The first-year student's cheek was swollen, and a faint flush spread across his pale face. The weak student, still in pain from the bullies, spoke quietly after they left, "Th... thank you, Leo..."
The boy turned to look, but Kyron was nowhere to be seen where he had been standing just moments ago. Leo extended his hand, handing the boy back his leather-made wallet, and said, "Don't be scared of guys like them. You should file a complaint or fight back. Otherwise, people like this won't respect anyone weaker... until weak people finally raise their voices against them."
Ray, standing right beside Leo, chimed in with an intense, serious tone, "He's right. You need to speak up, or these guys will keep harassing you over and over again." Ray's tone carried a quiet weight meant to encourage the student.
The student spoke softly once more, "Thank you for helping me... I'll try my best to improve myself."
Hearing this, warm smiles appeared on both Leo and Ray's faces. But then, Leo noticed the boy's trembling hands. "First, get those injuries on your face healed, and take some healing potion for the pain," Leo advised.
Without a word, Ray slid his hand into his pocket and pulled out 5 Gold Coins, placing them right into the student's palm. "Here, use these to get yourself treated."
The student stared at the gold coins gleaming in his hand, a sweet smile returning to his face. "Thank you! I'm going to be late for class, so I should get going." The boy slowly walked away.
After the student left, Ray looked over at Leo. "Now we should head to our class too."
They started walking. But as they walked, an idea hit Leo, and he turned to Ray. "Why don't we check out the Training Arena first?"
Ray froze in his tracks and stared at Leo as if he had lost his mind. "Have you gone completely insane? We're going to be late for class! To check the training arena, we'll have to take a huge detour all the way around."
Leo immediately stepped right in front of Ray, clasped his hands together in a pleading gesture, and began begging. Ray rubbed his temples, scratched his hair in frustration, and sighed, "Looks like you've gone crazy just like Steven. You've become completely obsessed with fighting... Fine, alright! But we'll go really fast, take one quick look, and head right back. Understood?"
"Yeah!" Leo nodded happily.
Without wasting a second, Leo channeled his aura into his feet and bolted forward at a blown-out speed. Ray immediately infused his aura into his feet as well, chasing right after him. "You idiot! Don't run inside the academy at that speed! What if you crash into someone?"
Leo looked back over his shoulder and shouted, "Why are you stressing? Everyone's in class right now waiting for it to start, so there's no problem!"
Leo cranked his speed up even higher. Running at full tilt, the two of them finally arrived in front of a massive Indoor Training Arena—enclosed completely by high walls and a giant dome roof.
Stepping inside the arena, they spotted several figures standing right in the center. At a single glance, Leo and Ray recognized that the people standing in the arena were none of other than their own classmates.
"Hey!" Leo shouted out loud.
Hearing Leo and Ray, everyone's heads turned in their direction. The moment Noah's eyes landed on Leo and Ray, an arrogant smirk crept across his face. "Get over here, you two—hurry up!"
Leo and Ray rushed over to where the group stood. Ray asked with a hint of confusion, "What are all of you doing here?"
Freya answered excitedly, "We worked so hard during the break to improve ourselves, so—"
Before Freya could finish her sentence, Noah cut her off with an arrogant tone, "After growing stronger, we just wanted to see the results of our hard work. That's why we thought, why not have a quick little spar?"
Ray pinched the bridge of his nose. "Wait, if we follow the academy's new rules, we're supposed to submit a formal notice beforehand. Only then are we allowed to spar. So, did anyone actually file a notice?"
As soon as Ray asked that question, absolute silence fell across the arena. Everyone's mouths shut tight—making it painfully obvious that absolutely no official notice had been filed.
Breaking the silence, a familiar voice echoed from behind them.
"You guys can go ahead and spar."
Leo and Ray spun around. It was Kyron.
Walking forward, Kyron spoke, "As the Head of the Disciplinary Committee, managing this training arena falls under my responsibility as well. So, I give permission for all of you to have a quick little spar... But there are rules you all must follow."
Leo asked, "What are the rules?"
Keeping that same calm, mysterious smile on his face, Kyron replied, "The rule is that none of you will try to kill each other. Understood?"
Noah smirked, "We weren't planning on killing anyone anyway."
"Splendid. Then you can choose your opponents," Kyron declared.
The second Kyron finished his sentence, Noah didn't waste a single second. "My opponent for this spar will be—RAY!"
Off to the side, Nico and Kio immediately protested, "Hey! That's not fair! I was going to choose Ray!"
Noah completely ignored the two of them. His gaze was locked entirely on Ray. Extending his hand toward Ray, Noah asked, "Well, Ray... are you ready to spar with me?"
Ray offered a mild smile and shook Noah's hand. "Alright, let's do this spar."
Kyron stepped in between them. "Then the first matchup is decided. Let's begin right now!"
All the students stepped back to the boundaries of the arena. Noah stood on one side of the center, and Ray on the other. Sharp gazes locked between the two of them.
Kyron raised his hand into the air and gave the signal, "FIGHT START!"
Despite Kyron's command, neither of them moved an inch from their spot. A bizarre, heavy pressure of aura began to build up.
Leo called out from the sidelines, "What's wrong, guys? Is there a problem?"
Ray stepped forward slightly and said, "Listen Noah, I possess two elements—Fire and Lightning. To keep this spar fair, I'll restrict myself and use only my Fire element."
Kyron nodded, "Fight however you want."
Hearing that, Noah instantly snapped. His ego took a direct hit. "What, are you trying to show mercy to me?!"
Noah clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned completely white. The moment he tightened his fists, an intense, chilling frost swept through the air of the arena. The chill was so fierce that even the students standing outside could feel it cutting through their clothes.
Noah spread both of his arms wide. Beneath his feet, the ground began to transform into solid ice, and within moments, the entire indoor arena froze over into a massive Glacier!
Kyron watched this unfold and thought to himself, 'That's an impressive opening for a spar... Noah has completely locked down the entire arena with his ice. It's going to make moving extremely difficult for Ray since the ground is dangerously slippery.'
Noah let out a wicked laugh. "RAY MOIR! I PREPARED THIS ENTIRE THING JUST FOR YOU! NOW TASTE THE RESULTS OF MY HARD WORK!"
Noah snapped the fingers of both hands!
CRACKLE!
Right beneath the frozen patch of ice where Ray stood, thousands of razor-sharp Ice Spikes erupted upward! The entire arena floor bristled with deadly spikes.
Ray instantly launched himself high into the air, but the spikes shot up so fast that the fabric of his trousers shredded, leaving a deep cut across his leg.
Ray finally landed with perfect balance on the razor-sharp tip of an ice spike. With a faint smile, he called out, "Thanks for the help with the movement, Noah."
Hearing that, Noah smirked. "Are you sure I helped you?"
Wha-?!
Ray suddenly felt his legs bind tightly to something immovable. He looked down—thick, heavy chains forged from solid ice had wrapped tightly around both of his ankles! Ray tried to wrench himself free, but he couldn't budge an inch. The intense freezing cold from the ice chains began to numb his lower legs completely.
Noah's voice echoed through the entire arena. "I don't even know how many times I practiced this... thousands of times... just to perfect this single attack! And it was all designed entirely for you, Ray! Now take this— ABSOLUTE ICE BLIZZARD!"
ROAR!
A giant, lethal snowstorm engulfed Ray entirely. Between the howling icy winds and blinding sheets of swirling snow, seeing or moving became utterly impossible.
Noah spoke in a proud tone, "That blizzard can freeze a normal human solid in just a few seconds!"
Noah glanced toward Kyron. Kyron had already erected a massive barrier using his magic, shielding the rest of the students standing safely behind him from the brutal freezing temperatures.
Noah shouted, "Kyron! Declare me the winner already! Ray has lost!"
Kyron replied calmly, "I haven't heard Ray give up yet, nor have I seen him fall to the ground. I cannot declare you the winner."
Noah gritted his teeth in frustration. He whipped his head around to look at Leo. Leo was still standing right beside Kyron like a stone statue, wearing an intensely serious expression. His katana hung securely at his waist, and his sharp eyes were locked solely on the swirling blizzard.
Noah turned back toward his own blizzard... But right at that moment!
BOOM!
A deafening roar and a fierce cry echoed from deep inside the blizzard! Everyone's ears rang from the sheer impact.
The pure white snowstorm... slowly began shifting into deep shades of red and orange. Bit by bit, that snowstorm transformed into a blazing FIRE BLIZZARD!
Roaring flames billowed in every direction, instantly melting away the surrounding ice in a fraction of a second. The temperature inside the arena flipped from freezing sub-zero to scorching, boiling heat.
SNAP!
A loud finger-snap echoed sharply across the entire arena.
The moment the blizzard's snow and frost vanished, two colossal Fire Pillars burst upward, tearing through the ground and scorching the sky, filling the surrounding area with intense flames and unbearable heat!
Standing right at the center of the smoke and blazing pillars of fire... was Ray!