CHAPTER 29: CH 29: A DUEL [1]

They approached.

In swarms. In numbers. With their bared teeth that were so sharp that they glinted even from a distance.

"This...you were facing those before huh?" Reinhard asked, his voice laced with venom.

"Yeah, I was teleported on the edge of this island. They were pretty hungry when I encountered them, so I thought to lead them here. I mean two preys are better than one right?" I offered in response.

A disgruntled voice echoed from his throat as his hands swept up the strands of hair on his face.

"See if y--"

I interrupted him before he could say anything. "Now now...why are you so annoyed at me? Because when I look at these mongrels, all I see are free kills for you."

Then I smiled and added, " Or would you rather that I kill them all? "

"Ugh!" An unintelligable sound escaped his lips before he said, "I am not a fool, Henry. You couldn’t fight them and thus, brought them to me here right? Maybe we could have a deal here."

" And that would be? "

Reinhard grinned all of a sudden. Then jabbing his index finger at the swarm of approaching sponges, he said.

"I take all the kills here and you won’t interrupt me like you did with the infantry. Got it?"

Seeing me nod to him, he continued. "So here is the plan. Freeze all of them, their vulnerable spots are their lower bodies which are quite weak and won’t be able to escape your ice. After that...leave it to me."

’That was my plan...’ But I didn’t tell him that. Instead I looked at my mana meter.

[Mana Meter: ◻️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️]

Oh, am I so cooked!

Freezing the ground for such a large radius shall take up a large amount of mana. And then there was something else that had been nagging me at the back of my time.

The third subdivision of the combat test...

I was pretty sure the moment we defeated these small guys, this second part shall be completed.

But what after that? And how much mana would I need in it?

I can’t even lose the entire mana in my storage. Since the more mana you used, the more sore your muscles would become.

It was almost like you have suddenly run for 10 kms, done 100 pushups and 100 squats. Imagine the level of fatigue you would feel right then...that was what one felt when their mana capacity went to zero.

I have already experienced it for consecutive 7 nights...and honestly I don’t want to face that right in the middle of a crucial test.

Bringing my palms forward, I pressed them against each other. A cold feeling passed through my skin as I felt my leftover mana go in a frenzy state as they spilled out of me uncontrollably.

Without wasting any time, I touched the ground and concentrated all my focus on the ground underneath the approaching mud sponges.

Suddenly the mana that had spilled out of my body rushed forward in a gigantic wave. Then with an audible crash, it pushed every single sponge on the ground and settled within the soil underneath them.

"Thermafrost"

I shouted as the ground suddenly froze, trapping all the lower bodies of the sponges. They screeched collectively, trying their best to get out of the enclosed trap.

A notification chimmed at the edge of my vision but I ignored it for now.

But as Reinhard had said, the lower bodies of the mud sponges had the least strength in them.

Speaking of him, he was standing beside me and chanting some incantation of his own. A magic circle suddenly appeared above the frozen area.

Complex runes and intricacies revolved in a slow pattern. Reinhard opened his eyes. His pupils had turned into a golden-brownish hue.

"Descend." Shouting his spell, he jumped above. The height was unnatural.

It was so high that I had to crane my neck completely upwards to see him.

Then he descended. And it was something I hadn’t been expecting.

A multitude of aura emanated from his body as the magic circle slammed down on the ground followed by him.

The ground spilt open as cracks appeared in every corner.

*Heeeeeeeeeeeeeee*

An unintelligible but a blood chilling scream tore the atmosphere as a loud, popping sound gestured the death of an entire army of mud sponges.

"Well, well wasn’t it a bit too easy?" Reinhard laughed in the middle of the mess, his hands supporting his stomach that was shaking uncontrollably from his overflowing happiness.

’Says the one who actually ’stole’ all the kills...’ Of course, I didn’t dare say that aloud. After this magnanimous display of raw power, I would rather stay away from him...until my power was on a similar scale to him.

The land beneath us suddenly quaked as it started shaking. Over our heads, lightning and thunder covered the entire sky and waves so huge that they could be seen from deep in this forest crashed onto the lands.

The weather had suddenly turned into an apolocalytic situation.

The voice from the clouds returned.

"Oho~ Well done, well done. The second part of your exam has been over. As for the last part, I believe your principal is about to send it over to you. Good luck to you both... though I can already see who is gonna get trashed in this one."

Her voice faded into a fit of giggles after her sudden announcement.

After that, everything stilled once again. But this time, the dust on the ground shifted by itself.

No...

Something was controlling it. And as if carved with nails, a set of words appeared.

"The third part of the test is to duel each other. You only get a time span of 30 minutes.

If within that time, none of you are defeated or are killed...then I and Mr. Arlott shall be judging your individual performance. However neither of you shall be scoring a perfect score in that case.

Begin when the thunderbolt touches the ground."

I looked up from the ground, as I let the words settle over me.

"It looks like I am going to have a lucky day unless...you are struck by a miracle."