Shivan's Duel

"How would you fare if you were hit with that attack?"

Ryan asked his teammates after seeing what had occurred to Alexia's opponent. He felt like he almost witnessed a murder.

"The reason the technique was so effective was because Cameron didn't realise Alexia's mana had entered his body. Had he purged the mana, he would've been fine.

It works best as a surprise attack and now that she's revealed it, it's not going to work anymore. And to answer your question, Ryan I would say I'd be fine. My mana output is far greater than hers, so it'll be easy to regain control over my blood."

Jeanne gave her opinions on Alexia's technique. She has some familiarity with her gift. Well, that was expected, Jeanne was Alexia's cousin after all.

She spoke in a way that didn't hide her evident distaste for her. It seemed to be a family issue, so Ryan didn't want to interfere.

'Master, a technique such as that would not work on you. I would warn you as soon as the foreign mana enters your body.'

Ryan's gift responded to him suddenly when he asked that question. If he told anyone that his gift had talked to him, they'd call him crazy. But his gift was special.

'Cybra, I know. No need to tell me.'

"Why would I care about a weakling like her? She just had a small trick up her sleeve."

Tobias' condensing tone was evident when he spoke. As he looked down at the stadium with his silver eyes, it was obvious he regarded everyone else beneath him.

He didn't consider anyone who wasn't in the top 25 as worth talking to. 

"Lord Gravontide, one of our members were beaten by Alexia."

One of his lackeys standing behind him spoke to him in a tone at almost sounded like he was subservient to him.

"So? He lost because he was weak." Tobias harshly criticised his follower. His lackey clicked his tongue in response.

Ryan didn't think Tobias liked these guys. He suspected the only reason why he kept them around was due to his family's connection. His disdain for them was evident.

But just having his implicit support was enough for them to bully others without fear. Nobody wanted to incur the wrath of the Granvontide family.

Ryan couldn't count the number of times he had to interfere with them to stop their shenanigans. He had spoken to Tobias about it multiple times but he doesn't care.

Also, Ryan got the feeling Tobias hated him for taking the rank one spot. And with his lack of care for his fellow students, Ryan found his personality to be distasteful.

Ryan regretted teaming up with Tobias in the first place and wished he could change. Though most of their group only teamed up because they were all high-rankers. They didn't care for each other at all.

"Um... I thought the match was really impressive. The way Alexia moved her body was impressive. And if I got hit by that attack, I think I might be able to deal with it."

Fiona who sitting next to Jeanne spoke up in a timid voice. Despite her quiet personality, her skills were real. In the team, she was the only one who tried to communicate with everyone, hoping they would get along.

Time quickly passed and soon it was Shivan's turn to fight. When Ryan first met him at the entrance exam, he felt that something was off about him.

Though he was weak for a gift user, something about Shivan had been nagging him.

'Master, there has been nothing about Shivan that stands out. His abilities are bad for his age, and there is nothing impressive about him. You should not keep thinking about him if you want to get stronger.'

'Always the logical one Cybra? I guess you're right. I shouldn't focus on him.'

Even though Ryan said that he still paid close attention to the match.

***

Alexia's fight caused quite a shock throughout the stadium. For a second, Shivan thought she was going to kill him.

Chloe was exasperated during the entire situation while Arlo looked on with shock.

After the match, Alexia was unbothered by the situation and she chatted with us as if nothing happened. Chloe and Shivan acted normally while Arlo hung back due to his fear.

Soon it was Shivan's turn to go up to the stadium. By the time he walked up, his opponent was already waiting there. 

From what Shivan's senses were told him, was somewhere above 1200 and had no gift. He was an average student, with curly dark brown hair and a medium build. 

Shivan wasn't a big fan of getting beat up, so he would try his best.

In his free time during the week, he practised some mana control and was able to cover his entire body in mana nearly instantly without any holes. It was a massive step up from the entrance exam.

He didn't want to be completely incompetent when it came to mana, especially since he would spend four years at the school. In total, he spent around about 2 hours mastering it.

Shivan also had Alexia teach him how to unarmed combat since he didn't know what weapon to use. She was knowledgeable in many fighting styles so she taught him some stances and moves.

Shivan got in one such stance. It was a basic stance, with one foot in front of the other, shoulder-width apart. One hand was in front of his face with his other hand guarding his body.

His opponent used two small daggers. Based on his stance and his weapon, he was a speed-based fighter.

As soon as the fight started, Shivan's opponent rushed towards him. He swung at him in a wide arc, but Shivan easily blocked it.

With his other hand, the male student tried to stab Shivan in the throat but, he dodged by moving to the right.

With his left hand, Shivan went for a quick jab at his face, but the student stepped back to dodge it. 

But when he stepped back, he was hit by the shockwave Shivan had created while punching. That caused him to stumble a couple of steps.

While the student was dazed, Shivan went for a kick. He was barely able to dodge to the left.

He then went for a wild swing which Shivan dodged by leaning backwards. But during that time, he formed a spell.

"{Wind Edge}"

A blade of wind came from his other dagger. It was moving fast, but with my reaction time, Shivan was able to move out of the way before it could pose a threat.

Shivan rushed forward, ready to strike him. 

Just as he was about to make contact, Shivan's opponent blocked his attack with his daggers, though the shockwave still made contact.

While he was guarding himself, Shivan used his other hand to punch him in the stomach, sending him flying across the area.

From this small confrontation, Shivan determined their physical strengths were about equal, though he held an advantage due to his gift.

As the male student was getting up, Shivan had already arrived at his position.

Shivan launched a flurry of attacks. Each time his opponent dodged, he was still getting hit by the resulting shockwaves.

Due to the damage he was accumulating, he wasn't able to show his skills and his attacks were sloppy, allowing Shivan to easily defend against them.

In a desperate move, the young man backflipped away from Shivan's attack and threw his two daggers at him. Shivan easily caught them and threw them to the side.

While in midair, the male student formed two spells.

"{Wind Blades}"

His efforts forced Shivan to move backwards. When Shivan's opponent landed, he crouched and dashed forward, picking up daggers Shivan had thrown away along the way.

'That was a mistake on my part. I should've thrown them further away.'

Shivan had no time to regret his actions. As his opponent approached him, he created a shockwave to halt his movements. His opponent leapt over the attack and was ready to attack him with his daggers.

Shivan tried to roll out of the way, but his opponent's blade caught his shoulder, dealing some illusionary damage to him.

While Shivan was down, his adversary had enough time to cast a {Wind Net} over him. As Shivan couldn't dodge out of the way, he put his hands in front of him to guard the attack.

The {Wind Net} left several cuts around Shivan's body and his arms were bleeding. 

While the attack hit, his opponent was preparing a large move. The magic formula was almost complete and Shivan didn't have enough time to interrupt it.

Shivan felt a large amount of mana gathering. His senses warned him if he couldn't dodge this attack and if it hit, he would suffer a lot of pain.

In order to protect himself, Shivan did the first thing that came to his mind. He brought his hands up and gathered a lot of mana in them.

His opponent twisted his body as the wind gathered around him as if bending to his command. Then he spoke the words...

"{Whirlwand Dance}"

And a gust of razor-sharp wind approached Shivan at nearly the speed of sound.

But, at the same moment, Shivan launched his technique.

"Thunderclap"

His voice came out like soft whisper as he slammed his hands together. Yet it echoed across the area. Not even a second later, a powerful shockwave reverberated across the arena as a destructive wave came as a product of his attack.

Shivan tried to control the direction of the shockwaves towards his opponent's attack. 

In the end, he didn't have to worry too much as his attack destroyed his opponent's magic as soon as it collided with it with enough momentum to carry it forward.

With Shivan's technique travelling at a speed faster than sound, his opponent wasn't able to react in time before it hit him across the chest and into the barrier behind him.

He crumpled like a ragdoll as Shivan's victory was declared.

The technique he pulled out of his ass somehow worked. Shivan though his inspiration for the technique came after watching a movie.

With his victory, Shivan returned to the stands with Alexia giving him a head nod along the way. When he returned to his seat, Chloe gave him a thumbs up and Arlo clapped as he congratulated him.