The lanky boy threw punch after punch and air splitting kicks but his opponent managed to block his every move, renjiro had reason to suspect that they had taken enhancement potions, he found it very difficult to believe a florist at beginner level had such flexibility and skill.
The stockily built boy feinted with his left arm, using his left leg to perform a sweeping motion which made his opponent backflip twice in the air, seeing that his opponent was vulnerable during the flip he charged and punched at him using his bark covered arm but the lanky boy managed to parry the attack beautifully.
This cause him to halt his flip and pushed him till his feet was on the line, he wiped the sweat dripping off his face and turned to look at the timer, and for the first time the expression on his face changed, he had a determined look.
The spike shaped wood on his hand transformed into what looked like a rapier, making the lanky boy alternate between close range strikes and mid range strikes, his change in tactics managed to put his opponent on the back foot.
The rapier hit the arm of the stockily built boy managing to push him several meters back and his opponent wasted no time in capitalizing on the opportunity that presented itself, the stockily built boy seemed to be getting tired with every strike he blocked, the lanky boy charged and released three quick fire strikes, two to the and one on the right.
The stocky boy took the punishment with a grunt but was not expecting the uppercut that followed, the punch stopped under his throat before It could cause any real damage, he swallowed saliva and saw that it was professor nerissa who had interrupted their duel.
"That's enough for now" she said with a smile holding on to the hand of the lanky boy, she didn't need to announce a winner since it was obvious who had won the duel.
The holographic screen popped up again showing the highlights of the fight, it slowed down considerably at professor nerissa's control, showing the scene where the stocky boy failed to block his opponents attack.
"whenever you go all out always make sure not exhaust yourself, if you are going to do that make sure you beat down your opponent till they can't move, failure to do so makes you end up like this" she said referencing the stocky boy.
He had a serious look on his face and looked to be learning from his mistakes, he knew that he could have won the fight since he had larger energy reserves than his opponent but his love for battle had almost cost him his life. If there was anything he learnt from this fuel it was to finish off the opponent as soon as you have the chance.
"we have a new student in class and she is going to be entering into the circle next, is there anyone who would like to be her opponent?"
A slim blonde girl with mean eyes raised he hands immediately, she already knew who the new girl was and wanted to take revenge on lyra after losing out to her in a competition the previous year. She knew that she couldn't take on lyra in a 1v1 duel and zephyrus was always lucky enough not to be paired with her, this was the closest she could get to harming lyra.
Melora saw the way the blonde girl looked at her and tried to hide behind lyra but she had no option than to get into the circle
"begin" professor nerissa announced and the blond girl charged at melora
"Rain of thorns" she changed and an arcane circle appeared above melora's head and thousands of Thorns began to fall like rain, at speed barely visible to the human eye, lyra seeing that melora made no move to escape the rain of Thorns tried to charge in and save her but she was intercepted by professor nerissa.
At that moment melora curled into a fetal position and something shocking happened, a bubble only professor nerissa could see formed around her body making every thorn that came close to mlora disintegrate before it could touch her.
The blond girl screamed in frustration and another arcane circle appeared above melora again but still failed to touch her, arcane circles kept popping up but it seemed like the blond girl was a one trick pony and couldn't do more than creating rains of thorns so none of her attacks were having any effect on melora.
She screamed in frustration and a thorn materialized in her hands which she used to charge at melora, the thorn disintegrated again as soon as it came in close proximity to melora leaving the blond girl frustrated, at this point the blond girl had a crazed look in her eyes.
"I quit" melora shouted jumping to her feet surprising the rest of the class
The blond girl was announced winner but the win left a sour taste in her mouth, she kept staring daggers at melora who cringed whenever their eyes met.
This time there was no holographic screen, professor nerissa walked into the circle and stood with her hands on her waist her eyes trained on the blond girl.
"Your performance left me very disappointed frezza, I really hoped you would do better. Your first mistake was that your choice to come into this ring was motivated by vengeance, you saw melora and felt that you could defeat her easily punishing lyra for defeating you but I hope you can see the error of your ways. You frustration had the better of you making you do the same thing over and over again even after seeing that your attempts were futile. The next time you are going to enter into any battle I suggest you do that with a clear head" professor nerissa concluded before turning her attention to lyra and melora.
"lyra, you should also learn self control and I suggest you teach melora self defense because her abilities would not work against purely physical attacks"
Professor nerissa stepped out of the circle letting the other combatants step in for their duel.