"Ignite!"
Placing his hands on his opponent, flame consumed her in an instant.
[Ding]
A noise came from the stat sticker on Damian's hand.
[Damian Rendragon wins]
[Previous rank: 2,981/14,322]
[Current rank: 950/14,322 (basic department)]
[School reward: 2,031 points]
[Point balance: 13,372]
The student body dropped to the ground, unrecognizable.
Next!
Damian muttered in a very low, cold tone that was strangely audible to his next opponent alone to hear.
"This guy, he is not supposed to be here, the school made a mistake," someone mumbled from the crowd after noticing the scary display of strength Damian was showcasing.
"He isn't challenging people of one or two ranks above him, he is challenging people who are hundreds of ranks above him, not minding their magic and still coming out unscratched," another commented.
"This bravado display of strength... What even is his aim?"
"I said next," Damian repeated, this time shouting, but no one dared to climb onto the platform. Sweat dripped down their foreheads as they watched Damian silently.
The quiet atmosphere was then broken by a certain someone.
"I am coming!"
All heads turned towards the person who spoke, and all who were in his way from the crowd gave him a path to go through.
Soon, he climbed onto the platform and spoke even before Damian.
"Damian Rendragon, I challenge you to a duel."
[Ding]
The sound resounded on Damian's stat sticker.
[Damian Rendragon vs Vorden Seraph]
[Do you accept duel]
[Damian Rendragon - lv 1 common mage] [Current rank: 950/14,322 (basic department)] [magic: flame]
[Vorden Seraph - lv 1 common mage] [Current rank: 90/14,322 (basic department)] [magic: void]
"Ohh, finally, someone that can be worth of my time," Damian smiled with craze in his eyes.
[Duel accepted]
The protective barrier activated as they both took their fighting stance.
Vorden was the first to make a move. He dashed forward with immense speed, slicing through the air.
Reaching a few centimeters away from Damian, he swung forth a punch right at Damian's face.
Damian moved to the side, dodging the attack. Another punch came next and then another and another, each punch was swiftly avoided by Damian with minimal movement.
After avoiding a series of punches, Damian then jumped back, creating a distance between him and Vorden.
"How lov..."
His eyes widened as he saw his vision being obstructed by a fist.
Swoosh!
He managed to dodge it at the last moment and in exchange for Vorden's generous attack, he placed two of his fingers on Vorden's forehead, too fast for him to react.
"You are not even giving me the chance to do a little chat, it would be a shame to not get to know you a bit before disposing you."
The two fingers reddened in an unnatural way and then, a blast of flame burst out from Damian's fingers, illuminating Vorden and the entire surrounding area.
Boom!
The flame explosion caused the ground beneath where the attack was delivered to depress a little with scorching black marks left as a testament to the strength of the flame. There weren't even ashes left.
"That was too easy."
Wham!
A heavy kick slammed on Damian's head from the side, flinging his body like a ragdoll to the side.
He quickly braced himself midair, reducing the damage of his landing. "I knew you would be some trouble."
Damian slowly got back to his feet. "We are both of the same rank after all."
Vorden smiled as he stared at Damian from a distance, completely unharmed.
"Uh huh."
Damian then took his stance. "I am quite curious, how did you survive that attack?"
Swoosh!
Vorden sliced through the air as he approached Damian again head-on.
*Flame beam*
A fast explosion exuded a powerful beam from Damian's hand heading for Vorden.
*Void*
*Black hole: consume*
Still approaching Damian at full speed and not even slowing down for a second, he activated his magic.
Just as the flame beam was about to hit him, it suddenly disappeared into a portal that appeared out of nowhere, a portal made of black and purple swirling energy.
With an inhuman leap, he towered above Damian and then casted his spell.
*Black hole: excrete*
The same kind of portal appeared right above Damian, only a bigger version.
"You amaze me, Vorden."
*Fiery ascending pillar*
From the portal, a boulder fell out, not a regular boulder, but an asteroid remnant.
As both forces clashed, an explosion that shook the entire dueling ground occurred.
Every single one of the audience had a single thought running through their minds.
"Are these even common rank mages?"
The smoke generated due to the attack slowly died down and both mages could be seen, still standing.
*Black hole: excrete*
Vorden called once more. A swirling portal appeared beside him, and then he dipped his hands into it to drag out a chained giant sword.
"You are a great one, Vorden." Damian bent his knees into a semi-squat position and then blasted forward with flame burning under his feet while he covered the distance between him and Vorden in an accelerated speed.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
It was his turn to dodge as he avoided all the incoming attacks of the sword Vorden swung via the chain attached at its end crazily. Vorden didn't mind if he killed him from what he could see.
"The chained sword is a ranged weapon, but my fist isn't. If I try to attack with my flame from a distance, he'll have enough time to use his magic as well to consume my flame," Damian analyzed the ups and downs, but he wasn't given enough time.
Blasting forward with the giant chained sword rotating beside him, Vorden was now taking the offense.
Swoosh!
Damian quickly dodged the blade despite that it came to him as a blur.
Crash!
He thought that was all until the giant blade crashed on the ground. The sheer force and weight of the sword destroyed the ground while Damian was off guard, so unpredictably that he couldn't stop himself from tumbling to the ground.
As he slowly regained composure, the giant blade was already approaching his face.
Bang!
As it crashed into the ground, it shattered a level of it and actually managed to land a clear strike on Damian's left cheek, spewing blood.
A smirk played across Vorden's cheek. Attempting to pull the blade back and get a clear glimpse of Damian's condition, Vorden realized that he was struggling more than usual with his chained blade.
The chain jingled as Vorden continued his futile attempts.
On the ground where Damian lay, holding onto the blade piercing into his cheek with one hand.
Damian had just one more statement to tell his opponent. "Consider this over, Vorden."
*Flame ultimate skill*
*Flame rail*
[Ding]
[Damian Rendragon wins]
As Damian got up from the ground, he dragged his feet on the ground and held onto his bloodied face.
He turned towards the corpse of Vorden, burnt to a crisp. He turned around and glared one more time before a smile played across his face.
He just remembered the main reason he is doing all these.
"Zain, I am coming for you."