Leo's blade slammed into mine almost instantly, throwing me back.
He had moved so fast that my eyes had only seen a blur of gray fabric and brilliant white sparks flying at me before I raised my sword just in time.
I had almost lost instantly… and I was exhilarated.
There's no way… I just blocked that without enhancing my eyes!
A low chuckle escaped from my lips as I slowed myself before I slid off the platform with one hand.
"What's so funny?" sneered Leo. "Already hysterical from one hit?"
"No," I grinned from ear to ear. "I've just made one huge step closer to the main characters."
"The babbling of the rabble is truly painful to listen to. Keep your mouth shut."
His signature white sparks began gathering around his blade and he swung his blade at me.
A crescent of bright white light shot at me, appearing before me in an instant.
This will require more mana than usual…
I stomped my foot into the ground and pulled a slab of concrete out of the ground. The lightning slash smashed against the stone surface before dissipating into nothing.
However, I wasn't out of danger yet. I already knew that Leo would send a follow-up strike.
Where is he coming from…?
Suddenly, my eyes caught a blur of white lightning out of the corner of my vision.
Immediately, I swung the concrete wall that I had used to block his slash at the approaching Leo.
He simply vaulted over the swinging stone block.
Oh no.
When my attack did not go according to plan, I was forced to block Leo's strike again.
His swordsmanship, honed since childhood, was far superior to my basic techniques. In a contest of pure sword skill, I would undoubtedly lose.
However, this was not a battle of pure swordsmanship.
Confusion flitted across Leo's face as I made a grasping motion with my free hand. Then, his eyes widened as he realized that the stone block that I had swung around was now flying at his back.
"Don't look away from your opponent!"
While our blades were locked, I kneed him in the stomach and caused him to stumble.
Despite being winded, Leo quickly recovered and ducked under the stone block which skidded to a stop at my feet.
Around 80% mana… Moving concrete is a lot harder than normal soil.
The white-haired boy staggered to his feet, his eyes alight with rage. I could almost hear his thoughts: 'How dare this weak, pathetic insect make me sweat?'
The aura of lightning that surrounded him intensified. Even though I was almost five meters away, the sparks still stung against my exposed skin.
"Prepare yourself," he growled as his pupils disappeared into streaming lightning pouring from his eyes.
"Ready," I grinned as I flourished my longsword into guard position.
He disappeared, the ground where he was standing shattering from the extreme force he had pushed against it with. But I knew the biggest weakness of the Inazuma White Lightning Technique.
I raised a solid wall in front of me and heard the impact of Leo's body against it.
"You can't handle the speed, can you?" I cackled, misty mana leaking out of my mouth as I spoke.
The wall crumbled as Leo roared and swung his sword with mana-enhanced arms, sending stone chips scattering across the arena.
"When you're fully activating the White Lightning Technique, you're probably moving at more than 25 miles an hour in an instant… yet most people can only react four times in one second."
I snapped my fingers, causing the stone chips on the ground to begin hovering as they threw themselves at Leo. He managed to block every single stone projectile despite being injured from crashing against my wall.
At this point, although my mana was around half, my mental power in controlling the mana was nearly spent.
Leo's voice was ragged as he responded. "Shut… up!"
He dashed at me again, but I easily blocked his strike despite only barely being able to see his movements.
"You're too predictable," I whispered as sparks danced between our blades, before redirecting his blade into the ground and kicking him in the stomach.
Unable to hold onto his blade, he staggered backwards with spit flying out of his mouth.
"If only you were just slightly more intelligent," I laughed. "Your hotheadedness and arrogance… they're your downfall!"
Leo stamped his foot, causing lightning to erupt around him and shattered the ground with violent explosions. I danced backwards, shielding my face with crossed arms but lost my footing on numb feet.
Rolling on the ground before turning it into a crouch, I slowly staggered to my feet.
Although I hadn't taken any direct attacks, his powerful swings and constant electrical aura had left burns across my body despite the armor. My sleeves were tattered from the impact of lightning magic against my sword over and over again.
Meanwhile, the white-haired boy exhaled steam from his mouth. His blade, which had been freed by the explosion, flew back towards him as he manipulated the magnetism with electric charges.
I was ecstatic (pun intended). He was making progress in real-time as we fought.
Truly, one of the main characters, I praised in my heart. However, my face was still twisted into a mocking sneer.
However, the sneer was replaced by an expression of awe as he began channeling ridiculous amounts of lightning magic into his sword until his blade became a monolith of pure, crackling lightning bolts.
I could see his right hand sleeve being incinerated by the violent, blinding electricity.
His hands had turned red, even though his unique training and constitution made him resistant against lightning magic combined with the fact that mages were naturally resistant to their own magic.
"Haha…" I weakly laughed, as I began mustering my mana.
Beneath us, the ground shifted as I gathered my magic to protect myself.
Leo began slowly stepping towards me.
"You know…" I began. "...talented people like you disgust me."
The white-haired boy faltered. His eyes cleared up and the intense lightning crackling around his pupils diminished into tiny sparks as he stared at me. "What…?"