...

Inside a large circular platform two figures could be seen staring at each other intensely, everything else was in total silence, it seemed that the world itself had fallen silent just to witness these two people.

The taller one was a boy with brown hair and blue-green eyes, he was dressed in traditional training clothes made of light white leather and black pants. A 90cm long sword could be seen held in both hands as he took a defensive pose.

The other figure turned out to be a girl slightly shorter than the boy, had red hair with orange tips tied in a ponytail, had red eyes that looked sharper than usual and was dressed similarly to the boy, except that her hands were completely bandaged. In her right hand she held a light and very thin 65cm sword, a Jian, her other hand was behind her back as she took a defensive stance.

Alex and Flora looked at each other blankly as they analyzed any movement of their opponent without losing sight of him.

Tch

Seeing that her opponent had no intention of attacking, Flora decided to make the first move.

Circulating the Inner Mana in her legs, she took a small leap forward that propelled her towards her opponent in the blink of an eye.

!!!

Alex raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise at Flora's speed, but still successfully blocked Flora's attack even though he was pushed back a few centimeters. Quickly.

Quickly regaining his balance, Alex swung his sword diagonally towards Flora who ducked to the left to dodge the cut, Alex continued his attack by lowering his sword downwards with the help of gravity.

Flora dodged the cut by moving to the right with the help of the Inner Mana, she looked at Alex with a slight smile on her face and released a quick cut towards Alex who had to take a small step backwards to dodge it. So she attacks from the bottom up... she seems to be good at dodging too...

But Flora didn't stop there and followed up with a series of slashes aimed at his arms and feet as she quickly spun around Alex. "Hahaha~! This is fun!"

Alex began to recoil from the rapid slashes and thrusts. He frowned as he tried to look for an opening between Flora's quick slashes.

Clank

Clank

Fushh

Now! Blocking one of Flora's quick strikes, Alex unleashed a quick swing swinging his greatsword at Flora, who had to redirect the counterattack as best she could generating an opportunity for another slash which Alex did not let pass and quickly swung his sword from bottom to top generating a strong gust of wind from the force generated.

Flora was forced to take a long jump backwards to avoid Alex's counterattack - something that generated a smirk on his face -, once she took enough distance, she quickly incorporated herself with an offensive posture before giving Alex a shark smile. "Fufu~ this just got interesting... but-" Flora's sword pommel began to glow faintly with a faint red color. "-can you keep up?"

Alex quickly lost the smile he had on his face as he quickly took a defensive stance, sweat pouring down his forehead from the sudden increase in heat as he stared Flora down, but still gave her a smug look. "Why don't you come and find out?"

Laughing pass herself Flora took a step forward....

And the Jian appeared at Alex's right side aimed at his neck.

Alex barely had time to react as he instinctively blocked Flora's slash with a strange pose that almost made him lose his balance.

The latter didn't stop there, and with a shark-like grin she disappeared again.

She began to rapidly swing her sword in a combination of slashes, thrusts and feints along with impeccable footwork that played around Alex's guard, but without entering it, plus the constant change between the rhythm of each slash making it incredibly difficult to predict.

Alex could barely follow her with his eyes and the rapid change of posture was starting to tire him out, not to mention the increasingly scorching heat.

After a few minutes that seemed like hours, Flora finally pulled back taking a couple of steps back looking mockingly at Alex who was breathing heavily. "Oh, looks like you couldn't keep up, poor little cute thing."

"Haa... Haa... what... you mean?" asked Alex between gasps as sweat trickled down his back and forehead. Why is it getting so hot.... I can't think clearly...

Feeling a little pain in his left shoulder he looked sideways at a small cut on his clothes and a little blood coming out of the wound, but it was nothing serious. He turned his gaze to a smiling Flora and could only grit his teeth in anger.

"It's just a cut... you still have to give another one to win" Alex growled.

"I'm aware" Flora replied with an ever growing shark grin. "But if you can't keep up this will be over very quickly you know?"

"Grr..." The pommel of Alex's greatsword began to glow with a faint green light. "I won't make it that easy for you..."

Flora smiled brightly as she saw that her opponent still hadn't given up and proceeded to take a low stance pointing the Jian towards Alex.

With that Alex dropped his defensive stance as he stomped forward, leaving cracks in the ground before shooting out towards Flora's position attacking her with a large vertical swing.

Surprised by Alex's newfound speed, Flora was quick to redirect the attack to the side as she took a step backwards, but taking her by surprise she lost her balance a bit leaving her open for another attack. Seizing the opportunity Alex swung his sword in the air generating a gust of wind that flew towards Flora.

Flora frowned as she somersaulted in the air to dodge the cut.

Once she hit the ground she stared at Alex intently, she seemed to be lost in thought for a moment.

Alex was tempted to attack her but remained cautious.

After a couple of seconds Flora seemed to have come to a conclusion as she took an offensive stance with her was above her head. Suddenly an intense red light began to emanate from the pommel of the sword.

Fushhh

The heat throughout the arena rose in measure. Alex turned his eyes towards and Flora saw her looking at him blankly as her sword was infused with a great flame. The fire almost seemed to take the shape of a Dragon.

"What-! What is this?!" Cursed Alex as he felt as if his skin was burning, he could barely breathe as he felt his throat rapidly drying up.

"This is true Magic"

Feeling a shiver Alex, looked past Flora....

Only to meet cold blue eyes staring at him theatrically.

Shaking his head the illusion disappeared leaving only Flora and the great flame on her sword. So that's why it was so hot... she's abusing the Second Rule to her advantage... smart bitch....

Alex gritted his teeth as he tried to generate wind to cool down but he only managed to generate a hot wind that made the situation worse. Shit! I can't breathe...!

Flora started to walk elegantly towards Alex with graceful steps. "You know... I realized that even though you can use Magic you are... a beginner at best, surely you barely know anything about Outer Mana and its Elements, right?" Flora's tone brimmed with disdain as she continued walking, the flame of her sword almost seemed to respond to Flora's disdain.

Alex could almost mistake her for the Goddess of Hell herself.

"..." Alex just listened in silence as he tried to catch his breath in vain.

Tap

Tap

Taking Alex's silence as conflation, Flora sighed with a frown. "That figured... what kind of student would ask for lessons on Magic... easy, one who doesn't know how to use it properly" Flora's footsteps stopped a few feet away from Alex. "I knew you couldn't use Magic properly so I held back... but that wind attack is an insult to any Mage."

The weight on Alex's legs gave way kneeling him against the floor that seemed to be burning flames, but he still kept his gaze on Flora. "You..."

Flora shook her head. "You may have a lot of talent for combat-"

As if Flora herself was an illusion, she disappeared from Alex's sight and he could only feel a sharp blow to his chest that knocked all the remaining air out of him and knocking him to the floor....

"But you have no talent for Magic."

As Alex's world gradually darkened, he only had several thoughts in his head....

Pyromaniac bitch... She's not only strong and fast... she has a great control over Magic and a terrifying talent with the sword... what the fuck did I get myself into?....

"You have no talent for Magic"?...

....I'll show you...

...I'll show everyone...

And with a last glance into Flora's eyes, Alex's world fell into darkness...

...