My yellow blades clash against his glowing sword of static energy, arcs of electricity filling the blue dome and shifting the color to an eerie light green visible to the audience.
Instead of being surprised like the last time he saw me move at this speed, his expression shifts to a wide smile, with a battle-crazed look in his eyes.
The clang of our blades echoes throughout the ring as we bounce off each other and zip through the air, colliding over ten times a second as more and more static electricity fills the ring.
"So you really are strong! This proves it. Even a backwater region applicant from the bedrock mines can become A-Rank worthy if they have a lightning skill..."
His sword thrusts grow stronger and angrier with every exchange.
Seconds go by, and I don't respond.
While he is leagues below me in strength, and this is nothing more than a spar or an act to me, when dealing with power that reaches above a double-ranked-up hunter, it never hurts to be cautious.
I continue blocking his attacks and matching his exact speed, then he yells out again.
"It's odd... I could have sworn we got rid of you back in the catastrophe... and there was word that the only lightning user in the Vice Region happened to die during the C-Class exams... There wasn't supposed to be any others..."
As we clash blades again, I decide to activate lifesteal and plunderer to a very low degree.
It's so slight that he doesn't even notice when he slashes back again and his sword collides with my blades.
"You know what? All of you, your whole little group in those simulation trials! When I make it to first in this tournament and get a say on the board, you'll wish you never even thought about laying a finger on the Apex Region's business."
He smirks and swings his blade down hard again. I block with both my daggers and let him push me from high in the air where we collide all the way down to the shielding at the base of the ring.
It looks as if he's the one doing damage, but we're making contact with our blood-bonded weapons for almost a full half second, and in this time I drain large percentages of MP and HP away from his status masked by the violent releases of lightning magic coming off of both of us.
Only a few seconds have passed in this match so far, but for those who have good enough perception to see what is happening, it is the most dangerous and exciting fight of the whole tournament.
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There are only a few Regional Directors and their B-Class subordinates who can truly see the exchanges taking place.
While bright yellow light emerges from the blue dome in a green hue, it looks like a strobe light show to those who aren't powerful enough to perceive the action.
One thing is for sure, the density of the mana auras seeping out from the dome reaches heights higher than anyone else today.
Another full fifteen seconds go by as I continue to absorb the health and mana out of Trax while he believes he's the one wearing me down.
Instead of every twenty shots, I start to let him hit me every fifteen, then ten, then five; but in reality, I'm making contact with him for longer and draining his life force while not showing mana control or speed outside of a believable range.
Meanwhile, his words earlier repeat in my head.
Of course, I don't want him to win this tournament, because giving an unstable power-hungry menace like him a seat of authority can only lead to bad things later down the line.
I've promised the new allies I met in these exams that I'd help them get their hunter IDs, allowing him to win would put that in jeopardy.
However, what Trax said about a second-place applicant not having enough ranking points to push him down in the live leaderboards could be true...
Some hunters didn't move at all when they were defeated by applicants one or two ranks below them.
His eyes widen more and more, then he yells back.
"How? This is impossible! I was winning! I timed my attacks perfectly, I shouldn't have run out for another full two minutes, this... this isn't happening!"
He reaches into a small pouch tucked into the back of his chest plate and pulls out a pink potion, but I activate my fake ranked-up buff again and throw a lightning blade its way, shattering the MP potion in mid-air.
Some of it absorbs into his skin, but it's a few hundred MP at most.
He tries to pull out another, but this time I crush the bottle with even more efficiency and not a drop of the liquid manages to be absorbed.
Trax yells out as I walk closer.
"No! This isn't how it ends! My legacy won't be tainted! I'm the strongest Lightning Mage in the world! I'll win this match... I'll do whatever it takes...."
He stares back at me with an angry gaze still filled with resolve.
I'm unsure why, but it doesn't matter.
To guarantee moving up the leaderboards to reach the first slot, I need someone of a much lower ranking than me to defeat him.
In the next few seconds, once Trax and the whole crowd realize there is no way for him to win, I'll announce that I surrender this match and allow another member of this tournament to finish him off for good in the finals.
I speak up, pointing my daggers forward and crackling head to toe in my fake ranked-up buff.
He glares at me and shakes his head.
With the few hundred MP absorbed from the broken mana potion, Trax activates his ranked-up buff again and reaches into his item box a third time.
I catch his movements and throw a blade of lightning toward the MP potion he takes out again just before it reaches his lips and it shatters while being destroyed by the waves of static that rush through it.