13)Does Dio win Tho?

And she did. She dodged the attack, but at what cost?

The rules of the duel stated that no life-threatening or fatal attacks were to be used, and that was something that was followed even until that moment. It didn't cost her any body part, but the battle cry or the roar was rather embarrassing.

"Interesting," Dio looked at his hand and realized it had not struck her. "Very interesting," he said in a nonchalant tone, once again, he had no sense of worry, there was no need for him to be. He had the clear and overwhelming advantage in this fight. Matter of fact, based on how the fight had been going, calling it a duel would not be apt, it was more of Hina surviving against him.

"Haaah Haaah," Hina's breathing was visibly heavier, and there was no one who doubted or questioned it. She barely survived that attack, and even then, she had to put everything on the line to do so.

A loss didn't mean disqualification, the entire point of having each applicant duel five times is so that they could express their magical arts as they saw fit. It was somewhat of an unwritten saying that anyone who won all five battles would automatically be accepted into Hexora. However, that wasn't the main reason everyone strived to win all of them.

The majority of the applicants there were somewhere around the age of 12 to 13, and kids or individuals of that age are extremely susceptible to less important thoughts, such as fame and popularity. To be one of the individuals who won all five battles would obviously play a huge role in gaining popularity.

More than that, it would also put them right under the radar of the professors, giving them more opportunities to get stronger and better. It was a direct win for an applicant in every way. Of course, this didn't mean that there could be only a single applicant who wins five battles, it all depended upon the match selections, which were naturally randomized.

'Why is this getting to me so easily….?' she pondered as she desperately tried to calm down her breathing, she looked at Dio who casually stood there looking at his own hand. He grasped it after a few more seconds and turned towards her, gazing deep into her eyes.

"How did you escape that? Moreover, how is it that you've managed to get that far away from me?" Dio asked as he thought about the possibilities at the same time.

"Haaah..why would I tell…..you that? Just shut up and fight!" Hina retaliated as she threw two wind slashes towards Dio, the latter simply swiped his hand completely turning the slices into nothingness.

'That barely had any mana, so she's either really weak at the moment, or it's a diversion,'

Of course, his predictions were on point, it was a diversion, she moved around the stage quickly, and reached exactly behind him. She had to save her mana, at least that was what she planned to do at that point.

"Close combat huh? I think I can manage for a few seconds," Dio said as he raised his hand up to block her kick, a wave of energy spread all across the stage. "Tchh.." He slightly groaned under his breath, that strike had a lot more power than he had expected, enough to leave a bruise.

She gave him no time to react or cast any spells, of course, he did try to sneak in a few elemental bursts here and there, but Hina was easily able to dodge them, she was showing the martial art skill of a swordsman, which was concerning considering she was extremely talented in magic. It wasn't concerning because it was bad, it was just that, the combination made her perfect for being a magic swordsman, but for some reason, she refused to use a weapon.

'Fuck this is annoying. I didn't want to do this, but I don't think I can keep up with her for any longer,' Dio thought to himself as he moved his head to the side, and the next moment Hina's fist pierced the air where his head was a second ago.

'This is going to be risky but…'

A strike to the stomach, it was now Dio's time to see everything in slow motion, he could see her fist coming straight for his gut, but that was the gamble. Whether or not he would be able to counter it in time.

"Anemo current," he whispered under his breath, but he didn't stop there, "laurel wreath," the consecutive usage of such spells naturally drained him of a large chunk of his mana, but at the moment he couldn't really think of anything else.

Anemo current was a skill that worked much like laurel wreath, except it was made up of heavy wind strips that constantly circulated around her, making it hard to break free from it. However, the reason he used laurel wreath was because of its nature. The more movement it detected the stricter it got.

Paired with anemo current, which constantly used the movement of air, the wreath would grow tighter with every passing second. The combination of spells worked perfectly, unfortunately, it wasn't before her fist connected.

What Dio hadn't foreseen was that that punch had nearly every ounce of her power, more than that it was heavily infused with wind magic. It had enough mana to send any of the applicants there flying back, perhaps even capable of injuring them fatally.

Every frame, every second, her fist got closer, the sound of his heartbeat as his eyes slowly followed her fist, both his hands and his legs were nowhere close enough to react to it. More than that, the spells he had just used rendered him unable to move at that second.

The others in the crowd, the professors or the instructors included, were quite literally on the edge of their seats, their attention was caught, and it was to the point where they had forgotten to swallow or blink.

Would the punch be enough? Or would his spells reach their maximum potential at the nick of time? Find out on the next episode of Dra- Recovering Oblivion…..