Chapter 41: Hugo vs. Marius

There were only ten matches in round four, and their average length was about five minutes. So it wasn't long before it was Hugo’s turn.

With a deep breath, he walked onto the arena, and so did his opponent, Marius Varro.

Seeing Marius walk up, the surrounding students looked at Hugo with pity.

“It’s Hugo’s bad luck to be matched against Marius.”

“They both also have flying spirit pets, but Marius’ mechanical spirit pet is already at Rank-1. The outcome is obvious.”

As the students conversed, the two finally took their positions, and Teacher Turner announced the start of the match: “Begin!”

With a flash, two flying spirit pets appeared above their respective spirit tamers.

Ace, Hugo’s contracted Grand Eagle, appeared above him and immediately took to the sky.

Similarly, a mechanical bird with purple engravings also appeared above Marius. Its body was a dull silver, and its wings resembled a bundle of blades. Purple lightning flickered within its mechanical eyes.

As soon as they reached a sufficient distance, both spirit pets received commands from their spirit tamers.

Ace hovered in place and flapped its wings elegantly toward the mechanical bird. With a faint green glow, it used Air Slash, releasing dozens of green slashes toward its opponent.

At the same time, the mechanical bird flapped its sharp wings and raced towards Ace. With a barrel roll, it swiftly dodged the incoming air slashes, closing the distance between the two.

Seeing this, Hugo immediately sent another command: “Keep your distance from it and keep using Air Slash!”

The mechanical bird’s skill, Lightning Strike, was already exposed in the previous matches. Maybe due to its lack of control and accuracy, the skill was always released at a medium range. Maintaining a sufficient distance was imperative for survival.

Ace flew away, trying to stay out of the mechanical bird’s range. But due to the disparity in rank, the mechanical bird was swifter and approached closer with each passing second.

While the spirit pets fought in the skies, the spirit tamers weren’t idle either.

Hugo was already aware of the difference between their strengths, but he didn’t want to lose without putting up any resistance. His only option was to attack Marius directly while Ace distracted the mechanical bird.

With his innate talent, Sensory Enhancement, Hugo’s perception was very keen, and he had already noticed the faint spirit energy fluctuations around Marius. It was a sign of spell preparation.

Marius ended all his matches without using any spells. Hugo was unaware of the spells at his disposal, but with his innate talent, he was confident in his response time.

Both of them had yet to move from their original positions, so there was a considerable distance between them. It was obvious that Marius was going to attack using a long-range spell, and Hugo was confident in dodging it.

He intermittently paid attention to Ace as it was being chased around by the mechanical bird. This was a closed stadium and there was only so much room for maneuvering in the air.

Ain, who was outside the arena, looked in the direction of Ace’s flight path, as well as Marius, who would soon be directly below it. He turned back to Hugo and sighed internally, ‘He got played.’

Exactly at that moment, Hugo’s eyes perked up. Marius finally moved to cast his spell.

Hugo stared at Marius intently, ready to respond. He expected a Spirit Blast or another offensive spell, but Marius used Shield instead.

“Huh?” Seeing this, Hugo was taken aback. But Marius’ next action immediately cleared his confusion, leading to panic instead.

Just a second after Marius used Shield, he brought his left hand forward, pointing it towards the sky. Ace, who was being chased by the mechanical bird, happened to be directly above him.

“Spirit Chains!” As if announcing it to the spectators, Marius, who had been silent throughout the match, suddenly shouted out his spell.

With his loud exclamation, bright chains woven from spirit energy suddenly emerged in front of Ace and entangled it mid-air.

Seeing the scene, Hugo was stunned on the spot. Not only him, but most of the spectating students were also stunned.

“What spell is that?”

“I don’t remember seeing it in the spell repository.”

“It’s Spirit Chains! He probably learned it elsewhere. His family is extremely wealthy, after all.”

Hearing the surrounding students' voices filled with surprise and envy, Ain, who was also clueless, finally understood.

‘So, that was his plan.’ Ain thought, looking at the trapped Ace.

“Ace!” Hugo finally reacted. He also understood why Marius used Shield. It was to prevent Hugo from harming him while he trapped Ace.

With the chains wrapped around it, Ace tried its best to fly away, but Marius held it in place, waiting for the mechanical bird to attack.

Finally, the mechanical bird arrived in range and opened its beak. Purple lightning surrounded its body like agile snakes as it prepared to use Lightning Strike.

Hugo tried to think of a solution, but nothing could turn the tides. It was too late for him to reach Marius and attack directly.

Helpless, he stared at the mechanical bird before raising his hand and releasing the spell he prepared beforehand. “Spirit Blast!”

Boom!

The Lightning Strike was finally released and accurately struck the trapped Ace, resulting in a small explosion.

“Shriek!” Ace’s pained cry rang out as the attack landed. It convulsed in the air as smoke started to rise from its body. Simultaneously, the chains failed to withstand the attack and dissipated. Due to the severe damage, Ace was incapacitated and fell through the air.

As the spectators focused on the falling Ace, not many paid attention to the mechanical bird.

After the Lightning Strike hit its target, the mechanical bird had yet to move when Hugo’s Spirit Blast accurately struck its face.

Boom!

Due to the impact and explosion, the mechanical bird was disoriented from the blast and plummeted from the sky as well. But soon after, it shook its head to recover and flapped its wings fiercely, taking flight once again. Being a Rank-1 Mechanical Spirit Pet, its defense was higher than that of regular spirit pets of the same rank.

Seeing this scene, an unsightly frown appeared on Marius’ face for a split-second before he quickly concealed it. Ain just happened to be looking his way, catching this blunder.

At the same time, Teacher Turner’s voice sounded, “Winner, Marius!”

Hugo couldn’t care less about the outcome as he tried his best to reach Ace, who was about to hit the ground. But it was too late for him; the distance between them was great.

Before he could despair, a light green glow suddenly surrounded Ace, breaking the its momentum. With the assistance of the green glow, it gently landed on the ground. Simultaneously, one of the medics quickly appeared beside Ace.

Seeing this, Hugo breathed a sigh of relief.

The other medic approached Marius and left soon after a brief conversation. The mechanical bird turned out fine, but even if it wasn’t, he didn’t have the ability to treat it. It would need to be taken to a mechanic instead.

The arena cleared, and Hugo finally made his way back to Ain. Seeing his dejected face, Ain simply patted him on the shoulder and remained silent.

Hugo was aware of his chances, but it was still painful to lose, especially the sight of his spirit pet’s injuries.

He glanced at Hugo and saw him take a deep breath before turning toward Ain, “Ain, how was my performance? Don’t hold back.”

Seeing the look in his eyes, Ain said, “Overall, your performance was good. But you overlooked some things and didn’t grasp the bigger picture.”

Hearing this, Hugo thought for a second and said, “Go on.”

“It’s reasonable for you to be unaware of his spells, but you didn’t realize that Marius was taking too long to cast his spell.”

When Ain said this, Hugo thought back to the battle and realized his mistake, “You’re right, it took him too long. He was actually preparing two spells.”

“Next, although you paid attention to Ace’s situation, you didn’t notice that the mechanical bird was influencing Ace’s flight path, leading it directly toward Marius.”

At this point, Hugo nodded. He had realized this too late.

“And of course, the most significant reason you lost is…” Ain deliberately stretched out his words as he stared at Hugo. “… the difference in your ranks. Did you really expect to defeat a Beginner Rank-1 Mechanical Spirit Pet while Ace is only at Rank-0?”

Hearing this, Hugo was stunned for a second before he laughed out loud, “You’re right, I already knew I was gonna lose, so why am I still stressed about this?”

Ain smiled and continued, “Moreover, he also has a spirit pet capable of flight. It's already impressive that you managed to blast the mechanical bird in the face.”

After Ain’s thoughtful attempt at cheering him up, Hugo finally let go of all the heavy feelings in his heart and said, “Thanks, Ain.”

Ain simply kept his smile and glanced at Marius before turning to the arena, where the next match had already begun.

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