Hugh separated from Aric. His leg felt a stinging pain, indicating the tremendous kick that Aric had done. He shuddered at the thought of receiving it without his armor.

 

Aric had a frown on his face as he looked at Hugh. He had thought that his attack would do more than force Hugh back a few steps. He had trained until his legs gave out, yet it still did not seem enough to defeat Hugh.

 

His flames fired up as he charged at Hugh. His arrogance did not allow him to accept the stalemate that they were in. He balled up his right fist, leaving embers in the air as it traveled towards Hugh.

 

Hugh did not want to back down as he saw the same attack from Aric. He balled up his left fist and punched it towards the flaming fist, activating his Desire as he launched it.

 

He activated his Desire, yet he did not feel the strength in his fist. He looked at his fist and saw no brown and silver liquid forming his armor. A flash of regret filled his face as he remembered that his armor had a cooldown. Three seconds had already passed, meaning he could not use his Desire for four seconds.

 

He had realized this too late as the flaming punch was directly towards his fist. He tried to move away from his arm, but his body was too slow. The flaming fist collided with his unarmed fist.

 

*crack*

 

The collision destroyed half of his fingers and burned his skin. His arm was thrown back, as well as his whole body. Aric did not expect that Hugh would not be able to defend the attack. The punch was merely a decoy while he reared for another kick.

 

This threw him off his game as he stood there, confused. It only took him a second to seek this opportunity to destroy Hugh.

 

Hugh was on the ground, holding his arm in pain. The pain occupied every part of his brain, ignoring Aric, who intended to inflict more damage to him.

 

Aric approached Hugh while flaring up his reddish fire. He raised his left foot and kicked Hugh’s shin, breaking the bones into pieces.

 

*crack*

 

Hugh felt tremendous pain as his breath seemed to be taken away from him. He wanted to scream in pain, but something inside of him prevented it. He did not want to show any indication that he was hurt.

 

His head was full of pressurized blood as he endured the pain in his arm and his leg. Sweat and blood poured out of his injuries and mixed with the ground. Everyone could see who was the clear winner in this fight.

 

Aric did not stop as he squatted down and curled his flaming fist into a ball. He gathered all the strength he could muster and punched Hugh’s gut, reverberating the force throughout his body and creating waves in his fat.

 

Underneath Hugh’s shirt, his belly had turned black and blue from the attack. Hugh had experienced hell within the four seconds that his armor was on cooldown.

 

Aric had no intention of stopping even though Hugh was clearly injured to a great extent. He balled his fist and created a flaming hot reddish ball of fire that radiated heat throughout the environment. This was clearly his strongest attack.

 

Without mercy, his attack aimed for Hugh’s head. He wanted to finish him off for good.

 

Everybody cringed as they could not bear to watch the massacre that would happen in the ring. Hugh will undoubtedly be hanging from death if this hits.

 

Aric’s fist traveled through the air while his eyes glared at Hugh’s head. Just as everyone thought the fist would hit Hugh’s head, a loud sound of a fist hitting metal resounded throughout the ring.

 

*cling*

 

Everyone could see a fist that was colored silver and brown that caught Aric’s attack before it hit Hugh’s head. Hugh had activated his attack just in time to block the attack.

 

Hugh took this chance to throw Aric’s hand away and open his head for an attack. Hugh’s armored hands reached Aric’s cheeks at top speeds, throwing him off towards the ring's end.

 

Aric’s cheeks were bleeding from a cut. He put his hand on his face and looked at the blood with an incredulous face. He almost could not believe that Hugh injured him.

 

He did not think that Hugh could deal damage to him without his transformation. In just two days, Hugh was able to improve his Desire at an unbelievably fast rate. His heart felt fear and envy.

 

He had worked hard for his power, and yet Hugh seemed to have gained power out of nowhere.

 

He stood up with his wide eyes looking straight at Hugh. His thoughts were mysterious as he was displaying a weird aura.

 

Hugh took this chance to try to stand up and settle himself. His whole body weight was dependent upon his one leg that was not broken.

 

Aric’s flames cooled down and simmered into a barely visible ember. Hugh knew that he was not out of energy. This was the calm before the storm. Aric was pulling all of his power into one attack.

 

Aric walked towards Hugh at a slow pace. It was slow enough to give time for Hugh to back away, but he did not retreat. He faced Aric, ready to attack for the last time.

 

Aric got close enough for Hugh to attack him. Hugh was barely standing from his injuries, and he was not sure how long he could last. This was his final chance to attack, so he took it.

 

He gathered the armor to his fist, leaking silver and brown liquid onto his skin. It solidified in a blink as Hugh reared his fist. Aric did not seem to mind the punch as he stood there without any intentions of dodging.

 

Hugh’s fist traveled through the air and towards Aric’s face. It had no impedance and went straight towards his cheeks.

 

Hugh felt the collision of his fist and Aric’s cheeks, yet it was not hard as he was expecting. The moment that his fist hit Aric’s cheeks, Aric turned his head skillfully to lessen the blow.

 

Aric’s head turned away from the punch, yet his body did not move an inch. His cheek was bleeding from the punch, and there was a tinge of black and blue on his skin. He turned to the ground and spat out blood from his mouth.

 

The attack did nothing except for some skin deep wounds. Aric turned his head towards Hugh and spoke.

 

“It’s my turn.”

 

The flames in Aric’s body extinguished themselves as it all gathered in his fist. The reddish flame intensified and almost turned yellow as Aric punched Hugh’s chest, sending him flying with broken ribcages.

 

Hugh felt the air inside of him get sucked away. He literally could not breathe as he was starting to lose oxygen. His eyesight began to see spots as he saw Aric walk towards him.

 

Aric had an open palm, like a chop from karate. His middle finger seemed to sharpen as his flaming hands turned into a flaming blade.

 

Aric looked at Hugh’s body as his hand traveled towards Hugh’s heart. Aric’s fingernail stopped a few millimeters away from Hugh’s chest stopped by a hand.

 

Aric looked towards who had stopped him and saw professor Kain with an easygoing expression. He heard his professor speak.

 

“No killing. He’s already out of the fight.”

 

Professor Kain gestured to Hugh’s finger that touched the outside of the ring.

 

Aric shook his hand away from the professor’s clutches as he walked away from Hugh’s unconscious body. His lackeys swarmed him as they congratulated him on his fight. They all seemed happy that Aric won the battle, but there was no smile on Aric’s face.

 

He saw how fast Hugh had improved over two days. It irritated him and prevented him from celebrating. He may have won today, but who could say that he would win tomorrow or the next day?

 

He curled his fists into a ball with his nails digging into his palms. He swore to himself to train harder.

 

The conclusion of the fight baffled everybody present. They did not expect such a one-sided battle given the reports of Veer, the mysterious reporter.

 

From the fight, it even looked like most, if not all, could win against Hugh easily. It even looked like he did not deserve to be in the special class at all.

 

Whispers and rumors circulated in the class about how Hugh was able to get in with such a weak Desire. The only logical conclusion was that he was here through wealth and connections.

 

Hugh’s reputation immediately plummeted in the eyes of everyone in the classroom.

 

Professor Kain looked at Hugh’s unconscious body with a complicated expression. He was genuinely baffled at how weak Hugh was. The question of how he got in the special class seemed more critical now.

 

He took out his clipboard and wrote some text on it.

 

<Aric

Talent: A level

Unadvanced - D rank

 

Hugh

Talent: F level - (A level?)

Unadvanced - F rank>