Gerald, without hesitation, brought out his magic aura, blazing blue flames. Morgan did not want to lose to him. He also showed his stable fire-red magic aura.
"Magic aura is the most basic thing. Why are you bragging about it to me?!" asked Gerald.
Gerald's hands were tightly clenched with the blue magic that continued to cover him. With a swift movement, the young man lunged straight to smash into Morgan's body.
Morgan managed to dodge, although Gerald's speed was undoubtedly better than Lilia, Albert, or Jared's. Gerald was shocked. He never thought Morgan could dodge his attack, even when he had put his highest speed to attack Morgan.
'He's fast,' Morgan said.
Morgan coated his fist with a red magic aura, not wanting to be outdone. Gerald jumped back and grinned, realizing Morgan was no average Novice stage student.
"You won't be able to dodge and parry, damn it!" declared Gerald, leaping forward again and landing his fist on Morgan.
Morgan parried with both hands, and their fight began. Gerald's kicks were aimed at Morgan's head and body. Morgan chose to dodge and parry Gerald's every move.
'I've brought out my best. Why can he still parry it?' Gerald complained, annoyed in his heart.
Occasionally, Morgan seemed to narrow his eyes, noticing that Gerald's martial arts strikes had large energy fluctuations. However, it was not enough to knock Morgan down.
'Blue magic aura, precise martial arts style, stable mana control in both hands. I can guess that he's one step closer to the Ascension Stage,' Morgan explained.
'Defeating him will be difficult for students in the Novice stage. He'll be a hassle for the group from Tan Dorm,' added Morgan, still parrying Gerald's attacks.
Lilia and Albert continued to watch the battle with anxious hearts. They knew Gerald was the best and most promising student candidate for this year's Novice Stage; no one could match his strength.
"Why do you keep dodging? Show me your power, coward!" snapped Gerald.
When Morgan was still fighting fiercely against Gerald, the energy in his body responded to the turmoil of the mana fluctuations coming from the western island. The fluctuation was very similar to last night's energy.
'Is the beast tamer doing something?' asked Morgan inwardly.
'I need to beat Gerald quickly and go there to see.'
Morgan jumped far back, just like Gerald. Now, both were at a safe distance in the break of their fight. However, the apparent difference was that Gerald looked more exhausted than Morgan.
"You can't defeat me," Morgan explained, pointing at Gerald.
"Bullshit!" shouted Gerald, his face turning red and returning to attack Morgan for the second time.
[Mid Magic: Blue Flame Sword]
A sword with flames appeared in Gerald's hand, a blue flame. Morgan smiled. He never thought there was someone who could use the blue flame element well.
[Mid Magic: Stormy Wind Drill]
Morgan responded with a green-colored wind drill from the wind element. The drill darted quickly forward, targeting Gerald's body to end this battle. Gerald braced himself and swung his flaming sword; a clash of two elemental magic occurred on the spot.
The wind gusts and the area's temperature increased due to the magic clash. Morgan still maintained his magic by continuing to reach out, but the exhausted Gerald had difficulty keeping up with Morgan's ability.
"Morgan," called Lilia, worried.
"I'm alright, Lilia," Morgan explained.
With one powerful thrust forward, Gerald's blue flame sword shattered, and Morgan's green wind drill lunged forward and struck the young man in the stomach, pushing him far away.
Gerald fell on his back, whimpering in pain, his body filled with green magic aura from Morgan's wind magic attack.
"You don't deserve to fight me. If I were you, I would quit and leave this academy for good!" Morgan contemptuously declared.
Albert and Lilia were happy to see their group mates defeating Gerald. They were still staring at him, their friends helping to lift Gerald to his feet.
"You'll see, Morgan! I'll kill you in the exam," Gerald threatened, his face flushed between embarrassment and anger.
Gerald and his friends left the coastal area. Morgan still felt the mana fluctuations from the west; the person was still doing spirit exercises.
"Woah, you're amazing, Morgan," Albert praised.
"Gerald is the strongest student in the Novice Stage this year. Knowing you can beat him, the Tan Dorm is confident of winning this exam," Albert continued.
"Let me recover your mana," Lilia replied.
"There's no need, Lilia."
"You guys can return to the dorm. I need to do something," Morgan pleaded.
Albert and Lilia looked at each other, curious about what Morgan would do. However, Morgan could ensure he wasn't looking to make trouble with the people in the Azure Dorm.
"Alright. We'll return. You be careful, Morgan," Albert said and left the coast.
Once Morgan was alone, he immediately walked towards the west to find the beast tamer. The closer Morgan came to the mana fluctuation source, the stronger the mana pressure was in that place.
The island's western area is a vast, treeless plain with green grass. At the island's end is a steep cliff with sharp rocks and big waves below. Morgan's steps stopped right near the cliff.
'The origin of the energy fluctuations comes from here,' Morgan explained.
Morgan again used his mana-tracking ability. He touched his forehead with two fingers and closed his eyes, sensing the flow of mana energy in that place.
With a vision through his soul realm, Morgan found a stream of white mana flowing downwards from the top of the cliff. There, he saw the person sitting cross-legged in a rock cave.
Yesterday's fox that Morgan had seen appeared to have increased in size. Sensing the presence of another soul around its master, the fox began to act aggressively and wagged one tail furiously.
The person's training stopped, and Morgan stopped tracking immediately. Unexpectedly, the person controlling the beast emerged from under the cliff and was found to be a girl, one year older than Morgan.
"What do you want?!" snapped the girl, gruff-faced with her palms clenched tightly.
"Being a beast tamer at the Novice stage is admirable. Your ability to control and distribute mana for your beasts is good," Morgan explained.
"No one should know that I'm a beast tamer!" The girl's palm seemed to glow a golden yellow color. Morgan squinted. The girl was beyond his expectations. She could control beasts and use the light element, which was difficult.
[Mid Magic: Golden Light Thunder]
From the magic circle before her palm, the girl shot a stream of golden-yellow lightning towards the front. Anything that hit the lightning was instantly destroyed and burned, Morgan had to be careful of her attack.
'This strengthens my guess that her stage isn't a Novice after all,' Morgan explained.
[Mid Magic: Wall of Sunlight]
Morgan cast a light elemental magic spell to block the girl's power. A wall of light formed and deflected any attacks aimed at Morgan; it made the girl before Morgan even more annoyed.
"Can even use light elemental magic at the intermediate level! You're really something else," Morgan said, praising the girl.
"Tch!"
"This is not enough!" shouted the girl, one hand raised up, summoning another magic while the previous spell was still active.
'Two-way magic?' asked Morgan, surprised.
[Hmm... you've got an interesting friend, boy]
Morgan also raised one hand to bring up another defensive magic. He wouldn't let the girl's attack hurt him; even a slight scratch on his face would embarrass Morgan.
[Mid Magic: Thunder of land destruction]
An attack of pillar light appeared from the sky, aiming at the top of Morgan's head. Morgan raised his hand and immediately chanted another defense spell.
[Mid Magic: Fire Dome Shines]
A dome of fire appeared and blocked the girl's pillar of light. The two of them clashed magic with each other in a secluded place far away from the student dorms.
They weren't worried about their identities being discovered because most Novice students still had no sensitivity to energy fluctuations, no matter how small.
'Why is he so powerful?' the girl complained.
The clash of magic caused an explosion to occur in the place. A puff of black smoke billowed in the air, reducing the girl's visibility.
'Where is he?' asked the girl, looking around.
Morgan removed the magic barrier ring and unleashed the ability he had learned during the week at the Romarich residence, absolute magic.
[Absolute Magic: Mana Domain]
A dome of mana energy appeared around Morgan. He stepped quickly toward the girl. Emerging from within a puff of smoke, the girl was wide-eyed realizing Morgan was lunging towards her with active mana domain.
"How can a Novice student control the art of Mana Domain?!" said the girl.
Morgan's fast movements could not be matched by the girl. Ultimately, the girl is hit by Morgan's mana domain and drops face down due to the pressure of Morgan's magic.
"Uhuk!" The girl vomited blood because her body and soul were still unable to withstand the power of the mana domain, even though the magic was still at a low level.
There are three levels in mana domain magic, low, middle, and high levels. Users can only increase mana pressure for low tiers at a certain point. For the middle tier, the user could expand the range, and the high tier was the peak of increasing the range and pressure of the mana domain.
"I'm not a Novice student like you—"
BUGH!
Unwary, Morgan's body received a crushing blow from the girl's fox beast. The beast had not yet formed a body, still in the state of mana energy from the girl.
The blow caused Morgan to jump, the girl was detached from Morgan's mana domain. Realizing she could be released, the girl immediately ran away from Morgan.
"I'll avenge you later!" the girl shouted.
'Damn fox!' Morgan complained, getting up and deactivating his mana domain.
He put his magic barrier ring back on, restraining his power like before.
[She's an interesting girl. You'll be in trouble if she becomes your enemy.]
'At least we're in the same dorm. I'll try to talk nicely to her,' Morgan said.
'The academy instructors should feel the energy fluctuations from the magic explosion. I'd better leave.'
Morgan left the cliff area with quick and silent steps. The battle was over. Unexpectedly, someone from behind the rock was watching Morgan's battle with the beast-tamer girl.
"So, they're hiding their powers, huh? Looks like the first exam is gonna have a lot of surprises."