"Go, Bellows!"
The female student named Aries exclaimed. She was holding a pump-like item. Yang Cheng recognized it as some sort of device used for furnishing a strong blast of air.
The female student pumped the bellow and a gust of wind blew towards Jet Song. The Scout student was able to evade the attack. But it had made the arrow he shot to miss its mark.
"Void Fang!"
The 'inspector' retaliated. He held his knife tightly and rushed towards Jet. The Scout student countered by releasing another arrow.
The shot and the blade collided. The knife, in the end, was able to parry the projectile attack.
But Jet had taken advantage on the slight delay on the movement of his opponent due to parrying the previous attack. He stepped back and distanced himself.
And then,
"You're mine!"
Carl Baxter approached from behind. Five bubbles were attached on his clenched right fist. His right hook punch was about to hit its target.
"No you don't! Bellows!"
The female student intervened once again. She pumped the device she was holding. The tool produced another gust of wind.
The wind attack was not exactly a damage-dealing type of move. It was more of an annoying breeze that could distract its target. The Warrior student tanked through the gust as if it was nothing.
"Stop meddling!"
Carl clicked his tongue. He pivoted his stance and directed his interrupted punch towards the female student. They were around 4 meters apart, so the punch had actually hit the space between them.
But it was enough. The bubbles attached on Carl's fist popped. This triggered the effect of his skill which enabled him to attack the same spot where the burst occurred.
The target this time was the in fact, the space itself. Five, no six, punches enhanced with the [Fist of Fury] skill had landed on the aimed location.
The combined attack had produced a shockwave that blasted towards the female student.
"Kyaah!"
The student named Aries was blown away. She lost her balance and dropped down the concrete floor.
Carl smiled upon seeing the result of his skill combination. He had explained before that the attack was the solution he had found in order to deal with enemies that was out of his range.
"Hah! Serves you right!"
He exclaimed as he clenched his fist. However,
"Void Fang!"
The 'inspector' saw an opening. He sneaked behind the Warrior student and threw his knife for an attack.
Fortunately, Carl was able to react in time. He threw a bubble towards the incoming knife. The former popped upon contact.
This triggered a punch that the Warrior student controlled to hit the knife on its flat side. This resulted to the incoming weapon to be deflected away.
"Got you!"
Jet had also used the opportunity to sneak behind the 'inspector'. He released another arrow from his weapon.
Swoosh! Klang!
But the 'inspector' was able to call forth a small dimensional gate on his left hand. The deflected knife a few seconds ago was now on his hands. He had used it to parry the incoming arrow.
"!"
Jet was surprised with what he saw. Even Yang Cheng did not expect that the 'inspector' was capable of retrieving his weapon that fast.
He even moved quickly to avoid the retaliating punch from Carl. The 'inspector' then called out,
"A little help here!"
"Go, Bellows!"
The female student responded. She was now back on her feet and was about to use her pump-like device once more.
"Damn it, I'll take you on!"
Yang Cheng made his move. He ran towards the female student. He left the 'inspector' to his two classmates.
His battle now, was to stop the student named Aries from interfering any further.
He channeled the energy within his soul. He gathered the power he formed towards his left palm. He then threw the skill he conjured.
"Electro Ball!"
This was the spell he had been practicing for the past few days. It could actually deal a lot of damage to a defenseless person. But his teammates were fighting, so he must give his best too.
However,
"Thanks!"
The 'inspector' intercepted his attack instead. He caught the flying spell with his right hand.
This was when Yang Cheng knew, he had screwed up. How could he use an electric-type attack in front of a lightning bender?
That was like showing his amateurish skill in front of an expert!
Alas, he was too late to react. He was not even able to keep up on what happened afterwards.
The 'inspector' clamped together his hands. A knife on his left and a caught electricity on his right.
He combined the two different factors to unleash an attack that was greater than their sum. He declared,
"Electro Fang!"
The next instance, the 'inspector' had approached Jet with great speed. They were now a meter apart.
Thankfully, two can play in such a high speed battle!
Jet shot an arrow upon reflex. But the 'inspector' was able to deflect the incoming attack right after it left the bow.
Jet shot a second arrow immediately. His bow had a special effect where it could automatically load a new arrow after shooting. This enabled the Scout student to attack continuously without reloading or reaching for a quiver.
But the 'inspector' slashed the arrow when it was just half-way out of the bow. This enabled the electric sparks covering his knife to conduct its charge.
The electricity quickly traveled from the arrow to the bow until it reached Jet. The sudden shock made the Scout student let go of his weapon.
And the 'inspector' had taken this opening to strike. He slashed the Scout student diagonally. But it was probably the electricity around the blade that had dealt the most damage.
Jet fell down the floor. He had lost his consciousness.
"Don't worry, I used the back of my blade."
The 'inspector' said with a smug.
Yang Cheng winced upon hearing this though. He remembered the rule given by the emcee.
Anyone who pass out or lose consciousness inside the dungeon will be disqualified.
In short, Jet could no longer participate in the Border Run. Yang Cheng could not accept that his blunder had cost his classmate to be disqualified.
"You bastard!"
Carl roared. He clenched his fist and rushed forward. There was no way he would let this end just like that.
The 'inspector' turned quickly. He faced the Warrior head-on. He slashed his knife forward. It was still covered with electricity.
Carl threw a bubble in return. The sudden projectile attack made contact with the electric weapon.
Yang Cheng was expecting the bubble to burst out upon contact. Perhaps even the 'inspector' thought so too.
However, the bubble bounced back instead.
"What the?"
"Fist of Fury!"
The 'inspector' looked surprised. But instead of answering, Carl threw a straight punch towards his solar plexus.
The punch was strong enough to push the knife wielder away by four meters. He then collapsed down on the floor.
Only then did Carl explain himself,
"Bubbles can actually absorb electricity to become stronger. The stronger my [Bubble Shuffle] is, the more powerful my punch will become!"
Yang Cheng was dumbfounded. It took him a few seconds to process what he heard. He then smiled weakly.
His classmate have won. He congratulated the Warrior student,
"Carl, I---"
"I almost died!"
But the 'inspector' interrupted. He was struggling to rise back up. He even spat out some blood a couple of times.
"You're still alive?"
Carl's face darkened. He walked towards the struggling student. Bubbles continued on emerging from his body.
The coughing student asked with great difficulty,
"That… was… intentional?!"
"Die!"
Carl threw a downward punch towards the wobbling student. He was aiming for the head.
But the 'inspector' moved quickly. He avoided the punch and distanced himself. He also have a dark expression on his face now. He said,
"Then you don't mind if I don't hold back anymore, right?"
"[Bubble of Fury]!"
Carl did not answer. He instead replied with his fists. He threw a barrage of punches in the space between him and his target. The bubbles began to accumulate on the location he was punching.
The 'inspector' did not back away. Instead, he moved his left hand forward. He then clenched it into a fist.
Perhaps no one would understand this. But Yang Cheng did. He suddenly remembered what had happened a few days before. He shivered upon realizing that it was the same eerie feeling he had in the past.
"[Enchant]: Blast Fang!"
"Too late! Shockwave attack!"
Carl unleashed a barrage of shockwaves as the accumulated bubbles burst out at the same time. Yang Cheng had lost count on how many punches were being triggered exactly.
But the 'inspector' kept on slashing towards the incoming barrage. The shockwaves formed dust clouds that hindered the vision of a spectator.
When the dust cloud settled, the victor was revealed.
"Did you know, it's actually dangerous to use an element that you are not familiar with. Especially if you don't have a resistance against it. What will you do if I deflect them all back to you?"
The 'inspector' walked forward. Carl on the other hand was kneeling on the floor. He body was tattered. Possibly from the shockwaves he withstood.
No, he probably blacked out even before the barrage ended.
"Why?"
"?"
Yang Cheng gnashed his teeth. He could not believe that his classmates were disqualified just like that. He cried out,
"Why are you this unfair? You're just a Tier 1! There's no way you can beat us just like that!"
The 'inspector' stopped when he was around five meters from Yang Cheng. He sighed,
"Don't get too reliant on your Tier. What matters is your skills. How much bond you have with them and such."
Perhaps this bad guy was just giving an advice. But Yang Cheng could not process it. He lost his reason after all.
"Enough of your nonsense! If its skill you want, I have them too!"
Yang Cheng roared out loud. He released all the energy inside his soul. He was now covered in both the fire and electric element.
"Hey, stop that!"
"The one who will be stopped is you! Right here! Right now!"
Yang Cheng had been mistaken from the start. His battle was not against the female student. In fact, he did not bother to check where she was right now.
His true battle, what he must defeat, was the tyrant that was in front of him!
"They… they were my friends!"
Indeed.
He should stop referring to Carl and Jet as his classmates. He had to admit once and for all. That they were his friends.
Amidst the two raging forces coming out of his body, Yang Cheng could no longer control either of them. He must finish his enemy as fast as possible.
"I WILL DEFEAT YOU IN THEIR PLACE!!!"
"I see.. let's end this then."
Yang Cheng could no longer recognize anything around him. All he knew was that he must strike now.
"RROOOARRR!!!"
"[Enchant]: Grass Fang!"
Yang Cheng had no more memory of what happened afterwards.