'Well, that answers that,' Nox thought to himself as he stood up, letting out a groan.
His arms felt completely numb right now as he had crossed them just in ti to block Calewin's attack.
"I knew this wouldn't be boring," Calewin said as he watched Nox get up.
His attack had been the sa that knocked all his other opponents out, yet, Nox had been fast enough to react to it.
"You can reinforce yourself with SE?" Nox muttered more as an observation than a question.
"Yeah," Calewin nodded, his sleepy deanor slowly fading as a small smile appeared on his face.
Was this fight worth staying awake for? He'd find out in a while.
Nox had finally gotten an answer to his question, it wasn't that he couldn't sense his opponent's SE, well he couldn't...but it was only because Calewin was extrely good at suppressing any bit of SE leak.
It seed he forced all his SE to remain in his core, and only released it when needed, which took a ridiculous amount of control.
The other surprising thing he learnt was that, unlike others, Calewin didn't seem to need a solar tech as he was using his SE to directly reinforce his attacks.
Normally, if this wasn't carefully done, the user would be in a lot of trouble, but it seems Calewin had fully mastered it.
Nox let out a sigh, shook the numbness off his arms and readied himself, the next second, he disappeared, reappearing to Calewin's left with an extended fist.
But the mont Calewin looked, he noticed that it was just an after image, but it was too late.
Nox was already coming from above with a drop kick and there seed to be no way for his opponent to dodge.
"Huh?" Was the only thing Nox could say as he was suddenly flipped horizontally.
He had no idea what just happened, all he saw was Calewin's smiling face as a palm quickly approached his chest.
Fortunately, Nox recovered fast enough to teleport away just in ti to escape the incoming attack.
The entire exchange took less than ten seconds, which wasn't even enough ti for the crowd to react.
All most of them saw was a blur and then, Nox was suddenly back where he was previously standing with a surprised look on his face.
The nobles on the other hand,
"Do you think our estate's knights would be able to react to those attacks?" One of them asked their butlers as they watched the exchange between the two.
"If they're below Radiant rank," the butler started before pausing and looking at the first and third year kids in the arena, "then I highly doubt they would."
"That's what I thought," the noble said with a chuckle.
"Don't be ridiculous," another muttered, "there's no way those two kids would be at Radiant ranks already."
The noble who spoke first looked at the one who just spoke smiled a bit, before shrugging.
He wasn't about to explain himself, after all, the kids had just started, maybe he'd see for himself after a few minutes.
***
Nox looked at Calewin still a bit confused about what just happened, but it seems his opponent had no intention of explaining.
Instead, he had a smile on his face as he looked at Nox.
"You're still holding back," he muttered, "you'll lose pretty fast if you do, so why not fight for real?"
"That wouldn't be ideal," Nox muttered before adding, "but I can't afford to hold back too much, so why not find a middle ground?"
The only give away to his abilities was his light constructs, as long as he didn't use that, or use it in ways he could mask as the work of his solar tech, he should be fine.
Right?
He rolled his shoulders before letting more SE flow through him and Morpho, subtly creating a coating around it before putting them up,
"Let's try this again."
"Of cour—" before Calewin's words could be completed, a fist was already approaching his face.
Calewin's eyes widened in genuine surprise, he barely had ti to tilt his head before the punch slightly grazed past his cheek, the pressure alone ripping through the air and sending his hair whipping sideways.
The impact never landed, but the force behind it was demonstrated when the shockwave slamd into the golden barrier behind them.
Spider web-like cracks started appearing on the surface causing the eyes of so technicians to widen.
That barrier was supposed to hold any attack thrown at it, even by a tier 4 Eclipsed, so what the hell was that kid's attack.
Nox, not realizing that he might've allowed a bit too much to show, followed up his attack with an elbow to the side which Calewin dodged, forcing him to lift a hand and block.
"Well, I guess you really stopped holding back," he muttered with a smile, "then I guess, I should also respond in kind."
With his words, Nox suddenly felt his instincts scream, causing him to teleport back and create distance between them.
But his opponent wasn't letting him back away, as he felt a punch land the mont he reappeared.
The wind was knocked out of his lungs as his feet left the ground and and he was launched back.
But before he could land, Calewin was already upon him again. Fortunately, he was given enough ti to recover and before Calewin's attack could land again, he teleported away.
Nox finally understood what Calewin was doing and it was a lot more than compressing his SE.
He was timing his SE releases perfectly, letting it explode outward at the exact mont of contact, then pulling it all back into his core before it could leak.
It was insane.
And exhilarating.
Nox grinned despite himself as he dodged away from another palm strike, light flaring briefly around his morpho as he countered with a short, vicious hook.
Calewin blocked which caused him to slide back half a step, though his eyes were eyes shining.
"Oh yeah," he said. "This was worth staying awake for."
"Alright then," he said lightly, lifting his hands, "let's see how long you can keep up."
The pressure around him changed.
It wasn't an explosion of SE, nor a visible flare, but sothing denser, heavier, like the air itself had thickened around his body.
Even from several ters away, Nox could feel the pressure fall on his shoulders.
Though that didn't cause him to hesitate nor wait.
He vanished again, reappearing directly in front of Calewin this ti, Morpho glowing a bit more as he launched it forward in a straight thrust aid at his chest.
Calewin t the attack head on.
His palm struck the flat of Morpho at the exact instant it would have reached his chest and the mont it did, SE detonating outward in a focused burst.
The clash sent a deafening crack across the arena as both were forced apart.
Nox skidded back, his boots creating small , shallow trenches into the platform.
Calewin barely moved.
"I thought I was the only one blessed with this much SE control, I guess I wasn't," Calewin said, eyes narrowing with interest, "you really are as abnormal as I thought, Nox"
Nox exhaled slowly, steadying his breathing. "You don't get to talk about normal."
He twisted his wrist and Morpho changed shape slightly, shortening, condensing, turning into sothing closer to a reinforced gauntlet.
The light dimd even further, barely noticeable now.
Then he rushed in.
This ti, Nox didn't teleport.
He stayed in Calewin's range, trading blows directly, fist against palm, knee against elbow.
Every strike Calewin threw carried that sa perfectly tid release, sharp and violent at the mont of impact, gone an instant later.
Nox adapted, letting SE flow through his body in pulses instead of a constant stream, matching Calewin beat for beat.
The platform began to suffer.
Cracks spread beneath their feet, fragnts of stone lifting into the air with every collision.
The barrier behind them flickered faintly, its glow destabilizing with each shockwave that slamd into it, they could see that it would give way pretty soon as the cracks spread.
The crowd had fallen completely silent.
This wasn't a spar anymore.
One of the technicians swallowed hard as he watched the spectacle, "If this keeps up… the barrier—"
"It'll hold," another said, though his voice lacked conviction.
Back in the arena, Calewin twisted inside Nox's guard, slipping past a punch and driving his elbow toward Nox's ribs.
Nox reacted instantly, teleporting half a step to the side, but the punch still touched him, SE detonating against his side and sending pain flaring through his body.
He grimaced but quickly recovered.
This opponent might be the hardest he had faced during this tournant, but it was also the most fun fight where he was allowed to throw a punch as heavy as he wanted.
"Let's kick it up a bit more shall we?" Calewin said with a grin, his sleepy self completely gone.
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