After they arrived at the arena, Ana asked them to take it easy, hoping the training combat wouldn't get out of hand. Then she gave the signal for them to begin.
Without a second's hesitation, Emily advanced with firm steps, her body relaxed but her eyes alert.
She knew Nolan could nullify magic, so instead of trying to use her gift or her magical combat style, she decided to start with hand-to-hand. Nolan looked physically much stronger, but the challenge excited her.
"Let's see what you're capable of without your 'advantage'," she murmured, smiling.
Before Nolan could respond, she lunged forward. Her movements were fast and precise, unlike any of the other women he had faced who relied solely on magic.
A feint, a rotation of her hip, and suddenly she was behind him, trying to lock in an armbar worthy of a jiu-jitsu manual.
Nolan grunted in surprise; she was truly good. The technique was clean, her body weight well-distributed. For a moment, he felt the threatened pop in his elbow.
But the man was bigger, stronger, and, above all, used to fighting.
He spun his body with force, breaking the leverage and trapping her arm in a quick counter, returning the maneuver with military efficiency. Emily found herself flat on her back, his forearm pressing against her neck.
"Nice try," he said, breathing hard.
"Okay… okay… I tap!" Emily slapped the ground twice, laughing breathlessly.
If Nolan were merely strong, he probably would have lost. But, unlucky for her, he also knew how to fight.
Seeing that she had tapped, Nolan stood up and offered her a hand, which she gladly accepted. But as soon as she was on her feet, the competitive glint returned to her eyes.
"That didn't count," she said, wiping the sweat from her forehead.
Nolan arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean, didn't count? You just tapped."
"I want to try something else," she insisted, her tone defiant. "That was just a warm-up. Now I'll fight using magic."
"But…" Nolan started to warn her that he could nullify her magic, but she cut him off.
"And one more thing: you'd better dodge this next hit, unless you want Ana to heal you," Emily said with a confident smile.
Nolan was irritated by the girl's refusal to accept her defeat, but he was also curious to see what she would show him.
"Fine," he replied, crossing his arms arrogantly. "Try your best. It won't matter."
The girl smiled, taking a few steps back. She could feel the mana around her, and because of that, she could also sense how large his field was. All the mana in a 10-meter radius around Nolan was completely paralyzed.
That said, by staying outside that radius, she believed she could surprise him.
"I'm going all out, okay?" Emily warned, which made Ana sigh deeply. She had a bad feeling about this.
The air around Emily began to vibrate. Small filaments of blue mana appeared and danced around her body. However, the glow died out as it approached the edge of Nolan's field.
"It won't work," he warned.
Emily, however, just smirked. "We'll see."
The mana around her condensed, forming an ethereal spear, translucent yet sharp as glass. With a short cry, she hurled the projectile.
The spear traveled with surprising speed, but Nolan just stood with his arms crossed, certain it would disappear immediately.
And indeed, as soon as the spear entered his field, it began to disintegrate, its edges dissolving into particles of light.
But for some reason, it didn't vanish instantly. For a brief moment, the spear resisted, growing thinner and more fragile. Yet, less than a meter away from him, its tip still glowed.
The impact was light, but real.
A thin cut appeared on Nolan's cheek, drawing a red line before the spear completely disintegrated. He brought his hand to his face, looking at the blood on his fingers in disbelief.
Emily, on the other side of the arena, was smiling, her chest rising and falling with her accelerated breathing.
"I told you that you'd better dodge," the girl declared confidently.
Nolan, still stunned, tried to understand what had happened. It wasn't the first time someone had tried to attack him from a distance, so this shouldn't have been a problem. For example, when Eliza had tried something similar, her attacks vanished instantly.
Ana, who was watching, could only widen her eyes in shock.
The spear Emily had created wasn't related to her gift, but rather the simple use of pure magic. In theory, it was something anyone could learn. In practice, it was ridiculously difficult.
Even Ana, who had an enormous affinity for manipulating mana because of her gift, couldn't do something like that. She could create a spear, sure, but not one nearly as dense.
"What did you do?" Nolan asked, giving up on trying to understand on his own why his ability had failed.
"If I explain, will you fight me as many times as I want?" Emily approached him, her eyes bright with excitement.
Nolan badly wanted to know, but he had a strong impression that if he said yes, she would end up asking him to train with her every day.
"No, that's too much," he held up his hand, showing five fingers. "I'll give you five chances. If you defeat me even once, I'll do whatever you want."
"And if I lose?" she asked, a smile forming on her face.
"Obviously, you'll have to do everything I ask. What do you say?" Nolan commented with a confident grin.
"Oh? You're that sure you'll win?" Emily smiled provocatively. In her entire life, besides her mother, she had never faced anyone who was a true challenge. Her warrior soul was burning with the desire to give this fight her all.
"We can say our earlier match was the first fight," Emily held up four fingers, smiling arrogantly. "In four more chances, I will defeat you."
Nolan returned her smile. He wasn't a warrior; he had lived his whole life in a modern society where warriors didn't exist. But he was a fighter, and his spirit burned with the idea of a challenge.
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