Rufus stared at Nathaniel as he is warming up. He has been acting strange these days. He's been smiling more and that guy never smiles so nonchalantly. He had expected Nathaniel to be angry for being put in danger. Rufus held back a sigh. Perhaps, he is frustrating himself so much that he's just overthinking all of this now.
After walking through the arena, the announcer, still perched on a cloud-like contraption, flew up.
"We are now at the Semi-finals!"
The crowd roared with thunderous cheers. Things can finally become more entertaining.
"We got Fourth Year, Rufus Valerian of Team Sun versus Fourth Year, Nathaniel Yistle of Team Sun! We can finally see a fight between two classmates!"
"As bad as this timing is, I need to know what you discussed with Leon. I know he's been cheating."
Nathaniel blinked, he is less surprised and more in disbelief at his statement.
He lets out a small smirk. "Is it Theseus? Well, I did tell him that he can't keep a secret."
Confused, he stared at him. "What are you going on about? You are strangely vague these days. You are always so straightforward when you talk."
"Contestant! Ready! GO!!!!"
Nathaniel was fast as his foot connected to Rufus arm as he blocked his attack. The shock of this attack has nearly thrown him off balance and the crowd was wild.
Rufus quickly recovered and spun around to knock Nathaniel off balance. He may have good vision but it's not 360. Sadly, he blocked that too.
Damn it.
Both kept their distance with wary looks. Nathaniel's look extremely focused, calculating at him.
Hand to hand combat was Nathaniel's specialty more than his. He needs a weapon. Using earth magic, he conjured up a staff from the ground. Sensing the uneasiness in Nathaniel, he promptly stabbed at his side, but Nathaniel quickly parried him and put some distance between them.
"You're nervous. That's strange. You're usually not this easy to read." Rufus says and continues his barrage of attacks.
Nathaniel is uncharacteristically open today. He is usually so level-headed in a fight, so this threw him off.
Nathaniel quickly threw himself at him at an incredible speed and Rufus put off walls of earth to stop him, but he kept it going. The strange thing is that he didn't feel the impact of hitting the walls, but he could hear it.
Getting close, Rufus quickly pulled his hand up and a pillar of earth appeared beneath him, rising him up and elevating him. Come to think of it, Nathaniel didn't use any magic to help him in combat for some reason, so this threw him off. He is usually good at it.
"Piovere"
Then a large stream of arrows rain down on Nathaniel at such high speeds that even he seems to have trouble dodging them, but he succeeded.
Taken aback by this, Nathaniel then roared at Rufus who covered his ears and made him fall off the pillar. The sound reverberated the entire arena, and everyone is at shock.
"Ow!" Rufus checked to see if his ears are bleeding. The Dragon's roar is a non-verbal spell that only those who are well-versed into non-verbal magic can master. The only person around his age that is skilled at non-verbal magic is Amaryllis.
"No way."
Nathaniel grinned like he is the winner then march to the pillar, breaking it apart. The pieces of solid earth float and launch themselves at Rufus who quickly break them. Nathaniel is speeding up and not pulling his punches against Rufus. Much to his relief, he blocked it with metal arm braces.
"Since when do you wear these things?" he asks in disappointment.
"Since I started worrying about my life!"
He landed a solid hit on Nathaniel after continuously dodging them.
Nathaniel touched his cut cheek.
"Oh damn, I might have to get serious here." he murmured softly, barely enough for Rufus to overhear.
Alabaster was watching the fight, ready to tell Amaryllis as soon as she's done with dealing with the mermen but this is incredible. Nathaniel has improved far more drastically than he'd expect but at the same time, he noticed something odd. He isn't using magic to fight but it doesn't look like he's using any power either.
The boy in the hood sat in the audience, watching the fight nervously. "Don't do it. The spell will wear off if you do it."
They traded blows, blocking and parrying them quickly, creating sparks. They aren't using their powers but pure strength now.
Rufus and Nathaniel are extremely fired up and are now face to face with each other, ready to knock the other out but Rufus's expectation of beating Nathaniel went out the window the moment he saw his eyes.
Instead of the bright green eyes that Nathaniel has, he is staring at bright yellow eyes.
"Leon?"
Taking advantage of his shock, his opponent then punched him, making Rufus roll on the ground. He slowly got up, still taking in at what he just saw. His eyes look green again.
"What the hell?"
Nathaniel now looks like hell, but Rufus is quite resilient even more so now that he is motivated to ask questions. Rufus whispered some words, and another staff appeared, not made of earth this time but metal.
Nathaniel then put his hands up, "I give up!"
The audience shot up a disappointed groan or comments on letting the fight continue.
"Uncle! I forfeit!" he yelled even louder.
The announcer blinked before turning to the audience, "It looks like Nathaniel Yistle forfeit the match."
Nathaniel was on his knees before falling on the ground with a tired laugh.
Rufus approached him and carried him inside while the announcer is still shouting.
"Leon, what the hell are you doing? Is this what Theseus meant by cheating?"
Leon, disguised as Nathaniel, stared at Rufus with his yellow eyes.
"You could've won the match if you use your powers especially if you're disguised as Nathaniel."
"But I didn't." He purred, "Now, you can ask questions later. I bet the next match is gonna be interesting."
Pushing past people, the pair remained quiet until they got to a safe place.
"Hold on, where is the real Nathaniel? And who is impersonating you?"
Leon giggled which frustrates Rufus as he grabbed him by the shirt and his veins are ready to pop out in his anger. "And shed that disguise. you faker."