The square arena was paved with stone slabs, and three people stood upon it.
Two of them were students dressed in brigandine armor Ryan and Derek.
The third was a middle-aged man wearing academy combat gear. He was an instructor with the strength of a Rank 1 Blood Warrior.
The middle-aged instructor glanced subtly toward Victor in the audience before coughing lightly and announcing,
"Start."
The moment he finished speaking, Ryan and Derek sprang into action, rushing toward each other.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Their footsteps sounded like the beating of drums, each step causing the ground to tremble slightly.
The distance of more than ten meters between them disappeared almost in the blink of an eye.
Nearly simultaneously, both raised their monster-slaying spears and shields.
Without any discussion, both used the opening move of the Blazing Heaven Piercing Spear.
Clang!
The two spears collided violently, producing a piercing metallic sound.
At first, they appeared evenly matched, but the situation changed in the next instant.
One of them swayed slightly before quickly regaining his balance.
The other was forced back two steps by the impact before finally coming to a stop.
"Ryan..."
Seeing this, worry appeared on Elias's face.
The one who had been forced backward was none other than Ryan.
Clearly, in terms of raw physical ability, Derek was still a step above him.
"That's all you've got?"
Having gained the upper hand in their first exchange, a trace of mockery flashed across Derek's face as he immediately pressed forward.
His spear came crashing down from above with tremendous force.
It was the fifth move of the Blazing Heaven Piercing Spear.
"Hmph."
Ryan had already been pushed backward by the previous collision, and Derek was now pursuing him relentlessly.
However, there was no panic on Ryan's face.
He had already anticipated this situation and was naturally prepared for it.
Ryan shifted to the left and raised his shield while twisting his spear, using the second move of the Blazing Heaven Piercing Spear to redirect Derek's attack.
Clang!
Derek's descending spear struck Ryan's defense and was immediately forced away from its original path.
Crack!
The spearhead slammed into the stone floor, embedding itself several centimeters into the slab as cracks spread around the point of impact.
Had the attack struck Ryan directly, the consequences would have been serious.
Derek pulled his spear free, a cold smile appearing on his lips as he swept it horizontally toward Ryan once again.
Whoosh!
Ryan quickly moved aside, avoiding the strike.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Derek attacked several times in succession.
Ryan dodged whenever possible. When he couldn't avoid an attack completely, he used his shield and spear to redirect the force before immediately creating distance again.
"Looks like Ryan is going to lose!"
"Indeed. If he keeps defending like this, Derek will eventually find an opening."
"In terms of strength and speed, Derek is clearly superior."
"I heard Ryan failed the assessment twice in a row. He only managed to improve enough to pass recently, while Derek's physical results are still better than his."
Watching the battle unfold, many students pointed toward the arena and whispered among themselves.
Almost everyone was pessimistic about Ryan's chances.
After all, to anyone watching, Ryan appeared to be at a complete disadvantage.
"Young Master Victor, Derek is about to win. It's just a pity he can't go too far in the arena, or the instructor will intervene."
One of Victor's followers looked toward the arena as he spoke.
"Can't he?"
Victor smirked, his words carrying another meaning.
"Young Master Victor, could it be that you...?"
The follower froze before sharply turning toward Victor, his eyes filled with surprise.
Victor merely gave him a disdainful glance.
The instructors of Aegis Martial Academy were naturally respected figures, and the man supervising the arena was himself a Rank 1 Blood Warrior.
However, the Langford family was one of Greyhaven City's old major Blood Warrior families, possessing foundations and influence far beyond those of ordinary wealthy households.
Faced with a direct descendant of such a family, not every instructor would be willing to offend him for the sake of an ordinary student.
"Is he really going to lose?"
Watching Ryan continuously evade Derek's attacks, Adrian hesitated.
Under normal circumstances, Derek should have been the one destined to win.
Yet Adrian felt that something about the current situation was unusual.
Although Ryan had spent most of the fight dodging since their first direct clash, making it appear as though Derek was constantly driving him backward, Ryan's movements gave Adrian a completely different impression.
Ryan seemed calm.
There was no anxiety or desperation in his movements.
That was clearly unusual.
"What? Is hiding all you can do?"
After Ryan avoided another sweeping spear strike, irritation appeared on Derek's face.
"Do you expect me to stand still and let you hit me?"
Ryan couldn't help but laugh.
A fight wasn't simply a contest of strength.
Knowing that his raw physical ability was inferior to Derek's, Ryan naturally wouldn't be foolish enough to confront him head-on.
Avoiding direct clashes had been his strategy from the beginning.
Although it looked as though Derek was constantly forcing him back, Ryan was actually quite composed.
That was the advantage brought by his superior spear technique.
By relying on better technique and careful shield control, Ryan avoided direct collisions with Derek and instead redirected his attacks to compensate for the difference in strength.
At the same time, he continuously searched for flaws in Derek's technique, waiting for the right moment to counterattack.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, Ryan's spearhead slipped through an opening in Derek's defense.
"What?"
Nearly everyone watching froze.
The brigandine sleeve covering Derek's left arm had been torn, leaving a shallow cut beneath it.
More importantly, the one who had been struck wasn't Ryan, who appeared to be at a disadvantage.
It was Derek.
If Ryan had been hit, no one would have found it strange.
Someone who remained on the defensive for too long would eventually expose an opening, and under Derek's relentless attacks, Ryan making a mistake would have seemed perfectly natural.
But Derek had been controlling the battle from the beginning, barely giving Ryan any opportunity to counterattack.
Yet Ryan had suddenly found an opening and struck him.
Although the injury was minor, it still left many students confused.
Only now did they realize that the battle, which had previously seemed so straightforward, was becoming increasingly difficult to judge.
"As expected."
Seeing this, Adrian smiled slightly.
His earlier suspicion had been confirmed.
Just as he had thought, Ryan hadn't been desperately fleeing from Derek's attacks.
He had been waiting for an opportunity.
"How could you...?"
The watching students were stunned, but Derek himself was even more shocked.
He had been controlling the entire fight.
How could he suddenly be the one who got hit?
This shouldn't have happened.
"Bastard!"
Derek glanced at the injury on his left arm, his expression immediately darkening.
With a roar, he lunged toward Ryan again.
He swung his monster-slaying spear with tremendous force, unleashing his full strength as he tried to return the blow.
He clearly refused to believe that Ryan actually possessed the ability to defeat him.
In Derek's mind, the previous strike had merely been a coincidence.
After all, he still held the advantage in both strength and speed.