"If I sneeze too hard, this stick might shatter," Victor muttered dryly as a magical beast with a wolf's snarl and a serpent's tail lunged at him.
He spun low and flicked his cane upwards, striking the creature across the jaw just enough to send it staggering but not enough to damage the cane.
A minor vibration crawled up the shaft of the stick, but it held. Victor exhaled sharply and moved onward, striking the beast again multiple times before it fell off the ledge.
Elsewhere, Elyra Vorn wasn't having as much luck.
Her every movement seemed to ripple the very air with mana.
The green-skinned S-Ranked Warrior was practically a mana magnet. Despite her attempts to suppress it, strands of greenish-blue mana curled around her limbs with every breath she took.
Each time she swung her cane, it attracted enough force to smash through a wall, let alone a weak magic beast.
Her stick already had a few cracks and she couldn't afford to emit too much strength or that would be the end of it.
Her progress across the terrain was slow. Not for lack of ability—but because she was forcing herself to suppress so much of her natural strength. Every swing was measured. Every block was cautious.
Meanwhile, Reed was further off, fumbling through vines and avoiding creatures with a mix of creativity and sheer panic.
He had whacked a bird-like beast with his cane earlier only to have the cane bounce back and smack him in the face. "You ever been hit by your own weapon? I call that 'Reed's Rebound Art'," he muttered while dodging another creature.
Yet somehow, through all the slapstick antics, Reed was making steady progress.
A handful of contestants weren't so lucky. One snapped their cane while trying to spear a beast. Another cracked theirs simply by swinging too hard. Some didn't even make it halfway through the terrain.
With each failure, their names vanished from the floating list above the arena. Only around seventy warriors remained now.
In the spectator stands, a voices of curiosity rippled through the audience.
"Wait… isn't that Elyra Vorn?" a student pointed from the stands.
"Yeah, what's going on with her?" said another. "She's moving like she's struggling."
"Must be holding back. Too strong for her own good," an upper-year student muttered.
Meanwhile, a group of warriors nearby had also taken notice of Elyra's challenge. One of them who was a muscular 17 year old with a rough scar down his temple, whispered to the others.
"Hey… that's Elyra Vorn... the S-ranked Warrior."
"She's struggling. I bet she has too much power. If she makes it past this phase, she'll dominate the later rounds. You know she will. If we're gonna win, she can't be allowed to continue."
"You suggesting we team up on her?" another asked.
"Exactly. There isn't a rule against warriors attacking one another. All we have to do is force her to break her cane. Make her lose control. She's already fighting herself."
One by one, they nodded in agreement.
Elyra who was still holding back turned a corner in the terrain and suddenly found herself surrounded.
Three of the warriors rushed her at once. She blocked one blow with the cane but staggered under a second strike to the gut.
She gasped and leapt back while swinging weakly to push another back.
"Why's she not fighting back?"
"She could have knocked that guy's head clean off!"
Elyra gritted her teeth. She was managing her strength with intense difficulty and now these guys wanted to make it even more difficult for her.
A cane slammed into her face, making her stumble. Then another struck her shoulder.
She swung her cane, barely tapping the attacker, who smirked and charged again.
She was using way too little power to avoid losing control.
Her knuckles were white from gripping the cane so tightly.
Her mind screamed for release—she wanted to let loose. But she couldn't.
In the next instant, another attacker jumped high and raised his cane to slam down at her head—
Suddenly, a new cane intercepted it from above with a sharp clack!
"You folks are truly shameless," came a calm and cold voice.
The attacker looked up and saw him. The white and dark haired kid that had stormed out of flames unharmed today...
He stood next to Elyra with a straight expression as lines of dried blood still trailed from his ears and cheeks. However, his posture remained unshaken.
One hand held his cane out above Elyra's head.
Elyra eyes widened slightly in confusion. For the first time in the entire competition, there was something almost vulnerable in her eyes.
The audience stirred... People started to cheer and a few whispered.
"That's the guy who walked out of fire like a god today."
"I don't need your help," Elyra snapped while turning towards Victor.
Before Victor could even blink, a cane came swinging toward her again.
It struck her squarely in the back causing her to gasp in pain and stumble into Victor's arms.
"Could've fooled me," he muttered with a crooked grin while catching her with ease.
His left arm wrapped securely around her waist while his right hand lifted the cane to block the next set of attacks.
Seven strikes came at them from all directions.
Victor's right hand moved like a blur.
Clack-clack-clack-clack!
He parried each incoming strike with precise timing, intercepting them with his cane at just the right angles.
Then, in the same breathe, he lashed out, sending two incredibly quick strikes each to the faces of the attacking students.
The audience gasped and then erupted into laughter as each blow landed with a comedic thwack, swelling the cheeks of the eight who dared to gang up on Elyra.
One even spun and landed flat on his back, dazed.
Victor who was still holding Elyra like a dancer mid-waltz, looked down at her and said with amusement, "This has got to be the strangest group dance I've ever done."
Before any of the attackers could recover, Victor spun his cane through the air and smacked each of theirs with force while sending out bursts of qi.
One by one, their canes shattered into useless splinters.
The system screens around the arena lit up:
[ Competitors disqualified! Weapon destroyed! ]
All eight attackers were instantly ejected from the phase.