The moment the match began, Joel insta-cast one of the stro spells he could cast – [Thuorm Dest].

  It owerful spell of the sixth rank that summoned bolt after bolt of lightning down within the user’s target range.

  Joel knew full well that, simir to Alissa, Amira’s most impressive attribute was her speed. And even though he was no slouch himself and was in the rank above, he wasn’t arrogant enough to try and pete with her in a match of speed.

  Instead, he thought it was best to take the initiative and limit her movement from the jump.

  A tactic that proved worthwhile. Though Amira was fast enough to dodge each of the desding lightning bolts without too much trouble, there didn’t seem to be a path forward – at least not for her.

  As the spell’s caster, Joel created a path to his oppohat tally hid his figure. Unfortunately, though not as freakish as Ace’s, the strength of Amira’s soul had always been monstrous.

  The momeered her range, Amira’s swords sprang to life. Wielding one as though it were as light as a feather, appearing in front of Joel as though space was no hindrao it and wielding the other as though it were heavy, it swinging down with near-unstoppable momentum as if to cleave her oppo in two.

  Though he was able to skilfully deal with both attacks, Joel still ended up being steadily suppressed by Amira’s onsught.

  To most of the other students, it looked as though Amira was gerying to win with her overwhelmingly superior ability, but Ace’s eyes were able to see a lot more than theirs.

  “Big softie,” Ace muttered so softly that no one else heard him.

  “Soft?” Alissa asked, looking back at Ace as though he was an alien. “What about the beating Mira’s giving to Joel’s ‘soft’?”

  “Look closer,” Ace replied casually as he tio watch the fight. “Eaira’s strikes are perfectly aimed at Joel’s ots.”

  “Exactly!” Alissa excimed, clearly having noticed that point already. “How does that make her soft?!”

  “Because she’s using the perfect amount of speed and power to force Joel into a er without defeating him,” Ace expined as a soft smile appeared on his face.

  As he said that, the eyes of Alissa, Killian, and Osiris lit up with uanding as they seemed to uand what Ace was saying.

  “I get that you have a point, but why don’t I uand what it is?” Faye asked as she tilted her head slightly in fusion.

  “Because you’re an idiot,” Yuna snorted disdainfully.

  “Who are you calling an idiot number 10?” Faye snapped back. “I may not uand, but we both know you doher.

  “Shut it, you wench! Don’t you dare lump me in with you, you barbarian!”

  Just as the two girls were about to restart their rematch, Kannal slid betweeo de-escate the situation.

  “o fight,” Kannal sighed helplessly at just another episode of the two girl’s bickering. “I think what Ace is trying to say is that big sis Mira is pointing out Joel’s oints to force Joel to correct them, right?”

  “Right,” Aodded with an appreciative smile. “You have to remember that without fail, every single one of us is the cream of the crop in terms of talent. It’s what allows us to improve far faster than our peers.”

  “Now that you mention it, it does appear that Joel is improving at a speed visible to the naked eye!” Yuna excimed, extremely happy for her young master.

  “Wait, if she’s able to point out Joel’s weaknesses, despite one sub-rank lower, just what level has Amira’s battle sense and prehension reached i year?” Faye asked in disbelief.

  It had to be uood that to aplish what Amira was doing, the differen ability between both fighters would have to be signifit, to say the least.

  It wasn’t just Faye; both Killian and Alissa looked at Amira solemnly. They khat if either of them wao take third pce, they’d have to face her, but they also khat despite much they had improved, her of them was capable of doing such a feat, especially to Joel.

  “How do you expect me to know?” Ace asked back. “I’ve been here with you guys the st couple of months. The st time I saw Mira was a little ht months ago, and back then, she hadn’t reached this level.”

  Even though he said that he couldn’t help but sneak a g the instructors. Specifically, his master, who, in turn, g him before refog on his alcohol, was clearly more ied in his attempts at getting drunk than Ace’s curiosity.

  Though he wasn’t sure how far Amira had e, he had his guesses, and the only person capable of helping Amira e so far in such little time recisely that man. He was a big part of the reason Ace’s battle sense was so incredible.

  “Joel…

  Did he just…?”

  Hearing Faye’s shock, Ace turned his attention back to the fight just in time to witheir oldest cssmate successfully fuse both states of wielding for a shogly fast and incredibly powerful ssh of his lightning-coated sabre.

  The blow was geerrifying, so much so that even Alissa – the happy-go-lucky Tigerstriped warrior – looked at Joel solemnly, knowing she would be hard-pressed to deal with that strike. But Alissa wasn’t Amira.

  A satisfied smile appeared on Mira’s face as she too fused both states of wielding into both of her swords as they arced through the air with renewed vigour.

  The first katana tapped on the bde of Joel’s sabre, calmly ging its trajectory so it whirred just over her head, the other whistling through the air, appearing by her oppo’s neck.

  For the third time, Joel Dawson had beeed, and for the third time, it was by someone youhan him, but uhe st two times, this time, Joel wasn’t unwilling.

  “Thank you!” Joel voiced sincerely, his eyes bzing with excitement as he looked at Amira in gratitude. “Because of you, I’ve finally fused both states of wielding.”

  As he said that, a hint of bitterness couldn’t help but flicker through his otherwise jubint eyes as he looked back, his eyes falling on the silver-haired assassin. “Unfortunately, this breakthrough happened a little too te.”

  Hearing his words, Alissa simply poked her to, uanding his meaning.

  Even with his most ret breakthrough, he still wasn’t fident iing Killian as he was now. The ease with which he was defeated hihat his former oppo was holding back much more tha on. Still, he was fident he could, at the very least, have defeated Alissa.

  Unfortunately, as he said, he was too te. He used his one and only challenge on Amira. And seeing as he lost, he wouldn’t get another ce today. But it was worth it in the long run.

  “I didn’t do much,” Amira smiled. “You did all the hard work yourself; I just gave you a little nudge.”

  With that, the bottom five were officially locked in pce:

  Ih pce was Yuna, ninth was Kannal, Faye was eighth, whilst Osiris was now seventh, making Joel sixth.

  Although it had been quite the reshuffle, other than Joel dropping two pces, there weren’t too many other surprises.

  The only thio do was determihe order of the top five.

  “ up, in fifth pce – Killian,” Mathias announced.

  But before Killian could even think about replying, Alissa abruptly cut him off.

  “You better not even think about jumping over my head without defeating me first, you big oaf,” Alissa said, gring threateningly at Killian, causing him to blush. “You ’t hide from me anymore!”

  Ever sihey had returned after resg Alissa from her prison, Killian seemed to have spent the st two months avoiding her – though not even he himself pletely uood why.

  Killian was at a loss for words as he struggled to think of a way out of his current predit, but before he could, Ace decided to speak on his behalf.

  “Kil challenges Alissa,” Ace shouted, patting his little giant of a younger brother on the back.

  Killian’s head snapped back towards Ace with a look of betrayal.

  “Don’t worry so much,” Ace grinned before whispering. “Trust me, all you o do is not hold back, ooh, and remember to be ho.”

  Killian looked suspiciously at Ace, who seemed to be sincere in his attempt to help him, but ultimately, he couldn’t follow Ace’s meaning at all.

  “Just go!” Ace said, shooing Killian away towards the ring.

  Upon reag his er of the ring, he was greeted by Alissa’s unfriendly gre.

  “Now that I have your attention, are you gonna tell me why you’ve been avoiding me?” Alissa asked as her bck-striped, white fur grew out of her skin. “Or am I going to have to beat it out of you?”

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  P.atreon./ACoilingDragon

  Book 7: Chapter 26 – Gebados Pnar Prison