing. That was pure velocity. He's faster than I am in close quarters. Humiliation turned into cold calculation. The commoner's plan was to overwhelm him quickly. Fine, Elias thought with a cruel smirk. If you want to close the distance, you'll have to earn it.
"You're finished!" Elias roared, forming a shimmering blue shard in his hand: Frostbite Shard. He hurled it toward Ronan, the ice spinning like a deadly drill.
Ronan didn't dodge. Instead, four small fireballs condensed at his fingertips, their glow intensifying.
BOOM! The fireballs exploded on contact, piercing through the spinning shard with shocking precision. Elias immediately summoned an ice shield, but the blast still forced him back, widening the gap between them.
The duel took a new form. Elias, now wary, pulled out his sword, Glacius Edge. He had no intention of engaging in a melee. With a growl, he infused his blade with ice magic and unleashed a sweeping arc of frozen energy,
Cryo Slash, that crystallised the ground as it flew toward Ronan.
Ronan was forced to counter with a fiery blade of his own,
Blazing Strike. The two attacks collided in an explosion of steam. But as soon as the steam cleared, another Cryo Slash came flying. Ronan countered again. And again. Each Blazing Strike was a small sip of his mana, but Elias's attacks were relentless. The sips were starting to feel like gulps.
"Let's see you handle this!" Elias roared, plunging Glacius Edge into the stage. The entire arena floor began to flash with frigid blue light as a dozen massive ice pillars erupted, converging to impale Ronan in a deadly cage. There was no room to dodge.
Damn it! Ronan thought, his eyes wide. With no other choice, he slammed his palm on the ground. "Molten Shield!" A dome of bubbling, superheated lava erupted around him. The ice pillars crashed against it with a deafening hiss, but the shield held. The attack was blocked, but Ronan felt a massive chunk of his mana vanish in an instant, leaving him feeling dangerously empty. The lava shield crumbled into blackened rock, and he was left panting, his gambit having cost him dearly.
Elias's eyes darkened as he saw Ronan stagger. He knew his opponent was spent. He raised his sword, and at its tip, a small sphere of blue energy formed, turning the very air frigid. "Glacier Ray".
Ronan's breath hitched. He didn't have enough mana left to dodge, let alone summon another shield. He was a sitting duck. His gaze flickered toward Samantha in the stands, her hands clenched in unwavering support. He had no other options.
All or nothing.
With a deep breath, he channelled the very last dregs of his power. Four small orbs of fire flickered into existence around his sword's tip. Instead of launching them, he guided them together. One by one, the orbs spiralled inward, merging into a single, incandescent sphere. The heat radiating from it was so extreme that the air shimmered, and the centre of the roaring orange flame began to glow with an intense, piercing blue hue. This was
Flare Burst, compressed to its absolute limit.
The moment both attacks were unleashed, the world seemed to hold its breath.
BOOM!
The collision of fire and ice sent shockwaves rippling through the stadium. A massive explosion engulfed the stage, and the ground trembled under the sheer force. As the smoke settled, Elias was barely standing. Behind him, the ice wall he'd summoned was shattered but had held just enough. Ronan lay outside the ring.
The announcer raised his hand. "Elias wins!".
The stadium erupted in cheers. Elias, his body trembling, let out a dry laugh. "Hah... a lowborn like you thought you could defeat me? Know your place".
Ronan, head bowed, walked toward the exit as the medical team rushed to him. "You did well, kid," one of them murmured. "That was a hell of a fight". Ronan closed his eyes, his fists clenching. "Next time..." he swore to himself. "I won't lose".
The announcer's voice echoed again. "Orin and Egan, step onto the stage". A murmur spread through the audience as students exchanged knowing glances, discussing the odds and the elemental matchups. Orin walked onto the stage with his usual high-spirited demeanour, though his expression was tense as he faced Egan, who carried himself with ingrained arrogance.
Meanwhile, in the audience, Roderick leaned toward Samantha. "Shouldn't you go check on him?" he asked.
Samantha offered a small smile. "Let him rest. It's only been a few minutes..."
"I think he's well-rested," Dorian smirked, pointing behind her.
She turned to see Ronan walking toward them, his usual warm smile in place. "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be resting?" she asked, immediately standing up.
Ronan chuckled, gently pushing her back into her seat. "I'm fine. Just some minor injuries. Don't worry so much". He took the empty seat beside her and waved at Roderick. "So, won't you introduce me to your team?".
Samantha made the introductions: Roderick, the team captain, Dorian, and Lyra.
"You put on quite the spectacle out there," Dorian remarked.
"Roderick's eyes sharpened. "During your fight, you used a movement skill that didn't feel like Flame Step".
"Yes, that wasn't the Flame Step. It was the Shadow Step," Ronan grinned. He explained that it was a physical skill that used minimal mana, and he had coated his feet in fire mana simply to maintain traction on the ice.
"That was a fine control over Ignition Beam," Dorian said, processing the information.
Ronan scratched his head sheepishly. "Ignition Beam? Hehehe, that was not Ignition Beam".
"Then what did you use to counter Glacier Ray?" Dorian frowned.
"Flare Burst," Ronan replied. "I condensed fire mana into a small point, just enough to counter the freezing effect".
Lyra's expression darkened. "Are you an idiot? If you lost control, that blast could have permanently damaged your hand!".
Ronan let out a nervous chuckle. "I didn't anticipate the shockwave being so strong, though".
Roderick smirked. "By the way, Ronan, Lyra is Elenor's cousin. And just so you know, she's branded you a bad boy". He explained that Lyra had been suspicious of his motives for giving Elenor a rare Flame Core.
Lyra, embarrassed, quickly interjected, "Enough, enough! I was wrong about you, okay? Sorry".
Ronan chuckled. "Don't worry. That's a reasonable assumption. If I were in your position, I might have thought the same".
The group shared a lighthearted laugh, the tension easing as they settled in to watch Orin and Egan's duel unfold.