Chapter 77: Fighting Exam (3)

Evading the first attack with a simple jump over his head, Steven kicked Qwenz hard in the back, sending him stumbling forward.

As the giant stumbled, Steven tried delivering a punch to his leg, but even for his size, the young man was surprisingly agile. He jumped up, trying to land on Steven.

Steven was just barely able to roll to the side, evading the initial attack, but was hit by a follow-up kick that sent him flying.

Spinning through the air, Steven simply landed on his feet, completely unhurt by the attack. His arm was still bound behind his back as he waved his free hand provocatively.

As Qwenz dashed forward, trying to attack him again, Steven dodged his punch and delivered a strong blow to the giant’s stomach. Qwenz didn’t even flinch as he tried grabbing Steven.

But Steven was quicker, ducking down and rising again only after Qwenz’s attempted uppercut had missed his chin.

Sending the giant to the ground, gasping for air, Steven raised his foot, trying to kick him aside.

An ice blade suddenly flew past his head.

"A wild beast like you can use magic? How unimpressive," Steven spoke, waiting to deliver another kick.

But Qwenz acted quickly, catching his foot. Grabbing it from two different spots, he tried to break it in two, but Steven simply jumped up, kicking the giant’s hand with his other leg and forcing him to let go.

Falling onto his back, Steven instantly bent his body upwards, dodging a strike aimed at his face. He then headbutted Qwenz’s leg, causing the giant to let out a pained muffled groan.

As the giant stepped backwards to gain some distance, Steven rose from the ground, brushing the dust off his clothes.

"What’s wrong, Qwenz? Is the ground slippery, or why are you going backwards?" Steven asked, not even giving him a glance.

But instead of enraging him further, Steven could feel Qwenz’s mana cool down, as if he had just entered a zone beyond his rage.

A joyful laugh escaped the giant’s lips, causing Steven to furrow his brow in confusion.

"What’s wrong, Steven? Why aren’t you attacking me anymore? Are you scared?" the giant finally spoke.

Steven could feel another presence enter the arena beside Qwenz.

"Really? A spirit? How is that even fair?" Steven answered calmly as he detected the spirit moving closer to Qwenz.

Suddenly, a giant, blinding light formed around Qwenz’s body as the spirit temporarily fused with him.

His magical power rose dramatically as one of his arms slowly turned into water, dripping onto the ground.

Steven took a cautious step backwards.

It was only a partial fusion, turning Qwenz’s arms into water and probably raising his control over the element drastically.

But Qwenz didn’t wait for Steven to finish analysing him. He swung his arm, sending three streams of water forward like whips.

Jumping over the lowest one, the other two collided with Steven’s side, shattering his barrier and sending him crashing into the arena wall.

Trying to orient himself, Steven’s eyes wandered around the arena, searching for Qwenz.

But the giant was already jumping towards him. One of his water arms had turned into something resembling a hammer.

Steven rolled to the side, letting the ground beside him explode into pieces from the impact. Getting back to his feet, Steven had to avoid another series of water streams moving chaotically around him.

But one of them managed to hit his leg, leaving a deep cut. As blood flowed down his body, Steven tried twice to cast a small fireball to evaporate the water, but he was interrupted each time.

There were simply too many different attacks to focus on a single one. It was already exhausting just trying to evade them. But even then, his left arm remained behind his body.

And he was going to keep it that way, no matter what Qwenz threw at him.

Evading another strike, Steven was pushed towards the middle of the arena. Having already run several laps around it, water was now spread all around him.

Slowly, it closed in like a circle of death, while Qwenz’s close-range attacks prevented him from escaping.

"What’s wrong, Steven? Where did your arrogant mouth go?" Qwenz asked, sending a beam of water forward, which Steven could barely block with his arm.

Steven stared at the student, his mind racing through possibilities on how to defeat him in the easiest way possible.

But with every move he made, his chances of an easy victory dropped significantly. Finally, he answered Qwenz’s provocations. "You’re the first guy I know who’s celebrating his defeat this early."

"Defeat? Has the blood loss made you go crazy already? Maybe you should just surrender so the teacher can save you before I get too close." Qwenz’s smile only widened as the circle continued closing in.

But before it could fully close around him, Steven jumped into the air, immediately followed by streams of water ready to pierce his body into pieces.

"Can you stop running away? It’s only getting more embarrassing for you that way!" Qwenz yelled towards him. But Steven wasn’t even listening.

Instead, he grabbed the air around him, positioning it just beneath his body before the attack could hit him.

The dense air acted like a cushion, allowing him to be launched upwards instead of being pierced.

As he flew high into the air, having gained barely a metre of distance from the water, his right hand opened.

A small flame formed inside it.

But he wasn’t shooting it at the water.

Instead, he used it to propel himself sideways.

Dodging the streams of attacks completely, he began falling back towards the ground.

Directly above Qwenz.

The giant stared upwards, his eyes wide with confusion.

Steven was already casting another spell.

The water behind Qwenz suddenly began turning into ice.

As Qwenz tried regaining control over the freezing water, his attention shifted away from Steven.

The ice exploded into thousands of shards, shooting towards the crowd.

Steven landed directly in front of Qwenz.