Chapter 65: Final Match

Frans' command appeared in the Brilliant Fae's mind: "Target the Bluefrost Leopard and use Brilliant Beam!"

The Brilliant Fae turned towards the Bluefrost Leopard, which was in a similar predicament to its spirit tamer, and it opened its tiny mouth. Without warning, a flood-like, concentrated, and continuous beam of light left its mouth and instantly drowned the leopard.

Boom!

The sound of an explosion resounded in the venue, sending the Bluefrost Leopard flying. It left a trail of blood in the air as it landed several meters away, raising a small cloud of dust. "Whimper..."

Before the dust could settle, faint whimpering sounds appeared from within. Elina, who was still disoriented and blinded, could clearly feel her spirit pet’s condition, and anxiety struck her heart.

"I admit defeat!" Before the match could end by judgment, she immediately admitted defeat and moved towards where she sensed her spirit pet.

Buzz!

The ending buzzer sounded, signifying the end of the match. "The winner is Frans Vaughan!" Teacher Linus announced.

The medics immediately ran up to the arena, rushing towards the incapacitated Bluefrost Leopard and Elina.

Seeing his opponent's concern towards her spirit pet, a trace of guilt appeared in Frans' blue eyes as he apologized with a low voice, "Sorry."

A medic also approached him, and soon after, the arena was once again cleared.

"Amazing! Awesome fight!"

"Both Frans and Elina are so powerful! I couldn't tell who would win!"

"Hooray! Frans won!"

The students cheered loudly; some happy at Frans’ victory as others pitied Elina who lost.

The teachers weren’t quiet either as they generously praised the pair. Some even let out sighs of amazement as they discussed.

"The younger generation always has surprises."

"It’s difficult to believe that this is the first interclass competition."

"I’m looking forward to the future competitions now!"

In his seat, Ain also let out a sigh at their performance. Most of the previous matches in the competition were lackluster compared to this. Spells, skills, and strategies all came together to realize the battle he just saw.

These were the type of battles that Ain wished for deep inside. Not just him; most of the students in the venue longed for this fantastical scene.

With this match, Ain’s opponent in the finals was determined to be Frans.

But before the finals, there was going to be another break. This was mainly to allow the medics to recover Elina and her spirit pet to tip-top shape. The next match was between Elina and Elias to determine third and fourth place.

As he waited, Ain closed his eyes and recapped all of Frans' battles until now. He meticulously used Analysis and Deduction and various kinds of scenarios and information flashed past his mind, including all the spells, skills, and strategies that Frans had deployed so far.

…

The clear sky slowly turned yellow as evening approached, ready to tuck in the world.

When the long break finally ended, Ain opened his eyes just in time to witness the battle between Elias and Elina.

Their battle was just as intense and exciting as the previous two. Both parties had already revealed all their cards; hence, the battle came down to who strategized better and who made the first mistake.

After some back and forth, Elina and the Bluefrost Leopard once again used a double-boosted Ice Blast to fell the Titan Bear, leading to her victory.

After the battle was over, Ain noted that he had failed to identify Elias’ innate talent during this battle or any of the previous battles. Either its effects were hard to detect, like Hugo’s Sensory Enhancement, or Elias’ innate talent wasn’t suitable for combat. He didn’t dwell on it for too long.

With her victory, Elina seized third place in the competition, and Elias obtained fourth place. Now, there was only one match left, and as the finals, it was also the most anticipated match.

This time, there was only a short break before Teacher Linus appeared once again.

"After two days of thrilling battles, we’ve finally arrived at this juncture, the final match of this year’s first interclass competition!"

"Now all of you, please make some noise and welcome to the arena, Frans Vaughan and Ain Weisman!"

With Teacher Linus’ passionate voice, deafening cheers from over two thousand students resounded throughout the venue, drowning everything else.

Under everyone’s heated gazes, Ain and Frans slowly walked onto the arena.

Ain looked through the crowd and sensed their unified emotions that were filled with excitement and anticipation. It was the same number of spectators, but the sensation he experienced now was vastly different compared to any of his previous matches.

He seemed to realize why others would get nervous, as hints of nervousness also appeared in his own heart. So far, he subconsciously ignored the crowd, but for some reason, he found it difficult to do so now. Before this competition, when had he been in a similar situation, being stared at by thousands of people?

Of course, Ain wouldn’t let it affect his performance and continued towards his marked position on the arena. Frans also arrived opposite him and said while smiling, “Ain, let’s have a good match.”

“Yes, you too. Let’s have a good match.” Ain replied affirmatively.

At this moment, seeing that the two were ready, Teacher Linus pressed the starting signal button on her handheld device. On the earthly arena, now filled with some small cracks and potholes, a light breeze flew by, carrying some dust along with it.

Ain’s black hair, which reached his neck, were tied behind his head as usual. The light breeze passed by, gently rustling them, as his deep black eyes focused. Everything he learned through Analysis and Deduction was on the forefront of his mind.

On the other hand, Frans’ smile remained still, but focus was also evident in his blue eyes. His blonde hair fluttered across his temples as he once again summarized all the information he had gathered from Ain’s matches.

The robotic starting countdown began, hushing the cheering crowd.

"Three."

"Two."

"One."

"Begin!"

Following the starting signal, Ain immediately raised his hand and used Spirit Blast while also summoning Nox.

Frans’ first play was always to use augment spells on himself. He always used Invigoration, and in the previous match, he also began using an unknown spell.

Furthermore, Frans always remained motionless while casting the spells. Ain couldn’t be sure if it was to confuse and mislead his opponents. Frans had already done something similar by giving the false illusion that he himself needed to rush up to his opponents to use Blinding Flash when in reality, only the Brilliant Fae needed to be in range to use it. If one thought about it, it made perfect sense.

If it was a spirit pet’s skill, it obviously didn’t matter if the spirit tamer was also in range. But after witnessing him do this multiple times, his opponents were conditioned and subconsciously formed a false impression. This had played a part in his battle against Elina, and the Brilliant Fae unexpectedly approached Elina on its own and used Blinding Flash before finishing off the Bluefrost Leopard.

So as a probe, Ain’s first move was to use Spirit Blast to interrupt the spells. And his prediction was correct.

Just as the battle began, Frans summoned the Brilliant Fae and was about to use the two augment spells on himself as usual when he spotted Ain raise his hand. He immediately interrupted the spells and hurriedly cast Shield instead.

A bundle of golden spirit energy zoomed through the air and accurately hit the shield.

Boom! Crack!

Dampened by an explosion, a faint cracking sound rang out.

Seeing the cracks on his Shield, Frans’ eyes momentarily constricted. ‘Such a powerful Spirit Blast!’

He was aware that Ain was also an Intermediate Rank-1 Spirit Tamer like him, but the fact that a single Spirit Blast damaged his Shield to this extent stunned him.

Defensive spells, such as Shield, were always capable of withstanding a few attacks of a similar rank. The fact that the shield in front of him already had some small cracks spoke volumes of Ain’s power.

Frans wasn’t wrong to be surprised; not only had Ain made more progress than him in the Intermediate Rank-1, but his Spirit Blast was also slightly modified. As his arsenal of spells increased, Ain had never stopped using Analysis and Deduction to revise his spells.

Even in his match against Elias, he had deliberately withheld some of his power, but now, he didn’t need to do so.

Although he was surprised, Frans didn’t stop. He saw Ain use another Spirit Blast, but the shield could still withstand a second attack. He immediately focused and used his two spells.

Contrary to Ain’s suspicions, Frans wasn’t playing tricks when he stayed stationary to cast the spells. He had sufficient practice with Invigoration and could cast it while moving, but the same couldn’t be said for the second spell. He had only recently learned the spell and required extra concentration to cast it.

Boom! Crack!

Just as two lights flashed on Frans’ body, with one concentrated towards his head, the second Spirit Blast arrived, destroying the shield. But Shield served its purpose and bought the necessary time for Frans.

Ain observed the lights that flashed on his opponent’s body and seemed to guess something. The unknown spell’s effects were indeed concentrated on his head.

At this point, their spirit pets had already appeared and were ready to act.