Master Sergeant Hale landed just ahead of Rhys, signalling that he was to cause no more damage. However, he felt no need to do so after he received the rewards that he wanted.
His strength hadn't been increased by a single point following this system upgrade and so, he placed this stat upgrade that he had received into his strength.
[+1 Strength]
[STATS]
[Level: 1]
[User: Rhys Arkwrighte]
[Titles: Fledgling]
[Strength (STR): 4]
[Speed (SPD): 6]
[Durability (DUR): 4]
[Endurance (END): 5]
[Species: Vampire]
[HP: 10/10]
[XP: 50/100]
[MP: 10/10]
[Stat Upgrades: 0]
[Skills] [expand]
"Bro, how did you just do that?! You demolished him!" Lewis said, making sure to whisper the second part of his statement.
He made sure that Leandro wouldn't hear him, in case he'd try to attack him after this lesson. It was common for stronger students to keep weaker ones in check when they had done things like hurt their egos.
"I got a recent level-up. Got an extra stat upgrade." Rhys stated, sitting next to his comrades.
"I respect it, I couldn't even defeat him very easily." Emmerich stated.
Leandro was near the level of Emmerich, but he didn't want to associate with those of his level. He felt much more validity in sucking up to those stronger than him, since it made him feel valued. He had been sitting next to Bronson, like many of the other boys and girls in the group.
They constantly tried to talk to him and catch his attention, which was a nauseating sight for people like Rhys and his friends.
"The next match will be between Lexi Santolaria and Bronson Vance." He explained.
Bronson was the muscular bald student that Rhys had seen before his portal outing, and Lexi was another prodigy of their year.
She had long, icy blonde hair with piercing sky-blue eyes and an alluring figure.
Her beauty wasn't even the most striking attribute about her. She was certainly one of the strongest fighters her age in the entire city. She was known across various schools, and many boys secretly had deep, long crushes for her.
Everybody was heavily invested in this battle, as they usually were. There was always a lot of conversation around who the strongest in their year was, and clashes between them were always highly anticipated.
They both smirked at each other and made their respective battle stances. Lexi's looked a lot more graceful, and her hands were open, while Bronson stood like a boxer. His arms looked titanic as he held them up, and Lexi was tall for a girl but was just 5'9.
The fight looked set in stone at first glance.
"Begin!"
Bronson rushed off with speed far superior to even Rhys. It was clear that he still moved with a blur, even after his increase in perception.
However, Lexi raised up in her stance almost immediately in reaction. Bronson threw a punch fiercely, but Lexi gracefully parried the attack while stepping back.
"Fire Scatter!" Bronson roared, hurling forward a fireball.
His fire was slightly darker than Leandro's and his fireball was much larger in scale. Before it reached Lexi, though, it split into numerous smaller fireballs that steadily advanced toward the girl.
Before they could reach her, though, she waved her arm upwards and created a translucent wall of bluish water that blocked the attack right away. The fireballs sizzled upon crashing into this wall of water, releasing steam.
With her free hand, this glowing blue water began to condense and collect. It formed into a long spear, that sharpened until it almost looked like a real metal weapon.
As the wall of water decayed away, she grunted and chucked forward this spear of water.
Thwip!
It whistled as it cut through the air, and Bronson looked taken aback by its speed. Stepping to the side, he was clipped by the side of this water spear and was given a shallow cut to his cheek.
A drop of blood fell from his cheek and Lexi charged ahead after this happened.
Lexi hurled forward balls of water at Bronson, that were met by fireballs. They cancelled each other out and transformed into clouds of steam.
Bronson, once he was close enough, connected with a straight on punch that angered the girl. She received a bruise to her forehead but retaliated with her own lightning-quick punch that caught Bronson off guard.
It connected, and even with her smallish frame, Bronson was knocked back a step.
Leaping off the step that was behind her, she threw another punch that was then blocked.
The two fighters then began to fight primarily using their close-quarter combat. Bronson's attack carried more force, but Lexi looked swifter and more technical. She still bothered Bronson with her quick, snappy strikes that were hard to deal with.
Lexi dashed forward with newfound confidence after landing a combination of attacks, but Bronson knocked this confidence right out of her with a front kick. It landed right on her chest, and she was lifted off her feet after receiving such an attack.
She made a quick roll, and both fighters were breathing heavily after the intense sequence they had just been threw. Instead of rushing right back in battle, they took a few seconds to remain at a distance, calculating their next moves.
It was clear that these two weren't just talented in terms of strength but also in terms of skill and fighting intelligence. It was like they were born warriors.
They circled around each other, trying to feint to see how their opponent would react. The tempo slowed for a time, but Lexi took the initiative to liven up their spar and launched forward a water ball.
Bronson was taken off guard by her sudden movements and couldn't evade. He didn't look bothered by the ball of water heading toward him, though. They moved fast, and had weight behind them, but they were just liquid.
What was water really going to do to him. Crashing into his stomach, the ball broke apart but then, sharp water spikes exploded out from the impact.
Some stabbed into his stomach, while some shredded through his torso before soaring past him. A mixture of water and blood crashed onto the canvas, and he grunted in pain upon receiving this skill.
Water seemed to be harmless at first glance, but it was deadly when placed in the right hands.
Lexi chuckled upon seeing this attack land, and Bronson gritted his teeth in anger and pain.
"Don't think my water is anything to overlook. Not dodging it will get you seriously hurt!" She stated, standing firmly in her stance.
"Way to go, Lexi!"
"Woohoo!"
Many students cheered her on after seeing this happen, who were mainly simping boys and girl friends of Lexi.
"I'd hate to get hit by her water like that." Emmerich said, watching on in surprise.
"I wouldn't." Lewis blurted out in response.
"What bro?"
Bronson looked injured by that attack, and he held his stomach to see volumes of blood now in his stomach. However, he raised his palm to their teacher to signal that he was still ready to continue.
Lexi rushed in with confidence after seeing Bronson had been hurt to that degree. Now, she was just trying to finish off the fight.
Jumping and throwing down a punch, Bronson blocked with one arm, delivering a terrifyingly powerful punch with his other. he might've been injured but that didn't mean he had lost the power in his blows.
Lexi fell back upon taking such a strike, and the fight looked just as equal as ever. They were both delivering deadly strikes, and the master sergeant continued looking down to the stopwatch he had started.
The bout was steadily approaching four minutes, but he stopped the timer and threw the device into his pocket. This fight was too intense to miss out on.
Eventually, both fighters had been covered in each other's blood. Their HP was running low and they were panting. They had fallen into just hand-to-hand not to exhaust their MP stores. They were storing their remaining mana points for one last trump card.
They both looked at each other but just through their glances, they could almost read the other's mind.
Bronson placed his arms together, while Lexi began swaying her arms around, causing streams of water to gracefully and swiftly flow around her.
Bronson caused waves of air to flow out from the space in between his two hands, and he formed them as if he was holding a ball in between them. Soon enough, a small orange flame formed and enlarged, being fed by his mana and the surrounding air.
Lexi's water condensed and started to take shape around her right fist. It was swiftly taking the shape of a dragon, and Bronson's ball of fire was emitting much more heat and energy than an ordinary fireball.
VOOM!
The fireball suddenly enlarged until it was about four fists in size, and looked like a miniature star. The light it emitted also sharply increased, and his clothes billowed under the gusts of wind that were released.
"Sunball!!"
"Aqua Dragon!"
Bronson shot the condensed ball of fire ahead, and Lexi leaped into the air with her water dragon ready for attack. She took the ball of fire head-on, pushing forward her arm that was coated in such water dragon.
The two attacks collided and released a blinding light for a split-second, before shooting the two fighters back.
BOOM!
Bronson was shot into the crowd of students, while Lexi hit into a wall that the students were all facing.
They both looked injured and exhausted, but the crowd couldn't help but clap. Their fight was incredibly entertaining, and the draw didn't take away from how exciting the spectacle was.
The only person that didn't applaud them was Rhys. He sat there, watching this happen and felt no need to congratulate them. Why should he clap for those that had been blessed at birth?
What was different between him and them except for their genetics. If there was one thing he was not going to do, it was to applaud pure talent.
As he sat there, stone-faced, their teacher watched him act this way from across the dojo.
His head slightly tilted, as he was quite taken aback by his showing of disrespect. Out of any student, he had expected other students who were near Bronson's leve to act out. To show that they didn't need to respect him.
He hadn't expected one of the weakest fighters to refrain from praising their performance.