The Pinnacle of The First Years.

Somehow, the mood of the classroom had shifted entirely, as Neo had already brought his blade down upon Hans. 

It was nearly impossible to see but, he had launched himself from the ground and cleared the entire arena in mere milliseconds. 

'How-'

Before Chase could even finish his thoughts, the entirety of the students had found themselves standing up, as Hans delivered a brutal uppercut strike- parrying both the jagged blade, and Neo with it, sending him flying backward into a roll.

Catching himself, as he dragged his blade across the reinforced arena floor- Neo let out a wildly entertained laugh.

"Panda, you show promise. Please, ENTERTAIN ME!"

He said between laughs, that brought the students of the classroom into a frenzy of cheers. 

Chase was the last to stand, still enraged by his last fight; however, something told him that watching this fight will show just how far he will have to climb in his time here at The Phoenix Academy.

Hans, slamming his gauntlets together, smiled viciously. 

"Come on."

He said confidently, in a low voice that could still be heard even from the top of the bleachers. 

Hans, then launched himself off of the ground, nearly gracing against the very ceiling of the classroom. 

He descended upon Neo as if he was more then just a force of nature. 

'No way...'

Neo had decided, that instead of awaiting him on the ground- he was going to meet The Panda halfway. 

He swung the jagged sword with such force, that a breeze of wind could be felt from the complete opposite side of the room. 

CLANG!

Hans had not only deflected the blade mid air, but had wrapped his bronze-covered hand around it, followed by throwing Neo to the ground, by the tip of the terrifying sword. 

Panda followed suite, landing nearly on top of him with a deafening smash, as debris had been scattered across the arena floor. 

Neo had thrown himself out of the way just in time, as he readied his blade again, shooting toward Hans, as if he had been fired out of an energy-powered canon.

With a yell that echoed across the room, he delivered a powerful slash at Han's head, with had only met the back end of his gauntlet. 

They went back and forth for what felt like an eternity, both sending unseeable strikes at in each other's direction, while simultaneously deflecting or dodging any strikes that threatened to hit. 

'Just how strong are they?'

The arena floor began to crack from the sheer power of the multitude of attacks from both sides. 

No normal human could even comprehend the battle before them, at this very moment.

It could only be described as...

Impeccable. 

Chase grounded his teeth together, feeling cracks against his gums. 

The battle only brought more dread to his already shattered ego. He truly was incredibly far behind his peers, if he could even call them as such.

Finally, one of Panda's attacks had landed, sending Neo flying in the other direction. This time, instead of catching himself Neo outstretched his arms, letting himself be carried by the sheer force of the attack, as he slammed into the arena wall.

Now stained in his own blood, he pushed himself out of the human-shaped crater... and threw his jagged blade aside, that was now covered in cracks and dents, that could be seen from as far as the top row of the bleachers. 

A loud clang silenced the classroom, as his sword his the ground.

However, that did not wipe the everlasting grin off of his face. 

"Hans of The House of Gaia... Ya know what?"

Panda, with his smile still intact, called out.

"What! Neo of House Cobra?"

In response Neo cracked his knuckles, followed by him pressing his neck to the side, as a loud crack echoed along the interior of the classroom.

"Let's just throw hands instead..."

With that, both Neo and Panda had already shot toward each other at frightening speeds. 

SMASH!

Both of the fighters delivered powerful strikes at each other's faces, which as expected, both landed. 

The two were thrown in opposite directions. 

Suddenly, the small crowd of students, had begun to cheer and scream even louder then they already had.

Chase's eyes widened, as both Neo, and Panda pushed themselves off of the ground. The two were not going to give in to defeat until one of them had been completely immobilized.

His eyes darted across the room, as he spotted professor Barren- nervously spectating the fight with one hand covering his mouth, his eyes glued to the battle. 

Surely, he had never seen a first year duel as intense as this one, there was no way that he had. 

This truly was a spectacle of the highest caliber; however, Chase questioned just how far Barren was willing to let his students go. 

The ground shook, as Panda delivered a devastating downward slam into the arena's floor with both of his fists. 

Debris shot in every direction, as Neo had already jumped into the air, in order to avoid what could have been a fatal attack. 

Panda picked up a decently large piece of the floor, reached back, and threw it in the direction of Neo.

Of course, twisting his body just in time to avoid the debris was Neo, who descended on Panda with a downward kick, that carried enough force to shatter someone's skull entirely. 

Panda, reached both of his arms back, with his palms flat- prepared to unleash a powerful clap that could probably destroy the entire western section of the classroom.

Just before both of the attacks could land, Panda was on the ground with his head drilled into a small crater in the ground, and Neo who was held by the shin of his leg, as he dangled inches above the floor.

"This fight has come to a draw, mainly because of safety reasons..."

Professor Barren said, with a satisfied grin, as he had stopped the fight within seconds from catastrophe. 

"However, I will not deny that the two of you have shown the potential to rise to a level never before seen by first years... Good work."

He set a sulking Neo down on the ground gently, as he helped Hans stand up, his nose drenched in his own blood. 

"Damnit!" 

Chase whispered under his breath. 

'How in the world, am I supposed to catch up to these guys.'

The thought, was followed by another more dreadful thought. 

'What would have happened if one of them was my opponent...?'