THE KNIGHT TEMPLAR RANKING FIGHT

This was the first time that I would have a proper fight in the Knight Templar academy. We moved to the central arena ground in the academy where students were allowed to compete with each other.

"Who are fighting in the arena today?" someone from the crowd asked.

"I heard it is a newbie who just graduated from class", another added.

"He is not just anybody, the newbie is the Bully of Starri", someone else who knew about it answered them.

"Who is the Bully fighting against?" another asked.

"He is fighting against Iasonias, ranked ninety", someone informed them.

"How can a newbie challenge Iasonias. Iasonias is a graduate for more than ten years and is already a Saturn tiered templar. Even the Bully is not his match", someone speculated.

-----

The arena grounds of the academy were constructed much like those in Tarah city. The arena floated into the air before the battle while those viewing from the floating platforms rose around the arena to get the best view of the fight.

A force field was cast around the magic arena to prevent powerful stray magic from getting out of the arena and hurting the spectators. It also prevented duelers from forfeiting the match by accidentally being thrown out of the arena.

"Baron Oriese vs Iasonias"

"Iasonias- Saturn Tier level 3"

"Baron Oriese- Earth Tier level 9"

"Are you kidding me? The Bully's magic is only Earth tier?" someone from the spectating crowd asked.

"Don't be fooled by his magic. He has a Medicine Affinity. Soon he would drink a potion and become as strong as a Saturn tier", someone who knew about it told the crowd.

Iasonias wasn't anything like the young conjurers that I defeated in the Conjurer Court's Apprentice competition. Even at the same magic tier, the conjurers were no match for Iasonias because he was trained as a Knight.

Conjurers were powerful with their magic arrayes and formations but were relatively weak against combat oriented templars like the Knights.

Knight Templars were trained with magic that augments and enhanced their body turning them into powerful armored warriors. Their training also maximized the use of their magic in close combat skills.

Suddenly, Iasonias was almost in front of me to land a first strike. Iasonias was quick but he was more than that. He had the ability to short teleport, reaching his enemy before they could do much to him.

Against a teleport skill capable knight, most conjurers would have lost the duel immediately. But I wasn't an ordinary conjurer. My magic was also trained towards close combat.

"Sliding Movement"

I slid quickly to the sides just as Iasonias' punch landed into the ground beside me. The ground broke as the tiles on the ground erupted into tiny pieces and splashed around us but the major force from his punch was taken by the ground.

I was relatively unhurt by it.

Previously, I've developed certain movement skills that were inspired by the martial arts of Earth. Infused with magic, my movements were perfect to evade Iasonias' punch.

I was also trained in a special magic movement called the Solomon Moves which helped me to move like the wind, further enhancing my speed.

"How can that be possible? The Bully can move as fast as someone who teleports?" someone from the crowd asked.

I've also learned a teleporting strike move in Shadowmend College in Kalydon- the Stovoro-Stavoron Strike. I combined the skill with the teleporting strike of the Temple of Zavalla. Initially, this skill was influenced by the chaos in my templar sky, but that chaos was tamed.

Now I could teleport from a distant right at the back of the victim of my choosing.

"Bully Back Stab Strike"

"Teleport? I can do that", I replied to the crowd when I suddenly disappeared and reappeared right at the back of Iasonias and punched his back with my sonic exploding punch.

"Drums of Kradesh"

"Argghhhhhh"

Iasonias screamed as he was struck by my powerful punch that caused a reverberating sonic explosion inside his body. But Iasonias was tough.

The sonic explosion didn't stop him.

"You have totally made me angry", Iasonias screamed at me as he burst out a powerful force from his body that threw me away.

Suddenly, a golden light covered the body of Iasonias which quickly sprouted out crystalline shards from his body, covering himself in a shield of armored diamonds.

"What the hell?" I said to myself.

"That is the special magic of Iasonias, the Diamond Body. Nothing breaks the diamond body", someone from the crowd shouted out excitedly.

"Damnit, I can't beat this diamond guy with my sonic punch alone. Should I cast my Lance of Drakul now?", I complained to myself and asked.

"Try cheating a bit", Ratatouille suddenly told me in my mind.

"How do I cheat?" I asked him.

"I don't know, if Sara is here, she will know", he replied to me.

"That is it. I can still win this match without exposing my stronger magic", I replied to him.

"But Sara is not here", Ratatouille said to me.

I quickly put on my earphones and called Asterix who was watching the fight with my newspaper's artists, illustrating my fight in real time.

"Asterix, is there a way to break the diamonds on Iasonias' body?" I asked Asterix on my earphone.

"I'll need to confirm if the diamond on Iasonias is real diamond", Asterix said to me as she quickly scanned Iasonias' body.

"Come try to attack me, I am indestructible", Iasonias screamed at me.

"Gladly", I replied to him as I suddenly appeared behind his back to strike him at the back with a sonic punch.

"Bully's Backstab" "Drums of Kradesh"

"Argghhhhhh"

Iasonias screamed as he was struck on his back again. But despite his screaming, the strike failed to break his diamond armor.

"I told you, it is useless. You cannot break my back", Iasonias told me.

"I need more data", Asterix told me on my earphone suddenly.

"Alright, Iasonias, here we go again", I told Iasonias as I struck his back one more time.

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