@031 I've sorted with a lot of people who have an ego. It's easy to fight them, but you should never get too cocky. Otherwise, you'd be no better than them. You still need to use your head and plan your moves. That's how I've managed to stay alive. After all, my mother was the best trainer I've ever had. Even if I was never intended to fight against terrible people that young. @404
"You've got some balls for being able to challenge me Ayden," Lex said as we got ready to fight. "It's too bad that everything you said was all talk."
"You've got a pair yourself as well for hurting Mio like that," I hissed back at him. "Your lucky that I'm letting you live after doing something like that."
"That little brat had the audacity to apologize to me after I showed her pity. Seriously, does she not realize how VALUABLE the win-loss ratio is?! I'll just have to teach you a lesson as well by BREAKING YOUR NECK!!"
"How can you be so sure of that," I said, standing fifteen feet away from him. "We haven't even started fighting yet."
"I have an ability that tells me if someone is strong or not, and you are way too weak to stand a chance against me."
"Heh, it looks to me like you're the one who's all talk."
He talks like he saw his victory in his future, so he must have some kind of ace in his sleeve. I should try charging at him with Neko Stance, then, at the last second, leap back to a safe distance while firing some Fire Streaks.
It was all playing out well in my head, but something seemed out of place...
Wait! Hang on! What if he specializes in Earth Magic and has already got a trap ready for me. Knowing him, the chances of him doing the normal thing and staying on the defensive side aren't really that high. Them again, he might do the unexpected and charge straight at me.
I didn't know what kind of Magic he specialized in, so he could throw literally anything at me.
Should I stay on the defensive?
The Mental Barrier already formed around us and the timer that read "thirty secs" right above our heads started to count down.
Ok, think. What would be a good offense that doesn't risk me getting hit with a trap? I could try using Earth Magic to create a shield? No, my feat could still get stuck if he has an Earth Trap. I could shield my feat with rocks? No, my Neko Stance will be slowed down too much.
My biggest problem was the fact that I had no idea if he could even use traps to begin with, so focusing on only one outcome won't get me anywhere.
I should try focusing on his subtle movements. Maybe they'll tell me something.
I noticed a wry grin form from the corner of his mouth. His eyes were locked dead-on me. His arms were crossed and his posture didn't give off any kind of aggression.
Ten seconds left.
It doesn't look like he's going to make the first move.
Five seconds left.
It doesn't look like he's trying to keep calm. In fact, he seems too calm.
Three seconds left.
He's going to use Wind Magic! But that doesn't explain his posture though. Wind Magic is a tough one to counter, but whenever the user feels the slightest amount of stress their Magic renders ineffective.
One second left.
He isn't giving any indication of playing on the defensive...
He's really calm, so he'll have to use Wind Magic at some point...
His stance isn't aggressive though. It's as if he's expecting me to...
Zero seconds left.
That's it!
BBRRRAAANNNG!
Once the buzzer sounded that time was up, I immediately charged forward with Neko Stance. My hands and body were covered with claws and tough fur made of water. Two fluffy looking cat ears and a tail appeared on my head and backside as well, also made of water.
For a brief second, I caught Lex's grin grow a little wider as I charged at him.
"Gotcha..." I said to myself.
I was about two feet away from him before I raised my claws and swung them down to his face; however, at the last instant, I undid the magic on my right hand that was coming down on Lex and git rid of the claws.
Lex was way too late to react to my plan before my right hand came swinging down and crushing his face to the ground.
"KKRGRAAAAUHH!!"
The sound he made as my fist connected to his face sent a satisfying feeling throughout my body. Time had felt like it had slowed down for a few seconds until Lex slammed down on the ground face-first.
A small dust cloud formed around us as I took in the quick victory of the battle.
The male robotic voice suddenly became audible from my ID.
"Fighter Lex Caliber has been rendered immobilized. The winner is...Ayden Lee."
"And that's that." I sighed.
"N..o...w-way..." Lex struggled to say, blood coming out of his mouth, nose, and head. "H-how...did y-you...b-beat...me...?"
"It was simple," I said. "I just landed a pretty good punch on you."
I walked away and headed for the infirmiry after the barrier around us disappeared. A huge crowd of people appeared right before my eyes, jaws all dropped.
"Y-You just...b-b-b-beat...one of the...toughest delinquents in this academy," a female student said, completely shocked. "H-How did you..."
"Sorry," I said. "But I can't go revealing my secret techniques to anyone. And don't worry, I didn't cheat or anything like that. Not like you can without being caught by your ID surveillance anyways."
If they knew what I did, my other enemies might try and find ways to perfect their techniques even more.
I don't really know if I should even call what I did a technique. Although, Lex had a pretty good one worked himself. Using Earth Magic Traps on his body was pretty creative. However, the traps only activate when any sort of magic comes into contact with it. If a physical attack, with no magic whatsoever, were to come in contact, the trap wouldn't activate. It would be rendered useless.
That's why I undid the Magic from my right hand. Without Magic, it's just a normal right hand so the traps on him couldn't do anything.
The Magic Traps would've materialized into rock spikes or a painful gust of sand that affected my vision. Since I specialize in close range, he could just stand back and let me come to him. Then, once the trap activated and I was left open, he would've used a combination of Wind magic and Earth magic to send boulders hurdling towards my head, knocking me out of conscious, thus winning the battle.
That also explains his grin. He was completely calm, yet extremely excited.
"A great strategy," I said to myself. "If a delinquent can think up a good strategy, then I wonder...what can the smart people do?"
I still had a long way to go in this academy...