The two retreated almost at the same time after their fists collided. Enrico took advantage of the wall behind him as support, using Charged Impulse to change direction again and advance toward Danyana. His fist struck her stomach with Zero Impact, but instead of showing any sign of pain, she smiled. Thunder began surrounding her hand, and taking advantage of their proximity, she returned the blow with even greater force.
Enrico was pushed backward, but he did not allow the distance to increase. He reinforced his own body and advanced again, concentrating as much strength as he could into his fist.
"Charged Impact!"
The blow struck Danyana and sent her crashing into the wall, destroying part of it. Even so, the girl remained standing among the rubble.
"Thunder Punch: Level Two."
The amount of electricity surrounding Danyana's hand increased considerably. Enrico immediately realized that receiving that attack directly would cause enormous damage, but instead of retreating, he assumed his characteristic stance and concentrated his own attack.
The two advanced at the same time.
Their fists collided in the center of the space between them, and the force released by the collision sent both of them flying in opposite directions.
'Damn... Even though we're in the same Circle, there's already a difference. This reminds me of Chalés...'
Enrico opened his information and quickly analyzed Danyana's data.
Name: Danyana Stormclaw
Magic: Thunder — Second Circle — 56%
Magic: Wind — Second Circle — 49%
Mana Quantity: 357
Unique Skill: Animal Instinct / ???????
Soul: 98
He was surprised to see those numbers.
In the original story, it had only been shown that Danyana possessed a Unique Skill, but its nature had never been revealed. Thinking about it more carefully, that made sense. Danyana would die during the Infernal Academy arc, which would happen a few months from now, before even finishing her first year. There had not been enough time for the original story to reveal much about her.
Enrico did not have time to continue thinking.
Danyana was already advancing again.
He created his fire clone, and the two headed in different directions. When Danyana noticed two kicks arriving simultaneously, her body became surrounded by thunder, and she grabbed the legs of both.
She tried to use her strength to throw them away, but the clone dispersed before she could complete the movement. A second later, it reappeared behind her and struck her stomach with Charged Impulse, making her release Enrico's leg.
Enrico took advantage of the opening and grabbed his own clone's hand. Using the momentum of the movement, he spun through the air and was launched toward Danyana.
"Wind Magic: Beast Claw!"
Danyana raised one of her hands and brought it down violently. Five wind slashes, each about two meters long, advanced through the air.
Enrico changed his trajectory in the air with Charged Impulse, narrowly dodging the slashes. After regaining his balance, he created his fire bow and drew several arrows.
"Multiple Fire Arrows!"
Four arrows were fired and split during their trajectory, transforming into a true rain of projectiles.
Danyana crossed her arms and concentrated wind around them. With a single movement, she pushed the air in front of her and diverted the arrows from their trajectory. However, when she looked back at Enrico, she found only the fire clone where he was supposed to be.
"Surprise."
Enrico appeared from the other side.
His kick, reinforced by Charged Impulse, struck Danyana's face. It was the first time in that fight that blood appeared on her body.
Danyana brought a hand to her face and looked at the blood on her fingers.
Instead of becoming irritated, she smiled even more.
The wind began surrounding her hand, making her movements faster. Enrico retreated in time to avoid the worst of it, but three cuts still appeared across his chest.
"As I thought, you're strong. So let's raise the level."
Danyana disappeared again.
Enrico immediately switched places with his clone. The next instant, a slash passed through the place where he had been, splitting the clone in half.
Danyana realized the switch.
When she attacked again, she found only the clone once more.
'So he can switch places with that clone.'
The conclusion made sense, but Danyana was too excited to stop and analyze it calmly. After going so long without finding someone willing to truly fight her, she had finally found an opponent who could keep up with her pace.
'If any of the other Rank 10 besides me wanted to fight, I wouldn't be so focused on finding someone strong.'
Since last month, none of the other Rank 10 wanted to fight her. They said they did not want to face someone at the same level because it would be a waste of time, but Danyana believed the real reason was something else.
They wanted to maintain their ranks.
To her, they were simply careful and boring idiots who preferred to avoid a battle instead of discovering how far they could go. Danyana believed that someone could only know their true potential when they were placed in a situation of real danger.
The only people who truly awakened her interest were Rank 1 and 9. Even so, neither of them fought her. The former simply seemed unwilling to waste time, while the latter was weaker and never challenged her, preferring to constantly study and further develop his level of Alchemy after already accomplishing something astonishing.
Danyana turned her full attention back to Enrico.
"Come on, Enrico. Show me something that makes me want to evolve."
"You should stay calm, kitty. Otherwise, you'll end up dying someday."
Another attack came toward him. Enrico managed to escape again by switching positions with the clone, but he knew he could not continue that way for much longer.
'Tsk. With this, everyone will be able to see my current limits... If it weren't for Water Magic...'
Since the beginning of the fight, Enrico had mainly been using his Water Magic to heal the injuries he received. This allowed him to continue fighting even after suffering attacks that would normally greatly reduce his performance.
Even so, that was not enough.
If he really wanted to make those students evolve, he needed to show them something that would force them to surpass their own limits.
He needed to become a barrier that they would have to overcome.
Enrico stepped onto the ceiling and ran across the surface, moving away from the area destroyed by Danyana's last attack. She immediately chased after him, using wind and thunder to climb after him.
'To make this situation even worse, the time limit of my clone and the ring is running out. I have to finish this quickly.'
Enrico created his bow again and fired three arrows. The three connected during their trajectory, forming a triangle that surrounded Danyana and trapped her for a brief moment.
It was the opening he needed.
Enrico drew one last arrow and concentrated a much greater amount of mana into it.
'Flame Shot.'
The arrow crossed the air at an absurd speed. Danyana managed to perceive the attack in time, but she did not have enough room to escape completely. She stepped to the side and avoided the direct impact, but the power of the shot violently pushed her out of its trajectory.
Enrico took advantage of the movement.
He appeared behind her and covered his fist with fire.
"Charged Impact!"
The blow struck Danyana and sent her crashing into the ground. Her body sank into the earth, opening a crater.
Enrico did not wait to find out whether she was still conscious. He raised his hand and summoned several fireballs, launching them one after another toward the area.
The explosions accumulated inside the crater, raising dust and debris. To complete the attack, Enrico drew one last arrow in the air and fired it with a large amount of mana, causing a small explosion in the center of the destroyed area.
Everyone watching the fight was surprised.
Elowyn, who had sat down to watch the confrontation, also could not hide her astonished expression. Enrico's friends, who had just arrived, were already beginning to run toward him, believing that he had won.
Enrico, however, raised his hand, asking them to remain at a distance.
"This is the best. Thank you very much for giving me this fight. And, as thanks, I'll fight at my maximum."
The environment fell silent for a moment.
Then a small explosion of mana emerged from inside the crater.
The released pressure caused the air around it to move violently.
"RRRAAAGGHHZZTT!"
Danyana emerged from the crater at an absurd speed.
Her appearance had changed.
Fur and markings resembling those of a tiger covered her hands and feet. Her eyes and teeth had also acquired animalistic characteristics. Although she still possessed clearly human features, her presence now made her seem much closer to a beast than a person.
Danyana had activated her Unique Skill.