บท 121: Facing Leon Meyer (2)
The moment when the voice of the teacher sounded, Leon moved.
He kicked the ground with a fencing stance and lunged toward me with his sword pointed at my chest.
His attack was really fast. It took just an instant for his sword to reach me.
But I was already ready. Calmly, I rotated my spear clockwise, parrying his longsword with the tip of the spear while the shaft went for his legs.
However, Leon took a small step back to evade the shaft and pulled his sword back. Next, he executed three consecutive thrusts at great speed.
Every one of the sword thrusts was incredibly precise. They attacked the gaps in my stance, forcing me to put my entire focus into defending.
Leon then pressed on with his offensive. His feet moved forward as he continued thrusting his sword relentlessly, forcing me to step back with each attack.
'Heavy!' My expression became solemn as I struggled to deal with his continuous attacks. Leon's sword thrusts were not only fast but also heavy and precise. Every time his sword clashed with my spear, I felt as though my sword was about to fly away from my hands.
Moreover, his attacks were becoming faster and heavier, slowly cornering me. If this continued, it won't be long before I made a mistake and loses.
However, I did not panic. My eyes remained calm, and my breathing was steady. I was completely focused on the battle, looking for an opening I could use to turn things around.
And eventually, it appeared.
After almost one minute of being on the offensive, a small gap appeared in Leon's movements.
He took an instant longer to make his next sword thrust.
And I did not miss that opportunity.
Taking one step forward, I thrust my spear straight toward his chest.
Leon's eyes narrowed. He sidestepped and tried to attack again, but this time, I swept my spear toward him, forcing him to jump away.
Then, I stepped hard on the ground and lunged toward him while leaning my body forward.
My sudden burst caught Leon by surprise. He was forced to use his sword to defend against my attack, however, that was a bad idea.
Leon was strong. In terms of technique, he was at a similar level as me, and when it came to the intensity of his mana, he was superior. But I was better than him in something.
My body was stronger.
The demon's [Lightning Body Refinement Technique] has made my body way stronger than a normal human's. I have not practiced it for long, but the results are already obvious.
Even without using mana, I can easily perform superhuman feats at the level of a tier one or tier two Awakened.
At the moment when the tip of my spear hit Leon's sword, his body was pushed almost twenty as he dragged his foot on the ground.
At the same time, I activated my lightning seed, filling my spear with a strong lightning current that rushed to his body as our weapons made contact.
The electric shock hit Leon's body and paralyzed it briefly. He immediately used his mana to push my lightning out and recover, but I was already performing my next attack.
A straight thrust of my spear pushed his sword out of the way, leaving him completely open.
Then, I thrust my spear again, this time with the goal of piercing his chest.
I did not hold back in my attack. After all, the teacher should be able to stop me if things turn dangerous.
Plus, I had the feeling that I should not underestimate him.
And my feeling was right.
When my spear was about to pierce his chest, Leon's eyes flashed with a fierce expression.
Then, a torrent of mana came out of his body, turning into a current of wind that pushed me away.
I crossed my arms in front of me and took a horse stance to endure the wind, but even so, I was pushed almost three meters away.
When the wind disappeared, Leon was standing solemnly as wind currents circled around him.
"As expected of someone that took the fourth place. You are not weak."
"You are not either." I smiled wryly. "Is that your skill?"
Leon nodded. "It's called [Wind Control]. I think you can understand how it works from just its name."
I nodded, and my expression became much more serious.
Strong.
That was my impression of Leon.
And that was reinforced after seeing his skill.
"I'm going to get serious now," Leon stated, then his body moved.
But this time, he was several times faster than before.
I barely managed to react, placing my spear in front of me when the tip of his sword appeared near my neck all of sudden.
My spear managed to block the attack, but then, a gust of wind attacked me as well, breaking my stance.
Leon followed up with a thrust, breaking my stance further, and the gust of wind that came afterward hit my chest, pushing me a few centimeters away.
Actually, the wind was not that dangerous by itself. It could at most push me away, but it could not injure me by itself.
However, when it was combined with Leon's swordsmanship, it became extremely dangerous.
The wind made him faster, made his blows heavier, and helped him to create openings through which he could easily gain an advantage.
'Strong… And he is just the tenth place…!'
Then, how strong are the rest!?
'At this rate, I'm going to lose!'
Right now, Leon was suppressing me completely. I tried to imbue lightning into my spear to hinder his movements, but Leon just strengthened his body with mana, resisting my lightning directly.
I also tried to use Killing Aura, but although it created a small gap the first time I used it, Leon quickly got used to it and soon he was shrugging it off completely.
It was surprising because Killing Aura was effective even on a tier-five Awakened.
Perhaps I could turn things around if I used Lightning Beam, but Leon's swordsmanship was so overwhelming that I could not find a gap to use it.
'Should I summon Saphire or Scarlet?'
However, they were my trump card. Although I did not mind using them if that was my last option, I was not that cornered yet.
There was still something that I could try.
[Scarlet, will you help me?]
[Meow!]
At that moment, I felt my connection with scarlet becoming stronger.
At the same time, a new way to use my mana appeared in my mind.
'Now!'
I shouted in my mind and released my mana in a circle around me.
[Ring of Fire]!
The mana turned into fire, creating a fire ring that expanded with me as the center.
The sudden appearance of the fire ring caught Leon by surprise. He instinctively jumped away to escape.
The fire disappeared in the next instant without managing to hit Leon. But that was alright. To be honest, even if the ring of fire hit Leon, it was not strong enough to injure him.
It had only a purpose, to scare him and create a gap.
And the gap had appeared.
I curved my lips up as the lightning inside my lightning seed flowed into my spear. Then, I compressed it creating arcs of lightning that danced around it. Finally, I thrust my spear in Leon's direction.
[Lightning Beam]!
A thunderous sound resounded in the room as the lightning strike lit up the place, reaching Leon in an instant.
"... The winner is Jane." The voice of the teacher reached my ear an instant later.
And the image of Leon standing in front of me with a pale face appeared in my eyes.
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