The pain momentarily paralyzed him. Most children were not used to feeling pain, even the senior teenagers at school were no exceptions except those who were trained to do so.
Three different spells came to Astolfo quickly: fire, wind, and earth turned into a confusion of attacks aimed at the boy. He had lost momentum because of his last strike and had no time to retreat.
"Shit," gritting his teeth, the boy placed his spear in front of his body and tried to cover his vital parts. And for the first time, Kayden saw Astolfo's element solidifying into a barrier of wind in front of him.
Boom!
The clash of the spells with his wall caused a loud bang and sent the spearman flying in the opposite direction. After rolling on the ground for a few meters, he stood up while leaning on his spear.
It was at the exact moment that he saw Kayden approaching like a rocket towards the remaining 4 wizards. Taking advantage of the blind spot of the already injured wizard, Kayden slashed diagonally.
His opponent would probably have been split in two if Lord Lucas hadn't taken him out before it was too late. Kayden turned to the other three opponents. He didn't have much time left before his body overloaded.
Again a wave of spells was thrown, only this time in the swordsman's direction. Fortunately, Jean was ready to help him and conjured a neutral element protection bubble.
Author's Note: Maybe I didn't explain this, but some spells can be cast simply using elements mana, but with elements, they can have certain unique characteristics.
The bubble had huge cracks on its surface but remained intact. The tip of a katana came out of it and released three concentrated rays in different directions.
The spell was not fast enough to reach his opponents, who easily used their magic to simply prevent the lightning from reaching them. At that moment, Kayden was already very close to one of his opponents.
Close enough to make a clean hit to his side. His blade descended at high speed and at the same time, the opponent conjured a spark in his hands. Kayden knew this would quickly turn into an explosion.
The right thing to do would be to retreat, right? At least that was what the fire mage expected, but unfortunately, he underestimated Kayden's insanity, who continued bringing down his katana without caring about anything.
Booooooom!
A loud bang combined with a confusion of flames took over the space where the two participants were. For a few seconds, nothing could be seen, until a body was removed by Lord Lucas.
All the fighters in the match were trying to see who it was. His eyes were fixed on that spot. When the body became visible, a very bright light exploded from the smoke, blinding both teams.
Kayden took this opportunity to throw a concentrated beam at one of the opponents and approach him at high speed. His katana came down mercilessly against his opponent, threatening to cut his neck out.
His weapon cut through the air.
Mr. Lucas again removed the participant before anything serious happened. Kayden turned against the other opponent but stopped his movements when he saw Astolfo simply holding his opponent by the neck.
"Hey, wake up, it's time to sleep," the boy slapped the wizard's face, snapping him out of his blindness. Because of the intensity of the last Flash Bang, they were blinded for much longer.
Kayden spent practically 50% of his mana on that spell and kept the rest for Transcendence, to maintain full efficiency. He estimated that he would be able to remove at least one of the opponents and leave the rest to his team.
"Kayden's team wins," Lucas' voice signaled the end of the fight. Kayden began to retreat from the arena when he received a kick to the butt, causing him to stumble. Before he could do anything, he heard the kicker complaining.
"You could have saved me there, couldn't you?" Well... that was true. Kayden could have helped Astolfo defend himself, but then he would have missed that window of opportunity and would not have been able to remove two opponents in a row.
"I was too far away," Kayden said with a neutral face that fooled no one on his team. "Now you can rest," Kayden's smile widened. "After we move up to position 10," his smile reached full size.
******
"Victory for Kayden's team," Lord Lucas' voice resounded in the arena as the last opposing combatant fell to the ground. On the last day of the deadline, Kayden's team managed to gain position 5 in the school.
Reaching position 6 was done in 3 days with the help of Astolfo, but after that, they were practically stuck, as everyone in the top 5 was a very well-organized team with strong mages.
Their compositions were usually balanced and their allies complemented each other. Kayden's team was only recently made, so they weren't in sync together.
"Kayden, I love you, my brother," A sweaty Carlos jumped up to try and hug Kayden, but was dodged by the boy. Kayden looked around and saw all his team members happy, even Astolfo was celebrating.
Kayden perhaps had some trouble, as he couldn't be happy with this victory. It seemed like it didn't have any impact on his life. What an achievement it was to be part of the top 5 in a place that would disappear in the river of time in a few years.
It was nothing. Irrelevant.
Now his goal was to try to win the municipal championship, but the boy was sure that it would be impossible. They only had three days to prepare for the championship.
It wasn't enough. They barely cracked the top five. Kayden sighed. He only had one alternative if he wanted to increase his chances of winning the championship, and that was to move up the ranks.
But it wasn't worth it. Kayden estimated that he would need at least another two or three months to make a quality breakthrough, and he wasn't going to throw his base away for just a mere championship.
He would always have other opportunities in life, but that wasn't the problem. His real dilemma was losing the opportunity to become Sasaki's disciple. The sword art he displayed in the dojo was simply spectacular.
Without a doubt, this would open doors for Kayden that he had never seen in his life. But everything is fine. Hadn't he made the heart out of mana? Unraveled an entirely new path out of nowhere? Still a level-one talent?
It might take a little longer, but Kayden didn't doubt that with time he could develop something similar... at least he hoped. Well, only time would tell if he was making the right or wrong decision.
"See you in three days," Kayden said goodbye to his friends. With that time, he would train until he died, as always.
******
Three days later, 24 teenagers were gathered in the school cafeteria. As it was a Saturday, there were only them in the establishment. In addition to the 24, there was one more child. He kind of differed in age from the people around him, but in appearance, he was practically the same.
Some were carrying swords, others were carrying bows and some were just holding empty hands, but they were all there for the same reason: they were going to compete in the municipal tournament for their school.
"I can't stop shaking," Carlos chuckled. "Do you realize how proud my father was when he said he would compete this year?" He said this with a huge smile.