NINETEENTH MATCH. BEGIN!
Rika began to draw her sword slowly. Fionn did the same, staring fixedly at her.
Kenzo watched Rika from the stands, supporting her from afar.
—Hey, you are very beautiful. How about we become boyfriend and girlfriend?—he asked Rika, confident in his attractive appearance.
The guys next to Kenzo started talking again as he shrank further into his seat.
—Wow, he confessed just after meeting her—said Boy 1.
—Do you think she'll accept?—asked Boy 2.
—Who knows. Fionn is one of the most attractive guys. Maybe she'll reciprocate.
Kenzo looked down; even he thought Rika would accept Fionn's confession, since attractive people always ended up together.
Rika looked him in the eyes with a cold gaze.
—I'm sorry, but I'm not interested in a relationship. I only focus on myself.
This surprised everyone, especially Kenzo, who looked up slightly. Arien laughed.
—As always, Rika is breaking hearts coldly.
—Since we met, how many confessions has she rejected already?—asked Kaien.
—About... 12 or 15.
—She is someone who only cares about improving. A truly amazing girl.—said Haruki with an admiring smile.
Arien and Kaien nodded their heads repeatedly.
Fionn remained silent after the rejection.
—Wow. Well, you're the one missing out.—He prepared to attack.
—I'm not missing out on anything.—She was already ready to block any attack.
Fionn leaped forward and with his katana thrust a strike toward her. Rika managed to dodge it easily.
Her opponent kept launching attacks faster and faster, yet she dodged every single one.
Fionn began to get frustrated; he couldn't accept that a woman was humiliating him in front of everyone.
She gripped the handle of her katana with both hands.
—Fire Technique: Infernal Dragon.
The fire that erupted from her blade formed a dragon that opened its jaws and lunged rapidly to attack her rival.
The attack was too fast; Fionn couldn't react in time to dodge it. The dragon struck him, sending him crashing against the wall.
The smoke from the impact slowly dispersed. Bleeding, Fionn stood up with the little strength he had left.
—Damn it...—he whispered with hatred.
—Fire Technique: Crimson Veil.
Without thinking, he lunged to attack again, but Rika had already unleashed a massive curtain of fire.
—Relax, it won't leave scars—she said dryly.
The attack was already too close to dodge; the fire engulfed Fionn's body.
In the stands, Terrmomix continued watching the match without expression or emotion, but asked Floch.
—He burned. Will that damage his appearance?
—If it were normal fire, yes, but that fire is perfectly controlled by Rika.
As she said, it won't leave scars so she doesn't get in trouble later.
The fire disappeared suddenly. Fionn's wounds hurt twice as much; it felt like they were burning in those areas even though he was no longer in the flames.
When he looked up, Rika was right in front of him, her fist inches from his stomach.
Fionn gritted his teeth and tried to block the attack with his katana, but the blow hit its mark, sending him crashing against the wall again, breaking it for the second time.
Now his rival lay completely knocked out against the wall. Rika straightened up and headed for the door without a single scratch.
NINETEENTH MATCH ENDED.
WINNER: RIKA TSUKAYOMI.
Kenzo was impressed by Rika's power and strength; he smiled and clapped softly.
She returned to the stands to her seat next to the other Marks. The other boys and girls looked at her with astonishment and fear.
When she reached her seat, Arien shook his head.
—Nope, nope, not feminine at all.
Rika gave him a light tap on the head.—Shut up, Arien—She sat back down in her place.
Floch felt a shiver run down his spine.
—The Marks and Promises are scary. They've all won their matches without a scratch.
—None from Kael's group have activated any of their Marks yet, right?
—Exactly, they haven't needed them yet. And the Promises haven't shown their true potential either.
—So they are actually much stronger.
—Yes, and just thinking about it makes me scared to face one of them.
In different stands, a girl was sitting watching the matches.
—Wow, how strong she is. What could motivate her to fight? What kind of memories does that girl have?—said Naeris in a tone of voice with a mischievous little laugh.
TWENTIETH MATCH: VAREK KROHN VS PETER BROW.
The two combatants entered the arena. Varek, a boy with red hair and emerald green eyes.
TWENTIETH MATCH... BEGIN!
—Do you think you can beat me?—asked Jack calmly as he drew his sword.
—I don't know, but I want to beat you—answered Varek, doing the same as Jack.
—I understand. You want to go far, right?
—That's what everyone wants, even you want the same thing, don't you?
—Yes, you're right. How about we stop talking and start?
—Sounds good to me—Varek extended his arm forward and with his own katana, he cut himself under the arm. Fresh blood fell to the ground.
Jack and the other students were confused; he was bleeding himself out, and with that he would lose strength little by little.
—Are you giving me some kind of advantage?
—No, not at all—A pool of blood formed on the ground—Alright. Now let's really begin.
With a snap of his fingers, Jack created several visible points throughout the arena, large black spots the size of apples.
—Space Marking Technique.
Varek remained calm despite the numerous points in the arena, trying to figure out what they were.
—Point Leap!
His opponent disappeared. Varek stood still without moving as his rival began teleporting between the points at astonishing speed.
—Try to figure out which direction I'll attack from!.
—He doesn't look scared, in fact he looks very relaxed—said Arien while watching the fight. Arien's speed was superior, so he could follow Jack with his eyes.
Kaien nodded, putting his phone away to focus on the match.
—Yeah. He's bleeding out and his opponent is moving at high speed, he must definitely have a plan.
Jack kept moving through the points quickly, taking advantage of Varek's blind spots. His opponent thrust a strike aimed behind Varek's head.
The attack seemed about to hit, but a shield of blood appeared in front of it, blocking the thrust.
—Blood Technique: Crimson Shield—said Varek without turning his head.
Everyone was shocked. The shield appeared in a split second; not even Arien could see how it formed. Varek didn't move an inch from his spot and turned around.
Jack started moving through the points again, even faster this time.
Even the Marks were surprised.
—He uses his own blood to attack, right?—asked Liang.
—Yes. It's one of those techniques that come with disadvantages. It's a double-edged sword because he could run out of blood in his body and die—answered Zeik.
Jack began launching non-stop thrusts in all directions while moving through the points. But every attack was blocked by Varek's blood shield.
—AHHHH!—His opponent started shouting as he kept moving and attacking. He was desperate because he couldn't even touch Varek.
Jack eventually grew exhausted from the overexertion. The points disappeared and he fell to the ground. His breathing was heavy, and he could barely move his arms.
Varek didn't receive a single scratch. His shield vanished and he looked down at his rival.
—Now it's my turn—he said in a serious voice.
The pool of blood began to expand across the entire arena; in an instant, several smaller puddles filled the ground.
—Blood Technique: Crimson Legion.
The blood from those puddles began to take the shape of humans holding bows and arrows. The blood figures drew their bows aiming at Jack, who looked terrified. He was surrounded with no escape.
They began firing blood arrows in all directions, one after another without stopping. Smoke hid Jack from view. Varek ordered them to stop by raising his palm.
With a snap of his fingers, the figures returned to their liquid form and became puddles again.
When the smoke cleared, Jack lay on the ground completely unconscious.
TWENTIETH MATCH ENDED.
WINNER: VAREK KROHN.
The students and teachers were astonished. Floch smiled seeing such power. Terrmomix remained without reaction.
Varek manipulated the blood into small floating orbs and made them return to the wound he had made. The only blood he couldn't recover was what he had used for the arrows.
—They'll close the wound so the bleeding stops, right?—asked Rika.
—Yes, so he doesn't waste any more blood—answered Haruki.
—Wow—whispered Arien with a smile.
Varek walked out of the arena, holding onto the wound on his arm to stop the bleeding.