Chapter 34: Fighting Kayn

After taking a deep breath, Leo entered the field.

“It’s Leo!”

“I hope you lose!”

“Leoooo! I love you!!!”

The arena exploded with noise the moment Leo entered the field, making him feel as though he was a celebrity or something.

Some people cheered for him, but a majority of them did the opposite by cursing him.

Leo could feel his heart throbbing like a war drum. This is the first time that he’s ever been in such a spotlight; it felt surreal to him, almost like he was in a dream and a nightmare at the same time.

“Wow, there are even more people here. Aren’t you popular?” Lilith teased him as he walked to the center of the field, where Kayn was already waiting.

“I’m impressed that you didn’t just run away, Leo!” Kayn said with a grin on his face.

“Why would I run? According to some people, this isn’t the first time that we’ve fought, and you’ve never won against me. I wish I could remember it, though. I bet the look of defeat on your face would look great. Fortunately for me, I will get to see such an expression again very soon when I beat you.” Leo smiled back.

The grin on Kayn’s face was wiped away by Leo’s remarks, and his eyebrows furrowed into a deep frown.

Suddenly, another figure walked into the field.

When the students saw this person, they all expressed surprise.

“It’s the Headmistress! What’s she doing here?!”

“I think she’s going to personally oversee their match! Heavens! I don’t think I have ever seen this before!”

“Headmistress.” Kayn bowed to her in a respectful manner when he noticed her presence.

Leo also greeted her, “Good afternoon, Headmistress.”

“Hello, Leo. I will be the judge of this match if you don’t mind.” Eve nodded, but she seemed to only acknowledge Leo’s greeting, which infuriated Kayn, but there was nothing he could do but accept it.

“Of course not. I was worried that he might do something unfair, but now that you’re here, I am relieved.” Leo said as he pointed to Kayn with his gaze.

“Y-You bastard! How dare you accuse me of foul play before the match!” Kayn shouted in a fury.

“Watch your language!” Eve immediately rebuked him.

“I-I apologize, Headmistress.” Kayn did not dare to argue with her and acted as obedient as a service dog.

Leo found this quite amusing and laughed inwardly.

“Anyways, you probably don’t remember anything about the Magic Arena or matches, right?” Eve asked Leo a moment later.

“Sorry for the trouble.” He nodded.

“Don’t worry, I will explain everything to you.” She smiled.

“First of all, there is a magic barrier around this field that protects your body from grievous harm. As long as you are in the field, you won’t have to be worried about getting cut even if you’re struck by a real sword, but you’ll still feel the impact of the blow. The same goes for magic. You won’t be blown to pieces, but you’ll still feel the impact.”

“Second, you are not allowed to use any kind of artifacts during the match. Potions are also forbidden during and before the match. If you are currently affected by any potions at this moment, you will have to postpone your match. Are you currently under any potion effects?” She asked him.

“No, I am not.”

“Good, but I will still check your body before the match officially begins.”

“No problem.” He nodded.

Eve continued speaking, “For the next rule, even though it won’t apply to you, you should still be aware of it. Magic spells above Tier 3 are not allowed to be used unless it is a special occasion that had been approved by me.”

“Another rule you should keep in mind is that you are not allowed to purposefully strike your opponent in vital areas such as the eyes, heart, and crotch, or you will automatically lose the match.”

“I understand.”

“That’s pretty much all of the rules. Once the match begins, the two of you will fight until either one of you loses consciousness or surrenders. Any questions?”

“No, I don’t have any.”

“Good, then let’s begin the checkup. Give me your hand.”

Leo didn’t ask any questions and gave her his hand.

“I’m going to collect some of your blood. This will prick a little.” Eve said to him before pressing some kind of device against his thumb.

Leo suddenly felt something prick his finger for a split second.

After collecting a few drops of his blood, Eve looked at the device for the results.

“Okay, you’re cleared.”

She turned to Kayn to collect his blood next, but she handed a new device to him so that he could do it himself.

It was obvious to everyone there that Eve was favoring Leo, but nobody was surprised since it was already a well known fact.

Once Kayn collected his blood and proved that he was not under the effects of any potions or drugs, Eve said to them, “If you have any artifacts on your body, leave them with me now.”

“Here you go.” Leo handed her the only artifact on his body, the Spatial Ring, after taking out his training sword.

Kayn also handed his own Spatial Ring to her.

“This is your last chance. If you’re caught with any artifact on your body after the match starts, you will automatically forfeit the match and will be punished for breaking the rules.” Eve gave them one last warning.

When neither Leo or Kayn said anything, Eve nodded, “Then we will begin the match.”

“Stand in your circles and wait for my signal.”

‘Circle?’ Leo looked around until he saw a black circle about 20 meters away from his location.

Once he was standing inside the circle, he was about 50 meters away from Kayn.

‘Seriously? We’re this far away? At such a distance, I am at a clear disadvantage since I cannot cast magic!’ Leo cried inwardly after seeing this unfairness.

Due to their distance, Kayn could cast spells at him from a distance while he has to wait until he is close enough to strike with a sword.

The arena became quiet while the audience held their breaths.

“Good luck, Leo.” Lilith said to him.

A few moments later, Eve spoke in a loud voice that echoed throughout the arena without the help of a microphone.

“The match between Leo Magnus from Knight Class 2-A and Kayn Graham from Magic Class 2-A will now begin!”

“Once I blow this whistle, you may start the fight!”

After counting to three, Eve blew the whistle.

Kayn immediately raised his hand and pointed his palms at Leo, and he started chanting in a low voice.

Meanwhile, Leo started running towards Kayn at his full speed, which actually looked slow in the eyes of the audience because they were used to seeing Leo move at a much quicker speed.

“Look at how slow he’s moving… I guess he hasn’t fully recovered from his injuries yet.” The students said to each other.

Meanwhile, Leo was thinking of something similar.

‘What’s he waiting for? Why hasn’t he cast any spells yet?’ Leo wondered to himself when Kayn hadn’t attacked him even when he closed their distance by half.

‘Miss Camille would’ve fired over 10 magic spells at me by now. What is he thinking?’

Unbeknownst to Leo, unlike Miss Camille who can cast magic in a split second and without the need of chanting, Kayn must chant his spells and gather his mana, which requires time, especially since he was preparing for a Tier 3 spell right off the bat.

Once Leo was almost in front of him, Kayn finally finished his spell and shouted, “Water Barrage!”

‘Water magic?!’

Leo immediately stopped his movements to prepare for the incoming attack.

Over a dozen water balls the size of a watermelon suddenly appeared before Kayn and started flying at Leo.

‘T-This is…’

Leo was shocked when he saw these water balls coming at him.

‘They’re so freaking slow!’

Compared to the speed of Miss Camille throwing her magic spears, these water balls paled in comparison, and Leo was able to keep track of them with his bare eyes.

After doding the first one, he immediately dodged the second, then a third.

A few moments later, once he’d dodged all of the water balls, Leo did not immediately move. Instead, he stared at Kayn with wide eyes.

‘This guy… He’s weak as fuck compared to Miss Camille!’

When he realized this, Leo started laughing.

“To think I had been nervous about this fight and even a little scared of you! How dare you mess with my feelings!”

He started moving towards Kayn again.

‘He dodged all of my Water Barrage so easily?! I thought he was injured!’ Kayn cried inwardly, feeling a sense of dread as Leo closed their distance even more.

‘Shit! I don’t have time to prepare another Tier 3 spell! I can only cast Tier 1 spells!’

Kayn pointed his finger at Leo and hastily shouted, “Water Bullet!”

A small water orb flew at Leo, who was only a few steps away from reaching Kayn.

Leo twisted his body right before the Water Bullet reached him, narrowly dodging it.

‘Impossible! He dodged such a close attack?!’ Kayn was shocked.

Water Bullet is one of the fastest magic spells out there. To dodge it at such a close distance was near impossible unless Leo anticipated it before Kayn released the magic spell.

Unbeknownst to Kayn, Leo had subconsciously reacted when he saw Kayn’s hand gesture because it was the same as his Black Bullet, something he has done over a thousand times by now.

After dodging Kayn’s Water Bullet, Leo took the final step he needed to reach Kayn with his sword.

With his hand tightly gripping the sword, Leo performed one of the most difficult combos for the Formless Sword Dance that he knew, striking Kayn all over his body with 11 consecutive and connecting strikes in a quick session, sending him flying like a broken ragdoll.

Kayn coughed up blood after falling down. He could feel that some of his bones had broken from Leo’s attack just now.

However, before he could even get back up, Leo was in front of him again with his sword already raised.

“Wa-Wait!” Kayn subconsciously raised his arms above his head in a defensive manner, but a leg came flying at his chest when he was expecting Leo to strike down with his sword.

“Agh!”

Pain immediately spread throughout Kayn’s body, who felt like his chest had been crushed by a boulder, and he coughed up even more blood.

“I am not done yet!” Leo continued to strike Kayn without mercy, releasing all of his built up stress from training and everything else at once.

The audience were dead silent at this moment. They were all shocked by the brutal beatdown of Kayn, and some of them couldn’t even believe their eyes.