"Move on to the next arena." Linda ordered. "We will continue with the class."
After witnessing the first fight, the students were reluctant. Deep down, they were unwilling and wanted the class to end, but they could not refuse when faced with Linda's orders.
They all moved to the next, closest arena to them, and all the students stood at the foot of the stairs leading up the arena.
They all lined up in columns.
Linda walked to the front and stood facing the children.
"Next. Chloe Hart and Neo Walker. It's your turn to fight." Linda annouced. "Step out."
Both Neo and Chloe stepped out of the group of children.
Neo held his Bo staff, while the silver-haired beauty, Chloe, had a silver, double-edged sword. Jiang Sword.
Before going up to the arena, Neo looked at Chloe.
'She is beautiful, but that is all.' Neo thought, using his power to sense Chloe's strength. 'I can not sense any spiritual energy from her. She is an ordinary human.'
Neo could not help but shift his gaze at Linda. 'What is she thinking? There is no point in putting me against an ordinary human. With her strength, she should have already seen through me.
There would be more meaning in putting two ordinary humans against each other. At least, we will witness a fight.' Neo shook his head. 'Never mind. Whatever she thinks and whatever tricks Chloe has does not matter. She can not defeat me.' He smiled. 'Instead, I should thank Linda. I wanted to teach the arrogant girl a lesson.'
"Neo Walker!" Linda shouted, bringing Neo back to reality. "What are you waiting for? Go up on the arena?"
When Neo looked up, he saw that Chloe was already in the arena. He did not waste more time and walked up to the arena.
He stood opposite Chloe, ready to face her.
"I had nothing against you." He spoke. "But after what happened previously, I want to teach you a lesson, but don't worry, it will be quick."
Chloe smiled. "Since you helped me previously, I will not go too hard on you." She said.
'Helped her?' Neo tilted his head in confusion.
But he did not have much time to ponder this question as Linda appeared between him and Chloe. He did not even see her approach them. She just appeared between them out of nowhere, like she had teleported.
"Start!" She announced the start of the battle.
'I will finish this in one move.' Neo thought with a slight smile. 'I can not go hard on her. She is a girl, after all.'
With this thought in mind, as soon as Linda announced the start of the battle, Neo dashed toward Chloe.
He was approaching Chloe at a normal speed, not too fast. There was no need to use his full speed when facing an ordinary human.
Still, he quickly arrived before Chloe, and with the Bo staff raised high above his head, he swung at her.
Clang!
Chloe, up till now standing still, effortlessly blocked the attack with her sheathed sword.
Neo's eyes widened in surprise as he took a step back. He did not think much. After all, he only put the strength of an ordinary human behind that attack.
Swoosh!
He instantly spun in a circle and swung the staff back at Chloe, but this time, he was serious. He used nearly half of his strength, and his speed was nearly doubled.
Clang!
But yet again, Chloe seemingly effortlessly blocked the attack.
'Fuck!' Neo cursed internally. 'Are you kidding me? That would have blown away any ordinary man.'
'Don't blame me!' He gathered his strength for another attack. This time, he was attacking with full power. He did not worry about hurting her. If the blow was deadly for Chloe, Linda would interfere immediately.
Swoosh!
Chloe could not take this attack lightly. She grabbed her sword with both hands.
CLANG!!!
A loud, ear-piercing metal sound rang throughout the room.
The power of the collision threw Neo a few meters back and sent Chloe back, gliding on the floor.
"Impossible!" Neo exclaimed. "No ordinary human could ever withstand that attack!"
Chloe stood arrogantly, without the intention of attacking Neo. "Then it simply means I am not ordinary!" She spoke back with a hint of mockery in her voice.
And Neo knew exactly where this mockery was coming from. After all the talk and his boasting about teaching her a lesson, he got repeatedly blocked. This aroused the anger inside.
He wanted to rush at her, but he managed to calm himself. He could not afford to attack recklessly. If she could block an attack that could easily kill an ordinary human. Then she was not an ordinary human. She should at least be in the 1-star warrior realm.
"I will not hold back anymore!" Neo announced. "Don't blame me!"
"My beast, come to me!" He called. An orange portal opened next to his left leg.
Out of the portal, a little, humanoid-looking creature appeared. The creature was only about 1 meter (3 feet) high. And the only thing differencing it from a human was its stone body.
Linda raised an eyebrow in surprise. 'The little beast is in the 2-star warrior realm. Interesting.'
Down the arena, the students could not help but be even more surprised than when Owen called out his beast. In difference to the little sparrow, the stone man gave off a more powerful feeling.
The male students were worried about Chloe getting hurt. Yes, they knew Linda was there to stop any lethal injuries and heal them, but they still did not want to see her getting hurt.
Alden clenched his fists. 'I knew Neo was not ordinary, but I did not expect Owen to have a strong background.
They are both geniuses. While I am just a weakling. Will they allow me to be their friend?' He started questioning his worth to his newfound friends. He had seen too many times children getting thrown out of groups when they were deemed unworthy.
"Stone Staff!" Neo shouted.
The next moment, a piece of stone formed in front of the stone man and floated midair. Soon, the stone started extending and deforming, and in just a few seconds, the stone turned into a staff about a meter long (3 feet).
While this all was happening, Chloe did not sit still. She unsheathed her sword and prepared herself, holding the sword in one hand and the sheath in the other.
"Attack!" Neo ordered.
The stone man grabbed the staff and dashed at Chloe with lightning-fast speed. Neo followed soon after. The students down the arena could barely follow their movements.
But Chloe did not look worried at all and just smiled.
Swoosh!
She dashed forward, straight at the stone man.
Bang!
They collided, and Chloe got blown to the corner of the arena. The little stone man was several times stronger than Neo, and not to mention it was sturdier. She glanced at her hand holding the sword. Just from the power of them colliding once, the sword in her hand trembled.
However, she did not have time to relax or think of a strategy. When she looked up, Neo was already upon her.
He jumped in the air and swung his staff down at her.
Clang!
She raised the sword and the sheath above her head and blocked the attack.
The force of the attack was great. It threw her on one knee.
As for Neo, immediately after she blocked, he stepped a few steps back and stood a few meters from her with his little stone man standing next to him.
Neo smirked. "I think we should stop now." He said arrogantly. "I admit you are not bad. But you are no match for me and my beast. Why don't you just admit defeat?"
Chloe raised.
'Is this the extent of her power?' Linda wondered, looking at Chloe. 'If she was able to resist my pressure and hide her cultivation, she should be stronger than this, and her artifacts must be of a high rank.
And there is no way an artifact capable of hiding the cultivation level from me will only have the function of hiding the cultivation. It also must aid her in fighting. Why is she not using it?'
'Sight.' Linda sighed heavily. 'I expected more from her. At least I wanted to see the full extent of her power. But this is enough too. It's better than her being an ordinary student just starting her cultivation.' She smiled.
'But this boy Neo. I did not expect him to have such a strong beast. Though he is hot-headed and rash, with the stone man, he is probably stronger than Owen." Her smile grew wider, though on her strict face, it looked more like an evil smile. "This year with those three geniuses, my class will not be last.'
She quickly regained her composure and returned the serious expression on her face. 'Well, since I can heal them, it won't hurt to push them a little further.' Linda thought.
"Don't forget the rules." She reminded them. "This time, I will make an exception and only allow a defeat by knocking out the opponent."
Chloe and Neo did not hear her as they focused on the battle. They had not let their guards down.
But the students down the arena heard her. This made the male students especially mad, but they did not dare to retaliate.
Chloe smiled. "You are strong. But it is still too early to write me off."
As she said this, the temperature in the arena suddenly started dropping.
Linda's eyes widened in shock. "T-This is..." The words got stuck in her throat as a look of disbelief took over her face.
As the air cooled down, fog appeared in the arena.
"What's this?" Neo looked around, searching for the source of all this. That is when it hit him. He instantly returned his attention to Chloe. "Element control." He muttered, without a trace of his previous arrogance. It was replaced with a deadly expression.
"Stop her!" He shouted, pointing at Chloe.
The stone man immediately got into action. He dashed at Chloe with lightning-fast speed.
Rumble!
But Chloe was faster.
The arena shook, and in the next instant, a thick ice wall two meters in height arose in front of Chloe, blocking the way of the stone man.
Swoosh!
Neo stepped on the stone man and jumped over the wall. When he was just above the wall, he stepped on it, using it to jump even higher in the air.
Being so high in the air, Neo could not miss this opportunity to use the force of gravity to aid his attack.
As he fell down, he swung the staff at Chloe.
BANG!
A loud bang erupted when Neo's staff and Chloe's Jiang Sword collided.
However, there was a clear difference in strength.
Chloe got blown backward, flying out of the arena.