"W-why me? Can't Igor spar with him instead? Lilia questioned with a pained expression.
She had always been placed in the second position, with Karan being regarded as the strongest in their team. This was a fact that she had always refuted. Even if he managed to defeat her a couple of times during their spar, that didn't mean he was stronger than her. Most times the outcome of their battle was a draw.
She wasn't afraid of Karan or being cowardly; it was just that if she were to fight with him now, nothing would stop her from going all out. And she wanted to avoid that considering they had a D rank dungeon to raid the next day.
Her thoughts were obviously read by the guild master. "I have a reason for this, Lilia," he added quietly. Go ahead and do it."
Lilia pouted her lips, clearly not convinced. She reluctantly dragged her feet into the spar area with a frown on her face.
Seeing her expression, Karan curled his lips into a teasing smile and said, "Why that face? We're just sparing, nothing serious. Besides, isn't this what you always wanted?"
"She's just scared, nothing else." Darvyn clamored from behind.
Hearing Darvyn's words, Lilia's face darkened in an instant.
"Scared of what? Who the hell do you think you are?." Just as she yelled out at the top of her lungs, a layer of thick ice emerged from under her feet and directly covered the entire floor of the spar area.
Everyone in the room, including Karan looked shocked at this sight. "I thought this was supposed to be a spar. Darvyn said in a low voice while his head dripped with sweat.
As fellow team members, they all knew each other's abilities. Lilia, as a mage, specialized in ice attributes. The stunning spell she just utilized was called the absolute ice domain. Although Lilia was still a low-rank mage, she had been able to comprehend this spell which was something only used by top rankers. Even if the spell was in its weak form due to the limitations of her strength, it wasn't something an E ranked could contend with, neither could she maintain it for a long period. As far as they knew, she only used the spell during dungeon raids when she was about to go all out.
Seeing the ice domain below his feet, Karan reverted to a serious expression and unsheathed his twin sword.
"Hey, what's going on with you?"
"It hasn't come to this."
"Just calm down Lilia."
Darwyn, Amon, and Igor who were on the sidelines tried their best to alleviate the situation, but their words fell on deaf ears.
Both opponents were clearly intoxicated with a battle sensation, and their fighting spirit soared into the sky as the two pairs of sharp gazes interlocked in the air.
Lilia curled her lips in a grin and gestured with her finger, "Make your move."
Hearing this, blazing energy flames ignited in Karan's pupil. He twisted and adjusted his feet on the icy ground before bolting towards her at an unimaginable speed.
Lila knew that Karan wasn't easy to deal with because of his incredible speed and reflexes. In fact, that was the reason why she created the ice domain, this would help to reduce his speed and prevent him from narrowing the distance between them giving her enough space to attack him.
Just as Karan sped on the icy surface, Lilia lifted her fingers and made a few gestures while reciting some unknown words.
Crack!
The ice cracked up in an instant, and rows of icy spikes emerged from underneath, surrounding Karan and impeding his way. A few of the icy spikes rose in the air and others were immediately formed in replacement.
Karan found himself enclosed in a formation, and was forced to halt his movements. He glanced at Lilia, who then flashed him a mocking smile. She then proceeded to clench her fingers tightly.
Just like impatient wolves, waiting for the signal of the alpha, the icy spikes in the air rushed towards their bewildered prey at an incredible speed. Karan was aware of the looming danger. He quickly tilted his body and changed position several times, avoiding them all.
Just as the icy spikes fell to the ground, they were absorbed and new ones were immediately created and lunched at him, trapping him in an endless formation. Karan kept on evading the icy spikes with quick reflexes while constantly being pushed backward.
The endless rows of attacks and invasions went on for several minutes without stopping. The guild master and the rest members on the sidelines all had worried looks on their faces, but there was nothing they could do as both opponents showed no signs of backing down anytime soon.
The consumption of Lilia's manna per second as she tried to maintain the domain formation was enormous. This had started to take a toll on her and Karan immediately noticed this as the speed of the formation of ice spikes was relatively reduced.
Karan knew this was his chance. Tightening his grip on the twin swords, his momentum suddenly shot up and the speed of his invasion was relatively increased. He immediately shot forward, covering a reasonable amount of distance in the process.
Lilia noticed this change and tried her best to increase the intensity of her attack, but it wasn't enough to deter his movements. Within a short amount of time, Karan had already covered much of the distance, leaving little space between him and Lilia.
Seeing this, Lilia immediately made a timely move. She changed her gesture and an ice wall rose from the ground in an instant, blocking Karan's way.
Without stopping his momentum, Karan shot up and twisted his figure in the air, completely avoiding the ice wall. Lilia, seeing this scene couldn't help being shocked. She was amazed at the speed at which Karan reacted and evaded her attacks.
She had simply underestimated him.
Before she had time to process the next step to take, she was greeted by the edge of a twin sword pointing directly at her face.
Karan was all smiles. It was like he hadn't experienced a life-threatening battle a few moments ago.
"Would you admit defeat or shall I make it more obvious?" He said while maintaining his smile.