"Begin!" Yang ordered.
Kai launched forward, confident.
Why wouldn't he be?
His stone lizard's scales not only increased his resistance and protected him, but his beast also enhanced his other attributes, including strength by 20%.
Ren dodged the first blow, but not through skill.
Despite Kai being faster, knowledge showed him how the scales limited certain movements. Kai couldn't raise his right arm beyond a certain angle without exposing a weak point between his ribs.
"Stop running, Rotting Boy!"
"The scales on your right arm," Ren spoke while backing away, "doesn't it bother you how they limit your movement?"
Kai stopped for a fraction of a second, surprised. That moment of doubt cost him, his next blow was slower, more self-conscious.
"Shut up!"
"It's because of the growth pattern," Ren continued, dodging another blow. "Scales from other beasts follow the natural muscle line, but in your case..."
"I said shut up!"
Kai attacked with more force, but now his movements were less fluid. The doubt had been planted, he was thinking about his own scales, about the small rigidities he had always ignored.
The mushrooms glowed more intensely. The knowledge showed more: how the green scales indicated a minor deviation in cultivation, how this affected their distribution...
"Your scales should be almost blue," Ren dodged another blow. "The green means they absorb too much earth mana. That's why they're denser on your right side."
"You know nothing!" Kai roared, but his voice betrayed uncertainty.
In the stands, silence had replaced laughter. Even Yang was watching more intently.
"Excess earth mana makes the scales grow irregularly," Ren continued while moving. "It's subtle, but your right side is heavier. That's why you always turn left when you attack."
The next time Kai attacked, everyone could see it, the slight imbalance in his turn, the way he unconsciously compensated for the extra weight on his right side.
"SHUT UP!"
Rage made Kai commit the mistake Ren was waiting for. He lunged forward with all his might, turning left as he always did.
Ren didn't dodge this time.
At the last moment, when Kai was fully committed to his attack, Ren stepped forward.
His hands found Kai's arm at the exact angle where the scales couldn't protect the joint. A precise pull, using Kai's own weight...
The scaled boy fell heavily to the ground.
"Impossible!" Jin rose from his seat. "How could the Rotting Boy..."
The whispers and laughter that had accompanied the fight's beginning had transformed into tense silence.
No one expected the mushroom boy to even touch Kai, much less throw him down.
Humiliation was reflected in the faces of those who moments before had been mocking him, especially in Jin's group.
Kai rose slowly, his green scales gleaming with a threatening glow. The amusement had vanished from his face, replaced by cold fury. One thing was playing with the Rotting Boy, but being thrown down by him in front of the whole class...
The atmosphere in the amphitheater had changed. It was no longer a comic spectacle, now there was real tension.
Even Professor Yang had leaned forward in his seat, his expression of boredom replaced by genuine interest. Lin and Luna showing even more interest.
The way Kai clenched his fists, how the scales on his neck bristled... everyone could see the game was over. The Rotting Boy had made the mistake of humiliating him, and now he would pay for it.
"Damn you...!" Kai stood up, his scales glowing more intensely. "Speed Mode!"
The scales on his legs changed pattern, channeling more mana. Suddenly, Kai was 50% faster.
The next minute was a nightmare for Ren.
Kai's first blow was brutal.
Ren could barely raise his arms to block, and even then the impact made him stumble back several steps.
"Is that all?" Kai smiled, advancing. "The great beast expert can't even stay standing?"
Trying to dodge the next blow was useless, Kai was now much faster. The scales on his legs gleamed as he moved, and this time the impact connected directly with Ren's stomach.
The air left his lungs. The mushrooms in his hair flickered erratically as he fell to his knees.
"Get up, Rotting Boy!" Jin shouted from the stands. "The fun's just starting!"
Ren stood up slowly, knowledge flowing through the pain.
Another blow caught him, this time in the shoulder. Kai was relentless.
Each impact resonated in his bones, each blow finding a new point of pain.
"Stop the fight!" Taro shouted. "He'll kill him!"
But the mushrooms in Ren's hair glowed more intensely with each blow. The knowledge flowed faster now: speed mode diverted mana to the legs, leaving other points exposed...
Yang stepped forward. "This is enough..."
"Wait," Lin stopped him, her eyes fixed on Ren.
"Your scales..." Ren spat a bit of blood and saliva, "are absorbing... the wrong type of mana."
"Learn to shut up, damn it!"
"That's why... that's why speed mode destabilizes you."
Kai stopped for an instant, his green scales glowing erratically.
"The scales should be blue," Ren continued, barely staying on his feet. "The faster you move..."
"PLEASE SHUT UP OR…!"
Kai lunged forward with all his enhanced speed, his scales gleaming like a green star.
"Ren!" Taro shouted.
But again... Ren didn't dodge.
At the last second, Ren stepped to the left. His fist, guided by precise knowledge, found the exact point where the mana lines crossed incorrectly.
It wasn't a powerful blow, the 10% increase barely made him stronger than a normal child.
But it didn't need to be.
Kai's scales, overcharged with the wrong mana and strained to the maximum by speed mode, resonated with the impact. The energy pattern, already unstable, collapsed.
All the green scales went dark at once.
Kai fell to the ground, gasping. His scales, now matte and lusterless, looked like mere patches on his skin.
The silence in the amphitheater was absolute.
"Impossible..." Yang stepped forward. "Stone scales with a simple..."
"Speed mode," Ren staggered, barely conscious, "forces too much mana through the wrong pattern. One hit in the precise point and..."
He couldn't finish. His knees gave way and the world went black.
The last thing he heard was Professor Yang's voice:
"Take Patinder to the infirmary."