Chapter 46: Five Versus Five 1

"Kamila, watch out!"

A female student shouted. She was nervously warning another female student who was about to be attacked.

"Rargh! Burn to ashes!"

The lady with deep sea blue hair rushed forward. Her name was Alshura Soura. And she had already gathered enough momentum with her yellow-colored flames.

Her target was a female student with freckles whose name was apparently Kamila. The latter seemed to be a Mage as well. She could shoot streams of lightning element with her wand.

This could not compete with the yellow-colored flames of Soura though. Her [Fire Dance] ability could easily neutralize the energy-based attack of her opponent.

However, a male student intercepted the lady wearing the USB female uniform. He had charged up his fist with the energy of the Light element. He then proudly declared,

"I, Koga, is ready!"

"Thou are not allowed."

Another male student intercepted the Light-element user. He had both of his palms placed together in front of him. He was none other than Steven O.

His right palm then reached forward. It collided with the glowing fist of the opposing male student.

Paa!

His [Soul-Wave Stance] deflected the opposing strike. His left palm then moved to strike the other male student on his solar plexus.

The male student whose name was apparently Koga had to step backwards. He was able to avoid the palm strike.

He then retreated further when he saw that the palm-using male student pursued after him.

"Hey, hey, watch out guys! There's no way I can support all of you if you're moving away from the formation!"

An opposing Healer student with a bandana on his head complained. He was looking out for the student with a light element on his fist. As well as the female student with freckles.

"Go, Bellows!"

Ariana Aries had squeezed the pump-like mechanism that she was holding. The gust of wind may not be able to deal substantial damage to any Tier 2.

But that was a different story now. The wind had caught up with the fire that was surrounding the lady with deep sea blue hair. But instead of snuffing them out, the flames had instead grown brighter!

The lady grinned. She was probably thrilled to try out her now intensified skill. She declared,

"Take this, Bellowed Yoko!"

The effect combination of the two skills had strengthened the flames of Soura! Once released, it had now formed a localized hurricane made of yellow-colored fire.

"Like I'll let you!"

The student named Kamila refused to give in. She instead rushed forward to face the incoming attack. She then shot out an even stronger lightning element from her wand than before.

The two energy attacks clashed with one another. But the lightning attack was on the verge of losing.

But then,

"Help her lightning!"

The opposing male Healer rushed forward. His ability seemed to have reinforced the lightning element of the female student with freckles.

The clash of the two energy-based attacks balanced out. Both sides were now at a standstill.

This result had surprised the one who was named Kamila. But that was not enough to break her concentration.

Although the action had made her look towards the male Healer with longing eyes. She said,

"Nith…"

"I will never let you suffer alone!"

The male Healer declared confidently. But he seemed to be struggling to sustain the boosting of the lightning element. He tried to smile despite the burden though.

"Eww, so cheesy!"

"Absolutely disgusting!"

Ariana and Soura commented respectively. Both of them seemed to be irked by the sudden display of affection.

But perhaps this was for the better. Since they channeled their negative emotions into a force that pushed their energy attack harder.

On the other hand,

O was handling two students at the same time. One was the male student named Koga the light element user. While the other was the female student who had warned Kamila before.

She had called forth a one-handed hammer. She was swinging it haphazardly towards her supposed enemy. She then lashed out,

"Give up! There's no way you can win two against one!"

"Forsooth!"

O spat out in defiance. He lowered his stance to stabilize his footing. He then extended out his left palm to parry the incoming hammer strike.

Simultaneously, he slapped the glowing fist with his right palm.

He then clapped his palms together in front of him. Next, he extended them once again to defend against the subsequent wave of attacks.

He looked determined to show that he could handle both assaults.

The student named Koga gnashed his teeth. He seemed frustrated that he could not even land a hit against his opponent. He yelled out,

"So what if you can defend? If you can't hit back, then our assaults will break through eventually."

"'Tis more than enough to deal with thee."

O replied against the mockery. There was even a faint smile on his face. He seemed to be thinking that he would just have to hold out for a few more moments.

Meanwhile,

"You're wide open!"

A spiky haired male student had sneaked past the ongoing battles. He was currently behind enemy lines. His target was the student named Benjo Roxas.

But the Porter-merchant sneered in return. He did not look troubled by the sudden back attack at all. He then ordered,

"Hah, bench-warmer, go! I choose you!"

"Would you stop calling me that?"

Yoshino Aruven protested. Nonetheless he moved quicky to intercept the assailant. He had called forth his [Zeta Blade] and caught the incoming attack.

Clang!

Two blades had collided against one another.

"You! Are you a fellow Scout?"

"Heck no."

Yoshino refuted the surprised remark. He was simply using the effect of his [Agility Up]. Which enabled him to keep up with the other student's speed somehow.

The assailant seemed to have noticed this once he regained his composure. He then sneered mischievously. He said,

"I wonder how long can your buff last against my top speed?"

Yoshino was not concerned about this though. That was because he was more concerned that his arms would give out on him first.

He was still pushing his blade against the assailant's dagger after all.

He gritted his teeth. He then estimated that facing the assailant would be difficult. Hence he resorted instead to negotiation. He offered,

"Brother, there's no bad blood against us. Run away while you still can."

"Ha, why should I?"

The assailant snorted. Perhaps he felt ridiculed by the offer. He pressed on his dagger harder. He continued,

"There are only two weaklings hiding on the backrow. If I eliminate both of you then victory will be ours!"

Yoshino chuckled a little. He might be struggling to press against the opponent's weapon. But an amusing notion was still amusing nonetheless. He commented,

"You sure about that?"

"?!"

The spiky haired assailant looked puzzled. The young man he was up against with was about to explain himself.

However,

"Rargh, we won!"

Soura cheered triumphantly. They had probably dealt with the lovebirds first. Then the hammer girl. The light guy was presumably the most troublesome.

Yoshino currently had his back turned on the battle area. That was why he could only make assumptions on what had transpired on the last few seconds.

But this would also mean that the assailant had seen the result of the skirmish first hand. No words of explanation could beat witnessing the scene in person.

In addition, the battle space they were in was now fading. The scenery was reverting back to that of a central park with a fountain inside a botanical garden.

This was a clear indication that the duel between the two opposing teams had concluded.

Sure enough, the assailant had stopped pressing his dagger forward. He was also slowly backing away. He said weakly,

"Brother… there's –"

"Just get out of my face."

Yoshino cut him short. What he said before was the truth. There was technically no bad blood between him and the spiky haired assailant.

So he had no qualms on letting the other guy go.

The spiky haired student ran away immediately. He never even looked back as he hurriedly retreated towards one of the corridors.

Yoshino shrugged when he saw this shameless display. He then glanced at his teammates: Soura, Ariana, and O. Roxas was not included because he was a prick.

They all looked like they had no problem with letting the other guy escape. Perhaps they shared the sentiments of the young man with jet black hair.

This was the Border Run after all. Not the Border Deathmatch. Only those who got knocked unconscious were disqualified.

As long as the person remained standing, he could still participate on the event. Heck, even someone who had almost fainted due to overfatigue was still allowed to continue.

So who was he to deny another participant of his chance of passing?

But one might ask, what if the escaped student comes back for revenge? Or perhaps even called for stronger reinforcements?

If that were to happen, then Yoshino would no longer be that forgiving.

He nodded as he concluded his thoughts. He then turned around to look at the people who was with him. He congratulated them properly,

"Good work, Team."