The rest of the students started whispering to one another as the two mages stood across from one another. Clive said he partnered the room together with another student who was at least on their level. Unknown to Zain, throughout this week he had gained infamy amongst his peers as the lone Black Mage. With this knowledge people had tried to find information on him as best as possible, and to their surprise he was a simple commoner. Someone of low birth who barely had a shred of information known about him other than his name. Yet his partner was none other than Chron Aeturnus, only son of his highness the king. He was born with the power of a White Mage, shattering through all the circles within oneself to reach the pinnacle of strength. He lived in the lap of luxury all his life, given the best teachers of magic and anything he wanted if he so desired it. These two couldn't have been more different from the other if they tried. Yet their teacher wanted to label them as even?
"Is this some kind of joke?"
"Of all the people for Lord Chron to go up against…"
"Are you spitting in the face of royalty?!"
The students of noble birth were obviously the first ones to complain about the situation they saw Chron in, but their voices fell on deaf ears. Down in the arena Chron still held his hand out towards Zain, hoping to get on his better side after having their last conversation interrupted.
"I'm glad we got another chance to talk. I'm sorry about earlier, people like her tend to intrude on my personal conversations like that. I hope you can look past that."
His smile conveyed his honest feelings, yet Zain paid no attention to it before walking past him. Chron stood in the stadium before turning around with a confused smile while watching Zain walk away.
"..Is he still mad about earlier..?"
Zain and Chron had changed into their gym uniforms before walking out to the center of the field yet again. Clive walked to their side and began looking over both of them.
"As you've no doubt noticed now, you have a few extra additions to your uniforms now. You have pieces of armor covering your legs, shoulders, arms, heart and back. Those are sensor pads that will tell the amount of damage received to the parts of the body they're covering. If the damage climbs too high, the armor will shine bright red, indicating you are damaged in that area. If three of the plates or more shine bright red, I will count this bout at your loss."
"I see…so these simulate the type of damage we could gain in a fight with another mage correct?"
"Exactly Chron. However, there is a way to end the fight immediately. The pads covering your heart and back can be counted as fatal areas. Deal enough damage to either one, and the fight will end immediately."
'So this is a fight that determines either your power, or your skill as a mage. It has a way for everyone to win, depending on their strengths. Overpower your enemy, or outsmart them.' Zain thought as he looked over the pads on his body. After explaining, Clive backed off as the two students stood apart from one another. Once their distance was great enough he raised his hand to the air.
"Begin!"
Zain vanished from sight before appearing behind Chron in an instant, black lightning coating his arm. His spell focused into his fist before he unleashed it and ruptured the air before him. The thunderous sound rippled in the room for a while, leaving a few people still shuddering from the loud sound.
"Going right for the back already? Do you have some sort of grudge against me or something…?"
Chron's aloof voice broke the silence as he stood on the side of Zain's attack, undamaged. Yet Zain went on the attack unphased by his failed attempt. Lightning coursed through Zain's fist as he started a relentless assault.
"I think we can talk this out however…I am trying to apologize here so can you stop for a moment..?" Chron calmly continued to doge Zain's attack while maintaining his posture. He was calm, and carefree as if nothing in the world mattered. And with each passing moment Zain continued to grow angrier. Even as Zain's fist was implanted in the wall beside his head, Chron continued to smile.
"...I get the feeling that you don't like me for some reason…"
Zain grit his teeth in anger as veins started forming on his head. Lightning started to break down the wall itself and caused rubble to fall on the two. Chunks of the wall fell as Zain dragged his arm along its surface while chasing Chron. Always one step ahead of him, the White Mage continued to lead his adversary on while staying out of harm's way. Zain's arm lunged forward as lightning burst out with rubble, and like silk floating in the wind, Chron evaded Zain's attack and the debris that came his way.
"You seem fairly powerful. Alright, I'll reciprocate your effort." A golden aura appeared around Chron as he raised his fist up once Zain got close. Zain raised his fist to counter attack-
BAM!
Only to go flying across the arena. His body dragged along the floor before he found his balance yet again, and rose to his feet.
'What..?!' Zain questioned in his mind as to what just happened. His face stung with a pain like never before as he looked towards Chron. 'Was that magic…?'
"You're still standing…? Amazing! This is the first time someone has stayed conscious after that!"
'He definitely did something…but I couldn't react to it…' Staying in his position Zain tried to gather his thoughts. 'Calm down...this is no time to let your emotions get the best of you.'
Staying at a distance Zain started forming runes around his palm as lightning gathered in his fingertips.
"A long range spell this time?" Chron lowered his body in response to this, believing he would fire off a bolt of lightning and prepared to dodge. But the spell that fired off went in every direction but his.
"He missed..?" Confused by the sudden disperse of the spell Chron looked away for a moment and left himself wide open. In the split second he looked away Zain dashed to his blind spot and swung his fist towards Chron's chest plate. His mind could practically feel the contact of his fist into the padding, but all he hit was air.
'How is he moving so fast?! It's as if he's there one moment and gone the next!' Zain shouted in his mind as he quickly scanned the area to find his opponent. His back tingled as the presence of a person ran up on him.
"I can't take my focus off you for a second can I?" With confidence in his voice Chron went to end this fight as early as he could.
"Yeah, you sure as hell can't!" But Zain's comment caused him to falter for a moment as the spell he thought Zain misfired came back towards him. The bolts sliced through the air as they honed in on their target before missing the mark. The arena's field of view was covered in dust as Chron dodged out of harm's way.
"A homing attack?" Chron was left shocked for a moment, but snapped back to reality as a shadow appeared over him. All he saw as he looked up was Zain's fist coated in lighting, and soon after a deafening roar of thunder shook the entire arena.