«Start!!»
After the match began, Ryu was frozen in place, not knowing what to do. The loud noise and chaos had paralyzed him—his first experience in a fight, and facing a noble mage.
Ryu slowly composed himself.
«I have to get myself together, if I stay like this, I'll lose.» Ryu said to himself, but he was still a little flustered.
When he turned his face toward his opponent, something huge hit his stomach, sending him flying several meters away.
«Aahhh»
«What was that?»
His opponent laughed and said,
«You can't even block a simple energy bullet, and you want to fight me?»
"Huh? Energy bullet?"
(The mage's energy bullet: By gathering energy from the magical circles within him, he sends them toward his wand. By collecting and condensing the energy, he launches them at the enemy, causing severe injuries.)
The mage continued,
«Hahaha! Since you're so weak, how about I play with you a bit?»
Ryu felt upset hearing this, but he had no choice but to dodge the attacks.
He used his hands to lift himself off the ground and assumed a guard stance.
The mage started firing energy bullets again, but this time Ryu wasn't distracted and managed to dodge a few.
«Oh, so you're not completely useless after all,» Jeffrey said, and intensified his attacks.
Ryu got a bit flustered as the bullets' speed increased. To avoid getting hit, he ran around the field, but after a short run, a bullet hit him again, and he fell once more.
This time the injury was worse, and after hitting the ground, blood streamed down Ryu's face.
Ryu thought the mage's attacks would increase now and got up quickly.
But he saw Jeffrey hadn't fired any bullets.
Jeffrey said,
«Hahaha, worthless insect, did you think you could escape me?»
And started shooting again.
Ryu managed to dodge several.
He wondered,
"Why didn't he attack me while I was on the ground? It's not because of fair play… maybe he needs time to prepare all these bullets."
To test his theory, Ryu ran faster around the field, and after several bullets, Jeffrey couldn't hit him. So to cool down his magic, he fired two bullets at the ground, and dust spread across the whole arena.
Seeing this, Ryu confirmed his guess.
But because of the dust, he couldn't see anything, though he wanted to make the best use of this opportunity.
He ran toward the center of the arena, where Jeffrey was standing, emerged from the dust, and saw him. He quickly moved toward him.
To be safe, he didn't coat his fist with his aura at first and tried to hit Jeffrey with raw strength, thinking he could land a punch. But…
The punch didn't reach Jeffrey, only came close to his face.
(Necklace Shield: A necklace that, when worn, creates an invisible shield that blocks attacks.)
Ryu was surprised his punch hadn't hit his opponent.
The cooldown time for Jeffrey's magical bullets ended, but this time it was very close, and this bullet was different—bigger, and it seemed like lightning was inside.
Ryu quickly raised his hands in a guard to avoid it hitting his face.
But Jeffrey aimed for his stomach.
Upon impact, Ryu vomited blood; the bullet exploded, and he was thrown to the corner of the arena.
He fell there, lightning coursing around his body, intensifying the pain.
Several of his ribs seemed broken.
His face was covered in blood, and his eyes, red with blood, looked like lights shining in the darkness.
Ryu struggled to get up but seemed unconscious, his face drenched in blood.
Jeffrey said,
«I really didn't expect you to endure this long, but this is the end. This is where it ends for you.»
Ryu, barely conscious, said,
"Shut up."
Hearing this, Jeffrey got angry,
«Huh? How dare you speak to me like that?»
«Okay, I wanted to knock you out with one hit, but now I want to break every bone and show everyone my power.»
He started throwing lightning bullets again, but because they were big, their travel time to the target was slightly longer than regular magic bullets, by a few hundredths of a second.
Ryu realized this and, with an exhausted body, attacked again. This time he covered his hand with his aura and began dodging.
This time, there were fewer bullets, but they drew more power from the mage, so their cooldown was longer.
However, their power was several times that of regular bullets, and each could end the match for Ryu.
He continued dodging and took the chance to get close to Jeffrey, striking with a fist coated in aura with several times his usual power. But the shield still didn't break. He retreated and struck a few more times with this technique; the shield weakened, but Jeffrey no longer let Ryu approach, shooting with precision and fewer bullets. Finally, he fired two bullets at once: one hit the ground in front of Ryu, covering the area with dust to block him, and the other shot straight at him. The bullet exploded in the dust, and Jeffrey thought it had hit Ryu—he exhaled in relief and lowered his wand.
Suddenly, Ryu emerged from the dust and approached him. Jeffrey got ready, but the bullet was delayed, and Ryu reached him.
The protective shield activated.
But this time, something was different: Ryu didn't coat his hand with aura.
He came forward and lightly struck with his left hand.
Jeffrey was surprised, and as he tried to fire the lightning bullet, a sudden massive explosion occurred, finally breaking Jeffrey's previously impenetrable shield.
Jeffrey was defenseless. Ryu's hands were broken, and he experienced extreme pain.
But this was his last chance; if he didn't use it, he would lose.
With a broken hand and a bloodied body, he went toward Jeffrey and punched his face, but the power wasn't enough.
Jeffrey lifted his wand and aimed a magical bullet straight at Ryu's face, but the same explosion happened again, hitting Jeffrey's face directly. Dust spread everywhere, and it took several seconds for it to clear. Jeffrey lay in a corner: his nose broken, all teeth shattered, his head cracked, and due to the fire of the explosion, his face and hair were burned. Ryu's hands were broken, his face bloodied.
After seeing that no one moved and Ryu stood there, he was declared the winner.
The crowd went wild with excitement. Jeffrey's father rushed to his child, seeing him unconscious and his face unrecognizable.
He looked at Ryu, who had also passed out from the pain.
In his rage, he rushed toward Ryu, intending to kill him, but suddenly someone grabbed his hand. The aura was so strong that Jeffrey's father almost fell to the ground from the pressure.
It was Mordrin, the Vampire Lord, who said,
«The match is over. Your child lost. No one is allowed to harm their opponent in a fight.»
Unable to act, he loosened his hand and said to Mordrin, «Okay, I won't interfere.»
Mordrin released his hand, and he went to take his child. He called the doctors, who began treating Jeffrey.
Mordrin approached Ryu and saw he was completely unconscious. He came closer and said to Ryu, «It's over now.»
Even in that unconscious state, Ryu seemed aware, but this time he collapsed.
Just as he was about to fall to the ground, Mordrin caught him.
The master, seeing this scene, left the arena.
Mordrin held Ryu and summoned the doctors.
(The next day)
Ryu's hands were broken, his body injured, and he had lost a lot of blood.
The next day, he got up.
When he opened his eyes, he was in a lavish place—he had never seen anything so luxurious before.
"Ahh..."
"Where am I...?"
End of Chapter 26