Xander vs. Eirlys

Chatter~ Chatter~

The battle stadium was full of noises as the students were chatting while waiting for the duel that was made just yesterday. There were not that many students but since the battle stadium was smaller than an ordinary stadium, it looked not so spacious right now.

This small stadium was just made for the students. There was no rule in the Waltridge Academy that prohibited its students to fight as long as it's in the battle stadium and be announced beforehand. The school provided this battle stadium for the students to have a fair fight that would be witnessed by the other students.

The sun was almost at the center of the sky already but the two figures that everyone was looking forward to see had not arrived yet.

***

Yesterday, when Eirlys bumped into her roommates as she entered the main building of the school...

"Iris!" Vanessa immediately ran to Eirlys as she saw her walking to their direction.

The two asked Eirlys about everything that happened while Kracie was just listening to their conversation. They were also heading to their class.

"Iris, are you sure about this? We can help you if you want to back out. And also we have Kracie here, that bastard can't lay a single finger on you as long as she's here... and yeah, Chloe and I will also stay by your side," Vanessa worriedly said to Eirlys after knowing the whole thing.

"No, I'll fight with him tomorrow and please don't worry about me," Eirlys stubbornly replied as she shook her head.

"You really are a troublemaker, aren't you?" Chloe on the other side couldn't help but sigh.

They were roommates, and they also treated themselves as already friends, so it's only natural for them to be worried about each other's matters. After all, having friends in an academy like this is rather difficult since competitions could be seen everywhere. That's why they were determined to be friends since they enjoyed each other's presence.

"Just let her do what she wants," Kracie suddenly blurted out.

"What do you mean by that, Kracie?" Vanessa gazed at Kracie with full of doubts.

"It's not yet clear of who's gonna win tomorrow's match. And also, I want to know Eirlys' strength," Kracie said casually.

After hearing this, Eirlys couldn't help but smile as she shook her head once again, "Heh, you're rather straightforward."

"I'm just curious about your strength. Also, if I were given a chance, I'd rather talk to you using fists. After all, I could better understand a person when having a battle with him than talking with him."

Vanessa and Chloe were stunned after hearing those words. Aside from Kracie's unique 'socializing skill', this is also the first time that they heard her talk this much!

"Haha, why do I feel like we're somewhat similar," Eirlys didn't have the same reaction with Vanessa and Chloe at all, instead, she just laughed because she really found it amusing.

***

"Look! It's Xander!" one of the students sitting on the spectator seat shouted.

"Right! I hope that young lady Iris would also come. She didn't back out, right?"

"Yeah, there's no news of her backing out in this match."

"Ah, I saw the commotion yesterday. Too bad, she's going to fight Xander. She's quite pretty, y'know!"

"Haha, look at you, really a womanizer one!"

While everyone was busy chatting with their friends, a blonde-haired figure in a black dress could be seen making its way to the platform.

"Hey! It's that Iris lady!"

"Woah, she really showed up!"

"Ah, she really is beautiful. That black dress suits her a lot!"

Cheering noises could be heard as they saw Eirlys walking to the side of the platform. On the other side, Xander was already standing there facing Eirlys.

"I guess we should invite the young master in red robe yesterday to be our judge," Xander said as he faced Eirlys not far from him.

"Mn, I'm also thinking of the same thing." Eirlys nodded her head as an agreement.

Not long after, a voice which was not that loud nor low could be heard.

"Since you want me to, then I'll gladly be your judge for this match."

A young man in fiery red clothes walked towards the center of the platform.

"Right! That guy was the one who recommended Xander and Eirlys to have a fair match."

"Really? He looks like a scholar though. Look at his thin body. Although most mages don't have a robust body, at least it's not that skinny. And he's a guy on top of that!"

"Hey, you can't just judge a book by its cover. Ah! Goodness, look at his handsome face! It looks so soft! Must be someone from a high-class family."

"Eh? Aren't you also judging him by his looks?"

"Uh.. that's not what I meant..."

The girls in the stadium were also making noises as they saw the young man in red clothes at the center of the platform. Xander's face twitched after hearing them.

"Should we start now?" Xander asked with impatience.

"Wait a minute, I invited someone to be the other judge. He's not here yet," the man in red clothes answered as he looked upwards.

After a while, he added, "He finally arrived."

A person could be seen descending from above. He wore a uniform that the Waltridge Academy's instructors used everytime they were in class.

"An instructor? To think that he can actually invite an instructor for this match. He must be not simple."

"I agree. I also discovered that he was only admitted here a few days ago. No wonder he's not that known yet."

Different views and guesses were voiced out within the stadium but the young man in red clothes didn't pay any heed to them. He bowed towards the instructor as he put his right fist on his chest as a salutation. "Good day, instructor Darren."

"My my, I made you wait, Austin," the instructor waved his hand.

"No harm, instructor. We should start now, shall we?" the young man in red clothes whose name was Austin suggested.

"Alright."

Instructor Darren sat down on a chair that was prepared for him not long ago then he nodded his head towards Austin.

Seeing this, Austin cleared his throat and said, "Today's duel will be fought between a second-year student, Xander Dawson and a first-year student, Iris Clinton!"

Austin looked at Eirlys and Xander then added, "This is just a friendly match so I hope that both sides know your limits. Since everything's prepared, we shall now officially let the battle begin!"

Clamour~~

Loud shouts could be heard within the hall.

Xander took the initiative to attack first. Since he thought that he had a great advantage as a senior, it would be best if he ends the match quickly to save his reputation.

Basketball-sized fireballs were thrown towards Eirlys from Xander's hands. Xander didn't know what were the elements that Eirlys possessed so he didn't dare get close to her.

Eirlys on the other side controlled the wind element as it covered the water then blocked every single fireball that was thrown to her. She also materialized the lightning essence and formed it into tens of swords behind her which were so majestic. She looked as if she was a goddess of war.

Everyone gasped in amazement as they looked at Eirlys direction. A dual-element mage! And it's lightning and wind elements on top of that! They didn't know that there's water mixed on wind element as it vanished together with the fire.

Xander was stunned for a moment but he immediately regained his senses. He stopped attacking using fireballs and moved his body agilely as he dodged the lightning swords that were thrown to him.

As he continued dodging for a while, he chanted words once again and the huge fire appeared as it encircled around him. He didn't continue dodging anymore as the swords made of lightning were completely blocked by the fire.

Eirlys also didn't continue firing sword-shaped lightnings and just stood there without moving while the wind was still twirling around her.

From a certain spot of the stadium, the roommates of Eirlys could be seen as they also watched the match on the platform. No one knew of what were the three thinking at that moment as they were only silently watching without blinking their eyes.

From another side of the stadium, a man on his twenties was standing there as he watched the fight. Nobody realized about his existence at all.

"Three elements and all are exceptional levels, huh. She even tried to conceal the third element. Heh, no wonder that old man insisted me to meddle these two brat's matters yesterday," Austin murmured. He was just carefully watching not that far from the platform.

Xander was still surrounded with fire. He took a deep breath and said, "Seems like I underestimated you."

"That can't be helped since you haven't seen me fight with someone 'til now."

What Eirlys said was the truth. It's only natural for them to look down on her since she had just joined the academy recently. It was already beyond their expectations that she already knew some incantations when she had just turned 13.

Generally speaking, one can only start to take the path of magical cultivation once he turns that certain age because that would be the time when a person's body will be rebirthed. His body would be able to restore external energies from nature from then on.

In Eirlys case, she had learned the two spells after working so hard within 3 weeks, right after her birthday. Added to her comprehension skills, she at least learned the two spells that she had used earlier. She hadn't fully mastered it though, that's why a mage master could clearly see some flaws in her attacks.

Xander also had thought that when it came to numbers of magic spells and mastery, he indeed had an advantage for learning things over a year already.

Xander finally started attacking once again. The temperature within the stadium rose up as the fire surrounding him became bigger and bigger.

Instructor Darren also stood up and formed a barrier surrounding the platform. Finally, the students who were watching the battle felt that the unpleasant atmosphere gradually disappeared.

Eirlys didn't dare to just watch the situation, she made the wind to move around her with water concealed within it.

She originally thought of using the dark element as it would greatly help her in decreasing the temperature. But she immediately discarded this thought as she knew that it would be difficult to hide the dark element when she's fighting.

As she was immersed in changing the temperature surrounding her, suddenly, a huge fireball appeared hanging above Xander as his hand was raised up as if he was holding the huge ball.

"I'll give you a chance. Concede and admit your mistakes," Xander's powerful voice sounded within the stadium.

The students around didn't have that much reaction as if they had already anticipated this to happen. Vanessa, on the other hand, was having a cold sweat as she watched the scene on the platform.

"That bastard! This is just a friendly match! If that red ball hit Iris, she would be gravely injured!"

"Kracie, what do you think? Should we interfere?" Chloe was still calm outside but her heart was already beating abnormally in her chest.

"Interfere or not, we still could not stop that huge fireball," Kracie said as she looked deeply at Eirlys' side as if she was contemplating things. She also added, "All we have to do is wait."

Eirlys looked at Xander who was smiling evilly at her. She didn't think that the pressure was just used to take her attention away from Xander who was secretly casting a spell earlier. She actually made such a mistake.

Since she couldn't just run to avoid the huge fireball, she came up with a plan and inhaled deeply.

The spectators couldn't help but shake their heads as they thought that Eirlys would admit her defeat, however...

Suddenly, Eirlys waved her right hand as she took out the dark-blue sword from her storage ring.

"A sword?"

"What is she gonna do with that?"

Chatter~ Chatter~

Everyone was surprised by the sudden action of Eirlys. Their eyes were full of doubts.

Then all of a sudden, the figure of Eirlys could not be found any more in her original position earlier.

The huge ball that was hanging above Xander earlier was already thrown off as it moved down towards the floor.

Boom!

The platform blasted and everyone could not see anything within the barrier.

"Instructor Darren.."

Someone was just about to say something to the instructor but Darren waved his hand to him and said, "Don't worry, everything's fine inside. You just have to wait and see the results for this match."

"What?"

Everyone's head turned once again towards the direction of the platform. After a while, the smoke was slowly disappearing and they could see two silhouettes inside.

"What??!!"

They saw the figure of Eirlys who was standing as the sword in her hand was pointing to the young man's neck who was currently half-kneeling on the ground as he supported his body from falling using his bare hands.

As he was grasping his breath, he slowly said. "Thank you...for earlier. I admit.. defeat."

Hearing this, the whole stadium became quiet. After a while, as if the scene in front of them finally processed within their minds, loud cheers resounded in the stadium. There were even some who continuously shouted Eirlys' name 'Iris' as they cheer for her.

Although the stadium was so lively because of it, there were still some who couldn't believe their eyes.

"Just.. what happened earlier?"

"I also don't know. I just saw the wind surrounding Iris disappeared with her from her original position then suddenly the huge fireball was thrown without any target at all."

"Then that means.. it's teleportation?! Could it be that she's a space elemental mage?!"

"That's impossible. I took the examination just recently and I can't remember anyone who has space elemental essence affinity."

The students who were full of uncertainties in their minds couldn't help but ask different questions.

Everyone stopped shouting when a powerful cough suddenly rang out.

"Austin, you can announce the result now." Instructor Darren said to Austin who was making his way to the center of the 'broken' platform.

"For today's match between Xander Dawson and Iris Clinton, young lady Iris has won!"

Clamour~~

Cheering noises could be heard once again.

In the platform, Xander could be seen bowing his head to Eirlys.

"Young lady Iris, it was I who was at fault since the very beginning. I hope that young lady Iris would forget the bad times." Xander apologetically said to Eirlys.

"No worries. As long as you won't bother me again, then everything will be fine." Eirlys casually replied. She also added, "Ah right. It would be best if you don't use such powerful spell if it's not necessary."

Hearing this, Xander's eyes lit up and said, "Yes! Young lady's words, I will take it to my heart. Thank you."

"Alright then."

As she turned around, she saw her roommates who were running towards her.

"That nearly scared me to death, you know that?!" Vanessa immediately blurted out as she arrived in front of Eirlys.

Her pace was surprisingly faster than the last time. Probably because she had learned her lesson. If they were just faster enough yesterday, then everything that happened today shouldn't have added to history.

"Good thing you're fine," Chloe sighed.

Eirlys smiled faintly as she nodded at Chloe.

The three then looked at Kracie who was just silently looking directly at Eirlys' eyes.

Not long after, she said, "Explanation."

Eirlys chuckled after hearing this. "Alright, I'll explain when we get back."

The four then headed back to the school's main building leaving behind everyone who was staring at their silhouettes with eyes full of questions.