"What?"
"Are you deaf? Give me that crystal," Derivan said in a serious tone, surprising Ray.
"I don't know what's gotten into you, but I can't give it back."
"Then you leave me no other choice." Derivan lunged at his school friend.
The teenager instantly appeared in front of him and tried to strike, but Ray blocked the blow.
"Do you really want to fight me? I'll try not to hurt you too badly" Ray pushed Derivan's hand away and then tried to counterattack.
Derivan performed a backflip, balancing on his hands, then tried to kick Ray in the face, but the brunet blocked the attack again. Derivan smiled, pushed off the floor with one hand, and with his other leg kicked Ray under the chin, sending him flying upward.
"He's fighting completely differently," Ray thought.
Derivan leapt up, instantly appearing in front of his friend, and struck him, making Ray grimace and spit out a bit of blood. Then, grabbing him by the shirt, Derivan slammed him into the floor.
Ray quickly got back to his feet, wiping the blood from his mouth. "Looks like I'll have to take this seriously after all," he said, extending his hand toward Derivan and forming a magic circle.
Suddenly Derivan froze in place. Using one of his abilities, Ray flicked his hand and hurled Derivan into the wall, which he smashed through.
"Don't hold this against me. I really have to take that crystal."
Ray was about to leave when a lightning sphere suddenly shot out of the smoke. The brunet neutralized it at the last second. "You really don't know when to give up." Extending his hand again, he tried to throw Derivan once more, but was surprised when he couldn't sense him. "Where is he?"
Suddenly Derivan attacked from an upper floor, smashing through the ceiling and catching his friend off guard.
"I see. That attack was a feint. Right after using it, Derivan ran upstairs to attack by breaking through the floor," Ray realized.
Ray jumped back, avoiding Derivan's attack and the falling debris.
Ray thrust his hand forward, causing chunks of the floor to rise into the air. He then hurled them at Derivan, who surrounded his fist with chakra and began batting the fragments away. Ray seized the moment and instantly appeared in front of his friend, striking Derivan in the face and sending him flying a considerable distance.
"You're stronger than I thought," Derivan admitted.
"So are you if it's really you fighting right now," Ray replied, surprising him.
Derivan clenched his fists and attacked again, but Ray effortlessly dodged his blows. At one point Ray blocked an attack by grabbing Derivan's arm and then threw him into the wall of the school corridor. A moment later, Derivan's body dissolved into the air.
"An afterimage technique?" Ray thought, surprised.
Suddenly numerous copies of Derivan appeared all around him.
"I wonder what you'll do now?"
When Ray attacked one of the Derivans, it turned out to be another afterimage. A moment later, he took a quick hit from the real one.
"Attacking blindly won't work. I have to eliminate all of them with a single attack," Ray thought, forming an energy sphere in his hand. "Koronippo!" He hurled the sphere upward.
Moments later, beams of energy shot out of it, striking and destroying all of Derivan's afterimages.
Damn it."
Ray charged at Derivan, who did the same. They began exchanging blows. Ray struck his friend in the face; Derivan retaliated with a punch to the stomach. Ray drove his knee into Derivan's chin; Derivan answered with a headbutt. After a brief exchange, the two friends jumped back from each other.
"Let it go, Derivan. This makes no sense.'
"You're right. That's why give me that crystal."
"I already told you I can't do that."
Ray fired an energy projectile. Derivan smiled and dodged by leaping to the side. Ray anticipated it and rushed in, driving his foot into Derivan's stomach and sending him crashing through a window.
Derivan threw one of his last pellets; when it landed beside Ray, it exploded, creating a smoke screen. Then, closing his eyes, Derivan jumped into the smoke and began striking his friend. After taking several hits, Ray was forced to leap out of the smoke.
"You really don't know when to quit. I didn't want to use this attack against you, but you leave me no other choice," Ray said as he surrounded his fist with chakra, enlarging it.
In response, Derivan formed a lightning sphere in his hand, and both friends charged at each other. Just as they were about to collide, the principal appeared, grabbed both teenagers by the arms, and flung them apart.
"Principal," Ray was the first to react.
"What is the meaning of this? the principal asked in a stern tone.