"Stay according to plan, but there's a slight adjustment I want to make," Ryan whispered his plan to the other four members. After hearing Ryan's plan, they all agreed to proceed as Ryan suggested.
The five of them then approached Professor Joshua. The professor, who was already waiting, began the match.
"Before we start, put on this vest first," Professor Joshua handed out vests similar to the ones used during the rank adjustment test. Then the professor continued, "The rules are simple, if the percentage on your vest reaches 50%, you win. But if I can reduce the percentage on all your vests to 0%, I win. And of course, I'll limit myself, but if you're not careful, you'll lose easily. Oh yes, this vest is equipped with Thorax technology, so if the percentage on your vest reaches 0%, you'll be teleported toward my assistants." Then Professor Joshua pointed to his assistants who were holding a screen displaying the percentage on the vests.
After wearing the vests provided by Professor Joshua, Ryan, and the other four members prepared their formation.
"No need for pleasantries, I like it! Well then, let's begin!"
Ryan then stepped forward to attack first, leaving his four members to prepare their ethers.
Ryan began with a simple attack directed towards the Professor. Professor Joshua casually blocked it and waited for Ryan's next attack while provoking him slightly.
Ryan then attempted a stabbing attack towards the Professor, which was also successfully blocked. However, an attack came from behind the professor and hit him, it was Alicia's attack.
[Joshua Turner: 95%]
Professor Joshua then kicked Ryan in the stomach and turned to attack Alicia. Ryan, after being kicked by Professor Joshua, was thrown quite far. Ryan then signaled to his four members.
[Ryan Arden: 88%]
Seeing the Professor change targets and focus on them, Matt and Tiana then created mist from vapor by combining their ether elements, fire, and water.
Like a wild beast seeking its prey, Professor Joshua moved aggressively, even though the mist obscured his vision.
Professor Joshua sensed something was wrong. But it was too late to realize, he had fallen into the trap prepared by Tiana and Alicia. The ground under the professor's feet then turned into a very thin layer of water. Feeling it was not a threat, the professor continued to walk casually.
Suddenly, several areas on the water's surface turned into chains that bound Professor Joshua's legs.
Before he could free himself from the water-made chains, the chains 'water multiplied and immobilized Professor Joshua. Then the attack was continued by Alicia.
The area that was initially just a water surface then turned into ice with a temperature below 0 degrees. The Professor was impressed with their plan and laughed contentedly. Then he destroyed the combined attack of Tiana and Alicia with his ether element.
Surprised by the sudden area attack from Professor Joshua, Tiana, and Alicia couldn't resist the strong suction force of the professor's quicksand attack. They were completely powerless against the professor's sand suction pressure.
[Joshua Turner: 74%]
[Alicia von Talvi: 0%]
[Tiana Gallagher: 0%]
Professor Joshua then looked for Matt, who had previously created mist but suddenly disappeared even though he saw his two group members defeated. Matt was just a few steps behind Alicia, not being attacked by the professor, and was preparing his strongest attack.
Matt then released a lot of ether fire elements in the form of fast-paced comet attacks towards Professor Joshua. Professor Joshua avoided all the attacks aimed at him. But the comets turned back and attacked Professor Joshua as if they had their consciousness. While the professor was busy avoiding the comet attacks, Matt then launched his second attack.
Starting with the second attack hitting Professor Joshua, the comets attacking then spun around him and created a fire tornado. Despite the magnificence of Matt's attack, Professor Joshua appeared to have suffered no significant damage. Upon closer inspection, the professor had coated his body with earth element ether.
[Joshua Turner: 69%]
Seeing Professor Joshua seemingly unaffected, Matt was surprised. But Matt regained his composure and retaliated to buy some time.
* * *
At the same time
"Ryan, will this work?" Clara asked a little worried after seeing Tiana and Alicia defeated by Professor Joshua.
"If we don't try, we won't know. This is a gamble!" Ryan explained while stacking ether blocks in one place.
"The key to victory lies with you, Clara."
"If you say so, I'll do my best!"
"You just need to wait for a signal from Matt to attack. I'll go back and help Matt, who is overwhelmed."
"Okay!"
* * *
Back to Matt.
[Matthew von Hendrix: 60%]
[Joshua Turner: 64%]
Matt seemed overwhelmed to break through Professor Joshua's ether-coated skin. But along with the attacks caused by Matt, the professor's ether-coated skin gradually became brittle and shattered.
The professor then said, "I don't know what you're planning, but with only three people left, it won't be easy to defeat me!" hearing the professor's statement, Matt became even more enthusiastic, but he had reached his limit. Then Ryan arrived and attacked the professor from the side.
Professor Joshua almost blocked all of Ryan's attacks, but some attacks still hit the professor.
[Joshua Turner: 60%]
After a series of attacks, Ryan then stepped back for a moment and signaled to Matt by raising his hand to flick his finger. Matt then launched an attack into the air. Seeing this, the professor was confused but still moved towards them. Matt then ran behind the professor, Professor Joshua was besieged by Ryan and Matt but remained calm.
Matt stepped back a few steps, and Ryan moved forward to attack Professor Joshua again. Matt prepared his ether attack, Professor Joshua wanted to stop him but was blocked by Ryan.
A strong wind then brought down a pile of ether blocks from the sky towards the three of them. Matt then attacked with his ether, and Ryan stepped back after clashing swords with Professor Joshua.
Although he
had coated his skin with ether, the defense was destroyed by Matt's attack. With his only defense now destroyed, Professor Joshua couldn't withstand the successive explosions caused by the ether blocks becoming bombs.
[Joshua Turner: 0%]
"Wow, they did it, they defeated the professor!" the students cheered enthusiastically. Their eyes sparkled as they witnessed the breathtaking match. Professor Joshua was also pleased with Ryan's group's performance.
"Amazing, I'm very pleased with all five of your performances. At least you can get an A grade for a few meetings," Professor Joshua said with a wide smile on his face. Ryan's group then gathered together.
"Haha... we did it, I didn't expect this plan to work," Matt breathed a sigh of relief.
"Such a risky plan, but I didn't expect it to succeed," Alicia said somewhat skeptically about Ryan's plan.
"Well, it's called a gamble, and we won that gamble!"
"But actually, this plan is quite organized despite its many risks," Clara analyzed Ryan's plan.
"Forget all that, we defeated the professor! It makes me very excited, I'll treat you all, how about that?" Tiana was too excited because of the tense situation earlier.
"Really?" Matt asked incredulously.
"I can pay for myself, but I'll still eat with you all."
"Are you serious, Tiana?" Clara asked, still not believing Tiana's offer.
"A golden opportunity, I can order expensive food if I'm treated like this," Ryan said with a cunning smile.
After the Combat and Martial lesson was over, the five of them then went to the cafeteria in the Eins Building.
They chatted and laughed, recounting their experiences before entering the Etherea Academy.
'Is this the kind of memory you want to create for me, Master?' Ryan asked in his mind as he recalled the reasons he entered Etherea.