"We need to be on our feet, Elenore they're good!"
Kaelen heaved a deep breath in focusing all of his energy to his sword.
WOM…
Kaelen's sword blazed with ethereal blue light as he channeled his soul arts into the blade.
The technique itself is a rare ability possessed only of those that had exceeded the norms of swordsmanship.
The blade itself transford the mundane steel into sothing far more lethal. Soul arts weren't re enhancents; they imbued weapons with properties that defied conventional magical resistance.
[Crowned Technique: Regalia's Severance]
In a blinding flash, he lunged forward, his body moving with impossible speed. The sword's trajectory created a perfect arc of azure energy that expanded outward like a tidal wave. The attack wasn't just physical—it carried with it a pressure that distorted the space between Kaelen and his targets.
Lysander's eyes widened in shock. "What in the seven hells—"
"Block it!" Cassandra scread, already weaving a complex defensive pattern with her hands.
The second-years reacted with the practiced coordination of experienced combatants.
Lysander slamd his staff into the ground, summoning a wall of earth that erupted from the forest floor like a shield. Simultaneously, Cassandra conjured a lattice of violet energy that overlapped with Lysander's defense, reinforcing it against the approaching onslaught.
"That won't be enough,"
Kaelen whispered, as his blade continued its inexorable path.
Elenore, seeing the second-years' defensive preparations, acted with split-second precision.
"Acceleration Aura: Threefold Increase!"
The spell enveloped Kaelen in a shimring golden haze. His already impressive speed tripled instantly, turning his form into little more than a blur of motion.
The buff ca just in ti for Lysander and Cassandra's counterattack.
Unleashing a barrage of elental projectiles designed to interrupt Kaelen's technique.
"Spell Arts Of Earth: Double Pillar"
"Spell Arts Of Wind: Lateral Cleave"
Bolts of concentrated earth magic and waves of wind converged on Kaelen's position, but with his enhanced speed, he slipped between them like water through fingers.
One particularly massive pillar grazed his shoulder, but he maintained his focus.
BAM!
A blinding light erupted as Kaelen's Regalia's Severance collided with the second-years' defensive wall.
The forest trembled, trees swaying from the shockwave as a strong energy scattered in all directions.
Through the chaos, Elenore's hands moved in a precise sequence, her golden eyes focused with unwavering determination.
"Spells Arts Of Magica - 20: Triangular Rain Storm!"
A shimring orb of concentrated mana shot from her fingertips, rocketing skyward above the battlefield.
HWAM!
At its apex, the sphere pulsed once, twice, then erupted into dozens of smaller projectiles that rained down in a perfect triangular pattern.
Each beam adjusted its trajectory mid-flight with uncanny precision, weaving between trees and avoiding Kaelen's position entirely while converging on the second-years.
"…!"
BOOM!
Lysander managed to roll away from the worst of the barrage, but Cassandra wasn't as fortunate. Three luminous beams struck her simultaneously, shattering her hastily erected shield and sending her sprawling backward into the underbrush with a pained cry.
"Cassandra!" Lysander shouted, his attention montarily diverted.
"Ack… I'm alright let's calm down for a mont, we've got ti."
Cassandra and Lysander exchanged a nervous glances at each other.
The demonstration of skill from the two of them was unlike anything they had anticipated.
In their experience, first-years were supposed to be clumsy, uncoordinated, and easily overwheld.
However for Kaelen and Elenore they were already showing potential that rivaled even third-year students.
"Is this what we looked like last year?" Cassandra whispered to Lysander, wiping blood from a cut on her cheek.
"When the third-years demolished us?"
Lysander didn't answer imdiately, his eyes tracking Kaelen's movents with a mixture of wariness and grudging respect.
"No," he finally admitted.
"This is different. We never stood a chance against the third-years. These two... they're sothing else entirely."
The temporary lull in combat gave both sides a mont to reassess.
Kaelen maintained his defensive stance before Elenore, his sword still pulsing with that eerie blue light.
Elenore stood tall behind him, the silver flag baton clutched firmly in her grasp, watching for any sudden movents from their opponents.
Just as Cassandra prepared to launch another spell, the ground beneath them trembled violently.
CRASH!
Three bodies hurtled through the air, crashing into the clearing with enough force to uproot small shrubs.
Tiberius, Lennard, and Rivaleno landed in ungraceful heaps, followed monts later by Marcus, who skidded across the forest floor before coming to rest against a fallen log.
"What the hell was that for?!" Rivaleno shouted, scrambling to his feet.
His normally immaculate red hair was disheveled, and several burns marked his usually pristine uniform.
"You idiots weren't coordinated enough to get out of my way!"
Tiberius, massive and imposing even when sprawled on the ground, pushed himself up with a grunt.
"Coordinated? We couldn't even anticipate her attacks! She moves like a ghost, and that's not even ntioning how abnormally strong the Damien guy is."
"He's right," Lennard added, checking a nasty gash on his forearm. "They're toying with us. All of them."
Elenore's eyes widened at the sight of her battered teammates. "Who did this to you?"
Before any of them could answer, the trees at the edge of the clearing parted as if pushed by an invisible hand.
Miyuki Kagerou stepped into view, the second-year flag clutched elegantly in her right hand. Her expression remained as impassive as ever, but there was an undeniable confidence in her stride.
Behind her ca Damien Wolfhart, his earth-attuned mana creating small tremors with each step.
"Playti's over, first-years,"
Damien announced, his voice rumbling like distant thunder.
He crossed his massive arms over his chest, surveying the battered first-years with undisguised amusent.
"I'll admit, you've shown more potential than we expected, but you're still leagues behind where you need to be."
His eyes lingered on Kaelen for a mont, acknowledging the threat the swordsman posed.
"Perhaps by the end-of-year events, you'll have grown enough to provide an actual challenge. For now, though..."
He cracked his knuckles, the sound echoing through the clearing.
"Consider this a lesson in humility."
Rivaleno's face contorted with rage, his already flushed complexion deepening to a dangerous shade of crimson.
"You arrogant bastard!" he snarled, flas spontaneously erupting around his clenched fists.
"I'll show you potential!"
"Rivaleno, wait—!" Elenore called out, but it was too late.
Lost in anger, Rivaleno charged forward, abandoning all semblance of strategy or self-preservation.
[Pyre Family Technique: Dragon Twister]
SHAAA!
The attack roared from his fists—a massive, blazing dragon aid squarely at Damien, Miyuki, and the second-years behind them.
It was potent, larger even than an earth pillar from Lysander.
But when you attacked Miyuki without a plan, you were punished tenfold for your recklessness.
"Rise,"
Raising her hands into the air, Ice pillars rose in erratic patterns, completely blocking the fiery assault with just the right number of shards needed to stop its montum.
As the ice lted away, Miyuki was already in motion.
"Futile," she declared in midair, her voice as cold as her elent.
"Spell Arts Of Ice: Blizzard!"
A fierce gust of snow and wind blasted Rivaleno back toward the opposite end of the clearing.
Damien saw his chance and lunged forward with brutal efficiency.
BAM!
The rock fist he conjured glowed with earthen energy as it slamd into Rivaleno's chest, catapulting him even farther back to where Lennard, Tiberius, and Marcus were regrouping.
"Raaaah!" Rivaleno's scream of frustration echoed through the trees.
With a horrific crash, Rivaleno's body tumbled through the underbrush, leaving a trail of broken branches and disturbed earth in his wake.
The monitoring drone above him flashed yellow—indicating significant damage but not enough to trigger elimination.
"Rivaleno!" Tiberius shouted, starting forward only to be held back by Lennard's restraining grip.
"Don't be stupid," Lennard hissed. "That's exactly what they want—to pick us off one by one as we rush in without thinking."
In the arena, the crowd roared with approval at the display of power. The second-years' coordinated counterattack had demonstrated precisely why experience often trumped raw talent.
Damien's attention shifted to the fallen form of Rivaleno, who was struggling to rise from the tangle of broken underbrush.
The second-year's expression changed from amusent to sothing more calculating as he stepped forward, gesturing broadly to the assembled first-years.
"Look at your teammate," Damien called out, his voice carrying effortlessly across the clearing.
"The proud scion of the Pyre family, reduced to crawling in the dirt after a single exchange."
He walked toward Rivaleno with deliberate steps, each footfall sending small tremors through the ground. The second-years behind him ford a loose semicircle, their postures relaxed yet ready—predators confident in their superiority.
"You know," Damien continued, stopping a few ters from where Rivaleno had finally managed to get to his knees, "I've heard stories about the Pyre family's legendary fla techniques for years. How they can turn entire battlefields to ash with a gesture, how their fire burns hotter than dragon's breath."
He made a show of looking around at the minimal damage Rivaleno's attack had caused.
"But this? This is disappointing. Your form was sloppy, your control is nonexistent, and your strategy—" Damien laughed, the sound echoing through the trees,
"—well, 'headlong charge' hardly qualifies as strategy, does it?"
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