They exchange moves once, twice, thrice... Kaelen was losing on every move in a contest of raw strength.
But this did not make Neal any happy as he could sense that Kaelen was becoming stronger with each fist they exchanged.
And Kaelen was slowly gaining up on Neal.
It was becoming obvious to others as well that Kaelen’s strength was growing as ti passed.
Leon wasn’t watching idly by, he fired a lightning beam here and then disturbing Kaelen or blocking his exit path.
Tashi leaned forward from the instructor’s seat.
"This is no longer a battle," he muttered. "This is a divine tantrum."
Even Vasra looked unnerved. "This kind of dominance... from a support class?"
All this ti while the warriors were busy fighting Kaelen.
Feldon used a spell that summoned a phantom of a silver rank monster which slowly disappeared integrating with him.
His eyes glowed, black tusks grew from his mouth, furs, claws and he beca a 4 ter tall humanoid white bear with tusks.
They were running low on mana and had to finish the fight as quickly as possible.
Waiting for Kaelen to beco strong enough to wipe the floor with them was not an option.
Neal and Kaelen were stuck in a stalemate unable to take the next step.
"Jered, how long are you going to rest?" Neal shouted for help.
But Jered was still lying on the cracked floor lost in his own thoughts
"What’s going on, why am I not healing? Does the dauntless fla have limits? And why is Kaelen so strong?"
He wasn’t recovering but how could he when he was inside Kaelen’s anti heal domain.
But then suddenly the sky darkened. And their instinct told them to run.
It was not good news as the academy was located above the clouds and the sky could never darken except at night.
When they looked up Leon was already standing in the heart of the storm. Nobody knows how he got up there.
"Actually I was saving this for Neal but you are too dangerous Kaelen"
The clouds spiral around Leon and crackle with lightning.
Then it shaped into a giant fist of thunder and descended into the arena covering the area where all the other four participants were standing.
Sensing this Feldon summons another ape-like monster covered in armor which protects him from the impact.
Neal summons multiple shields of starlights covering his whole body.
Kaelen on the other hand was out of mana and can’t use any skill, but he wasn’t out of options.
He dashed towards Jered who was still lost in thoughts and yanked him up roughly by the back of his neck.
This sudden yank woke Jered up from his stupor.
"Wait! what are you doing?"
He did not know what Kaelen was going to do to him but it was anything but good.
" Stop! Buddy it’s , Jered, stop!"
But would Kaelen stop? He wished.
"Thanks for your sacrifice. I’ll never forget this kindness"
Then lifting Jered towards the sky he turned his head away with crocodile’s tears in his eyes.
Now facing towards the sky he could see the thunder fist descending straight at him.
"KAE—LEN!!...."
BOOOM!
A loud explosion followed turning the arena into a wasteland in its effective radius.
When dust and clouds settled, surprisingly Kaelen was still standing, alive, unhard and grinned towards Leon which looks purely evil added by the glowing light of Jered dissipating into light particles.
Both Neal and Feldon had survived the explosion as well but with varying injuries.
Right at the mont of explosion Jered passive skill had activated.
Creating a barrier when his health reaches a critical point. Thus surviving the impact.
Jered staggered to his feet, barely clinging to consciousness. His health points were hanging by a thread, an abysmal flicker on the edge of zero. Smoke and dust still swirled from the aftermath of the last attack.
He turned, fury blazing in his eyes.
"Kaelen!" he roared. "How dare you use as a damn body shield?!"
But the rest of his words died in his throat.
Kaelen stood a few paces away, his expression utterly calm, almost serene. A soft, unreadable smile played on his lips as his black eyes locked onto Jered’s.
"I told you," Kaelen said quietly, raising one hand. "I’d rember the favor. Didn’t I?"
But Kaelen being Kaelen.
How could he miss this opportunity and imdiately finish him off.
Jered’s eyes widened.
"Wait—don’t you da—!"
Before he could finish,
Kaelen picked up a rock and,
Swoosh.
In an instant, Whatever pitiful scraps of health Jered had left were ripped away with surgical precision.
"YOU TRAITOROUS BASTA—"
His scream was cut short as his body blinked out of the battlefield, ejected by the system with brutal finality.
Kaelen exhaled softly, brushing a speck of dust off his shoulder.
"Thanks for the cover, partner."
Seeing that no one died from his ultimate sneak attack Leon went mad.
And in a savage roar, activated his berserk form, his height doubled to six ters, muscles bulging with lethal intent. The thunder around him intensified.
He dived down towards Kaelen.
But during his fight midway a swift powerful fist hit his ribs sending him rocketing.
It was Feldon. He had felt betrayed. They had agreed beforehand that they would fight later on after defeating the Juggernauts. But Leon had just used an AoE skill trying to wipe everyone from the arena.
Now the fight has turned into two separate fights.
Feldon threw everything he had at Leon with madness.
"What are you doing? Kaelen is still alive."
"Well I’ve changed my mind" Feldon was not gonna let this slide.
Kaelen may have scamd him but Leon had betrayed him.
"Bastard bring it on."
"Now," Neal said, his voice low but clear, "shall we fight as well?"
He tilted his head slightly, lips curling into a half-smile.
"But this ti... balanced. And fair."
Kaelen’s gaze slid toward him.
For a long mont, neither moved. The air between them was taut, stretched thin by tension and respect—two predators recognizing one another not as prey, but as equals.
Then Kaelen laughed.
It was quiet at first, little more than an exhale—but it built quickly, rich and almost carefree, a sound that felt out of place amid the wreckage and blood.
"Oh," Kaelen said, wiping dried blood from the corner of his mouth. His black eyes glead like obsidian under firelight. "We shall."
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