Three-way Battle

"Students, today we'll be conducting a three-way mock battle," said teacher Robert, addressing his F-class students from the Mage Department. 

He stood near the edge of a wide stone arena, its surface etched with faint runes that glowed softly under the sunlight. 

"This arena has space runes that will teleport anybody hurt to a certain extent to outside it, reducing the risk of fatal injuries," he continued.

"When I call your names, step forward and position yourselves at one edge of the arena," Robert instructed.

"Clarice Aston." The vampire who called Elion Seraphina's blood sack.

"Tristan Haven." An elf from a noble family outside the capital.

"Elion."

Hearing his name, Elion stepped forward, catching sight of Clarice standing opposite him with a mischievous smile on her lips. 

'What's with that grin? Does she still hold a grudge? Our last conversation wasn't worth this kind of hostility… right?'

Both Elion opponents were at the low Soul-Strengthening Realm. 

Even if they were stronger than most in the same realm, Elion of two years ago was already strong enough to handle them with ease. 

He got his katana from his space inventory, feeling his muscles aching from his overtraining these days.

'Damn it,' he thought, gritting his teeth. 'Even with the Princess's healing, my body is still aching all over.'

"No weapons allowed, only magic," said Robert.

"Okay, sorry teacher." He teleported his katana inside his personal space.

'No problem, won't make a difference whether I use a weapon or not,' thought Elion.

"Begin!"

Clarice was the first to strike. 

Locking her gaze on Elion, she began channeling her mana, her red eyes glowing with mana as flames flickered to life in her hands. 

Confident in her power and underestimating Elion's strength, who was the last rank for all five thousand first-year students, she barely considered Elion a threat, aiming to finish him off with a single, overwhelming fire spell.

"Don't worry, blood sack, I'll be gentle," said Clarice smiling at Elion.

Elion's expression darkened, a shadow crossing his face. 'I'll teach this girl some manner in her parent's stead.'

Tristan observed his two opponents with a calculating gaze.

He planned to wait for the right moment, when they were fully distracted, to strike them both down in a single attack. 

'This is a three-way battle,' he thought, smirking to himself. 'If they're foolish enough to ignore me, they'll just have to suffer because of their foolish decision.'

As a giant fireball approached Elion, he channeled a Void Fist with his right arm.

Clarice's giant fireball seems capable of engulfing Elion with space to spare. 

All spectators thought that he was already finished, and would be kicked out of the arena with severe burns.

His opponent showed him no mercy at all.

When the fireball was almost hitting him, he punched it in a swift motion.

The void absorbed fire and wind alike, sparing nothing in its path.

As if Clarice's spell didn't even exist, Elion's Void Fist surged forward, cutting through the air with unyielding force, with Clarice as its final destination.

Disbelief filled her face and the spectators, even Professor Robert was baffled.

'How can a third realm practitioner conjure such a powerful spell?' They thought.

Clarice, unlike the others, found herself the direct target of Elion's powerful strike. There was no time to be shocked—the danger was closing in fast. 

Relying on her instincts, she quickly channeled wind magic, propelling herself out of Elion's powerful spell, just in time to dodge his attack.

Elion gave her no chance to rest. 

The moment she shifted her position, he was already standing right in front of her, his movements swift and relentless.

Elion's left fist crackled with wild electrical energy as he thrust it into Clarice's stomach. 

Clarice's body convulsed as the electric current surged through her, nearly causing her to black out. 

In the blink of an eye, she was teleported out of the arena, where a healer rushed over to check her condition.

Tristan wore an expression of disbelief, his brows furrowed in shock. 

He had anticipated a possible fast conclusion to the fight, but he expected Clarice to dominate, not the other way around.

It seems that this guy's last ranking wasn't justified, the only reason for this was his low realm, which didn't translate into battle strength.

Elion shot a glance at his next opponent, Tristan. 

The disbelief in Tristan's eyes morphed into fear, his back drenched with sweat.

'Damn it, if I had known this would happen, I should have teamed up with Clarice to take him on together,' thought Tristan.

Thanks to his heightened mana senses, Tristan detected the fluctuations of space magic both around Elion and behind him. 

In an instant, he realized that Elion was teleporting right behind him.

'I'm not going down without a fight!'

Tristan turned around and conjured a water barrier between him and Elion's teleportation target.

Elion, with his left fist still crackling with lighting energy, tried to punch Tristan in the stomach, aiming to finish the battle in the same manner as before.

To his surprise, his attack met Tristan's barrier and was nullified.

'He predicted my teleportation, I have to remember that even the weakest here are the strongest when comparing all the Vampire Realm. I really can't underestimate anybody,' thought Elion.

After nullifying Elion's attack, Tristand manipulated the water from his previous barrier and transformed it into a spear.

The spear rapidly solidified, changing from water to ice.

"Go!" Said Tristan as he prompted his ice spear against Elion.

Elion saw his incoming attack and easily dodged the attack moving to his right. 

The ice spear pierced through the ground, creating a hole as it embedded itself firmly into the arena floor.

Since the opponent could predict his teleportation, Elion decided to conjure lighting magic through his body, enhancing his senses and speed.

As a warrior, he was already quicker than Tristan, who was a mage. After enhancing his physical abilities, Tristan could barely register a blur as Elion moved forward.

He closed the distance between him and his opponent, aiming to punch his abdomen once again.

This time, Tristan couldn't react in time. 

He barely managed to conjure a malformed barrier that proved insufficient against Elion's strike. 

The barrier shattered under the force of the blow, and Tristan was sent flying, mirroring Clarice's earlier defeat.

Before he could hit the ground, he was teleported outside, all kinetic force leaving his body as he landed safely.

Silence enveloped the arena, as disbelief washed over the spectators.

They struggled to comprehend how the lowest-ranked student, who wasn't even at the Soul-Strengthening Realm, could win against both his opponents with such speed and ease.

Robert, who was also surprised, didn't register the moment and announced the winner until Elion looked at him with a questioning gaze.

"Teacher?" Asked Elion

"Oh, right. Elion is the winner," he announced, after recovering from his initial surprise.

"Next participants, please come to the arena," Robert continued. "Roger Azhatas, Fareli Mendoca, Amariel Noveris."

As the teacher called out the next group of students for the three-way mock battle, Elion stepped outside the arena and made his way to an empty seat. 

As he glanced around, he noticed something remarkable: his classmates looked at him with neither arrogance nor pity. Instead, there was a sense of respect in their gazes, an acknowledgment of his recent performance.

Elion reflected on the change in atmosphere. 'Strength truly reigns supreme here,' he mused to himself.