Rising Against Fate

For the first sixty seconds, both of them just observed each other's movements. The audience was quietly observing the participants, but it was as if the entire stage was frozen.

Kamin already knew about Kat's No man zone, so it was natural that he would be hesitant to make the first move. And as for Kat, he wasn't the type who would make a move after knowing that's what his enemy wants.

"Dude, the way you were stretching, I thought you would come at me like a bull after red flag."

Even though the distance between them was almost ten meters, and Kat was speaking in his usual low voice, Kamin heard him clearly.

"Do you think I will fall for that? I know you are waiting for me to make a move so that you can repel me and counterattack."

"Man, you think I will make the same moves again just because it worked last time?"

Kamin didn't respond. He just had a slight smile on his face, so Kat took that smile as affirmation.

Kat sighed in disappointment for the third time on the same day. He knew that he didn't look much of a challenge, but this response meant Kamin was clearly underestimating him.

"...Then I guess I will come to you. Let's get this over with quickly, whoever wins."

It was odd to hear that coming from Kat, and contrary to his words, his tone lacked even a hint of liveliness.

Kamin's eyes widened in surprise. He wasn't expecting Kat to respond to his provocations, but now that he did, he had to prepare counterattacks.

He was curious about what kind of move Kat was planning to make, and at the same time, he was concerned about the unknown. Unknown here was the possibility that Kat might use an attack spell that he was unfamiliar with.

Kamin clenched his fist and prepared himself for the defense and counter. Safety was his first and foremost priority, so he was planning to counterattack only after securing himself.

"I am prepared. Come at me if you can!"

After all the provocation, he couldn't back down. Although Kat wasn't showing any reaction in expression or action, his eyes were telling that he was ready to charge forward.

Kat put his right hand in his pocket as he walked forward. He looked defenseless, but Kamin knew that unlike others, his abilities could be activated in a fraction of a second.

Most of the people in the audience looked confused. That wasn't a surprise since — after almost three minutes — one of them was walking up to the other with his hand in his pocket. They couldn't hear their voice, so all they could do was a wild guess based on the movement of their lips.

"Dance of the winter blades."

He couldn't use his ice magic as fast as Itsuki, so activating the spell before the clash was a good idea.

When he activated the spell, fourteen ice swords covered in a high-speed wind were formed over his head. The blades didn't look as sturdy as Itsuki's Ice Arsenal, but the winds covering them more than made up for that.

He swung his hand and fired one of the swords at Kat, but Kat stopped the blade in the air without even looking at it. And before the audience could even be surprised, he broke the ice blade into pieces.

"Heh! What's with this tease?"

It, in fact, felt like a tease because both Kat and Kamin knew it was useless. But this attack was like throwing a stone in a well to see how deep it was. Kamin's aim here was to test how seriously Kat was taking all this.

Kamin didn't respond, so Kat just continued walking. The distance between them was almost three meters, which meant Kat was now within Kamin's range.

"Ice cage!"—Kamin jumped backward—"Wind slashes!"

A cage made up of ice was formed around Kat, and when Kat was trapped inside, Kamin fired several wind slashes at him. It was a slash of highly concentrated air which could injure someone severely.

"No man zone."

Kat used the spell and repelled both Ice cage and Wind slashes. It wasn't like he had much of a choice since his movements were restricted. And even if the ice cage wasn't there, he would have had a hard time dodging just those slashes.

Kamin grinned as he was waiting for this exact moment. Right after Kat's spell expired, and exactly when he wasn't capable of using another spell, he fired the rest of the blades that were floating in the air at Kat.

Kat could block eight of them at most, but by what he could count, 13 blades were coming at him. Even while blocking those eight, he would need to utilize all his concentration, which would leave him vulnerable.

Kamin had used a lot of mana, so Kat knew that he wouldn't be able to add another attack for a while. That meant he could entirely focus on the attack and ignore Kamin for a few seconds.

Kat stopped six of those and placed them so that they would collide with the other six, and tried dodging the last one that was left.

He was able to dodge the blade by moving left, but the highly compressed air surrounding the sword was able to cut him in his right cheek and shoulder.

A loud cheer echoed throughout the arena. It looked like the crowd got the display that they were patiently waiting to see up to now.

Kat wasn't like those Hira clan's medical genius who could instantly heal the wounds. However, his abilities allowed him to stop the bleeding temporarily.

After stopping the bleeding, Kat looked at Kamin, who was breathing heavily. He had just used several advanced class spells one after another, so it was no wonder that his body was feeling the pressure.

If it was someone quicker, they would have already gone for a counter-attack. But for some reason, Kat wasn't even attempting that. Instead, he just put his right hand into the pocket again and pulled out several shining metal marbles.