With corporal Jones and the other sergeants, there were a total of eight instructors. One of the sergeants that Eric never met but have seen around at the academy squatted down and placed his palms on the ground. Only a few seconds later, everyone could feel the ground shake. Some of the trainees let out a high pitch squeal out of fear. Others just stood there with panic on their faces.
Suddenly columns shot up from the ground. Some were moving faster than others. All the columns stopped at the same height. After looking around, the trainees could see that columns made squares. A total of eight.
"Each one of these areas will be your arena. You are not allowed to leave that area; if you do, it will be considered a loss. We will do eight pairs at a time. I will call your name with the person you are matched with today," Sergeant McKenny said in a loud voice.
After hearing that, Eric zoned out, looking at the power of an earth power user. The fact that one person could do all of that was an amazing feat, or at least to Eric it was.
'How many RP points does he have? How many RP points did that cost?' Eric thought.
While he was still admiring the work, he walked over to it and touched it. It felt very solid. He then threw a punch, hitting the column. He was testing out the durability.
"These aren't going anywhere."
"Eric Carson!" Sergeant McKenny exclaimed.
Hearing his name being called out, he snapped out of his amazement and entered back into reality.
"You will face Elizabeth Wixx!" McKenny continued to yell out.
'What? I can't fight a girl.' Eric thought in horror.
Corporal Jones saw the look on his face and sent a signal to Sergeant McKenny. He stopped talking and let her take the lead.
"Some of you will spar with the opposite sex. I know this will be difficult for most of you, but you need to get over this. In war, females will kill males, and vice versa. Beasts and war do not care about your gender. Since we are preparing you for this, we don't either," Corporal Jones explained.
With that explanation, Eric knew she was right. He had to suck up his feelings and do what was necessary. Eric walked into their designated sparring area. In front of him, twenty feet away, stood a girl with blonde hair in loose curls and green eyes.
'Ugh. She's kinda cute. I can't believe I have to fight her,' He thought to himself, regretting what he would have to do.
His thoughts continued, 'I need to figure out a way to win this without having to hurt here too bad. My shadow spike is going to be off limits, but the medic could heal her to where she was never injured in the first place. Darn, this is hard. What do I do?'
Before he could come up with a plan, Sergeant McKenny yelled, "Begin!"
With that word, the girl across the way had already thrown out her knife at him. Eric just stood there, thinking that there was no way it could reach him. But it kept coming, losing no speed. Actually, it was moving faster by the moment. When Eric realized this, it was too late for him to get out of the way.
< Shadow Step activated>
< - 5 RP>
< 79/84>
Eric surprised the girl by the way he vanished and reappeared.
< Scan activated>
< Name - Elizabeth Wixx>
< Class - Novice Mage>
< Ability - Telekinesis >
< Level - 3>
< HP 30/30>
'Crap! This is going to be harder to not hurt her than it thought,' Eric thought after seeing her ability.
He drew his sword from his sheath and twisted his body to look in a different direction. It was as he thought it would be. The knife that was thrown projectory had changed and was headed straight for him. He used his sword to bat it away, and it fell to the ground.
< Shadow Step activated>
< - 5 RP>
< 74/84>
Thankfully, with the lights and pillars, the area they are fighting in had plenty of shadows for mobility. He appeared next to the girl; not wanting to give her any major injuries, he threw a punch with his other hand. However, before it landed, the punched stopped.
It felt like someone grabbed his fist with both hands, but nothing was touching. Then he was pushed back like a person shoved him back by the shoulders. Eric lost his footing and stumbled back. It was then that Elizabeth turned around and pushed her hands toward him.
That is when he felt like he was hit in the chest by a sledgehammer. His feet lifted from the ground, and he flew back five feet. Landing on his back, he was gasping for air. He struggled to breathe. It felt like no matter how hard he tried, he could get any air in.
< -10 HP>
< 45/55 HP>
Eric came to the realization that she was out for blood. He wasn't expecting a level three user putting up this much of a fight. But this wasn't a normal sparring match either. He couldn't afford to get hit by that again.
Without wasting any time, while Eric was still gasping for air, Elizabeth, keeping her eyes on him, reached out her hand toward her knife. It rose from the ground and came flying to her hand. She quickly threw the knife. The knife launched from her hand with great speed. It was because she was using her telekinesis power to push it, resulting in it moving faster than anyone with her physique could throw.
< Shadow Step activated>
< - 5 RP>
< 69/84 RP>
It looked like the knife just touched him when he vanished, but the knife stuck into the ground. Eric appeared on the other end of the area, putting twenty feet of distance. He needed time to catch his breath from the sledgehammer hit. That's when he noticed that there was a hole in his uniform in the center of his upper abdomen.
Elizabeth did the same movements again, reaching out her hand and calling the knife to her hand. Then, taking a step and twisting her body to face Eric, she threw it again. She was trying to keep the pressure on him, keeping him on the defensive.
< Shadow Manipulation activated>
< - 3 RP>
< 66/84 RP>
A purple-hued shadow tentacle sprung up by a shadow left by one of the pillars. The tentacle wrapped around the knife, and moments later it rocked back and lunged back at Elizabeth.
She had a stern face, focusing only on the fight. He seemed unfazed by seeing her knife being thrown back. She lifted up the palm of her hand, giving it the signal to stop. When it was a foot away, it abruptly stopped. The knife shifted to point up, and the handle went into her hand.
Eric was worried about how she was so cool-headed during this fight. Seeing how she reacted and how skilled she was with her ability made him think that it wasn't all about power. Having power and knowing how to use it seemed to be the difference between them.
He had more power than her, but she was more skilled with her ability.
'If I'm going to win this, I have to be willing to hurt her. I'm sorry, Mom. She will be okay; I won't kill her.' He thought.
< Shadow Step activated>
< - 5 RP>
< 61/84 RP>
He surprised her by being in front of her, and he threw a punch aiming for her face. She ended up smiling, and his fist stopped only inches away. This time he couldn't move his hand. It was stuck in place. She twirled the knife in her hand and started to thrust it at his stomach.
However, unbeknownst to her, the punch wasn't his entire plan to attack, but merely a distraction.
< Shadow Spike activated>
< - 10 RP>
< 51/84 RP>
A purple-hued shadow in the shape of a spear shot from his shadow and pierced through her thigh. She cried out in pain and dropped to one leg. That's when Eric noticed that he could see part of her shadow between the shadows of the pillars.
Before he could react, she looked up at him and thrust her hand forward again.
"Crap!" Eric yelled, knowing what was coming. As soon as he could get that word out, he was it by the invisible sledgehammer again. Lifting him off the ground and throwing him back six feet away.
< -10 HP>
< 35/55 HP>
After Eric landed, he coughed up a bit of blood.
< -3 HP>
< 32/55 HP>
Eric found out moving was hard to do when he couldn't breathe. Trying to suck in air, he was frantically squirming about trying to get up. Since Elizabeth's leg was injured, it would slow her down; this would be his chance to end this fight.
Using sheer willpower, he got to his feet.
< Shadow Step activated>
< - 5 RP>
< 46/84 RP>
He appeared behind her, and then, stepping to the side, he ended the fight.
< Shadow Pin activated>
< - 10 RP>
< 36/84 RP>
She could no longer move or use her power. Eric lifted up his sword and placed it on her neck. He wiped the blood off of his mouth.
"You're done," Eric said, breathing hard, still trying to catch his breath.
"This match is over!" One of the sergeants stated loudly.