"Oh!~ So that's how I can use my healing, but isn't inducing cancer upon someone like too extreme?" Minena asked.
"It's only to be used on actual threats. We can't just have you running around giving people cancer." I chuckled then looked at the clocktower, checking the time. "We should head back, we've trained well. I think you're getting a hang on things so far."
"I think so too!~" Minena giggled and looked at me.
We walked back to the battle area together and those who were eliminated sat in the audience seats. Those who were battling, went into the sideline area. Tokichi was making arrangements for the four battles that were about to go underway.
"Alright! We are on with the quarter finals! The first match of the quarter finals will be Yusuka against Mitsuho!" Tokichi said.
I stood up and Mitsuho did the same. We walked out onto the battlefield and stopped to look at each other. Mitsuho held her hand out to me.
"Let's both do our best." Mitsuho smiled.
I looked at her then smirked and held her hand then shook it. "Yeah."
"Begin!" Tokichi said.
I let go of Mitsuho's hand then kicked her. Mitsuho blocked my kick and grunted as she rolled backwards. She rebounded and slid backwards on one knee then looked at me. She moved her hair out of her face then smirked. She stood up then awakened her Cipher then multiple orbs of magic energy appeared behind her.
"Blade Hell!" Mitsuho bellowed and shot a blizzard of energy blades at me.
I held my hand out then an energy barrier stopped the blades from hitting me by deflecting them. I awakened my Cipher then used the exact same inscription Mitsuho used but changed the code a bit. "Fusillade."
A stream of energy blast bombarded Mitsuho and she grunted and dodged the first few energy blasts then ran around the battlefield. I swiped my hand and the pattern of the energy blasts changed and she yelped as she was hit by the energy blasts. She grunted as she rolled backwards and hit get back against the energy wall. I lowered my hand then looked at her.
"Is she done..?" Dahlia asked.
"I think she is." Torushi answered.
Mitsuho slowly stood up and looked at me. She panted then got in her fighting stance.
"I understand what your Cipher consists of." I said.
"Huh..?" Mitsuho said then rose an eyebrow.
"Energy Constructs. I noticed it in your battle against Dahlia and now. You use energy to construct weapons, but you can do vastly more." I said.
"There goes the classic Yusuka teaching his opponents on how to use their power even better. He's a really nice guy at heart who loves to see progress and results. This guy loves the art of battle." Ashiri chuckled.
Tokichi watched and crossed her arms.
"Construction with Energy is a very complex spell to cast and requires time to execute unless you're skilled at the spell. Watch." I said then held my hand out and my Cipher activated and I constructed an energy golem in front of me.
Mitsuho looked surprised and looked up at the Golem. Tokichi and the others, except Ashiri, looked surprised at how fast I constructed the energy golem.
"How did he do that so fast..?" Ebani asked in shock.
"He cast that spell so fast. Golem Creation is a spell with a series of complex sequences that only Master Level Cipher users can do in such a short amount of time." Chizumi said and watched closely.
"You never fail to surprise me." August said and chuckled.
Ibaru watched and crossed his arms. "Hmph."
"Here's the inscription if you want it." I said then used Spell Transfer to give her the exact Inscription I used.
Mitsuho looked at the inscription and looked back at me. "Why are you helping me mid battle? Is this your way of saying I'm too weak?!"
I laughed softly and shook my head. "Not at all. You're strong. No one is denying that, but I see the potential that you can take your Cipher even further. Your Cipher is more than just a medium for spell casting and such. Your Cipher can grow stronger the more you grow. Try making a Golem."
"He's really giving her a lesson mid battle.." Ibaru said.
Mitsuho looked at me then smiled and closed her eyes then took a deep breath and exhaled. She held her hand out and awakened her Cipher then began to use the Inscription to form the energy golem. She had to concentrate hard since the inscription was so complex. After a minute passed she finally managed to construct the golem. Everyone was impressed at the golem, even if it was smaller in size compared to the one I summoned.
I smiled and nodded then dispersed my golem. "Keep training and you'll have it down in no time. Now let's finish this battle. I'm ending this with one attack."
Mitsuho nodded then got in her stance. She dashed to me and constructed her energy whips then cracked them at me. I moved forward slightly then vanished. Mitsuho looked surprised and fell to her knees then her Cipher deactivated then she fell to the ground. The students looked surprised and looked at me. I lowered my hand and looked at her.
"What even happened..?" Sumitori asked.
"It's one of his specialties. He combined the inscription of the Flash Step technique that August used and the Aura Power Strike to chop her neck. He used it in a non-lethal way so she's only knocked out." Ashiri explained.
"Mitsuho is unable to battle! Yusuka is the victor!" Tokichi said.
I picked Mitsuho up then carried her to the sidelines beside Tokichi. Tokichi looked at me and looked at Mitsuho. I walked back over to my seat then sat down.
Tokichi shook her head and concentrated. "Next battle is Juliana verses Ibaru!"
Juliana stood up and smiled then walked out onto the battlefield. Ibaru stood up as well and walked out onto the battlefield. Juliana looked at Ibaru then noticed his smirk.
"After your big display earlier, I know what to look out for. Your illusions...they aren't tricking me. This will be another easy win, I'll crush you like I did that cripple of a Cipher user." Ibaru chuckled.
I slightly frowned and crossed my arms.
"Minena is not a cripple! She's just got a lot of work to do and I know next time you two meet on the battlefield, she's gonna blow you out of the water!" Juliana said then prepared herself for battle.
"The day that happens is the day I drop out. Now...get ready to lose." Ibaru said.
"Begin!" Tokichi said.
Juliana dashed to Ibaru and charged up an energy blast. Ibaru watched her then got into running position then dashed ahead. He feinted his attack, catching Juliana off guard, then kicked her in the air. Ibaru fired a light beam at her and hit her. Juliana yelped and began falling out the sky.
"Juliana!" Minena called out worriedly.
Juliana fell on the ground and grunted lightly. She slowly stood up and looked at Ibaru. She caught her breath then dashed to him again. She awakened her Cipher and shot a blast at the ground, creating smoke around the area. Ibaru looked around and waited for the smoke to clear. The smoke cleared and Ibaru noticed multiple illusions of Juliana around him. The illusions began running to him all at the same time. Ibaru laughed then awakened his Cipher.
"Your clones won't work against me!" Ibaru bellowed then created an outburst of destructive light, blowing away all of the illusions. He looked around and noticed Juliana was nowhere to be found.
Juliana bellowed as she flew down from the air. Ibaru looked up at her. "Luster Burst!" Juliana bellowed and blasted a beam of destructive energy at Ibaru at point blank range. A massive explosion happened and Juliana grunted.
"A direct hit!" Minena said.
"Yeah, but is it enough to take down someone like Ibaru..?" August asked.
"Sadly it isn't." Torushi said.
Juliana landed on the ground then panted. She grunted as she was pierced by an energy blade. Her eyes widened as she saw blood drip to the ground. The smoke cleared and Ibaru was shown with an energy blade of light around his hand.
"I would say I'm impressed, but I saw all of that coming. Now it's time to end this!" Ibaru swiped his hand up and flung Juliana into the air.
Juliana grunted and clapped her hands together with her fingers interlocked. Her Cipher shined brightly then she looked down at Ibaru. 'I can't lose to this jerk!' she thought to herself.
Ibaru flew towards her using his light and slashed at her. He noticed he sliced an illusion in half then looked surprised. Juliana appeared above then kicked him to the ground, surprising the audience.
"I promised I wouldn't use this technique because it takes too much energy to use but what choice do I have..? I can't lose to him..!" Juliana grunted then separated her hands, exposing a ball of pure energy. She raised it up in the air and bellowed. "Luster Catastrophe!"
The ball of energy crashed down towards Ibaru and he looked at it then smirked. He bellowed and a bright light shined. A massive explosion happened and we all watched in anticipation.
"Who do you think win..?" Ashiri asked.
"Juliana lost." I said.
The smoke cleared and Juliana was seen falling to the ground and passed out due to energy loss. Ibaru's shield shattered into magic particles and he stood up straight.
"Juliana is unable to continue! Ibaru is the winner of this match." Tokichi said.
Ibaru walked off back to his seat and sat down then crossed his arms.
Tokichi summoned a magic circle under Juliana and transported her beside her then checked on her. She healed whatever wounds she had then closed her eyes. After healing Juliana's wounds, she allowed Juliana to rest. "Next battle is Ashiri against Kiruri!"
Ashiri stood up and looked over to Kiruri who was mumbling to herself again. He walked out onto the battlefield and waited for Kiruri. Kiruri walked onto the battlefield and looked at Ashiri.
"I know I'm gonna lose this battle, but I'm not going down without a fight." Kiruri said.
"Heh. Bring it on!" Ashiri smiled and got in his battle stance.
"Begin!" Tokichi said.
Kiruri dashed ahead and vanished then appeared behind Ashiri. Ashiri smirked and dodged her attack then kicked her backwards. Kiruri rolled backwards and rebounded on one knee then summoned her wand. She awakened her Cipher then dark spots appeared on the ground. She caused multiple black tentacles to emerge from the dark spots. Ashiri dodged the tentacles and awakened his Cipher then he fired a beam of holy energy at Kiruri.
A barrier blocked the beam, but shattered upon contact and Kiruri grunted, closing one eye. "What the-"
"His attack shattered her barrier..!" Sumitori said surprised.
Ashiri dodged a barrage of dark shards headed his way then palmed her stomach then gripped her shirt. "Let's go for a spin!" He bellowed and spun around with her and tossed her in the air.
Kiruri grunted and opened her eyes then shot multiple razor winds at Ashiri then combined them with dark aura. Ashiri avoided the razor winds then jumped up and walked on the air to Kiruri. Kiruri bellowed and fired a massive beam of dark energy at Ashiri. Ashiri appeared behind her then grappled onto her then flipped backwards as they descended to the ground.
"An Izuna Drop?!" August said surprised.
"That attack could kill her!" Chizumi said in shocked.
Ashiri slowed down time and let go of Kiruri and kicked her away, resuming time. Kiruri crashed into the energy wall then her wand disappeared and she fell onto the ground. Ashiri landed on one knee and stood up.
"Kiruri is unable to battle! The winner of this match is Ashiri!" Tokichi said.
Kiruri stood up slowly and held her stomach. She caught her breath and looked at Ashiri. "The hell did I just experience..? My loss was guaranteed but the match didn't even feel like five minutes.."
"Huh. Where's Sumitori's opponent?" Tokichi asked.
"Her opponent had to leave campus to check on her grandmother. She won't be here for a while sadly." Ebani said to Tokichi.
"I see...well it looks like Sumitori heads to the semifinals by default! The semifinals will be held tomorrow so good job everyone! Let's wrap it up and come back here tomorrow afternoon!" Tokichi said.
We all stood up and got ready to leave. Juliana and Mitsuho seemed to have recovered fully and we able to operate again.
I decided to head straight to my dorm room and take a shower to freshen up. After taking my shower, I put on some fresh clothes and used a cleaning spell to instantly wash my dirty clothes and folded them up then walked to my bag and put them away.
Minena walked into the room and looked at me. She closed the door and walked over to me. "Yusuka."
I stood up and looked back at Minena then smiled at her. "Hey."
"The big semi finals and finals tomorrow. Think you're prepared?" Minena asked.
"Yeah I think so. After a good night's rest, I will be back in top shape." I smiled and crossed my arms.
"I would hope so. I'm gonna take a shower and head to sleep. I'm pooped out." Minena said.
"You do that. I'm gonna go ahead and head to sleep." I said then crawled into my bed.
"Okay. Good night." Minena said.
"Good night. See you in the morning." I said then turned off my lamp.