Topaz stepped forward, her eyes glinting with a challenge. "I will challenge him," she declared.
Eliana nodded curtly, a hint of amusent playing on her lips. "Very well. Begin."
Topaz. A na I barely recognized. Bookish, they said. High marks in the combat evaluations, but untested in real combat. Curiosity flickered in the icy wasteland of my mind. She'd finished her previous fight quickly, efficiently.
I needed to see what she was made of.
Just the word sent a jolt through the arena. Topaz charged without preamble, wind swirling around her hand, forming a vicious blade aid for my neck. But then, with a blur of movent, she shifted her target, the blade flashing towards my side.
That was intriguing. I ford a wall of ice around myself in a heartbeat, a barrier against further surprise attacks. Simultaneously, icy daggers shot out from my fingertips, a flurry aid at her shifting form.
But she was gone. My projectiles hit nothing but air. A flicker of annoyance sparked within . I rarely relied solely on eyesight. Mana signatures, heat signatures, even subtle shifts in air pressure - all these fed into my awareness. Yet, she'd vanished like a wisp of smoke.
Then, a whisper of danger brushed against my senses. Not visual, more of a prickling on the back of my neck. I whipped around, the ice wall shattering behind as Topaz landed a brutal kick aid at my neck. The impact sent a jolt through , the residual agony from my training session intensifying with every heartbeat.
She stood there, a smirk playing on her lips. "At least take this seriously," she mouthed, her voice barely a whisper. "'Show what you can do, vampire.'"
Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't react to such a taunt. But the ease with which she'd bypassed my senses, not once, but twice, the way she'd shattered my barrier - it grated on my nerves. Frustration, an annoying, simring thing, began to mingle within .
I wasn't at my best, that much was clear. My body still ached from Verona's rciless training. But underestimating was a mistake she wouldn't live to regret.
A sigh escaped my lips, a plu of frosty vapor swirling in the air. With a flick of my wrist, a jagged ice spear materialized in my hand, its surface glinting maliciously under the arena lights. I shifted into a fighting stance, the ice spear held firm.
First, a jab, testing her reflexes. It deflected with a clang against a shimring barrier - tal? Interesting. I followed up with a vertical slash, but she danced back, a re hair's breadth away from the blade. Jabs, stabs, cuts - a flurry of attacks, each aid with deadly precision.
She weaved through them with practiced ease, her movents fluid and efficient. Frustration gnawed at . Was this all she had? This defensive display?
Then, her eyes changed. The playful smirk vanished, replaced by a steely glint. An aura settled around her, sharp and focused. It felt...familiar, sothing I hadn't encountered in a long ti.
She drew a single, slender blade. But unlike any blade I had ever seen. It glowed faintly with an internal light, swirling with a myriad of colors. Mana-forged, no doubt, imbued with complex enchantnts.
She launched herself forward, the blade a blur of light. Instinct took over. I shoved the ice spear forward, a desperate block against her attack. tal t ice with a resounding clang. The impact wasn't what surprised . It was the way my ice spear cracked, a web of fissures spreading across its surface before it shattered into a million glittering shards.
My ice could easily take on high-quality weapon attacks yet her ford tal blade was enough to destroy my ice spear? But I saw it her blade was severely cracked but she quickly reford it making it 'new' again.
The thrill pulsed through , a counterpoint to the throbbing ache in my muscles. It was quite the sensation, this simring excitent within the cage of my self-control.
It was clear - both of us were holding back. She recognized my restraint, and I could sense a hidden depth to her power, a reluctance to unleash it fully. This wasn't a true battle, not yet, but the thrill of the dance was undeniable.
At so point, barriers beca a formality. I t her blows head-on, the clang echoing through the arena as her enchanted blade clashed with my hardened ice constructs. She, in turn, endured the icy bite of my attacks, her movents a whirlwind of focused aggression.
The once pristine ring bore the brunt of our duel. It was a cracked, dented, chipped ss, barely holding onto its circular form. With a final break in the engagent, we stood apart, panting, a silent understanding passing between us. This was a battle for another ti, another setting.
With a final pushback, we separated, panting slightly, the air crackling with unspoken tension. A silent agreent passed between us, a shared decision. This was a final exchange.
She channeled her aura, the blade in her hand glowing with vibrant energy. I responded by gathering my mana, channeling it into a spell I hadn't utilized in a while. A frozen tornado, swirling with razor-sharp ice blades, roared to life at my command. It tore through the arena with a deafening howl, hungry for its target.
But I wasn't finished. While the tornado surged forward, I unleashed another spell, a localized field of gravity. 24 tis Elnova's normal gravity, the maximum my current control allowed(well atleast what I showed I could easily go upto 40 tis), encompassed the entire ring, pinning her form to the dented floor with an invisible hand. Her figure still stood tall only sinking a bit in ground.
The pressure was imnse, but the coverage area larger, dulling its full force. Still, it was more than enough to hold her, well atleast I thought. In that mont, the tornado collided with the glowing blade, and the air shimred with the impact. But instead of the expected explosion, a scene of impossible grace unfolded.
Topaz, her movents imbued with an ethereal glow, danced around the swirling vortex, her blade tracing a dazzling pattern. Each stroke seed to cleave apart the ice blades, dismantling the tornado with the precision of a surgeon. A collective gasp rose from the stunned audience. Even I couldn't help but be impressed. That wasn't rely skill; it was an art.
Just as the last wisp of the tornado dissipated, Eliana's voice bood through the arena. "Class is ending soon! This duel will remain unfinished. All matches in progress end in a draw!"
"Topaz..." I thought of her na.
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