Maji 1, who had been relentlessly attacking Mwana, finally ceased his attacks standing still on the stage. Everyone only had one thought on their minds, 'what is he doing stopping in the middle of a fight?'
However, Maji 1's ocean-blue aura flared up in the next moment sending waves of cold air across the stage all the way to the audience. The next moment, something that shocked everyone happened. Pale blue flames started burning on Maji 1's body but on careful observation, these flames were actually wisps of cold air. The cold 'flames' resembled the legendary undead ice flames found at the ice capes. A glance at these 'flames' of ice was enough to elicit a feeling of freezing to the bone.
"Heart Burning Ice!"
Someone in the audience suddenly exclaimed in shock.
As the Jua village was very united, martial techniques were not kept a secret from other villagers. While different families had their own special techniques depending on factors such as bloodline, they did not go as far as to hide or deceive others about their martial arts. If the techniques were powerful, some families would even go as far as to 'spread the word' in order to increase their reputation in the village. Therefore, most of those present at the field could recognize the technique.
However, there were others in the audience who were not as informed such as Malkia and Fury who had just moved to the village recently. Additionally, the Jua village did not lack foreigners whether from the nearby villages or even the neighboring nations. There were several people in the audience who did not know of the arts of Maji 1's Pweza family.
"What is Heart Burning Ice? Is it famous or powerful or something?"
"Of course it is famous and powerful!"
"Jua Majimaji the First or Maji 1 as people call him is the most talented seedling in the Pweza family's Kijani generation. Compared to his brothers and cousins within an age range of 5 years, he is indeed a genius considering his elemental affinity and bloodline affinity are perfectly matched! He has the rare Stacked Elemental Power!"
"Stacked Elemental Power?!"
"Shocking right? AS a result, the Pweza family did not hesitate to seek out the legendary Heart Freezing Octopus and extract its essence for him."
"How is that possible? I heard they are only found thousands of meters deep in the Dream Ocean. Isn't it dangerous to capture such a high level sea-type magic beast?"
"Indeed it was. Not only is it extremely dangerous but it is also very expensive. The [Heart Burning Ice] is not just an ordinary technique as it requires the body to be infused with refined magic potions created from the heart essence of the Heart Freezing Octopus. This means the creature has to be caught alive! You can imagine how hard that is. This legendary creature has such a shocking origin that it is rumored to be the origin of bloodlines! Since they live so deep in the sea, only expert [King Fisher Divers] can capture them."
"Is Mwana going to be okay? I heard his bloodline affinity is fire. Doesn't this technique counter him?"
"There is no need to even talk about it. It is over for Mwana!"
"After all, the Heart Burning Ice technique is not an ordinary technique but a Supreme-Grade technique!"
"Supreme-Grade?!"
"Right. Not only will Mwana's body experience terrible freezing and burns, but even his psyche will be affected by the technique. After all, the technique's name is not just for show. It can really burn the metaphorical heart. Physical defensive techniques like the [Golden Statue technique] are useless before it."
As Mwana listened to the conversation below the stage, his bulging forehead veins could not help but twitch. However, he did not have time to care about the words of others during his current predicament. An instant later, the entire fighting stage was frozen over before the surface shattered as an invisible icy flame spread over it.
Mwana reacted in time by dodging to the sky where he formed a temporary platform mid-air with his psychic energy. This was an elementary application of psychic power referred to as [Platform Stacking].
He then turned to the crowd below the stage and shouted:
"You all underestimate me. Don't bark too loudly otherwise you might just bite your tongues."
Hearing him, some people could not help but be shocked at his confidence.
"Where is this guy's confidence coming from?"
Mwana proceeded to point his finger at Maji 1 who had already gathered his power. He then proceeded to slowly raise his finger and shook it in a casual manner to symbolize the number 1.
"One punch, not more not less."
These words sent everyone into an uproar. Many people who knew Mwana did not expect him to be this boastful. It is only his friends that understood that his bad competitive side was drawn out by his rival and former bully, Maji 1.
Hearing Mwana's words which basically insulted his strength, how could Maji 1 tolerate it? The flame-like ice and cold air was collected on his fist before he flew towards Mwana. Maji 1's enclosed fist emitted creaking and cracking sounds as if it was a cracking continental ice shelf.
Before Maji 1 even got 10 meters close to him, Mwana could already feel his body and mind freezing. Mwana immediately conjured a blazing inferno around his body that quickly shrank and condensed around his fist turning his hand burning-red. From the tip of the fist, a ball of fire was formed which was emitting an extremely dangerous aura.
"Solar Scorching Fist: Miniature Sun."
Mwana's solar scorching fist shot out the miniature sun while Maji 1's heart burning ice transformed into a freezing ray of pure cold. As the two techniques collided, one hot and one cold, a violent explosion of rapidly expanding air blew through the entire stage shattering a huge portion of it. The explosion was so powerful that even the referee, Mister Mea, had to keep the magic barrier running at maximum capacity to protect the spectators.
As the dust cleared, the icy beam and the miniature sun could be seen contending with each other seeming evenly matched at first. However, a short moment later the freezing ray pierced through Mwana's flames scattering them around the stage.
Seeing the expected outcome, most of the audience collectively thought, 'As expected, he lost. How could the Sun Scorching Fist stand up to a Supreme-Grade technique like the Heart Burning Ice.'
While the might of the heart burning ice had been reduced due to the clash, its remaining power shot towards Mwana at extreme speeds. Mwana managed to narrowly dodge the attack due to the time bought by the collision however, the ice still managed to graze his shoulder and burn it causing a nasty injury.
As everyone thought Mwana had already lost, a shocking change occurred on the battlefield. The tongues of flames that had been scattered by Maji 1's technique suddenly gathered together as if attracted by something.
Those who were observant enough noticed an almost invisible electromagnetic thunder charge that was moving towards Maji 1. The scattered flames of the miniature sun were attracted to the charge before the newly reformed miniature sun struck Maji 1 who had not expected this at all.
Boom!
The sound of an explosion rocked the fighting platform once again sending ripples of impact across the stage. From the epicenter, a whirlwind of fire wrapped in crimson lightning rotated while sending out the occasional arcs of electricity. Witnessing this scene, the spectators were left in a daze.
'Is Maji 1 okay?' Before the spectators could even complete the thought, a scream was heard from the stage.
"Ah!"
This was Maji 1's voice as he screamed in pain. As the flames dispersed, they carried with them droplets of Maji 1's blood!
However, once his figure was revealed to everyone, it was clear that he was not out of the match yet. His luxurious ocean-blue robes had been burned to a tattered pitch black leaving his chest bare. As for his lower body, only his black shorts remained. Most of his long curly hair had also been burned leaving him with patched medium length hair that was smoking like a chimney.
Nevertheless, he did not have any serious injuries as his body seemed to be covered in cracked shiny blue scales. At the last second before Mwana's attack hit him, Maji 1 had activated the [Fish Dragon Scales] to defend himself otherwise he would have been more injured. The Fish Dragon Scales was a water element technique that functioned by breaking apart the scales whenever excessive pressure was applied to them in the same manner as pressure plates thus acting as a shock dissipater.
While everyone had been surprised by Maji 1's Heart Burning Ice, Mwana's Solar Scorching Fist left most spectators in a state of disbelief.
"Since when was the Solar Scorching Fist so powerful? Isn't it just an ordinary Complimentary technique for the Sun and Moon arts?"
"Genius! Indeed a genius. What a genius move!" Off to the side of the stage, Mister Mea could not help but mutter to himself.
Hearing his words, some of the spectators such as Fury gathered around him to ask for an explanation. After-all, everyone wondered how Mwana managed to get the better of Maji 1 with an inferior technique.
"Indeed that kid Mwana did something very unique. The Solar Scorching Fist has many variant forms such as [radiant sun], [flash bang], [piercing sun], etcetera and occasionally, new forms are invented and added to the main form. Mwana's technique could be considered a new form by itself!"
"If I were to guess, this form was created by combining the flames of the [Solar Scorching Fist], the shape-factor of the [Concave Fist], and finally the magnetic properties of the [Rushing Thunder Charge} which served as the core of the 'miniature sun' to keep the flames together. This is why the flames gathered back together even after the technique was destroyed the first time."
Hearing this explanation, everyone could not help but sigh in admiration. Mwana had indeed been right when he said that they had underestimated him.
On the fighting platform, Mwana was still standing mid air on a stack of psychic energy. However, while his psychic power had risen recently, it was not enough to keep him afloat for long periods of time so he had to descend.
"Maji 1, it is time to end this."
Mwana did not hesitate before jumping from the mid-air psychic platform towards Maji 1 with a descending downward fist.
"Descending Forest!"
Maji 1 did not have time to rest and could only leap once again to meet Mwana mid-air with his own fist technique:
"Ascending Falcon."
The following clash was not as flashy as the previous ones as both fighters were using basic fist techniques. However, it revealed something crucial that no one had expected. In this clash, Mwana who had a higher ground and the benefit of gravity was at a disadvantage resulting in him being pushed back in a clash of pure strength!
This could only mean one thing. Maji 1 had already advanced to Bone Forging!
"Ha ha, Mwana you didn't expect this did you?"