Chapter 166 - Wind Waltz (1)
"Are you ready?" Headmistress Evelyn asked at both teams.
Alan and Dina nodded. "We are ready, headmistress."
"Very well, both teams send your first fighter to the arena."
A man stepped out from Alan's team. He was a handsome man around 22 years old, with black hair and black eyes.
His aura was very solid, at the sixth layer, and he emitted faint killing intent. He had the vibe of someone that had killed more than once.
From our team, Katherine stepped forward.
Her long green hair tied in a ponytail waved with the wind. She walked heroically towards the arena, without signs of nervousness for the following battle.
When the two combatants were in the arena, the students in the surroundings turned silent.
Most of the students were looking at the arena with shining eyes, mainly the men. They were looking at Katherine with gazes of admiration and longing.
Regardless of if they were nobles or commoners, all of them were looking at Katherine with the same expression.
Katherine was a very beautiful girl. Moreover, her identity and strength made her even more beautiful in the eyes of the students. I heard that many men had tried to court her without success.
Among them, my stupid second brother was included.
Apparently, my second brother was very forceful, even telling her that if she did not sleep with him, she would suffer the consequences.
Fortunately, Katherine was headmistress Evelyn's student. Nobody knows what happened, but a few days later, my brother stopped pestering her.
However, Katherine's dislike of princes had already been deeply rooted. Her dislike extended to Alan and me, Bryan's brothers. The only one she did not dislike was Dina. I heard that it was because Dina helped her when Bryan was pestering her.
Anyways, Katherine's admirers in the institute were countless. In fact, the reason she is mocked as the headmistress's dog is in part that she rejected all her admirers' advances. The other part is the jealously of the girls.
And from I can see, the man facing her now was one of her admirers.
"My name is Arami Doudelis, a sixth-layer warrior and a fifth-year student. Nice to meet you, Miss Katherine."
Katherine ignored him and closed her eyes, waiting for the headmistress signal to start.
Arami smiled gently. "I can see that miss Katherine broke through the sixth layer recently. However, I broke through the sixth layer one year ago. My strength is much higher than yours. Miss Katherine, it's better that you give up. I don't want to injure your beautiful face."
A scowl appeared in Katherine's face. She opened her eyes and looked at her enemy coldly. "Shut your trap."
"It looks like miss Katherine is not convinced. Arami smiled. "Do you want to make a bet with me?"
Katherine furrowed her brows. "Oh? What do you want to bet?"
The man smiled. "If I win, you will go on a date with me."
For the first time, a smile appeared on Katherine's face. "And what if you lose?"
"I don't know. Miss Katherine can ask for anything. What about it, if you win, I'll go in a date with you."
Katherine smiled mockingly. "If I win, bark like a dog."
"Hmm?"
"I need to repeat my words again?"
The man's expression turned frosty. "It looks like miss Katherine dislikes me."
"Oh? You just realized it? Tell me, do you agree to the bet or are you a coward?"
The man's face darkened. "You don't have to taunt me. I agree."
"It's more like that." Katherine smiled coldly. "Teacher, are we doing it or not?"
Headmistress Evelyn, who was floating above the arena, shook her head. "Young people these days, sigh... Anyway, are you ready?"
Both Katherine and Arami nodded.
Evelyn's face turned serious. "You know the rules. Not killing or maiming the opponent. You win when your opponent surrenders, leaves the arena or is unable to continue fighting. Once you are declared the winner, you must stop attacking instantly. If any of you violates the rules, I'll personally punish you, understood!?"
""Understood!""
Evelyn nodded satisfied. Looking at both of them, she smiled.
"I wish you luck. Start!"
Instantly, Katherine and Amari moved.
The first movement showed the difference in their fighting styles. Arami pointed his glaive forward and charged towards Katherine while Katherine surrounded herself with winds and used them to increase the distance between them.
It was a textbook example of a fight between a mage and a warrior. The warrior tries to close the distance to finish the mage while the mage tries to keep the distance while he attacks from afar.
Unfortunately, Katherine is at a slight disadvantage this time.
Firstly, the space in the arena is limited, so she can't always retreat or she will lose the fight. Secondly, Amari is a fifth-year student, so his experience is higher than the second-year Katherine. Lastly, Amari's cultivation is higher than Katherine's. Although both of them are in the sixth layer, Amari's sixth-layer cultivation is much higher after one year solidifying it. In fact, he probably will be able to break through to the seventh layer in another year.
As such, the odds were against Katherine in this fight.
The warrior seemed to know it too because he pressed forward fiercely from the start. Amari's goal was to not give Katherine time to cast powerful spells and take advantage of his higher cultivation and experience to slowly corner her.
The glaive moved through the air like a snake aiming to insert its fangs on Katherine's neck. At the same time, Amari's movements were weird. It was as though he was staggering with each step he took, making his movements very unpredictable.
Both the glaive technique and the movement technique that Amari practiced were unpredictable. His style of battle seemed focused on using the strangeness of his attacks to confuse his opponent and take him by surprise.
But Katherine was not worse than him. With each step she took, she rode the wind and evaded the attacks.
Her movements were slower than Amari, but she seemed to be always one step ahead, evading his attacks gracefully.
Furthermore, I realized something seeing her movements.
She was using the flow of the wind to aid her. In other words, every time Arami brandished his glaive, Katherine would use the wind his attack generated to avoid the attack easily.
I was surprised by such a high-level display. Her movement technique was spectacular. Arami had not realized it, but his attacks were helping Katherine. As such, no matter how strange his attacks are, they are unable to touch Katherine.
Arami eventually realized that something was wrong and he suddenly stopped his attacks.
"What technique is that?" He asked.
Katherine opened her mouth indifferently.
"I call it, [Wind Waltz]."
Arami nodded in admiration. "Truly a great technique. You are worthy of being the headmistress's disciple."
Then, he shook his glaive and filled it with mana.
"Allow me to show you my technique then. It's the technique passed down in my family for generations."
His body turned illusory, and his spear vibrated as an excited child.
"Spear technique, [Nine-Headed Serpentine Spear]!"
With Arami's bellow, the arena was filled with spear shadows.