CHAPTER 56: Challenge[2]

Time passed slowly as Levi and Eliza waited for the other to make the first move. Moving around in circles, they sought gaps in each other's defenses. Eliza observed Levi and knew he was stronger a lot than the past.

Levi's stance, posture, and strength were picture-perfect. As he activated his Hunter eyes, Eliza noticed his pupils dilate like a snake's. The scar on his left side made him appear like a veteran archer, someone who had never missed a shot.

After five minutes of observing each other, Levi made the first move.

He fired an arrow straight at Eliza's head, and she ducked just before it reached her. The arrow was incredibly fast, and, to her surprise, it bent down and moved straight at her.

'Lion's Flame.'

Eliza summoned a fireball on top of her head, burning the arrow to ashes before it could reach her. Though the change in movement lessened the arrow's power, it would still hit her.

'Strong.' Just by that single shot, Eliza could tell Levi wasn't a mere commoner. Before she could adjust, Levi took another shot.

'Haste.'

Eliza's agility increased twofold, and this time, Levi didn't have a chance to bend his arrows. In five steps, she was in front of Levi, ready to end the match in a single move.

"Inferno Dance: Ember Twirl."

Eliza's body spun, creating embers around her sword and her body. The lion's flame acted as an ignition, lighting the whole ember, creating a tornado of fire that enclosed Levi. Using the tip of his arrow, Levi momentarily blocked the sword and pushed himself out of the tornado.

He felt a bit of his skin charring, and the smell of burning clothes wafted in the air. Fiona was impressed by how Levi could adapt to any situation using anything in his inventory.

'My body can't keep up.'

Levi's eyes could see her movement, but his body couldn't keep up with it. [Essence] gradually increased his agility, but he still had to be careful not to get caught in her intricate flames. Just passing through those flames for a second caused him damage.

Levi didn't want to use the central eye because it would make the fight a lot easier for him, and he didn't want Eliza to end up eating dirt. Since Fiona was there too, using the lesser eyes for an explosion wasn't an option. Those creatures, unlike the central eye, didn't have invisibility but were masters of stealth. However, using it in clear light, in front of an S-rank, would get him caught. Levi didn't want to reveal his power to anyone.

Levi again pulled an arrow. This time, he used his other skill, Snipe, to make the attack more powerful. The arrow moved even faster than Eliza could dodge. In a hurry, she parried the attack, but due to the lack of preparation, the arrow refracted right past her neck, making a small cut.

Annoyed, Eliza again used Haste and the same Inferno Dance. Her sword movement was even faster, though Levi now too was gaining more agility from [Essence]. Like the last time, Levi blocked her sword with his arrow but didn't manage to push it back.

A fireball formed in Eliza's other hand and shot right at Levi's ribs. His body staggered, and he fell to his knees. Eliza, seeing her chance, twirled her sword and swung the hilt at Levi's head.

Levi rolled on the ground, his feet getting caught up in the tornado. He immediately stood up, dodging Eliza's sword and punching her in the ribs as well.

'S*it.'

Eliza couldn't help but curse as her body moved out of the tornado, dissipating it. She couldn't land properly, and her body rolled on the ground. Piercing the ground with her sword, she stopped the momentum and stood up.

'How does an archer like him have this amount of strength, and why did he bother hiding his powers?'

Eliza often didn't truly believe when Harper would talk about Levi's archer strength. Before the fight, she did plan not to underestimate him, but she never knew he had such a powerful punch.

'If he had punched me in the liver, I wouldn't be standing anymore.'

Fighting in such a closed area with an archer should have given a close combatant like her the upper hand, but for some reason after the punch, her legs refused to take further steps.

A hue of gold string moved around Levi's body, healing his burns and his ribs. Unlike Eliza, he had a mechanism for self-healing, but it would take up a lot of his mana. Eliza, knowing this, attacked again, but Levi dodged it easily without getting trapped in the fire tornado again.

'Eliza is far stronger than Levi, but his strength always seems to increase the more he fights.' Fiona carefully observed each of their movements. Every muscle movement, every step, and each breath mattered, and right now, the tide was on Levi's side.

Like him, Eliza too was running out of mana. Though she had a much larger mana capacity, the lion's flame took too much mana. Since using potions wasn't allowed, Eliza now had to be careful. Her original plan was to overwhelm Levi with fire, but he easily wove through it.

Levi pulled an arrow. Once the arrow left the string, he ran towards Eliza. Ignoring the tingling sensation in her ribs, the embers of flames burnt down the arrows as her sword moved to cut Levi's right hand moving towards her stomach.

She felt something grab onto her left leg, and before she could react, it got pulled, breaking her stance. Levi's punch moved towards her chin, and it made a critical impact.

Fiona observing the fight saw a string twirling on Eliza's leg connected to Levi's hand. Eliza was so focused on the arrow that she didn't notice Levi using the silk to tie her legs.

'He conjured a mana string in such a short time without Eliza knowing; Professor Ryan must have taught him. But where had I seen such a mana string before?'

It would be best for Levi if Fiona didn't know.

*Thump.*

The sound of the punch connecting echoed in the arena. If Eliza hadn't used mana enforcement, her chin would have broken. Still, her vision became blurry as she lost strength in her body momentarily.

'That is your own karma.'

The memory of that incident flashed into her mind as it reignited the flames of hate she had for Levi. Before Levi could land another hit, she moved her left hand and grabbed Levi's punch and moved her shoulder barely, to his legs.

Though it wasn't enough, using the sole of his shoes, Levi kicked the weak sword attack and twirled his body, moving his feet right at Eliza's chin again.

*Thump.*

It was a clean hit again, and this time, she didn't have the strength to get up, as her pupils went above her eye. Her body limped on the ground.

Fiona quickly approached Eliza, checking her. Except for a chin swollen as if a nest of bees had bitten her, everything was fine. She would gain consciousness in about two minutes.

She looked at Levi, who still coldly looked at Eliza without any empathy for her. It was a duel, but still, she wished both didn't hate each other this much.

The other main headache for her was that Levi, ranked 1000, beat the top three in the first years, and it was a clean victory.

'What will happen if the academy knows about this?'

Thinking about it gave Fiona severe pain in her head.

"Professor, can you give us some time? I need to sort some things out with her."

Levi's request did seem odd to Irene, but Levi took advantage of a sleeping Eliza.

"Promise me to tell me about this in detail."

Levi nodded, and Fiona walked out of the arena, waiting for them at the lobby. However, she still couldn't help but worry about the fates of her two students.

'This kid... really knows how to trouble me a lot.'

******

'I can't… how… why and when did I become so weak?'

Eliza wondered how she managed to lose again, and this time to someone who ranked 997 places lower than her. If she said this to anyone, nobody would believe her because it seemed impossible.

She slowly sat up, holding her chin.

'How hard did he hit me?'

She properly grasped her chin and realized it was as big as a tennis ball. Looking at her right was the artist of the injury. He turned towards her, and she turned away from him.

Shameful. After all those talks and disputes, Eliza got the short end of the stick. Even after gaining the upper hand, she didn't have the patience or mindset to execute her plan. She knew she lost and deserved it, but nobody likes the bitter taste in their mouth.

"This is the first time both of us are sitting like this without arguing with each other."

Levi broke the ice first, and what he said was true. Every time they met, both were bickering, mainly Eliza. She would often throw a mean look at him without any hesitation.

Eliza didn't answer, nor did she face Levi.

"Tell me, why do you hate me so much?" Levi asked. As part of the deal, she had to answer his questions. Levi would finally get the answer he awaited for this long.

Levi waited for Eliza, who clenched her fist so deeply her palms were bleeding.

"You don't remember? How can you forget what you did? Or was it so trivial that you didn't even bother remembering it?" Her voice laced with sorrow and anger.

"I remember it, but still hearing it from your mouth will certify it for me."

Heck no, he didn't even know any sort of reason. Levi did have many theories in his head.

'Maybe both were childhood friends and Levi did something unimaginable? Did the precious Levi steal something from her?' Many theories but only one way to prove it, and that was Eliza.

"That… day."

Eliza's voice now barely left her throat, creaking like a door. Not many words, but just her shaky voice was enough to tell how hard it was for her to say it.

"Even if I tell you what you did, keep in mind, I won't ever forgive you for what you said that day."