383 Chapter 383: Battle between Aces (1/2)
Amidst the boisterous and polite applause, Cain remained unruffled. He turned to his shell-shocked team, his voice calm and reassuring.
\”Don't worry. We still have the lead.\”
\”Captain, please allow me to participate in the fourth round.\”
One of the members stepped forward to volunteer. Cain turned back to appraise him. It was a slightly good looking guy with stylish, longish silver-blue hair. He wore a smug and confident smirk, his eyes gleaming eagerly as he sought this opportunity to prove himself.
\”If I'm the one fighting, ten minutes is more than enough.\”
\”Then I'll be counting on you.\” Cain nodded coldly. The gangly guy grinned and shook a couple of fingers in his captain's direction.
\”Don't worry, I've got this.\”
\”Still acting so arrogantly,\” Gunther Schalke muttered disapprovingly, but he sighed in partial relief. \”Oh well…I guess he's entitled to his confidence. After all, he's our hidden ace. I can't believe we're unveiling him so early in the knock-out rounds.\”
The commentator's excitement grew when he caught sight of the guy stepping onto the stage, carrying a sword.
\”Adorno sends Adonis to the stage!\”
\”…who?\” I wondered out loud, but the rest of my teammates shrugged. Even Harrison didn't seem to know much about him.
\”From what I know, he's one of the elite students in Adorno Academy, even though he's only a second year student. If I recall, this Adonis fella is said to possess immense talent, and is a prodigy in the sword.\”
Fortunately, despite not being familiar with this guy, our team captain was still on top of things. In just a few seconds he managed to unearth at least a bit of information on this new guy that none of us had ever seen before.
\”I think I've heard of him before.\” Yue Chu was thinking hard. \”Isn't he from the Cyan family? I thought their base was in Vermillion City.\”
\”Apparently the Cyan family had some conflict with the Porter family, so Adonis decided to enroll in some other academy outside Vermillion City.\” Sheila was the one who provided this new piece of information.
While we were discussing the new guy, the crowd was booing and jeering at Adonis.
\”You'll finish this in less than ten minutes? Show-off!\”
\”Arrogant asshole!\”
\”You better not cry when Jing Tian Team forces you to eat your words!\”
While the spectators decried the arrogant Adonis, Harrison turned to survey the team, his brow furrowed as he considered who to send out. Fortunately, the choice was made for him. Craig stepped forward, thumping his spear on the ground and jabbing a thumb at himself.
\”Harrison, if you don't mind, I would like to teach that smug bastard a lesson.\”
\”Sure.\” Harrison smiled and nodded, as if he had anticipated this. \”Go get him, Craig. Show him that our Jing Tian Team is not to be underestimated.\”
\”Leave it to me, Captain!\”
Grinning, Craig stepped up onto the stage.
\”Oh?! Jing Tian Team is sending Craig Carlson, also a relatively unknown second-year student who is participating in the tournament for the first time! I wonder what tricks he has up his sleeve?\”
Placing a hand on the hilt of his sword, Adonis slowly drew his weapon.
\”So you are Craig Carlson, the one known as the Demonic Spear. I think I've heard of you. Your cursed spear is capable of piercing any defense, or something like that, right?\”
Adonis snickered, and swung his sword in a flash, showing off his technique without actually casting any spell.
\”I'm sorry to say, but you'll never get the chance to unleash that cursed technique of yours!\”
\”Uh huh.\” Craig merely snorted disinterestedly, but didn't bother to respond otherwise. Like me, he was more interested in sparring with action rather than with words. So he merely dropped his spear and pointed it toward Adonis, while waiting for the commentator to signal the beginning of the match.
\”Ready…start!\”
\”Take this!\”
The moment the commentator gave the signal, violet mana exploded around Adonis and he surged forward immediately, clearing the space between himself and his opponent in a single bound. Wisps of vicious violet mana trailed his blade and back, almost as if they were forming wings. Gushing backward, the purple spell seemed to convert itself into kinetic energy that propelled Adonis forward at an incredible speed.
\”Whoa! Amazing! Adonis powered himself with a single basic physical reinforcement spell right from the start! Even though it's only an elementary physical reinforcement spell, he is able to enhance himself to such impressive levels?! He truly deserves his title as a sword prodigy!\”
However, that wasn't all. I noticed that this wasn't just a simple physical reinforcement spell or a flash step. Adonis was incorporating a specific element into his technique. It took the commentator a second or two to realize it too.
\”There are wind spells wrapping aroud both his blade and his feet! The wind spells are what increased his speed manifold! He really is one of the top wind mages of his generation!\”
Almost as if he was riding a sonic boom, Adonis gleefully thrust his sword forward to pierce Craig. Manic laughter burst from his mouth.
\”Your cursed spear technique is useless if I take you out before you can use it!\”
Craig merely smiled before he stepped to the side, dodging Adonis's sword thrust by a hair's breadth. Despite the close shave, he didn't even sustain so much as a graze. Undeterred, Adonis launched a barrage of sword strikes, slashing and stabbing at the evading Craig, who twirled his spear and deflected each and every one of them.