At the sound of his words, I was imdiately overwheld with an intense desire to run.
A blinding red aura burst from Baron’s body, way brighter than it was during the first spell. His bulging muscles grew even larger, and the weight of his body cracked the earth beneath his feet.
"Yes!" he scread as raw power surged through his veins.
His skin began to glow with a bright red hue of a glowing ember, and his pores began to ooze a thick red smoke.
"Unbelievable!" Sasha scread. "Baron is getting bigger! He’s going to destroy his opponent!"
The entire display was thrilling to the audience. But unlike them, I already knew how this was going to end.
So I smiled and began to count.
When his enhancent spell was complete, Baron turned to , his eyes glowing with fury.
"Stormborn!" he yelled, making a mad dash toward .
Despite his incredibly large size, his speed was faster than I anticipated. Within seconds, he covered the distance between us.
Then, he drew his arm back and launched a right hook at .
"Nine... Ten..." I whispered. "Ga over."
Baron was suddenly frozen in place.
"What... What’s this?" He panicked, eyes darting in multiple directions.
He soon regained his motion, but his movents beca haphazard, like he was disoriented. He staggered back a few feet, dazed and confused.
"It hurts, doesn’t it?" I teased.
His bloodshot eyes glared at . Eyes filled with shock and terror.
"What... What did you do?" He scread.
"I didn’t have to do anything, Baron. You did it yourself. You played right into my hands."
I limped towards him, clutching at my chest.
"Body Affinity spells enhance your body beyond its peak, but it was a form of magic designed to be used only in short, controlled bursts. All I had to do was drag on this fight as long as I could. And now, you’re facing the effects of its overuse."
Baron grimaced, his body writhing in pain. All the colour disappeared from his face, and the red glow on his skin faded. His large muscles quickly shriveled up, revealing a lean, slim build.
"And this is the part where you fall."
Letting out one final yell, Baron collapsed to his knees. Soon afterward, his body fell face-first into the dirt.
I staggered toward him, my limbs barely obeying. Then, I got to his body and gave his shoulder a light kick to ensure he was still breathing.
He was.
The entire arena remained dead silent. Even Sasha seed at a loss for words.
"Uhhhh..." Her voice broke through the silence. "Baron has collapsed to the ground. Rin wins the first round, I think..."
No one cheered.
Instead, the arena erupted in a different kind of noise... Confusion.
Then, loud murmurs rippled through the crowd.
"What just happened?"
"Was that even magic?"
"Baron just.. fell."
"Did Rin cheat?"
"He had to."
"How can soone win without casting a spell?"
"He’s a fraud."
I looked up at the audience, and a thousand eyes stared back at . Eyes filled with disappointnt and mistrust.
I had won this fight... but no one looked at like a victor.
I glanced over to the nobles’ gallery. King Victus of Brannersport frowned at with undisguised contempt, like I had committed so sort of cri against his family.
I shifted my gaze to the tutors’ section, hoping to see differently. But a mild debate was brewing instead.
A small group of tutors had gathered together to decide the outco of this match, and I could make out the faces of Professor Long and Professor Varyn. Miss Fumiko was amongst them, perhaps interceding for .
I turned over to the student’s section, and imdiately, I caught Lucy’s gaze, where she was seated at the far rear of the audience.
Her deanor remained incredibly calm, even as the crowd beside her descended into noise.
I searched in her eyes for the relief I needed, but I couldn’t tell whether the look on her face was worry or confusion.
After a while, Sasha’s platform hovered over the tutors’ section, and Professor Varyn handed her a note. She read it briefly, blinked, then hovered back to the centre of the arena.
"The judges have made their verdict," she bead, a bit too cheerfully.
The audience fell still, eager to hear the result.
"The winner of this match is Rin Stormborn!"
Half the audience cheered halfheartedly – the half that didn’t care who I was or what I did, so long as soone won the tournant.
The rest of the audience, simply stared.
"However, there’s a condition..."
Everyone paused to hear the catch. My stomach tightened.
"The judges have ruled that if Rin Stormborn doesn’t cast a spell in his next fight... he will be disqualified from the tournant."
"And expelled from the Imperium Magic Academy!"
*****
Right outside the arena grounds, was a small camp designed for healing and replenishing the participants of the tournant.
After my fight, I limped out of the arena, while Baron was carried out on a stretcher.
At the camp, a short, robust healer examined the damage inflicted on my body, her face twisted with curiosity.
"Fascinating," the healer exclaid. "You have seven broken bones in your body, and your skin shows patches of inside bleeding. You should be unconscious right now. How are you still awake?"
"Good training," I smirked, but I knew it was far from the truth.
Baron’s enhanced fist to my face should have knocked out during the fight, but sothing had kept conscious, kept moving, despite my body wanting to collapse.
Sothing perhaps... Or soone.
"Will he wake up?" I asked, pointing to Baron’s body.
The healer turned to look at the unconscious boy on the bed, then she nodded.
"He should have known the risks in using the Body Affinity spell far longer than his body could handle," she muttered.
If he did, I would have probably lost the fight. I had made a scary gamble, pitting my knowledge vs his strength.
Fortunately, I won.
"If I were you," she continued. "I’d be more focused on surviving my next fight. Your wounds are extensive, and you’ll need to lie down for a while to complete your healing and regain your energy."
She was right, of course. But there was no way I could stay still. Not right now.
At the sound of the next bell, I stood up from my bed and headed back to the arena.
"Co back!" The healer yelled, chasing after . "Your haven’t finished healing."
I would have loved to take a nap, but there was no way I could sleep at this point in the tournant.
The next fight was Lucy’s fight, and I had to know what she intended to do to survive.
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