CHAPTER 69

As both fists collided, a powerful burst of wind was released in the vicinity. You could hear the destruction of the mirrors and the windows of the houses near them. With anger in Laxus' eyes and Elfman having an extreme focus, both combatants engage in close-quarter combat. Each giving out powerful kicks and punches. Both of them were brawlers. They care not for defense but only offense.

Elfman knew that Laxus enhanced with his lighting is a fast opponent to fight. That was the reason why he used weretiger take-over rather than his other physically stronger take-over beast. What is brute strength if you can't hit your opponent? With weretiger, Elfman at least could even the battle in one aspect with Laxus.

Laxus tried to deliver a punch to Elfman's face but the younger man was able to slightly move his head to dodge Laxus' attack. Before Laxus could pull his arm back, Elfman wraps his tail around his wrist and gave it a strong pull. Laxus was shocked when he suddenly found himself extremely close to his opponent. Not letting the opening go to waste, Elfman clenches his fist and delivered a powerful punch in his opponent's stomach.

The attack made Laxus bend his back due to pain and subconsciously released saliva out of his mouth. Elfman then followed it up by delivering a powerful knee to his face. The attack resulted in Laxus being defenseless, something Elfman was keen to exploit. The take-over mage immediately took this opportunity to barrage Laxus with countless punches.

Elfman had a clear advantage in fighting style. This was mostly because of the Rokushiki Style that Enzo had taught him. But Laxus had a clear advantage in magical capacity. In fact, Laxus definitely outclass Elfman's magical reserves and Elfman knows this.

FLASHBACK:

A black and blue Elfman could be seen lying on the ground. He was sweating and panting heavily. Not far from him was Enzo wearing a sleeveless shirt and blue jeans. While Elfman clearly looks tired, Enzo looks like someone who was just beginning to warm up. A while ago, both men began to seriously fight each other. Elfman gave everything he got but Enzo was just too powerful and too skilled for him. Elfman could do nothing but lose the fight.

"Tell me why you lost?", Enzo asked his student.

"...You were more powerful than me", Elfman replied as he tried to stand up but he soon realized that his body was too tired. He decided that may be laying on the ground wasn't such a bad idea.

Enzo sighed and said, "Aside from the obvious. You allowed me to dictate the flow of battle. You only became reactive to my attacks, never once trying to take control. That is one of the reasons why you lost".

"You are stronger than me. I wanted to find an opening and used it to defeat you"

"And that was your first mistake. I thought you the Rokushiki style and I am someone who has used it for years. Do you actually believe that you would be able to see an opening in my attacks?

"...."

"Look, when fighting someone stronger than you, you need to use your brain. You need to figure out what aspect of his/her ability is the weakest, what fighting style would your opponent likely use in combat, you know stuff like that. And once you figure that out, exploit it"

"...I don't get it...", Elfman said.

"Let's use your sister, Mira as an example. She and Erza are both S-rank mages with S-rank magical reserves but Erza won when they fought in the past. Do you know why?"

"...."

"Mira is a burst type of a mage. She uses a huge majority of her magical reserves too early in the fight. Something Erza knows and is able to tank her attacks due to her armor. Once Mira runs out of juice, Erza counters which caused the battle to be in her favor. After a few exchanges, Erza inevitably wins"

"So that's the reason why my sister lost during the first time she took the S-rank promotional exam?"

"Yes, but let's put Erza and Mira's fight aside. When fighting someone stronger, you need to figure out which of their abilities is lacking. I'll give you another example. If someone is born with a huge amount of magical reserves, chances are that individual would usually just spam his/her spell to win. This could probably mean that the said individual is lacking in hand-to-hand combat experience. All in all, you need to at least figure out one aspect of that person's weakness and maybe, just maybe you can clutch a win".

"I'll keep that in mind", Elfman said.

BACK TO PRESENT:

Laxus is someone who is known for his superior magical reserves. This was believed to be the cause of him being the grandson of Master Makarov, who is a wizard saint. Basically, Laxus won the genetic lottery. Because of his magic, Elfman knows that Laxus could beat him if he was able to use his more powerful spells. This was something that Elfman could not allow him to do.

After being at the receiving end of all of Elfman's attack, Laxus became pissed, "Your gonna pay for that!". Laxus release a huge amount of electricity and surrounded himself with it. Laxus plans to explode his lighting magic in his surroundings to secure some distance from Elfman.

Elfman didn't want this to happen, his only chance of victory is fighting in close quarters. Once Laxus gets the distance he needs, Elfman knows that his chance of victory will start to dwindle. So Elfman immediately adjusted his footing and with a close fist, he stretches both of his arms in front of him.

"Rokuogan!"

"Lighting Dragon bombardment!"

An explosion of pure lighting clashes against the shockwave of Elfman's martial arts. Both attacks were equally strong that the naive people still watching the fight had a change of heart.

Except for one kid, every single person decided to leave.

Elfman wanted his shockwave to win, but it was pointless. Laxus increased the amount of magic he used in his spell that his lighting explosion neutralized Elfman's attack.

"AH!", Elfman could only scream as a huge amount of lighting began to surround him. Realizing that this was an opening to fight back, Laxus made some distance and once again got himself ready to cast a powerful attack. The clouds began to darken and the roaring of lighting could be heard in the sky.

Laxus raises his clenched fist in the air and chants "Resounding through the air, the roar of thunder, plunge from the heavens and reap destruction!."

With a mad look in his eyes, "RAGING BOLT!"

A large bolt of lighting immediately appeared and landing directly at Elfman. All he could do was to used 'Tekkai', and hope that he was powerful enough to tank such an attack.