Chapter 111 Combat [ 4 ]

-Asher Frostblade's point of view.

The third skill taught by Elizabeth was "Shadow Descent", a technique that practically allows you to teleport into the shadow of the person or object Asher is seeing.

Basically, it is a skill that allows you to move through the shadows undetected, moving freely and disappearing from anyone's sight. Its use is simple: just look at the shadow you want to move to.

In addition, it is easy to use and has almost zero mana consumption. However, Asher had only seen it in action once on Elizabeth's side and had never put it into practice or used it in combat. Still, he knew it was an extremely useful ability.

Teleportation through shadows can throw off the enemy, causing Asher's figure to blur. It is a skill considered tricky for those who do not understand it quickly; if they fail to grasp it, they will be defeated easily.

However, Asher realized that Oriana would not go down easily. He changed his expression to confuse her, but that didn't work. She acted normally.

That didn't mean Asher was going to lose. In this fight he would not use any other skills at first; he wanted to test his new technique. Now that he had used it, he would no longer rely on additional skills in this confrontation.

Just as Oriana was about to impact with a blow, all of Asher's mana flowed into every part of his body, causing the veins in his arms to bulge, visible under his skin. At the same time, his muscles tightened and his bones hardened thanks to the mana.

The mana accumulated especially in his fists, abdomen, legs and head, giving him a slight protection in case he received a blow in those areas. The tension in the atmosphere was palpable as Asher flexed his hand, forcing Oriana to change direction.

At that instant, Oriana's fist brushed past Asher's cheek. He ground his teeth, stepped back and swung his arm again, clenching his fist to strike Oriana's shoulder. Though he aimed in that direction, she saw the trajectory and turned her shoulder back a few inches, causing Asher's blow to just graze it.

Oriana looked up at him, ducking as she tried to knock him off balance with a low kick. Asher, anticipating the move, lifted his foot, but it wasn't fast enough; Oriana's leg collided with his, causing him to lose his balance and fall to the right.

Oriana quickly got up and threw her open hand toward Asher's face. In an instant, Asher raised his hand, filled it with mana and deflected Oriana's blow. Quickly, he caught her hand and tried to grab the other.

Plack.

Asher grabbed both of Oriana's hands and pulled her to him, lifting both legs as she fell. At that moment, Asher pushed her abdomen with both legs, sending her backwards. Wasting no time, he picked himself up off the ground and lunged at her.

He jumped, aiming his fist at Oriana's cheek just as she recomposed herself after landing. Seeing Asher approaching, Oriana quickly clenched her hand and grabbed his forearm, bringing her other hand to his abdomen, lifting him up and causing him to land on his back with a firm thrust.

Although it was proving to be a difficult fight for both of them, Oriana never imagined that Asher possessed more strength than usual. However, Asher was also in a tricky situation.

Although neither had a clear advantage, Oriana knew that if Asher used his skills, he would overcome her. But he wasn't using them. At first, this irritated her, believing that he was underestimating her by using only his minimal strength, but then she understood Asher's intentions.

They were on equal footing, although it was still difficult for him to overcome Oriana's agile movements. Therefore, Asher decided not to use his skills. For him, it would be like cheating. But if he didn't, the fight would become a test of physical endurance, where one of the two would end up exhausted.

The real problem was Oriana's stamina. Although Asher had great stamina, it wasn't comparable to hers.

"Haa... Haa... Haa..."

Asher watched the beads of sweat fall to the floor as he kept his gaze fixed on Oriana. So far, he had only managed to brush against her shoulder, and it had been quite difficult. However, he was beginning to understand Oriana's pattern of movements.

"The only way to get an accurate hit is to trick her," he thought.

It was a difficult tactic, but his chances of landing a hit were higher if he surprised her. So far, keeping up had been tricky, and he hadn't yet put all his mana into action.

"I should use all my mana," Asher thought.

Although the chances of winning would increase, the mana depletion would also be quick. Still, he decided it was the only way.

"I guess I'll give it my all," he decided.

At that moment, all his mana flowed into his muscles. Suddenly, he felt lighter and more flexible, like an athlete. The atmosphere changed again; this time, Asher would give it his all.

He stepped back his left foot, adopting a firmer fighting stance. He braced himself and then...

Swhoss.

The air around him stirred as he lunged towards Oriana. His plan was simple: exchange blunt blows and dodge most of Oriana's attacks.

Although Asher wasn't using any combat techniques, just like Oriana, this confrontation was simply an exchange of blows and quick movements, depending only on each other's reflexes.

Oriana observed Asher's figure approaching her in an instant. However, when she saw the blow, she felt that it was much faster than usual. She quickly brought her hand up to catch Asher's fist, but the moment she did so....

Clank.

His whole arm recoiled, taking a few steps back as his back bowed slightly from the momentum. She took a step back to steady herself and prepared to counterattack, but before she could react, Asher moved even faster, appearing at her right side with his fist again aimed at her.

Asher aimed for Oriana's shoulder, but just as she spun to avoid the blow, his fist grazed her shoulder and quickly went to her cheek. Asher's plan to trick her had worked, and he felt the impact of his fist on Oriana's cheek.

The blow made her lean to the left, clearly annoyed. The impact had been much harder than she had expected.

"So, from the start you didn't use your full strength" she muttered with a smile on her face.

Although she felt more relaxed when she realized that Asher hadn't really changed, it irritated her to know that she hadn't used her full power from the start. Despite that, Asher was about to take her down, but Oriana swiveled her hips and launched a kick to Asher's left side.

Clank.

Asher was pushed back, feeling a sharp pain in his side and losing his balance slightly, but not enough to fall.

"Haa..."

Exhaustion was starting to get to him, a sign that his mana was close to running out. Using mana on his entire body at the same time came at a cost, and he was beginning to notice it. The fight had gone on for several minutes, and all the while, the cadets watched in disbelief.

No one had imagined that Asher could keep up in a fight against Oriana. Even though they knew she wasn't using her full strength and was limited to the bare minimum, it was still amazing.

Not even a third-circle mage could easily defeat Oriana, even with her reduced strength. Still, the cadets looked on in amazement at Asher, who kept going despite his exhaustion. His vision was beginning to grow heavy, as was his body. However, his emotions were blocked, completely focused on combat, just like Oriana.

Although she was not exhausted, she found it difficult to fight Asher using only her minimal strength. If it wasn't for the rule of not using her full power, she would have defeated him in an instant.

***

-Scene change. 

-Lucas Wells' point of view.

Throughout the fight, Professor Lucas watched intently. Like the cadets, he was surprised.

Who would have thought Asher would be so good? Although he didn't know Asher in depth, just by observing this confrontation he knew instantly....

"That's amazing," he muttered.

He simply admired Asher's determination. The purpose of this match had been Oriana's idea. Although all the teachers had objected, she had said:

"I will use my minimum strength and adjust it to be twice as strong as this cadet. In any case of danger, I will take full responsibility."

They were sincere words, with no hidden intentions. However, this combat proved that this cadet was not to be underestimated.

Although Oriana had said she would only use twice Asher's strength, the combat changed her perspective. This cadet had improved rapidly in a time Oriana would never have imagined. Although Lucas didn't know exactly what the relationship between Asher and Oriana was, he had a vague idea.

"Master and disciple?"

He was still hesitant, but the idea of them both being master and disciple was beginning to take shape. Oriana's intentions were becoming clearer and clearer: she wanted to see how much her disciple had improved.

A smile appeared on Lucas' face.

"I should have a disciple" he said to himself, but dismissed the thought.

Although the idea seemed attractive to him and he would like to have descendants through his disciples, there was one problem that no one could predict: the future and the impending dimensional rift. The day it opened, it would bring the destruction of the world.

Unless the current mages became more powerful than they were now, perhaps they would have a chance to emerge victorious in the coming war in eight years or more. That day was drawing nearer and nearer, and it filled Luke with uncontrolled thoughts. He felt fear.

A deep fear of seeing all of humanity lose to the monsters. Just the thought of the mere presence of the dragons, described in the ancient texts of the previous dimensional rift, dragons whose mere existence made the strongest wizard of that time tremble, terrified him. Luke could not even imagine what even more terrible monsters would emerge from the next rift.

"Haa..."

Then, his eyes focused on the end of the fight between Asher and Oriana.

"Hehe..."

A small chuckle escaped his lips as he watched Asher collapse to the ground. However, Lucas understood who the real winner was.

Noting the various bruises strewn across Oriana's body as she dusted herself off, Lucas noticed the marks Asher had left behind. There were visible wounds on various parts of Oriana's body. It was then that, without hesitation, his voice rang out:

"The winner is Cadet Asher."

Although Oriana was still standing and did not look exhausted or surrendered, the fact that even she had had difficulty keeping up with Asher in prolonged combat was enough for Luke to make his decision. Oriana, despite her stamina and skills, had been shocked. She wasn't tired, but Asher's blows had left their mark.

After all, she was too resilient to wear herself out quickly, but Asher had demonstrated an amazing ability....