Chapter 12: Neo Vs Chloe (2)
BANG!
A loud bang erupted when Neo's staff and Chloe's jiang sword collided.
But the difference in strength was obvious.
Chloe got blown backward, flying out of the arena.
"I won!" Neo exclaimed with a smile.
"Not so soon!" Chloe shouted. Just as she was about to touch the ground down the arena, an icicle formed in the air, just below her feet.
She stepped onto the icicle and jumped up.
Another icicle appeared, and she stepped on it to jump even higher.
Soon, icicles appeared all around her. And using them as stepping stones, she soon got back on the arena.
"You are truly persistent!" Neo said, his previous joy vanished. "Would it kill you if you stayed down?"
Chloe smiled. "I have still not learned my lesson."
Bang!
Crack!
A loud bang sounded. The ice wall blocking the stone man shattered.
Sharp, broken pieces of the ice flew around.
Linda was forced to interfere. Using her immense spiritual energy, she created a shield around the arena, preventing broken pieces of ice from injuring the students down the arena.
"Attack!" Neo ordered.
The stone man instantly got into action and dashed at Chloe.
"Icicles!" Chloe raised her sword in the air. Icicles formed instantly in the air, with the pointy ends pointing at the approaching stone man.
Swoosh!
She swung her sword down, releasing the icicles.
The icicles flew forward at the stone man, bombarding him. She continuously created new icicles and attacked the stone man.
But the stone man did not let the icicles just hit him. He spun the stone staff in front of him, creating a shield, and continued to move forward but at a slower pace.
Neo just watched from the side, trying to find an opening. But the icicles were just too intense. He could not find an opportunity to sneak up on Chloe.
"Retreat!" Neo ordered.
The stone man jumped a few steps back and got out of the range of the icicles.
The moment the stone man got out of the range, Chloe stopped her attack. But she did not sit still. She immediately started preparing for her next attack.
Above her head, a giant icicle started forming. It was at least 2 meters (6.5 feet) in length.
"Let's end it with the next attack!" Neo said. The stone staff in the stone man's hands disappeared, and the stone man started gathering its energy.
Chloe did not say anything, but her action proved her agreement.
After she fully formed the giant icicle, it suddenly started getting smaller. She was compressing it.
"Such profound control over the ice element." Linda could not help but comment.
"Attack!" Neo shouted. "Earth Spikes!"
BANG!
The stone man slammed with his hand on the floor of the arena.
Earth spikes erupted and were quickly heading at Chloe. The earth spikes were as high as two meters (6.5 feet), and the pointy ends threatened to pierce Chloe if it reached her.
But Chloe was not afraid. She had also finished preparing her attack. She had compressed the giant icicle to the size of a one-inch needle.
The needle gave off an extreme coldness, and Linda could feel the strong and sharp energy of the needle.
"Go!" Chloe weakly uttered, pointing with her sword at the stone man.
Swoosh!
The needle released. It flew toward the earth spikes, tearing the air.
Boom!
The earth spikes and the ice needle collided.
Like slicing through butter, the ice needle passed through the chain of earth spikes and continued flying.
BANG!
The ice needle hit the sturdy stone man in the shoulder.
Crack!
The stone man got blown away. He hit the protective barrier Linda created around the arena. But it could not stop him. Like it was nothing, the stone man broke through the protective barrier.
Bang!
Its body slammed into the wall, finally stopping.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
The weapons fell off the wall, hitting the floor.
Thud
The stone man fell from the wall on the floor.
'I made the barrier around the arena capable of withstanding an attack of a 2-star warrior realm.' Linda thought, looking at the hole in the barrier. 'That ice needle had the attack power of a 3-star warrior realm?'
She put down the protective barrier. It was no use now, broken, and also, the battle was over.
"Impossible!" Neo uttered in disbelief. He turned behind and looked at the stone man lying on the ground in the distance. He was gravely hurt. "Little Stone!" He shouted.
He did not care about the match. He jumped off the arena, and with lightning-fast speed, he got to the stone man.
The stone man was heavily panting, and there was a crack on its stone shoulder.
The stone man just stared at Neo with its black marble-like eyes. Its gaze saying: 'Sorry, I disappointed you.'
"Little stone," Neo spoke with moist eyes. "You did great. Please rest."
The next moment, the brown portal appeared above the stone man and sucked him in.
The arena was ravaged. The floor was full of dents and was covered with the remnants of the shattered earth spikes.
But Chloe still stood in the arena. Her sword stuck in the ground, and she leaned on it.
If not for leaning on the sword, she would have collapsed. She has used up a lot of spiritual energy. Especially for that last attack. She had used up almost all of her spiritual energy.
"The winner is! Chloe Hart!" Linda announced the winner.
This broke the students who were down the arena out of their daze.
They could not believe what just happened.
They were all sure that Neo would win. But this was shocking.
The students all gasped in shock, and chatter quickly spread between them.
Ringgggggg!
At that moment, the bell rang, indicating the end of the class.
"You are free to go!" Linda announced.
The students all sighed a sigh of relief and ran to the elevators.
They wanted to go to their dorm rooms as soon as possible. They had enough fighting for one day.
The reality hit them. The beast-tamer world is not as good as they imagined. The fights today terrified them, and they needed time to comprehend what happened today. Today, they realized. To the individuals with high cultivation, they were even less than ants.
Soon, all the students left the eleventh floor. The only remaining were Linda, Neo, Chloe, Alden, and Owen, who was still unconscious.
Linda helped Chloe get down the arena.
"Why have you not left?" She asked Alden.
"Teacher, I am waiting for my friends," Alden said, looking at Owen in the distance.
Linda nodded.
Neo had come to himself too, and he walked up to Alden and Linda.
"How is your beast?" Linda asked.
This was the same question Alden wanted to ask him.
"It will survive," Neo said, angrily looking at Chloe.
"Don't blame her," Linda said as she helped Chloe sit on the ground. "The punches have no eyes. Bring out your beast. I will heal him."
Neo nodded.
"Little stone," Neo called gently. The portal opened next to his leg, and the injured stone man came out of it. It was supporting itself with the wooden staff as it walked.
"Wood Slug, come out," Linda commanded. The next moment, the green portal opened, and out of it came the green slug. "Heal him." Linda pointed at the little stone man.
"Little stone, lay down," Neo said gently.
The stone man laid on its back.
The green slug slowly got on the little stone man. Since the green slug was about a meter in length, it completely covered the little stone man.
The green light appeared again.
When the light disappeared, and the green slug came down the stone man, it revealed that the cracks on the stone man's shoulder had disappeared.
"Go back!" Linda ordered. The green portal opened, and the green slug went back in.
The stone man stood up. It was covered in the green sticky liquid the green slug left.
"Little stone, go back and rest," Neo said. The brown portal opened, and the stone man entered the portal, disappearing.
Linda turned to Chloe. "Chloe, rest here." She said. "I can not heal you as you are not injured. You have just exhausted your spiritual energy."
Chloe nodded. She immediately got into a lotus position and started running her cultivation technique to absorb the spiritual energy in the air.
"This is how it looks when one cultivates," Neo whispered to Alden.
"I see." Alden stared intensely at Chloe. He could not see anything special with his bare eye except her beauty.
"Follow me," Linda ordered, forcing Alden to take his gaze off Chloe.
Linda led the way to the arena where Owen and Carol battled previously.
With the dead little sparrow by his head, Owen was still lying at the foot of the stairs, unconscious.
Alden and Neo sat on the ground beside Owen.
Neo placed his staff next to himself while Alden held onto the two swords.
"You can go back to your dorm," Linda said as she bent down by Owen's side. Owen's forehead was drenched in sweat. "I am here. When he wakes up, I will send him back."
Alden and Neo shook their heads simultaneously.
"Teacher, we will wait for him to wake up," Alden said, and Neo nodded in approval.
Linda glanced at Alden. 'He is an ordinary human?' Linda thought as she used her spiritual energy to check Alden's strength. 'No. I should not judge a book by its cover. I learned that today.
In battle, the cultivation level does not determine everything. Maybe he is a master martial artist.'
"Dual wielding?" Linda asked, looking at the two swords Alden held.
"Ahh. Yes, teacher." Alden nodded when he realized that Linda was talking to him.
"Your two friends are geniuses." Linda raised. "I checked your cultivation, and you are an ordinary human.
I can not see why those two geniuses would be friends with you. But maybe I am wrong. Are you a martial arts master?"
"No, no. Teacher, I am just an ordinary human." Alden tried to explain, but Linda was not listening.
Swoosh!
She jumped into the arena.
Out of nowhere, swords appeared in her hands, swords identical in length to the ones Alden held.
"I am a dual wielder as well." She said. "Come. Let me teach you."
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone