CHAPTER 270: ARIA NIGHTWIND

Among Eleanor’s group, aside from herself, Ophelia Blanc, Maíra Arara Neblina, Marsha Kirana Tidebringer, Phoebe Juno Solstice, and Izumi Tsuki Kuroda had all made it to the final round.

They spent a long evening analysing the fights from the first two rounds after the videos were posted on the Academy forum. Many cadets had left comments on the threads... some insightful, some speculative... but they all helped the group to understand each finalist’s strengths and weaknesses better.

Jaciara Moara joined their discussions as well, despite having lost her match in the primary round to the top ranker of the initiation ceremony, Ignatius Aurelius Emberfall. Coincidentally, Phoebe had once been on Ignatius’s team when they had formed a temporary alliance to defeat the Troll King. At first, Jaciara had been disheartened by her defeat, but after hearing Phoebe describe Ignatius’s formidable combat prowess, she accepted her loss with a shrug and blamed it on bad luck.

Kiara also joined them later on. She was not so disheartened by her loss to a fire user, rather she spent some time on her own to identify her shortcomings of her fighting style.

From sunset until dinner, they gathered in Maíra’s room, the air filled with animated chatter and the faint hum of magical projectors displaying fight replays. Together, they dissected every move, counter, and ability of the remaining finalists.

After dinner, Eleanor returned to her room to prepare for her next match. Her first opponent was a werecat named Aria Nightwind. From the recordings of Aria’s previous battles, Eleanor concluded that she had an earth elemental bloodline and was also a sword user.

Eleanor had observed that most cadets relied heavily on their bloodline abilities... raw, innate powers rather than refined combat techniques. These were effective, but often predictable. Aria, for instance, could form stone armour over her body, raise the ground beneath her feet to gain elevation, unleash localized shockwaves, hurl stone shards, summon a massive earth fist, and erect defensive walls from the ground.

Having catalogued all of Aria’s known abilities, Eleanor crafted a strategy tailored to exploit her weaknesses... and even prepared contingency plans in case Aria revealed any hidden techniques.

She would have four more matches the following day, each demanding its own careful planning. By the time she finalised her battle strategies, the night had grown late and silent.

The next morning, Eleanor met Aria in the arena for their first match. Across the ring, Aria Nightwind stood poised in a battle stance, her sword gleaming under the lights. Her slitted eyes, sharp and golden, reflected a predator’s focus... and a flicker of curiosity towards the calm, unreadable girl facing her.

As soon as Eleanor stepped into the ring, Aria bowed slightly and said, "Miss Raynor, I’ve heard much about your clan... and about you. My elders say you are the wealthiest among the younger generation. I hope we might cooperate when we return."

"Thank you," Eleanor replied with a small bow of her own. "Please contact me when we’re back in the secular world. If fate permits, we may find a way to work together."

Aria smiled faintly. "I watched your fight on the forum. You surprised us all. We always thought the Raynor clan was non-elemental. You proved otherwise... and you fought beautifully."

Before Eleanor could respond, the countdown began.

10... 9... 8...

3... 2... 1... Go!

Aria moved first. She didn’t charge head-on but began to circle Eleanor with a refined grace, her movements silent and precise. Her Feline Agility rendered her footsteps ghostlike, each stride smooth as a whisper of air.

Eleanor stood her ground, perfectly still... a statue awaiting the storm. Her Mind Acceleration was already active, the world slowing into a deliberate, measured rhythm.

Aria flicked her wrist. A small pebble shot towards Eleanor’s knee with uncanny accuracy. Eleanor shifted her weight just enough to let it pass, the stone grazing her trouser leg with a faint hiss.

Then came the real attack. With a powerful stomp, Aria sent a shockwave rippling through the ground. The arena floor buckled like disturbed water, trembling violently beneath Eleanor’s feet... a disorienting pulse designed to break her balance.

Eleanor didn’t falter. Her muscles absorbed the tremor, her stance flowing with the motion, her feet adjusting in near imperceptible micro-movements. To an onlooker, it appeared as though she hadn’t moved at all.

A flicker of surprise crossed Aria’s eyes. Her heightened senses told her Eleanor should have stumbled... but she stood utterly composed. Without hesitation, Aria raised her sword and brought it down in a sharp, precise arc.

The blade never reached Eleanor. Instead, it struck the floor, shattering a slab of stone. From the fracture, shards erupted in a chaotic burst, flying toward Eleanor at unpredictable angles.

Eleanor was forced into motion. She weaved between the shards, twisting her body with dancer-like precision, deflecting the larger ones with her forearms. The impacts thudded heavily against her guard... solid, punishing blows that rattled her bones. Her enhanced physique endured them, but she could feel the sheer force behind each fragment.

Aria closed the distance in an instant, her claws extending with deadly precision. She slashed for Eleanor’s torso, a strike that could have shredded any armour. Eleanor ducked and pivoted, the claws slicing through the air just inches from her skin. She knew taking such a hit head-on could cause serious injury.

For several minutes, the arena rang with the rhythm of combat... the crash of stone, the whip of wind, the metallic rasp of blades meeting bare fists. Aria’s onslaught was relentless, a storm of earth and precision. Eleanor countered with pure agility and disciplined technique, every movement calculated, efficient. Yet even she found herself slowly driven back towards the edge of the ring beneath the unending pressure of Aria’s furious assault.

Just as Aria’s relentless assault began to slow, Eleanor seized the moment. She knew that her mixed martial arts would be at a disadvantage against an earth user who could reinforce her body with elemental fortification... but she decided to strike regardless. Testing her limits was part of the fight.

Aria sensed the shift instantly. She slammed her foot down, sending a visible ripple of force coursing through the arena floor in a wide cone, aimed to unbalance and buckle Eleanor’s stance.

This time, Eleanor didn’t brace herself. Instead, she launched upward, her muscles coiling and releasing in a single, explosive motion. She soared clear of the shockwave in a graceful vertical leap, her hair whipping through the air as the tremor rolled harmlessly beneath her.

As she descended, Aria was already ready... knees bent, sword raised, prepared to counter.

But Eleanor had anticipated it. In mid-air, she twisted her body, electricity crackling faintly along her leg. She channelled her Bolt Step... not for speed, but to add devastating weight to a descending axe kick aimed straight at the crown of Aria’s head.

Sensing the imminent danger, Aria abandoned her stance and rolled aside with a blur of feline agility. Eleanor’s heel struck the ground where she had been standing, cracking the arena floor with a deep, thunderous boom that reverberated through the stands.

Aria countered immediately. Slamming both hands onto the floor, she summoned an Earthen Fist... a massive, sculpted hand of rock that erupted from beneath Eleanor, reaching to crush her in its grip.

Eleanor’s eyes narrowed. In the half-formed structure, her ability identified its weakest point in an instant. Her right fist flashed forward with precise, sharp, unstoppable force. The impact shattered the construct before it could close around her, fragments of stone exploding outward in a violent spray.

Aria had already leapt back, widening the distance between them. She thrust her hand toward the sky, summoning a hail of stones that rained down in a merciless cascade.

Eleanor spun into motion. Her body became a whirlwind of strikes, fists and feet blurring too fast for the eye to follow. Each rock that descended met a crushing blow, splintering into shards, dust, and grit before touching her. The air filled with the staccato rhythm of shattering stone and the swirling haze of pulverised debris, a storm of dust and power centred around a single, unwavering figure... Eleanor Raynor, calm within the chaos she created.

Just as the last fragments of stone clattered to the floor, Eleanor made her decision. The fight had dragged on long enough. She had no intention of wasting energy against a fortress of earth.

With a calm exhale, she activated Mental Lock, Mind Acceleration, and Overdrive... all at once.

The world around her vanished into abstraction. The dust, the falling gravel, the shifting arena... all ceased to exist. There was only Aria Nightwind, frozen within Eleanor’s sharpened focus... her rhythm, her motion, her next move already written.

Her Bolt Step ignited, and she surged forward in a tight, zigzagging pattern, her feet brushing the ground for barely a heartbeat each time. The air crackled faintly with each instantaneous displacement.

Sensing the charge, Aria raised an Earth Wall, a slab of solid earth broad as a fortress gate. But Eleanor didn’t strike it. Instead, she ran up it... three small bolt steps up the sheer vertical surface before vaulting over its top, a flash of white and gold arcing above the barrier.

Aria looked up just in time to see Eleanor descending. Panic flickered in her eyes.

With a desperate growl, Aria slammed both feet into the ground, channelling a surge of raw power. A massive Earthen Fist erupted upward, a clenched giant’s hand punched the airborne girl.

Eleanor twisted mid-air and vanished in a flash of lightning. A perfectly timed micro Bolt Step displaced her body mere inches... just enough to let the stone fist roar past harmlessly beneath her.

She lightly landed inside Aria’s guard. Aria froze for half a second, startled and exposed. Then she swung her sword in reflex.

But she was too slow for Eleanor who was on overdrive.

Eleanor’s right hand was already glowing with arcs of electricity dancing across her palm. The air cracked, the sound sharp and surgical.

Aria’s Stone-Skin Infusion shimmered across her body, coating her in mineral armour... a powerful defence against blades and flame alike. But against lightning... it was the perfect conduit.

Eleanor’s palm met Aria’s sternum in a single, precise thrust. All that could be seen was a flash. Then, a sound like glass snapping under pressure came from Aria’s body. The scent of ozone and scorched stone filled the arena.

The surge of lightning bypassed the armour entirely, conducting through it, spearing into Aria’s core. Her muscles seized; her sword slipped from her fingers; her eyes went wide in a single frozen instant.

The convulsion lasted only a breath. Then she went still and the arena was silent except for the faint hiss of dissipating energy.

Eleanor lowered her hand, her expression unreadable. The fight was over long before Aria’s body hit the ground.