Chapter 86: Jack vs Alan and Jeremy vs Nathan.
After Peter and Keith's match ended, another fight was drawn. It was a fight between Jack Kensington and Alan Ossuary. Both of them disliked each other deeply.
Jack was from a fallen noble family, and because of that, he hated all nobles without exception. To him, nobles were the reason his family had fallen and lost everything they once had.
Meanwhile, Alan's family was a subsidiary family of the Hawthorne family. Because of this connection, Alan took great pride in being a noble. He believed that nobles were superior to commoners and fallen families alike.
Because of their backgrounds and beliefs, the two students already held hatred toward each other even before stepping into the arena.
Both Jack and Alan arrived at the centre of the arena as the announcer announced their names loudly.
The crowd reacted with interest, as many people were familiar with Jack's fallen family and Alan's noble background. The tension between them was clear even before the match began.
Soon, the referee arrived and stood between them. He explained the rules carefully, making sure both students understood everything.
Jack listened calmly, his expression cold and focused. Alan listened as well, though his eyes were filled with pride and confidence.
After finishing the explanation, the referee backed away and raised his voice and said loudly.
"Begin."
The moment he said this, a wind scythe was formed in Jack's hand. Jack preferred using a scythe, so he had learned how to conjure one with his wind mana. Creating a weapon out of wind mana was extremely difficult.
It was a skill that only stage two mana cultivators could use properly. Even Aiden had not been able to do this when he was a stage one mana cultivator because he did not know how.
Jack's family was a family that specialised in the wind element. Over generations, they had invented different methods to use wind mana. No one outside their family knew these secrets. Jack, who was one of the remaining descendants of his family, was a genius at manipulating wind mana.
As soon as the scythe formed, Jack moved forward. His movements were fast and sharp. He swung the scythe toward Alan without hesitation. Alan was still in shock from seeing Jack conjure a wind scythe. Because of this, he was slow to react. He moved sideways at the last moment, but the scythe still grazed his side.
Blood immediately flowed from the wound. It was a deep cut, and the pain was intense. Alan frowned as pain spread through his body. He quickly summoned many puppets, which gathered around him and formed a defensive barrier.
Jack saw this and did not panic. Instead, he rose into the air calmly. His body floated upward as wind mana gathered around him. Soon, many wind cutters formed around him. He launched them toward Alan and his puppets.
The puppets blocked the attacks, but they were destroyed one after another. Wooden pieces fell to the ground as the wind cutters sliced through them. Suddenly, a windstorm formed around Alan and his puppets. The storm swept everything inside it violently.
Jack did not stop. He continued launching wind cutters directly into the storm. The wind cutters blended with the storm, increasing its power. The sound of cutting wind echoed across the arena.
After a few moments, all of Alan's puppets were destroyed. The attacks passed through the storm and landed directly on Alan's body. When the storm finally dispersed, Alan fell to the ground.
His body was covered in cuts. Blood seeped out from multiple wounds as he lay motionless on the ground. Many people in the crowd believed the match was already over.
Then suddenly, light began to form around Alan's body.
The cuts on his body began to move and slowly stitch themselves together. Flesh healed as the light worked on his injuries. After a few seconds, almost all of his wounds were healed.
Alan slowly stood up, glaring at Jack with pure hatred in his eyes. Even though his body was healed, he could still feel the pain from the attacks.
Jack did not give him any time to rest. A condensed light beam formed in Jack's hand, and he launched it straight at Alan. Alan barely had time to react. The attack pierced through his shoulder, creating a hole.
Alan groaned loudly in pain. He quickly healed his shoulder again as light covered the wound. He then looked at Jack and spoke.
"You can attack me all you want, but you won't be able to win against me. I can heal myself as many times as I want. Meanwhile, you will be exhausted."
Jack looked at Alan's face. A smile appeared on his own face as he replied calmly.
"You can heal as many times as you want, huh? Then let's see whose mana runs out first."
Jack had seen through Alan's bluff. Alan could not heal himself infinitely. Healing consumed mana, and once his mana ran out, he would be completely defenceless.
Alan frowned. His plan had failed. He then used his puppet strings to control the remaining puppets more carefully. He now understood that this was a battle of wits. The winner would be decided when one of them ran out of mana.
Alan decided to use his puppets to protect himself while spending as little mana as possible. Jack, on the other hand, did not look serious at all. He rose into the air once again.
Many light beams and wind cutters formed around Jack. He launched them toward Alan, who was hiding behind his puppets. The attacks struck the puppets repeatedly. One puppet after another was destroyed.
Alan began to panic. His puppets were decreasing rapidly, while Jack did not look fatigued in the slightest. After a short time, all of the puppets were destroyed.
Alan fell into despair. Many light beams and wind cutters were already right in front of him. He knew he could not dodge all of them. He also knew he did not have enough mana left to heal the injuries these attacks would cause.
He closed his eyes.
Then suddenly, all the attacks vanished right before reaching him.
The referee appeared directly in front of Alan. Jack saw this and understood immediately. The referee was there to stop the match. Jack floated back down to the ground and began walking toward the tunnel. He had won dominantly without receiving a single scratch.
As Jack walked away, the referee announced loudly,
"The winner of this match is Jack Kensington."
The crowd cheered loudly and shouted Jack's name as he left the arena. Alan was then sent to the healing room. Soon after, the draw for the next match was completed.
It was a match between Jeremy Jeagar and Nathan Belial.
Everyone already knew the outcome of this match. Jeremy was far too strong for Nathan to defeat. Still, Nathan did not cower. He chose to fight instead of forfeiting.
Both of them entered the arena and stood far away from each other. Jeremy looked at Nathan calmly. His purple eyes were far more lively than before. He was no longer hiding his expression.
The referee raised his hand and said loudly,
"Begin."
The moment he said this, a metal axe was conjured in Nathan's hand. Nathan rushed straight toward Jeremy without hesitation. He reached him quickly and swung the axe toward Jeremy.
Just as the attack was about to land, Jeremy vanished using Blitz. He appeared behind Nathan and kicked him in the back. The kick landed, but Nathan did not budge. His body was extremely strong.
Nathan twisted his body and tried to grab Jeremy's leg. He wanted to inject a parasite into Jeremy's body. If he succeeded, he could win. But Jeremy vanished again using Blitz.
Jeremy appeared far away. A lightning sword formed in his hand. He appeared again in front of Nathan and swung the sword. Nathan blocked it with his axe, but Jeremy vanished once more and appeared in Nathan's blind spot.
He attacked again. Nathan twisted his body to dodge. Jeremy continued vanishing and reappearing, attacking from different blind spots. Some attacks were dodged, while others landed.
Jeremy appeared behind Nathan again. This time, Nathan was prepared. He rotated his body and swung the axe straight at Jeremy.
The axe landed—but it passed straight through him.
Nathan's eyes widened. He realised he was trapped inside an illusion. He looked around frantically, trying to find a weakness. At that moment, many Jeremys appeared in front of him.
He could not tell which one was real.
Panic set in.
A kick landed on his neck, and he fell to the ground. He stood back up, but another kick landed in his stomach. He had no idea where the attacks were coming from.
Jeremy had blended inside the illusion. He used Blitz to attack Nathan from different sides without being noticed.
After a minute, Nathan fell to his knees.
As he tried to stand up, a lightning sword appeared at his neck.
Jeremy stood in front of him, holding the sword calmly.
"Give up," Jeremy said.
He did not want to hurt Nathan anymore. He wanted to change himself after what Aiden had said to him.
Nathan was shocked. He had heard that Jeremy was a maniac, yet now he was showing mercy. After thinking for a moment, Nathan nodded.
The illusion vanished. The surroundings became visible again. The crowd gasped when they saw Jeremy holding the sword at Nathan's neck.
Nathan looked at the referee.
"I give up."
The referee nodded. The blade vanished. Jeremy turned around and walked toward the tunnel.
The announcer declared,
"The winner of this match is Jeremy Jeagar."
The crowd clapped as Jeremy left the arena. He had secured his spot in the top sixteen beside Aiden, Jack, Aaron, Olivia, and Peter.
Author's Note: Only 10 matches remain. After that, the top 16 students of the academy will be decided. Who do you think will secure a spot in the top 16? Stay tuned for more chapters.