Raizo had properly built muscles, they weren't like someone who trained inside a gym but more like a wrestler who had fought hundreds of matches.
He had short hair and medium height, he was equipped with iron gauntlets in both of his hands. His muscles looked so tight and sturdy that the onlookers felt even if someone shot him with a gun bullets won't be able to pierce his skin, of course, it was only their imagination.
On the other hand, Sara had a delicate built, she was a tall girl, she wore a light blue robe and a black hat, her expression was ice cold, cold to an extent that it looked like it was frozen, she was holding a long staff in her hands.
The staff was deep blue in colour, it had an almost transparent cubic crystal embedded on top, this was a magic staff used by my mages to reduce the spell casting time, amplify magic and decrease mana consumption.
"Who do you think, who will win?" Arlo asked.
"If I have to choose, the mage girl," Kale said without hesitation.
Arlo looked at Kale, that way he said it made it seem like the duel was already fixed.
"Why? Do you know Senior Sara?" Arlo asked in confusion.
"There are no needs for me to know her to tell that she will win, she challenged that boy just after reaching the Elemental Mortal stage this shows her confidence and preparation. Whether it is ice or water they both work against fire, combined they will likely overpower the fire of the same level.
Raizo is a Martial Artist, moreover, he is an expert in close combat so if he succeeds in closing the distance between him and the girl in the beginning he should win… or this is what you think but can the girl not guess it? My instincts are telling me she likely has a way to counter it, if she succeeds in countering it in time then she will win, or else Raizo will win," Kale said.
Arlo looked at him weirdly, he said jokingly "Your instincts? You make it sound like you are an old veteran adventurer who had seen wars for years,"
Kale glanced at him for a second before again focusing on the stage, he muttered 'In a way, I am,'
While they were chatting, the fans of Raizo and Sara were cheering from the side. The number of fans on Sara's side was above Raizo, although her attitude was cold and she was indifferent to them, she was after all a beauty admired by many.
"Go, Senior Sara, you can win,"
"Yes Senior Sara, the victory is just at your fingertips,"
"Blow away that meathead with your Water Cannon!"
"Dammit! Which chicken called our Senior Raizo a meathead? If you have the guts step out, I promise I won't beat you to a pulp,"
"You people do you think we are afraid of you? We will see if you have the same courage once Senior Sara wins,"
"You leechers just follow her because of her beauty,"
"Oh, then you all follow him together so what are you?"
"You!!!"
"Calm down everyone the duel is about to start,"
[The duel begins]
When the duel started, Raizo dashed at her without hesitation.
Sara was unfazed, she raised her staff and focused. A complex blue magic circle appeared in front of her staff.
'Frozen Land'
Raizo crossed his arms in front of his chest to block the upcoming attack but to his surprise, nothing came… There was no expected Ice Spikes or Cold Blizzard. Just then he felt his feet losing grip on the ground, he looked down and saw that the ground has frozen into a thin layer of ice.
"Humph, you think you can stop me with just that?" Raizo grunted, he raised his foot, light crimson energy swirled around his foot, he then stomped on the ground.
…Boom…
A crimson shockwave spread in all directions, vaporizing the ice on contact.
Raizo then looked at Sara who was preparing a new spell and remain completely unfazed. He frowned, he continued to rush towards her.
Sara didn't stop preparing the spell even when the distance between them was of few meters, instead, she took out a small ice blue crystal from her robe, injected some of her mana, and threw it at Raizo.
…Crack...Boom…
The crystal cracked in the midair and broke into countless small fragments that resembled snowflakes, Raizo deeply frowned, he urged and his whole body got covered into a thin membrane of Flame Battle Qi.
When the ice fragments landed on his body and came in contact with the thin light membrane, they made a sizzling sound and evaporated but Raizo wasn't happy, these small fragments were rapidly consuming his Flame Battle Qi.
Seeing that Sara stopped his charge, her fans on the side cheered.
"As expected of Senior Sara, she stopped a Martial Artist stronger than her advance in a frontal fight,"
"I already knew it, Senior Sara won't blindly challenge someone,"
"You guys didn't you notice, Senior Sara just used an Enlightened-Mortal-Rank Rare-Grade Expenditure-Type magic tool? If I am right, it was called Ice Shower,"
"Not that you mention it, she did use that but why? Ice Shower is expensive and only one time use the magic tool and it's a waste to use it against a Flame Martial Artist as all it will do is increase their Battle Qi consumption rate but someone like Senior Raizo would still have enough Battle Qi to finish the battle in a few moves the second he closes the distance,"
"You are right but… Let's see what happens,"
Magic tools are equipment created by mages, normal magic equipment can only be used by mages but expenditure type magic tools can be used by anyone as they don't require one to use their power to work, any type of practitioner can trigger them using their energy.
The Ice Shower hindered Raizo's advance but it didn't manage to stop him, he raised his head and continued his charge.
Suddenly his eyes got widened, he saw Sara conjure a new magic circle, it meant she had finished preparing for the spell. Just then Raizo noticed another problem, earlier the Ice Shower didn't particularly target him but the whole stage, after Sara had cast her first spell, most of the stage got covered in a thin layer of ice but now the snow fragments acted like seeds capable of rapid growth, the second they landed on the stage, thick pointed ice crystals began to grow out at visible speed.
By now, most of the stage was covered in irregular thick ice crystals.
Sara finished her preparations, when Raizo was in a dilemma thinking if he should advance or retreat, she cast her spell.
'Ice Golem Creation'
The ice crystal around her trembled, then they rapidly grew while fusing into one another like they had gained the ability to think and move.
In just a few seconds, a humanoid figure twice as big as an adult human appeared in front of Raizo.
As soon as it appeared, the golem waved its big ice arm like a whip towards Raizo.
Raizo's expression became deadly serious, he dropped the idea of reserving his strength, then roared towards the sky.
Suddenly an illusory shadow of a giant ape with crimson red fur appeared behind him and mirrored his actions, roaring towards the sky.
'Martial Spirit: The Fiery Ape King'
Raizo then urged his Flame Battle Qi and tried to take the golem's attack head-on. He took his battle stance and confront the golem, he raised both of his hands and tried to push it away with his all-out strength.
'Angry Ape's Charge: Forced Advancement'
When the attacks collided, Raizo was shocked. He was able to resist at the start but the ice cold mana penetrated his boy and attacked him from inside, his body showed weakness only for a short moment but this was all that the giant golem needed, the golem raised its foot and kicked his chest, Raizo failed to resist, the illusory shadow behind him disappeared and he was thrown backwards without any resistance.
He rolled several times on the ground before stopping, Raizo coughed out a mouthful of blood and stared at the golem then at Sara in disbelief "How… Even the lowest golem creation spell is above Elemental Mortal stage, there is no way you could alter a spell above your league with the amount of Mana you have,"
Sara was expressionless, she didn't reply but just pointed at the thick ice crystals growing all around on the stage.
Raizo looked at them, a light flashed through his eyes and he understood what happened "So that's how, you didn't use Ice Shower just to delay for the time but to supplement Mana imbued ice for the golem creation, this saved a lot of efforts but still…" Raizo paused after saying that much, he clearly knew even if she used such a method, she was still able to comprehend such a high tier spell at her current level, this wasn't something just anyone could do, he sighed then said "I accept defeat,"
Sara nodded, she flickered her fingers and the golem crumbled into small ice fragments that got scattered on the floor.
[Sara won]
The fans on Sara's side cheered like they were the ones who won, while the friends on Raizo's side had a gloomy expression on their faces.
Unlike them, both Raizo and Sara were looked completely unaffected by the results a moment ago, they just walked down the stages and made their way out of the arena. Whether it was Raizo or Sara, they were thinking about the duel just now, analyzing their shortcomings and how to remove them.
'Fighting without the intent to kill? I wonder when was the last time I witnessed this,' Kale thought.
Arlo was about to speak but then Kale felt his phone buzz, he took it out and checked the notifications, he said "Looks like it's my turn,"
Arlo slightly nodded, he was somewhat curious about how Kale was going to fight so he followed along.
Kale moved on to the stage and looked at his opponent who was already waiting for him.
It was a boy, he looked older than Kale, he had short black hair and black eyes. When kale arrived on the stage, he was stretching his body, he looked at Kale for a second then readied himself for the duel. Seeing that the opponent didn't wish to talk, Kale liked it because it saved him some time.
The screen on the side of the stage lit up and showed the data of the two contenders.
[Name: Likar
Class: Mutant
Type: Transformable Mutant - 1st Advancement(Rookie)
Level: 7]
VS
[Nickname: Anonymous
Status: Encrypted]
[The betting stacks are 1:6.]
[Duel starts in 30s.]
The battle stacks are calculated by the AI-based on the student's real data and records, Kale was now barely level 1 that's why his stacks were so high, if he was fighting a martial artist of the same level as Likar or fighting using weapons then the stack would have been even higher.
'Transformable type? Hmm….' Kale observed Likar, who started stretching his body again, he thought 'The way he is stretching his body and his body built doesn't seem like he focuses on strength or defence but mobility and flexibility, if I am right he will likely try to transform in a beast that specialized in this field, if so, then it's better to finish the duel when he is still underestimating me,'
After observing the opponent, he used all his CP and betted on himself.
With his life experience, it wasn't hard for him to see the weakness of these students who had just started walking on a practitioners' path, he could use it to his advantage and bet on others while sitting on the sidelines but Kale came to duel in person, it was to let his body get used to fighting. Even so, he didn't intend to do it all in a single battle, an opponent who focuses on speed can not serve as hand to hand combat opponent for him, and if he goes all out in a situation like this then Likar's life might be put in danger.
There weren't many students around their stage, even the few spectators standing around were those who were waiting for their duel. Many experienced students were battling on other stages so why would they go out of their way to watch some newbie.
[The duel begins.]
Likar rushed towards Kale without any hesitation. On the way, two fluffy round ears similar to squirrels appeared on top of his head, sharp curved nails grew out of his fingers and his pupils enlarged. His speed surged and in just a few steps he closed in the distances between him and Kale.
'Quick Witted Squirrel: Early Transformation'
Kale stood calmly, his posture was straight, his right hand was folded behind his back while he waved his left hand towards the incoming Likar in a provocative manner.
Likar got infuriated, he didn't sense any strong origin energy fluctuations around Kale so he predicted that his level wasn't higher than his but now he was provoking him? Even if Kale happens to be a martial artist he shouldn't be that strong in close combat when his level was still below his.
Likar took a big leap then made a claw with his hand intending to strike at Kale's face,
When the distance between them was just about a meter, Kale moved.
'Snake King Killer Series: Silent Rush'
Kale tilted his body slightly to the right while kicking the ground and moving forwards, strangely his movement almost made no sound