Chapter 64: Light vs. Ice

The first match of round seven ended with Ain’s victory, securing his place in the finals. The outcome of the upcoming match would decide his opponent for first place.

By reaching this far, he had already fulfilled his original goal. Even if he had lost against Elias, he would still be placed within the top five, qualifying to receive the meditation technique he desired. But now, he desired to reach first place and claim the Purple Cloud Fruit.

Before the excitement from the previous match could dissipate, the next match began immediately.

 “Next, we have Frans Vaughan versus Elina Reynolds!” Following Teacher Linus’ introduction, Frans and Elina arrived at the arena.

This was one of the most anticipated matches so far, and the participants’ spirit pets played a big role in this.

Frans’ Brilliant Fae was an extremely rare light-attribute spirit pet, the only one of its kind in the entire academy. Furthermore, it was even more unique amongst light-attribute spirit pets. The spectators all looked forward to its battles, partly due to its rarity, and partly due to its beauty.

Similarly, Elina’s spirit pet was also a relatively rare ice-attribute spirit pet, the Bluefrost Leopard. Although the ice-attribute wasn’t as rare as the light-attribute, only a few had used it in the competition so far. Moreover, Elina’s Bluefrost Leopard was also rare amongst ice-attribute spirit pets.

Following the starting signal, the two immediately summoned their spirit pets. Since Ain’s battle against Marius, no one had broken the “rule” again.

Floating next to Frans, the Brilliant Fae appeared with a flash. Its stunning white scales reflected the sunlight as its ribbon-like fins waved in the air.

Next to Elina, the Bluefrost Leopard also appeared, with its vibrant white fur and icy blue spots. Its luminescent eyes matched its spots, emitting its frosty aura. Its silver-blue claws were sharp, glinting with a dangerous sheen.

As the two spirit pets appeared, their spirit tamers also made their moves. Elina immediately retreated, distancing herself from Frans and the Brilliant Fae. On the other hand, Frans remained unmoving, taking the opportunity to cast his spells. Two distinct glows flashed on his body momentarily, with the first one concentrated on his head.

Ain watched with rapt attention, trying to glean any information from the battle. He squinted his eyes as he saw Frans use augment spells on himself. This was the same as all his previous matches, but this time, Ain keenly noticed the second glow that appeared.

He had already figured out that one of them was Invigoration, which could temporarily boost his physical abilities, but the other spell was unknown. The battle continued as he watched on.

After casting the two spells, Frans dashed towards the retreating Elina. The Brilliant Fae, that followed along, pointed its tiny horn towards the opponents and used Radiant Bolt. Immediately, an arrow made of light swiftly condensed and shot at Elina with immense speed.

Elina, being prepared, commanded the Bluefrost Leopard, and a thin and icy membrane appeared in front of them.

This was an ice skill: Ice Mirror!

Pew!

The light arrow arrived with tremendous speed, leaving no traces in the air, but failed to damage the Ice Mirror, and instead was reflected back towards Frans and the Brilliant Fae.

Ice Mirror was a defensive skill that could reflect non-physical attacks!

Seeing their own skill returned to them, Frans quickly dodged to the side. The Radiant Bolt passed by only a few centimeters away from his face. Although he was already aware of the skill, the Ice Mirror still surprised him.

Seeing that Frans’ advance was broken, Elina pointed towards him and commanded her Bluefrost Leopard to use Ice Blast. Frigid spirit energy compressed into a blue sphere in front of the leopard before it quickly flew towards Frans.

But before the skill connected, Frans once again dodged the attack. The Brilliant Fae kept up with its spirit tamer with ease, swimming through the air as if it was water.

In the next few minutes, the two battled back and forth as they used their skills and spells. Mixed in with the Ice Blasts, Elina also intermittently used Spirit Blast, whereas Frans only relied on Radiant Bolt.

At this moment, another attack arrived. But instead of dodging it, Frans used a Shield to block it and took the opportunity to reapply the two augment spells.

Seeing her opponent pause, Elina decided to use her innate talent, Ice Affinity.

As an affinity-type innate talent, it could boost her own ice spells and her pet’s ice skills.

Another Ice Blast flew through the air and hit Frans’ Shield. This time, the attack was faster and more powerful.

Crack!

With just one attack, cracks appeared on the Shield, but it still remained intact. Behind the shield, Frans completed his action and once again darted towards his opponent.

Elina frowned at her failed attack but didn’t stop retreating. Her combat style was focused on medium and long-range attacks. Frans’ combat style was similar, as he had only relied on Radiant Bolt to finish his opponents. She knew that the only reason he attempted to close the distance was to allow the Brilliant Fae to use its other skill, Blinding Flash.

Just as she was thinking of her next move, she suddenly noticed that Frans had already covered most of the distance between them. His speed was faster than before!

A trace of panic appeared in Elina’s expressionless eyes. The Bluefrost Leopard growled towards Frans, as if it was ready to protect its spirit tamer.

Just as Frans was within range and the Brilliant Fae was about to use Blinding Flash, he saw the trace of panic in his opponent’s eyes disappear as she brought her palm forward calmly.

‘A feint!’ This thought immediately appeared in Frans’ mind as a tremendous force suddenly slapped across his body, sending him flying backwards.

This was one of Elina’s hidden cards, Force Push! It was a rank-1 core spell used to push the target away. This spell was relatively harmless but could play a vital role in certain situations, such as now. Since Elina fought at long-range, she was already prepared to deal with any opponent that got too close to her.

But she wasn’t the only part of this deception! The Bluefrost Leopard, which was prepared to defend its spirit tamer, began emitting a dense frosty blue aura instead. The surrounding temperature immediately plummeted as if winter had arrived.

This was the Bluefrost Leopard’s innate skill, Frozen Spirit! Like the Voltic Wolf’s Overcharge that Ain encountered, Frozen Spirit directly boosted the spirit pet’s physical abilities and skills for a short duration.

“Ice Affinity!” Elina didn’t stop there, and further boosted the Bluefrost Leopard with her innate talent. This was a case of extreme synergy between spirit tamer and spirit pet!

Ice Blast!

With multiple layers of augments and boosts, the Bluefrost Leopard used its skill. A dense blast of cold energy, emitting a terrifying aura, attacked Frans, who had fallen on his back due to Force Push.

Without even looking, Frans could already feel the powerful attack approaching him with a cold, chilly aura, leaving a trail of frost on the ground.

The spectators were all stunned by the sudden turn of events. Not only the students, but even the teachers were no different.

“Excellent move!”

“Such a well-timed attack. This girl has a lot of potential.”

The vice-principals also nodded at the scene, approving of Elina’s abilities.

Frans, who had barely brought his head up to look at the incoming attack, supported a surprised expression, but there was no fear or despair in his eyes. Of course, due to the angle, no one noticed it. As the Brilliant Fae floated beside him, he raised his hand and cast Shield instantaneously.

Crack!

The Shield only lasted for less than a second before it broke and dissipated. Just as the attack was about to hit Frans and the Brilliant Fae, a light barrier suddenly appeared, blocking the attack again.

Crack!

Cracks also formed on this new shield, but the Ice Blast ultimately failed to bypass it. A big chunk of ice appeared in front of the shield, but behind the bright shield was a safe and sound Frans, who immediately made his move.

The crowd had yet to recover from the sudden turn of events when the Brilliant Fae left the shield, leaving Frans’ side for the first time. It approached the stunned Elina, who stared at the unexpected scene before her.

Her plan had failed!

This time, the panic in her eyes was real as she attempted to retreat again. The Bluefrost Leopard had just used a big attack and needed some time to recover. She brought her hand forward and used Spirit Blast, but the agile Brilliant Fae dodged it effortlessly, even more so than its spirit tamer.

When it reached its optimal range, the Brilliant Fae’s body glowed brightly, as it used Blinding Flash.

Elina, who not only closed her eyes but also turned away, still failed to avoid it as her vision changed.

White! Everything turned white!

Along with the flash, a trace of nausea struck her, and her mind was disoriented. In an effort to protect herself, she subconsciously turned toward where she last saw the Brilliant Fae and brought her hand forward.

The Brilliant Fae used Radiant Bolt to finish the opponent, but a Shield suddenly appeared and blocked its attack. Just as it pondered what to do, Frans, who had already returned to his feet, sent it another command.