The battlefield glimmered to life as mana surged through the arena's runic platforms. Tall crystalline pillars jutted out at irregular intervals, casting jagged shadows under the bright artificial light. Rubble from earlier matches littered the field—broken platforms, scorched stone, and shattered crystals.
The field offered endless opportunities for parkour, ambushes, and creative strategies—a canvas for warriors to paint their battles.
"Who do you think will win?" one student whispered.
"I've heard Ardyn's a tactical genius," another replied. "But that Kiyoshi guy... there's something about him."
"But still, he doesn't stand a chance," someone muttered, pointing at Kiyoshi.
Another voice argued, "Don't underestimate him. Did you see the way he disarmed Sanae? Barely broke a sweat."
Above them, the proctors observed with sharp eyes, taking in every detail. The tension in the air was thick as the announcer and everyone else watched in awe.
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"Opening Moves: A Measured Start."
Ardyn wasted no time, slamming his hands to the ground. Mana surged, and crystalline structures erupted around him, forming a protective barrier. With a swift motion, he shaped the crystals into sharp-edged spears, launching them toward Kiyoshi like homing missiles.
Kiyoshi responded swiftly. From thin air, a sturdy shield materialized in his hands—wooden, reinforced with iron bands. He deflected the projectiles with precise movements, the shards shattering into glittering dust. Without hesitation, Kiyoshi dissolved the shield and conjured a rope, lassoing a nearby debris fragment to swing himself to higher ground. The crowd gasped.
"Interesting," Ardyn muttered, his voice low but audible. Letting off a small smirk, he began raising a crystalline platform beneath his feet to follow. "Impressive, but how long can you dance?" He then began to conjure more crystalline formations, creating elevated platforms and jagged traps. Raising a hand, dozens of crystalline shards began to appear. The air around him shimmered as they formed, each jagged edge glinting ominously in the sunlight. With a casual flick, he sent them hurtling toward Kiyoshi in a deadly spiral.
Kiyoshi's reaction was instantaneous, leaping off the high ground he once had. A shield materialized in his hands—a simple wooden disc reinforced with iron—and he spun it in front of him to deflect the shards. The impact rattled his arm, but he didn't let it slow him down. 'I know we're just testing each other out, but man, this one definitely packed more of a punch.'
The moment the last shard struck, he dissolved the shield into mist and countered. A bow materialized in his hands, followed by an arrow nocked and ready. With unerring precision, he loosed the arrow at Ardyn, aiming for his dominant hand.
Ardyn smirked, a crystalline barrier erupting in front of him just in time. The arrow shattered harmlessly against it. "Predictable," he said, his voice carrying a hint of mockery.
Kiyoshi didn't respond. Instead, he crouched low and sprinted to the left, his eyes constantly scanning the terrain.
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"Mid-Game Strategy: Creativity Unleashed."
Ardyn, from his vantage point, began raining down crystalline spears with alarming speed. Each spear left a shimmering trail in the air, their sharp points aimed to pin Kiyoshi down.
Kiyoshi dove behind a fallen pillar, narrowly avoiding the first spear. He pressed his hand against the stone surface, studying its texture, before materializing a rope and grappling hook. He launched the hook over the pillar, using it to swing himself out of the path of a second spear.
From his mid-air position, Kiyoshi conjured a throwing knife and hurled it at Ardyn. The blade struck his crystalline platform, causing a spiderweb of cracks to form. Ardyn stumbled slightly but quickly recovered, his eyes narrowing in irritation.
"Is that the best you've got?" he called out, his voice dripping with disdain.
Kiyoshi landed lightly on his feet, the grappling hook dissolving into mist. Without missing a beat, he materialized a staff and used it to vault onto a higher section of the arena.
The crowd roared in approval, their excitement growing as the battle intensified.
Kiyoshi remained silent before realization sank in; everything he had done previously was for not as Ardyn was on another platform; he sighed. Materializing a bow and arrow, Kiyoshi began drawing the string back with a calm breath; he fired at Ardyn's elevated platform.
The arrow struck true, but Ardyn countered effortlessly. A crystalline barrier erupted before him, absorbing the impact. He retaliated with a crystalline spear, hurling it at Kiyoshi with deadly accuracy.
Kiyoshi leapt to the side, the spear embedding itself in the ground where he had stood. He reached for the debris, materializing a ladder and using it to climb a shattered pillar. From his vantage point, he fired another arrow, this time aiming for the arena floor near Ardyn's feet.
The arrow struck the ground, releasing a burst of energy that caused a nearby debris pile to collapse. Ardyn was forced to leap aside, conjuring another crystalline pillar.
But Kiyoshi gave him no time to recover or think, darting forward, weaving through the battlefield with uncanny grace. His eyes scanned the debris, and his mind worked like a well-oiled machine.
'What can I use?'
A shard of crystal caught his eye. With a flick of his wrist, he materialized a grappling hook, the chain glowing faintly with mana. He swung it toward the shard, using it to vault over Ardyn's crystalline traps.
The crowd roared as Kiyoshi landed smoothly on one of Ardyn's elevated platforms. Before Ardyn could react, Kiyoshi dismantled the platform with a precisely thrown dagger, sending chunks of crystal cascading down.
"You're resourceful," Ardyn said, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. He stomped his foot, and the falling debris froze midair, forming a swirling barrier of shards around him. Ardyn sprang into action. His mana flared as the debris that swirled around him transformed into crystalline weapons materialized in his hands—a pair of razor-sharp daggers, their edges refracting light like miniature rainbows. With calculated precision, he closed the distance, aiming for Kiyoshi's midsection.
Kiyoshi sidestepped effortlessly, his movements fluid and economical. A faint glimmer of mana surrounded his hands as he materialized a sleek black polearm, spinning it to deflect Ardyn's strikes. The sound of metal against crystal echoed through the arena, drawing gasps from the audience.
Ardyn didn't let up. He conjured a crystalline wall behind Kiyoshi, cutting off his escape route, and sent shards of crystal flying toward him.
Kiyoshi smirked. "Predictable."
He thrust the polearm into the ground and vaulted over the crystal wall with ease, the maneuver as graceful as it was unexpected. Mid-air, he dissolved the polearm and re-materialized a pair of throwing knives, hurling them at Ardyn.
Ardyn barely managed to dodge, the knives embedding themselves in the ground where he'd stood moments ago. "Not bad," he muttered, his expression unreadable.
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"Environment in Play: A Test of Wits."
The battlefield was soon transformed into a chaotic labyrinth of crystal spikes, shattered debris, and glowing mana constructs. Ardyn's crystal conjuration magic allowed him to reshape the terrain to his advantage, creating barriers and traps to hem Kiyoshi in.
But Kiyoshi wasn't fazed. If anything, the chaos seemed to fuel his creativity. He used the debris as stepping stones, darting across the battlefield. At one point, he kicked off a fallen crystal slab, flipping mid-air to dodge an incoming barrage of shards.
"That's insane!" a student in the crowd shouted.
"Is he even human?" another gasped.
Kiyoshi's response to Ardyn's traps was nothing short of masterful. When a ring of crystalline spikes erupted around him, he materialized a collapsible ladder, using it to vault over the trap. Ardyn extended his hands, and the air around him shimmered as he summoned an enormous crystalline construct—a serpent-like entity that slithered and twisted in the air. Its translucent body refracted the sunlight, casting dazzling rainbows across the arena.
The serpent lunged at Kiyoshi with incredible speed, its crystalline jaws snapping shut mere inches from his head. Kiyoshi rolled to the side, summoning a spear to counter. With a deft motion, he thrust the weapon into the serpent's side, but the construct reformed almost instantly, its body repairing itself with a crystalline shimmer.
"You can't win against something you can't break," Ardyn said smugly, controlling the serpent with a casual wave of his hand.
Kiyoshi's expression remained calm, but his mind raced. His spear dissolved, replaced by a rope ladder that he used to climb a crumbling pillar. As the serpent coiled around the base of the structure, Kiyoshi materialized a series of throwing daggers, hurling them into key joints of the serpent's body.
The daggers lodged in place, disrupting the serpent's movements and causing it to writhe uncontrollably. Kiyoshi used the distraction to leap onto the serpent's back, running along its spine toward Ardyn.
Ardyn responded accordingly, conjuring a massive hammer of crystal, and ran towards Kiyoshi, swinging it with tremendous force. The hammer, though, had seemed to connect, but it hadn't as Kiyoshi, using his fast reflexes, conjured a shield just before the hammer made contact, which launched Kiyoshi into the sky as he struggled to regain his composure. Ardyn wasted no time as the serpent's head turned towards Kiyoshi. As the serpent's crystalline jaws snapped down.
Kiyoshi was in utter shock, 'Ahh shit...' drawing on his sharp memory. He reached out, materializing a sturdy chain.
In a fluid motion, he whipped the chain upward, anchoring one end to the serpent's jagged maw and wrapping the other end tightly around his arm. With a sharp tug, he swung himself sideways, narrowly avoiding the crushing jaws. The serpent's head slammed into the ground where he'd been moments before, sending shards of crystal scattering.
Landing unsteadily on the ground, Kiyoshi didn't pause. Using the momentum from his escape, he spun the chain like a whip, aiming for the serpent's neck. He struck a vulnerable joint, causing a small fissure to appear in the crystalline structure. It wasn't enough to take it down, but it brought him a moment to reassess his approach.
Breathing heavily, he turned his gaze toward Ardyn. "Nice trick," Kiyoshi called out, his voice laced with determination. "Let's see how well you hold up under pressure."
Kiyoshi acted instantly, materializing a spear and hurling it at him. Ardyn deflected it with a barrier but failed to notice the secondary attack—a bottle materialized mid-air that shattered against his crystalline shield. The liquid inside turned into a cloud of thick smoke, obscuring his vision.
Kiyoshi winced, his body aching from the blow that had grazed him earlier. His breaths were shallow, each movement sending jolts of pain through his chest. The shield had softened the impact, but not enough to leave him unscathed. He gritted his teeth, channelling the discomfort into focus. But it gave him a new toy to use; as for Kiyoshi to materialize weapons, he needed to have seen and touched them, and it just so happened Kiyoshi was able to get a finger onto the hammer before getting thrashed upwards.
As the smoke from the shattered bottle enveloped Ardyn, Kiyoshi materialized a grappling hook. With a flick of his wrist, he hurled it into the air, its hooked end catching onto a crystal outcropping above. Kiyoshi used it to pull himself upward, swinging out of the serpent's immediate reach.
From his new vantage point, Kiyoshi had a brief moment to observe the battlefield. The serpent's body shimmered as it searched for him in the dense smoke while Ardyn stood at its base, his figure outlined by the faint glow of his crystal magic. Kiyoshi's sharp eyes caught something—a faint crack near the serpent's core where the joints connected to its body.
"That's it," Kiyoshi muttered under his breath, forcing himself to ignore the dull throbbing in his side.
He materialized a set of bolas. Twirling the weighted cords in his hand, he launched them with precision toward the serpent's weakened joint. The bolas wrapped tightly around the fissure, the tension in the cords amplifying the crack as the serpent struggled to move.
Not wasting a second, Kiyoshi leapt down, materializing a massive hammer mid-air. He landed with a grunt of pain but swung the hammer with all his strength into the compromised joint. The serpent let out an otherworldly screech as its crystalline body shattered in a brilliant burst, its upper half collapsing into glittering shards.
The explosion of crystal forced Ardyn to shield himself, giving Kiyoshi another opening.
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"A Twist in the Battle."
Ardyn's expression darkened as he realized Kiyoshi's intent. With a furious gesture, he summoned a wall of crystalline spikes in front of him, blocking Kiyoshi's path. The spikes shot upward with lethal speed, forcing Kiyoshi to leap back.
As he landed, Ardyn unleashed a second serpent, this one larger and more ferocious than the first. It roared—a sound that seemed impossible for a crystalline construct—and charged straight at Kiyoshi, its movements fluid and terrifying.
Kiyoshi narrowed his eyes, summoning a shield once more. But instead of using it defensively, he hurled it at the serpent like a discus, aiming for its open maw. The shield lodged itself in the serpent's mouth, causing it to thrash violently.
Ardyn laughed, his voice echoing across the arena. "You're resourceful, but let's see how you handle this!"
The ground beneath Kiyoshi trembled as crystalline spikes began to erupt from the floor, forcing him to stay on the move. He sprinted toward a nearby debris pile, his mind racing for a solution.
As the spikes closed in and the serpents circled him, Kiyoshi suddenly stopped, his gray eyes flashing with determination. He pressed his hands together, his lips moving in a silent calculation.
The crowd held its breath as Kiyoshi began to materialize something larger than anything he had summoned before.
To be continued...
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