Love Me , Like How I Love My Mana

Hobi's Second Battle.

As the tournament entered its second day, Hobi stood in the center of the battlefield, basking in the attention he believed was his by right. His pink hair shimmered under the sunlight, and his confident smirk was as radiant as ever.

He spread his arms wide, addressing the audience with a voice full of poetic charm.

"Ah, the gaze of the masses, their hearts beating in sync with my own! The whisper of the wind carries their admiration, their love—yes, I feel it all. My beauty, my grace, my unyielding charisma… truly, they are helpless before me!"

The crowd exchanged confused glances, a mix of amusement and secondhand embarrassment filling the air. Sure, Hobi was strong—his Love Mana was an enigma, capable of manipulating emotions—but his delusions of grandeur were unmatched.

His opponent for today, however, had no interest in indulging his fantasies.

Praper – The Paper Manipulator

Across from Hobi stood Praper, a lean student with a sharp gaze and stacks of folded paper hovering around him. His Paper Mana allowed him to control sheets of enchanted paper, turning them into weapons, shields, and even traps.

Praper adjusted his glasses and sighed. "You talk too much."

Hobi placed a hand over his chest, feigning offense. "Oh, my dear opponent, words are but the music of the heart! And I? I am the composer of this symphony!"

Praper ignored him. With a flick of his hand, the papers around him fluttered into motion, transforming into sharp, spinning blades.

The match had begun.

Hobi vs. Praper – A Love Unfolded

The battle began with a flurry of motion. Praper raised his hand, and dozens of enchanted paper blades shot toward Hobi like a storm of sharpened wind.

But Hobi? He didn't move.

Instead, he placed a hand over his heart and let out a deep sigh. "Ah… the sharpness of your words, the cold sting of your silence—are these not the weapons of a love unreturned?"

He took a single graceful step to the side, dodging the first wave of attacks with an effortless twirl. The paper blades cut through the air, but none found their mark.

Praper frowned. "Stop talking."

Hobi smirked. "Oh, my dear adversary, how cruel! To silence me is to silence the very poetry of existence! Love is a battle, is it not? And here, you fight me with pages unwritten, with letters unsent!"

He raised his hand, and a soft pink aura shimmered around him. Love Mana.

The air shifted. The audience felt it—a strange warmth, an invisible pull. It wasn't mind control, but an influence, a presence that made people want to admire Hobi, to be drawn in by his overwhelming confidence.

But Praper wasn't having it.

With a snap of his fingers, the paper floating around him reshaped into massive folded shields, blocking out Hobi's aura. He took a step forward, the floor beneath him littered with scattered paper that could become weapons at any second.

"Your love mana is annoying," Praper muttered. "But I'm not here to admire you. I'm here to win."

Hobi chuckled, dodging another set of razor-sharp pages with a dramatic backflip. "Ah, how tragic! A man devoted to the cold, unfeeling pages of battle, blind to the poetry of passion!"

Then, in a blur of pink light, he moved.

With newfound speed, Hobi dashed forward, his aura glowing brighter. His hands reached out—not to strike, but to touch the air around Praper, manipulating the emotions in his space.

"Let me show you the warmth of devotion, the heartbeat of a soul unchained!"

For a moment, Praper's grip on his mana faltered. His movements slowed. The paper shields trembled. The influence of Love Mana crept into his senses, filling his mind with a strange, unnatural admiration for Hobi.

But then—

Praper gritted his teeth and clapped his hands together. The paper shields exploded into sharp shards, creating a whirlwind around him, breaking Hobi's influence.

"Nice trick," Praper muttered, his eyes sharp. "Too bad it won't work on me."

Hobi blinked, his smirk faltering for the first time.

Then, he let out a dramatic sigh, placing the back of his hand against his forehead. "Ah, rejection! The cruel fate of a poet in a world that does not understand love!"

Hobi's Ultimate Love – A Poetic Finale

Praper flicked his fingers, and hundreds of razor-sharp paper sheets swirled around him like a raging storm. "You talk too much," he muttered, his mana surging. "Let's end this."

But Hobi only smiled.

He extended his arms, his pink aura intensifying, bathing the arena in a warm, enchanting glow. His voice rang out like a melody.

"Oh, dear foe, you fold your heart like paper, hidden within layers of caution. But love—true love—cannot be contained by ink and parchment! Let me show you a love that does not fade, does not tear!"

The moment he spoke, his Love Mana surged into the air, wrapping around the battlefield like an unseen force. The audience felt their hearts pound, their emotions stirring as if they had fallen into a grand romance.

Praper's paper storm hesitated for a second.

And that was all Hobi needed.

With a graceful twirl, Hobi snapped his fingers and unleashed his ultimate move.

"Poetry of the Heart: Love's Eternal Embrace!"

From his outstretched hands, waves of pink energy burst forth, forming massive glowing words in the air—each one a stanza of love and devotion.

The words danced, twisting and curling like ribbons of fate, wrapping around Praper's paper attacks and turning them to dust.

Praper's eyes widened. His body felt heavy, warm—entranced. His hands trembled, his paper magic collapsing under the sheer weight of Hobi's overwhelming presence.

He fell to one knee. His body refused to move.

Hobi walked forward, his expression triumphant but still dramatic. He gently tapped Praper's forehead with two fingers, his voice a whisper.

"Fold no longer, my friend. Open your heart, for love is the true power of this world."

With that final word, Praper's energy shattered like delicate parchment, and he collapsed. Defeated.

The crowd erupted into cheers.

Hobi stood tall, brushing a hand through his pink hair, his smirk never fading. "Ah… another soul touched by love. Who shall be next?"

The second day of the tournament had only just begun.