Spade looked into Lyrian's fierce eyes as his chest heaved in and out. He was clearly exhausted and wasn't able to move either, with Lyrian's blade right on his neck.
At that moment, the two felt disconnected from everything else that was going on.
'He will be a good pawn in taking down Yang... but he's also a big limiter. I have no doubt that if I let him stay in the exam, he will stab me in the back eventually.'
Lyrian spent half a second considering what to do. His enemy, now seeming like nothing more than measly prey, was helpless before him, so he was confident in waiting a little bit. This, however, instantly changed.
Spade suddenly took in a deep breath, allowing Lyrian's blade to slightly cut a thin layer of his neck, as he pushed the breath out. Now, he was no longer panting or even seemed to be exhausted.
"Good. Your skill was fun to see... but... not yet. I don't think they would be happy if I eliminated you right now."
The boy spoke as if he had the upper hand, confidently gazing into Lyrian's eyes, which grew confused. Before he could even reply, Spade quickly jumped backward, faster than Lyrian could move his blade.
It was so fast, in fact, that Lyrian could barely see him move. This shocked Lyrian slightly, as Spade hadn't shown this level of speed throughout their entire fight.
Spade sheathed his sword.
"The Black Sheep lives!"
His voice resounded through the air. He paused, expecting to hear many affirmations to his order... however, only one "Yes!" came from a distance.
Squinting his eyes slightly in confusion, he looked back at where Syanr and Silvus were previously fighting. Currently, Silvus was gone from the scene. Looking around, Spade saw him already reconnected with his group.
'He eliminated Syanr that quickly? But... what about Linc?'
He looked around the tower top, squinting his eyes even further. He saw Leon dashing somewhere in the distance, and at that moment, broke out into a laugh.
"So only Kedward survived huh... ha! Ah... how silly."
He sighed, putting his hands on his hip. Lyrian took a step forward, simultaneously checking his mana.
It was about 1/4th of its normal amount right now. He stopped moving and gritted his teeth.
'I'll need that much at the very least...'
He thought to himself as he sheathed his sword.
"Whatever. I'll deal with you later."
He said, sheathing his sword as he jumped high into the air. He quickly scanned the entire tower top with his widened field of vision and noticed Alten and Rylan.
He also saw their situation, along with one other factor that made him fall back down and walk the other way without any worry. Instead, he decided that while the fights between the kids and the Magma Dwellers were still going on, he would try and save up as much mana as possible.
Sitting under the peach, he crossed his legs and undertook the lotus position, before beginning to use Gale.
***
Alten looked into Rylan's drowsy eyes, which were barely open.
"Yo--You want me to use this? That's... insane! How can I? I've never done it before, and what if it doesn't work?"
Alten began to exclaim, doubt shadowing his mind. Rylan paused for a short moment.
"We have both gone through our fair share of bullies, but in this exam, I've learned about that area of life a lot more... trust me, Alten. You want to do this. What will happen if it doesn't work? What? What's the worst that could happen."
Alten also paused, looking down at the cube. He was clearly concerned, biting his lip.
"But... Im not certai--"
He was abruptly cut off.
"So what!? You don't always have to be certain to do something... if you don't take any risks in life, you're a goddamn coward."
These sudden words struck a cord in Alten. Hearing the word "coward" sent shivers down his spine, as it was the opposite of what he wanted to be in life. Hell, he had been running away from such a definition ever since he was born, or at least it felt like that to him.
He gritted his teeth, looking at Kang and Kedward who were still going at it. By now, Kang was beaten to a pulp. His eyebrows were swollen, his face blue and bloody, and his expression indescribable.
Kedward on the other hand was smiling, feeling the thrill of destroying someone physically.
"Your right... I don't want to be a fucking coward!"
He grabbed the cube from Rylan's hand.
"Haha! That's the spirit!"
Rylan exclaimed in excitement, as he suddenly fell on his rear.
"I can't stand up... I'll watch from down here."
Alten pressed the button on the cube, as a giant blaster materialized in his hand. It almost dropped it, but quickly recovered, aiming it at Kedward with exact precision.
He wasn't a rookie when it came to aiming, but of course, a gun wasn't something he ever used before. The bow was usually his strong point.
Without a second thought, he poured his mana into the blaster, having aimed perfectly at his target. With a serious face, he nearly pulled the trigger, when the blaster suddenly began shaking uncontrollably.
His aim was ruined, and his concentration was slightly broken.
"Don't worry... just aim and shoot. It doesn't recognize your mana, but it will still work."
With this confirmation from Rylan, Alten zoned into the target once again. It was shaky, but nonetheless, aiming wasn't a problem for him. It moved right, left, up and down. He instantly memorized this pattern, as he shot right when the point of the gun landed on Kedward.
A large ball of light quickly darted out of the blaster and traveled at extreme speeds. It hit Ked in the chest where his heart was exactly located, sending him flying into the air with a small explosion.
He landed on his feet a few meters away, sliding as he came to a stop. His chest was heavily indented and grazed by the beam of light... but there was no broken skin.
A rib had split into two, but Ked quickly reformed it using his peculiar technique from before, staring at Alten with a new rage.
Out of nowhere, Alten's serious expression turned to one of hopelessness.
"Shit... I just made him more angry..."
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