One-sided duel

Amelia's sweet smile turned into a grin once she saw the excitement in Ares' eyes. The latter really wanted to fight against her for some reason, which made that situation tenser. But it was good tension. Something that they could easily handle and use to their own advantage.

Amelia's presence while in her fighting stance was unpredictable. Ares couldn't know when or where she would attack. Her left arm was beside her body, with the tip of the rapier pointed at him and a bit lowered. Her right hand was poised in front of her body, the rapier was slightly pointing at him, but not as straight as the other. Amelia's body was totally turned to the side, making it difficult to find any openings.

Ares noticed all those points in less than two seconds. His fast thought process was one of his strongest weapons while dueling against someone. Since he needed to read just one person, it was easier to maintain his focus. He needed to fight against several people at the same time before, and it was the most difficult experience of his life, though he got used to it at some point.

'She has a solid base and a perfect form as well... There is her Mana, too. I need to be cautious. She never mentioned that she wouldn't use it in this duel. No restrictions.'

As if to confirm his last thoughts, Amelia pointed to the blade of his battle-axe with her chin.

"You can use these Runes if you want. Just be sure not to make too much noise and to not give reasons for anyone to come bothering us later about destroying this place. The basic things, you know?"

Ares needed to use all his self-control not to show how embarrassed he was. Actually, he couldn't use those Runes. He didn't know anything about it at all, not even how to activate them.

"Well... I don't think it's good to use them right now, you know? I may blow this place to the skies if I do so," he lied in a mocking tone.

Amelia didn't know whether she believed in him or just ignored what he said. Either way, she would keep that information in mind.

'Apparently, those Runes affect wide areas... I need to be careful with him in the exam. You never know what these eccentric guys can have under their sleeves.'

Both of them stayed solidly in their stances for several seconds, just staring at each other. No more words were uttered, not even a single noise was made. Their breaths were smoothly going between their teeth, to their lungs, then being released slowly.

They weren't just hesitating or trying to delay that battle. They were searching for openings, bringing up strategies. Both knew that careless movements would cause an early end to that battle.

Amelia's breath suddenly changed. It was a split-second change, but that Ares didn't let pass unnoticed. He didn't even blink as he prepared himself for her assault.

Amelia did as predicted and charged forward swiftly, chasing after Ares who began to back away without even raising his axe.

She danced around the cafeteria with Ares, delivering several blows with her rapier. It was so rapid that Ares couldn't even see the rapier's blades. He was perceiving their approach by hearing the whistling sound of those blades cutting the air.

As she swung and thrust with her rapier, Ares dodged swinging his body and used the handle of the axe to defend her blows. From time to time, he got scratched on his face, arms or legs, but he never allowed her to attack him on a vital spot.

Surprisingly, as the battle kept on going, Amelia began to laugh. She laughed so much that it seemed like someone told a joke to her in the middle of the battle.

However, that was obviously not the case. In truth, she was having lots of fun. It had been a good while since someone didn't dodge her blows so precisely like that. She was bored of fighting against people who would fall on the first seconds of her relentless assault.

"That's it! You are better than I thought! Though I think you have much more to accomplish!" While she said it, her attacks began to get more compact and economized in the swing motion, which increased the speed even more. At some point, Ares had the impression of someone fighting against five or six rapiers at the same time.

He was just being able to avoid all those attacks because of his trained sharp mind. If it was someone else, they would be in a pinch for sure.

"That's not good..." Xavier muttered, biting his nails anxiously. "This is clearly a one-sided battle. Amelia is taking the lead since the very start. It's been two minutes that they are fighting and Ares didn't swing his axe once..."

The other girls that were beside Amelia before glanced at him, commenting:

"Are you this much of a newbie when it comes to martial arts? This battle isn't one-sided. Ares just has scratches on his body, but that's all. Rather than looking at how many attacks were launched, why don't you look at their stamina, for example? Two minutes straight just attacking exhausted Amelia much more in this battle," one of the girls explained.

"Yes. Ares doesn't seem to be in a pinch. He is pretty calm, in my opinion," the other pointed out.

Xavier widened his eyes in surprise and looked at both of them fighting again, realizing what was Ares' plan for that fight.

'You are trying to tire her out, then give the final blow when she is in her worst physical condition... You were thinking about it since the start don't you?' He smiled.

Ares was used to fighting people with different battle styles and physical capabilities. He needed to fight an entire squadron of guards back in Jasmine and each of the guards had different styles. To survive those battles, he needed to learn how to read their technique and its flaws as quickly as possible.

'The disadvantage of dual-wielders is: they get tired quickly after each assault!' He thought as he dodged another attack of Amelia.

Fortunately for Ares, the moment when he would counterattack that girl came sooner than he expected.