"Give it up for our first two contenders!"
Seeing them shake hands, it was hard to contain my excitement to see how another snake would fight. As she was a Rue just like Bellatrix, I had already assumed that she had the [Sniper] Manual, but as Bellatrix wasn't exactly the best at fighting, I was still a bit lost on what it was capable of.
And that wasn't even taking into account what I felt Caroline's personality was like. Now, with her walking back to the starting point, bow in hand, I wondered how she would approach the fight with a talented magician.
"Ah, it's starting."
With Mr. Brown as the judge, the man himself started the countdown, "5,4,3,2,1..."
'Let's see what she does.'
"Fight!"
****
[3rd Person Pov]
It didn't even take a second before Gomerick moved his mana, intent on making sure he could pile up the pressure before his opponent could put an arrow through his head.
"[Flame Bullet]."
With his hand raised, a fiery projectile was sent out towards the petite girl, who in turn easily dodged to the side. However, Gomerick didn't let up, sending another three flame bullets at her. Unfortunately for him,...
*Bom! Bom! Bom!*
... once again the small woman dodged, running in a circle around the arena. Signs of frustration could be seen on the young mage's face as he resolved himself to get a bit more serious.
"[Muddy Walk]!"
A huge area of mud appeared on the ground, seemingly covering almost the whole arena. "Shit!"
Even with her above-average agility, there was no way Caroline's speed wouldn't be affected by the utility spell that Gomerick used. So, seeing his opening, he executed yet another big spell.
"[Raging Tempest]!"
Using the same spell he had previously shown when he thought Adriana, it looked like Caroline was bound to collied with the monstrous whirlwind of fire.
*FWOOSH!*
Yet, somehow, she had managed to dodge it as well, and worst of all, her face showed no signs of exhaustion whatsoever.
It was as if her running was as effortless as breathing, now facing Gomerick with a cheeky smile.
Yet another level of frustration arose inside the mage, and he couldn't stop himself from moving as much mana as possible, intent on ending the fight in one strike.
After all, wouldn't he be the one to run out of gas if this continued?
"[Elementa..."
"[Piercing Shot]."
*Bom!*
At that moment, the crowd went silent, no one understanding how this heated fight could have ended so suddenly. And who could have ever thought that the mighty mage would be the one to go down with an arrow between his eyes?
****
[Zero's Pov]
'And that's that. Shit, she really is similar to me...'
What had happened was simple. In order to dodge the relentless barrage of attacks, Caroline had used a lot of mana to strengthen her legs.
Naturally, this had taken a toll not only on her stamina but her mana pool as well. However, Gomerick was too blunt and honest to see through her trick, as her acting had convinced him otherwise.
If he had taken a second to analyze her mana movements, he would have probably found the answer and relatively easily come out on top.
"She really won... It looked like Gomerick had the momentum for all of the fight, but then she just ended it in one shot."
Yes, Caroline had only used a single arrow this whole fight, probably knowing she would have no energy to spare. Also, that was the strength of a sniper. If they knew what they were doing, one shot was all they needed.
And the opening she found when Gomerick was stupidly launching a huge spell gave her the right circumstances for just that.
Turning my head toward my teacher while smiling, I couldn't help but gloat a bit, Saint Zero style.
"Yeah, didn't I tell you? Of course, my friend would win!"
"Haa... you brat."
Still, there was one thing that bothered me a lot about this fight.
'We even came up with the same kind of tactics...'
We were so much alike that she used an incredibly similar tactic as to when I fought Arthur in the Labyrinth. Not allowing our opponents to see just how rough and exhausting it was to use our mana to dodge their attacks.
'Ssssooo sssimilar...'
'Shut up, sub-me!'
Then, the host's voice suddenly brought me out of arguing with my clone as she and Bruce talked a bit about the match.
"What an unexpected ending to the first match! Or what do you think, Bruce?"
"I don't think so. Caroline appeared to have been looking for that opening all the time, as she extensively used her mana to dodge attacks while not wasting any on attacks of her own."
'Ah, he is pretty sharp.'
"Oh, I see! As expected from Mr. Denver, your eyes are a lot better than mine. Now, moving on, we have our next set of contenders! Akane Ito versus Thomas Everstone!"
Another interesting matchup, with a beast tamer going up against the man who fought like a beast. Looking down at the arena, I imagined myself that I could see how nervous the big man was as he shook the much smaller girl's hand.
Still, I had seen how he changed during his duel with Mr. Brown, so I couldn't say that I was all too worried about that part. What did worry me, however, was how he would fare against fighting not just one opponent, but three.
As they walked to their starting positions, Akane's two portals opened up, and the black panther and the brown bear emerged energetically out of them.
"5,4,3,2,1, fight!"
"Stephanie, Uldrich, go!"
Not missing a beat, Akane commanded her beasts to fight, quickly rushing towards the gentle giant who had right about now gotten in the right mindset for a fight. Though it could be said to be stupid, he also rushed forward, wielding the big gauntlets on his hands.
*Graaawwr!*
Because of the difference in speed, the panther had closed the gap a bit before the bear and lunged at the one she viewed as prey. Unfortunately, the prey she saw wasn't as easy as they might have wanted to believe.
*Bam!*
Instead of dodging, Thomas sent the panther flying with a right hook, followed by quickly setting his sights on the next beast that was coming at him.
*Growl!*
Seeing what had happened to his comrade, Ulrich didn't just launch himself forward. Instead, it made a huge swipe with one of its paws, threatening to tear the man's chest right off. Yet, Thomas didn't even flinch.
"Hupp!"
Like a boxer, he dashed underneath the paw and managed to get inside a range that was very vulnerable for the bear, and he launched his fist straight up. Just as his fist was about to connect with the bear's chin, something made him throw himself to the side preemptively.
*Grawr!*
And it had absolutely been the right move, as the panther had already recuperated from the earlier strike, now trying to slash the brawler's back with its claws. And this was where the problem would begin.
Though he tried time and time again to find an opening to attack either of the beasts, they covered for each other so well that he never managed to land a strike.
"Guh!"
*Growl! Graawr!*
Added to that, it was starting to become impossible for him to fully dodge all of their advances, as his body slowly started bleeding from various scratches and gashes. Noticing the situation, the host's energetic voice rang out, quickly followed by Bruce's more mellow tone.
"Ah, even though it looked like Thomas had a great start, it appears that he has somehow gotten on the backfoot!"
"Yes, it does seem like he doesn't have the tools to deal with them at the same time. At this rate, he is going to bleed out."
Yet, the man kept moving, and somehow, it almost looked like his movements became more and more fluid. From dodging by stepping, to his body now twisting and turning like a leaf in the wind. Then, another swipe from the bear threatened to tear his neck while the panther lunged to bite his leg.
*Grawr! Roar!*
But what happened next was unbelievable.
*BAM!*
Instead of Thomas getting torn to pieces, both of the beasts were sent flying at the same time, as he had somehow managed to jump into the air and superman punched the feline while at the same time kicking upwards, his feet landing on the chin of the bear.
Seeing her animals dazed by the sudden strike, Akane's face paled a bit as she knew what was about to happen. Dashing quickly, knowing he had to take her out so he wouldn't have to deal with her pets, it didn't take long until Thomas had reached his target.
"I surrender!"
And like that, the match ended with the victory for the beast facing off against Akane's beasts.