Ethan stood on one side of the arena, his shoulders slightly tense, but his eyes were focused. Across from him, Dorrah stood calmly, her posture straight, her expression confident like she already knew how this would end. The air between them felt tight, like something was about to snap.
The green circle above that his big serpent came out from vanished, same as hers. The man overseeing the match stepped forward, holding a tablet in his hand. He glanced at both of them, then at their summons as they appeared. His voice came out clear and steady as he read from the device.
"Mana gauge reading…" he said, pausing briefly. "Ethan's mana gauge is 51.1 with a summon… of 42.4, past early stage, Elite tier."
A few murmurs rose from the crowd. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't impressive either. He turned slightly. "Dorrah's mana gauge, 57.0 with a summon…of 55.0, Mid stage, Elite tier."
This time, the reaction was louder. The gap was obvious. Some students shook their heads, already deciding the outcome.
Dorrah let out a small breath, her lips curling into a faint smile. "You should give up," she said, her tone calm but confident. "You won't win this."
Ethan didn't reply. He just stared ahead, his hand tightening slightly at his side. Then slowly, he raised it.
"Summon."
Energy gathered, and his summon which was a hybrid, a dragon serpent took form. Dorrah summon did the same. Her summon a thunder serpent looked sharper, stronger, and more aggressive. The difference could be felt even without looking at the numbers.
The man raised his hand. "Begin."
Dorrah didn't waste time. Her serpent rushed forward immediately, striking Ethan's summon with force. The impact pushed it back, its feet dragging across the ground as cracks formed beneath it.
Ethan's brows tightened. "Hold on…" he muttered.
But Dorrah didn't stop. Another attack followed quickly, stronger than the first, it's mouth opened with lightning coming out of it. Ethan's summon staggered again. The gap in power was showing clearly now.
From the stands, Luke watched quietly, his eyes didn't move much, but his focus was clear.
Ethan took a breath, he closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again, more serious this time.
Some whispers erupted in the crowd, "how can a hybrid be so useless like that."
Mana began to gather around him. It was faint at first, but noticeable. Dorrah saw it immediately, her expression shifting slightly. "…What are you doing?"
Ethan didn't answer, he stretched his hand forward. "Take it…"
The mana flowed from him into his summon. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, then slowly… the injuries on his summon began to heal.
Dorrah's eyes widened a little. "…He's regenerating it?" The crowd reacted almost instantly.
"That's not normal…"
"A summoner helping like that?"
Ethan didn't stop, he kept channeling, his face tightening as he pushed more energy into it.
His hybrid dragon serpent steadied itself and got bigger, moving forward again, meeting Dorrah's head-on this time. The clash felt different now, it was powerful with Ethan summon striking the thunder serpent with fire while the other serpent did same striking with thunder with full energy.
Dorrah frowned slightly, clearly not expecting this. "…Tch." She pushed harder, increasing her own control over her summon. The fight became intense, both summons clashing repeatedly, neither backing down.
But every time Ethan's summon took damage, it healed again, slowly but surely, the balance began to shift.
Dorrah noticed it, her calm expression started to crack. "…You're stubborn," she said under her breath. Ethan didn't reply, he just kept going.
Finally, his summon found an opening, it elevated from the ground going above the thunder serpent head, gathering fire in it's mouth and when it opened its mouth green fire shot at the thunder serpent, the thunder serpent shot lightning at it their powers clashing.
The green fire started absorbing the thunder serpent lightning and the green fire pushed the lightning backwards till it got to the serpent and boom, Dorrah's summon fell.
Silence filled the arena for a moment, Ethan stood there, breathing slightly heavier since he used a lot of his mana to heal the summon. His summon wanted to kill it gathering another fire to shoot it at the serpent that was already down.
But he raised his hand. "Stop." His summon made the fire disappear and descended, standing beside Ethan.
The man overseeing the match nodded once. "Winner… Ethan Don." The crowd reacted right after, some surprised, some impressed.
"He actually won…"
"With that gap?"
Dorrah slowly got back on her feet after sending back her summon, she looked at Ethan for a moment, then gave a small smile. "…You're not bad." She wasn't disqualified, since that was only for D-rank and E-rank.
Ethan just nodded slightly, still catching his breath. The matches continued after that, moving from C-rank to B-rank. Stronger students stepped forward, and the fights became more intense. The noise in the hall rose and fell with each victory and defeat.
Then finally, George stepped forward again. "It's time for the A-ranks." The entire hall quieted down, everyone was paying attention now.
Names were called one after another, strong students stepped forward, each match carrying more weight than the last, then came the final call.
George paused slightly before speaking. "Karl." A ripple moved through the crowd. "And…Luke."
The reaction was immediate. Whispering spread everywhere. Some leaned forward in excitement, others exchanged looks.
"This is going to be intense…"
"He beat him before…"
"Do you think it'll happen again?" Others shook their heads.
"That was before, he's different now."
"Yeah. He has the strongest summon…and his most handsome."
From another side, a different kind of noise started. A group of girls began whispering among themselves. "I'm going for Quinn, his actually the most handsome, he has a muscular body and is stronger than Holden," one of them said.
"No. Luke is more handsome, he is not as flimsy as he was before." another asked.
"He's more handsome." the girl backfired, adamant that Quinn was more handsome than Luke. That immediately sparked disagreement.
"Are you serious? Luke is clearly more outstanding."
"No way."
"Yes way!"
Their voices rose slightly as they argued, each defending their choice like it mattered more than the fight itself.
Meanwhile, Karl stood up slowly. His eyes were already on Luke, sharp and filled with something deeper than just rivalry. There was anger there. Something personal.
Luke stood up as well, calm as always. His expression didn't change, his eyes steady as they met Karl's. The noise around them started to fade.
For both of them, nothing else mattered now, just this fight. 'He's the guy who fought Luke before, I won't hold back."
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A/N: Do not forget to add to library and vote also leave a review so I can know where I lack and if it's interesting.