The moment Orion made his move, every mage in the arena held their breath, anticipating the first strike, even Instructor Walter, who was acting as the referee, had disappeared from the middle of the arena, giving them ample space to fight to their hearts’ content.
As Orion’s fist drew closer, particles of water element manifested in the air, coiling around his hand in a rotating fashion, forming a water drill that covered his fist, and the closer Orion approached, the faster and larger the water drill grew, Alec’s expression remained unchanged as he forcefully slammed his palms together.
From both sides, Orion noticed two rapidly moving boulders hurtling towards him, likely uprooted from the ground of the arena.
Orion couldn’t grasp how Alec had managed to create such a phenomenon, but he knew that if he didn’t act, he would be crushed between the massive boulders.
In response, he erected water barriers on both his left and right sides, still confident that his defense could easily withstand Alec’s attack, Orion didn’t want to miss the opportunity to strike Alec first and gain an advantage.
With the water drill attack just inches away from piercing Alec’s head, a wide grin appeared on Orion’s face.
However, he also noticed that, in that critical moment, Alec’s expression remained blank.
Orion couldn’t fathom how someone facing imminent death could wear such an expression.
’Maybe he’s just shocked silly, This will be an easy kill, I’ve just been exerting myself needlessly all this while," Orion thought to himself.
But then, he heard the sounds of something breaking.
That sound sent a wave of foreboding through Orion, and in the next split second, he was crushed in the middle by the two colossal boulders, they collided with him at full speed, with Orion’s right fist still extended just inches away from Alec, the water drill dissipated, unable to deliver its intended strike.
"Come on! Don’t tell me that’s all!" Alec’s voice pierced through the crowd of shocked onlookers.
They could hardly believe their eyes, they knew what they were witnessing was true, but some part of their brains refused to accept that they had just witnessed the seemingly invincible Orion being smashed by two enormous boulders a mere three seconds into the battle.
They struggled to make sense of what had happened, everything had occurred so quickly.
With their focus fixed on Alec and Orion in the center, they hadn’t registered the incredible speed at which the boulders had hurtled towards Orion, The impact was so swift and powerful that it reached him in an instant, even after smashing through his water barrier.
It almost seemed as if the barrier had failed to diminish the force behind the collision.
Alec began to walk away, thinking the battle was over, but soon he heard a voice.
"We are not finished yet!"
The two boulders that had struck Orion were sent flying towards the crowd.
In that moment, the mages within the boulders’ path panicked, contemplating how they would defend against such a powerful attack, however, just as the boulders neared, they abruptly halted, held in place by the translucent shield.
A collective sigh of relief swept through those who had been in danger, realizing they were spared from becoming collateral damage in a fight that was not their own, as Alec glanced down and noticed his feet were submerged in water.
In fact, the entire fighting ring of the arena had been covered in water, with Orion capitalizing on the transparent shield’s coverage to his advantage.
[> Mid Tier Spell - Sea Dragon Avalanche <]
When Alec lifted his gaze to assess what had been hurled at him, he found himself facing a colossal flood dragon formed from water element, charging towards him.
Quickly, Alec clasped his hands together, summoning a spell in response.
[> Low Tier Spell - Earth Wall <]
Having not yet learned any Mid Tier Spells for the flame or earth elements, Alec found himself with limited options when facing off against the mid-ranked flood dragon.
He resorted to summoning his Earth Wall, infusing a massive amount of mana into it to raise the wall to an enormous level.
However, the flood dragon still broke through the wall with ease and swung its tail, sending Alec flying until he collided with the transparent shield.
"Shit!" Alec cursed as he rebounded back to the ground.
Thanks to his high endurance, he managed to evade critical injuries, but the flood dragon’s attack left him in considerable pain.
Blood trickled from his mouth as he struggled to maintain his grip, hesitating to unleash his full strength in anticipation of the impending competition, he knew revealing his abilities now would provide valuable intelligence to the spies inside the War God Mage Academy, and Alec wanted to keep his true power under wraps.
However, he realized it was time to show some of his moves, even if he wasn’t prepared to go all-out just yet.
"I hope you’re ready to go down," Orion taunted as he levitated into the air, extending his hands wide to summon an array of countless water cannons.
[> Mid Tier Spell - Water Cannon Barrage <]
Alec swiftly bent his legs, positioning his hips, and moved at high speed to evade the incoming water cannon shells.
But he couldn’t avoid them all, and with each hit, he was sent flying before collapsing into the puddle of water that covered the arena, however, regardless of the impact, Alec doggedly rose to his feet, closing the distance between them.
[> Low Tier Spell - Gravity Pull x50 <]
[> Mid Tier Spell - Gravity Force Field x100 <]
Orion cast a double spell, skillfully overlapping their effects to create a forcefield of gravity, amplifying the weight on Alec to a staggering one hundred and fifty times the normal intensity.
As he was smashed face down into the water-filled arena, Orion began to advance towards Alec with a deliberate pace, raising his hand to summon a massive, pulsating water spear.
"This is how it should be, you kissing the ground before me, as i will always be superior than you," Orion declared as he thrust the spear downward.
[> Mid Tier Spell - Gravity Negation <]
Alec smirked as Orion approached, and he negated the gravity, causing the oppressive heaviness in the air to vanish, in a swift motion, his right hand clutched his Bone Katana while his left hand seized the Changdao in a reverse grip.
Orion, acting on instinct, attempted to retreat fast, but Alec had him right where he wanted.
With a rapid succession of movements, Alec swung both blades vertically and horizontally.
Dark streaks of flame and scorching red flames that seemed capable of melting anything were unleashed to clash with the pulsating water spear, and as they collided, a mini explosion erupted, distorting the air above them as both attacks vied for dominance.
Alec, however, was not content to watch the standoff, as he dashed towards Orion, and pillars of earth erupted from the ground, providing him with a path to close the distance.
He realized that the longer he stayed in the water, the easier it was for Orion to predict his movements, Orion, too, quickly caught on to his strategy.
Alec nearly lost his balance as the pillar he stood upon shook from the impact of a water cannon shot, with Orion levitating in the air and targeting the earth pillars Alec was using to approach him.
Orion was trying to force Alec back into the water-filled ground.
Alec was flung into the air once more, this time by a direct hit from the cannon.
Fortunately, he had positioned both of his weapons in front of him in an X shape, defending against the attack.
Before Alec could plunge back into the water, his feet became engulfed in flames, propelling him back into the air.
With his entire body enveloped in flames like a suit of armor—an upgrade his flame element had developed, though he lacked mid-rank flame spells, his extraordinary strength and flame aura enabled him to unleash powerful attacks that matched a mid-tier spell.