'John huh? It is truly a shame. You showed something unique,' Alex thought to herself as John was taken away by the medical team.
"And?" Dio's voice grabbed her out of her mental space. He was seated next to her, with barely a sweat on his body, the air around him seemed to be resonating with his confidence and pride. That was the primary difference between the two, Alex was more calculative in a realistic sense, and Dio was simply just.... over confident?
"And what? You want me to praise you for that? For such a one-sided duel?" Alex squinted her eyes and folded her arms, her posture remained as straight as a rifle, "it was boring Dio. He had no chance against you," she frowned slightly before continuing, "what do you think I think about that?"
"....." Dio looked at her for a few seconds, without even uttering a single word or letting out a sound, "Yeah whatever, don't care. Asked you for fun anyway," Dio pouted a little, there was a sense of disappointment in his voice but he was able to mask that up properly.
As the clouds moved along slowly, the matches got over one by one, it was now Alex's turn once again. Once again, the matches went in Alex and Dio's favor, and they went in a similar fashion. Alex made sure she gave it her whole heart from the beginning to the end. Dio on the other hand focused only on the most flamboyant of spells, increasing his stage presence. The duo breezed through all their matches so far, however, fate or destiny, or whatever you may call it, seemed to have something else planned.
"Dio Aethereus vs Hina Jaeger"
It was the third duel for Dio, Alex had won all her matches, it was now Dio's turn to add another win to his name, however, would it really be that easy? Would the surname Jaeger really prove to be that simple of an opponent?
The pressure in the arena was no longer the same, waves of concentration could literally be felt, the judges, the students who were already part of Hexora, the potential students, the chattering was no longer constant.
Especially for this match, both Dio and Hina proved to be exemplary candidates who deserved to be part of Hexora, it was without a doubt a match that deserved to be the final one, although this just goes to prove that not everyone or everything gets a to have a sense of drama included.
Unlike the previous matches, the duel didn't immediately begin, the judges and the professors were very much aware of both the contestant's public image, they allowed for their nerves to calm down, and for a little bit of pre-duel mental battle.
"I hope you're ready," Dio said as he stretched his legs, at the moment his voice was the only sound that could be heard, other than the howling of the wind and the frequent waving of the leaves.
"I do not care for your silly antics and techniques. When it comes to psychological warfare, as a Jaeger I have an innate advantage," Hina spoke in a solemn tone as she nodded like she was agreeing with herself. It was the first time anyone there had heard her voice. It was slightly deeper than expected, but it wasn't unusual.
"Is that so? Then as myself, I have an innate advantage in everything," Dio twisted his neck using his hands and multiple popping sounds were heard, it made the whole conversation more threatening, or at least that was how it usually went.
"Preposterous. You hold yourself a little too high, perhaps it is my duty to bring you back to reality,"
"You're mistaken. I do not hold myself as such, it is simply that my ability holds me at this level. Bring me back to reality? Now isn't that preposterous? I assume you are just overwhelmed by my presence, yes? It is a common occurrence, so do not be ashamed. However, I must still ask you to do your best, I wish to enjoy this match, so please,"
"....." Hina simply grit her teeth before calming down, as far as she was aware, all of what Dio had said was simply a technique to make her lose her cool, however, what she and the others failed to realize was that, that was simply Dio's personality. He meant every word he said and not a single sentence was for the sake of psychological warfare.
"There is no conversing with a being like you. You are right about one thing, this match is to be enjoyed, and with that in my mind, I shall be progressively putting in more effort. It wouldn't be any fun if I were to win with a single strike, so," Hina smiled as she looked down at a ring that circled her slender fingers.
"You may regret doing so, nevertheless, it does not matter to me," Dio snapped his fingers, and a very gentle breeze blew his hair back completely, he folded his hands and stood straight as he waited for the duel to commence.
"We shall see," Hina replied in a slightly lower tone, she was playing with the ring on her finger before looking up straight. She pushed one of her legs back and squatted down a little, it was obvious that she was someone skilled in close combats, it was important for any kind of individual, even if they weren't mages.
"Are you both ready?" the announcer asked for a change, the conversation very clearly indicated that this duel was no longer only for the sake of getting into Hexora, it was something that meant something to them, even if it did for only one of them.
"Yes"
"Naturally,"
'Urgh,' once again, Alex, who was on the edge of her seat, couldn't help but groan at Dio's response. Even in such a situation, he managed to sound obnoxious and moronic, and that ability of his never ceased to surprise her.
"Then….You may begin!!"