Ash kept up with his attacks as he kept aiming for sore spots like stomach, chin, head, legs, and chest but Ray kept up with his attacks blocking with his hardened arms and counterattacked himself by kicking him mid-air as Ash fell to the ground with a loud crack heard from his back.
"Alright Ash, time for me to end this!" declared Ray confidently as the dark aura enveloping him was focused on his right arm as it grew some claws coming out from his knuckles.
"Here it comes, [Shadow Claws]" said one person.
"It's over." said another.
Ash struggled to get up, wincing in pain from the fall. He took a deep breath, the white light around him intensifying as he forced himself to stand.
"Not yet," Ash said through gritted teeth. "I'm not done yet."
Ray smirked, ""Alright then, let's finish this."
Ray charged at Ash, his [Shadow Claws] glowing with dark energy. Ash, in turn, focused all his power, his white light flaring brightly. He knew he had to counter this move with everything he had or else he was finished!
Just as Ray was about to strike, Ash moved with lightning speed. He ducked under Ray's claws, using his speed and agility to avoid the deadly attack. Ray's eyes widened in surprise, but he quickly adjusted, swinging his claws in a wide arc to catch Ash off guard.
Ash anticipated the move and used his own momentum to leap into the air, his legs igniting with flames. He spun in mid-air, delivering a powerful kick to Ray's side. The impact sent Ray stumbling, but he quickly regained his balance.
"Damn. You've gotten better Ash." Ray admitted, "But that alone won't determine that you will win this one."
Ash didn't respond to his words, instead, his eyes were even more determined as he retook his position and charged again. Ray met him head-on, as they clashed even more times.
Ray's claws kept on striking the air as the flames ignited in Ash's legs and kept clashing with them sending shockwaves to the arena.
Ray saw an opening and lunged, his claws aimed straight for Ash's chest. Ash barely managed to evade, feeling the rush of wind from Ray's attack.
Sensing the intent, in that split moment, Ash jumped up in the air, dodging the initial strike, and prepared a kick to his head but was met with a strike to his stomach that he didn't see coming.
"That was a feint buddy. I knew you would jump up so I prepared the strike to move up beforehand." declared Ray as he threw another blow at Ash's chest and slashed it making Ash faint to the ground.
"The winner is Ray!" declared the machine.
The crowd erupted in applause and cheers, celebrating Ray's victory. Ray stood over Ash, his breathing heavy but victorious. He extended a hand to help Ash up which he accepted.
"Dammit, even though I leveled up mid-fight, I still lost! It was a good match Ray, I learned a lot." Ash bowed down with a sign of respect.
"Thank you, Ash. You pushed me to my limits," Ray replied, his voice filled with gratitude.
As the crowd continued to cheer, Ray turned to Artis, who had been watching intently. "So, Artis, ready to step into the ring and show us what you've got?"
Artis nodded, "Absolutely! Just gonna wait for my turn..."
...
After an hour of more battles with Artis and Ray chatting about their missions, a call finally came.
"Artis. Head to Arena #3 for your duel. I repeat, head to Arena #3 for your duel."
"Finally...after waiting for that long, you get to fight..." said Ray in a tired voice.
"...If I knew it takes that long to get a turn, I should've challenged someone random as well..." replied Artis, tired from waiting as well.
Artis stood up, stretching his muscles and rolling his shoulders. He glanced at Ray, who gave him an encouraging nod. "Go get 'em, Artis. I'll be watching."
Artis smiled and headed towards Arena #3. As he entered the arena, the noise of the crowd grew louder. The audience was excited, eager for the next match.
"Next up, we have Artis vs Sienna!" the machine declared. The crowd roared in approval.
Sienna stood tall and confident, her long white hair tied back in a ponytail, giving her an air of fierce determination. Her lean figure spoke of agility and strength, hinting at the formidable opponent she would be.
Her emerald eyes gleamed with intensity as she assessed Artis, sizing him up with a keen gaze.
"Name's Sienna. Journeymen." she introduced herself coolly.
"...Artis. Journeymen." Artis nodded in acknowledgment, his eyes locking with Sienna's.
The machine's voice echoed through the arena, signaling the start of the match. "Begin!"
Sienna moved first, taking out 2 daggers she kept in her pockets and hurled one of them in Artis's direction.
Getting no time to react, Artis jumped to his left and avoided the initial attack but was immediately met with a piercing strike of the other dagger that sliced Artis's skin as he jumped backward to avoid it.
Blood oozed from Artis's skin as he quickly assessed the wound.
"You've got some fast reflexes," Sienna remarked, a smirk playing on her lips. "But you'll need more than that to beat me."
Artis stood up and used [Magician] to summon his wand. "You are fast." Sparks started enveloping the wand, "But, I bet I'm faster!" and threw shock waves at her.
Sienna dodged the initial attack of Shock Wave and picked up the first dagger she threw and aimed at Artis again, "So you can use [Shock Wave]. Big deal! Take this!"
Artis dodged the dagger again but noticed some electric sparks enveloped on the dagger. As the dagger reached a certain distance, sparks completely enveloped the dagger and aimed directly at Artis's back shocking him out cold.
[Shock Wave] was an Attack Skill that is made up of little sparks that does little damage. To use this skill, you need a conductor to attack another person fully, or else this skill will not work.
In Artis's case, he uses the spare wand as a conductor to use [Shock Wave].
'But in Sienna's case, she charged the dagger first before throwing it. And then the [Shock Wave] by adding more electricity was released aiming for me. If the dagger grazed me, I would've felt the shock, if it missed it's the current result...That's a really clever move...'
Sienna didn't wait for Artis to recover completely. She sprinted towards him, daggers at the ready, aiming to finish the fight swiftly. Artis, despite the pain, focused his energy into his wand, preparing to counter her assault.
Flames generated in the wand were aimed directly at Sienna halting her movement for a moment before releasing a Smokescreen covering the field.
The sudden smokescreen enveloped the arena, obscuring Sienna's vision. She halted, wary of the unseen threat. Artis used this opportunity to recover, planning for his next move.
"Impressive move, Artis," Sienna called out, her voice echoing in the smoky haze. "But hiding won't help you win."
"Glad you are impressed, But-" called out Artis as he began traversing in the smoke and threw a punch in her direction aiming at her gut. Giving her no time to react, he instantly got behind her and aimed a kick enveloped in flames at her ribs.
"Shit!" cursed Sienna as she went flying out of the smoke landing hastily. Grunting in pain, she regained her footing breathing heavily.
"You've got some serious moves," Sienna said, wiping a trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth. "But this fight isn't over yet."
Artis didn't respond with words, instead, he pressed the attack. He moved swiftly, his wand crackling with energy as he launched another barrage of Shock Waves.
Sienna dodged the first few blasts but got hit by one, causing her to stumble. She grit her teeth, refusing to go down easily. With a quick flick of her wrist, she threw another dagger, this time aiming for Artis's legs. Artis jumped to avoid it, but Sienna was already closing the distance.
With her agility, Sienna threw a punch at Artis's guts causing him to lose his balance. Seeing an opening, she twisted her body and delivered a low sweep at Artis's legs. He managed to jump over it, but Sienna used the momentum to flip back onto her feet and throw another dagger, this time aimed at Artis's shoulder.
The dagger grazed Artis's shoulder, drawing blood and causing him to wince in pain. He countered with a burst of flames from his wand, forcing Sienna to leap back to avoid being scorched.
"You're tough," Artis admitted, his breathing heavy. "But I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve."
He activated [Telephatist]
...
As the duel between Artis and Sienna was ongoing, Ray was watching the match keenly observing the movements and hearing the opinions of others.
"Damn, the newcomer got guts! I have to give him that!"
"Is he single tho? I hope to ask his number."
"He's giving Sienna a push. He's no joke!"
Hearing the comments, Ray couldn't help but nod and agree. 'That's right. He's fast and can think up various strategies on the spot. I can see now why Professor chose to hire him.'
As Ray was watching, a figure came up from behind him and patted his shoulders.
"Whatchu watching, Ray?"
Ray turned around to see a punk girl, shorter than him with long purple hair and fair skin wearing a purple top that revealed a bit of her skin and black cargo as she wore black eyelashes giving her a rebel feel giving him a friendly smile.
"Oh, look! The Expert Guitarist is here..."