After their battle Aria and Leon moved towards stands finding seats for themselves. It was fairly easy as the whole arena was mostly empty with only some students. The Combat Duals were note like the Academy annual tournament where people from all over the zones come to watch them. It was done inside academy authorities just to specify the ranks of the upcoming first year students. Only the first year students from the other classes were there just for watching the fight between famous figures like Aria, Leon and Arnold.
They both sat down on the seat waiting for the match to start. Leon gaze shifted towards Kevin who was already waiting for Ray standing on the platform. The air around him filled with confidence and an underlying tension. Quite different from his usual attitude he face appeared to be serious. There wasn't any sign of the previous playfulness in his eyes.
Soon, the person responsible for all the changes in his behaviour soon came into light. His golden blonde hair tied in a man bun shined under the sunlight, with a face like a pure jade crafted by an master artisian. His expression calm without any tension though if one were to look in his vermilion colour eyes. They could see hints of excitement flickering through his firm eyes.
Leon asked.
"So what do you think Aria who will win.?"
"Hmm, i think it's Ray" answered Aria while looking Ray walking towards the fighting platform.
"Oh and why is that ?. You know that he doesn't have any knowledge from post academy and doesn't know the basics of mana."
Leon asked surprised. As they all were from high ranking families they met each other on frequent occasion and from then there was some sort of friendship between them. Leon was surprised because he did not expect Aria to blatantly tell that Kevin would lose after all they both had seen his power several times and Ray on the other side doesn't even seem to know basic mana manipulation.
"I don't know but there always some sort of air of mystery around him. As if he know everything you ask him. Rather than a logical answer it's something you know instinctual or emotional you know. Then there's his talent and his family the whole reason why i first interacted with him even though he was minding his own business and was sometimes rude at the beginning.
This was the whole reason why the daughter of the guildMaster of the no 1 guild initiatied everything in the first place. From childhood, she was always being taught that if you find a talented individual then do everything in your power to bring him to his own side but if there was any harm to them, do not hesitate to simply cut the wings of the bird before it learns to fly.
Ray CrownHeart was that kind of individual. She could see through her eyes the talent and potential he held. If in the future he was on their side their power would surely grow multifolds. However if he was on the other side against them then he could be the greatest obstacle in their path. Aria thought if she can bring him to her side early on then it would be the best.
However at first after listening to Ray's family name
She was baffled. She even confirmed his identity by investigating. That last family name cause her to change the entire perspective of him. The second option of cutting the bird wing was entirely gone from her dictionary. After all who on the entire continent would be in their right mind want to mess with The CrownHearts not TWILIGHT RADIANCE she was sure of it atleast. So she shifted her previous approach and took another one.
Instead of offering Ray to join the guild she chose to ally herself with him. The first step was to know him, meet with him. So she did that and the chance to know him more better came when he joined the trio. Although, everything was calculated on how to interact with him at first.
However now after almost a week of knowing him she considers him more than a target to acquire. Yes, now she considers him as her friend though the quest of alliance was still in the back of her head. Just that she considers it's a bit less important than before because she did not want to create friction between them for any ulterior goals.
As the two were talking the referee announced.
"Semifinal match between 4 .
Ray CrownHeart Vs Kevin Emerson"
Both took their stances as the referee announced their names.
"Well Ray, ready to lose" said Kevin
"Nah, not in the mood today" answered Ray.
"BEGIN"
Kevin moved. He dashed towards Ray with an incredible speed reaching him in a second. His gauntlets wrapped in fire moved towards Ray face threatening to break his jaws. However Ray had already seen that coming he instantly moved his hand upwards. A sharp spike protruded from the ground instantly breaking Kevin dash.
*Whoosh
Ray used his skill dash for the first time in the duals. He had practiced using dash before but he still can't get used to seeing his surroundings being blur from the speed as he moved. In the next moment he reached Kevin surprising him, as his eyes widened. His fist also surrounded by the fire reached Kevin jaws. Creating a small blast as smoke ran out.
*Bam Crack
Kevin face rotated towards side as cracking sound rang in the arena. Some of his teeth had broken from the impact of the fist. Kevin felt his brain shaking from the punch but he managed to block the another blow coming towards him by instantly covering his another hand with earth.He instantly created distance between them by retreating to the back at the same time sending a fire arrow towards Ray which he easily dodged by just moving his head to right.
After the first match Ray has been using his fists instead of sword. There was a reason for this. That was his ability to manipulate mana. His mana manipulation was bad, no actually calling it bad would be a praise. His mana manipulation was trash. Rather than learning it by technique, he was using it by instinct. He is forcing mana in his body than letting it flow accordingly. So, he realised that using sword would be outright stupidity as it will break if not powered with elemental or raw mana.
"Didn't know you had a movement skill. Agh, that fucking hurts you know" said Kevin as they both stood stationary.
"Heh, like my surprise lover boy" teased Ray.
"Yeah, i so fucking like it that my jaw had almost broken from happiness. Tch bastard" cursed Kevin he held his jaw massaging it.
As soon as the cooldown period of dash finished. He used it again closing the distance between them. However this time Kevin was ready as he instantly created an earth barrier in front of him. The barrier stood tall with only some miniscule cracks on it even after several punches from Ray.
This was the biggest difference in their strengths. All the students who had attended post academy know basis mana manipulation giving them an winning advantage against Ray. The only reason Ray had survived this long in the competition was because of his elemental affinities and high than the other students. He also had the advanced mana manipulation technique of the Apex but he can't use it.
How do you expect a child to run like an adult who even don't know how to stand. This was the same situation for Ray. He can just play with the information in his head but don't know where to or how to apply it on the body. Then there is Kevin his opponent.
He was a genius in his own right and had studied in the post academy and if that's not enough. As a son of the one of the five great families he knows more than basic mana manipulation as they had already teached him. For Kevin mana manipulation was as simple as breathing.
As the shield took the impact of Ray's punches Kevin moved from his position and in the blink of an eye he reached Ray. Kevin's fist connected to his abdomen knocking the wind out his lungs as he was flown to the back.
However, Kevin doesn't stop there, several earth pillars erupted from the ground. Each giving an jarring blow on Ray's body when they connected. Ray felt like he being struck by cannons. Each blow gifted an immense amount of pain to his body.He rattled his brain to somehow find a way out of this painful loop and his brain worked. He used fire on his on his legs and condensed it. As he released the condensed fire like an blast of a grenade but on a small scale an explosion erupted from his legs instantly removing him from the path of the pillars.
Blood came out of his mouth and he could feel several of his ribs broken. Gritting his teeth he stood up. Several bruises were visible on his body. Ray knew that winning from Kevin will not be easy. Thus, he used his last ditch method his S-Rank skill.
(Accelerated Perception activated)