It was a clean fight, and truthfully, surpassed his expectations.
The green-haired boy narrowly won, deceiving his opponent with an abrupt low-kick, feinting it into a diagonal kick that dug straight in between the ribs.
Jason watched with intentive eyes as each student went up and fought, until finally a fight worth his time appeared.
Ena Sykes.
The red-haired child he noticed from before was facing off against a boy named Thorton Blackwood.
Thorton dashed forward instantly, an ominous entanglement of black vines conjured from pure mana coiled around his sword before jolting out. His arm drove forward, following closely behind the vines that tore through the air.
From the sides, two more vines sprouted out, creating a lethal pincer attack. Ena narrowed her eyes, a faint white mist emitting from her irises. For her; Time dilated, the continuous stream slowing by a hair, but enough for her to easily react.
Her legs shuffled, executing a hurried side-step that completely evaded the attack.
The vines cut right past her arm, but Thorton kept his eyes locked on her the entire time.
His arm swung back immediately, the sword traveling a crude arc through the air as its path was aimed directly at her neck.
An airy swipe of her hand caused the sword to travel hectically through the air, missing her completely. 'She can already utilize mana on that level?' Jason hummed in his head, his eyes widening in excitement. 'She's strong. Oh, so strong.' Her talent was belonging to that of a Emperor, hell, Jason didn't think of it as a stretch that she could reach Paragon.
Mana physicalizing was an advanced technique, not to be confused with the aura that sprouts from someone's body when they progress their strength.
Physicalizing is the act of Mana acting upon a physical object in a forceful way, such as when Ena pushed Thornton's arm away to make his attack miss. Mana naturally attacks the spirit and mind, otherwise called 'Aura.' The difference between a skill and a free-form construct wasn't much, as both were physical, yet a physicalizing created by one's mind, and not a skill in a book, took far more mastery.
Focusing on the fight, Ena swept her arm from below as a mana construct that condensed into a jagged blade was conjured into existence, and Thorton quickly stepped off his back foot, narrowly dodging the attack.
Thorton recuperated instantly, solidifying his balance before dashing forward with a jolt of newfound speed.
CCLLLLANG!
Sword met Mana, and the explosion rang throughout the entire training area.
Thorton slid his blade off the construct of mana, his wrist nearly touching his chest before he pierced forward, the sporadic vines extending forward in sync. Ena ducked under it as it flew past where her head was.
Vines raged to life as a tendril branched off and curved downward straight at Ena's unprotected back. Her mana sense registered the anomaly, and she brought her hand up as her Mana construct clashed into the vine once again, but the battle of strength was far one-sided in her favor as one singular vine was no threat.
She spun around, her position to disadvantageous to remain still, her left knee bending before she leapt up, her legs ascending to the same height as Thorton's head.
Arm still extended, Thorton had no way to defend himself cleanly against the attack that even caught Jason by surprise.
Her body spun, carrying the momentum, and her leg whipped out with blinding speed.
The only thing Thorton could do was move his body in the direction of her kick in hopes of diminishing the amount of damage he was about to receive.
The toe of her boot dug into his shoulder, a spine-chilling crack emitting from the contact point. Muscle was pushed against bone before it all gave way.
His body was sent flying away, crashing into the wall that served as the interior of a classroom.
Utilizing momentum was a challenging concept to grasp, but when executed, the simplest of movements had amplified power far beyond normal kicks or punches.
The spinning force was only an addition to an already brutal kick, and the result was instant.
A cloud of dust was birthed to life as Thorton crashed into the wall, a tremor fanning out through the walls and ground. A faint rumble shook over below Jason's feet as his eyes glistened with astonishment.
Students were left with their jaws hanging to the ground as Ena won in such dominating fashion that it was hard to believe Thorton was the third strongest in their class, a sight so dominating it left even Jason and Alex in awe.
Cough Cough
A series of rasped coughs escaped from Thorton's mouth as the cloud of dust dissipated into the air, revealing a figure embarrassing to any warrior. His shoulder was caved in at an unnatural angle, the rest of his arm bent outward awkwardly as the bones were forced into an unorthodox shape, appearing as if his entire arm was forced into different angles. A silent curse was murmured from Ena, as her eyebrows turned upward at the sight.
"Fuck Thorton, I'm sorry!" She called out, quickly rushing over to him.
Jason took a singular step and arrived at his side, his palms emanating a blue light as mana was injected into Thorton's arm before she even managed to take a single stride forward. Thorton's eyes were drowsy as he peered at the ground, yet upon hearing her voice, a faint smile crept onto his face. "Why must you be so vicious?" He jokingly mused, his head falling back to rest on the wall as deep breaths were forced out of his lungs.
Jason wasn't a medical expert, but healing a broken arm was a simple duty.
Sounds akin to twigs snapping were heard from Thorton's arm as it grotesquely forced itself back into shape, which caused Thorton to groan in pain. A breath of pleasure was released from his mouth as his arm was restored to its normal state, and he was relieved from the pain ravaging his body. Ena arrived, and she nervously looked at him, her teeth digging into her own lip.
Jason stood up and extended his hand, and Thorton was helped up. Brushing his shirt off, he raised his head with a smile and looked into Ena's eyes, "Good job, Ena." Ena smiled in response, a small mark of red forming on her cheeks. The two walked off until they reached the sparring arena, where Thorton walked off and sat on a bench, enjoying his deserved rest.
Jason walked back and stood next to Alex, a smile that carried more than just joy on his face. "She's strong. Maybe too strong." He jokingly said, looking at Alex through the corner of his eyes. Alex chuckled, "Oh, definitely." He mused.
Ena continued fighting, cleanly winning against four more opponents. Each was lost in typical fashion at the hands of Ena, quick, skillful, and domineering. "Show me something, Alex," Jason spoke out loud, his eyes narrowing at the sight of each fight.
Alex cocked his eyebrow as he glanced at Jason, "What do you mean?" Jason didn't respond for a second, his expression deadpan as he watched Ena duck under a sword, flipping the training sword around to smash the hilt into their stomach.
They bent over and started hurling, a mix of food and saliva plunging to the ground. "Something that will fill me with disbelief. Something to get my blood running. Surely, there's something?"
Jason wasn't speaking to ridicule Alex, as if his class was boring. To be frank, Jason loved the thrill, and he loved seeing things that shocked him. Alex was their mentor, and he already earned Jason's respect upon seeing their power.
The mere strength of Ena when he first saw her was surprising, but her real combat prowess left him in shock.
But he wanted to see more.